If baseball may not be everybody’s shared experience, the loss of our most meaningful relationship, or divorce, certainly is.
Tapping into that pain in unexpected places makes this movie resonate. Thank goodness for art, movies, music, literature: they help us reflect, digest, and at some point maybe even laugh about our shared life struggles.
A divorce film. This had me going back over the movie. Again. And, well, this analysis, these observations - they‘re brilliant. This changed a lot for me.
It all made sense, what you write - new for me but now so plain to see. Now, I believe I do not know anything about divorce. I mean, I have seen friends go through it, ok, but that does not mean I actually know much, if anything. Only that it is very painful - you can very plainly see that from my outside-the-tumult place, and from the distance (?) of being married for 52 years now (if you count the years living together before that it is 55).
So, the anger, the internal and external tumult. Moneyball The Divorce Movie. Definitely.
I love Moneyball. It works on many levels. And I've read that baseball players hate it. I remember reading somewhere a former teammate gently mocking the film's celebration of Hatteberg. So then I looked at the advanced stats, the very reason the book and film exist, and Hattenberg's advanced make him at least the third most productive bat on that team!
Moneyball will always resonate with me, a Yankee fan who spent most of 2001-2005 in the Oakland area and attended the Jeter “flip play” series among other Coliseum games. When I picked up the book, It was a bit like replaying a portion of my life.
I have so many fond memories and am glad I made it back there for one last game after moving away. Even that night felt historic with Ohtani on the mound for the Angels.
Man, this is strong smart writing. I love its celebration of the power and depth of movies AND the power of baseball by feeling the resonance in your life. And I had the extra pleasure of knowing what was going on in the Mets game that you made a tough commitment to not watch—they were sliding into the perennial heartbreaking loss that would end their season, until one player who'd been on a losing streak pulled off a miracle in the 9th.
I'm just catching up with this column. First, your friend Mark gave you the best experience of your book tour in my estimation. Secondly, you came very clean on your deepest regrets and revelations about the breakdown of your marriage. You didn't need to do that, but it was very brave. That painful loss has been balanced by joyful experiences of film and sport, the obsessions in your life, so all is not lost and you know that. You are luckier than most because you have those obsessions. When you say "But there’s no one there in the middle of the night when all seems lost", that may not be true. You are reaching out to us, your readers, and we understand and care about the ups and downs of life. We are listening, and we care.
Ooof, this hurts.
If baseball may not be everybody’s shared experience, the loss of our most meaningful relationship, or divorce, certainly is.
Tapping into that pain in unexpected places makes this movie resonate. Thank goodness for art, movies, music, literature: they help us reflect, digest, and at some point maybe even laugh about our shared life struggles.
Beautifully put, Christiana. As always. Good art doesn't just make life worth living. It also makes it bearable!
A divorce film. This had me going back over the movie. Again. And, well, this analysis, these observations - they‘re brilliant. This changed a lot for me.
It all made sense, what you write - new for me but now so plain to see. Now, I believe I do not know anything about divorce. I mean, I have seen friends go through it, ok, but that does not mean I actually know much, if anything. Only that it is very painful - you can very plainly see that from my outside-the-tumult place, and from the distance (?) of being married for 52 years now (if you count the years living together before that it is 55).
So, the anger, the internal and external tumult. Moneyball The Divorce Movie. Definitely.
Jack, thanks so much for giving it a close read. And congrats on your marriage - incredible.
Thank you for sharing this.
I love Moneyball. It works on many levels. And I've read that baseball players hate it. I remember reading somewhere a former teammate gently mocking the film's celebration of Hatteberg. So then I looked at the advanced stats, the very reason the book and film exist, and Hattenberg's advanced make him at least the third most productive bat on that team!
I watched Moneyball post-divorce also 😢 It gets easier, I promise.
Also, I thought of you watching that Alonso homer the other day! Good luck in the post-season :)
So far, so great.
Moneyball will always resonate with me, a Yankee fan who spent most of 2001-2005 in the Oakland area and attended the Jeter “flip play” series among other Coliseum games. When I picked up the book, It was a bit like replaying a portion of my life.
I have so many fond memories and am glad I made it back there for one last game after moving away. Even that night felt historic with Ohtani on the mound for the Angels.
Nice Noah. Thank you.
Man, this is strong smart writing. I love its celebration of the power and depth of movies AND the power of baseball by feeling the resonance in your life. And I had the extra pleasure of knowing what was going on in the Mets game that you made a tough commitment to not watch—they were sliding into the perennial heartbreaking loss that would end their season, until one player who'd been on a losing streak pulled off a miracle in the 9th.
I'm just catching up with this column. First, your friend Mark gave you the best experience of your book tour in my estimation. Secondly, you came very clean on your deepest regrets and revelations about the breakdown of your marriage. You didn't need to do that, but it was very brave. That painful loss has been balanced by joyful experiences of film and sport, the obsessions in your life, so all is not lost and you know that. You are luckier than most because you have those obsessions. When you say "But there’s no one there in the middle of the night when all seems lost", that may not be true. You are reaching out to us, your readers, and we understand and care about the ups and downs of life. We are listening, and we care.