Former A's Manager Irked by 'Moneyball' Portrayal

Joe Stiglich - Contra Costa Times

SEATTLE - Billy Beane fired back Tuesday after Art Howe earlier in the day intimated that the unflattering portrayal of the former Athletics' manager in the movie "Moneyball" was the general manager's doing.

"I was wondering who was going to be the first guy to think I produced, wrote or directed this movie," Beane said in a phone interview with the Bay Area News Group. "Now I have my answer. (Howe's) comments are completely misguided."

Beane cut off any other questions relating to the movie.

A day after describing the movie as "character assassination," to the Bay Area News Group, Howe continued to vent his hostility at how he was portrayed by Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. Being that Howe said he wasn't consulted by anyone involved in making the movie, he wondered if filmmakers built their negative characterization of him based on discussions with Beane.

"Moneyball," based on the 2003 Michael Lewis-penned book of the same name, stars Brad Pitt as Beane, bringing to life the GM's unique front-office methods and how they played a role in the 2002 season, when Howe was Oakland's skipper.

"Where else would they get the information?" Howe told the Bay Area News Group on Tuesday. "People who don't know me are going to think that's how I was. You work to build a reputation and then in two hours this movie breaks it down."

Howe took a stronger stance on several Bay Area radio talk shows on Tuesday.

On KNBR, when Howe was asked by Gary Radnich if he felt Beane was responsible for the portrayal, he said, "That's the way it kinda looks. I don't know for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised."

Later in the interview, Howe was asked by Larry Krueger what he'd say to Beane if he ran into his former boss.

"I wouldn't say anything first," Howe said. "I'd want to see if there was an apology coming."

Howe continued that Beane "knows who I am and what I did for the organization for seven years. ... If he watched this movie, which I'm sure he has, he knows there was a lot of injustice done here. I would hope he would be man enough to step up and call me and say, 'Hey Art, I'm really sorry this happened.'"

When Radnich asked if Howe expects Beane to reach out to him, Howe said, "Not really."

Later in the day, Howe appeared on 95.7 The Game and was asked if he might consider legal action.

"Some guys have told me I should get a hold of somebody and see what I can do," he said on the air. "I don't know."

It's no secret that Howe and Beane had a frosty relationship while Howe managed Oakland. But Beane, who was consulted for the movie but played no part in making it, scoffed at any suggestion that he had influence in the way Howe was portrayed in the movie.

Howe is portrayed in "Moneyball" as being confrontational and defiant. In one scene, he presses Beane about wanting a contract extension in 2002. But Howe notes that, in reality, he was in the first year of a two-year contract that season and therefore had no reason to ask for an extension.

"It's certainly nothing like Art Howe," said A's special adviser Grady Fuson, who was the team's scouting director from 1995-2001 and returned in 2010. "(Hoffman's) look is not close. (And) he's not an arrogant man."

Howe wasn't the only A's official cast in an unflattering light by "Moneyball."

Fuson butted heads with Beane during his first stint in Oakland but left on decent terms after the 2001 season, taking an assistant GM position with Texas.

In the movie, however, Fuson - played by actor Ken Medlock - gets fired after a heated exchange with Beane and yells an expletive into his face. Fuson attended the "Moneyball" premiere with his wife, Kathy, who didn't take kindly to that scene.

"She was upset," Fuson said. "She goes, 'That never happened'. I said, 'I know, but we don't control Hollywood.'"

Fuson said he got a heads-up from director Bennett Miller that he would come out on "the villain side" in the movie. But Fuson said he enjoyed the movie.

"The only thing that didn't fare well with me was dropping an F-bomb on my boss," Fuson said with a laugh. "I don't think I can take my grandson to see it yet."

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