By Art Spander
San Francisco Examiner
The guy for the A’s invariably is named Billy. There was manager Billy Martin in the early 1980s, virtually homegrown (Berkeley, next door), who knew what he had in roster talent. So he created a force-the-issue style, which the late columnist Ralph Wiley labeled “Billy Ball.”
The man in charge nearly the last 18 years, from 1997 to the present to be specific, has been general manager Billy Beane. He knew what he didn’t have, mainly cash. Aided by a few people who brought new thinking to the sport, he developed an idea that author Michael Lewis called “Moneyball.”
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