As long as Billy Beane's the brain, I'll keep watching.

BB:  When people comment on chemistry, it's usually people who've never been in a clubhouse.  And I don't mean that in a negative sense.  It's like me commenting on the drinking water in Mongolia.  I've never drunk the water in Mongolia, therefore I don't know.  It may be good, it may be bad, but I have no right to an opinion.  Things like that, subjective things, things you can't measure are all subject to people's opinion.  And the farther out you go, the more off it is.  When it comes to chemistry, I've got a promise for you.  If you win, you have good chemistry, if you lose, you've got bad chemistry.  That's the bottom line.  There's no one who can evaluate a guy who can say, "That's a chemistry guy."

Blez:  You've got to measure tangibles.

BB:  Yes, you <u>can </u&gtmeasure tangibles.  Tangibles you can rely on.  Intangibles are all over the map.  Not to name names, but I've seen guys who people thought were the worst clubhouse guys come to our clubhouse and they were unbelievable.  I've seen guys who people perceive as great team leaders who didn't say a word and yet the published perception through the media was, "This guy's a veteran, he must be great."  Maybe he didn't say a word.  One guy who the perception was not favorable about was David Justice.  He was probably the best veteran we've ever had in our clubhouse.  Unbelievable.  He was worth every dime we paid him.  But I was worried with him coming over to the small stage, a guy who had been in New York.  He was unbelievable and everything you would want.  I was concerned because of him coming to a small market club.  There's been other guys that people thought were team leaders that were not at all.  That was the perception.  They had nothing to do with chemistry on the team.  They hung out with no one on the team and weren't particularly close to anybody.  But the perception was, this guy was awesome, they have to keep this guy he's the team leader.  And you were kind of going, "No, he's not.  If you were in here, you'd know it and you would know the difference."

He's a professional, who excels at what he does and has a bright future.  Give me a quiet, talented player, with a shelf full of gold gloves and a hitting resume that grows each year any day.