FanPost

Link Dump 1/10: The Story of Billy Beane, as told by Metallica

Kill 'Em All
October 1997: Beane takes over as GM and begins to rebuild a struggling ballclub by letting Jose Canseco walk, trading Scott Brosius, leaving Tony Batsita unprotected in the expansion draft, and trading a young Steve Karsay.

Ride the Lightning
July 2000: Beane calls Zito up the major leagues to complete his fearsome troika of starting pitchers.  Oakland rides their three young aces to a division title in 2000 and 102 wins in 2001.

Master of Puppets
Mid-2000 to October 2001: Beane becomes known for his successful wheeling and dealing by picking up Jim Mecir, Chad Bradford, and Aaron Harang in under-the-radar trades, acquiring Johnny Damon and Mark Ellis for future flops Ben Grieve and Angel Berroa, and capping his team off with the midseason acquisition of Jermaine Dye.

...And Justice for All
December 2001: Giambi bolts to the Yankees and Beane acquires David Justice to replace some of the lost pop.

The Black Album
April 2003: Beane unveils the all African-American outfield of Terrence Long, Chris Singleton, and Jermaine Dye.  Their incredible suckitude (OPS+ of 78, 70, 38) convinces Beane that black people can't play baseball, and he never acquires another, ever (except Milton Bradley, Mark McLemore, Billy McMillon, Arthur Rhodes...)

Load
October 2003-April 2004: Knowing that the Big 3 had limited time left as a unit, Beane acquires a veterans for one last run at the pennant before breaking up Hudson, Mulder, and Zito.  He acquires Arthur Rhodes, Damian Miller, Mark Kotsay, and Mark Redman.

ReLoad
December 2004: Beane trades Mulder and Hudson, explaining that he was rebuilding on the fly and intended to compete in 2005.

St. Anger
December 2007: One offseason after letting his best pitcher and hitter walk (Zito and Big Hurt), Beane trades Dan Haren and Nick Swisher.  The Beane h8rs come out of the woodwork and anger, frustration, and sadness are the dominant themes on AN...

...but not the DLD!  :-)