BEANE, WILLIAM  
 
Image of BILLY   Nickname:   BILLY Position:   V.P.
Home: Solana Beach, CA Team:   A'S ORG.
Height: 6'3" Bats:   R
Weight: 209 Throws:   R
DOB: 3/29/1962 Agent: N/A
Birth City: Orlando, FL Draft: Mets #2-June,'80 -- Mt. Carmel HS, San Diego, CA
Uniform #: N/A  
 
YR LEA TEAM SAL(K) G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO OBP SLG AVG
1986 IL TOLEDO   32 126 17 37 5 0 5 17 7   4 16     .294
1986 AL TWINS   80 183 20 39 6 0 3 15 2   11 54     .213
1987 PCL PORTLAND   123 463 63 132 28 8 8 71 17   36 77     .284
1987 AL TWINS   12 15 1 4 2 0 0 1 0   0 6     .267
1988 AL TIGERS   6 6 1 1 0 0 0 1 0   0 2     .166
1988 IL TOLEDO   110 361 33 85 15 2 9 39 8   26 111     .235
1989 PCL TACOMA   38 151 19 48 6 1 4 23 4   12 25     .318
1989 AL A's   37 79 8 19 5 0 0 11 3   0 13     .241
  • Beane's former wife Cathy, was a three-time All America tennis player at UC-San Diego. Her maiden name is Sturdivant.
  • Beane remmaried in February 1999. Her name is Tara Billy has a daughter, Casey, from his first marriage, who lives in Southern California.

    And on January 4, 2008, Tara delivered twins, a boy and a girl.

  • Billy's sister Chris was a member of UC-San Diego's 1981-1982 volleyball national champions.
  • Billy turned down a football (QB)-baseball scholarship to Stanford.
  • Attended UC-San Diego, studying economics.

  • Billy started loving rock music of all kinds as a youth in San Diego. "When I was in high school, I had burned out on the 12-minute songs and the synthesizers probably a lot earlier than most — between Led Zeppelin and Yes and Boston, I had already been there and done that. This was about 1976, and ironically it was right when the Ramones' first record came out. And then soon after came the Sex Pistols. That was an absolute epiphany for me.

    There was a Sunday Night Hour (on the radio) that played all new music, and that was the first time I heard the term "punk music." It was all early Ramones, the Clash … and I just thought, 'Oh, my gosh, this is it!' I had found my music Nirvana.

    "I saw the Clash in high school when they first came over. I was into Elvis Costello, too. Then in the early '80s was when bands like the English Beat came out, and the Minnesota bands I loved, like the Replacements.

    "My dad was young. He was 19 when I was born, so he was listening to Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull when I was 10. And my uncle was into some good music. In fact, it was my dad who first told me about the Police. He was in the military, and military kids don't always have much, but we always had great stereos — all that equipment from overseas!" (John Shipley-St. Paul Pioneer Press-2/15/04)

  • Traded to Twins with P's Joe Klink and Bill Latham for Tim Teufel and OF Pat Crosby (going to Mets) in January 1986.
  • Signed by A's as six-year free agent, January 1989.
  • When asked what the best Christmas gift he'd ever been given, Billy said, "As an adult, it was probably when my wife got me my satellite radio (in 2004). As a kid, it would have to be the year I got the sweet Hot Wheels track."
  • In 2007, Beane became a huge soccer fan. His love for "the beautiful game," included the fact that he listens to soccer podcasts for up to five hours a day and often has to battle his wife over whether they'll watch baseball highlights (her) or soccer highlights (him) on TV at night.

    Billy has "an informal involvement" with Oakland ownership's plan to bring Major League Soccer back to the Bay Area, including an office at the temporary headquarters of the San Jose Earthquakes.

PERSONAL:
 

PLAYING CAREER NOTES:

  • Beane was a first round draft choice by the Mets in 1980.

  • His Big League career was never big time. He spent time in the Majors with the Mets, Twins and A's, but never emerged as a regular.

    "I was lacking in some vital skills, such as patience at the plate," Billy says. "I felt satisfied that I did play in the Major Leagues. I'm content with what I've done. And I've made a lot of friends in the game. I was kind of in awe of some of the guys I was playing with -- guys who were having success, like Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek. I may have wathced them too much as a fan. I've played with a lot of really mentally strong players who are able to take advantage of everyday opportunity," he said. "The good ones forget about yesterday, just look at tomorrow and don't look too far in advance. I came up with Lenny Dykstra, and he had a great mental attitude. He could forget about yesterday and look ahead to tomorrow, but he would never look two days in advance. Puck is that way, too. He's phenominal."

    Billy got himself in trouble with breaking pitches -- not being able to hit them. He struck out an awful lot when they were dealt to him.

  • He had pretty good speed.

  • He was an excellent defensive outfielder and could play at any of the three outfield spots.

  • After the 1987 season, Billy worked out behind the plate in the Florida Instructiona League to add versatility to his resume, so that he could serve as a third-string catcher.
  • Billy tells a great story about why he never made it in the big leagues while a former minor league teammate did. Beane was considered a better athlete and a much smarter student than his teammate. But one day, they were sitting next to each other in the dugout and Beanes was ravaging himself over what he couldn't do against the opposing pitcher. his teammate, meanwhile, was chomping at the bit to get up against the guy, whom he couldn't even name. The teammate? Lenny Dykstra. The pitcher? Steve Carlton. (Dan Le Batard-ESPN the Magazine-7/18/05)
BATTING:
 

MANAGERIAL TRAITS:

  • Beane is a fine General Manager who works wonders with a real small budget. He relies on his staff for much of his work.

  • Billy is known for "Moneyball." He is one of the best numbers-cruchers in the game, mostly because he understands what the numbers mean.

  • "He has a philosophy of how to acquire players and assign a dollar value to their performance, and sticks to it," Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd said. "The hype is overblown, but he's the best and does a great job with it year in and year out." (Baseball America-12/12/06)

  • Nobody works the phones to find potential matches and piece together deals like Beane, who loves devising three- and even four-way swaps to snag the pieces he's looking for, like the massive 2002 deal for DH Erubiel Durazo--whom he'd pursued for years--that made NATO talks look straightforward. His fellow-GM's rated him the best at constructing trades in a survey conducted by Baseball America's Alan Schwarz in November, 2006.

    "He has a real good feel for what he wants," Padres GM Kevin Towers said. "His people do a great job of preparation, identifying what fits, what doesn't fit, and he goes right after it. If it's not a direct fit but an indirect fit, he's relentless. If he wants it, he gets it."

  •  If you are a David in a land of Goliaths, you’d better learn something fast: You cannot beat the big boys at their own game.

    In baseball, that means you cannot outspend the competition; you won’t outbid them for big-ticket free agents or even realistically expect to keep your own homegrown stars long-term. That means you must be nimble and quick, and sometimes, just maybe come up with a plan that will change baseball. 

     Beane and his front office and coaching staffs have come up with a way to compete that defies the way the game has been played. Almost from the beginning, back when Ty Cobb and Harry Hooper roamed outfields, baseball has been a game of starters and bench players. Sure, there were a few platoons here and there. But nothing like this year’s A’s, where four positions in their starting lineup regularly used platoons and four players shared three outfield jobs.

    The concept is a team not of starters and reserves, but rather mostly semi-regulars who buy into TeamBall: putting the best for the team above their own statistics and egos. Brandon Moss may have hit 30 home runs, but he would sit on the bench and not complain when the opposition started a tough lefthanded pitcher against whom he would have a diminished chance of success. (Casey Tefertiller - Baseball America - 12/10/13)

FIELDING:
 

        POST-PLAYING CAREER POSITIONS:

  • Billy became a scout for the A's, April 1990. He was the club's advance scout until becoming Assistant GM July 18, 1993. (The General Manager was Sandy Alderson).
  • When Beane first met Frank Cashen, then the Mets GM, he knew he wanted to be a front office executive someday. "I was only a kid, 18, when I first met Frank Cashen," Billy recalled. "The first time I saw him, I was really impressed by him. I said to myself that that was a position I'd like to be in someday. Even as a player, I think I was always guilty of being a fan. I enjoyed watching, making imaginary trades and things like like that. I like it even better than playing. Now, I'm a paid fan. I get here (the office) as quick as I can in the morning, and it's hard to leave at night."
  • Beane's duties included negotiating contracts and evaluating talent for trades, as the Assistant GM.
  • Beane was named the A's GM October 17, 1997, replacing Sandy Alderson, who became president of the club. His contract was extended through the 2002 season in November 1998.
  • Billy had the title of Vice President of the team, in addition to General Manager of the A's, March 3, 2000.
  • February 7, 2012: Beane received a 7-year contract extension as A's G.M., taking him through the 2019 season.
  • November 8, 2012: The Sporting News named Beane as the 2012 Executive of the Year in Major League Baseball. The award has been handed out since 1936.

    The voting was conducted by their peers and had to be submitted before the end of the regular season. Beane garnered 31 votes to finish ahead of Mike Rizzo of the Nationals (13) and Jon Daniels (six) of the Rangers.

    Beane also won the award in 1999.

  • Billy Beane was named the Baseball America Major League Executive of the Year for 2013.

  • October 10, 2015: The A's promoted Billy Beane to executive vice president of baseball operations and David Forst to general manager, promotions that speak more to a change in titles than roles. 

    Their existing relationship, as it relates to contract negotiations and player acquisitions and evaluations, is largely unaffected. "This makes public how we've been operating," said Beane, after concluding his 18th season as GM. "David has a lot of autonomy, he had it before, and he'll continue to have that.

  • Oct 29, 2018: The A's announced on Monday that they reached agreement on a long-term extensions with executive vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane. 

  • Nov 18, 2022: The A’s announced that Beane, currently Oakland’s executive vice president of baseball operations, is moving into a new role as senior advisor to owner John Fisher, working together closely on strategic decisions.

    In addition to providing Fisher with guidance on broader organizational matters, Beane will still provide support for A’s general manager David Forst, who now takes over as head of the club’s baseball operations.

    “This is really as much about not just me transitioning into a new role, but also David taking on a responsibility that he’s earned as one of the top executives in the game, in my opinion,” said Beane. “I’m still a member of the Athletics' family. I’m very grateful to John and the relationship that we’ve forged over the time since he’s taken over ownership. I’ll continue being a good advisor for him going forward.” (M Gallegos - MLB.com - Nov 18, 2022)
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Last Updated 11/23/2022 10:29:00 AM. All contents © 2000 by Player Profiles. All rights reserved.