Billy Beane was the focal point in Michael Lewis’ best selling book Moneyball, for his success in Oakland. Michael Lewis covered a lot in the book, but failed to mention (at times) that Beane’s team had a strong core of starting pitching.
Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito were three prominent figures in Oakland during those playoff runs in the early 2000’s. Hudson, Mulder and Zito, however, were largely absent throughout Moneyball.
Instead, the book preferred to focus on players with smaller, but still significant, roles with the club.