(De Podesta : “who cast this thing, Plashcke?”)
The SF Chronicle’s Susan Slusser usually covers the A’s beat but recently had the distinct pleasure of snooping on the filming of Bennett Miller’s adaptation of Michael Lewis’ “Moneyball”. In Friday’s paper, Slusser collects dirt dished by one of the movie’s extras, A’s batboy Jordan Iserson, who in a considerable stretch, is playing the part of an A’s batboy.
Actor Chris Pratt, playing Hatteberg, didn’t exactly have the same result in his at-bat that Hatteberg did when his pinch-hit homer beat the Royals 12-11 in the bottom of the ninth on Sept. 4, 2002. The A’s blew an 11-0 lead but managed to set the record for the longest American League winning streak, which still stands.
‘They said, ‘No matter what, if it’s in fair territory, act like it’s a home run,’ ” Iserson reported.
“His first swing was a weak broken-bat groundball and everyone rushed out there like it went into the fifth row.”
Pratt, who stars in the NBC sitcom “Parks and Recreation,” looks a lot like Hatteberg, however, “and he’s got his mannerisms down,” Iserson said. “You have to do a double-take to make sure it’s not Scott.”
Wednesday night also marked the first appearance of actors Brad Pitt (playing Billy Beane) and Jonah Hill (as Paul DePodesta) during the on-field portion of the filming. Iserson said that both wowed the crowd of extras filling the stands, and Hill grabbed a microphone and told a few jokes.
Former Giant Royce Clayton is playing Miguel Tejada, and onetime Oakland pitcher Jason Windsor is playing John Mabry, Iserson said. He said the former minor-leaguers playing Barry Zito and Tim Hudson look especially like the real thing.