Daily Dialogue — December 23, 2014
EXT. OAKLAND COLISEUM FIELD — NIGHT — BOTTOM OF THE 9TH
The scoreboard shows us that it’s still tied in the bottom of the ninth. Nobody’s out. DYE grabs a bat and walks to the plate. Then, inexplicably, Howe turns to-
ART: Hattie. Grab a bat.
SCOTT HATTEBERG: actually points to himself and mouths, Me?
ART: Let’s go.
SCOTT pulls a bat from the rack and heads to the on-deck circle. He only manages a warmup pitch or two before –
INT. WEIGHT ROOM
Billy is watching on a muted television as he sees Dye fly out to right field. As Hatte approaches the plate, he kills the TV.
EXT. OAKLAND COLISEUM — SAME TIME
As ROY STEELE’s booming voice echoes:
VOICE OF GOD: Pinch hitting for Eric Byrnes–Scott Hatteberg.
Scott’s wife, ELIZABETH, watches from the VIP seats. She clutches her face. SCOTT lets the first pitch go by.
UMPIRE: Ball!
Art Howe looks like he can’t stand it any longer. In the dugout, Koch looks like a psychopath ready to kill.
SCOTT steps out of the box to catch his breath. He steps back in and stares at the exact spot in space he thinks the pitch will leave the pitcher’s hand.
The pitch. SCOTT swings.
Crack! 55,000 erupt. The A’s leap to the front of the dugout steps and watch.
We see the ball ascending on a strong trajectory, but before we can know for sure where it’s headed, TIME SLOWS TO A CRAWL-
INT. WEIGHT ROOM — SAME TIME
BILLY’s sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, trying to breathe. He looks like he’s in pain. He can’t move.
He hears the crowd ERUPT outside. His Blackberry buzzes: “hatte homered. a’s 12, ryls 11″
Billy flips on the TV. With sound off, he watches silent images of his team swarming the mound in (archival footage) mixed in with Art Howe celebrating with them.
EXT. OAKLAND COLISEUM — SAME TIME
The place is going crazy. ELIZABETH is screaming as she watches her husband get mauled by his teammates at the plate.
— Moneyball (2011), screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, story by Stan Chervin, book by Michael Lewis
Daily Dialogue theme this week: Celebration. Today’s suggestion by Jon.
Trivia:Billy Beane is portrayed as a lonely divorcé in the film, though in real life he had actually remarried. Scenes were actually shot with Kathryn Morris as his second wife, Tara, that didn’t make the final cut (but can be seen as Blu-ray extras). However, Brad Pitt’s character still wears a wedding ring throughout the film.
Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Jon: This is a very typical sports underdog makes good scene, with a winning move at the climax of the movie. What’s interesting with Moneyball is that it’s main premise is that very thing, how overlooked underdogs actually have talent that can make all the difference. There is very little dialogue. Though we see the coach have to coax Hatte out to bat. Hatte isn’t expecting this at all. The build up is great. And in fact, it’s this sudden lack of dialog that makes us pay attention and gives the feeling of suspense and anticipation. Note that in the locker room Billy watches a MUTED TV, adding lack of sound to the lack of dialogue. There is something to be said for silence.
If you have a suggestion for this week’s theme, please post in comments.