20 Things You Didn’t Know About Moneyball

By Jack Pooley / February 20, 2023

6. Billy Quotes Napoleon During A Speech To His Team

When Billy is giving his players a pep talk, he says, "When your enemy's making mistakes, don't interrupt them. They're giving you an out. Just giving it to you. Take it."

This line is paraphrasing a quote generally attributed to Napoleon Boneparte, who reportedly said the very same to his generals during an 1805 battle.

The link between Moneyball and Napoleon got even more interesting in recent years, though, when a data analyst applied Beane's sabermetrics approach to historical battles in order to deduce the greatest general of all time.

And the winner? You guessed it - Napoleon.