Billy Beane's Extrinsic Motivation In Moneyball

“Moneyball” is a movie that was released in 2011 that was based on the rise and fall of the 2002 Oakland Athletics. Manager Billy Beane, played by Brad Pitt, and his assistant Peter Brand, played by Jonah Hill, had to deal with the disadvantage of having one of the lowest payrolls in the MLB. The duo then goes on to make a few low profile signings to replace their three lost stars from the season before. With the combination of Beane’s Motivational tactics and Brand’s use of analytics, after a slow start to their season, the lowly regarded Oakland Athletics go on to win twenty straight games which is the longest win streak in American League history. The win streaks predictably sprung the A’s into the right direction where they go on to win 103 games for the year and

A large chunk of motivation that Beane had to instill in his players was of the extrinsic nature. Extrinsic motivation focuses on gaining external rewards out of the activity that is being performed. With Beane’s players being a part of Major League Baseball, it was pretty simple of what extrinsic motive he put on his players; to be the team that gets handed the trophy after its all said and done. The other type of motivation, intrinsic, was a little more complex for Beane to put into his players. Intrinsic motivation is derived from an individual’s own desires, needs, goals, enjoyment, and aspirations. To motivate his players intrinsically, Beane would have to do the likes of keeping players into the game whether it was to give them playing time, make practices more desirable, show belief in certain plays, or even make the locker room soda machine free to the players. All these different motives, whether intrinsic or extrinsic, aided in the players of the Oakland Athletics having a good season and in result, instilling belief in the “Moneyball”