Bodog Beat

Moneyball, aka "The Curse of Jeremy Brown." (Photo courtesy Tkusbrina at Flickr.com )

Michael Lewis probably didn't know he'd have a hit on his hands when he wrote Moneyball.

The polar opposite applied for Oakland Athletics GM Billy Beane when he drafted Jeremy Brown.

But my, how the tables have turned. Lewis's book went on to become a national bestseller and changed the way people look at the statistics of baseball. Meanwhile, Brown – the pudgy Alambama product drafted 35th overall in the 2002 draft (aka "the Moneyball draft") – has officially retired from the game after just five MLB games to his credit. And a little bit of Beane's credibility went with him.

On Friday, the A's learned that Brown would not report to spring training after telling them Tuesday he planned to retire for personal reasons. The great Moneyball scheme netted Oakland two doubles and a single in just 10 career at-bats from Brown.

Brown will likely be replaced by new Oakland signing Matt LeCroy, formerly of the Minnesota Twins. LeCroy has bounced around the majors and minors platooning between 1st base and catcher, the latter position his best shot of making the A's roster.

The Brown-less A's are -115 against Chicago (-105) today in MLB Spring Training action.

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