About the Author

Susan Slusser has been the San Francisco Chronicle's Oakland A's beat writer for 16 seasons. She is an MLB Network correspondent and is a former president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. She lives in San Carlos, California. Billy Beane is the general manager and minority owner of the Oakland Athletics. He was named the Sporting News' Executive of the Year in 1999 and 2012, and the Baseball America Major League Baseball Executive of the Year in 2002 and 2013. He lives in the Bay Area.