As often is the case in baseball, the only major sport without a salary cap, expectations of success often correlated with the size of the team's associated payroll.  Going into the 2012 season, the Red Sox payroll was a nearly incomprehensible $173 million.  Its three highest-paid players –Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett - made a combined $59 million, a huge number in itself, especially when compared with the lowly Oakland Athletics projected payroll which totaled $55 million, 29^th out of 30 teams in baseball and dead last in the American League.  Yet experts and expectations aside, the Red Sox, for all their money and talent, had imploded, finishing 69-93, easily the worst record they had booked since 1965.

 “Moneyball,” director Bennett Miller’s fascinating biopic about Oakland Athletics manager Billy Beane was a critical hit in theaters. Now, it seems primed for an Oscar run. The movie is up for multiple honors at both the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, and these ceremonies have a good track record of predicting Oscar nominees.