Being a diehard A’s fan, I was excited for the release of “Moneyball.”

Based on the book of the same title, the film is about Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics who turned a small-market team into a history-making machine.

“Moneyball” centers on Beane, played by Brad Pitt, and the 2001 and 2002 seasons where the A’s had to deal with complications including the loss of 2001 season MVP Jason Giambi.

Some of the scenes were visual history.

The opening scene recreates the 2001 American League Divisional Series, or ALDS, where the A’s played against the New York Yankees.

This was a real punch to the gut for me.

I was at the games where the Yankees played the A’s in Oakland. It was like being brought back in time 10 years ago and having the same horrible highlights run over and over again.

It’s sad that a baseball team as great as the A’s could have fallen so far over the past decade. But it’s amazing that a movie embraced the fact they were one of the best teams in the early 2000s.

“Moneyball” is full of baseball lingo, heavy stats and facts that baseball fans love to regurgitate when talking about their favorite players and teams.

This could be hard for non-fans while watching the movie. But for me, the stats made the movie that much better. I live and breathe stats whether for the A’s or any other team.

The actors in the movie, or baseball players and managers were on par. Phillip Seymour Hoffman didn’t play the exact role of then manager Art Howe. Jonah Hill acting as Peter Brand was a somewhat made up character to the then Assistant GM Paul DePodesta.

The A’s GM Billy Beane played by Brad Pitt was played well. Often during the film I wondered if I was watching more actual clips than not.

The ending of the movie to me was very touching. Any baseball fan should feel something when a few white words pop up on the black screen with “where they are now” details.

Overall, I would give “Moneyball” four stars out of five. It would get five stars in my opinion if the movie went into more depth about the 2002 season and the signings Beane had to make on a day-to-day basis around the trading dead line.

But the movie succeeded in giving people an in-depth look into the behind the scenes and internal organs of how the Oakland franchise is operated and the complications they deal with.