Moneyball, meet Recessball.
The latest dose of inside info from the heart of Billy Beane’s Oakland A’s operation this week came from a most unlikely and precocious outlet.
Thirteen-year-old Devan Fink, a middle schooler from Northern Virginia, was the first to report the A’s were close to signing free agent Billy Butler.
Then 18-year-old Robert Murray, a college freshman from Wisconsin and with Fink the co-proprietor of MLBDailyRumors.com, was the first to report the details of Butler’s pact.
Of course, some were skeptical the unconnected duo could pull this off without some nepotism.
“It wasn’t a familial connection,” Fink told MLB Network on Thursday morning, while missing English class. “I just tried to reach out to people who might know things and found someone who did.”
Murray said he received a phone call from a source with the contract details.
The two teenage reporters have never met in person, and say they establish most of their contacts on Twitter. Welcome to 2014. They were applauded by seasoned scoopmeisters for their big break.
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Asked how would he describe the 48 hours of reporting and national recognition, Murray picked one word: “Insane.”