Many people have read the Michael Lewis book “Moneyball.” I read it when it was published in 2003. Many people have seen the current movie of the same name. I am not among them and don’t plan to be.

I will not see it for the same reason I do not see Oliver Stone films about historical figures or events. I have no more interest in seeing Stone’s personal, warped version of history than I want to see a movie based on Lewis’s narrow, misguided view of Major League Baseball.

Each of the several times I have criticized the book I have received a flood of e-mail telling me I don’t understand the book, which lauds Billy Beane’s statistically analytical way of finding players over the traditional scouting and evaluation method.

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My favorite Tony La Russa story has nothing to do with his managing. It’s more personal.

It happened during a World Series. I don’t remember which one it was. I just know it wasn’t one in which La Russa was managing. It was one he was attending as a fan, sitting in the stands.

During whatever game it was, I heard my name over the press box loudspeaker system. I was being paged. That seldom happened, and I was puzzled by the page. Who would be calling me, I wondered as I headed for the press box telephone at the opposite end of the box.

Most often when someone is paged during a game, it is a phone call. This, however, was not a phone call. Standing near the phone was La Russa.

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On the 20th of next month, the owners of the Boston Red Sox will celebrate the 10th anniversary of their ownership (time sure flies when you’re having fun, doesn’t it?). It has been a decade of mixed results.

In the third year of the ownership, the Red Sox ended their infamous 86-year streak of not winning the World Series, and four years later they won again for emphasis. However, the Red Sox have not played post-season games the last two years, and this year they suffered one of the worst September collapses in history.

But let’s engage in a harmless fantasy.

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