In Beane We Trust: "Getting better every day" is for New Albany, too.

I do this quite seldom, though as a fan of the Oakland A's since 1971, it's worth noting ... but only for one very relevant sentence.

All-Star third baseman Josh Donaldson traded to Toronto, by Susan Slusser (SF Gate)

It seems almost unthinkable, but the A’s just dealt away their best player, All-Star and MVP candidate Josh Donaldson. Oakland has traded Donaldson, a premiere defensive player as well as Oakland’s No. 3 hitter, to Toronto for infielder Brett Lawrie, shortstop Franklin Barreto and pitchers Kendall Graveman and Sean Nolin ...

... (Billy) Beane, the A’s general manager, just said on a conference call that the A’s were adamant they would not deal Donaldson when Toronto called, but Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos was persistent, and finally had enough parts in the deal to get it done.

Over the past two years, Donaldson’s WAR has been second only Mike Trout’s in baseball, and the A’s had him under team control for four more years. Beane said, though, that the A’s felt that after finishing 11 games behind the Angels and barely holding off the Mariners – and looking at losing free-agent shortstop Jed Lowrie, starter Jon Lester and reliever Luke Gregerson – they needed to make a move “that wasn’t timid and got us into a position to get better every day rather than one that was maybe starting to deteriorate.”

Again: A move “that wasn’t timid and got us into a position to get better every day rather than one that was maybe starting to deteriorate.”

Getting better every day.

It's why walkability is the right move for New Albany. The things we need to do to achieve it -- two-way streets, traffic calming, completed streets for all users and not just their cars -- help the city get better every day, not just on the red-letter days and special occasions. 365 days of two-way streets are of incalculably greater good than twelve Friday evening concerts and an annual Harvest Homecoming.

Billy Beane, not Brad Pitt -- at IU Southeast.

That's a Tuesday, so I'll make every effort to attend. Meanwhile, Tim Brown (Yahoo Sports) has the Oakland A's at 13th in the big league power poll, saying "Oakland's miraculous run in 2012 may be a sign of things to come."

Innovative Oakland A's GM Billy Beane to Speak at IU Southeast, by Joseph Lord (WFPL)

Billy Beane, the innovative Oakland Athletics general manager and one of the few people with the distinction of being played by Brad Pitt on film, will speak on Feb. 12 at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany, the university said.

Beane is best for his usage of statistics to guide decision-making in baseball—particularly in ways that find and use players whose skills are undervalued, boosting teams in small market cities. His approach was featured in Michael Lewis' 2003 bestselling book Moneyball, which was adapted into film in 2011.