97 Reasons I Love the 2018 Oakland Athletics

Six years ago, my love for the Oakland Athletics was rekindled. I even wrote about my love for the 2012 team. Things have certainly changed since then. I became a father, bought a house, turned 40 and watched the A's go from World Series contender to yet another rebuilding franchise. With no new stadium in sight (still) and the Astros looking to be contenders for a decade, it appeared that I was headed for another long summer tracking my favorite baseball team from the east coast. Joyous times in the East Bay seemed like they would not happen.

But.....

The 2018 version of the green and gold has done it again. This team started to gel late in the 2017 season with the emergence of Matt Olson, Matt Chapman and Sean Manaea. Starting in May of 2016, the A's went 10 straight months without a winning record. They finished last in AL West in 2015, 2016 and would do so following the 2017 season. In September of 2017, though, the young team scraped together a 17-12 finish (one game in October) to give fans hope for a better 2018.

Like in 2012 the front office made moves to keep the team young and cheap. Sonny Gray was exiled to New York for prospects. Ryan Madson and fan favorite Sean Doolittle, were sent to DC for Blake Treinen, who had already been in Oakland once before going to DC in one of their 700+ trades together. Both Yonder Alonso and Ryon Healy (47 combined HRs) were passed along to Seattle in separate deals. Both the offense and the pitching would be a bunch of youngsters and Vegas did not give the 2018 much hope of making the playoffs. After 75 victories in 2017, Vegas set the win over/under line for the 2018 A's at 74. So much for the youth movement working.

The starting rotation was going to look something like this:
Kendall Graveman (seven starts, a near 8 ERA and then lost for the season)
Jharel Cotton (injured in Spring Training, out for the year)
Sean Manaea (27 starts before being lost for the season and most of 2019)
Andrew Triggs (nine starts with a 5+ ERA before being lost for the season)
Daniel Mengden (17 starts, some relief appearances, a two month DL stint)
--------
AJ Puk was going to come up and help, but he was injured and lost for the season
Paul Blackburn chipped in with six starts before being injured for the season
Chris Bassitt provided seven decent starts
Daniel Gossett even gave them five starts before being injured and lost for the season

All in all the 2018 Oakland Athletics used 15 pitchers to start a game. And they damn near won 100 games. Unbelievable.

The offense stayed healthy, the bullpen became dominant. Magical things happened late into the night and I once again fell head over heels with the A's. They did not win the division on the last day of the season like in 2012, but will instead get another shot at the AL Wild Card game. I will not speak of the previous one they participated in. Still too soon.

This year they will head to New York and face the hated Yankees. If they win that, they get to face the greatest Red Sox team in their storied history. If they get by them, the last two AL teams to reach the World Series will be waiting, including the defending champs, the Houston Astros. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy path, right?

Before the drama of October happens, let me recap the 97 reasons why I love the 2018 Oakland Athletics:

1) Sean Manaea threw a no-hitter
2) Khris Davis became the best know version of that name in MLB
3) Matt Chapman has a rocket launcher for an arm
4) Je-doubles Lowrie became Je-homers Lowrie while still hitting 37 doubles
5) Daniel Mengden's moustache
6) Blake Treinen evolving into The Witch (h/t @PitchingNinja)
7) Lou Trivino throwing 99 out of nowhere
8) Marcus Semien fixing his defensive issues
9) Matt Olson making all the IFs look like gold glove winners
10) Gretchen Piscotty - Rest in Peace
11) Stephen Piscotty hitting a HR in his first AB following the loss of his mother
12) Stephen Piscotty's post All-Star break dominance
13) Ramon Laureano's arm
14) That throw - you know which one
15) Ramon Laureano's first hit being a walk-off
16) Matt Olson hitting a walk-off HR against the Astros to tie them in the standings
17) That comeback versus the Rangers
18) Scoring 21 against the Angels
19) Passing by the Mariners and never looking back
20) Liam Hendriks becoming an 'opener'
21) Trading for everyone's best bullpen arm
22) Fernando Rodney's change-up and hat
23) Jeurys Familia getting wins in his first two appearances with Oakland
24) Nick Martini getting on base - all the time
25) Khris Davis leading the majors in HRs
26) Jonathan Lucroy just caught you stealing
27) Bat Flipping Season - Mark Canha beats the Giants - not sorry
28) Mike Fiers' curveball
29) Edwin Jackson joining his 13th team
30) Brett Anderson coming back to Oakland
31) Trevor Cahill coming back to Oakland
32) Matt Joyce fighting through injuries and not making waves
33) Franklin Barreto with a 2 HR, 6 RBI game
34) June 16th
35) Blake Treinein has a near 100 MPH fastball, sinker and about 3 other pitches you can't hit
36) Bob Melvin
37) The platoon players - Pinder/Martini/Canha/Laureano/Fowler
38) Ryan Buchter getting lefties out
39) Yusmeirio Petit doing it all
40) Opening Day Walk-off
41) All the Home Runs
42) Shawn Kelley proving the Nationals wrong
43) Sweeping the season series from Toronto
44) Sweeping the season series from Detroit
45) Not having a losing month
46) When you try to bunt on Matt Chapman
47) When you try to run on Ramon Laureano
48) When you try to steal on Jonathan Lucroy
49) When you try to sneak a fastball by Khris Davis up and away
50) When you try to hit Blake Treinen
51) Going nearly perfect when leading after 7 innings
52) Daniel Mengden's wind-up
53) J.B. Wendelken becoming...good?
54) Frankie Montas with huge starts when he was needed most
55) Trevor Cahill with 7 IP, 1 H vs Houston on August 18th
56) Mike Fiers with 7 IP, 1 H vs Texas on August 20th
57) Brett Anderson with 7 IP, 1 H vs Texas on August 21st
58) Scoring runs in the 8th inning
59) #MolsonBombs - dropping a shot of a shot of half Creme de menthe, half Goldschlager (green and gold) into a Molson. Chug before he touches home plate.
60) Khris Davis with a walk-off HR on my 40th birthday
61) Khris Davis hitting .247 - again
62) Matt Chapman becoming a good hitter
63) Bringing the 'opener' to Oakland
64) The bullpen - I can't say this enough
65) The bullpen - I really can't say this enough
66) Hey look - Josh Lucas started a game
67) Making the national media think about a Moneyball 2
68) Bob Melvin getting tossed for all the right reasons
69) 31-14 in one run games
70) 13-6 in extra inning games
71) 14 shutouts
72) Not rushing Jesus Luzardo to the bigs
73) Chapman with the walk-off grounder vs San Francisco
74) Treinen for Cy Young
75) Chapman for MVP
76) Laureano for ROY
77) and other things I never thought I would consider
78) A 0.78 ERA?!?!!?!?
79) Bob Melvin once again Manager of the Year
80) Road HRs - isn't the WC game on the road?
81) Knocking Luis Severino out after 2.2
82) Lucroy doesn't hit too many HRs, but a Grand Slam off Hamels was awesome
83) Making sure Chris Hatcher does not pitch in any important innings
84) Same for Danny Coulombe
85) And for Santiago Castillo
86) First time in Oakland history the entire infield started 128+ games each
87) Edwin Jackson and his cutter
88) Brett Anderson coming back after each injury
89) 99 RBI for Jed
90) 100 Runs Scored for Chapman
91) Five guys with 23+ HRs
92) Treinen/Trivino/Familia/Rodney/Buchter/Petit/Pagan/Kelley went a combined 39-12.
93) Fiers/Anderson/Jackson/Cahill/Mengden and Manaea went a combined 41-29
94) I have no idea who will pitch the Wild Card game
95) I wouldn't have it any other way
96) The home record was 50-31
97) The road record was 47-34. A 48th would be very sweet.

It's Just One Game

The sports world is full of cliches including, but not limited to 'It's just one game.' Never more is this true than in the game of baseball where a season of 162 games is played over a six month stretch. So many times a team comes out flat whether it be the starting pitching, the defense or an apathetic lineup. You could even come out strong as bull and be quieted by an opposing pitcher or a batter that just can't make an out. In baseball, whatever the outcome, a good team is confident and resilient enough to turn the page and do it all over again 12-24 hours later, because after all, it's just one game.

The one game that will be played in Kansas City Tuesday night is anything but just one game for the respective franchises. Now this isn't just the Athletics fanatic in me speaking. I truly believe that the winner of this game will be the favorite over the Angels and will put their franchise in a great position to shine in October. The losing franchise will more than likely face the harsh reality of starting over in some form or another...again.

I have, obviously, followed the Athletics very closely over the last six months and, how do I put this bluntly...they have aged me greatly. Thanks to the great invention that is Twitter, I have grown to be somewhat knowledgeable about the life and times of the Kansas City Royals as well. I have a twitter 'friend', @Meouse, who has been a fan of Kansas City ever since the Athletics left town and were replaced by the Royals in 1969. Yes, for those of you too young to realize, this game burns deep for older generations of Kansas City residents. For just over a decade, the Athletics played in Kansas City and left town just in time before they became a mini dynasty with 3 consecutive World Series championships starting five years after their departure. Kansas City was awarded a new franchise and eventually got their lone championship in 1985, but they've haven't sniffed a return to glory since. The Royals will be playing their first playoff game (not postseason in my mind, because this is merely a one game play-in to the postseason) in 28 years. The drought for Oakland is nearly as long, but not nearly as dry, as the Athletics last one a World Series in 1989, but at least they have been to the postseason seven times since that with this year potentially being the eighth.

I ask you which is more painful? To tease you fan base on numerous occasions only to have the rug pulled out from under you time and time again, or to just be so woefully horrid that by mid-summer you are usually looking forward to football or hockey seasons? Yeah, it's probably been much worse to be a Royals fan from 1990 to present, because at least Oakland has provided me with some joy even though the pain in October's past has been quite agonizing.

Getting back to what I have seen between both Oakland and Kansas City this season, the Athletics win easily or lose painfully close while the Royals win close games and lose due to stupidity. In the first half of the season everything that could go right did go right for Oakland. They dominated their opponents and, sure they had a couple of close losses, some thanks to a struggling closer who was shipped out, but who could complain? Then they made some big splashes picking up some front end pitching and gave up a fan favorite in Yoenis Cespedes. Coincidentally, but not because of that, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong in the second half of the season. The close losses piled up as fast as the injuries did. The hitting stopped, the errors blossomed and the bullpen imploded. The funny thing is, nobody pointed fingers and nobody played the blame game. It was just a state of shock for the fan base. Even the experts seemed to believe this was just a small blip on the radar and that things would turn around at some point. They never did. It took until the last day of the season for the Athletics to become the final team to qualify for a 163rd game. Now everyone has the feeling like it will all be better now, because this team was constructed for October (for the first time in Billy Beane's tenure).

As for Kansas City, they came in with as high of hopes as they have had as a franchise in years and not surprisingly, struggled out of the gate sitting under .500 through the month of May. They turned it around thanks to a fabulous bullpen and sturdy starting pitching while their year long theme of free swinging, low power, hitting continued. They made very few personnel moves, but by mid-summer had taken over first place in the AL Central. Then it fell apart again as the Royals went into a mini tailspin once again. They were on the outside of the playoffs looking in as quickly as they had elevated to first place. For every step forward the young Royals took, either the hitting or the managerial decisions of Ned Yost would send them a step or two back. The fan base hates Ned Yost. Okay hate may not be the right word...how about detests or abhors? As late as game 160 I think everyone in Kansas City was still calling for Yost to be fired and replaced with someone who could make everything work (or just not make asinine decisions on a nightly basis). The Royals may not have won the division that Detroit tried to hand them, but they have given their fans at least one night of possible pure euphoria (or one more example of why he won't be around next season).

This leads me to why this game is far more important than just one game.

Let's start on the mound. Two pitchers who were brought to their respective franchises to pitch in a game exactly of this magnitude. Neither Jon Lester nor James Shields will be pitching for these teams next season. One franchise is going to lose their ace for nothing after Tuesday night. They will not be replaced by anyone of equal talent. This is a one shot deal. This cannot be overstated or forgotten. Oh and neither Yoenis Cespedes nor Wil Myers will ever come back either. Tomorrow is going to suck for someone.

How about the coaches? We all know the fate of Ned Yost if the Royals lose tomorrow, but has anyone considered that Bob Melvin could take the blame for what happened if Oakland loses? There has been no talk of Melvin being on any type of a hot seat, but you don't think what happened post-All Star break will just be forgotten because Oakland got to play one extra game after leading MLB record wise as recently as early August do you? Billy Beane won't get fired. He's already going to replace 1/3 of the roster because that's what he does, but it might just be time to find a different voice in the locker room as silly as that sounds.

How about the cities of Oakland and Kansas City. They both already feel like red-headed stepchildren compared to their more popular and more successful in-state rivals, the Giants and the Cardinals. Both San Francisco and St. Louis are in the playoffs as well (San Francisco in the NL's play in game). Those two teams have combined to win 4 of the last 8 World Series. San Francisco is helping in block Oakland from getting a new stadium. St. Louis watches all of their prospects flourish while Kansas City has seen countless top prospects flop for years. The ironic thing is the the last Oakland World Series win came against San Francisco while Kansas City won their championship against St. Louis. Neither city is ready to watch their rival walk away with another trophy and have a parade again.

So how is this going to end? Two teams built on pitching and sporadic hitting. The Royals will try and steal a base or two while the Athletics will probably have to hit a home run to win. In all of Jon Lester's starts with Oakland he has been caught by Derek Norris. This will have to change tomorrow. Derek Norris can't throw to second base right now due to his nagging injuries and he is a liability at the plate currently nonetheless. Of course Kansas City will need base runners and that could be an issue. The Athletics starting pitchers have gone five straight games without walking a batter and the Royals were dead last in team walks for the season. You can't steal first base, right? Jon Lester was 21st in all of baseball with .236 batting average against (which is 4th best of the Oakland rotation) to boot. It won't be much easier for Oakland who really hasn't hit anyone well in two months save for Chris Young. Even though Shields has been quite pedestrian versus Oakland during his career, he didn't get the nickname 'Big Game' just because it rhymed. He'll have the home crowd behind him and a final free agent contract hanging in the balance. First to score could win this thing. The Royals bullpen is their strength. The three relievers that Oakland will have to navigate through if they are behind after six innings (Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland) combined for a 1.28 ERA on the season. Game. Set. Match. Oakland's big four of relievers (Fernando Abad, Dan Otero, Luke Gregorson and Sean Doolittle) posted a respectable 2.39 ERA. Kansas City has the major advantage with the recent struggles Oakland has seen. This means it will be a low scoring, taut affair where a single managerial decision could prove to be the difference. Advantage, Oakland. Simple enough. I believe less will be more during the game. You only get 27 outs, don't waste any of them.

There won't be a winner between Oakland and Kansas City, there will be a team that advances because they made fewer mistakes than their opponent.

Final Score: Oakland 3, Kansas City 2 in 11 mind numbing, heart pounding, puke inducing innings.

Sports Bucket List

Now that I'm inching towards the halfway point of the average life expectancy (77.4 years as of 2008 per Wikipedia) for men I figured I'd better start piecing together my Sports Bucket List. Everyone will probably create some type of bucket list during their lifetime and I'm sure I'll do one as well that is not centered around sports, but for now this is what I want to do/see/visit/enjoy before I'm laid to rest. 

What a morbid topic Jason...let me tell you what got me thinking about this. I was watching the first UNC v Duke men's basketball game this year and tweeted to @midatlanticbias (another Jason) who happens to be a Duke fan that we should watch a season series of UNC/Duke with each other. Him walking into the palace that is the Dean Dome and me slithering into the cramped, overheated high school gym that is Cameron Indoor Stadium. Now I have already watched a game in each of the two locations. About a decade ago I went with a high school friend to watch a U. of Maryland vs Duke game near the height of their rivalry. I wore a red t-shirt with the words 'Kick Their Ass' written on it in the heart of the 'Cameron Crazies.' Outside of the ticket taker, not one student said a mean word to me. I didn't even get that many dirty looks. Duke won which probably kept me from getting into a shoving match post game, but the experience was fun. Just last month I finally got to see UNC play at home when they defeated Pitt. The place was loud and it was nice to be surrounded by a bunch of fans rooting for the same team unlike my previous three UNC games that I had seen in person: 1) at Princeton 2) in DC during the ACC tournament with a mixed bag of fans 3) at the ACC Championship game last season with a bunch of Miami fans in my section as the Hurricanes won the title.

Okay I'm getting off track...back to the bucket list.

The easiest way for me will be going from sport to sport (whether you like it or not, I will be including poker as a sport).

Baseball

1) Attend a Game 7 - any Game 7 (bonus points to it including the Oakland Athletics or Washington Nationals). I was fortunate enough to see a playoff game finally two seasons ago when Jayson Werth hit a walk-off HR in Game 4 against St. Louis for the Nationals. I don't remember what ever came of that Game 5 though.

2) See the All-Star festivities - Mainly I want to watch a HR derby. Yes I'm an old soul when it comes to baseball and I thoroughly enjoy a good old fashioned HR derby. I'd go to the All Star game too, but the derby does it for me more so.

3) 30 games in 30 (or 31) days - Maybe not like this one, but something similar without the plane flights. Me and three other people in a camper going coast to coast. It can be done with the right scheduling by MLB as long as the teams who share cities play on the same day and night so you can hit both in one day. I'll blog it if somebody's wants to pay for it :)

4) Throw live to a major league hitter - This one is about 4 years expired as my shoulder has gone to hell, but what I wouldn't have given to throw live to any MLBer during my prime. Sure they would've crushed me, but what fun I would've had.

5) Spend a week with my High School pals in Arizona for Spring Training - My core high school group of friends included two A's fans, a Cubs fan, a Brewers fan, a Yankees fan and a Tigers fan. 4-2 Arizona to Florida (plus I've been to spring training in Florida). 

6) Go to Opening Day - This seems like an easy one to accomplish, but I have never gotten around to doing it. Shame on me.

Football

1) Watch the Redskins play (and win) an NFC Championship Game at home - This has many factors that 20 years ago looked to be a distinct possibility, but now looks near impossible. The Redskins have hosted just two playoff games since moving out of DC. I could be sitting on this one for a while.

2) Go to a Super Bowl when the Redskins aren't playing - Jokes aside about how easy this one could be, I don't think I'd like to be in house while the Redskins are playing in a Super Bowl. I'd much rather be around my friends and family. Football is the one sport that I like watching in a social atmosphere. I cuss far too much when watching baseball, hockey and college basketball to be around people I care about.

3) See JMU make the jump to Division 1 and watch UNC play for a National Championship - JMU seems on the cusp of making the leap away from 1-AA (I'm not using the proper terminology for a reason). Then when they beat Virginia Tech it won't be as much as a shock. UNC had a great season in 1997 and have been up and down since (with some help from some boosters and tutors). My hope is they at least play in a BCS level game in the next few years and possibly have that one magical season within the next 10-15 years.

Basketball

1) Go to a Final Four - I possibly could stomach watching UNC live there, but I'd probably be escorted out of the building before the first television timeout. There was a distinct possibility that I was going to get to go to the Final Four in New Orleans in 2012 through a work connection via my sister if UNC had gone, but stupid ass Creighton had to go and injure Kendall Marshall and derail a probable UNC/UK rematch. Still, and forever, bitter.

2) Watch UNC/Duke in both arenas - Already discussed above.

3) Be on UNC's campus during a Final Four/Championship victory - I have been on campus for four UNC games in my life. I was there when UNC lost to Duke, I was there when UNC lost the 1998 Final Four to Utah and I was there when UNC lost to Florida in the 2000 Final Four. Thankfully UNC beat Pitt last month or I may have never gone back.

4) Watch JMU become the next GMU/VCU/Wichita St. - I went to James Madison University (shocking as that is with my affinity to UNC throughout this blog) from 1996-2000. After making the NCAA Tournament in 1994 which was the culmination of 5 straight CAA regular season titles, I had hopes that JMU might be really good while I was there. After all they had legendary head coach Lefty Driesell at the helm. He had spoken to the freshman during orientation in 1996 and then promptly stepped down after our freshman year to go to Georgia St.. JMU won 16 games my freshman year, 11 my sophomore year, 16 my junior year and then had a great senior year with 20 wins. They didn't make the NCAA throughout until breaking a lengthy drought with an appearance last season where they picked up a play-in (1st round) win before losing to Indiana. What I want to see is JMU become the darling of the nation for three weekends in March/April. They don't have to win it all, but to emulate what fellow CAA members GMU and VCU have done would be nice (as long as they don't step on UNC like GMU did).

5) Witness the Washington Bullets Wizards return to glory - The reason I'm a Detroit Pistons fan is because the Washington franchise was just too embarrassing when I was a youth. I like the direction they are finally heading in with youthful talent and hopefully they're getting good enough to woo a veteran superstar to get them over the hump. No I don't think LeBron is headed to D.C., but I just can't understand why people won't consider playing here now that Washington has a couple of pieces in place to win.

Hockey

1) Go to the Winter Classic in 2015 - There is only one item on my Christmas list this year and it's to go to the spectacle that is the Winter Classic. With the Washington Capitals trending downward, next year could be a major crossroads for the franchise. Which leads me into the only bucket list item that matters for this category...

2) Witness a Stanley Cup for the Capitals franchise - I've been to regular season games, 1st round playoff games, 2nd round playoff games and even an Eastern Conference Final game back in 1998. I've sat through four overtime horror shows and screamed in excitement after a Game 7 OT game winner (thank you Joel Ward). The highs have been high and the lows have been soul crushing. I know I will literally weep like a baby if the Capitals ever hoist Lord Stanley's Cup. 

3) Watch a Game 7 playoff game live when the Capitals win - I've never been to Game 7 in the playoffs and for good reason as a Capitals fan. It hasn't been pretty. One year I'll suck it up and go to try and break the trend, but the fan in me knows what will happen.

Poker

1) Play in the WSOP Main Event - $10,000 buy in with the longest odds of winning millions of dollars. I just want the chance.

2) Play in a $5,000 WPT Event - 1/2 the cost, much better odds of winning. 

Obviously I better start making some more $$ if I want either of those to come true.

Golf

1) Hit a hole-in-one - It's every golfers dream and I got within 10 feet once when I used to play a bit more. Simple dream, difficult to achieve.

2) Watch the Masters in person - It's not spring until I start seeing commercials for the Masters on CBS. The best looking course in the world with the best players competing, what more could one ask for?

Soccer

1) Watch the USA win the World Cup - I was fortunate to go to a World Cup match back in 1994 when Mexico and Norway played at RFK in D.C.. I love international soccer (really any international competition when the best are playing the best in any event) and just once the USA will make that magical run to shock the world.

Olypmics

1) Go to an Olympics: Summer or Winter or both - I love the Olympics for the same reason I love the World Cup. I'm a competition junkie. I took off of work during the 2nd week of the Winter Olympics once again to watch the Men's Hockey tournament in peace and quiet. It's what I do. The USA is due to host the Summer Olympics within the next 20 years and I'm in wherever they may be. Same goes for the Winter Olympics and especially the Men's Hockey....

2) Watch the USA men win Gold Medal in the Olympics - The one sporting event I wish I had been at live would easily have been the 'Miracle on Ice' in 1980. While the USA winning a gold medal won't reach the fervor that occurred in 1980, it'll still be fantastic.

Horse Racing

1) Go to the Kentucky Derby - I have already asked my wife to book a trip to Kentucky for my 40th birthday which just happens to be the next time that the Derby falls on my birthday. Perfect. I'll see you there in 2018. I'll be betting on the 5 horse and the 10 horse.

I'm sure I'm missing stuff like going to the Big House to watch a Michigan game or tailgating before an Auburn v Alabama game in college football. I want to go to Dodger Stadium and sit in the 5th upper level or just sit with Vin Scully for nine innings. I'd love to meet a ton of people including Dean Smith even with his heartbreaking mental state right now. I'm sure my list could go on and on because outside of my personal favorite teams, I just love sports.

I know I'd love to sit in with Bill Belichick or any other NFL head coach for a week and see what exactly goes into game planning for a week. Obviously coaching a single MLB game would be ridiculous.

So many things to do so little time and money to do them.

I have knocked some items off the list:

1) Visit Fenway/Wrigley Field

2) Go to the College World Series (although going and seeing UNC win would be perfection)

3) Play basketball on a NBA court (sure I was 12, but I got to shake Charles Barkley's hand)

4) Visit Notre Dame

5) See the Oakland A's play in Oakland (I've also seen them play at Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago (both White Sox and Cubs) and Pittsburgh).

I would enjoy any feedback and any of my reader's bucket list items. Maybe it'll jog my ever crumbling mind on things I have forgotten. 

 

Back to Back: 2013 Oakland Athletics

Last season I waxed poetic about my affinity for the 2012 version of the Oakland Athletics. It was partly due to them coming out of nowhere to win the A.L. West on the final day of the season in dramatic fashion. It was mainly due to the collection of players and the fun that they had on and off the field that won me over. You had the walk-offs with the pies, the 'Bernie lean' dance and Balfour rage. Off the field on the Twitter-verse it was the world of the McCarthy's, Brandon and Amanda, who kept fans in stitches with their witty repartee.

But that was last season. Gone were the McCarthy's. Gone was the element of surprise. After winning 94 games, nobody (including me) expected the 2013 Athletics to do it again. The Rangers appeared to take a step back as they lost slugger Josh Hamilton to the Angels. Everybody had Los Angeles running away with the division in pre-season projections (yes, including me). Of course I wanted Oakland to win, but I'm a realist. I thought they played out of their minds last season and had everything break right for them.

The young pitching was going to regress. Bartolo Colon was going to be clean of PED's and 40+ years old. The Angels were going to score 900 runs! I predicted the Athletics narrowing out the Rangers for a Wild Card slot and losing that play-in game to the Tampa Bay Rays.

So how would Oakland respond? Would they collapse under the weight of expectations like my local team the Washington Nationals? After a quick 0-2 start, the Athletics went crazy. Nine straight wins scoring 69 runs. I had never seen an Oakland offense get off to a hot start. It had always been a struggle. Maybe they were for real last year and it was going to carry over into 2013.

Then reality set in. Following a loss to Texas, Oakland slumped to 20-22 or 11-20 in just over a month's worth of games. They were seven games out of first place and the offense had disappeared.

Yoenis Cespedes, Josh Reddick and Coco Crisp were all struggling. Chris Young brought in to help the offense was putrid. Opening Day starter, Brett Anderson was (shockingly) injured. Thankfully the Angels had also gotten off to a wretched start. It was the Texas Rangers that appeared to have control of the A.L. West this season after choking it away a few months earlier.

That seven game deficit was the furthest they would be back for the rest of the season.

By the end of May they would be three games back.  Bartolo Colon was having his best season since he won the Cy Young in 2005. Josh Donaldson was carrying the offense. Jed Lowrie was a doubles machine. The bullpen was lights out. Behind Sean Doolittle, Ryan Cook and Grant Balfour all leads were safe. Balfour would go on to break the Athletics team record of consecutive saves set by Hall of Fame pitcher Dennis Eckersley. Some things were working.

The month of June saw Oakland win 16 games for the third straight month. At 13 games over .500 they stood just 0.5 out of first place. By the end of July, they would be alone in first by four games. It had been a full six games on the 29th of July, but by August 10th, just 11 days later, the Athletics were in second place once again, a game behind the Texas Rangers. For the second consecutive season the A.L. West would come down to those two teams.

On August 13th, it was a moment off the baseball field that would turn the season around. Coco Crisp received a cortisone shot on his ailing left wrist.

From that moment on Coco Crisp could do no wrong. He has hit 11 home runs since he returned on August 17th. The Athletics followed suit. At last count the Athletics had homered 68 times in their last 43 games (starting August 6th). The next highest amount in MLB is 50 with the resurgent Nationals here in D.C..

From the one game deficit back on August 10th, the A's would fall as much as 3.5 games behind Texas on August 23rd. September has belonged to the green and gold.

This month Yoenis Cespedes had his own cortisone shot and from the looks of it everyone should have one. He has been producing at an MVP level this month hitting .361 with 6 HR's and 19 RBI's. His previous high for a month had been .237 in July.

Up and down the lineup everyone is hitting. Outside of Coco and Yoenis, Lowrie and Donaldson are still doing their thing. Brandon Moss has been terrific. Josh Reddick has been better. Aleberto Callaspo was brought in from the Angels and has been hitting better than expected. The platoon team (which needs a nickname) of Eric Sogard, Nate Freiman, Derek Norris, Kurt Suzuki, Stephen Vogt, Daric Barton and yes even Chris Young have chipped in along the way in various ways.

The pitching has been good enough, but their deficiencies have been largely ignored thanks to the offense. The bullpen is shaky at best right now. Ryan Cook looks lost and the once invincible Grant Balfour has shown cracks in his armor. Bartolo Colon has returned from a DL vacation stint as strong as he was to start the season. Jarrod Parker had an 18 game start streak of not losing come to and end recently, but rebounded in his most recent start. A.J. Griffin has been homer prone but seems to be just good enough each start to be successful. Dan Straily quietly has been effective and rookie Sonny Gray has been solid.

Brett Anderson, still stuck on one win this season, is working out of the bullpen as is fellow starter Tommy  Milone who had been demoted to AAA earlier in the year.

This month Oakland has gone 16-5 while the Rangers have flat lined at 5-15.  This includes Oakland walking into Arlington and sweeping the Rangers on their home field. Fittingly it was a Texas lost that officially clinched the A.L. West for Oakland today even though they took care of business a few hours later with a victory over the Minnesota Twins.

Currently Oakland has the second best record in not only the American League, but in all of baseball. They have proven to be a more complete team this season. I believe they can still play better. Maybe not on the offensive side, but their pitching could easily improve, especially on the back end.

With six games left Oakland should exceed their win total of 94 games from last year, but as always it will be how they do in the playoffs that will be what everyone remembers. Since making the playoffs in 2000 Oakland will now be playing in the postseason for the seventh time in that 14 year period. They have only won one series in those previous six appearances. It has also been nearly 25 years since the franchise has last won a World Series. Could this be the group that gets them back to the mountaintop?

My 25 man playoff roster would look like this:

Pitching:
1. Bartolo Colon
2. Jarrod Parker
3. A.J. Griffin
4. Dan Straily
5. Dan Otero
6. Sean Doolittle
7. Ryan Cook
8. Grant Balfour
9. Brett Anderson
10. Jerry Blevins
11. Jesse Chavez

Hitting:
1. Coco Crisp
2. Jed Lowrie
3. Josh Donaldson
4. Yoenis Cespedes
5. Brandon Moss
6. Josh Reddick
7. Alberto Callaspo
8. Eric Sogard
9. Stephen Vogt
10. Kurt Suzuki
11. Chris Young
12. Seth Smith
13. Daric Barton
14. Derek Norris...yes three catchers.

 If you want one more bullpen arm I suppose I'd keep Norris out and put Pat Neshak or Sonny Gray in his place.

The Paths We Choose

For those who have read my post on being an Oakland Athletics fan over the last 25 years, I discussed how I became a fan in the summer of 1988.  To keep it short, I was so embarrassed of the 0-21 start by my local favorite Baltimore Orioles, that I adopted my little league team, the Athletics, as my new favorite team.  25 years later I'm still a devoted fan of a team that is 3,000 miles away from me.  I have been to countless Oakland games in Baltimore, but I have also seen them play at Washington, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago (both Cubs and White Sox) and just once in Oakland.

Although Oakland has not won a World Series since 1989, it has been mostly a thrill ride following the green and gold clad Athletics.  Even when they're weren't good, they still had Mark McGwire chasing Roger Maris in the mid-90's before being jettisoned to St. Louis.  I looked back at their last 25 seasons and compared them to the last quarter century of every other franchise in Major League Baseball to see just how fortunate I was to be on the Athletics in the summer of 1988 and not (sorry Kansas City) on the Royals that year.

If I were to rank each of the 30 franchises that have played in the last 25 years on how they have pleased their fans, this is what it would look like:

(All records from start of 1988 season through July 10th, 2013)

1. New York Yankees
Resumé: 2311-1757 record; 17 playoff appearances; 5-2 World Series record
The Good: All the wins, all the money, the careers of Bernie, Jeter, Pettitte and Rivera
The Bad: The Danny Tartabull years, the bad side of George Steinbrenner

2. Atlanta Braves
Resumé: 2260-1809 record; 16 playoff appearances; 1-4 World Series record
The Good: 14* straight Division titles; Maddux, Smolts and Glavine, Games on TBS
The Bad: Playoff choke jobs, never winning that second title, 106 loss 1988 season

3. Boston Red Sox
Resumé: 2210-1867 record; 11 playoff appearances; 2-0 World Series record
The Good: Ending 'The Curse', comeback vs. Yankees, Pedro Martinez
The Bad: Grady Little's decision, when Manny lost it and was exiled

4. St. Louis Cardinals
Resumé: 2152-1918 record: 10 playoff appearances; 2-1 World Series record
The Good: Albert Pujols/Mark McGwire HR's, Game 6 of 2011 WS
The Bad: 1988-95 missing playoffs, 1996 playoff choke

5. San Francisco Giants
Resumé: 2132-1941 record; 7 playoff appearances; 2-2 World Series record
The Good: Winning 2 of last 3 WS, Barry Bonds breaking records, 103 wins not making playoffs
The Bad: Two 6+ year playoff droughts, the unfriendly side of Bonds and Jeff Kent

6. Oakland Athletics
Resumé: 2169-1905 record; 10 playoff appeances; 1-2 World Series record
The Good: Bash brothers, Moneyball, Rickey Henderson and the 20 game win streak
The Bad: Playoff losses in early 2000's, the stadium, 1993-99, Jeremy Giambi

7. Los Angeles Dodgers
Resumé: 2123-1947 record; 7 playoff appearances; 1-0 World Series record
The Good: Vin Scully, Kirk Gibson/Orel Hershiser's 1988 season, Clayton Kershaw's curveball
The Bad: 1997-03 drought, 1 playoff game win in 19 years between 1989-2007

8. Los Angeles Angels
Resumé: 2103-1972 record; 6 playoff apperances; 1-0 World Series record
The Good: Vlad Guerrero/Mike Trout, 2002 WS Game Six Rally w/ Rally Monkey
The Bad: 1988-2001 playoff drought, all the name changes, 1995 choke

9. Toronto Blue Jays
Resumé: 2065-2009 record; 4 playoff appearances; 2-0 World Series record
The Good: Back to back WS Championships, The Sky Dome, Joe Carter touching them all
The Bad: No playoff appearances since they won the World Series (20 years...)

10. Minnesota Twins
Resumé: 2012-2058 record; 7 playoff appearances; 1-0 World Series record
The Good: The atmosphere in the Metrodome, Kirby Puckett, Johan Santana
The Bad: Playing the Yankees in the playoffs, 1992-2001 drought, playing outside in Minnesota

11. Chicago White Sox
Resumé: 2100-1968 record; 4 playoff appearances; 1-0 World Series record
The Good: Frank Thomas, Ozzie Guillen's fire, Mark Buehrle effieciency and perfect game
The Bad: Having to listen to Hawk Harrelson, Ozzie Guillen's idiocy

12. Philadelphia Phillies
Resumé: 2039-2036 record; 6 playoff appearances; 1-2 World Series record
The Good: The fun that was the 1993 team, Halladay/Hamels/Lee
The Bad: 1988-2006 save for the 1993 season, the Vet, Mitch Williams' last pitch in '93

13. Miami Marlins
Resumé: 1537-1725 record; 2 playoff appearances; 2-0 World Series record
The Good: The two championships, developing great young talent for other teams
The Bad: Jeffrey Loria, 19 useless seasons, Ozzie Guillen, that statue in left center

14. Arizona Diamondbacks
Resumé: 1257-1264 record; 5 playoff appearances; 1-0 World Series record
The Good: Luis Gonzalez' walk off, Schilling/Johnson duo, a ballpark with a pool
The Bad:  Losing 111 games with Randy Johnson in 2004, the handling of Justin Upton

15. Cincinnati Reds
Resumé: 2040-2035 record; 4 playoff appearances; 1-0 World Series record
The Good: The Nasty Boys, Joey Votto, Barry Larkin, Chris Sabo's goggle glasses
The Bad: 1996-2009 playoff drought, Marge Schott, Pete Rose scandal

16. Cleveland Indians
Resumé: 2054-2018 record; 7 playoff appearances; 0-2 World Series record
The Good: Jacobs Field at its peak, the dominance of the 1995 lineup
The Bad: Everything before the strike of 1994, Game 7 of 1997, letting Lee/Sabathia go

17. Texas Rangers
Resumé: 2068-2006 record; 6 playoff appearances; 0-2 World Series record
The Good: Igor, Pudge, Raffy, ARod, Josh Hamilton, Beltre...basically all the hitting
The Bad: Most of the pitching, the heat, Nelson Cruz's defense in the World Series

18. Houston Astros
Resumé: 2032-2043 record; 6 playoff appearances; 0-1 World Series record
The Good: The Killer B's - Biggio, Bagwell, Bell, Berkman - The train in the outfield
The Bad: Astroturf, 1988-1996, 2006-present, that hanging slider to Pujols, the hill in CF

19. New York Mets
Resumé: 2039-2028 record; 4 playoff appearances; 0-1 World Series record
The Good: Mike Piazza, the 2000 season and David Wright
The Bad: 1989-98, 2007-present droughts,103 loss 1993 season

20. Chicago Cubs
Resumé: 1963-2106 record; 5 playoff appearances; No World Series appearnces
The Good: The loyalty of the fans, Harry Caray, Prior/Wood, Day Games, Sammy Sosa
The Bad: Poor Steve Bartman, Dusty Baker's use of Prior/Wood, most on field action

21. San Diego Padres
Resumé: 1977-2102 record; 4 playoff appearances; 0-1 World Series record
The Good: Tony Gwynn, making a World Series and getting to play in San Diego
The Bad: Trading away Roberto Alomar/Joe Carter/Fred McGriff, drafting Matt Bush over Verlander

22. Colorado Rockies
Resumé: 1545-1725 record; 3 playoff appearances; 0-1 World Series record
The Good: The offensive explosion of the '90's - Bichette/Walker/Galarraga/Burks...then Helton
The Bad: The humidor, ruining Denny Neagle/Mike Hampton, stealing CarGo from the Athletics

23. Detroit Tigers
Resumé: 1892-2182 record; 3 playoff appearances; 0-2 World Series record
The Good: The Justin Verlander years, Miguel Cabrera, Lou Whitaker/Alan Trammel/Sparky Anderson
The Bad: 1988-2005 with a bottoming out of 119 losses in 2003 with 106 losses the year before

24. Tampa Bay Rays
Resumé: 1155-1364 record; 3 playoff appearances; 0-1 World Series record
The Good: Exorcising the Devil, Evan Longoria, all the young home grown pitching, Joe Maddon
The Bad: The Trop, the fan base, 9 last place finishes in first 10 years of existence

25. Seattle Mariners
Resumé: 1985-2086 record; 4 playoff appearances; No World Series appearances
The Good: Griffey Jr., Buhner, Edgar, Ichiro, 1995&2001, The Big Unit/King Felix
The Bad: Most everything since 2002, The Kingdome, losing so many stars over the years

26. Baltimore Orioles
Resumé: 1911-2159 record; 3 playoff appearances; No World Series appearances
The Good: Cal Ripken Jr. and the streak, Camden Yards, Mike Mussina, Adam Jones
The Bad: Peter Angelos, Jeffery Maier, 1998-2011 futility, 0-21 that started it all

27. Milwaukee Brewers
Resumé: 1944-2128 record; 2 playoff appearances; No World Series appearances
The Good: Leaving County Stadium, Prince Fielder/Ryan Braun, Bernie Brewer
The Bad: 1988-2007 with 106 losses in 2002, being switched to the National League

28. Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos
Resumé: 1943-2129 record; 1 playoff appearance; No World Series appearances
The Good: The 1994 team, Ryan Zimmerman, Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper
The Bad: Folding the franchise, losing Pedro/L Walker/R Johnson/M Alou etc., the strike

29. Pittsburgh Pirates
Resumé: 1876-2192 record; 3 playoff appearances; No World Series appearances
The Good: 1990-92 run with Bonds/Bonilla/Van Slyke/Drabek, Andrew McCutchen, PNC Park
The Bad: 1993-present drought of no .500 or better teams, Sid Bream

30. Kansas City Royals 
Resumé: 1826-2241 record; No playoff appearances; No World Series appearances
The Good: Producing great young talent (for other franchises), Bret Saberhagen's 1989 season
The Bad: Only franchise not to make the playoffs in the last 25 seasons, 3 straight 100+ loss seasons

*from Atlanta: Strike season of 1994 doesn't count where Montreal held a 6 game lead on Atlanta with 48 games to go

There you have it.  25 years for 30 different franchises.  Outside of winning a World Series or two more, I wouldn't trade my allegiance for anything.  But dammit, Jeremy Giambi, why didn't you slide???

Heartbreak and Elation: Oakland Athletics

The fourth post in my series of the ups and downs of being a sports fanatic heads west to Oakland, California as I discuss my beloved Athletics.  If you have missed my first three posts, they are about the Washington Redskins, Washington Capitals and North Carolina Tar Heels.  I know you're asking yourself a question right now.  'How does he like the Oakland Athletics when it's obvious that he lives on the east coast?'

For the answer to this, let me wind the clock back to 1988 where the 10 year old version of me was a fan of the Baltimore Orioles.  Not that I chose this fate, I just happened to live in Northern Virginia and they were the only team I had heard of.  The Washington Nationals were still the Montreal Expos and Baltimore was still just a handful of years removed from their most recent World Series victory back in 1983.  1988 was not 1983 for Baltimore.  The hapless Orioles started that season 0-21 and by the time my birthday arrived on May 5th they were 3-24.  It was that 10th birthday when I received newspaper clippings from my grandfather in Pennsylvania (who was a very happy Pittsburgh Pirates fan, oh the irony) about how horrible and embarrassing the Orioles were.  It was at that moment I made a choice.

Right around that time I began playing in the 'Majors' division of Little League.  This was the first season where we played with actual names from Major League Baseball.  No longer were we just a local sponsors name.  I was drafted by the Athletics.  I probably didn't even understand that they were based in Oakland, much less California.  My grandfather shamed me from being an Orioles fan anymore.  Starting in the summer of 1988 I was now a fan of the Oakland Athletics.

As I learned about the Athletics, I would go to the backyard with my wiffle bat and ball and mimic their lineup with Carney Lansford, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco and pitchers Dave Stewart and Dennis Eckersley as our own.

I was on the Athletics for three years (including one truly heartbreaking championship game loss) and during those three years the real Oakland Athletics went to three World Series.  During that time frame I was introduced to my fair share of elation and heartbreak.  Nearly 25 years since moving on from Little League I am still a die hard, east coast, Oakland Athletics fan and over the years Oakland has supplied me with countless moments that cover the spectrum of emotions.  I have picked out 10 of my favorite and 10 moments that still hurt to share with my readers.


TOP 10 MOMENTS OF ELATION AS A OAKLAND ATHLETICS FAN

HONORABLE MENTIONS:



1994 - August 9th  vs Chicago White Sox (R. Sierra 8th inning HR to pull A's w/in 0.5 game of  1st)
2012 - October 3rd vs Texas Rangers (Athletics clinch A.L. West crown with comeback victory)
2000 - Game 1 ALDS October 3rd vs New York Yankees (Gil Heredia beats Roger Clemens)

10. 1994 - July 10th  vs Baltimore Orioles

The 1994 season is one to forget for many fans and players alike.  The season ended in mid-August due to labor conflict and for the first time since 1904 there was no World Series played.  I was sixteen and could care less about all the talk of the impending problems, but rather I worried about how horrid the Athletics were playing.  By June 22nd, following a 10-1 drubbing by the Kansas City Royals, Oakland had fallen to 25-45, but miraculously stood only 7 games out of first place in the watered down A.L. W(orst)est.  The next day, the season began to change for Oakland, they won 13 of their next 16 as I headed to Baltimore to watch Oakland play a Sunday matinee with my family.  We had tickets about 15 rows behind the first base dugout and I (as always) went wearing a green and gold shirt/hat combo.  The Orioles held a 4-3 lead heading into the 9th inning as Lee Smith slowly came into the ballgame.  Ruben Sierra reached base to lead off the inning and up came my favorite player of all time, Mark McGwire.  I stood and cheered hoping for a home run and that is just what I got!  A 2 run blast put the Athletics up 5-4 and I screamed loud enough to hear myself and really only myself on the playback on HTS later that night (yes I watched the game again).  I was told by many a fan to sit down and 'go back to Oakland' but I responded with 'Now you'll get to see a real closer come in!'  Dennis Eckersley entered and shut the Orioles down for my favorite Athletics victory of all time that I saw in person.  By seasons end (mid-August) the Athletics had crept to within just a game of 1st place and still stood 12 games under .500.  The A.L. West would very likely have sent a team to the playoffs who was under .500 in one of the ugliest division races that never happened.

9. 2001 - Game 2 ALDS October 11th vs New York Yankees

Outside of the Seattle Mariners who magically won 116 games in 2001, the Athletics were by far and away the best regular season team in all of Major League Baseball.  That team won 102 games, but because of the Mariners they were forced to open up the playoffs on the road against the New York Yankees who won 95 games.  That didn't stop Oakland from winning Game 1 once again (as they had done a year earlier in Yankee Stadium) as this time it was Mark Mulder who out pitched Roger Clemens.  I fully expected the 'evil empire' to strike back in Game 2, but Tim Hudson pitched one of his best games of his career a night later.  Hudson scattered six hits and walked just one batter over 8 glorious innings and Jason Isringhausen survived a shaky ninth to put the Athletics up 2-0 in the best of five series.  Ron Gant provided the winning run with a solo home run in the 4th inning.  After losing the previous year to New York, I was on cloud nine after winning both game in New York to start this series.  Everyone had said that the only reason Oakland didn't win in 2000 was because they weren't able to set up their pitching rotation.  They did not have that problem in 2001.  With Mulder and Hudson already done, the Athletics were still set with their third 'ace' Barry Zito in Game 3, Corey Lidle in Game 4 and back to Mulder for a Game 5 that didn't look like was going to happen.  I was already looking forward to showing Seattle who was the real best team in the A.L. West.  I also knew I was headed to JMU for Game 3 to visit my sister for the weekend where one of her suite mates was a die hard Yankees fan and boy did I have some chest puffing words for her...more on that later.

8. 2003 - Game 1 ALDS October 1st vs Boston

By 2003 the Athletics had made the playoffs three consecutive years and had flamed out in the A.L.D.S. three straight times.  A fourth consecutive A.L. West crown in 2003 paired Oakland up with Boston in the Division Series this time.  With home field advantage and experience finally on their side, Oakland was given a good chance to beat the Red Sox.  This proved to be one of the best Division Series baseball had ever seen since adopting the new round in 1995.  Game 1 might have been the best of the five games.  I started the evening playing my own baseball game, but tracking the score on my phone (no web plan, just calling an 800 number for updates).  Oakland started out well  behind Tim Hudson and led 3-2 heading into the 7th inning.  My game was wrapping up by then, but by the time I got home, Oakland was now trailing 4-3.  I sat in front of my television as the Athletics came to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning needing a run to extend the game.  I did not have a great feeling after 3 years of torment, but Oakland pieced together a rally and gave themselves a chance.  With two on and two outs, Erubiel Durazo singled home the tying run as I erupted in joy.  After Eric Chavez grounded out to end the inning, the game started anew in the 10th.  Both teams were held scoreless into the 12th inning which is where Oakland survived wading through the middle of the lineup by stranding two runners.  In the bottom of the 12th inning a walk and back to back ground outs left Oakland with a man on second and two outs.  Scott Hatteberg walked and Eric Chavez stole 3rd base.  Hatteberg then went to 2nd on defensive indifference.  Boston chose to walk Terrance Long to load the bases and bring up slow footed catcher, Ramon Hernandez with the bases loaded.  During the 'Moneyball' era of the Athletics, the team had scoffed at the stolen base and the bunt.  It was about plate discipline and extra base hits.  This is why what happened next shocked not only the world of baseball, but definitely die hard fans of Oakland like myself.  On a 0-1 count, Hernandez squared to bunt and with the third baseman playing at normal depth, was caught unaware and Hernandez scampered down to first as the winning run crossed the plate.  I don't have video of the game, but I had some friends reenact the events and it looked a little something like this:

7. 2006 - Game 3 ALDS October 6th vs Minnesota

After missing the playoffs in 2004 and 2005 and saying goodbye to two thirds of the 'Big 3', 2006 was seen as a rebuilding year for Oakland.  Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder were traded away, but Dan Haren and Joe Blanton combined for 30 wins to help Barry Zito lead Oakland back to the playoffs.  Frank Thomas came in to town for a memorable 39 home run season and Nick Swisher hit a career high (to date) 35 home runs to pace the offense.  All of this led to Oakland capturing the A.L. West title once again with a date against the Minnesota Twins.  When they last met, Oakland was the heavy favorite and that ended poorly.  This go around Minnesota, with not only home field advantage and a better regular season record also had 19 game winner Johan Santana going in Game 1.  The only saving grace I felt for Oakland was that Francisco Liriano who had stormed onto the baseball stage was injured and unavailable.  I had all but conceded the first game in my mind, but when Oakland beat Santana I thought they might have a shot.  Then they stole Game 2 and Oakland was once again one game away from advancing.  Unfortunately Oakland was 0-9 since 2000 in the playoffs with a chance to win and advance.  I had to force myself to watch Game 3.  How can you blame me?  I had seen this story before.  I sat there, I watched and I rejoiced with a banshee type scream as the 2000 lbs. elephant that had been on the shoulder of all Athletics fans was finally removed with a Game 3 victory.  Not only did Oakland win, but they won with relative ease.  The Athletics were finally, FINALLY moving on to the A.L.C.S. to face the Detroit Tigers.  Life had to be better there, didn't it?                          

6. 2000 - October 1st vs Texas

After six seasons of losing baseball, the Athletics finally showed signs of promise during the 1999 season.  A 35-20 summer stretch that season was thrilling and although the team played just .500 ball from September 1st on, there was hope heading into the new millennium.  By August 11th of the 2000 season the Athletics had lost their sixth game in a row and stood 7 games out of first place.  With 47 games left, the season appeared to be lost.  Then, what eventually became an Oakland tradition, they got red hot down the stretch.  By the time the final three games of the season arrived, Oakland had shaved Seattle's lead to just a 1/2 game (with Oakland holding the head to head tiebreaker).  The day before welcoming the struggling Texas Rangers to town for the biggest series since 1992, Oakland had dropped a gut-wrenching 14 inning decision to Anaheim (compare it to the 14 inning disaster versus New York this past September for pain inducing feelings).  Seattle was headed to Anaheim for their final three games of the season.  Friday night: Oakland won a back and forth affair while Seattle fell to the Angels.  Oakland was now in first place and controlled their own destiny!  Saturday afternoon: Oakland thumped the hapless Rangers winning 23-2 meaning a Seattle loss that night would clinch the division for the Athletics.  Yeah, that didn't happen as Seattle nearly matched Oakland with a 21-9 destruction of Anaheim.  One day, one win needed.  Oakland was forced to start their ace, Tim Hudson who was 19-6 on the season.  At the same time down the coast, Seattle started their game.  Through six innings of the two games, nothing had been decided.  Oakland was scoreless with Texas while Seattle and Anaheim were knotted a two apiece.  A six month, 162 game season had now been boiled down to just three innings.  In the bottom of the seventh, with two outs and nobody on base, Oakland finally broke through.  A double was followed by a run scoring single and Oakland was now just six outs away from the division crown.  Seattle also scored 3 runs in their seventh inning, putting all the pressure squarely on Oakland.  Tim Hudson worked through the 8th inning and Oakland went back to work on offense.  A lead off home run by Randy Velarde was shortly followed by another, pinch hit, home run by Olmedo Saenz as Oakland went to the 9th inning with a 3-0 lead.  Obviously, Jason Isringhausen allowed hits to two of the first three batters of the inning, but got the fourth batter to pop out.  With two on and two out, Isringhausen struck out Frank Catalanotto looking and Oakland was headed back to the playoffs.  The dugout emptied and the bubbly was popped as the drought had finally ended.

5. 2010 - May 9th vs Tampa Bay

Personal information warning: Ever since I was too old to play second base as a left handed fielder at the age of 13, I wanted to pitch.  I was told I didn't throw hard enough, didn't throw enough strikes and couldn't survive on the mound.  Until shoulder injuries finally put an end to my amateur career, I ended up pitching for about 17 years.  I never threw hard, but I could make the ball dance and I could paint the corners in my prime.  This leads me to the greatest day in the career of fellow 'soft throwing' lefty Dallas Braden.  Mother's Day 2010, I was hanging out around the house in late afternoon and was tracking the Athletics game via Twitter.  It was early in the season and Oakland had been average in what would turn out to be a truly average (81-81) season.  Through four innings, Braden had not allowed a base runner.  Through five innings, Braden had not allowed a base runner.  Now my interest had started to pique.  I turned the game on my television, putting my daily household chores aside and settled in for what I hoped was a memorable moment.  Look, I'm a sucker for any chance at a no hitter or a perfect game.  Even if it's the Yankees, I'll root for a pitcher to do the amazing.  I never got through more than four perfect innings in any of my career starts.  I pitched a two hitter once I think.  I don't care what level you play, pitching a 7 or even a 9 inning game without allowing a hit, much less a base runner is the epitome of difficult.  By now Dallas Braden had made it through the sixth inning and then the seventh inning without a base runner.  21 up.  21 down.  Now I was starting to sweat.  In the last 112 seasons, only 21 pitchers have been perfect.  That's quite rare even with five perfect games in the last three seasons (plus one that should have been).  The eighth inning came and went.  24 up.  24 down.  Now I can taste it.  I'm practically shaking in anticipation.  I know pitchers are lost in the moment when this is happening, but I couldn't sit still.  ESPN had put the game on.  The MLB Network carried it.  The 9th inning.  Three batters to history.  A line out.  A fly out.  One more out.  Oh please, oh please, oh please.  A swing.  For a second the ball looks to be hit up the middle, but it turns out to be a rather routine ground ball to short stop.  The throw to first...YES!! PERFECT GAME!  Dallas Braden had his greatest moment on the day honoring mother's and aiding in the awareness of the fight against breast cancer.  Dallas Braden had lost his own mother to breast cancer.  The significance of the moment was overwhelming as Braden found his grandmother coming from out of the stands and hugged her and broke down with emotion.  What a glorious moment for a good guy.

4. 2012 - September 29 vs Seattle

 The 2012 Oakland Athletics are by far and away my favorite team during the 25 years of being a fan of the green and gold.  The story has been told countless times about the off season trades, the prediction of 100+ losses, the terrible start, the comebacks, the Bernie dance, the win streak to end the season and of course the pies.  I recapped my affinity for them in my post: 94 Reasons I Love the 2012 Oakland Athletics.  If I had to pick one regular season game that truly encapsulates their season, it's September 29th versus Seattle.  Coming of a loss at Texas that all but quashed their division title hopes, Oakland had won the first game of a three game series against Seattle, but now had to face Jason Vargas who had only given up 9 earned runs in his previous five starts against Oakland in 2012.  Start #6 was more of the same.  Through seven innings, Oakland had only scored on a fluke, heads up base running play by Yoenis Cespedes.  He scored from first on a single after the right fielder relaxed for just a second.  Meanwhile, Seattle had scored four runs and heading into the bottom of the 8th, still held a 4-1 advantage.  Oakland pieced together a rally, as they were apt to do, but unlike their previous rallies, this one was cut down at the plate as Stephen Drew was thrown out to end the inning after Oakland had scored to cut the lead to 4-2.  A scoreless top half of the inning set up more Oakland dramatics in the bottom of the 9th.  With one out, Josh Reddick was walked on four pitches, bringing Josh Donaldson to the plate.  On an 0-1 pitch, Donaldson crushed a hanging curve ball to dead center field and the game was suddenly and dramatically tied at 4.  Now everyone in Oakland knew was was coming next.  It was just a matter of who.  Fans didn't have to wait long as in the 10th inning with two men on and one man out, Brandon Moss destroyed a pitch into the right field seats for a game winning, walk off, 3 run home run.  It was Oakland's 14 and final walk off of the regular season and their 90th win of a very magical season.  Of the players named in this recap (Cespedes, Drew, Reddick, Donaldson and Moss) only Donaldson had ever played for Oakland before 2012 and he didn't play in 2011 at all.  With the win, Oakland stood just 2.5 games out first place with just four games to go.  Spoiler Alert: They won out, beating Seattle again and then sweeping Texas to win the A.L. West.


3. 2002 - September 4th vs Kansas City

The most famous Oakland Athletics team is the 2002 team, thanks to the movie Moneyball.  They were portrayed as a rag tag bunch of misfits that somehow won enough games to make the playoffs by Hollywood.  The truth is that this team had made the playoffs in back to back seasons previously, winning over 100 games the year before.  True they lost three key players, but they returned one of the best young set of core players in the majors.  Behind the Cy Young award winning Barry Zito and A.L. MVP Miguel Tejada, this team was far better than the movie showed audiences.  By the end of May, the team was headed nowhere which was accurate in the movie.  Oakland stood 10 games off the lead in the A.L. West, but as had become a recent trend, they played much better from June onward.   Beginning June 6th, Oakland won 16 of 17 games, but it was an even better streak beginning on August 13th that caught the nations attention.  Barry Zito beat the Blue Jays that day to keep the Athletics within 4.5 games of first place, but that was just the beginning for Oakland.  They reeled off 18 more wins in a row to match both the 1906 White Sox and 1947 Yankees for the current American League record of 19 wins in a row.  Labor Day weekend was chock full of drama with Oakland winning in walk-off fashion on both Sunday and Monday afternoons.  After a day off, Oakland took on Kansas City in a nationally televised game with the 'streak' on the line.  A twentieth win would set an American League record and apparently make for a pretty thrilling movie arc as well.  Through three innings, the game was a rout with Oakland taking a commanding 11-0 lead.  Ho-hum, 20 in a row.  Kansas City, to their credit, was ready to cancel the party.  They stormed back with 5 runs in the 4th inning and 5 more in the 8th inning.  Then they tied the game at 11 with a run off of Billy Koch who was pitching in his fifth consecutive game.  Oakland escaped further damage and went to the home half of the 9th with a chance at history hanging in the balance.  Even though this was not a make or break game for the season and Oakland would go on to win the A.L. West by four full games, the streak meant something to me.  I had skipped out of work mid day on Labor Day to watch #19, I had ran around the house like a school kid when Miguel Tejada won #18 a day earlier.  With one out in the 9th, Scott Hatteberg (#10, my uniform number BTW) pinch hit and hit a game winning, streak continuing, scream inducing home run.  Hollywood execs called General Manager Billy Beane immediately thereafter.

2. 1989 - Game 4 World Series vs San Francisco Giants

Unfortunately this one is a memory that is fading faster than my hairline.  Back in the fall of 1989, I was barely an Athletics fan.  Sure, a year earlier I had re-branded myself in a fan of the green and gold, but living in northern Virginia and having a bedtime before 10:00 p.m. I didn't get to see much of Oakland on a daily basis.  I was relegated to seeing scores from the games two nights earlier thanks to the early publishing times of the Washington Post.  Luckily for me, the World Series games that year starting earlier in the night than 10 p.m..  After watching Oakland win the first two games of the Series, I had settled in to watch Game 3, but as history will forever remember, an earthquake hit the area in and around San Francisco which forced Major League Baseball to postpone the game.  Ten days later, under somber circumstances, Oakland defeated San Francisco to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.  As a naive 11 year old I didn't fully grasp the ramifications of being up 3 games to 0 and as Game 4 approached, I was still as nervous as ever.  Rickey Henderson allowed me to exhale a bit as he hit a lead off home run to stake Oakland to a lead that they would never relinquish.  By the time the Giants came to bat in the bottom of the 6th inning, they trailed 8-0 and even though they scored six runs over the next two innings, Oakland stayed in control.  In the 9th inning, Oakland trotted out Dennis Eckersley who I had really only seen one previous time in a real pressure situation (more on that gruesome introduction later).  He had a three run lead to protect and protect it he did.  Oakland wrapped up a four game sweep of their bay area neighbors, but couldn't even celebrate in normal fashion with the heavy hearts of damage throughout the area.  23 years and counting guys...

1. 2012 - Game 4 ALDS October 10th vs. Detroit

Since 1989, Oakland has made the playoffs eight time including the magical journey of 2012.  They have been heavy favorites and lovable underdogs at various times.  Last year I believe that they were seen as lovable underdogs with a heavy favorite aura about them.  Within the five game series against Detroit, every range of emotion was expelled.  A lead off home run in Game 1 against Justin Verlander gave me hope, but he vanquished that quickly thereafter.  Game 2 was painful, very painful.  In Game 3 Brett Anderson and the bullpen were downright dominant as Oakland stayed alive.  Game 4 proved to be the best game of the series and my most favorite moment of elation in the 25 years of being a fan of the Oakland Athletics.  The game started out as boring as sin with Oakland flailing at every pitch by Tigers starter Max Scherzer who had 8 strikeouts through the first five innings.  Detroit led 2-0 going into the home half of the sixth inning when the tide appeared ready to turn.  Detroit's biggest weakness last season was their defense.  An inning starting error got Oakland going and a wild pitch and a double followed and Oakland was on the board, now down 2-1.  Stephen Drew (once again) was the man behind the big hit, but (once again) was thrown out trying for an extra base, which quashed the rally right there and then.  Oakland did force Scherzer out of the game which gave me hope, but after a scoreless 7th inning and an insurance run for Detroit in the 8th, Oakland was suddenly six outs away from the end of their season.  In the bottom of the 8th, Oakland got two men on base and season long surprise/hero Brandon Moss stepped to the plate.  This was the moment, it had to be the moment.  It wasn't the moment.  Moss struck out and Oakland's season had dwindled to three outs.  I sat back and reflected during the top of the 9th inning.  It had been a great season.  I didn't expect six months of joy, but that's why I'm a fan.  As I was about to become a father for the first time, I realized that 2012 made me feel like a kid again.  It had been a couple of years since I lived and died on every pitch via an internet game cast (no pictures...just a box score changing).  I used to be obsessed with every at bat, every run and every outcome.  My priorities had started to change.  The 2012 team let me forget about that for about three hours each day that summer.  Dammit, I didn't want that to end.  This team was too much fun.  Did they have one more magical moment in them?  Josh Reddick stepped to the plate to start the 9th and he singled.  Josh Donaldson followed with a double.  2nd and 3rd nobody out.... Coliseum crowd rocking.  I was just trying to stay in control from my man cave.  Seth Smith was now up.  He doubled.  Game tied.  I went ballistic.  I could hear the city of Oakland cheering 3,000 miles away.  There was work left to be done.  George Kottaras pinch hit and popped out.  Cliff Pennington struck out.  Uh-oh.  Two outs, man on second base.  Coco Crisp up.  The heart and soul of the 'Bernie' movement.  A fan favorite.  I'll let the video speak for what happened next.

  

It was a primal, cathartic scream that escaped me.  I only regretted not being able to be there in person.  (Side note I was at Nationals Park the following afternoon to witness the Jayson Werth walk off home run that temporarily kept Washington's season alive.  That happened to be the first ever playoff baseball game for any team I saw in person.  I know what Oakland looked like at that moment)

Unfortunately, Oakland lost Game 5 which will be a repeated theme in the 2nd half of this post.

TOP 10 MOMENTS OF HEARTBREAK AS A OAKLAND ATHLETICS FAN

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

2012 - Game 5 October 11th vs. Detroit Tigers
2001 - Game 5 October 15th vs. New York Yankees
1997 - July 31st - (McGwire traded)

10. 1990 - Game 4 October 20th vs. Cincinnati Reds

The year following a World Series championship, Oakland was once again primed for another title run.  They cruised through the regular season winning 103 games, which were eight more than any other team in baseball.  Then they rolled through the A.L.C.S. against the Boston Red Sox, sweeping them in four games.  There they would face the Cincinnati Reds who 'upset' the Pittsburgh Pirates in the N.L.C.S. in six games.  All signs pointed to Oakland repeating as champions and the World Series ended up being a rout, just not as people were expecting.  Behind Jose Rijo and a stellar bullpen, Cincinnati shutout the dominant Oakland offense as they won 7-0 in Game 1.  The following night Oakland held a 4-3 lead going to the 8th inning, but unlike the Reds bullpen, Oakland coughed up their lead and wound up losing in the 10th inning.  Back at home for Game 3, Oakland again came out flat as Cincinnati beat them 8-3.  Just like the previous year, I still had hope, because I didn't know any better.  Then in Game 4 was star outfielder Eric Davis was injured for Cincinnati, I thought to myself, if only they can win this one, it'll be a series again.  Leading 1-0 and only six outs away from winning their first game of the series, Oakland let another lead slip away.  The Reds scored two runs in the eighth and shut the Athletics down to capture the title.  I was only 12, but I was horribly depressed about that.  The silver lining I took from it was that in the three years of me being a fan of the Athletics, they had been to three straight World Series.  They were going to be back, no doubt about it.  I'm still waiting on their return.  The drought is entering its 23rd season.

9. 2006 - Game 2 October 11th vs. Detroit Tigers

After four (yet to be discussed) gut wrenching losses in the playoffs, the Athletics re-invented themselves in 2006 and qualified for the playoffs for the 5th time in seven years.  They swept past the Minnesota Twins to meet the Detroit Tigers in the A.L.C.S., the franchises first since 1992.  I was thrilled to see that Detroit had beaten the hated and, I assumed, much better New York Yankees in the previous series.  I went it to this series with full expectations of reaching the World Series.  Oakland had home field advantage and all the pundits had always said, lookout for Oakland if they could ever play in a seven game series because of their pitching depth.  With Barry Zito on the mound for Game 1 I hoped for a great start.  Zito didn't even make it through the 4th innings and it was Tigers starter Nate Robertson who excelled.  He got through five scoreless innings and left up 5-0 with the Tigers eventually winning 5-1.  I knew that Game 2 was a make or break game for Oakland.  They wouldn't recover from an 0-2 hole heading to Detroit.  Looking back a match up of Esteban Loaiza versus rookie Justin Verlander makes sense now, but I though Oakland had the advantage.  Through three innings Oakland held a 3-1 lead and everything looked to be okay.  Then Loaiza imploded.  He gave up four hits, a walk and four runs in the fourth as a two run lead was turned into a two run deficit.  Detroit tacked on two more in the sixth inning and never looked back, winning 8-5.  All my excitement and hope was dashed.  My feelings carried into the Oakland clubhouse as they mustered all of two hits in Game 3, being shut out 3-0.  Then, just to toy with me, they took a 3-0 lead in Game 4 into the fifth inning, but Detroit rallied to tie the game at 3 and went to the 9th inning with a chance to win the series.  With two on and two out, Magglio Ordonez put the final nail in the Athletics coffin with a walk off 3 run home run.

8. 2000 - Game 5 October 8th vs. New York Yankees

After winning the A.L. West for the first time in eight seasons on the final day of the season, the Oakland Athletics were gifted a date with the two time defending World Series champion New York Yankees.  While Oakland had been red hot down the stretch, New York was showing signs of wear and tear of 2+ consecutive long seasons, losing their last 7 games and 14 of 17 overall (Oakland was 14-3 in that time frame).  With Games 1 and 2 in Oakland, the Athletics seemingly had a semblance of an advantage over the best team money could buy.  On the field, Oakland kept rolling by winning Game 1 in front of the rabid fan base.  Andy Pettitte silenced the crowd and the bats of Oakland as New York won Game 2 4-0.  Back on the east coast, New York took control of the series by winning Game 3 as it looked like the young Athletics were just too green to compete.  With a chance to wrap up the series, New York got shellacked on their home field as Roger Clemens lost for the second time in the series.  An 11-1 rout got people wondering if Oakland could really upset the Yankees with another cross country trip awaiting the two teams and a game in less than 24 hours.  Unfortunately for me, I got stuck working the night shift at my store.  I had a TV in my office, but it being a horrendously busy Sunday night I was dragged away right as Chuck Knoblauch singled to lead off the game for New York.  I hurried back to the office about 10 minutes later only to see in horror that New York had knocked out Athletics start Gil Heredia and had scored 6 runs.  I was distraught.  The game was apparently over before it started.  As I shuffled in and out of the office over the next hour or so, Oakland tried desperately to get back into the game.  They scored five of the next six runs and with five full innings to play only trailed by two at 7-5.  Fifteen outs to shock the baseball community.  They managed all of three base runners the rest of the way.  New York went on to win its third straight World Series. 

7. 1992 - Game 4 October 11th vs. Toronto Blue Jays

A year after a somewhat disappointing 84 win season, Oakland returned to the playoffs in 1992 by winning the A.L. West with 96 wins.  There they played the Toronto Blue Jays who had now made the playoffs in three of four seasons, keeping pace with Oakland who had been in the postseason for four of five seasons.  The Blue Jays had lost each of their two previous League Championship series while Oakland had been undefeated.  It appeared to be a very evenly matched series, one that would swing at any moment.  In Game 1, Oakland hit three home runs including a ninth inning game winner to take an early series lead.  Toronto won both Games 2 and 3 by two runs as the close series played out to everyone's expectations.  It was in Game 4 where Oakland let their reign of the American League slip away.  In a battle of pitching veterans, it was Oakland starter Bob Welch that out performed Blue Jays starter Jack Morris.  Through three innings, Oakland held a 5-1 lead that eventually grew to 6-1 through seven innings.  With the way Oakland's bullpen had performed over the previous five seasons, everyone would have figured this game was over and the series was going to be knotted at two games apiece.  Toronto didn't make it easy.  Welch was chased from the game after a lead off double by Robbie Alomar.  The next four Blue Jays singled as Toronto posted three runs to close the gap to two.  The biggest factor that would pay dividends later was that Oakland was forced to bring in Dennis Eckersley (who gave up the last two singles) to end the inning while throwing 13 pitches.  The Athletics went quietly in the bottom of the eighth as Toronto sent the top of their lineup up in the 9th.  Devon White led off with a single, capping an 8 pitch at bat, which brought Robbie Alomar back to the plate.  Alomar had another quality at bat and on the sixth pitch hit a game tying two run home run to deep right field.  I had seen this before.  It hurt all the same.  Still, the game was only tied and with Oakland being the home team, I still thought they could pull it out.  In the bottom of the 9th, Harold Baines led off with a single and pinch runner Eric Fox stole second base.  This is where it got weird.  Mark McGwire...yes that one, was asked to, albeit successfully, sacrifice Fox to third with a bunt.  Mark McGwire hit 42 home runs that season with 0 sacrifice bunts.  For his career he hit 583 home runs with just 3 sacrifice bunts.  The baseball gods apparently didn't like seeing a slugger of his caliber square around like he was a light hitting middle infielder.  Oakland didn't score that inning and to extra innings they went.  In the top of the 11th Toronto scored a run on a sacrifice fly and held on to win an excruciating, mini-dynasty ending, game 7-6.  Oakland won Game 5 to stay alive, but back in Toronto, the Blue Jays eliminated the Athletics and headed to the World Series where they would win the first of two consecutive championships.  It took Oakland 14 years to get to another A.L.C.S..


6. 2003 - Game 5 October 6th vs. Boston Red Sox

Following three consecutive vomit inducing playoff series, Oakland had yet to learn from past mistakes.  After taking a 2-0, best of five, series lead against Boston, the Athletics were once again forced to a winner take all, Game 5.  All Oakland had to do was get past Pedro Martinez again after holding him to a no decision in Game 1.  Game 2 winner, Barry Zito,  was on the mound for Oakland, but after losing two straight games, all the momentum was on the side of the Red Sox.  Through five innings, the game progressed as expected with Oakland leading 1-0.  The sixth inning was not a good one for the green and gold...again (you'll see).  Jason Varitek led off the sixth inning with a game tying home run off of Zito, which was survivable.  After a walk and a one out hit by pitch, Boston's best hitter, Manny Ramirez, stepped to the plate.  He crushed a pitch into the right field bleachers and Boston suddenly led 4-1, just 12 outs away from completing another Oakland implosion.  The Athletics didn't give up.  They scored a run in the sixth and chased Pedro in the eighth with another run to cut the deficit to one.  It was still 4-3 heading to the bottom of the ninth.  One last chance to get the monkey off their backs.  Boston started the inning with reliever Scott Williamson on the mound.  That was not a good strategy.  He walked the first two batters of the inning which brought the crowd alive.  Boston replaced him with Game 3 starter, Derek Lowe.  Back in Virginia, I had left my living room with my roommates and hunkered down in my bedroom for fear of more pain and depression.  Now with two on and nobody out, I was, once again, ready to explode in joy.  Ramon Hernandez, the hero of Game 1, laid down another perfect bunt to advance the runners to 2nd and 3rd with one out.  Adam Melhuse of all people, pinch hit for Jermaine Dye (a move I still question) and not shockingly struck out looking.  Two outs.  My mood swung immediately.  Why the #$^* is this happening again?  Lowe walked Chris Singleton to load the bases.  Terrance Long stepped to the plate.  Hero or goat, it all rested on his shoulders.  On a 1-2 count, Long took a fastball that narrowly edge the black of the inside corner and struck out looking.  Derrick Lowe motioned to Oakland his thoughts with a quick hand gesture to his groin and the collapse was complete.  I stayed in my room that night, quiet and lonely and pissed.  Dammit.  But this wasn't even the most painful game of that series.


5. 2003 - Game 3 October 4th vs. Boston Red Sox

Two nights earlier life was pretty good.  Oakland was up 2-0 over the Red Sox and although they were headed to Boston for Game 3, looked to have the series in hand.  I got stuck at work that night, but was following along over the phone in between customers.  There wasn't much to report.  After five innings Oakland trailed 1-0.  Both starters, Ted Lilly for the Athletics and Derek Lowe for the Red Sox were stuck on cruise control.  Oakland was going to need a break to get back in the game.  Speaking of breaks, I took mine and headed down the street to the sports bar to watch a couple of innings.  I got there just in time to witness a play that still infuriates me to this day for various reasons.  Oakland had loaded the bases in the sixth inning after a single and two walks.  Mixed in between was the first of two of the strangest plays I had ever witnessed and I still have no explanation of what happened a decade later.  The first was a play at the plate where fan favorite, 100% energy, Eric Byrnes appeared to score after an errant throw got past catcher Jason Varitek.  Byrnes injured himself sliding into Varitek and then shoved him while Varitek scrambled to get the ball.  All the while, Byrnes failed to realize he missed the plate.  He was tagged out seconds later.  Oakland still trailed 1-0.  Eric Chavez was intentionally walked to load the bases bringing Ramon Hernandez to the plate.  Did he dare bunt again?  No, he hit a grounder to short stop...inning over...wait, Nomar booted it!  Oakland scored! 1-1! Tejada then collided with third baseman Bill Mueller...obstruction!! The umpire pointed at the two players yelling 'obstruction' and Tejada slowed down and stopped halfway down the line to home.  Oakland was going to take the lead.  Boston gathered the ball up and tagged Tejada.  The same umpire now yelled 'Out!'  I nearly lost my shit in the restaurant.  There was no sound on the television and all I saw was Oakland manager Ken Macha screaming.  It was ruled that if Tejada had just kept running towards home he would have been awarded home, but since he stopped he was still a live player.  He didn't even need to touch home, but just make an attempt.  Two runs washed away over stupidity.  Classic Oakland in October.  The Athletics were undaunted.  They kept the score even a run apiece through nine innings.  I was back at work.  The night had slowed at work and I had called my girlfriend to have her watch the game for me.  She could have cared less.  She knows nothing about baseball.  The tenth inning came and went.  The Athletics came up dry in the 11th.  In the bottom of the 11th, I was on the phone with her receiving play by play updates.  With one out and one man on base, Trot Nixon pinch hit for Boston.  These were the words I heard when I asked her what was going on: "All the players for Boston have run onto the field and are at home..." I hung up.  Son of a bitch.


4. 2012 - Game 2 October 7th vs. Detroit Tigers

After losing Game 1 against Justin Verlander and the Tigers, Oakland knew the only chance at avoiding Verlander again was to win the next three games.  This was to be no easy task, but a win in Game 2 would not only swing the momentum to the Athleics, but send them home with home field advantage.  Tommy Milone started for Oakland and although he had been much better in the cavernous dimensions of Oakland all season, there isn't much difference between his home field and that of Comerica Park in Detroit.  He held Detroit's powerful offense in check giving up just a single run over six innings.  The Tigers starter, Doug Fister, was equally as good through six innings as the teams headed to the seventh tied at 1.  Of course I was stuck at work, but heading to the seventh I took my break just in time to watch the craziness begin.  Oakland broke the tie with some classic post season small ball.  A leadoff walk, a sacrifice bunt and a single was all it took to give the Athletics a 2-1 lead.  With nine outs to get, Oakland had their bullpen rested and ready.  It was to be Sean Doolittle in the 7th, Ryan Cook in the 8th and Grant Balfour in the 9th.  The trio had been rock solid down the stretch in the regular season, but as everyone soon found out, that means squat in October.  Doolittle retired the first two batters, but then gave up back to back hits.  Luckily for him, all he had to do was retire the American League Triple Crown, Clu Haywood Miguel Cabrera.  Doolittle did his job getting Cabrera to hit a fly ball to center field.  Coco Crisp raced in and DROPPED THE GODFORSAKEN BALL!!  Two runs scored and Detroit was in the lead 3-2.  I had seen this before from Oakland.  Weird stuff happens and I nearly broke the television in the break room.  Oakland escaped further damage and went back to work.  Yoenis Cespedes led off with a single off reliever Joaquin Benoit and with one out stole second and third base.  Then Oakland caught a break.  Benoit uncorked a wild pitch and the game was tied at 3!  On the next pitch, Josh Reddick crushed a ball to the stands in right field and Oakland was suddenly back on top 4-3.  What a swing of emotions.  The funny thing about a swing is its tendency to go back and forth.  The bottom of the 8th proved that.  Ryan Cook entered as was the plan and of course he got into hot water right away.  Two straight hits and a sacrifice bunt put Detroit in position to take the lead back, but a strikeout got Oakland an out away from escaping.  On the first pitch to Alex Avila, Cook matched Benoit with a run scoring wild pitch of his own.  4-4 game.  Oakland came up empty in the 9th, but still brought closer Grant Balfour out in the bottom half of the inning.  By now I was back working and my nerves were shot.  Balfour struck out the first batter, but then ran into trouble with back to back hits and an intentional walk to load the bases.  Don Kelly hit a fly ball deep enough to score the winning run as Detroit walked off with win and another, in the long line of, crushing defeats to my soul.

3. 2002 - Game 5 October 6th vs. Minnesota Twins
The demise of the 'Moneyball' team.  As heavy favorites against Minnesota, Oakland had already choked away Game 1 before thumping the Twins in Games 2 and 3.  The series should have been a sweep.  Minnesota crushed Oakland in Game 4 and the teams headed back to Oakland for a one game series.  Oakland had already suffered defeats in Game 5 in the last two seasons, but that was against New York.  Surely Oakland could beat the Twins at home, surely they could.  I was at home and a train wreck.  I couldn't stomach another year of disappointment, especially not as the prohibitive favorite.  Mark Mulder squared off for Oakland against Brad Radke.  Both pitchers had won their previous start and this game turned out to be a pitcher's duel.  The Twins scored a single run in both the second and third innings, but Oakland got on the board with a lone run in the third inning as well.  That is where the game stood heading to the ninth inning.  The Athletics had never really threathened Minnesota as they mustered all of four base runners, and never two in an inning, between the 4th and the 8th.  Mulder had settled in and he and Chad Bradford shut Minnesota down, but closer Billy Koch couldn't do likewise in the 9th.  Stop me if you've heard this one before, but as the 9th inning approached, it was nearing the time for me to go to work.  I was already late, but since I was the boss, I could have cared less.  I knew that Oakland only needed to get through the 9th unscathed because Minnesota was going to bring in Eddie Guardado whom they owned.  His 16.88 ERA that season against Oakland was all I needed to know.  The Athletics were going to win this game!  Oh that's right Billy Koch.  That asshole.  He started the ninth inning with a walk and then gave up a 2 run home run to king of the douchbags A.J. Pierzynski.  The damage wasn't done.  With fans filing out, Koch gave up another run before closing out the horrible inning leaving Oakland in a massive 5-1 hole.  Distraught, defeated and facing 8 hours of work, I jumped in the shower (to hide my tears...not really, but maybe) to get ready for work.  I exited, numb to the touch and wanting to bury my head in a pillow and disappear for days on end.  I didn't do that though, I got dressed and walked downstairs to notice the game was still on, still being played.  What had I missed?  What the hell was going on?  The crowd was boisterous, the announcers were stupified.  Mark Ellis had hit a 3 run home run with just one out!  It was a 5-4 ball game.  Terrance Long (you'll remember him from such disappointments as striking out with the bases loaded to end the '03 season) had yet to rip a hole in my heart, but he flew out to center for the second out.  Randy Velarde super charged the crowd with a single, bringing Ray Durham to the plate with a chance to be a hero.  That, of course, is not how this Hollywood ending worked out.  He popped out into foul territory and Minnesota won in Oakland.  It was the third of four straight Game 5 disasters I witnessed.  Imagine, if you will, that instead of being blown out in three consecutive Super Bowls after Scott Norwood missed a potential game winning field goal, the Buffalo Bills lost all four games in that fashion.  No fan should have to suffer that.  This one hurt most of all.  Of course outside of the movie, the most famous moment from those four years came one year earlier.

2. 2001 -  Game 3 October 13th vs. New York Yankees

The 2001 postseason is one of the most famous postseasons in the history of Major League Baseball.  With the backdrop of the country recovering from the tragedy of 9/11 and a classic, seven game World Series that had more drama, more twists and turns than any Hollywood script could produce, there was a lot to remember.  Two games into the playoffs, Oakland had already staked their claim as the new kid on the block.  They walked into New York and beat the 3 time defending World Series Champions with great pitching and timely hitting.  I was on cloud nine.  I was feeling brash and boastful.  The end of an era, the beginning of a new generation.  I had bought into the swagger and bravado of Oakland with their long hair and beer bellies and rock and roll attitude.  It was going to be a repeat of the dynasty from 1972-74 with three staight championships of their own.  Yeah I let my mind get the best of me.  That Saturday, I headed down to JMU with my parents to visit my sister who had just recently started her freshman year there.  I had graduated in 2000 myself and watched the campus turn into the Bronx each October as New York won in the fall of 1996, 1998 and 1999 (and eventually 2000 with me back at home thankfully).  I was sick and tired of it, but that was going to end that night.  When I had helped my sister move in that August one of her suite mates was sporting a Yankees hat and putting up Yankees paraphanelia all over her room.  We had bantered back and forth, but I didn't have much ammunition at the time.  Now sporting my green and gold Athletics shirt I strutted into the dorm just waiting to get a shot at her.  She saw me, I smiled, she walked away.  Victory was mine.  Game 3 was in Oakland and I don't think I've even seen a more raucous crowd.  After all, Oakland had won their last 17, count them 17, games in Oakland to end the season.  It was going to be a good night.  I pulled up to a quaint little 22" television in the dorm room, alone as everyone was out and about for Parents Weekend.  It was another low scoring affair as Barry Zito and Mike Mussina matched out for out.  The Yankees struck first in the fifth inning as Jorge Posada launched a solo home run to quiet the crowd.  That was one of just two hits the Yankees would get all night long.  Oakland didn't fare much better until the bottom of the seventh inning when a two out rally nearly ended the series.  Jeremy Giambi, the younger, yet just as slow footed, brother of slugger Jason hit a single to right field.  That brought up...drumroll please...Terrance Long!  The center of the postseason universe in my lifetime.  He hadn't failed in 2002 and 2003 yet and he didn't fail this time.  Long laced a bullet down the right field line into the corner.  Giambi rounded second and was being waved home.  The relay throw from the corner airmailed the cut off man, Oakland was going to tie the game up!  Then out of nowhere, Derek Jeter appeared as if the devil himself had placed him there to destroy everything that was holy to me.  He picked the ball up on a bounce, flipped the ball sidearmed to catcher Jorge Posada who tagged Giambi in the leg as he ran through home plate.  I didn't use the word 'slide'.  Jeremy Giambi didn't slide.  We'll never know if that would've made the difference, but you always slide into home on a close play...ALWAYS!  Just another little mistake that was maginified until it burned a hole through your brain into your guts and spilled your entrails all over the floor for Oakland.  The crowd was deflated, New York hung on for a 1-0 victory.  In Game 4, Jermaine Dye broke his leg as New York won again.  Game 5 saw Jason Giambi play his final game with Oakland as New York not only won the series, but wound up signing Giambi away from Oakland.  Life sucks sometimes.  Slide dammit!

1. 1988 - Game 1 October 15th vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

The one that started it all.  I'll admit most of what I remember from this game will probably be revisionist history.  I was 10 years old and just a budding fan of the Oakland Athletics.  Hell I was just in the beginning stages of truly understanding the game of baseball.  I know I was watching the game, I swear I was.  I think I was.  What I do know is that I have seen the highlight of the penultimate moment of this game far too many times.  It is why this ranks #1 and will probably (please God hopefully) always rank #1 on this list.  Oakland was the favorite against the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988.  They had won 10 more games in the regular season than the Dodgers and had swept the Boston Red Sox in the A.L.C.S..  The Dodgers on the other hand were the underdog within their League Championship Series against the New York Mets, but had won.  With Game 1 in Los Angeles it seemed imperitive to most pundits that if the Dodgers had any shot at competing with Oakland they would need to win Game 1.  A first inning, two run home run for Los Angeles helped give them hope.  That was dashed rather quickly as Jose Canseco hit a second inning grand slam giving Oakland a 4-2 lead.  Oakland starter, Dave Stewart, surrendered a sixth inning run, but heading to the bottom of the ninth inning, Oakland still led 4-3.  Dennis Eckersley was summoned to close out the game.  This is what he did.  He led the all of baseball with 45 saves that season and was the runner up in the American League Cy Young Award voting.  At age 33, Eckersley, a one time starter and recovering addict had a new lease on life as a closer.  He would close games for the next decade for Oakland and later St. Louis, but in 1988 he was just getting started.  He quickly retired the first two batters, ho-hum, nothing to see here, have a nice night, enjoy the trip home.  Uncharacticalistically, he walked the next batter (he had walked just 11 in 72 innings in the regular season and would walk just 3 batters in the 1989 season in 57 innings).  Of course, maybe that was part of the strategy.  This brought up the pitchers spot in the lineup and thanks to an injury to National League MVP Kirk Gibson, the Dodgers were out of viable options.  With a healthy Gibson, the Dodgers would have been given a much better shot to win the series.  He was thought to be unavailable though, that was until he appeared limping towards the on deck circle.  Tommy Lasorda, the Dodgers manager, had been told by Gibson that he had one good swing in him.  He rolled the dice.  Eckersley overpowered the gimpy Gibson with fastballs, but Gibson worked the count full and fouled off a tough pitch at that point.  Eckersley switched it up and apparently Kirk Gibson was ready for it.  Instead of sticking with the fastball that Gibson had shown no ability to hit solidly, Eckersley tried a slider on the outside corner.  Gibson later said he was sitting on that pitch and guessed completely.  He lunged on one leg and smacked the pitch into the bleachers in right field sending the city of Los Angeles into delerium.  Gibson slowly, injury or not, gutted his way around the bases adding an extra fist pump between first and second that was emulated by a generation of kids.  Oakland never recovered as Orel Hershiser seized the momentum and won both Game 2 and Game 5 as the Dodgers won the World Series.  To this day I swear I cried watching that ball land in the bleachers.  I know I still feel anger in the pit of my stomach everytime I see the replay or hear Vin Scully's call of "I don't believe what I just saw."  I'll leave you with that pain.  Sorry Athletics fans, I really am.