The Oakland Athletics Return to their “Green Collar” Selves
The Oakland Athletics are hosting the Kansas City Royals this weekend, and it can only mean one thing: Revenge.
As painful as it is to think about, the Athletics were eliminated from the playoffs last season after an awful loss to the Royals. It was truly a heartbreak of a game.
However, the Athletics are on quite the hot streak recently. As of Friday, they won nine of their last 11 games. Their gap from the top of the wildcard race is narrowing, and the Athletics are looking to keep their good fortunes alive against the Royals.
This could end up being an interesting weekend to say the least. The last series between the A’s and Royals in April turned out to be quite physical for a game of baseball.
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According to Fox Sports, the teams cleared the benches in all three games earlier this season. They quoted Athletics manager, Bob Melvin, saying, “that was an uncomfortable three-game series to have to play through.”
The series was a frenzy of baseline collisions and batters getting hit by pitches. It resulted in numerous ejections and a five-game suspension for the Royals pitcher, Kelvin Herrera.
Here we are over two months later, and the Athletics are finally playing like the team we all expected them to be. The A’s might feel anxious about the reunion with the Royals, but there is no way it will be a repeat of all that bad blood.
Drama is the last thing the Athletics need considering the position they are in. Basically, they need wins, and the A’s will get them by sticking to their “Green-Collar Baseball” state of mind.
Athletics fans have come to know and love this team for their hard-nosed approach. Recently and in past years, that success was anchored by superb pitching with dynamic offense.
Sonny Gray is, without a doubt, a vital leader on this team. He already has nine wins on the season with one of the league’s lowest ERAs. There is no way that he won’t be selected for this year’s All-Star Game.
In addition to great pitching, the consistent offense of Stephen Vogt and Josh Reddick have sparked the Athletics back into winning fashion. Both of them have really been locked in this season with their high batting averages and impressive RBI numbers.
This is all starting to remind me of how dominating they were last season. The athletics spent most of last year with one of the best records in the league, and they are showing the kind of productivity that makes for a successful postseason team.
The Royals and the rest of the American League better be ready for, arguably, baseball’s hottest team.
The A’s recent lead-off man, Billy Burns has also been fueling their resurgence. According to the Fox News article from above, he is batting .362 during a 15-game hitting streak as of Friday.
With all of the recent drama surrounding stadium deals for the Oakland Athletics and Raiders, the A’s recent success reminded me what’s most important: winning.
At a certain point, it gets tiring to see report after report on the politics in professional sports. Baseball is such a great game, and the way the A’s are playing represents where the focus should be.
It would be fantastic if the top executives of the Athletics and Raiders get over their issues and work together to keep these beloved teams where they belong. The Athletics are Oakland along with the Raiders, and the teams’ efforts greatly help this city come alive.
If the Oakland Athletics keep up their high productivity and energy, they will be a major threat to opposing teams this postseason.