Oakland Athletics make the playoffs – time to jump on the bandwagon

The Oakland Athletics have been the best story in baseball that you haven’t heard been following. Time to jump on the bandwagon as the playoffs start next week.

The Oakland Athletics have a PR problem.

Most baseball fans in the Bay Area live and die with every San Francisco Giants game. The Giants had a spectacular run from 2010-2014, winning three World Series in five years, making Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey Bay Area royalty in the process.

And even before those winning years, Barry Bonds was busy splashing baseballs into McCovey Cove. But while the Giants have struggled since the 2016 All-Star break, the Oakland A’s have been assembling a team across the Bay that can compete with the best of them and just made the 2018 playoffs.

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How much more popular are the Giants than the Oakland A’s? San Francisco ranks fourth in all of baseball in home attendance (3,031,970 with three home games remaining), while the A’s are ranked 25th, with a home attendance of 1,573,616.

(The SF Giants are also the top road team in all of baseball in terms of attendance, beating out the Dodgers and the Yankees despite their subpar performance this season. Go figure.)

The A’s surely deserve to have more than just their die-hard fans see them play. On June 15th, their record was 34-36 and they found themselves 11.5 games out of first place. Since then, they’ve gone 62-27 (.697) for an overall record of 96-63 with three games remaining.

The Oakland A’s have won more games than the Boston Red Sox (59-30) and the Houston Astros (55-33) over the same period. That’s how hot they’ve been.

And the Athletics have secured a wild card spot in the American League playoffs because of that effort.

Manager Bob Melvin, in his eighth season as the A’s skipper, has led the team to a dramatic improvement over last year’s 75-win season.

While the A’s have gotten offensive contributions throughout the lineup, left fielder Khris Davis should get top five consideration for American League MVP. Davis leads all of major league baseball with 47 home runs; this is his third consecutive season with over 40 homers. Davis is also second in the American League with 121 runs batted in.

As a team, the Oakland Athletics are second in the American League in home runs. All-Star second baseman Jed Lowrie has hit 22 home runs. First baseman Matt Olson has 29 home runs. Right fielder Stephen Piscotty, from nearby Pleasanton CA, has 26 home runs. Third baseman Matt Chapman is a second year player batting .281 with 24 home runs.

The A’s have good power throughout the lineup.

And of course, the fielding play of the year came courtesy of Ramon Laureano on August 11th when he turned one of the most incredible double plays you’ll ever see.

As far as pitching is concerned, the A’s pitching staff has held up tremendously well, considering they’ve lost four pitchers to season-ending surgery this year.

Sean Manaea, who threw a no-hitter back in April, had shoulder surgery this month. Kendall Graveman and Daniel Gossett had Tommy John surgery in late July. Jharel Cotton had the same surgery before the season began.

While the starting rotation is made up of unheralded pitchers, the relief staff features Blake Treinen, who was acquired from the Nationals last year and made his first All-Star team this season. Treinen has turned into an exceptional closer, posting a 9-2 record with 37 saves and a remarkable 0.79 ERA.

After overcoming adversity throughout the season, the Athletics will be facing the Yankees in the American League Wild Card game (location still yet to be determined). The A’s won’t be favored this post-season. But once they get into October, anything can happen.