Oakland Athletics: October baseball is back in Oakland
On Wednesday night, the Oakland Athletics will host the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Wild Card Game. Of course, this is not A’s first romp in the annual elimination game.
It was only a year ago that the New York Yankees hosted the Oakland Athletics, Bronx-bombing them 7-2. And who could forget the A’s wild-card collapse in Kansas City against the Royals in 2014? God knows I can’t.
I’m not here to say that these A’s are any different than those of 2018 or 2014 — that they’re somehow impervious to the franchise’s spotty history in elimination games. These A’s, like so many of their earlier iterations, weren’t expected to be here this late.
They’re no Island of Misfit Toys, but they’re still unknown to most, grinding away when no-one was watching. Well, except for us.
Analysts will strum up the same story of these A’s somehow coming out of nowhere, ignoring the ball club’s 97 wins and wild-card berth last year. But Oakland is a city used to underestimation.
In a March poll of ESPN’s 31 leading baseball experts, only nine predicted that the A’s would reach the playoffs — all 31 saved a spot for the Boston Red Sox.
Admittedly, the A’s stumbled early. On May 5, the A’s were 15-21 and dead-last in the AL West. A’s first baseman Matt Olson, who slugged 28 home runs and won his first Gold Glove in 2018, missed the opening month with an injured thumb.
Last year’s stalwart relievers Blake Treinen (0.78 ERA, 38 saves) and Lou Trivino (2.92 ERA, 4 saves) struggled mightily, unmooring a once-steady bullpen.
Despite these setbacks, not to mention the disappearance of Khris Davis’s power, the A’s had clawed their way back to 34-34 and fifth in the AL wild-card standings by June 10.
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By the All-Star break, they had jumped to 51-41. By the beginning of August, 63-48. I could go on, but you get the point. These A’s aren’t out of nowhere — no, they’re a long time coming.
After the All-Star break, shortstop Marcus Semien caught fire, crushing 19 home runs and slashing his way to .304/.396/.621 batting splits. The A’s highly-coveted pitching prospects, A.J. Puk and Jesus Luzardo, made their much-anticipated debuts and flashed their All-Star pedigree.
The A’s set a single-season franchise record for home runs at 257, out-slugging the 1996 A’s 243 long balls by over a dozen.
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No matter all of that. No matter the A’s 54-27 record across the back-half of the season. They still couldn’t chase down a Houston Astros team that notched a league-best 107 wins.
It’s almost dizzying to think about — the A’s won 97 games and still trailed the Astros by double-digits in the division standings. So, the wild-card awaits.
The A’s and their wild-card opponent, the Rays, are oddly alike. The Rays toil away in an oddly designed, often-empty stadium with a league-low payroll. Sound familiar?
This year, the A’s spent roughly $93 million on their roster. The Rays spent only $63 million but refused to bend to big-spenders like the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians down the stretch.
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Really, the Rays are about the farthest thing from the Yankees — they’re tougher, hardened by small-market anonymity and one-run games.
I don’t know what will happen on Wednesday. I’m not expecting the worst. I don’t think I’m expecting anything. After all, the A’s postseason may be just that, a Wednesday.
But if they can somehow sidestep their past postseason struggles and the Rays, they’re as capable as any of winning the World Series.
So, bring on Charlie Morton. Bring on James Paxton and Aroldis Chapman. Bring on Gerrit Cole and Zack Greinke. Hell, bring on Justin Verlander.
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Whether it’s for nine innings or three series, bring on October in Oakland.