The Oakland Athletics are in the postseason. That sentence looks strange.The Oakland Athletics have a legitimate and not outlandish chance to have home field advantage throughout the American League playoffs.That sentence looks insane.But it is true. If the Yankees split their next two games and the A's win their last two games, then the Oakland Athletics would be the American League West Champion.Couple that with winning the season series against the Yankees and they would have the home field for a fifth and deciding Division Series game and the seventh game of the ALCS.A two-game scenario like that is by ...
After dealing away young ace pitchers Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill and closer Andrew Bailey this winter, the Oakland Athletics appeared to be in full rebuilding mode heading into this season.Most projection systems had the A's finishing with a losing record and no better than third place in the AL West.Yet after their Oct. 1 4-3 win over the Texas Rangers, the A's have clinched a playoff spot. If they close out the regular season with two more wins over the Rangers, they'll win the American League West. At worst, they'll finish with 92 wins and play in the American League wild-card playoff ...
Turn up the Kool & the Gang and break out your best Bernie! The plucky Oakland A's are in the 2012 MLB postseason.While manager Bob Melvin will tell anyone who listens that this is not the end of the line for his team, it is definitely time for the rest of us to stop and smell the roses. This team has defied expectation, logic and the rest of the American League to get to this point.The formula to win its 92nd game was pretty familiar: A quality start, just enough hitting and a rock solid bullpen brought the A's a 4-3 ...
Adding to a truly historic season, the Oakland A's are poised to make history by trotting out an all-rookie starting rotation this postseason. Travis Blackley, A.J. Griffin, Tom Milone, Jarrod Parker and Dan Straily have continued to provide enough to push the A's to the finish line and reach their first trip to October since 2006.But the strain of the last kick to the finish has impacted their rotation. Preferably, the A's would probably like to start Jarrod Parker in their first game (wild card or divisional series), but with the A's lacking the luxury of setting the rotation, that ...
The A’s all-or-none offense has had few consistent hitters throughout the season, but one bat Manager of the Year candidate Bob Melvin has been able to stencil in the lineup daily with confidence has been the shivering lumber of rookie outfielder Yoenis Cespedes. And in playoffs, where the stakes are the highest and the pressure is the greatest, Cespedes is definitely a guy you don’t mind having up at the plate during a climatic moment. The Cuban defector has been on a power surge through the month of September, ripping seven home runs and helping lead the A’s into ...
Since Jose Canseco’s Independent baseball career seems to be on hiatus, rumors are running rampant that Canseco is now interested in becoming a WWE social ambassador or a TNA Superstar. It is extremely unlikely that any of this will actually happen—but what the heck, the guy sure knows how to make headlines. A couple of weeks ago, Canseco started having a Twitter battle with the Iron Shiek. After reading the transcription on Deadspin, I’m positive you will shake your head in disbelief. Since then, Canseco tried contacting the WWE on Twitter, wanting to become their social ambassador. ...
Walking the leadoff batter almost always spells trouble.Such was the case on Saturday, September 29, when Oakland Athletics starter Dan Straily walked Seattle Mariners designated hitter John Jaso to open the top of the second. Although when Justin Smoak hit a hard grounder right at Brandon Moss, the walk appeared to become harmless.Moss stepped on first for one and threw to shortstop Stephen Drew at second for two. Two outs, nobody on. The walk never occurred. The only problem is that Moss's throw was errant, and Jaso popped up from his slide and headed toward third. Yoenis Cespedes came up ...
As I first wrote back in July for Bleacher Report, the Oakland Athletics are the best show in baseball. Seriously, if the A's are playing, watch them. Win or lose, it will be a spectacular show.Take the game played today, Sept. 29. It looked like the A's were going to go quietly and let the Seattle Mariners get the best of them. Going into the bottom of the 8th inning, Seattle was up 4-1 and cruising to a win.Jason Vargas pitched seven strong innings and Seattle manager Eric Wedge handed the ball to the bullpen.Then the A's gave whichever fans ...
MLB contenders have just six games to play in the 2012 regular season as they jostle for the remaining playoff berths.At this late stage of the season, we determine the strength of each team's schedule by individual matchups. Between pitchers and batters, catcher and baserunners, outfielders and ballpark dimensions, etc.My focus is on the playoff chase, so let's ignore the four National League clubs that have already punched their tickets to the postseason. Also, the AL's Texas Rangers can taste the champagne with the potential to lock up a spot on Friday night.But that still leaves 10 others vying for ...
Bob Melvin may preach one game at a time to a young team yet to officially clinch a playoff spot, but someone within the system should be preemptively planning the 25-man roster just in case. At 88-68, the A's are in a good position to fight for the wild card (they're currently in second). But first, they'll need to get through the Texas Rangers (four games up in the AL West standings) and the pesky Seattle Mariners, who look to play spoiler. Oh, and they'll also need to hold off the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who are just two ...