The A’s ended last season with a 23-7 record including a sweep of the Texas Rangers in the last regular season series to clinch the American League West Championship with such a ragtag roster that only five players were active all season.
Pundits and experts declared it a fluke and picked the A’s to finish no better than third this season behind the Rangers and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Instead, they seized the division lead in June and as this is written are neck and neck with the Rangers and 10 games ahead of the Angels.
How did this happen? The A’s have one of the lowest payrolls in baseball and arguably the worst ballpark. On Father’s Day raw sewage backed up into the clubhouses and the A’s, Mariners and the umpires had to shower upstairs in the Raiders locker room. Free agent hitters won’t come because the Coliseum depresses their statistics, and the A’s won’t spend big anyway.
What they are relying on is superior talent evaluation, prudent risks, and creativity. Their third baseman, Josh Donaldson has been their best hitter since converting from catcher. Jed Lowrie has been very productive at shortstop for Oakland when injuries he suffered while playing for the Red Sox and Houston depressed his value into the A’s range. Their ace pitcher, Bartolo Colon, was suspended in 2012 for performance enhancing drug violations, which scared off other teams. Their best athlete, leftfielder Yoenis Cespedes, was signed after defecting from Cuba off little more than a promotional video put together by his agent. They have the top bullpen in the majors, and it is entirely made up of young players or players rescued from the scrap heap at bargain prices.
General Manager Billy Beane has again proven that you don’t have to follow convention to have success putting together a major league roster. He gets the pieces and lets manager Bob Melvin run the games. Beane and Melvin are candidates for Executive of the Year and Manager of the Year, respectively.
The Giants may have won two of the last three World Series, but Bay Area baseball fans who are not following the A’s may be missing the best story in baseball.
Changes For Off the Bench
I am retiring from my career in public relations and marketing and moving to San Diego. However, Alive publisher Eric Johnson accepted my offer to continue my column from there, and my pledge is you won’t even notice that I don’t live in the Bay Area.
The magic of the Internet, with an assist from the football, baseball and hockey packages on DirecTV, will allow me to continue to follow Bay Area Sports. I can listen to KNBR and read the Chronicle and the Bay Area news group to take the pulse of Bay Area sports and comment on that.
Off the Bench has occasionally focused on national stories and trend pieces and that won’t change. What also won’t change is my email and if you think I’m missing a story you can contact me at plhirsch30@aol.com.
And who knows, retirement from my day job might allow for more time to follow sports and develop new outlooks. Alive East Bay readers may even benefit from having a SoCal correspondent.
Leave a Reply