As I’ve been
casually watching the remainder of the MLB postseason, I find myself looking
back on the season that was for the A’s.
I’m not going to lie, I had become a much more passive baseball fan in
recent years due to the utter lack of passion and winning around the A’s. Its just been a brutal half decade for the
team. Since the last playoff appearance
in 2006, the A’s have been bad, with few players to cheer for, no fans, and no
real buzz. That all changed this year,
and really reawakened my dormant baseball fandom. I’ve even become a bigger Dodgers fan because
the A’s got me interested in my first love once again.
So, now that
the World Series is on tap, and the team that knocked the A’s out of the
playoffs will be competing for the Championship after easily dispatching the
crude Yankees (which, I believe, the A’s would have done as well), I wanted to
take one last look back at the A’s magical season. Below are my top 5 moments from the past
Oakland A’s season.
5. A’s Lose to Detroit in ALDS, Fans Drown Out
Detroit Celebration with Cheers!
This was
such a bittersweet moment, but also a shining example of the fans the A’s
actually have out there. The A’s fought
their way back from an 0-2 series hole to tie the ALDS at two games a
piece. The deciding Game 5 was in
Oakland, and Detroit had the luxury of trotting out the unhittable Justin
Verlander for the game. Oakland just
couldn’t figure him out, Verlander pitched a complete game, and the A’s magical
season was done. As Detroit celebrated
in the middle of the field, the A’s fans quickly booed them…and then broke out
in the loudest Let’s Go Oakland chants of the night…giving the team a long,
loud standing ovation. After a
heartbreaking loss. Just an incredible
moment. This team gave us so many great
moments this year, and it was such a magical ride to the AL West title, that
they deserved every moment of that. The A’s,
in turn, stayed on the field for their final good byes, hugging one another and
saluting a fanbase that really came through down the stretch!
4. Brandon Inge endears himself to Oakland A’s
fans, hits walk off Grand Slam to defeat Blue Jays.
The A’s
picked up Inge off the scrap heap from Detroit after the Tigers waived him, and
immediately installed him at 3B. The A’s
were just looking for ANY production from the position. In his first home game with the A’s, he
delivered a monster walk off grand slam…sending the A’s to a 7-3 victory, and 2
games over .500. At this point, we didn’t
quite know what the A’s would be yet…we were just enjoying the boys winning
more games than they were losing! This
was the A’s 3rd walkoff of the year…first of the Home Run
variety. They would end up with 14 in
the regular season, 15 overall, by far leading MLB. This was also the first walk off to be
greeted by a pie to the face courtesy of Josh Reddick…and a tradition was born!
This set off
a week to remember for Inge, who, over the span of 5 games, had 4 homers (2
grand slams) and 16 RBIs. Just an
incredible homestand for the guy. Inge became
a fan favorite and a clubhouse glue guy.
His arrival turned the A’s from a cool early story into a super fun,
super relaxed clubhouse full of guys who loved the game and would fight to the
death for one another. If I had to point
to one moment where this A’s team turned from pretender into contender…this one
would be in consideration. It took
another month after Inge arrived for the A’s to start their incredible run…but
Inge, along with Reddick and Crisp, really took charge of this clubhouse and
brought the team together.
3. A’s walk off, sweep Yankees in 4 game series!
This was the
moment when the entire nation started to take notice of what was going on in
Oakland. The Yankees came to town to
face a surging A’s team…and got steamrolled!
4 late inning comebacks, 3 walkoffs, and a 4 game sweep of the
Yankees. This final Sunday afternoon
game was the cherry on the top. The A’s
were down 4-0 after 4 innings, before they started to chip away. 2 in the 5th, 1 in the 6th
got them to 4-3…then in the 9th, Seth Smith hit a monster bomb off
closer Rafael Soriano (who had yet to give up a HR all season) to tie up the
game! Come to the 12th, and
Coco Crisp singled with two outs to win the game, and set off a
celebration! I mean, it was nuts. How many times did we fear “oh, here it comes…nice
ride, but its over” only to see the A’s storm back and never give up? This A’s win put them on the map, and was the
first 4 game sweep of the Yankees by any team since May 2003. Not too shabby! The A’s had arrived.
2. A’s come back with 3 in 9th
Inning, force Game 5 in ALDS.
This was
such a 2012 A’s game that its scary.
This was the one playoff game I was lucky enough to attend…and man, am I
glad I went! Crisp was the hero here
again, but it was an entire team effort to extend the season in this one. Down 3-1 in the 9th inning, the A’s
went Reddick single, Donaldson double, Seth Smith double to tie the game…then
two outs…and Crisp came up and singled in Smith. And the Coliseum went freak NUTS! The best part of this game was being in the
bleachers, and not once did anyone in the crowd ever believe it was over. Down to our last three outs, and the crowd
was still as loud as ever…still believed the A’s would come back. Because, hey, they’d been doing it all
season! Single, double, double…tie
game! No one was sitting. We were all on our feet. When Crisp knocked in Smith to win the game,
the roof blew off the place. We were all
jumping around, screaming, hugging, high fiving…just an incredible
atmosphere. The fans didn’t leave for
quite a while after the game. We all
just wanted to experience the moment…enjoy yet another magical A’s game. In a year full of walk offs and magical
moments, the A’s just had to have one in the postseason. It was almost as if they said to the world
finally watching them “hey, this is what we’re all about in Oakland.” Of course, Crisp got pied and gatoraded
during his national audience interview.
Welcome to Oakland, everyone!
Best baseball playoff game I’ve ever been to.
1. A’s erase 5-1 deficit, crush Texas to win AL
West on final day of the season.
October 3,
2012, the cap to a magical A’s season. The
A’s kept chipping away at the AL West division lead throughout the summer. As the Rangers faded, the A’s had the best
record in baseball after June 2nd.
This led to a scenario where, in the final series of the year, the A’s
and Rangers faced each other with the division on the line. The A’s needed to sweep the series to win the
division, with the Rangers needing only one win to cap off another expected
division crown. The A’s won on Monday,
won on Tuesday…which set up a winner take all showdown on Wednesday
afternoon. Oh, it also happened to be my
29th birthday! You know I
wasn’t missing this one. The atmosphere
in the Coliseum was electric. The green
and gold faithful ready to erupt.
However, early in the game, the Rangers jumped out to a 5-1 lead. But, as the A’s tend to do, they found a way
to come back. A 6 run 4th
inning gave the A’s a 7-5 lead…capped off by a 2 run error when Josh Hamilton
dropped a lazy fly ball off the bat of Yoenis Cespedes that would have been the
3rd out. At that moment, when
this superstar player dropped a routine fly ball, you knew it was over. You knew this magical ride would have a story
book ending.
The A’s
continued to pile on the runs, the crowd got rowdier and rowdier, and by the time
closer Grant Balfour took the mound in the 9th, the A’s were up
12-5, and the celebration was on! The A’s
celebrated on the field, then brought out the champagne to spray the crowd
with. They took a victory lap around the
stadium. When they ran out of champagne to spray the crowd with, they had the
grounds crew hook up the infield hose and sprayed the crowd with that. Where else will you see this? The love affair between this team and the
fanbase was incredible. The A’s earned
everything they got this year…and became the most unlikely division winner…possibly
ever. This game was, without a doubt,
the best in-person A’s experience I’ve ever been a part of. Better than the ALDS clincher in 2006. Better than the 20th in the streak
in 2002 (although that was close…that was an incredible game to be at as
well). What an amazing birthday present
the A’s gave me.
In a magical
season full of improbable win on top of improbable win, the A’s capping off
this run with the AL West title, sweeping the Rangers…it was just perfect! Just perfect.
The A’s
season was incredible. It will be really
difficult for them to recreate the same thing next year…but they definitely
have the talent to do so! All I know is,
this team was amazing. I thoroughly
enjoyed the ride they took us fans on.
And while it did not end with a World Championship, it reawakened
baseball love in Oakland. Whether this
lasts into next season remains to be seen…but I know I can’t wait to see the
boys take the field again next season.
LET’S GO
OAKLAND!
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