WASHINGTON — The Oakland Coliseum is widely regarded as the worst ballpark in baseball.
And that’s OK. It’s not pretty, but it’s ours. It reflects the team that calls it home — a group of misshapen platoon parts, often discarded by others, collected to get the job done no matter how ugly it looks along the way.
I grew up with the Oakland A’s. I watched the Bash Brothers in their heyday, saw Rickey being Rickey. I lived through the ups and downs of the Moneyball era, from The Streak to four straight Game 5 defeats in the ALDS.
Speaking of The Streak, one could make a good case that this A’s season has been a macrocosm of that famed 20th game depicted in great detail in the movie. Oakland, needing just one more win to set a new American League record, jumped out to an 11-0 lead through four innings against, wait for it, the Kansas City Royals. There was celebration in the stands, including my seat — at the far reach of the final section of the second deck, hugging the right field foul pole — a seat I left empty while jumping up and down most of those first few innings.
Then, the unthinkable happened. The Royals scratched and clawed back, with a five-run fifth and a five-run eighth, eventually tying the game in the top of the ninth.
All was lost. It really felt that way. The passion, the energy, the hope had been drained from the Coliseum. There would be no joy in Mudville.
And then Scott Hatteberg cranked a game-winning home run straight past me and into the right field seats, sending a raucous crowd of over 55,000 (!) into delirious pandemonium.
And so, 12 years later, here we are. The A’s have squandered a healthy division lead, but somehow survived their own bumbling ineptitude to make the playoffs.
Honestly, I’m as at ease as I’ve ever been entering the postseason.
In 2000, the A’s drew the free-falling Yankees in the first round, the Bronx Bombers limping in after losing 15 of 18 to close the regular season. We all know how that turned out. In fact, there has been a hefty amount of research put in to disprove the very idea of regular-season momentum having any sway on postseason results.
In 2009, Jay Jaffe masterfully deconstructed the fallacy for Baseball Prospectus. Just a couple of weeks ago, Dave Cameron did the same for Fox Sports. Collecting some late-season wins may make for a good sentiment around the clubhouse and a good story in the press box on the final weekend of the regular season, but it has no bearing on postseason success.
Which brings us back to the A’s. Yes, they went 16-30 to close the season after a scorching 72-44 start. But they still would have had to go 25-21 over that stretch to win the AL West, with the hard-charging Angels running away to baseball’s best regular-season record.
Absent a division title, Oakland still looks better built for October than it has been in each of the past two years, with a rotation of John Lester, Sonny Gray, Scott Kazmir, Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel, each of whom rank in the top 50 in baseball in ERA. Their team ERA (3.22) ranks third, their opponents’ batting average (.233) second, and WHIP (1.14) the best in the game.
And if you believe in run differential and statistics such as Expected Wins, the A’s look like a sleeping giant. Based on an MLB-best +157 run differential, Oakland’s Pythagorean Win-Loss Record was 99-63. If anything, that’s the sign of a team that underachieved in the regular season.
Their OPS ranks just 13th, but is still better than the playoff-bound Giants, Cardinals and, yes, the Royals, whom the A’s will face in their do-or-die game Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium.
They survived a potential collapse for the ages. They might as well just win the damn thing.
National League
- Our Nationals pastime
WTOP Sports’ Jonathan Warner discusses how the Washington Nationals have all the ingredients to win: pitching, defense, hitting, power and speed. - Another title in the Cards
WTOP Traffic’s Rich Hunter says emerging young talents and experienced players and management will help bring it all together and give the St. Louis Cardinals another world title. - It’s time for Dodger Baseball
WTOP Reporter Andrew Mollenbeck shares how he accidentally fell in love with the Los Angeles Dodgers. - Buctober
WTOP Sports’ J. Brooks says the Pittsburgh Pirates have promise and how a with a win in the Wild Card Game, they would give the Nationals a run for their money. - Together, we can be Giant again
WTOP Assistant Editor Joey Kahn looks at how the San Francisco Giants will win in 2014 after World Series victories in 2012 in 2010.
American League
- There’s no place like hO’me
WTOP Assistant Editor Samantha Loss, a lifelong Baltimore Orioles fan shares her thoughts on why the team will come out on top. - Motor City madness in D.C.
WTOP News Director Mitch Miller shares why the Detroit Tigers will motor through the tournament and eliminate the competition. - Baseball Jesus + best bullpen = win
Adrian Spinelli, special to WTOP, states that Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s Mike Trout, the offense and the bullpen can help the team. - We’ll always be Royal
WTOP Reporter Megan Cloherty shares why the Kansas City Royals deserve to make it to the World Series.
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