Improbable, delightful result
On a day when the Bay Area sports world definitely needed a smile, the A’s provided it.
After providing a summer full of the unexpected and the enjoyable, they’re taking that feel-good vibe into the fall. Straight into October.
This is not what anyone could have predicted in the spring. The A’s were a team that had been stuck in last place for the past three years, a downtrodden outfit that for years barely could make itself relevant in our crowded sports scene. Now, the A’s are the feel-good story of the Bay Area.
Their improbable playoff berth — perhaps the most
unexpected in their history — was achieved through the back door. The A’s wrapped up a postseason spot barely after the first pitch was thrown in Monday’s game in Seattle. That happened because Tampa Bay lost to the Yankees, reducing the A’s magic number to zero.
But this team isn’t backing into anything. The A’s have been the best story in baseball since June 16, when they turned on the jets. Before play on June 16, they were 34-36. They then went on a tear. They went 21-6 before the All-Star break, 61-26 through Monday.
And after their 95th win, they poured Champagne over their heads.
Jonathan Lucroy hit a home run Monday night and threw out Dee Gordon trying to steal. Jed Lowrie broke a 1-1 tie with a home run. Khris Davis hit yet another home run. Those were all perfect contributions on this historic night. Lucroy, a late addition to the team in spring training, is one of the players who settled this young team and helped it grow. Lowrie has been another steady influence while having a career year.
And Davis? He’s simply leading the majors with 46 home runs.
Bob Melvin is the front runner for AL Manager of the Year. Davis should, at the very least, be in the American League MVP conversation.
We don’t expect the Astros to collapse this week and cede the division title, so the A’s will play a wild-card game next Wednesday, likely in Yankee Stadium.
The A’s would love to play a home game, but they’re not afraid of playing on the road. They are 45-32on the road this season. They played in the Bronx back in May, before they gained their current swagger, but that series gave them confidence. They went 1-2, with one of those losses coming in 11innings.
This will be the A’s first playoff performance since that disastrous wild-card game in Kansas City in 2014, when they blew a 7-3 lead in a 9-8, 12-inning loss. After that loss, executive Billy Beane ripped apart the team, alienating fans. The results and the team payroll were microscopic in the years that followed.
The payroll is still among the league’s lowest. This year at spring training, Beane and Melvin spoke optimistically about the team’s prospects. But the A’s were young. Too young to be burdened with expectations.
Yet somehow, it has all clicked, way ahead of schedule. Even with a patchwork rotation and the reliance on “bullpenning,” the A’s have continued to win.
Now they’re headed to the playoffs. The biggest surprise of the season.