Managing A’s no longer seen as thankless, thanks to Melvin.
After wild-card torment in K.C., Beane gets shot against Yankees
NEW YORK — Oakland’s one previous wild-card game experience was a back-andforth classic in 2014 that the A’s appeared to have nailed down numerous times, and they were two outs from going to the Division Series before the Royals staged a winning rally in the 12th inning.
It was a gut punch for the A’s, and something Billy Beane would like to avoid Wednesday at New York when his team plays the Yankees in the American League wild-card game.
“I absolutely do not want to re-create that night again,” the A’s vice president told The Chronicle. “In my professional career, there have been some heartbreakers, but I’ve still always been able to savor the moments.
“That one was not the case. That was the worst night of my professional life. What we really learned was you want to avoid that feeling ever again.”
The lesson learned, Beane said, perhaps explains why Oakland is expected to go the unusual route of a full bullpen game against the Yankees, which means no traditional starting pitcher, and a cast of relievers sharing the work instead.
“You pull out all stops to win that game and throw all tradition out the window,” Beane said. “It’s a cage match with no rules.”
As dreadful as that experience at Kansas City was for Beane and Co., he said he finds the current iteration of the A’s something of a relaxing experience. There were no expectations coming into the season after three last-place finishes. Then all the starters began to get injured. So once the team
got on a roll in mid-June and didn’t slow down, it was all just fun.
That’s why Beane finds it tough to weigh this team’s playoff chances.
“That’s hard to answer,” he said. “I don’t want to underestimate these guys; nothing they do surprises me anymore. I don’t think they’ve ever stressed me out — every other team has stressed me out at some point, but these guys haven’t had any long losing streaks.
“We started off 5-10 and when we took off, we were still around .500 and that seemed totally appropriate. Then they kept on winning and winning and winning, and of course, there’s a lot of joy there. I’m completely prepared for them to do anything.”
One of the earliest proponents of the young A’s team? Beane’s counterpart in New York, general manager Brian Cashman, who called with compliments after Oakland nearly took two of three at the Bronx in May.
“We didn’t necessarily see it early on that it would come together this quickly, but we started hearing from people that thought we had a pretty good team,” Beane said. “They’d say, ‘This team is going to surprise people with how good they are.’ Cash mentioned how much he really liked our team after we played there.”
When the A’s and Yankees played each other in the Division Series in 2000 and 2001, the contrast between the teams was obvious, but that dynamic has shifted.
“They’re put together not dissimilar to the way our team has been,” Beane said. “Brian and the rest of that organization have done a great job, and that team is going to be great for a long time to come — and with a lot of resources.”
Cashman and Beane are close, and they enjoy the rivalry, but the Yankees won those series in 2000 and 2001, and Beane would like to begin to right the balance, gain some bragging rights at last.
“Brian and I started the same year and he’s one of my best friends in the game, and one of the greatest GMs in the history of the game. Recordwise, that shows you he’s a slam-dunk Hall of Famer,” Beane said. “We have a lot of respect for each other, and we’ll have a lot of fun.
“But this time, I’d like to beat him for once — and there won’t be (Derek) Jeter there to flip the ball this time.”