Riding 6game win streak, A’s set to face scandalridden Astros
Anticipation for the series that opens Friday at the Coliseum began — well, really as early as the end of last season, but it only intensified as the Astros went from the A’s heated division rivals to baseball’s biggest villains.
Now, at long last, after baseball’s coronavirus shutdown delayed things, the A’s, winners of six in a row, will play host to Houston, which is coming off one of the biggest cheating scandals in the history of sports, a trash canbanging scheme to steal signs that helped the Astros to the World Series title in 2017 and cost manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow their jobs.
A major component will be missing from this longawaited matchup between the AL West’s top teams, though, as MLB tries to play its season during a pandemic. Fans across the country had itched to boo the Astros. Clever signmakers yearned to display disparaging banners. Houston probably would have drawn extremely well on the road, particularly in Oakland, such was the desire to heckle. Instead, the Astros play in empty stadiums.
“This was a year that probably they would’ve gotten a hard time from the fans — and I don’t know that our cutouts will have a whole lot to say about that,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “You just want to go out and you want to play well against them. You want to beat them because they’re a good team and if we’re
going to go where we want to go, that’s the team you have to go through in your division.
“I think there are a lot of teams that are probably, and rightly so, upset with them this year. But you can’t let that get in the way of going out there and concentrating on what you need to do to win a game, and if it gives you motivation, so be it.”
One potential major story line must wait for one of the later series between the clubs: Mike Fiers, the one publicly named whistleblower in the scandal, started and got the victory in the A’s 64 decision over Texas on Thursday. Fiers won’t pitch against his former club this weekend.
“It’s really not going to change anything if I start against Houston,” Fiers said. “I’m going to be the same person, go out there and make pitches and do exactly what I do. I don’t think there’s extra motive to pitch against them or any team.”
Many players already thought the punishments weren’t stiff enough, and there is a strong undercurrent of feeling that, with no angry fans getting after them this year, the Astros are escaping even more lightly.
“It’s kind of frustrating just in the fact that it just seems like they’re getting by so easily,” Oakland starter Sean Manaea said. “It sucks that this situation has happened and nothing’s really happened to the organization that ultimately did just some crazy stuff . ... I think there’s stuff that we can’t look past, but at the same time, we’ve just got to keep on going and put them in the rearview, honestly.”
There is at least one reminder in the Coliseum, should the Astros take note: In one of the first rows of the rightfield bleachers, there is a cardboard cutout of Houston’s mascot, Orbit, in a trash can, a la Oscar the Grouch.
That did make Manaea smile. “That’s hilarious,” he said. “That’s awesome.”
Chris Bassitt will be the first A’s starter to face the defending division champs. He said this week that the cheating scandal hasn’t really faded. “I think from a player standpoint, I think we haven’t forgot about it at all,” he said. “But facing them, you can’t really play that game.
“I don’t think we need more incentive to try to win the division. That’s obviously our goal, that’s obviously their goal. We’re in their way and they’re in our way. I think the Astros and us are going to be neck and neck basically the whole year.”
The Astros are nestled in second place, 21⁄2 games behind Oakland, but they aren’t quite the team the A’s are used to seeing. Gerrit Cole left as a free agent for the Yankees and longtime Oakland archenemy Justin Verlander is out with an arm injury that appears as if it could end his season; much of the pitching staff is inexperienced, and the top of what is still an impressive lineup is cold. After a 54 loss in Arizona on Thursday, José Altuve is batting .192, Alex Bregman .235 and George Springer .182.
“Houston’s hurt right now. They’ve got a lot of guys injured and guys not pitching for them or in their lineup,” Fiers said, “So we’ve just got to take care of business. We’ve got to keep playing our style of baseball and just do everything the right way.”
For a Bay Area audience, there is, of course, one very familiar face in the Astros’ dugout. Dusty Baker is managing the team, brought in to restore order postscandal after Hinch was fired. Melvin, who played for the Giants, is particularly close to Baker.
“He’s been a resource for me. He’s been a father figure for me in this game as far as managing,” Melvin said. “I will always look forward to seeing him. I don’t necessarily enjoy managing against him because he’s had such great success. I think it’s 2,000 wins (1,869) and I don’t know how many Manager of the Years (three) . ... I am happy that he got another opportunity because he deserves one. And he’s one of the great managers, really, of all time.”