We’re into the top 10 of our 25 Greatest Oakland A's Wins countdown, and this is where the real debate begins. I'm sure many fans who read this blog will be wondering why this game isn’t higher on the list. I’ll address that question a little later in the post. Writing an introduction for this game is quite difficult as I remember experiencing so many varying emotions swirling through my mind from the first pitch to the end. Simply, there’s just not many games that have you like that.
Win #10 brings us back to October 10, 2012, for game 4 of the 2012 ALDS. The A’s and Tigers were quite evenly matched against one and other, but came into the post season with different expectations. The A’s were just happy to be there in some ways, while the Tigers were anxiously hoping they could convert on the championship window that was obviously right in front of them.
In game one of the series, the A’s received a 'Rickey Henderson' from Coco Crisp to lead off the game, but that would be the only spark of offense the A's would see as Justin Verlander would shutout the A’s from that point on. The Tigers would go onto win 3-1 in a frustrating game.
The next day was an early morning game that the A’s appeared to have by the throat in a pivotal game. A drop by Coco Crisp on a blooper from Miguel Cabrera would be the play everyone remembered and later on, the Tigers would walk-off on a sacrifice fly to rescue the game and make the series 2-0 Tigers.
In game one of the series, the A’s received a 'Rickey Henderson' from Coco Crisp to lead off the game, but that would be the only spark of offense the A's would see as Justin Verlander would shutout the A’s from that point on. The Tigers would go onto win 3-1 in a frustrating game.
The next day was an early morning game that the A’s appeared to have by the throat in a pivotal game. A drop by Coco Crisp on a blooper from Miguel Cabrera would be the play everyone remembered and later on, the Tigers would walk-off on a sacrifice fly to rescue the game and make the series 2-0 Tigers.
The series then returned to Oakland. Due to odd scheduling mistakes, the 2-3 format was used in this series and the A’s would get the last three games at home. Already down, they would have to win all three to advance and keep their season going. In game three, Brett Anderson pitched a brilliant game after coming off a minor injury and then Coco Crisp made an unbelievable catch to rob Prince Fielder of a home run. A home run from Seth Smith would put the exclamation point on the A’s 2-0 shutout victory which seemed to re-energize the belief in the A’s. Fans and pundits alike were very impressed with the crowd support from game 3 and it seemed as though the reputation of Oakland fans was changing in those moments.
It was now a 2-1 series lead for the Tigers and game 4 would feature an interesting matchup. It would be Max Scherzer for the Tigers, and this was a year before Scherzer would have his breakout season, but he was still a pitcher who presented a tough matchup for the A’s. Scherzer was not at 100% coming into the game, since he sprained his ankle during the Tigers AL Central clinch celebration. That gave A’s fans some quiet confidence. A's fans were also encouraged by the fact that Scherzer is a guy who throws a lot of pitches so the A’s would get a shot at the Tigers’ suspect bullpen at some point in the game.
It was now a 2-1 series lead for the Tigers and game 4 would feature an interesting matchup. It would be Max Scherzer for the Tigers, and this was a year before Scherzer would have his breakout season, but he was still a pitcher who presented a tough matchup for the A’s. Scherzer was not at 100% coming into the game, since he sprained his ankle during the Tigers AL Central clinch celebration. That gave A’s fans some quiet confidence. A's fans were also encouraged by the fact that Scherzer is a guy who throws a lot of pitches so the A’s would get a shot at the Tigers’ suspect bullpen at some point in the game.
For the A’s, AJ Griffin was taking the hill. Griffin had an unbelievable year for the A’s. Griffen was called up in late June and was an impressive surprise that was critical to the A’s run down the stretch in 2012. The problem was that, the last time the A’s fans saw Griffin was on the last day of the season where Griffin was pulled early (more on that game later). They say styles make fights, and Griffin was a more cerebral pitcher with softer pitches that relied on deception while Scherzer threw from an unusual arm angle with a nasty slider and threw very hard.
Image credit: Miriam Aguilar
Going into the series, a key for the A’s was really trying to keep the Tigers' middle of the order from causing too much havoc. That middle of the order included the AL MVP from that year, Miguel Cabrera who was 4 for 12 going into game 4. The A’s had done a good job making sure that Cabrera was coming up with no base runners, since the A’s knew that he’d get his hits, it would just be a matter of making sure those hits didn’t play a part in the outcome of the games. The other two guys in the Tigers' middle of the order, on the other hand really were struggling: Prince Fielder was 1 for 12 in the series, and Delmon Young was 2 for 9.
The first two innings went rather predictably for both starting pitchers. Both would give up a single hit, with Scherzer overpowering the A’s batters and picking up 4 strikeouts. Griffin would take advantage of the Coliseum by getting 4 fly ball outs.
The 3rd inning would see the first run of the game as the Tigers catcher, Alex Avila would double and Tigers manager, Jim Leyland would call for Omar Infante to bunt which would move Avila to third with one out. Next up was Austin Jackson, and being ultra aggressive he’d line an 0-1 pitch into left field. Avila would score easily. The Tigers had taken a 1-0 lead which would make the blood pressure raise a bit.
The A’s would go down quietly in the 3rd as Scherzer looked dominant. Things would only get worse for the A’s in the top of the 4th. Prince Fielder who had been having a difficult series broke his mini slump in a big way, on an 0-2 pitch, Fielder crushed one for a no doubt, solo home run. It was now 2-0 Tigers, and it was clear that the A’s were going to have to find some more comeback magic to keep their season alive.
Luckily for the A’s, the top of the 4th only saw one run come across the plate for the Tigers, Griffin was able to get a double play with runners on first and second to stifle the Tigers rally. In the bottom of the 4th, Scherzer faced Stephen Drew, Yoenis Cespedes, and Brandon Moss who seemed to be the only A’s hitters remotely close to getting contact against Scherzer. And unfortunately, this inning would be Scherzer’s least taxing as it turned out to be a 5 pitch inning with Drew lining out, Cespedes flying out, and Moss popping out to end the inning.
Griffin appeared to have settled down in the 5th for the A’s as he faced a 1-2-3 inning, suggesting that the double play in the previous inning had brought him new life. The A’s wouldn’t score in the 5th but they made Scherzer throw a taxing inning, even with the A’s striking out 3 times, Scherzer threw at least 5 pitches in each of those at bats. In total, the A’s forced Scherzer to throw 29 pitches in that inning which more than made up for the 5 pitch inning he threw in the inning previous.
The top of the 6th would see the end of AJ Griffin’s day. Griffin would give up a leadoff single to Miguel Cabrera. He had only thrown 85 pitches, but Melvin could not afford to take any chances especially with Fielder and Young coming up. Melvin would go for the lefty specialist, Jerry Blevins who had been dynamite all year for the A’s. Blevins would do the job once again, forcing Fielder to ground to Stephen Drew, who stepped on second and fired to first for a rally stifling double play. Blevins would then get Delmon Young to groundout to end the inning with no damage done.
The bottom of the 6th would also see the end of Scherzer’s day as well. Coco Crisp would reach on a Prince Fielder error that would allow Coco to end up at second. Scherzer would then let a slider get away from him and Crisp would advance to third. Then the A’s thought they had just hit the jackpot, as Stephen Drew would hit a Scherzer 3-2 pitch into the gap in right-center, and Coco would walk home. While Drew reached second easily, he then rounded second and tried to go to third. Drew's attempt for third would end up being a terrible decision as the Tigers completed a tremendous relay that had Drew out by 10 feet. The A’s had cut the lead in half, but Drew’s base running error had stifled their rally.
Most importantly, Stephen Drew’s big hit forced Jim Leyland to take Scherzer out of the game and put in the veteran reliever and former A, Octavio Dotel. Dotel would get Cespedes to strikeout and then he’d walk Brandon Moss. Leyland would then go to the lefty, Phil Coke to face Josh Reddick. Coke would force a fly out that would end the inning, but the inning had reinvigorated the crowd and provided them plenty of hope that the A’s could and would comeback to win.
Blevins would take care of the Tigers in the top of the 7th, forcing three ground ball outs on 6 pitches. Al Albuquerque would do the same in the bottom half, but would throw a few more pitches. The A’s were were still one run down, and now only 6 outs away from seeing their season end.
Matters would only get worse for the A’s in top of the 8th, Sean Doolittle would come into the game. Doolittle would give up a leadoff single to Omar Infante, and then once again, the Tigers would play small ball by making Austin Jackson bunt allowing Infante to go to second with one out. Avisail Garcia would then pinch hit and he’d come through with a single to right, Infante rounded third and was gonna try and score. Reddick came up throwing but unlike many times during the regular season, Reddick was unable to gun down Infante and now it was 3-1 Tigers. A run like that would usually be devastating but not for the 2012 A’s, it seemed that almost no deficit was too much for them. Luckily the damage would stop there and with the top of the order coming up in the bottom half, the A’s were running out of opportunities.
The bottom of the 8th seemed to be the A’s best chance to comeback and tie the game. After Cliff Pennington, Coco Crisp and the rest of the A’s top of the order would be coming up. Joaquin Benoit would come in for the Tigers as their usual setup man. The inning would start off with groundout from Pennington and all of a sudden the Tigers were 5 outs away from the ALCS. Then Coco Crisp came up and could do no more than fly out. Two outs now in the bottom of the 8th, and Stephen Drew was up next. Drew would continue his good night by getting a two strike single to keep the inning alive. Then Yoenis Cespedes would draw a walk as all five pitches he faced were well out of the strike zone. The Tigers were clearly taking no chances with the A’s best hitter in 2012. It was now first and second with two outs, and Brandon Moss was coming to the plate. Moss had struggled all series but it seemed he was due for a hit in a situation like this. Moss wouldn’t come though, being too aggressive, he’d swing at pitches outside the strike zone and strikeout to end the inning.
It was the top of the 9th and the A’s couldn’t afford to give up any more runs. Bob Melvin sent out Ryan Cook to hold serve while keeping Grant Balfour waiting in the bullpen. Cook would get an easy one-two-three inning and after striking out Alex Avila to end the inning, Cook started yelling and screaming as if to try to get his teammates fired up.
Image credit: Press Democrat
As if they needed it, the Tigers closer, Jose Valverde was coming into the game. Valverde had been known for his “overzealous” celebrations, whatever that means. In 2011, Valverde had been perfect, 50 save opportunities, 50 saves. In 2012, he finally showed vulnerability by blowing 5 saves. No matter who was on the mound, the A’s had a daunting test right in front of them.
Leading off would be Josh Reddick, besides his home run in game 2, Reddick had been struggling at the plate. There was no better time to break the slump than right now, and Reddick was behind in the count at 1-2. The Tigers continued to throw to Reddick away and get him to roll over. And they did the same for the 1-2 pitch, it was a fastball on the outside corner, low and away and Reddick pulled it into the 3.5 hole (between first and second basemen) and Infante couldn’t get to it. It was a single for Reddick, and all of a sudden the A’s had the building blocks for a comeback in place.
Next up was Josh Donaldson, and we all remember Donaldson as this tremendous player but at that time, Donaldson was just beginning to showcase his talent. So what he did in this at bat was a lot more surprising then, than it would be now. Donaldson wasted no time, Valverde threw him a fastball out over the plate and Donaldson smacked it into the night sky, it was a question of whether it would stay in the ballpark and it smashed off the jagged edge in left-center and Austin Jackson fired it back into the infield, but not before Donaldson and Reddick would run all the way to second and third, with nobody out.
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Image credit: Press Democrat
It was now a whole new ballgame, and the crowd was in a frenzy. The A's had done this so many times before but there was still work to be done. Next up came Seth Smith, and the first pitch that Valverde threw to him was three feet wide from the plate, clearly Valverde was feeling every bit of the moment. Then Smith would swing through a pitch out of the strike zone and now it was 1-1. The next pitch from Valverde was out over the plate, and this was one that Smith got the barrel on, right away it was clear it was going into the gap. It got down, Reddick scored with his arms waving around urging Donaldson to score behind him, and he did easily.
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It was a tie game, and during all that, Seth Smith ended up at second yelling as the camera came over him. It was a tie ballgame! Now the winning run was on second with nobody out.
Who’d be the hero that would put his name into the front page headlines? Bob Melvin would send up George Kottaras to pinch hit for Norris, and Kottaras would swing at the first pitch and would pop out to Miguel Cabrera in foul territory. Now it was one out in the inning, Kottaras had given Valverde a gift out, and now thoughts of letting the Tigers off the hook started to creep in.
Image credit: Press Democrat
It was a tie game, and during all that, Seth Smith ended up at second yelling as the camera came over him. It was a tie ballgame! Now the winning run was on second with nobody out.
Who’d be the hero that would put his name into the front page headlines? Bob Melvin would send up George Kottaras to pinch hit for Norris, and Kottaras would swing at the first pitch and would pop out to Miguel Cabrera in foul territory. Now it was one out in the inning, Kottaras had given Valverde a gift out, and now thoughts of letting the Tigers off the hook started to creep in.
Those thoughts would get louder in the next at bat, Cliff Pennington would go down looking at a Valverde splitter to get the second out of the inning. Those thoughts would be short-lived though, as up next was Coco Crisp. The man who seemed to be one of the key leaders in the clubhouse for his clutch hits and lively manner was up with the winning run on second.
With the whole crowd standing, the first pitch came… and it was drilled by Crisp right between Fielder and Infante. It was scorched into RF and Avisail Garcia charged it to try and get a running start and throw out Smith, but it went under his glove.... and when that happened, the game was over.
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Image credit: Press Democrat
Image credit: SFgate
The A’s had kept their season alive in one of the most dramatic ways ever imagined! A two run deficit in the 9th, and a walk-off. ANOTHER ONE!! This was the 15th walk-off of the year, and it was probably the biggest of them all.
See the entire game right HERE. And see the A's comeback right HERE. During Crisp’s walk-off, A’s radio play-by-play man, Ken Korach was going crazy but not nearly as crazy as his color commentator, Ray Fosse who screamed as the ball went under Garcia’s glove. This moment became known as the #FosseScream and is one of the most memorable moments in A’s folklore during the 2012 season.
See the entire game right HERE. And see the A's comeback right HERE. During Crisp’s walk-off, A’s radio play-by-play man, Ken Korach was going crazy but not nearly as crazy as his color commentator, Ray Fosse who screamed as the ball went under Garcia’s glove. This moment became known as the #FosseScream and is one of the most memorable moments in A’s folklore during the 2012 season.
The series was now tied at 2-2, and the deciding game 5 was coming the next night. And many of you are probably asking? Why is this win only at #10? And it’s real simple, this was a wonderful win, but it did not inspire a huge run for the A’s. If the A’s had won game 5 and had gone onto win the World Series that year, this win is probably in the top 5 but because Justin Verlander shut the A’s out the very next night, it lost a some of its value on our ranking.
Still, this was a great moment, and that can’t be argued with. If you disagree with me about the importance of this game, please explain why in the comments, or please feel free to share with us your memory of this great game!
Stay tuned, #9 is coming up next!
-- Wes
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