We continue our 25 Greatest Oakland A's Wins weekly countdown, by returning to October 1, 2000 for a beautiful day in Oakland. Win #12 was between the Texas Rangers and Oakland A’s, on the same day that key pieces of the A’s teams of the late 80s (Walt Weiss and Luis Polonia) played their last games of their respective careers. The stakes were as big as they come, with an A’s win they would clinch their first division championship since 1992, a loss with a Mariners win would send the A’s likely into a tiebreaker game against the Cleveland Indians for the Wildcard.
After the 1999 season, optimism was really on the rise when it came to the A’s. Tremendous young pitching that were all the products of homegrown talent were about to all finally make it to the major leagues. The trio that would be affectionately known as the “The Big 3” featured Mark Mulder who was drafted 2nd overall in the 1998 Draft out of Michigan State, Tim Hudson who was more of a wildcard and was drafted in the 6th round in 1997, and lastly, Barry Zito who was drafted 9th overall in the 1999 Draft when everyone thought the A’s were crazy for falling in love with him.It’s incredible that the A’s were able to hit on all those big draft picks. Mark Mulder was the sure thing, while Zito and Hudson were the ones that caught the whole league with their pants down.
While on the position player side, Eric Chavez was drafted 10th overall in the 1996 Draft and after being considered a weak defensive third baseman he later became arguably the best defensive third baseman in franchise history. Then there was Jason Giambi, a second round pick in 1992 and as a 29 year old had flashed his true potential with 43 homers to go along with leading the league in walks in 2000 which was enough to beat Frank Thomas for the AL MVP that season. Then there was the great international amateur signing that was Miguel Tejada in 1993 (even though he lied about his age but I forgive him) and the drafting of 1998 rookie of the year, Ben Grieve.
While on the position player side, Eric Chavez was drafted 10th overall in the 1996 Draft and after being considered a weak defensive third baseman he later became arguably the best defensive third baseman in franchise history. Then there was Jason Giambi, a second round pick in 1992 and as a 29 year old had flashed his true potential with 43 homers to go along with leading the league in walks in 2000 which was enough to beat Frank Thomas for the AL MVP that season. Then there was the great international amateur signing that was Miguel Tejada in 1993 (even though he lied about his age but I forgive him) and the drafting of 1998 rookie of the year, Ben Grieve.
The only notable mistake the A’s made in amateur scouting seemed to be in the 1995 Draft where director of scouting, Grady Fuson (aka the guy who Billy fired in the movie Moneyball, even though that never happened) reportedly had two choices: a Cuban pitcher named Ariel Prieto and a power hitting first baseman out of the University of Tennessee named Todd Helton. The A’s took Prieto and Helton went to the Rockies three picks later. Helton would go onto make 5 All-Star appearances and win three gold gloves, while Prieto would be better known as being Yoenis Cespedes’ translator. You can’t win them all, but imagine the A’s having Todd Helton to go along with all the other talent previously mentioned.
Now to the game, going into the Texas series the A’s were a half game out of first. They knew they were likely going to have to sweep the Rangers, and hope that the Mariners drop at least one game in their final series against the Angels. Likely for the A’s, the Mariners would drop the Friday night contest against the Angels and coupled with an A’s win on Friday in a comeback win against Kenny Rogers, the A’s were back in first place with two to play. The A’s would crush the Rangers in the Saturday game by a score of 23-2 with Barry Zito cementing his status as a phenom. The Mariners would also win their game by killing the Angels 21-9 so the A’s were still up half a game. The stakes were simple, a win, and you’re in. And the 19 game winner Tim Hudson was just the man the A’s wanted in this pivotal last game of the season.
For the Rangers, they had nothing to play for and they threw out the young Ryan Glynn to start the game. And from the beginning, it was clear that the blowout in the game the night before was going to have no carryover effects for this game. Hudson would strikeout the first two batters he faced, he’d surrender a Rafael Palmeiro double off the wall but would negate it by getting Chad Curtis to groundout to Miguel Tejada at shortstop.
Ryan Glynn would get the same result but he’d do it in a different fashion. He’d get the leadoff hitter, Terrence Long to groundout and then he’d give up a single to the veteran, Randy Velarde. Jason Giambi was up next and Glynn would give the Giambino nothing to hit and walked him on 5 pitches. Then came the Canadian, Matt Stairs who would ground into a 3-6-1 double play to end the inning.
From that inning to the 7th inning, the pitchers duel was in full effect as both teams combined for miserly three hits. The plan seemed pretty clear for Glynn when it came to dealing with the A’s best hitter, Jason Giambi. They were only going to pitch to him when they absolutely had to do so, in his first three appearances, Giambi was walked each time and he faced an average of 6 pitches in those at bats.
Hudson was absolutely dominating the Rangers lineup, forcing strikeouts and weak contact and it was clear that any runs were going to the difference. And Hudson faced trouble in the top of the 5th, facing the bottom of the Rangers order, Hudson gave up a leadoff single to Mike Lamb and then he’d hit Scott Sheldon with an 0-1 pitch to make the situation first and second with nobody out. With the 9 hitter, Randy Knorr coming up, Rangers manager, Johnny Oates would give his catcher the bunt sign and Knorr would execute it by getting it deep to the right side of the infield where Tim Hudson would only be able tag Knorr out for the first out of the inning. The leadoff hitter, Scarborough Green would be up next and in a game changing situation. It is unclear as to what depth A’s manager, Art Howe used in this situation. We can only speculate thanks to the lack of recaps available on the internet.
Hudson knew he had to go for the strikeout, anything hit out of the infield would likely bring at least one run home. He’d get Green into an 0-2 situation, and with Green having to protect, he swung at the next pitch and it was a ground ball. I’m just going to guess that the A’s were playing the infield in and Green had to of hit it right at Velarde if that was the case. Velarde received ball and fired a strike to Ramon Hernandez the catcher and the would be, go ahead run was gunned down and now there were two outs in the inning.
With runners at the corners and two outs for Royce Clayton, who ironically would play Miguel Tejada in the movie Moneyball was coming to the plate. Green would steal second base easily to take away the force, but it wouldn’t matter as Hudson would get Clayton to ground to the man he’d portray in a movie 10 years later, Miguel Tejada, to end the inning with no damage done.
Then came the bottom of the 7th, Glynn continued to stifle the A’s lineup and the first two batters of the bottom of the 7th were no different. He’d get Grieve to fly out and then would get Eric Chavez to strikeout, seemingly ending another chance to put the A’s in pole position. That thought changed when Jason’s little brother, Jeremy Giambi doubled down the right field line giving the inning a much needed shot in the arm. The catcher, Ramon Hernandez was up and he was extra aggressive, swinging at the first pitch and lined a base hit into centerfield, Jeremy rounded third, the throw came home from Green but it was not in time and the A’s had found the run they needed, 1-0 and 6 outs away from the division title.
The 8th inning started with some more magic from Tim Hudson who if he hadn’t already, had cemented his status as the ace of the A’s staff. Former Oakland A, Ruben Sierra would pinch hit for the Rangers and would go down swinging to Hudson for the first out. Then Hudson would get Scarborough Green to strikeout for the second out. A Royce Clayton double would bring some nerves to A’s fans especially with the dangerous Rafael Palmeiro coming up, the A’s would intentionally walk him and take their chances with Chad Curtis. And he’d groundout to Tejada who’d flip the ball to Velarde to end the inning. Now there were 3 outs away.
The A’s fans would then breathe a lot easier with how the bottom of the 8th started, Ryan Glynn would spell the end to his outing by giving up a long towering home run by Randy Velarde on a 2-1, money pitch. It was now 2-0 and the Coliseum crowd was sensing a dog pile was coming. The Rangers would bring in Mike Venafro to pitch to Jason Giambi, and he’d get Giambi to fly out to center. The Rangers would then bring in Tim Crabtree to face Matt Stairs, and as a result, A’s manager Art Howe brought in Olmedo Saenz to pinch hit. And Olmedo Saenz would jump on Crabtree’s first pitch and now the score was 3-0. Two solo home runs had begun the party in Oakland, a clutch move by Art Howe to say the least.
Then came the 9th inning, Hudson had thrown 120 pitches in a valiant, bulldog effort that was a masterful pitching performance. His outing was over and his line read: 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 SO, and a game score of 82. Art Howe knew it was time to bring in his closer, Jason Isringhausen who’d be going for his 33rd save of the year. Seattle was winning their game so it was all on the A’s to just get these 3 outs to end the discussion. Isringhausen would get Ricky Ledee to hit a loud out to deep right field, one out. Then Pedro Valdes would single, and the next batter, Mike Lamb would do the same. Now it was starting to get interesting as the tying run was coming to the plate, Scott Sheldon trying to be the hero would hit a foul popup to Eric Chavez and now the A’s were one out away. The Rangers would send Frank Catalanotto to pinch hit, and one of the most iconic A’s plays would occur in this moment. Isringhausen would bring the count to 1-2 and the Coliseum’s crowd was on its feet and then Isringhausen got into the stretch and it was clear it was the big curveball, Catalanotto froze and the umpire made the move, the ballgame was over. Greg Papa, the A’s TV play-by-play man at the time would give this call, “CURVEBALL, IT’S OVER!!!!!!! FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE '92, THE OAKLAND A’S ARE CHAMPIONS OF THE AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST!” Ramon Hernandez mauled Isringhausen in the middle of the diamond, then came the infield, then came the men from the dugout, and followed by the bullpen and the outfield, the drought was over.
An incredible regular season ended the way it should’ve, and the young team had finally grown up and done what everyone had envisioned. It was now time for the playoffs, a grueling back and forth series with the two-time defending champion, New York Yankees ensued. The A’s would beat Roger Clemens twice in that series, but it wasn’t enough, Gil Heredia became the goat in the minds of all A’s fans as he gave up 6 runs in the first inning of the deciding game 5 and they’d end up losing 7-5 in front of their home fans. The Yankees would go onto win another World Series but the A’s new window had just begun and at the time, it was a time of excitement for all A’s fans.
We could not find any more photos or any videos from this game, if you have any, please tweet them at us or post them in our Facebook comments.
Just one update, last week’s post “The Sulk Off” has now added videos so please check that out by scrolling down the page to that post.
Next up is #11, stay tuned!
-- Wes
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