#9 The Brink of History

The Streak. It was one of the most incredible set of regular season games ever seen before, and it was then touched upon in the film, “Moneyball”. Everyone remembers #20, and we’ll get to that game later on in this countdown but the movie seemed to gloss over the other great wins of the streak. Even with all the great calls of Bill King and Ken Korach that were mixed into a nice montage in the movie, it was not enough to capture the essence of “The Streak.”

This week, we continue our 25 Greatest A's Wins weekly countdown, by returning to September 2, 2002 for win #19 of The Streak. This is one of the games that often gets overlooked but deserves a lot of respect because it showed just how amazing this entire run was. No deficit ever was too much for the A’s in those games. For example, another game that really stands out for me was win #12 in Detroit, where the A’s were down 7-3 in the 8th inning and would score 5 runs in the inning thanks to a home run by Greg Myers to get things going and a big hit from John Mabry to give the A’s the lead. Then Jermaine Dye would provide the dagger in the 9th with a two-run homer and then Billy Koch would nail down the save. See the highlights of that game HERE.

The game on September 2, 2002 was bigger because the A’s knew they were chasing history, and that itself adds to the pressure to comeback in games like that. The A’s ace known as Barry Zito was on the mound that day and Zito starts always seemed to be A’s victories that year, Zito would go onto win the Cy Young Award that season in his best season as a major league player. Zito would be going for win number 20 on this day. For the Royals, the rookie, Runelvys Hernandez would be starting for the Royals. This would be a game that would be a mismatch on paper but of course, the game wouldn’t go according to plan.

The A’s would have the newly acquired, Ray Durham leading off for them as the DH with Mark Ellis at second. To go along with Dye, Long, and Justice in the outfield. Scott Hatteberg would get the start over John Mabry at first. The usual suspects would fill in the rest of the infield with Miguel Tejada and Eric Chavez. And of course, Ramon Hernandez would be behind the plate.

September 2, 2002 was a really hot day in Oakland, 84 degrees to be exact and it was clear from that forecast that the offense was gonna be there.

The 1st inning would go the same for both pitchers, each would tally a strikeout and would get a one-two-three inning. It wasn’t until the top of the 3rd that the action really started, Barry Zito would be a victim of one of the 64 home runs that Neifi Perez hit in his 12 year Major League career to lead off the inning. Then former Oakland A’s catcher, AJ Hinch hit a first pitch solo home run to complete the back to back jacks for the Royals, it was now 2-0 Royals and A’s fans were stunned that Zito was having a rough start to the afternoon.

The Royals would end up getting a first and second situation with one out but Zito would get out of the jam. The Royals’ Hernandez would prove successful in his first go around through the A’s order. Then Zito would continue to face trouble in the 4th, one out singles from Aaron Guiel and Neifi Perez would bring more trouble to the game and then an error from Miguel Tejada on a ground ball from AJ Hinch would make the bases loaded. Luis Ordaz would then hit a deep fly ball to Jermaine Dye that would be deep enough to score the run and make it 3-0 Royals in the form of an unearned run. The next batter would be the Royals best hitter, Carlos Beltran and in his at bat, AJ Hinch would steal second base easily taking away the force and providing more drama to the inning. Then Beltran would provide the big blow by hitting a ground ball up the middle into center field, both runners would score and now the scoreboard read: 5-0 Royals. And it was clear that the A’s were in a world of trouble and their winning streak would be tested once again. Joe Randa would then provide another single in the inning that would send Beltran to third, but Raul Ibanez would ground into a force that would stop the bleeding.

The A’s would continue to show they had no answer for Runelvys Hernandez in the 4th by going down one-two-three. Zito on the other hand would finally have a clean inning in the 5th which would prove to be critical for the A’s and their comeback chances. Leading off the bottom of the 5th for the A’s would be Jermaine Dye who’d lead the inning off with a single in the form of a ground with eyes. Now the A’s had a sign of life. The next batter would be the old veteran, David Justice who’d make that sign of life a lifeline by clubbing 2-0 mistake fastball from Hernandez over the 330 foot sign, down the line in RF for a two-run home run and the crowd was now back in the game. With the way the crowd reacted to the home run, you just knew the A’s were gonna make a game of it, it was just one of those games. That type of belief doesn’t come around often, but when it does, you just know it. Ellis, Long, and Hernandez would all groundout to end that inning but the ballgame was now back on.

Barry Zito would end his afternoon in the 6th inning by working around a leadoff single from Neifi Perez who had had Zito’s number all afternoon.  Zito would get Luis Ordaz to line out and get Beltran to groundout. It was a quality start for Barry Zito because 3 of the 5 runs he gave up were unearned but it was not a good start from him, nevertheless.

The bottom of the 6th would be the inning that would show the incredible magic that the 2002 A’s were providing. A leadoff walk from Ray Durham suggested that Hernandez’s stuff was starting to waver, and Scott Hatteberg would make that a reality. The Royals outfield alignment showed no respect to the hitting abilities of Hatteberg and he made them pay by hitting a drive to the gap in right-center and with the speed of Ray Durham, he’d score standing up and now it was a 5-3 ballgame with Hatteberg standing up at second and nobody out. Then Miguel Tejada would continue his amazing run of form by lining a base hit to left, Ron Washington would hold Hatteberg at third and now the A’s really were in business. Royals manager Tony Pena would come out to make the pitching change and bring in Scott Mullen in to face the rest of the A’s dangerous middle of the order.

First, Mullen would face Eric Chavez and this is when the A’s really tee-d off. Being extra aggressive, Eric Chavez swung at the first pitch and grounded a ball up the middle into centerfield that would allow Hatteberg to walk home to make it 5-4 and now the A’s had first and second and still there were nobody out. Jermaine Dye would then fly out to right for the first out of the inning but that would not stifle the rally, the next batter would be David Justice. And the A’s would provide my favorite play in all of baseball, the double steal. Chavez and Tejada took off for second and third, respectively and made it easily. The dynamite was now in place, and on a 3-2 pitch, David Justice hit the detonator by lining a 3-2 off speed pitch into right field and the crowd in Oakland burst into a state of euphoria.  The fans somehow got even louder when the ball would go through the legs of Royals right fielder, Aaron Guiel. Tejada and Chavez scored on the play and David Justice ended up at second thanks to the error from Guiel.  Now it was 6-5 A’s. The A’s had come all the way back from being down 5-0 like it was nothing, and the “washed up” David Justice had 4 RBIs in the game.

Mullen would then intentionally walk Mark Ellis and then Mullen would strikeout Terrence Long and get Ramon Hernandez to stop the bleeding but the damage had certainly been done and the Oakland A’s fans were savoring the moment of another magical 2002 A’s moment.

It would be the submarine reliever, Chad Bradford who’d come in for the A’s in the 7th. Bradford would be facing the Royals middle of the order. In typical Chad Bradford form, he’d get Joe Randa to hit a soft ground ball for the first out of the inning. Raul Ibanez would not be as kind as he’d get a sharp single and an error from Mark Ellis (I know, I’m shocked too) would provide some raised eyebrows. It was now first and second with one out, and Art Howe came out of the dugout to bring in the prized lefty, Ricardo Rincon. Rincon would face Michael Tucker and he’d get Tucker to foul out near the A’s bullpen for the second out of the inning. Tony Pena would pinch hit with the dangerous, Mike Sweeney and Art Howe would counter by bringing in Jeff Tam. Tam would get Sweeney to fly out to center and now the A’s were 6 outs away from number 19.

Jeremy Affeldt the current Giants reliever would come in for the Royals and he’d have no trouble with the A’s top of the order by getting a one-two three inning.

In the top of the 8th, Jeff Tam would stay in the game and Neifi Perez would be leading off trying to make himself 4 for 4 on the day. He’d bunt for a hit on Tam’s first pitch and Perez would beat the throw. Pena would pinch hit with Brent Mayne for AJ Hinch. Mayne would add to the collective blood pressure by hitting a ground ball that would get into the 3.5 hole and with Perez’s speed he would be able to motor on over to third and make it first and third with nobody out. That base running would prove to be huge for the Royals in the next at bat. Luis Ordaz would come up and then he’d hit a sharp ground ball to Miguel Tejada who’d flip to Mark Ellis, who fired to first to complete the 6-4-3 double play. The A’s had conceded the run that would tie the game but they had done so by stifling the Royals rally.

Affeldt would stay in the game for the Royals in the bottom of the 8th, and he’d put in another strong inning of work. Jermaine Dye would get on base thanks to an error by Kit Pellow and Dye would even make it to second thanks to a wild pitch, but the A’s would fail to score.

A’s closer, Billy Koch would be the man the A’s would lean on in the 9th inning. He’d give up a lead off single to Raul Ibanez to start the inning. Luis Alicea would pinch hit for Kit Pellow and to make matters worse, Koch would walk Alicea on four pitches. First and second with nobody out, and now there were some nervous groans in the stands. Pena would order Michael Tucker to put down a sac bunt and he’d oblige. The bunt was good enough to move Ibanez and Alicea to second and third. With the Royals slugger, Mike Sweeney coming to the plate, Koch would intentionally walk him and take their chances with Neifi Perez despite his 4 for 4 day at the plate. Perez stayed aggressive, he swung at Koch’s first pitch and it was a ground ball right at Miguel Tejada next to second base. Miggy stepped on second and fired to Scott Hattberg and the A’s had pulled a Houdini to keep the game tied.

Jason Grimsley would come in to replace Affeldt in the 9th, Grimsley would make news a few years later for the wrong reasons. In 2006, federal agents would raid Grimsley’s house and find that he was distributing PEDs. His team, the Arizona Diamondbacks would release him the day after it was reported and he’d never play again. On this day in September 2002, he’d be tasked with trying to make sure that Miguel Tejada would not get to the plate to bat. And right away, Grimsley would find trouble. It would be Terrence Long leading off the inning, and in a five pitch battle, Long would launch the early fireworks in the inning. He’d line a pitch down the left field line and it would land in the outfield. It was clear that T-Long was gonna get extra bases, but then Long rounded second and he’d make it to third for a leadoff triple.

The A’s had their winning run 90 feet away. And because of it, Royals manager decided to take evasive action. Greg Myers would pinch hit for Ramon Hernandez and Myers wouldn’t get an opportunity to get the bat off his shoulder as Pena ordered Grimsley to intentionally walk him. Next up was Ray Durham, and Pena would repeat the same order to Grimsley. The bases were loaded for Scott Hatteberg with Miguel Tejada waiting in the on deck circle, the Royals at this point, were almost guaranteed to face Miggy. Scott Hatteberg wanted to do it himself though, and Pena would make another interesting decision. Pena would order one of his outfielders to come into the infield to make it difficult for the A’s to win on any ground ball. Just any fly ball to the outfield to the medium depth would certainly end the game. Easier said then done, Hatteberg would battle with Grimsley and on the 6th pitch of the at bat he’d hit a ground ball to Luis Ordaz the second baseman. Ordaz fired the ball to home for the first out of the inning but Hatteberg would make it to first base, and the bases were still loaded.

There was a momentary groan from the crowd but that groan would quickly dissipate after the next batter’s name was announced. It was Miguel Tejada, and quickly, the crowd standing as one, started chanting, “MVP! MVP! MVP!” thanks to Tejada’s heroics in win #18 (more on that later) to go along with the tremendous season he was having. And on the first pitch from Grimsley, Miggy rewarded the fans with a line drive up the middle that didn’t have a chance of being caught! The ball easily touched down in the outfield and Long touched home, the A’s had won! 

It was number 19 and now they were tied with the 1947 New York Yankees for the American League record of the longest winning streak ever. The crowd broke into a state of euphoria, Art Howe and the rest of the A’s bench stormed onto the field to mob their hero.

Another incredible win from an incredible team that simply could do no wrong. To see highlights from this great game, click HERE. This was one of Miguel Tejada’s best moments from the season, and he’d end up with the 2002 American League MVP after the year was done.

And this win set up for a shot at history in the game on September 4, 2002, which we’ll talk about later in this countdown.

Next up is #8, stay tuned!

-- Wes

Get your Champion Gear at www.Section148.com

#10 The Scream Heard Round The World

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.

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.

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.

'

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.

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.

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.

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

Get your Champion Gear at www.Section148.com

#11 The Unlikely Hero

There are certain A's games that when they get brought up nearly every A’s fan will remember and talk about them at great length. For some reason, the game featured as Win #11 in our 25 Greatest A's Win's weekly countdown is not one of those games, but as you’ll find out in this post, it’s one that should be talked about more often! 

So many great story lines came out of this game and on this day, your Oakland A’s got one step closer to winning their second straight pennant.

After a few posts in the 21st Century, we now return to October 9, 1973, for game 3 of the 1973 American League Championship Series. Dick Williams and the 1973 A’s were used to hard fought playoff series, in fact, up to that point, every playoff series they had been in had gone the distance. Once again, Earl Weaver’s Baltimore Orioles proved that this series was going to go down to the wire.  The teams seemed evenly matched, loaded with great pitching to go along with timely hitting. Weaver’s Orioles had won 3 American League pennants in a row between 1969-1971, and one of those came at the expense of the A’s in 1971. The Orioles would win the title in 1970 and they’d nearly repeat in 1971 before losing in 7 games.

Up to this point, the series had left Baltimore Memorial Stadium split 1-1. The Orioles took game 1 behind their ace Jim Palmer who pitched a complete game shutout while Vida Blue was knocked out in the first inning.  Game 1 ended 6-0 Orioles. Game 2 was where the A’s showed true to their moniker as the “Swingin’ A’s” where they belted the Orioles starter, Dave McNally, hitting 4 home runs in a 6-3 win for Oakland. Two of those game 2 home runs came off the bat of the captain, Sal Bando and A’s leadoff man, Bert Campaneris, who hit the “Rickey Henderson” shot.   For those of you who don’t know, the "Rickey Henderson" is a home run to leadoff the game (Rickey hit more leadoff home runs than anyone all-time). 

After two split games in Baltimore, the series would head to Oakland for the final three games (2-3 being the championship series format at that time). Game 3 would be a tremendous matchup between two veterans in Mike Cuellar of the Orioles and Ken Holtzman of the A’s. For the 34,367 in attendance at the Coliseum, this game was one that none of them will forget.

There was no offensive prowess in the first inning, which would be a foreshadowing for much of the game, but there is one thing to note. Holtzman would find himself in a jam due to an uncharacteristic Dick Green error but he’d then strikeout the young, Don Baylor to end the inning. Cuellar would face the minimum with no strikeouts.

The second inning would not be too kind to Ken Holtzman. The leadoff hitter, and the future Hall of Famer, Brooks Robinson would groundout to his opposite number, Sal Bando for the first out. The next batter would provide the Orioles' solo spark of offense for the day.  Earl Williams would get a Holtzman fastball up and in, but Holtzman caught too much of the plate, and Williams made him pay by launching it over the left field wall for a solo homer. With Holtzman possibly still frustrated about giving up that home run, Andy Etchebarren would then line out but luckily it didn’t cost him. Holtzman clearly refocused by striking out, Mark Belanger to end the inning. The score after one and a half was 1-0 Orioles.

In the bottom of the second, Reggie Jackson would continue his frustrating slump in the series by striking out, he only had one hit for the series and the A’s were going to have to find a way to step up with the 1973 AL MVP struggling. In the scoreless inning, Deron Johnson would walk to give the A’s their first baserunner but he’d get no further as Cuellar’s slider and screwball were keeping the A’s off balance.

The next several innings would provide almost no offense, and not only that, the innings were going by quick since strikeouts were coupled with quick at bats. Batters clearly didn’t have a clue on how to beat these pitchers. Holtzman would say after the game that he didn’t have his best stuff, his curveball really wasn’t working so he only threw it a few times while going with the fastball the majority of his outing. Cuellar on the other hand, was doing it with nasty breaking pitches like his slider and his screwball that forced A’s hitters to guess pitches.

After Holtzman gave up the homer to Earl Williams, he’d retire the next 11 batters before giving up a walk to Tommy Davis in the top of the 7th, and that walk would get cancelled out by a 1-4-3 (there’s a popular pager message. Right, Ray J?) double play hit by Don Baylor. Brooks Robinson would then reach on a Dick Green error which was his second error of the day, but Holtzman would show great poise by getting Earl Williams to hit into a force at second to end the inning with no damage done.

The bottom of the 7th was more of the same from Cuellar. He’d get strikeouts of Tenace and Johnson in a one-two-three inning. With Cuellar definitely going the distance, the A’s needed to find the solution rather quickly - needing a run with only 6 outs left. Holtzman would get a one-two-three inning in the top of the 8th against the Orioles bottom of the order.

In the bottom of the 8th, Dick Williams knew he had to take no chances with his personnel decisions. He looked to his bench where Jesus Alou was chomping at the bit for an opportunity. Williams called Alou's number to pinch hit for Ray Fosse. Jesus Alou would get a bit of luck to go the A’s way as his hit to left field fell down for a bloop single. Suddenly, the A’s had a possible lifeline.  Dick Williams wasted no time in pinch running for Alou with the speedy, Allan Lewis. He’d then pinch hit Dick Green with Mike Andrews and immediately ordered him to lay down a sacrifice bunt. Andrews laid one down and it wasn’t the greatest bunt in the world, Cuellar had a play at second and Orioles catcher, Andy Etchebarren yelled at Cuellar to throw to second but apparently Cuellar couldn’t hear him due to the crowd noise and he threw to first to get the out there. This is all came from Etchebarren’s quote about the play after the game. It wasn’t even a capacity crowd, and Etchebarren would go onto say that the crowd is where the real advantage is as the playing surfaces play similar.

The A’s might’ve been fortunate in that situation, but the execution by the A’s was still impressive. Campaneris would strikeout in the next at bat, making it two outs in the inning. Just when A’s fans might have thought that their opportunity had been dashed, Joe Rudi was there to save the day. Cuellar would jam Rudi inside and he even broke Rudi’s bat but the ball dropped down in the outfield and Lewis raced around third to tie the game at 1-1!

In the top of the 9th, Gene Tenace would move from first to catcher and Vic Davilillo would come in to play first. Ted Kubiak would replace Mike Andrews at second to complete Oakland's defensive changes. A complete game was on the line for Hotlzman as he prepared to face the Orioles middle of the order. Holtzman would get the scrappy Grich to fly out but then Paul Blair would slap a single to center and all of a sudden there was some concern. The concern only grew worse when Tommy Davis would hit a grounder to Davalillo at first.  Davalillo would step on first and then throw to second to try and get the the double play, but the throw was wide and landed in the outfield. Blair raced to third as a result. An error was given to Davalillo, and now there were two outs in the inning with a runner on third for Don Baylor. Don Baylor had already failed twice with runners on the base, and he had a chance to redeem himself in this at bat. Meanwhile, Dick Williams had Rollie Fingers warming up in the bullpen. Managers like Leo Durocher would have probably gone with Fingers in this at bat, but that was never Williams’ style, he liked to give his starters a long leash and allow them to pitch out of trouble.

Williams’ loyalty to Holtzman was rewarded as Baylor struck out, failing once again in a critical situation. It was a huge moment in the game and Holtzman showed real determination in getting Baylor for the third out.

Until the bottom of the 11th inning, both pitchers would stay in the game with neither pitcher showing any signs of fatigue, something unheard of in today’s MLB. From the bottom of the 9th to the bottom of the 11th, neither team would see a baserunner with both pitchers giving pitching performances for the ages.

Then came the bottom of the 11th, leading off the inning would be Bert Campaneris. The A’s leadoff hitter had struggled the last month of the season and had only hit 4 homers during the year which was a low that he hadn’t experienced since 1969. He had hit one in Baltimore during game 2 but by no means was anyone expecting Campaneris to flash power as he was more regarded for being a speedy, contact hitter.

In the at bat, Campaneris was looking for a slider inside. He wanted to see if he could hit it down the line with Robinson playing off the line. Campaneris got the pitch from Cuellar that he was looking for and when he hit it, he knew it was going a long way. Campaneris watched the ball with both eyes and he started to think it might be caught by the way the left fielder, Don Baylor was playing it. Baylor then stood at the wall, jumped up and when he came down, he didn’t have the ball. The ball had gone over the wall for a walk-off home run! Not just any walk-off, this was the first postseason walk-off home run in Oakland A’s history! 

Campaneris raised both fists in the air in celebration, Dick Williams gave Holtzman a huge hug in appreciation of his wonderful performance in this game. 

And all of a sudden, the A’s were one win away from the World Series!

This walk-off home run was ranked by David Schoenfield of ESPN.com as the 21st greatest postseason walk-off in history (though the list was made back in 2011). On the Baltimore side, WNST.com’s Dwayne Showalter ranked this home run as one of the most devastating home runs given up by the Orioles in Showalter’s lifetime. Yup, it’s right up there with Raul Ibanez’s heroics in the 2012 ALDS.

And in a game where two pitchers went more than just the distance, but went into the 11th inning and considering the fact that it was a pivotal playoff game, this game climbed up our list. Campy surprised everyone (including the local media) by providing the blast and becoming the hero of the game. Amazingly, Campy had only hit four homers during the entire regular season, and yet with this home run, he has already reached half that total for the postseason.

We were not able to find any videos or color photographs from this game. The pictures in this post came from the archive known as newspapers.com.

We’ll be doing more on the 1973 A’s later on in this countdown, so stay tuned. And also, if you are just stumbling across this weekly series, now’s a great time to start - the top 10 wins is filled with epic moments that all A’s fans will likely remember well! We're all over it! 

Stay tuned, we’re starting the top 10 next week!

-- Wes

Get your Champion Gear at www.Section148.com

Video Challenge: Why Are You an A's Fan?

We want to know, why are you an A's fan? 

We'll watch all the videos and pick 5 winners at random to receive special discount codes.  We will also pick 1 winner to receive 2 free tickets to attend the Oakland A's FanFest 2015, and a free shirt of their choice!  

So get cracking with those fancy cell phone video cameras, because all entries must be received by Monday, January 26, 2015 at 11:59 p.m. PST.  

We will announce the winners shortly thereafter and arrange for delivery of the discount codes, Fan Fest tickets and free shirt. 

GOOD LUCK! 

-- Jamie

Get your Champion Gear at www.Section148.com

#12 The New Beginning

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.

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

Get your Champion Gear at www.Section148.com