It has been one of those years—a yearful of Mondays, as those of us with office jobs might say. Every time the A’s show signs of life, my hopes are dashed with an error in the outfield, an untimely injury or pitching problems. That third baseman who stuck out the tough times and who once seemed to be vying for the position of team cheerleader is on the bench again, silent and moody. The star hitter brought in last year seems to have lost his magic. And the pitchers just can’t cut it. At the break, the team record is 37-49, the worst in the division, the third worst in the league after Cleveland and Kansas City. Everyone you talk to says, well, there’ll always be next year. Maybe, just maybe.
And then something like Monday night happens: The team wins. The team wins big. They even set a team record. And there is, once again, hope for the A’s.
After trailing by 10, the Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins 14-13 at home. The A’s were initially down 12-2, making this comeback the largest in Oakland franchise history. (Twice previously, in 1993 and 2006, the A’s had rallied to win from eight-run deficits.)
For the A’s, the night started off as any other recent game: poorly. Even before the first pitch was thrown, Giambi was placed on the DL for 15 days due to a strained right quadriceps. Add that to the two and two-thirds innings pitched by rookie Gio Ganzalez (10 hits! 11 runs! a grand slam! back-to-back homers!) and what do you get? A relatively normal A’s game that Oakland should have lost.
This is where things get interesting. Down 12-2 in the third, the A’s began to hit. Daric Barton, brought in from Sacramento to play first base while Giambi is recuperating, hit a two-run homer on his second at-bat. (I guess Barton likes playing in the majors and wants to keep his job?) When they entered the seventh, our boys were down 13-7 but, man!, those fans who caught the early BART train home after singing during the stretch missed out. While the Twins went through three relievers like it was their business, Oakland scored seven runs in the inning including four from Holliday’s game-tying grand slam and a homer one pitch later, courtesy of Jack Cust. Final score? 14-13. Oakland.
And about Holliday, where has he been all my life—er, all season? Last night, he positively shone, going 4 for 5 including a homer and a grand slam, driving in a total of six runs. When he came to Oakland from Colorado, he was expected to add some hitting power, being the 07 NL MVP runner-up and all. But prior to Monday’s stellar performance, he was .276 / 47 RBI / 9 homers. Not terrible but not exactly MVP runner-up material. And not exactly where I would want to be if my contract was going to be up for grabs at the end of the season. For his sake and for that of the A’s, I hope Monday night’s performance isn’t just an aberration.
With Holliday’s help, the A’s clocked a season-high 22 hits and—another record!—season-high 14 runs. Isn’t it nice to be on the winning team from time to time?
Sure, one comeback isn’t going to change the season, but it will change the air—and the way that fans see the team. If Oakland fans know there’s hope, then they might just show up for the game, something that has been lacking at the Coliseum of late. Fans bring energy and instill a sense of faith into those on the field. It’s no fun when only 3,000 are in the seats. At the end of the seventh inning last night, when the A’s took the lead, those in attendance gave the home team a standing ovation; when was the last time that happened?
“Oh, so this is what winning feels like…”
By: Clarifornia
Related posts:
Go A’s! I wonder if Holliday’s big night means he might soon be hanging out on the other side of the bay. Giants sure could you some offense!
Unfortunately, that might just happen if Oakland tries to capitalize on Holliday’s upswing. But we’ll see…
And it was just leaked out through AP that Holliday is going to the Cardinals in exchange for three prospects. Monday night’s win certainly put the A’s in a better bargaining position…