Column: A's write a script good as "Moneyball"

Published Wednesday, Oct 3, 2012 at 9:34 pm EDT
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Keep this up, they may start removing some of those green tarps from the empty seats at the Coliseum. Heck, they may even force the ownership of the A's to stop coveting that new stadium all the way out in San Jose.

I know one thing. It will take a brave gambler to bet against these A's somehow finding a way to cap it all off by making their way to the World Series.

Speaking of which, could it somehow be possible? A Bay Area World Series for the first time since 1989 - only this time without the big earthquake?



Let Texas experience the nervousness that comes with a one-game wild card playoff. The A's like their chances in a longer series, no matter who is in the other dugout.

And why not? Since the first of July, this team has been winning two out of every three games it played. That's the best mark in baseball, made even more remarkable by the fact Las Vegas oddsmakers who usually know a few things about talent had the team at 100-1 odds at the All-Star break to win their division.

"We've enjoyed every step of the way," said first baseman Brandon Moss. "There was never any pressure on us. We were supposed to lose 100 games."

This wasn't a "Moneyball" team, nothing like the clubs that Billy Beane put together with smoke and mirrors and little money celebrated last year with Pitt playing the general manager's role on the big screen. It was more of an accidental contender, never expected to play a starring role in a division that featured the Rangers and the Los Angeles Angels with Albert Pujols.

Beane had traded away the team's top two starting pitchers and its closer for a collection of prospects and castoffs. Despite the signing of Cuban defector Yoenis Cespedes, it looked like the A's were trying to build a team for a few years down the road, when team ownership hoped they would be playing in a new stadium in San Jose.

"We wanted to create a team that had a chance to get better from the first day forward. That was the expectation we set," Beane said before the game. "We just didn't know where we were going to start from. In fairness, maybe we were a little further ahead when we started than maybe anybody anticipated."

There were five - count `em five - rookies in the starting rotation. Another pitcher - Sean Doolittle, who gave the A's an inning of no-hit ball Wednesday - was a first baseman until he was converted in the instructional league last year.


They didn't know they weren't supposed to win. When they began doing it, it became contagious.

The Rangers had the great players, the big payroll and the huge expectations. The A's had players who did whatever it took to become a great team.

"No one was into numbers," Melvin said. "It wasn't about themselves. It was all about the team."


The A's battled their way through the hangover of the party less than 48 hours before to win two more games and escape baseball's sudden-death wild-card game. They'll need to overcome another hangover and go on the road to keep their magical season alive.

It's not "Moneyball" or even "Moneyball, the Sequel," but for the real life Oakland A's, it could be even better.

