A's Brand Baseball: The Dog Days
So it's been kind of a weird season for the A's, and it has never been weirder than last weekend, when the trading deadline came and went without incident at the corner of 66th and Hegenberger. The A's made no deadline moves; Billy Beane, who says he spends April and May figuring out what the A's need, June and July going and getting it, and August, September and as much of October as possible watching the best team he can put together play, wore "a yellow flowered shirt, khaki shorts and sandals" to tell Sports Illustrated (registration required) he was "very
happy with this team as it is."
OK, so it would have been an even weirder trading deadline if SI hadn't mentioned Beane's laid-back California wardrobe, but still. When even the mad genius is content to sit back and watch the team play ball in prime going-out-and-getting-it season, you know there must be something on the field worth watching. There is.
Since the All-Star break, sports journalists (and at least one rather mean-spirited Bay Blogger) have been crowding us on the bandwagon. Even Ray Ratto doesn't have anything to complain about, though that's not stopping him. Seeing all that, friends and readers of A's Brand Baseball have asked us for serious, sober reflecion on the team's recent success. These people should know better than to turn to this space, or to any member of its writing staff, for seriousness or sobriety, in reflection or anything else. However, we know this much: 44-14 (the A's record since May 29) is not an inexplicable hot streak, or just one of those things. It covers more than a third of the season; it constitutes sustained kicka$$ ball being played by a good team. 34-8 (the A's record since June 17) is better than the A's did in August and September of 2002, when--if memory serves--they won 20 in a row and took the AL West crown. 34-8, good for a 61-47 record after Thursday's 5-2 victory over Minnesota, should remind A's fans of the turnarounds that fueled playoff runs from 2000 to 2003.
Also reminiscent of those playoff runs is the remarkable success of the starting pitchers since June. On Sunday, Kirk Saarloos pitched a complete game, came within one strike of a shutout, and outdueled Detroit ace (and former A's prospect, Moneyball punchline, and impetus for Beane's infamous chair-throwing hissyfit on draft day 2002) Jeremy Bonderman. Monday, Country Joe Blanton turned in a better performance than 2004 Cy Young winner Johan Santana. Haren and Harden, a proofreader's nightmare, were by-now-unremarkably excellent in their starts against Minnesota, and July 2005 AL Pitcher of the Month Barry Zito--we love to say we told you so, especially when we told you so--was perfect for 4 innings on Thursday, allowing 4 hits against 8 strikeouts in 8 innings to run his record to 11-8 and lower his ERA to 3.65. Z's last loss? June 17.
The hottest team in baseball opens a weekend series in Kansas City Friday at 5:10, then returns to Oakland on Tuesday for three important games against Los Los Angeles Angeles de Anaheim Anaheim. Friday's game is on KICU and KFRC, and Holy Toledo, Bill King is on the road trip. Captain Saarloos (7-6, 4.06) vs. Zack Greinke (3-13, 6.14). Go A's.