Former A's pitcher Joe Kennedy, 28, died at his home in Florida this morning. At this time the cause of death is officially unknown, but it was "sudden" and a brain aneurysm is rumored to be at fault, according to the Chronicle.

Making his major league debut in 2001 with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Kennedy went on to play for other teams such as the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Toronto Blue Jays, and of course, the one and only A's.

His career record, it seems, was "43-61 with a 4.79 ERA." (You more sporty types probably know what that means better than we could possibly explain.) He is survived by his wife, Jamie, and his one-year-old son.

This beating reminded everyone that there is-indeed--a real pennant race fomenting in the AL West. However, the Rangers should take a very hard look at the all-encompassing big picture scoreboard-the Athletics won that series by dominating the small things. And they beat Texas by going toe-to-toe with one of the best offenses in the American League. Moreover, the real battle was won in the trenches-through superior bullpen action, sans Joe Kennedy, Scott Sauerbeck and the rest of the DL boys, a smothering defense and timely hitting from Jay Payton, not through caveman-like hacking at off-speed pitches that Ranger batters have mastered.

The Athletics, with their crudely assembled line-up, made the critical plays when they counted most. For instance, Bobby Crosby goes on the DL, enter utility-man extraordinaire Marco Scutaro, to solidify the shortstop position and play like a wizard. And the guy is a rock! If you notice, not many ground balls get past the Scutaro-Chavez phalanx. Then, there is Jay Payton. Exactly! Who the hell is Jay Payton? He's only the guy whose been riding a 12-game hitting streak, batting over .330 since June 11 and smashing meaningful home runs to either tie a game or put the A's in the lead. He even smashed a 4-bagger off his greatest nemesis, Texas pitcher Kevin Millwood. But we digress.

Beane, like Brian Sabean of SF Giants hype, makes his bones when it counts most-- during the trade deadline. This year, the flutter of butterfly wings could be heard from the A's camp. Nada. Zilch. Nothing. Barry Zito's name would pop occasionally, but without much merit or context. Beane shifted his strategy to last off-season instead, picking up perpetually cranky Milton Bradley and an aging agit-prop artist Frank Thomas to bolster the cheese-whiffing line-up. He added Esteban Loaiza (gulp!) to support the pitching staff. If anything, Beane has foresight. Odds are always in favor of Rich Harden straining an oblique muscle or a hammy or whatever muscle we’ve never heard of, and to miss significant time. The A's receive mega-bonus points when he returns. Moreover, the Kirk Saarloos-Brad Halsey conundrum, a project of deep curiosity to SFist, has actually worked for the better part of selected innings here and there.

Ultimately, Beane's genius for finding the right kind of 'mannish' man to slash the A's into the playoffs will be measured by Milton Bradley's fire. The otherwise light-hitting, vanilla line-up Beane assembles each year, typically has that one white-hot firebrand that carries them after the all-star break. In the past, it was Tejada, and to some extent, Giambi when he was focused on success and not his physique. Today, Bradley is their 4-tool horse who, despite his cantankerous nature, is their best player, and can carry a squad of grown men on his back. Just ask BJ Ryan of Toronto. On Sunday, Bradley took Ryan’s best body blows and wacked a 400-plus foot walk-off bomb over the centerfield fence. What every half-witted prognosticator ever predicted about Bradley’s talents will finally be proven correct this fall-- the dude rules! Plus, the A's own the month of August. After last nights lackluster showing, they are 103-40 during the month of August since 2001. What is that, a .725 winning percentage? Truly off the scale, and why they'll beat the great pretenders from the South.

SFist Kevin contributing