I Love the A's

Fantastic Grantland article about the A's, post Moneyball.  My biggest sadness about not living in the Bay Area, aside from seeing my family less, is not being able to follow the A's.  I know I could get MLB pass or whatever people do to follow baseball, but it simply isn't as fun without living in the city. I read about the A's, but living the Bay Area, there is a different quality to it.  You get into conversations with people about the team.  Which players they like.  Who is looking good.  You go to games on Wednesday night and spend less money than going to a movie, taking the Bart over directly from the city.  Someone you know stumbles upon a skybox and you get invited to join.  You go to a bar to catch up with friends and the game is on in the background.  Your friend has a Sunday afternoon barbecue and puts the game on the TV and you watch the new relief pitcher try and close a game.  It is effortless to follow.

I can't follow the A's in LA beyond just reading about them.  It is too much work.  No one else gives two shits.  No one cares about Josh Reddick and Yoenis Cespedes make a half decent middle of the order.  Or, if the A's had money and were able to keep three of their best young pitchers this year, they might actually be competing for the AL West or the wildcard.

I was an A's fan as soon as I started understanding baseball.  This is a bit strange since most folks from where I live are Giant's fans.  I asked my dad why and he had no idea.  I just started liking the A's.  The heart wants what the heart wants.  This was the Mike Davis A's, a very mediocre team after Rickey Henderson went to the Yankees for 4 years.  There is no explanation for it.  Soon came the Bash Brothers and Rickey's return and I was set for life, basically.  After that era - the LaRussa era - there was a dry spell and then Billy Beane and Moneyball and Hudson, Zito, Mulder, Giambi, and Tejada.

These A's might get to .500 this year.  Somehow, the team, the organization, always overperforms.  They are the 3rd most successful franchise of all time behind the Yanks and the St. Louis Cardinals.  People don't know this.  There is something special about the A's.