My Two Cents: Lowly A's 7-Game Winning Streak Might Be Craziest Thing Ever
OAKLAND, Calif. — The most overused phrase in baseball just might be the one about how whenever you go to the ballpark, you just might see something that's never happened before.
They've been playing baseball for about 150 years, so that's saying a lot. But I can tell you this. The fact that the gawd-awful, terrible, hard-on-the-eyes Oakland Athletics winning seven games in a row against top-flight competition after starting the season 12-50 just might be the craziest thing I've ever seen.
And I've watched a lot of baseball.
You have to remember that the Oakland ownership has zero interest in winning ANY games, let alone seven in row. They won the last two games at Pittsburgh, swept three straight at Milwaukee and now have beaten the best-in-baseball Tampa Bay in the first two games of their four-game series in Oakland.
The A's deserved everything that came with their epic 12-50 start. Their .194 winning percentage is epically bad. They were on pace to win just 31 games — far show of the worst-ever mark of 40-120 by the expansion New York Mets in 1962.
And when I say they deserve that, I don't blame all those young players in any way. Oakland's ownership group led by John Fisher has intentionally run this team in the ground so they could more easily pick it up and move it to Las Vegas, where boatloads — or casino carts — full of cash awaits.
The A's are second-class citizens in the Bay Area anyway, and have been for years. But now that the team has been strafed of talent the past few years, no one goes to the games. There are crowds in the hundreds some nights, it seems, and they had an actual announced crowd of 2,064 for a game in May.
There were only 4,000-plus fans on Monday when the A's beat the Rays Monday night for their sixth straight win. Only a ''reverse boycott'' night on Tuesday, where 27,759 fans showed up to protest ownership has spiked any attendance.
The A's were so bad that they lost 15 road games in a row before stunningly — and amazingly — winning those five games against the Pirates and the Brewers. Those two teams, if you need reminding, are duking it out for the National League Central lead right now, both over .500 and just a game apart.
We thought for sure this streak would end when they ran into the Rays, who were 48-20 when they touched down in Oakland last Sunday night. They were more than 30 games ahead of Oakland before the Athletics' winning streak started.
And what happens, the A's pitch like crazy despite having the worst ERA (6.26) in baseball by more than a run. They have held the Rays scoreless in 16 of 18 innings so far in two nights, allowing just a three-run homer by Jose Siri in the sixth inning of Monday's 4-3 win and an RBI single by Manuel Margot in the fifth inning of Tuesday night's 2-1 win.
The playoff-like atmosphere will surely be short-lived. The crowd repeatedly chanted “Sell the team!” and “Stay in Oakland!” and then littered the field with debris on the way out.
“Tonight was as close to a playoff crowd as I think I’ve experienced managing a game," Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “The energy, the atmosphere was everything that this stadium can be.
“If you want to use the word ‘anger,’ it wasn’t directed at the players,” Kotsay said. “We felt the energy on the fans’ side supporting us passionately. You could feel them just wanting us to win that game and their will, I think, came across with our guys.”
Kotsay is exactly right. Most of these A's players aren't ready for big-league ball, but they're out there trying anyway. They only have one starting pitcher — J.P. Sears — who has an ERA below the high-6.s. They only have one hitter — left fielder Brett Rooker — who has more than eight home runs. The Rays, mind you, have EIGHT guys with more than eight homers.
This streak won't last forever, but it as least has allowed the A's to smile a bit. They could very much get dominated by Rays starter Tyler Glasnow on Wednesday night and a new losing streak could begin.
But for now, we will remain amazed at what they done. It the modern era of baseball — that's since 1901 — no team with a winning percentage under .200 has ever won seven games in a row. It's happened in the 1800s a few teams, but those vagabond leagues really weren't major.
This is a big deal because of who's they've beaten, too. The Brewers and Pirates are at least decent team. The Rays are the best team in baseball.
So yes, show up and you might see something you've never seen before. This winning streak from a team so awful certainly qualifies.
