The Tigers and Athletics are set to open the playoffs against one another for the second straight year. Like last time, it promises to be a very tight battle and one that could very well need the maximum five games to decide a victor.
If you’re looking for household names, you won’t find many on the A’s. The “A” ought to stand for “Anonymous.” Having said that, these gentlemen sure can play baseball.
Let’s take a closer look at some of these lesser-known Athletics.
Josh Donaldson: The best player on the team. Donaldson mans the hot corner for the A’s and was trumpeted by USA Today for most of the season as a top-3 MVP candidate.
He hits for power (24 HRs) and average. In fact, he paced the club with his .301 mark, which is notable because this marks the 46th year the Athletics have called Oakland home, and they are yet to boast an American League batting champion.
Donaldson was an animal in the month of September, whacking 17 extra-base hits on his way to AL Player of the Month honors. While Miguel Cabrera tiptoes into the post season in the midst of a severe power outage, his positional counterpart is hot as a pistol.
Eric Sogard: You will recognize him as soon as he steps on the field for one reason; he’ll be the one wearing glasses. Not athletic goggles like Chris Sabo, not cool flip-down shades like Andre Dawson, just some good old-fashioned spectacles.
In a mostly non-contact sport like baseball, you can get away with it. But it’s still a strange sight to see a player wearing prescription frames out on the diamond.
Sogard is no novelty act, though. He plays a very steady second base and can be a pesky left handed stick in the lineup. Sogard might look like the guy that helped you decide on a new set of speakers last week at Best Buy, but don’t let it fool you -- the man can play ball.
Bartolo Colon: One of the faces on the Mt. Rushmore of steroid users in baseball.
Colon’s career was coming to an expected close as he approached his mid-30s. The zip was no longer there and his troublesome physique was catching up to him. No great shame; the guy had put together a nice career and was simply succumbing to the natural aging process of a Major League Baseball player.
From 2006 to 2009, his win totals looked like this: 1, 6, 4, and 3. Throw in a couple astronomical ERA’s and you could essentially stick a fork in Colon. He was done with a capital D.
That is, until he took all of 2010 off to have surgery where stem cells were transplanted into his right shoulder. He also presumably took an ungodly amount of illegal performance enhancing substances during this period.
When Colon returned to civilization, he was a new man (with new testosterone). There was a slow climb to 8 wins in 2011, followed by 10 the next year, mixing in the inevitable 50-game drug ban along the way. Finally this season, at the tender age of 40, Colon was dominant again. He tallied 18 wins, a sparkling 2.65 ERA, while setting a new league record for amount of asterisks attached to a stat line (previously held by Bret Boone’s almost comical 141-RBI season in 2001).
Amazing what a little late-career wisdom and a barrel full of syringes can do for a doughy veteran.
Josh Reddick’s Beard: Simply put, this thing is out of control. It’s scraggly. It’s curly. You know that thing’s got to be itchy. And it could very well be affecting his performance.
I know that when I shave and get a haircut, I feel a little lighter on my feet -- better equipped to go leg out a double in softball or knock down a 3 in pickup hoops. Reddick, however, refuses to tend to his beard, and it appears to be weighing him down.
After walloping 32 homers last year, that total plummeted to just 12 in 2013. Mix in a paltry .226 average and you’re looking at a guy in serious need of a trip to the neighborhood salon.
Brandon Moss: The A’s first sacker is not a behemoth in the mold of Mo Vaughn or Babe Ruth -- weighing in at a solid-but-unspectacular 210 pounds -- but he swings for the fences all the same.
Moss led the team in both homers and strikeouts, swatting 30 homers to go with 140 whiffs. He was particularly destructive against Tigers’ pitching. During a late-August series in Detroit, Moss went deep a stunning four times over three games, including once each off Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.
Look for Jim Leyland to pepper Moss with lefty relievers when games crawl into the late innings. Unless his starter is throwing a gem, Leyland will likely not let Moss face a righty after the 6th in a big spot; he hits just .200 against left handed pitching with minimal power.
It is worth noting, however, that the other two HRs in that series came off Tiger LH relievers. First, Jose Alvarez was victimized, then it was Drew Smyly serving up a grapefruit that wound up one-hopping into the Detroit River. Still, the percentages suggest Leyland will likely mix and match here.
Coco Crisp: Many hurlers in the American League are wondering what happened to their favorite little breakfast cereal this year. The spark plug center fielder launched a career-best 22 dingers after an off-season workout plan sponsored by Bart Colon.
The real question, though is which of Crisp’s birth names are stranger -- first or middle.
His given first name is “Covelli.” His given middle name is “Loyce.”
I will be using both of these titles as bargaining chips down the line when I try to convince my future wife that “Bozo” is a perfectly acceptable boy’s name just waiting to make a comeback into mainstream American culture.
History: As in, it’s not on Oakland’s side here.
The A’s have made the playoffs a half-dozen times in this century. In 2006, they managed to advance to the ALCS, only to be unceremoniously swept by the Tigers. The other five trips have resulted in gut-wrenching opening round losses, each series decided in the fifth and final game. Four of those rubber matches took place right at home, which makes a second trip to Oaktown seem a lot less daunting for the Tigers, if necessary.
Outlook: The Tigers have a decisive advantage with their starting pitching. They boast the soon-to-be Cy Young award winner in Scherzer and a recent MVP in Verlander. Their staff has significant experience pitching under pressure in October.
In contrast, the A’s starters are either very old or very young, highlighted by 23-year-old Sonny Gray, the Game Two starter. The kid from Vanderbilt has pitched just 10 times on a big league field, and start # 11 will come in front of a national audience.
Many signs point to the Tigers, but you worry about the condition of this squad as they enter post season play. Their top dog is severely impaired, left field remains a mystery, and the fluky setup of last year’s series is no longer in play (the Tigers began with two home games despite being the underdog).
The Athletics are young and hungry. The Tigers just got no-hit by a man whose own parents had never heard of him. Backed by an actual home field advantage this time, it just might be the year where Oakland lets its voice be heard in October.
The starting pitching for the Tigers has been superb. But scoring enough runs to provide ample support, with an ailing MVP, might be too much to ask.
In a year where both teams dominated at home and played slightly above .500 on the road, the A’s having three of the five contests in their yard may very well be the deciding factor.
