In The Shadows: An Oakland Athletics Franchise

[TomahawkChop]

Part 1: Expectations Made Clear

Athletics manager Bob Melvin looked across the room at Billy Beane. The General Manager was in rare form today. He had just listened to another baseball "expert" on Sportscenter predict that Oakland would finish in 3rd place in 2013, and out of the playoffs.

"I'm so sick of this crap," Beane yelled! "We won the damn division last year. Just because we don't give guys $200 million contracts, that doesn't mean we're not as good as the teams that do."

"I hear ya," Melvin responded. "But that's the way it's always been. We don't get the respect, guys ignore us, then we go out and play our game and win. I don't mind being in the shadows."

"Well I do," Beane snapped. "We need the fans to come out and see us. Nobody's going to come to this piece of crap stadium unless we have a winner. And the casual fan hears some jerk on tv say we're not going to win, so they decide not to bother to come to the ballpark."

Beane slammed his fists on the desk. "You need to make sure we win this year. And I don't mean just the division. I'm sick of being knocked out of the 1st round of the playoffs. We need to go to the World Series."

Melvin knew it was a tall order, but he knew better than to argue. He just nodded his head, then explained that he had to leave, and headed out towards his own office. He knew that dealing with Beane's moods was part of the territory. But the guy was a genius, and he knew Beane would do whatever was possible to make sure he had the best possible team at his disposal.

Melvin smiled as he walked into his office. This was going to be a good year, he just knew it.

[TomahawkChop]

Spring Training workouts started today, and the A's players toook the field to the roar of the crowd. The roar of all 9 people that were there to watch....

"Damn, where is everyone," Josh Reddick said aloud?


“It’s Oakland, dude,” replied Coco Crisp. “You get used to it. We have some great fans, but they don’t all show up on a regular basis.”

The A’s got the workout underway, playing catch and doing some light aerobics. Manager Bob Melvin strolled around, checking everything out, seeing which players looked in shape. Melvin was quietly optimistic about his team’s chances. New additions like Chris Young and John Jaso didn’t make the headlines like when the Angels added Josh Hamilton, but Melvin didn’t care. He liked the guys that didn’t make a ton of money, the guys that didn’t take their spot on the roster for granted. His pitching staff matched up well with the others in the division, and he knew that pitching wins championships.

Melvin walked up to outfielder Josh Reddick, who was doing some light jogging.

“Dude, you gotta shave that beard,” Melvin said.

“I didn’t think we had any rule like that,” Reddick responded.

“We don’t. But that thing is out of control. I want you to make headlines with your bat, not your facial hair. Tell you what, if we make the playoffs, you can grow it out and dye it green.”

“Ok, boss,” said Reddick. “It’s a deal.”

The manager of the Athletics turned around and looked at the rest of his team. There wasn’t one player who stood out, and that’s what Melvin liked. He wanted 25 guys working for each other. He was ready to see how these guys would do.

[TomahawkChop]

As the players sat in the dugout ready to take the field, manager Bob Melvin was anxious for his club to get off to a hot start. The A's were opening the season at home against the Seattle Mariners for a 4-game series, followed by a 3-game series against the Houston Astros.

"Guys, as usual nobody is picking us to win the division," Melvin addressed the team. "But as usual, we're going to prove them wrong, starting tonight. This is as soft as the schedule is going to get for us. These are the games we need to be winning. Seattle has Felix going tonight, but we're not going to back down. We've beaten him before, and we can do it again. Let's have a great season, and let's get that W tonight."

The Oakland players started working themselves into a frenzy, psyching themselves up for the game. The public address system announced the team, and the players sprinted out of the dugout onto the field. The time to talk was over, the time to play has started. Everyone is in first place on Opening Day, but the A's planned to stay there a little while.

Author's Note: I'll be playing all 162 games. All-star difficulty. Timing hitting and classic pitching, with Armor & Sword's sliders.

[TomahawkChop]

Moss Sends Fans Home Happy On Opening Night

Brandon Moss hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 9th to lift the Athletics to a 5-4 Opening Night victory over the Seattle Mariners in front of a sellout crowd at the O.Co Coliseum. Moss lifted a 1-2 fastball from Oliver Perez over the right field wall to send the stadium into hysterics, as the Athletics completed a dramatic comeback.

The A's trailed early against Mariners ace Felix Hernandez, with the right-hander dominating through the first 5 innings. But King Felix ran into trouble in the 6th, unable to record an out before being pulled. Jamile Weeks did most of the damage in the inning with a 2-run single, then scoring the go-ahead run after stealing 2nd base. Seth Smith increased the Oakland lead to 4-2 with another RBI single. But the Oakland bullpen was unable to hold onto the lead, giving up 2 runs in the top of the 8th. Brett Anderson, who was excellent for 6.1 innings, was unable to pick up the win and left with shoulder soreness. Early indications are that Anderson should be able to make his next start.

Seattle Mariners at Oakland Athletics
Apr 1, 2013	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Seattle (0-0)	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	4	13	1
Oakland (0-0)	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	1	5	8	0
W: Cook (1-0) L: Perez (0-1)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			SEA	OAK

Seattle Mariners
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Ackley, 2B	5	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
Gutierrez, CF	5	0	2	0	0	1	0	.400
Morse, LF	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	.250
Chavez, PR-LF	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Morales, 1B	3	1	2	0	1	0	0	.667
Montero, C	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	.500
Shoppach, DH	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.250
Bay, RF	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	.333
Ibanez	1	0	1	2	0	0	0	1.000
Andino, SS	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	.500
Seager, 3B	4	0	1	1	0	1	0	.250
BATTING: 2B: Gutierrez (1), Morse (1) RBI: Seager (1), Ibanez 2 (2) GIDP: Ackley, Andino, Bay
BASERUNNING: SB: Morales (1), Andino (1)
FIELDING: E: Ackley (1)

Oakland Athletics
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Crisp, CF	5	0	0	1	0	0	0	.000
Smith, DH	3	0	1	1	1	0	0	.333
Young, DH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Cespedes, LF	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Moss, 1B	3	2	1	1	2	1	1	.333
Reddick, RF	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	.250
Weeks, 2B	4	1	2	2	0	2	0	.500
Jaso, C	2	1	0	0	2	0	0	.000
Lowrie, SS	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	.333
Donaldson, 3B	3	0	2	0	1	0	0	.667
BATTING: 2B: Reddick (1), Donaldson (1) HR: Moss (1) RBI: Crisp (1), Moss (1), Smith (1), Weeks 2 (2) SAC: Lowrie
BASERUNNING: SB: Weeks (1)

Seattle Mariners
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Hernandez	5.0	5	4	4	4	2		7.20
Kinney	1.0	1	0	0	1	0		0.00
Furbush	2.0	1	0	0	1	1		0.00
Perez (L, 0-1)	0.1	1	1	1	0	0		27.00

Oakland Athletics
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Anderson	6.1	8	2	2	0	0		2.84
Doolittle (H, 1)	0.1	1	0	0	0	2		0.00
Scribner (H, 1)	0.1	1	1	1	0	1		27.00
Blevins	0.0	1	1	1	1	0		INF
Cook (W, 1-0)	2.0	2	0	0	0	1		0.00

[TomahawkChop]

Reddick Knocks In 5 As Athletics Win Again

Josh Reddick homered and knocked in five runs as the Athletics dispatched the Mariners with ease in game 2, 8-1. Reddick's 3 run home run in the 7th turn a close game into a rout, as the Mariners bullpen was not able to get the job done. Jamile Weeks added an RBI double, and Jarred Parker threw 6 strong innings before the bullpen finished the job. Parker threw 6 shutout innings, but was responsible for a runner on 1st in the 7th inning who eventually came around to score. Parker did not walk a single batter, while striking out 5.

Endy Chavez was the only Mariners batter with more than one hit, as their offense lived up to their reputation, after scoring 4 runs in the first game. Of Seattle's 7 hits, 5 were singles, and they never had more than one runner on the basepaths at a time.

The A's will send A.J. Griffin to the mound in game 3, and the Mariners will counter with Hisashi Iwakuma.

Seattle Mariners at Oakland Athletics
Apr 2, 2013	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Seattle (0-1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	7	0
Oakland (1-0)	0	0	0	2	0	1	5	0	X	8	9	0
W: Parker (1-0) L: Ramirez (0-1)

Seattle Mariners
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Ackley, 2B	3	0	0	0	1	1	0	.000
Chavez, CF	4	0	3	0	0	0	0	.600
Morse, LF	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.125
Morales, 1B	4	1	1	0	0	2	0	.429
Ibanez, DH	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.200
Montero, C	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	.375
Seager, 3B	4	0	1	1	0	1	0	.250
Saunders, RF	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	.333
Ryan, SS	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
BATTING: 2B: Morales (1), Montero (1) RBI: Seager (2) GIDP: Morse

Oakland Athletics
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Crisp, CF	3	1	0	0	1	1	0	.000
Smith, DH	3	0	0	0	0	2	0	.167
Young, PH-DH	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	.500
Cespedes, LF	3	1	1	1	1	0	0	.125
Moss, 1B	3	2	1	0	0	2	0	.333
Reddick, RF	4	2	3	5	0	0	1	.500
Weeks, 2B	4	0	2	1	0	1	0	.500
Jaso, C	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.167
Lowrie, SS	3	0	0	0	0	2	0	.167
Nakajima, PH-SS	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Donaldson, 3B	3	1	0	0	1	2	0	.333
BATTING: 2B: Reddick (2), Moss (1), Weeks (1) HR: Reddick (1) RBI: Reddick 5 (5), Cespedes (1), Young (1), Weeks (3) HBP: Moss
BASERUNNING: SB: Cespedes (1)

Seattle Mariners
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Ramirez (L, 0-1)	5.2	5	3	3	1	10		4.76
Perez	0.2	1	1	1	2	1		18.00
Furbush	0.1	1	2	2	0	0		7.71
Loe	0.1	2	2	2	0	0		54.00
Kinney	1.0	0	0	0	0	0		0.00

Oakland Athletics
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Parker	6.0	5	1	1	0	5		1.50
Scribner (H, 2)	1.0	2	0	0	0	0		6.75
Blevins	0.1	0	0	0	1	0		27.00
Straily	1.2	0	0	0	1	0		0.00

[TomahawkChop]

A's Walk Off Again

The Athletics are developing a habit of scoring late so far this season. Oakland rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the 8th on a Coco Crisp single before Jed Lowrie won the game in the bottom of the 11th. The A's are now one win away from a 4-game sweep to open the season.

It didn't look like the A's would need extra innings early on, as they scored 6 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning, highlighted by a 3-run home run from catcher Derek Norris. But Oakland pitcher A.J. Griffin could not hold the lead, as Seattle scored 7 runs in the 2nd inning to take the lead. Again that lead did not last, as Oakland would score two runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead again. Seattle would score a run in the 6th and 7th innings, setting the stage for Oakland's rally.

Mariners at Athletics |
Apr 3, 2013	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Extras	R	H	E
Seattle (0-2)	0	7	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0 0	9	13	3
Oakland (2-0)	6	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0 1	10	14	0
W: Doolittle (1-0) L: Noesi (0-1)

Seattle Mariners
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Ackley, 2B	6	1	1	3	0	2	0	.071
Chavez, CF	5	1	1	1	1	0	0	.400
Morse, LF	5	1	2	1	1	0	1	.231
Morales, 1B	4	1	3	0	2	0	0	.545
Ibanez, DH	5	1	1	0	1	2	0	.200
Montero, C	5	2	2	3	1	1	1	.385
Seager, 3B	5	1	1	1	0	3	0	.231
Saunders, RF	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	.250
Ryan, SS	5	1	1	0	0	1	0	.125
BATTING: 2B: Ackley (1), Morales (2), Ibanez (1) HR: Morse (1), Montero (1) RBI: Ackley 3 (3), Seager (3), Morse (1), Montero 3 (3), Chavez (1)
BASERUNNING: CS: Chavez (1)
FIELDING: E: Ackley (2), Montero (1), Shoppach (1)

Oakland Athletics
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Crisp, CF	6	0	2	1	0	1	0	.143
Smith, LF	5	1	0	0	1	1	0	.091
Cespedes, DH	5	3	3	0	1	0	0	.308
Moss, 1B	5	2	2	1	1	1	0	.364
Reddick, RF	6	1	2	2	0	2	0	.429
Weeks, 2B	5	1	1	1	1	1	0	.385
Norris, C	4	1	1	3	2	1	1	.250
Lowrie, SS	6	1	3	1	0	0	0	.333
Donaldson, 3B	3	0	0	0	1	1	0	.222
BATTING: 2B: Lowrie (1), Reddick (3), Cespedes (1) HR: Norris (1) RBI: Crisp (2), Lowrie (1), Reddick 2 (7), Moss (2), Norris 3 (3), Weeks (4) SAC: Donaldson GIDP: Lowrie
BASERUNNING: SB: Crisp 2 (2), Weeks (2)

Seattle Mariners
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Iwakuma	1.1	9	8	8	3	3		54.00
Saunders	4.2	1	0	0	1	1		0.00
Kinney (H, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1		0.00
Loe (BS, 1)	0.1	2	1	1	0	0		40.50
Noesi (L, 0-1)	3.1	2	1	0	3	3		0.00

Oakland Athletics
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Griffin	1.2	8	7	7	1	1		37.80
Werner	4.1	2	1	1	4	4		2.08
Straily	4.0	2	1	1	0	3		1.59
Doolittle (W, 1-0)	1.0	1	0	0	1	1		0.00

[AmParess]

Keep it up man, great read so far. Hope you stick with it.

[TomahawkChop]

Quote: Originally Posted by AmParess

Keep it up man, great read so far. Hope you stick with it.

Thank you. It's a little rough playing in that stadium, but the team is a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to when I go up against some tougher opponents.