Chapter 6
Fit to be Tied
With Chase Utley in the lineup, the A's became a completely different team. The new second baseman would drive in 35 runs in 56 games, as the A's tried in chase down the front-running Angels in the American League West. But Billy Beane wasn't the only one wheeling and dealing in the West.
The Angels were determined not to give up ground in the division standings, swinging July trades with the Yankees for Kevin Youkilis (the A's coveted "Greek God of Walks"), and the Cubs for pitcher Edwin Jackson. Their already loaded roster, which featured Josh Hamilton (.292, 51 HR, 129 RBI), Albert Pujols (.275, 36 HR, 93 RBI), Mike Trout (.289, 21 HR, 86 RBI), Jared Weaver (14-8, 3.57 ERA), and CJ Wilson (19-9, 3.36 ERA) -- had now added two more serviceable starters.
Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers were still trying to recover from a spectacular meltdown from the year before. When outfielders Craig Gentry and Leonys Martin went down with injuries, another collapse seemed inevitable. But Rangers GM Jon Daniels made the bold decision to trade first baseman Mitch Moreland and prospect Luis Sardinas to the Milwaukee Brewers for centerfielder Carlos Gomez (.271, 18 HR, 85 R, 41 SB). Though Gomez would go on to hit just .228 over the course of 52 games with Texas that season, the acquisition had the unexpected benefit of handcuffing the A's.
Billy, it turns out, was also looking to make a trade with the Brewers. Milwaukee was desperate for help at first base, and Billy was prepared to send the Brewers a package of first baseman Daric Barton, outfielder Seth Smith, shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, minor league first baseman Miles Head, and reliever Jerry Blevins. All for Milwaukee closer John Axford and $3,000,000.
Why didn't he do it?
"They insisted on Brandon Moss," Billy says with a grin.
He can smile about it now, only because that trade could've actually done the A's more harm than good. Axford would've proved to be costly, considering his pedestrian 26 saves and 3.52 ERA. Instead, the A's stuck it out with the struggling Sean Doolittle. The southpaw wound up converting 14 straight save chances to close out the year, while lowering his ERA from 4.18 to 2.96 from early August to late September. Blevins, another component in that trade, also performed well, posting a 2.87 ERA in 45 appearances as the A's bullpen finsihed second in the American League in earned run average.
The second half of the season was not without its hurdles. Josh Reddick tore his labrum after just 86 games and would miss the rest of the season. "Can't Miss" prospect Jarrod Parker, well, missed... going just 9-13 with a 4.80 ERA in 30 starts and 187.2 innings pitched. The A's offense hit a meager .257 at the plate (10th out of 15 teams in the A.L.) with a paltry 165 homeruns (11th).
Despite that, manager Bob Melvin milked every ounce out of this team that he possibly could. All-Star outfielder Coco Crisp had a banner year, hitting .282 while setting career highs in homeruns (16), runs batted in (73), and stolen bases (47). Tommy Milone, perhaps the most unheralded among the A's young pitchers, led the A.L. with 19 wins, along with a 3.02 ERA in 223.1 innings pitched.
But it all would come back to the Utley trade, which provided the spark that Billy was looking for at the trade deadline. Just 4 games above .500 at 54-50 at the time of the deal, Oakland would go on to win 36 of its final 58 games of the regular season. That includes a blistering 19-9 September. They would need all of those 19 wins. The Angels finished with a record of 93-69 to claim the West division, a scant 2 games better than the Rangers, who nabbed the first wild card spot at 91-71. The 90-72 A's finished one game behind Texas, which in any year before 2012 would've meant the end of Oakland's season.
Thankfully, Bud Selig and Major League Baseball had instituted a new Wild Card format the year before, adding a second playoff team to the mix. For a guy who has never been a champion of the little man, Bud certainly gave the A's a lot of help on this one. Their mark was tied with the Toronto Blue Jays for the second and final Wild Card.
The A's and Jays, as it turns out, would have to play each other in one final playoff to end the regular season and determine the A.L.'s second Wild Card. Oakland would face arguably its most daunting task in postseason history: two one-game playoffs (the regular season tie-breaker, and then a one-game Wild Card) to go to a Divisional Series.
The underdog A's were poised for another trip to the playoffs. All that stood in their way was a team that got their following the exact opposite fiscal model.