CHAPTER 8
Youthful Exuberance
Toronto is the yin to Oakland's yang. While the A's have gotten their 90 wins on a tight wallet and savvy moves, the Blue Jays have virtually bought their way to their 90 victories.
Pitchers R.A. Dickey, Josh Johnson, and Mark Buehrle, shortstop Jose Reyes and outfielder Melky Cabrera were brought over within the last year via trade or free agency, bringing with them a whopping $191.8 million in contracts. The Blue Jays were taking on contracts that few could afford, with the hope of overtaking Boston and New York in the free-spending American League East. To a certain extent, it has worked. While the Jays fell 2.0 games short of the Red Sox for first place, they have positioned themselves nicely for a spot in the postseason.
The one-game playoff would be held at the O.co Coliseum, one day after the A's had completed a three-game sweep of the Mariners in Seattle. Dan Straily, who had logged a combined 177.1 innings in his brief big league career, would toe the rubber opposite former #5 overall pick and veteran pitcher Brandon Morrow.
Billy Beane is a picture of relaxation in the A's clubhouse two hours before gametime. It's not confidence. It's something else.
Having nothing to lose.
Billy has beaten the odds once again. Win or lose, his team had reached the 90-win mark for the second season in a row, after a span of five straight non-winning seasons. He has done this with a payroll of $80.1 million... barely nudging out the Pittsburgh Pirates ($80 million for 84 losses), and well ahead of the cash-strapped Miami Marlins ($51.6 million for 93 losses) and Houston Astros ($41.5 million for 108 losses).
Every game that the A's play from here on out this season is a bonus for Billy. Literally. As a minority owner of the team, Billy stands to profit from each game beyond 162 that his team plays in the postseason. The average regular season ticket fetches $25 in Oakland. In the postseason? That number could jump anywhere from $100 to $500. Winning, simply put, is good for business.
But right now, Billy's not focused on his net worth. His eye is on Toronto slugger Edwin Encarnacion. The first baseman has hit 40 homeruns this season, bringing his two-season total to 82.
"Look at that son of a bitch turn on this pitch," Billy says, queuing up a YouTube video of Encarnacion as he hammers a mammoth 440-foot homerun to left at the Rogers Centre. "Tillman never has a chance!"
Chris Tillman is the unwitting accomplice in Encarnacion's highlight-worthy homerun. This year alone, Encarnacion has gone 4-for-8 against the Baltimore Orioles pitcher. All but one of those hits cleared the wall for a homerun.
"Oh, boy, Straily's going to have fun pitching to this guy," Billy says with a cackle.
Straily is not an ideal candidate to take the hill in this kind of situation. He's never pitched in the postseason. But manager Bob Melvin has no choice. He went through A.J. Griffin, Brett Anderson, and Tommy Milone in the Seattle series just to force this one-game playoff. His choices are Straily, who was sensational in 18 starts (12-3, 2.54 ERA), and Jarrod Parker, who struggled to a 4.80 ERA in a disappointing sophomore campaign in the bigs.
"I like the decision to pitch Straily; I really do," Billy claims, shutting down the laptop. "He's young enough not to give a s--- and know better."
Plus, Melvin can keep to the rotation. If he goes to the Cy Young candidate Milone or Griffin or Anderson, they'll be going on short rest and his rotation would be certifiably screwed in the playoffs.
"You really want the division crown," assistant general manager David Forsty answers, when asked who he would have pitched in this tie-breaker. "That's the answer."
"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Billy dryly tells his minion. "Of course you want the division. But that's not a luxury you have here."
"We would've if you had listened to me about Davis!" David retorts to his boss with a sly grin.
Ah, yes, Chris Davis. The guy everyone says they claim they knew about, but never followed through on. Chris Davis is the 27 year-old slugger who came out of nowhere to smash 49 homeruns this season, after hitting a total of 77 in his entire 5-year career prior. Forsty pleaded and pleaded for Billy to trade for Davis when he could be had for a song in 2011. The Orioles swooped in and dealt middle reliever Koji Uehara for Davis
and pitcher Tommy Hunter.
"He'll never let that one go," Billy remarks.
It's all a ruse for Billy and David to keep themselves distracted from the task at hand. Baltimore, for all its savvy in plucking Davis from Boston, is nowhere close to the postseason. The A's are one win away from going to the Wild Card.
Straily's postseason experience -- or lack thereof -- is exposed in the first inning, when he is drilled for back to back singles to lead off the game by Anthony Gose and Jose Reyes. Gose easily scores from third on a fielders choice to give Toronto a 1-0 lead.
This could be a long night.
34,915 fans have packed into the O.co. There has been plenty of bad blood between A's owner Lew Wolf and the City of Oakland over the team's pursuit of a new stadium. But tonight, nobody's thinking about San Jose. Or a new ballpark. This raggedy piece of s--- stadium, half committed to football, half to baseball, is the greatest place on earth tonight.
Yoenis Cespedes leads off the bottom of the second with a single on a 2-0 fastball from Morrow. Jed Lowrie follows suit in as seven-pitch sequence with a line drive to left. Cespedes hustles into third and suddenly the A's are in business with runners on the corners.
John Jaso, the A's platoon catcher, steps up to the plate. He would've been a perfect fit on the 2002 Oakland team. A patient hitter, he's walked 71 times in 132 games this season for a very respectable .386 OBP.
He sends a bullet to center on a 1-1 pitch and Cespedes trots home from third for Oakland's first run of the game. It's a 1-1 ballgame. Seth Smith tries unsuccessfully to advance the runners on a bunt when Lowrie is cut down at third.
But then the wheels come off for Morrow. The former bonus baby, who grew up in nearby Santa Rose, is about to get railroaded by the weak-hitting, tight-fisted Oakland A's.
Brandon Moss singles to load the bases. And then Chase Utley happens. Well struck ball into the gap in right-center, Jaso and Smith come in to score, as Moss slides safely into third. A two-run double, and the A's have the lead, 3-1. The trade that Billy nearly broke the bank to make has paid off ten-fold. The carnage continues until Coco Crisp is tagged out at home on a bases loaded RBI single from Cespedes, who started the inning in what seems like hours before.
6-1 A's after two innings of play.
Encarnacion's 41st homerun of the season in the fourth is an afterthought as Straily pitches into the 9th in a brilliant 8-hit, 2-run, 9-strikeout effort.
A's win, 9-2. They're headed to the American League Wild Card to take on the Los Angeles Angels.