This is Oakland A's baseball

[Hendu Style]

Tuesday, October 18th, 1994

Amazing A's! Oakland Wins World Series

[Hendu Style]

Wednesday, October 19th, 1994

I swear, a hangover never felt so good. We partied into the early hours of the morning here in Pittsburgh, celebrating a well-earned and hard-fought World Championship. For once, we could just... relax. Breathe. Have fun.

I haven't had too much time to reflect on what's transpired this season, but when I do, I'm sure I'll be amazed at what we've accomplished. For a team that won 106 games in the regular season, had two 40 homerun hitters, three 100 RBI guys, and a 21-game and 19-game winner, we sure felt like an underdog. We never let the adversity get to us. I credit Tony LaRussa for keeping the guys up, and I also point to our clubhouse chemistry. We had the perfect blend of veterans like Terry Steinbach and Dennis Eckersley, youngsters like Matt Stairs and Ernie Young, and All-Stars like Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds. Most importantly, we all pulled in the same direction.

I'm sure there's plenty of work to do in the offseason... whether I'm the GM or whatever, but for the first time in a long time, I'm just going to sit back and enjoy this a little bit. I hope the rest of the team does, too. They deserve it.

[mirrf]

Originally Posted by Hendu Style

Tuesday, October 18th, 1994

Amazing A's! Oakland Wins World Series

Nice! Congrats.

[jaa36]

Congrats A's! Though I'm concerned the title may soon be marked with an asterisk... Great read so far and I'm looking forward the next plot twist.

[mirrf]

Originally Posted by jaa36

Congrats A's! Though I'm concerned the title may soon be marked with an asterisk... Great read so far and I'm looking forward the next plot twist.

Yea, they did have Canseco and currently have Bonds & McGuire. They should trade for Sosa, pick up Palmero, and Clemens. Shoot, pick up all the people known to be on steroids or HGH. Put on multiple asterisks.

[marxiedog]

Congrats! your write-ups have inspired me to begin my replay. Would you be so kind as to share your settings when you get a moment. I would love to know how you reduced the power numbers in particular....thanks again.
Marxiedog

[Hendu Style]

Originally Posted by marxiedog

Congrats! your write-ups have inspired me to begin my replay. Would you be so kind as to share your settings when you get a moment. I would love to know how you reduced the power numbers in particular....thanks again.
Marxiedog

Just sent ya a PM, Marxiedog. Please let me know if that works for you.

[Hendu Style]

Friday, November 4th, 1994

I'm here in sunny Orlando, Florida, for the first annual MLB Awards Show, which aired earlier tonight on ESPN live from Walt Disney World. Kind of a cool setup. The Commish (as much as it pains me to admit this) came up with the idea of creating a gala awards program instead of spreading out all of the awards over the course of a couple of weeks. Instead, it's packed into one night, and is treated like an Oscar ceremony of Major League Baseball.

They couldn't have picked better presenters. What a sight, watching Hank Aaron hand out the MVP awards to Larry Walker and our own Barry Bonds. Bob Feller was on hand to present the Cy Young awards to Randy Johnson and Shane Reynolds. Yogi Berra gave out the Manager of the Year awards to Tony LaRussa and Art Howe. And, of all people, "The Bird" Mark Fidyrich presented the Rookies of the Year, Jeff Cirillo and Ricky Botallico. The ceremony itself was hosted by Sandy Alderson. I personally would like to have seen an A-list celebrity hosting a made-for-TV event, but I'm not the Commissioner, nor do I have any intention of taking Sandy's job.

The highlight of the weekend was having the entire team here in Florida, as the guests of honor as the World Series champs. That was a nice touch, and I'm sure all the families of our players appreciated spending some vacation time here.

It's back to business for me. I have a meeting with our owner, Mr. Haas, to talk about the upcoming season, budgets, and -- hopefully -- my official promotion as general manager of the A's.

1994 Award Winners:

Rookie of the Year:
AL: Jeff Cirillo, 3B, Milwaukee (.292, 11 HR, 84 RBI)
NL: Ricky Bottalico, CL, Philadelphia (10-4, 14 SV, 2.46 ERA)

Manager of the Year:
AL: Tony LaRussa, Oakland (106-56, World Series Championship)
NL: Art Howe, Houston (99-63, NL Division Champion)

Cy Young:
AL: Randy Johnson, Seattle (18-5, 2.53 ERA, 224.1 IP, 274 K)
NL: Shane Reynolds, Houston (19-7, 2.34 ERA, 242.1 IP, 219 K)

MVP:
AL: Barry Bonds, Oakland (.321, 44 HR, 108 BB, 140 R, 134 RBI, 31 SB)
NL: Larry Walker, Montreal (.315, 31 HR, 40 2B, 94 RBI, 39 SB)

[Hendu Style]

Friday, November 11th, 1994

Productive meeting with our owner this week, though not nearly as productive as I would've hoped. He informed me that our player payroll budget would be $35 million for this upcoming season. Okay, that's managable. He also told me to keep up the good work, and spend our money as I deem fit. But at no point did Mr. Haas extend me an offer to be the permanent general manager of the team, nor did he tell me anything about when that position would be filled.

Is he jerking me around? Does he have someone else in mind? Did he simply forget that he has yet to hire someone for this position?

All I can do in the meantime is set us up as well as possible for the offseason. Free agency hits next week, and we need some breathing room for our payroll. We took a bath in salary arbitration this past week, losing a couple of million dollars in payroll in decisions in favor of Jeff Kent and Pat Hentgen.

No matter. I was able to trade Mickey Tettleton (.249, 17 HR, 118 BB as an All-Star catcher last season) and his $3.76 salary to the LA Dodgers for pitcher Chan Ho Park (6-4, 3.06 ERA in 70 appearances). Tettleton is in the last year of his contract, and the Dodgers are one of the few teams who can afford him. They're going to put him out in right field, and let him get the occasional start at catcher to give Mike Piazza a break behind the plate. Makes good sense. The Dodgers also get one of our minor league starting pitchers, John Wasdin. In return, we get a quality reliever in Park who could be converted into a starter if we can't find a replacement for the injured Kevin Brown in the offseason.

I know this trade sends a bad message to fans, who were hoping to see a full season of Tettleton as our hard-hitting catcher, but we can't afford that kind of salary, especially when you're talking about a #6 or 7 hitter in our star-studded lineup.

[Hendu Style]

Thursday, November 17th, 1994

Even after moving Mickey Tettleton's contract, it doesn't look like we're going to make a big splash in free agency. Which is too bad, because it's a deep field this year. Take a look:

SP John Smoltz, Atlanta (10-8, 3.38 ERA, 23 GS)
SP Jack McDowell, Chicago-A (17-11, 3.21 ERA, 249.2 IP)
SP Erik Hanson, Seattle (13-9, 3.77 ERA, 231.1 IP, 190 K)
RF Larry Walker, Montreal (.315, 31 HR, 94 RBI as NL MVP)
LF Juan Gonzalez, Texas (.293, 23 HR, 82 RBI)
CF Lenny Dykstra, Philadelphia (.281, 11 HR, 31 SB, 109 R)
3B Ken Caminiti, California (.270, 26 HR, 85 RBI)
CL John Franco, MIN (26 SV, 2.40 ERA)

I can't imagine us making a serious run at any of these guys. It's just not in our budget, and it doesn't make sense. Our bullpen is totally full, so that takes Franco off the list. Same goes for our outfield at the moment, though I would absolutely love to find a way to get Walker into the mix. We're pretty set at third, so that takes Caminit out of the equation. The only area we need to address is the rotation... making Smoltz, McDowell, and Hanson all intriguing targets. But, again, we can't afford the $5 million salary they would command on the open market. $3 million? Now we're getting somewhere.

I am concerned about Seattle's ability to make an impact this year. We stole Roberto Alomar out from under the Mariners last year, but we won't be able to muscle them around with more money this year. They will make a splash in free agency, whether we like it or not. If I were them, I'd make a play for Walker at RF, and move Kevin Mitchell to DH. I would also try to sign one of those starting pitchers. We'll have to wait and see what they choose to do... but they should have plenty of money at their disposal this winter.

[Hendu Style]

Monday, November 28th, 1994

Reds Sign MVP Walker to $21.8 Million Deal

[Hendu Style]

Saturday, December 17th, 1994

Reds Land Black Jack for $29.8 Million

[Hendu Style]

Monday, January 2nd, 1995

I've been sweating bullets here for the last couple weeks, waiting for the Mariners to make a big move this offseason. First, they signed Wally Joyner to a big deal, which seemed like a waste of money to me. But then, talks really intensified between Seattle and John Smoltz. We met up Smoltz at his offseason home, just to make an obligatory pitch, but moreso gauge his interest in going to a certain other AL West team.

After talking with him, I couldn't really get a good read on him... but was greeted with some great news today: Smoltz signed a 6-year/$27.4 million deal with Houston. That is a relief... seeing how the only time we'll ever see Smoltz now will be in the World Series. Then again, we're talking about a team that won 99 games last season and then added Smoltz and Juan Gonzalez.

We've been relatively quiet this offseason, save for a small trade between us and San Diego. We traded backup middle infielder Brent Gates to the Padres for Brad Ausmus, who gives us much-needed depth behind Terry Steinbach and a defensive-minded catcher we've been sorely lacking.

[Hendu Style]

Friday, January 6th, 1995

MLB Realigns, Expands Playoff System

MLB Commissioner Sandy Alderson outlines his bold initiative

NEW YORK, NY (AP) -- Major League Baseball has approved a dramatic realignment that finally addresses geographic inconsistencies, while also creating an expanded playoff format. Baseball purists are calling it a drastic measure, while others are calling it long overdue. As part of the realignment, MLB commissioner Sandy Alderson also outlined a plan to expand the league by two more franchises by the year 2000.

"First and foremost, baseball has reached the point where it needs more than four playoff teams representing the league's 28 ballclubs," said Alderson. "Additionally, Major League Baseball was in dire need of teams residing in the same time zone while also preserving longstanding rivalries, and keeping clubs in their original leagues."

The new format will crown three divisional champions within each league, while two more teams (one in each league) would reach the playoffs as a wild card, much like the NFL. It is not yet known if the opening round of the MLB playoffs will be a best-of-7 or best-of-7 format.

Under this format, four additional teams -- Atlanta and Montreal in the NL, and Milwaukee and Seattle in the AL -- would have reached the postseason.

Here is a look at how the standings would have shaped up last year if this new realignment had been implemented:

[Hendu Style]

Wednesday, February 8th, 1995

I'm going stir crazy during a very uneventful offseason, but it's not for a lack of trying.

I had been hoping to free up enough salary to make a play for Larry Walker or John Smoltz in free agency, but that was never meant to be. The only viable option would've been to trade Roberto Alomar, but he's just one year into his contract with us and has lower trade value since he's still on the shelf with an injury.

Plan B was to acquire a top-tier starting pitcher to bolster our rotation, as we face an entire season without our ace, Kevin Brown. I've inquired about high-salary pitchers nearing the end of their contracts... like Boston's Roger Clemens and Baltimore's Mike Mussina. Clemens immediately made it known that he would veto any trade as a 10/5 player, so we backed off. Mussina had no such rights, but the Orioles are asking for the moon: Jay Buhner, Steve Karsay, and Scott Brosius. That's just too much to give up for one pitcher, as good as Moose may be.

We also have a glut of relief pitchers, and somebody's got to go. Xavier Hernandez and Dennis Eckersley are at the top of my list to shop around. Parting with Eck would be incredibly difficult, but he's lost his closer's role with us, and it would be nice to see him catch on with another team to start getting some save opportunities.

We're also trying to figure out what to do with Matt Stairs and Jason Giambi. Stairs (.418, 2 HR in 88 AB's) had a great September call-up for us last season and filled in great when he had that rash of injuries. There's just no room for him in our outfield with Barry Bonds in left and Jay Buhner in right. Giambi is the next big thing in our farm system and is Major League-ready. He can flat-out hit the piss out of the ball, but where's he going to play? Mark McGwire's not going anywhere at first base. The solution is obviously to have Stairs or Giambi as a backup in the field, and then have them DH as well. But you can see the dilemma: we really only have room for one of these guys on the roster.

For now, we'll have to stand pat. But soon, I'll have to make a move. We're the World Series champs. Everyone's out to get us, and if we don't move forward, we're going to start losing steam.

[Yea Thats Right]

ok, so while I hate you for moving the Giants to St. Pete, I'm fascinated with your dynasty.

I want to start a dynasty with the Giants starting in 2004 (this time they'll sign Vladdy!)...my question is how you set up your minor leagues...do you have all the levels? If so, how do you fill the teams?

[Pedro]

Just a note to say I've been following this avidly and it's one of the best 'AAR's I have ever read. Nice job!

[Hendu Style]

Originally Posted by Yea Thats Right

ok, so while I hate you for moving the Giants to St. Pete, I'm fascinated with your dynasty.

I want to start a dynasty with the Giants starting in 2004 (this time they'll sign Vladdy!)...my question is how you set up your minor leagues...do you have all the levels? If so, how do you fill the teams?

I am convinced that the Giants and A's cannot peacefully coexist, so Humm Baby, had to give San Fran the boot to St. Pete!

I do have minors at all levels, and just let the computer fill with ghost players. If my dynasty ever makes it past present day, I want to be able to pick up and continue my league.

[Hendu Style]

Originally Posted by Pedro

Just a note to say I've been following this avidly and it's one of the best 'AAR's I have ever read. Nice job!

Thanks Pedro. At the risk of sounding like a newb, I don't know what an AAR is... but I'm assuming it has something to do with alternate reality?

[Hendu Style]

Monday, February 27th, 1995

To steal a line from Hannibal on the A-Team, "I love it when a plan comes together."

We accomplished two big goals today by trading RF Jay Buhner (.308, 24 HR, 94 RBI), RHP Steve Karsay (20 SV, 1.15 ERA in AAA Sacramento), and minor league outfielder Jose Herrera to the Phillies for RHP Curt Schilling (15-11, 2.18 ERA, 184 K):

1. We now have opened up a spot for minor league prospect Matt Stairs in the outfield... also theoretically creating room for our other minor league stud, Jason Giambi, to move up to the bigs and get some time at DH.

2. Got a top-tier pitcher in Schilling to help anchor the staff while we wait for Kevin Brown to come back from an elbow injury.

To be clear, we gave up a lot to get Schilling, who can exercise an out clause in his contract after the upcoming season to become a free agent. I am convinced that Buhner is a 30-40 HR threat, and should thrive in the middle of the order in Philly. Plus, Karsay is about as coveted as they come as far as pitching prospects go. But our team is built for winning now, and we can't wait for Karsay to reach that ceiling.

All things considered, it's still a good trade for us. I feel very confident about our pitching staff, and we still have a great lineup that has plenty of pop with Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Ellis Burks, and Jeff Kent. I have to admit, things look pretty good going into Spring Training... I can't wait for March.