By MATT McCORMACK
STAFF WRITER
The Oakland Athletics are perhaps the most underappreciated team in baseball. Well, except for two years ago, when Moneyball was released in theaters across the nation. The movie details the Oakland Athletics’ surprising rise to prominence during the 2002 season and the unique “moneyball” method, which emphasized walks and on-base percentage, implemented by Billy Beane. It brought the Athletics, usually a very low profile organization, into the national spotlight. Unfortunately for Oakland, their success following that 2002 season often went unheralded (perhaps rightfully so, since they often failed to advance past the first round). Now, in 2013, the Athletics have fielded their best team since that “moneyball” season, but hardly anybody knows about it.
The 2013 Athletics finished the year with a sterling record of 96-66, racking up their most wins since 2003. However, you wouldn’t know about this underdog story by watching SportsCenter. They like to focus on other riveting baseball stories, such as how all Red Sox players are sporting beards and who A-Rod is suing/being sued by this week. The lack of attention probably does not bother or surprise these Oakland upstarts. Averaging just over 22,000 fans per game (the Oakland Coliseum isn’t exactly the best place to watch a baseball game), the Athletics are arguably the fifth most popular team in their own state.
Another reason for Oakland’s anonymity is their lack of star power. Even in 2002, when the Athletics were forced to deal with the losses of powerhouse names such as Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon, they still had a fair amount of superstars. After all, during the 2002 season Miguel Tejada won MVP and Barry Zito won the Cy Young Award (although Moneyball fails to mention these reasons for Oakland’s success, but that is beside the point). This year, however, many casual baseball fans would be hard pressed to name one player on Oakland’s roster. This is what makes Oakland’s success so impressive; they won 96 games with a mixture of veteran journeymen and relatively unknown younger players.
The biggest name on the A’s roster is probably Yoenis Cespedes, who won the 2013 Home Run Derby. However, his season was only slightly above average, totaling 26 homers and 80 RBI while acquiring a disappointing .240 batting average.
Josh Donaldson, not Cespedes, is driving Oakland this season. Despite receiving virtually no attention nationwide, he led the team in numerous statistics: RBI (93), batting average (.301), OBP (.384) and total bases (289) to name a few. In a different year, he might even have received a few votes for MVP, but Chris Davis and Miguel Cabrera had unbelievable seasons, dwarfing Donaldson’s statistics. However, Donaldson is without doubt the most valuable player on his own team.
On the pitching side of things, the A’s have been led by the aging Bartolo Colon, who has shocked everybody by putting up Cy Young-quality numbers. He led the team in both wins (18) and ERA (2.65). He epitomizes the Athletics as a team: forgotten and dismissed, yet overcoming the odds to have an enormously successful season. In the bullpen, Grant Balfour has become a fan favorite among the Oakland faithful, totaling 38 saves and only blowing three opportunities.
Currently tied 1-1 in their ALDS matchup against the Tigers, it will definitely be challenging for Oakland to win in Detroit. If they can pull off the upset and win this series, however, hopefully the Athletics will gain the recognition they deserve.