The A’s are doing everything they can to avoid participating in the postseason.
And it comes down to the final game of the season. King Felix ins pitching tomorrow…
And the current playoff system isn’t exciting? This is the second year in a row that at least one playoff spot has still been up in the air on the last day of the season. The year before that there was a division title/wild card decided on the last day of the season.
We have now had truly meaningful games played on the very last day of the season (or even after, in a playoff game) eight years in a row, an event totally unprecedented in the history of MLB.
Josh Harrison now 0 for 3 handing Justin Morneau the NL Batting Title as Morneau set out the last two games. Ted Williams, he ain’t.
Sitting out one game is bad. Sitting out two is pathetic.
Harrison might have a game 163. Would that make a difference in the title chase if he were to go say four for four?
Yes. Tiebreaker games count.
Oh, I know it counts; just didn’t know if he was close enough to make a difference after the first three at bats today. I will admit to not following the batting races closely this year (like at all).
My wife and I made a bet on April 12 of this year. She bet that none of the divisions would finish in the same order (win/loss record) as they were on that date, and I bet against her. The order on that date was:
AL East: Tampa Bay, Toronto, Boston, NY, Baltimore
AL Central: Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, KC, Minnesota
AL West: Seattle, Oakland, Anaheim, Texas, Houston
NL East: Washington, Atlanta, Miami, NY, Philly
NL Central: Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati
NL West: LA, San Francisco, Colorado, San Diego, Arizona
Right now, my only chance of winning the three shiny pennies at stake is if the Mets lose and Miami wins (and as of the 7th in both games, the opposite appears to be happening). I would have thought I had a better chance than this. Anybody else surprised at the changes in most of these divisions?
Unless the Bucs can beat Aroldis Chapman in the 9th, there will be no game 163 tomorrow. Down 2-1 with Cueto getting the go ahead RBI.
Jordan Zimmerman pitches a no-hitter on the last day of the season.
My boys and I were there for it. We just missed one in 2006, when Ramon Ortiz went 8 1/3. They were 8 and 6 then, so probably wouldn’t have appreciated it as much then as they did at 14 and 16.
Well, Oakland has won, and the Mariners are out. So close.
But damn, what a ride! Assuming the M’s win today (currently up 4-0 in the 6th), they’ll finish the season with 87 wins. After the last decade, I’ll take it, and look eagerly forward to 2015.
I’m so jealous, I didn’t even watch it on tv, now I’m kicking myself.
Missing by one game is a heartbreak. 75 “What ifs.”
With the best 27th out I’ve ever seen. Zimmermann himself was already hanging his head, assuming it was a double. Right up to the catch I thought it was a guaranteed hit.
Oakland… honestly, they don’t deserve it. This should have been a top contender for greatest collapse of all time.
I know, right? The Mariners finished the season the same way they started it: with a 3-game sweep of the Angels (the 98-game winning, best-record-in-the-AL team). Oakland finished by taking 2 of 3 from the worst team in the league. It’s interesting to speculate about what might have happened if the M’s and the A’s had finished the season against each other.
That said, although the M’s have finished the season with the best pitching staff in baseball, their last road trip was absolutely the worst possible time for their three best starting pitchers to completely collapse. King Felix, Hisashi Iwakuma, and James Paxton all had terrible outings. I would mention Chris Young, but he takes no blame for the last road trip, given that Lloyd McClendon decided to sit him out, as he had apparently run out of gas.
That all said, Felix Hernandez is a clear candidate for the AL Cy Young award, and Chris Young should be in the running for Comeback Player of the Year. And the kid, Taijuan Walker, looks to be a lock for the rotation next year.
Your second sentence is key. If it wins you a World Series, who cares. There have been plenty of teams who have won a World Series based on a two fantastic pictures. Samardzija has the pieces to be the 2nd piece for a good playoff rotation.
Speaking of Hammel, it is good to look at his last 8 starts (in Aug and Sept) rather than his disastrous July (getting acclimated to the AL?). In August, Hammel had 4 starts and had an ERA of 2.86 with a WHIP of 1.273. In Sept, Hammel had 4 starts and one relief outing, and had an ERA of 2.20 and a WHIP of 0.802.
I think a playoff rotation of Lester, Samarzija, Gray, and Hammel may actually work fairly well for the A’s.
If they get past KC, they may do better than the last 45 days may have indicated, but we’ll see.
Eking themselves into the divisional series would probably be one of the more grotesque examples of backing into the playoffs since… well, I’d have to go back to the 2006 Cardinals.
They did okay.
Truthfully, how a team did in September versus May has never had much to do with playoff success. It’s a new season.
Just saw the video. Damn, that was one awesome catch!
A spectacular ending to a superb season. Go Nats!