Skip to main content

Autumn Baseball

Oakland Coliseum
Baseball is a game of numbers, or is it? The leaves on the maple trees on our street have begun to drop, the lingering daylight is beginning to recede, light rains cool the air, its inevitable, the first sign that fall is on it’s way. Kids are back in school, Labor Day is upon us, and my Cubs, with 25 regular season games left have virtually no chance (again) at the playoffs (see Catching Lightning). Wait till next year. The lazy days of summer are but a memory and the 2013 baseball season is winding down. Will this season prove that big money buys a pennant winner, or just lucrative losers?

This year I chalked up another stadium on my list of major league baseball parks visited (complete list below). After reading the book Money Ball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, seeing the Oakland Athletics was a must. It's the story of how Billy Bean, General Manager of the Oakland A's changed the game of baseball using the statistical work of Bill James. Now granted, the Oakland Coliseum is no Wrigley Field but it does hold a place in baseball history. The 2002 season was historic for the A’s - a winning streak of 20 consecutive games. During the 20th game, cruising along with an 11-0 lead, the A's blew it. The Royals rallied to tie the score on a two-out, RBI single by Luis Alicea in the top of the ninth, the Athletics won in dramatic fashion, a walk-off, the bottom half of the ninth, for the third straight game. Oakland broke a three-way tie for the longest winning streak in AL history with the 1906 Chicago White Sox and the 1947 New York Yankees. For those interested, the major league record of 26 consecutive victories was set by the New York Giants in 1916.

 The premise of Moneyball is to answer the question, "How did one of the poorest teams in baseball, the Oakland A's, win so many games?" The author does this by comparing the payrolls and unfair advantage between the Oakland A's and the New York Yankees, well, I’d like to look closer to home - the American League West. The 2013 Angels (see Angels 10 Tigers 0) have a payroll of $127,896,250 compare this to the A’s, $60,864,500. That’s over twice as much. This year there are three teams with lower payrolls than the A's: Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins, and Houston Astros (average $38,939,257).

The stats as of September 2, 2013 are very telling (had to throw in my Padres and Cubs for comparison);

       Team
   W
       L
     PCT
   GB
   Home
   Road
      Oakland
   78
      58
     .574
     1
   42-25
   36-33
      Angels
   63
      72
     .467
    15.5
   31-37
   32-35
      Padres
   60
      76
     .441
    21
   36-32
   24-44
      Cubs
   58
      78
     .426
    21
   27-42
   31-36












In April, sports broadcasters could not stop raving about the Angels and their powerhouse lineup; Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, Mike Trout, and Mark Trumbo, to name a few. Google, Pujols, today, (for example) and the headlines say, Albert Pujols healthy enough to golf . According to Pete Donovan of the Desert Sun, "This may not be the worst Angel team of all-time (the ’80 club was 30 games under .500), but it’s surely the most embarrassing based on preseason predictions.”

 On the opposite side of the dugout is the Oakland A’s. To this day, I'm unable to name an Oakland player from memory. However, if you happen to attend an A's game the cheer, during each at bat, is for their beloved catcher, "DEREK - Norris - DEREK - Norris!" The headlines for today read, The A's take back the AL West. During our visit to the Coliseum we witnessed scrappy play, and the raw enthusiasm of the Oakland fans, this made baseball fun again. And why not, they were winning. The game we attended, Oakland won (Indians 3 - Oakland 7). 

Now, deep down, I’m a National league fan at heart, (put the pitcher in the batters box) however, I love the game of baseball and truly enjoy watching the season unfold. Let’s face reality, teams play 162 games a year, it's not over yet!

The 1951 Giants came back to beat the the Dodgers after trailing by 12 1⁄2 games and as a result they were already looking ahead to face the New York Yankees in the 1951 World Series; the Associated Press commented on their dominance, saying that "unless they completely fold in their last 50 games, they're in." The Giants won 16 straight games from August 12 to August 27, cutting their deficit from 12 1⁄2 games to six. By September 20, the Dodgers had ten games left to play while the Giants had seven, and the Dodgers had a 4 1⁄2 game advantage, making a pennant win appear imminent. However, the Giants won their last seven games, and in the final game of the season, the Dodgers needed to defeat the Phillies to force a playoff; they did so by winning 9–8 in 14 innings, which meant both teams had a record of 96-58. The most talked about playoff game among baseball aficionados, the 1951 Dodgers and Giants resonates thru history, Bobby Thompson's, shot heard round the world! Giants 5 Dodgers 4.

 According to the Postseason probabilities chart at MLB.com as of Sept. 2, the A's have a 97% chance of getting to the playoffs this year. It would be epic to see the Dodgers battle the Oakland A’s in a 2013 World Series (sorry Angel fans). What’s the statistical probability of that match-up?  Who knows really - it's baseball, there are 30 teams, anything can happen.

Major League Ballparks visited; Fenway Park, *Shea Stadium, Yankee Stadium (original), Citizens Bank Park, Comerica Park, Wrigley Field, Bush Stadium, Kauffman Stadium, Ballpark at Arlington, Coors Field, Safco Field, AT&T Park, *Candlestick Park, Oakland Coliseum, Dodger Stadium, Angel Stadium, *Qualcomm, and Petco Park.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular of All Time

The Compass of Cuba: Mom

🎄  Preview of this week's  On the Fly  blog: A Holiday Tribute to Mom. As the holidays hustle with pixels and beeps, the world scrolls along in a smartphone-y sleep. I log off for a moment—just one little minute— To breathe in the past and to sit myself in it. My mind doesn’t wander to faraway places, Or trips full of tickets and new airport faces. Instead, it drifts backward, as memories do, to Cuba, Illinois, where the best moments grew. To a home full of warmth, in the wintry Midwest, Where my mother—dear “Marcie”—put love to the test. With a smile that could melt the most frigid of dawns, and hugs that hung on you like shivering fawns. She came from La Rochelle in France, brave and bright, Across oceans and war shadows, into new light. A town full of strangers soon felt like her own, And her courage built up the foundation of home. “Oh yes, we know Marcie!” the locals would say— “It's Doc Ball’s French lady! She brightens the day!” She cleaned, and she cooked, and sh...
2 comments
Read more

Believing Is Seeing

🎄 In this episode, Believing Is Seeing . . . It's December, we bustle, we wrap, and we dash. We sort life into boxes— myths  here,  to-dos  in a stash. We whisper of Santa (adult code: “Not Real”), but hold on one minute—let’s rethink this whole deal. For the stories we cherish, the movies we stream, hold more truth in their sparkle than we grown-ups may deem. So hop in this sleigh and hold on real tight— We’re chasing down Santa by the glow of his light! Scott Calvin once landed in the North Pole’s cold air, with elves, cocoa, and snow everywhere. He squinted and frowned—“This just  cannot  be so!” (Like thinking tangled lights will detangle if we  blow .) Then Judy the Elf gave a cocoa so steaming,  and said something simple . . . yet surprisingly gleaming: Seeing’s not believing—no, that’s not the key. "Believing is seeing!"   Just trust, and  you’ll  see!” Kids don’t need a map or a satellite screen to know Santa’s workshop is her...
1 comment
Read more

Stamps and Snow

In this episode, Stamps and Snow . . .   You don’t usually walk into the local Post Office expecting a time warp . . . but here we are. All we wanted were stamps for this year's Christmas cards— yes, the old-fashioned paper ones that require licking, sticking, and hoping the Postal Service is feeling ambitious this week. But holiday errands have a talent for slowing you down, almost like the universe whispering, “Relax. You’re not getting out of this line any faster anyway.” So we waited. And while we waited, we talked (Are you surprised?). Because the Post Office is one of the few places where people still look up from their phones long enough to talk . . . Maybe it's because they're holding packages. It’s the modern town square: part civic duty, part free entertainment, part sociology experiment. The discussion began with holiday specials streaming on Netflix, Paramount+, and other services during this time of year. One gentleman who has lived in Vista since 1958 told us,...
3 comments
Read more

A Holiday Reflection–Mother's Love

In this episode,  How a Mother’s Love Built My Memories– A Holiday Reflection As this holiday season approaches and the world buzzes with shopping, planning, and busy schedules, I find myself embracing something wonderfully simple: taking a moment to pause. Not to check off a list or recharge devices, but to breathe deeply, remember fondly, and honor the person and place that have shaped my sense of home long before I had the words for it. This year, after regaining my strength from a lingering post-travel fog, my mind didn’t wander to exotic destinations or future adventures. It drifted backward—across oceans and time—to Cuba, Illinois, in the early 1960s, and to the woman whose love built the foundation of my world: Mauricette Elaine (Bontemps) Ball. My Mom . We came to Cuba after leaving La Rochelle, France, in 1959—a transition so dramatic I only appreciate its enormity now. My mother, barely in her mid-twenties, stepped off that plane and into the Midwest with a courage that s...
1 comment
Read more