This was the team that inspired Billy Beane to start playing "Moneyball". After going 102-60 and losing a hard fought LDS to the Yankes that went to the brink (5 games) the A's, like all small market teams, saw their window closing fast. Impending free agency would rob the franchise of home grown superstar Jason Giambi and rent a player sparkplug Johnny Damon. This season was supposed to be the culmination of Beane's build up. At 30 years of age Giambi was at his peak hitting .342-38-120 to win the AL MVP thus proving that good old hard work and the right PED's can take any singles hitter with a great eye and turn him into Willie McCovey. The most incredible number in Giambi's resume was his .477 OBP. Granted he had the worst glove in the AL, but owners do not pay first basemen to win Rawlings Gold Gloves, they pay them for Silver Slugger Awards. Surrounding the Giambi in the infield were two other guys who hit 30 plus homers. 23 year old Eric Chavez (.288-32-114) anchored third base and Miguel Tejada (age unverified) hit .267 to go along with his 31 homers and 113 RBI's. Staten Island's own Frankie Menechino hit 12 homers at the second base position. This infield was loaded. The outfield of Terrence Long (.283-12-85), Johnny Damon (.256-9-48-27SB) and Jermaine Dye (.297-13-59), was not your prototypical AL power laden outfield, but they could cover ground and post the timely hit. The team's DH was Giambi's little brother Jeremy. Keep little bro away from the strip joints and teach him how to slide on plays at the plate and his OBP of .391 to go along with 12 homers and .283 average are good to go. The bench is weak. Olmedo Saenz did have 9 homers off the bench, but his .220 average just doesn't cut it. Backup catcher Greg Myers hit a buck eigthy four, but he did have 7 homers. 36 year old Ron Gant had nothing left in the tank which explains why he only had 81 AB's and hit just under .260. The offensive numbers for the infield are exceptionally impressive when you realize that they played half their games in the huge expanse of the Oakland Coliseum, or whatever corporate naming right it belongs to today.
The pitching staff revolves around 3 young guns who were destined for greatness. Tim Hudson (18-9, 3.37), Mark Mulder (21-8, 3.45) and Barry Zito (17-8, 3.49) were dominant. The late Cory Lidle (13-6, 3.59) is an awesome 4th starter. Erik Jiljus (5-0, 3.41) took the 5th starter spot late in the season and the team became almost unbeatable. Closer Jason Isringhausen, who would also leave via Free Agency after the season, saved 34 games. Jeff Tam, Jim Mecir and Mike Magnante are excellent setup men. Unknown Chad Bradford came out of nowhere with his submarine deliver to get into 35 games and sport a 2.70 ERA. No secret here as to why this was the number 2 ranked staff in the AL.
Returning to the A's bench after coming up short in the World Series last season gives me a sense of renewed hope. If Art Howe was as dumb as he was portrayed in "Moneyball" I think I have a real chance to contend for the pennant, since I obnoxiously think I'm my managerial track record is a tad better than his :) ! As one of the co-founders of KOD and a 14 season charter member I am excited about KOD14. We've got a great group of guys and in the AL I have my core group of rivals to compete against as we all gear up for another great stretch run.
To complete this set of cards I needed to add 26 cards. I had a bit of trouble creating the special text for the template, but have no fear...the "Chiz" was there. Once again Robert came to the rescue and taught me how to create special textured text. Rather than make me struggle, Robert created the text for me, but gave me the outline to build better cards for the future. I also want to thank my good friends on the OOTP board, who helped me collect 6 or 7 missing A's players photos. Amazingly I have found it is easier to track down outliers from older teams when compared to teams of the last 8-15 years. I'm guessing it's because people have more of a "kinship" to the older player and less love for those of the "steroid era".
The pitching staff revolves around 3 young guns who were destined for greatness. Tim Hudson (18-9, 3.37), Mark Mulder (21-8, 3.45) and Barry Zito (17-8, 3.49) were dominant. The late Cory Lidle (13-6, 3.59) is an awesome 4th starter. Erik Jiljus (5-0, 3.41) took the 5th starter spot late in the season and the team became almost unbeatable. Closer Jason Isringhausen, who would also leave via Free Agency after the season, saved 34 games. Jeff Tam, Jim Mecir and Mike Magnante are excellent setup men. Unknown Chad Bradford came out of nowhere with his submarine deliver to get into 35 games and sport a 2.70 ERA. No secret here as to why this was the number 2 ranked staff in the AL.
Returning to the A's bench after coming up short in the World Series last season gives me a sense of renewed hope. If Art Howe was as dumb as he was portrayed in "Moneyball" I think I have a real chance to contend for the pennant, since I obnoxiously think I'm my managerial track record is a tad better than his :) ! As one of the co-founders of KOD and a 14 season charter member I am excited about KOD14. We've got a great group of guys and in the AL I have my core group of rivals to compete against as we all gear up for another great stretch run.
To complete this set of cards I needed to add 26 cards. I had a bit of trouble creating the special text for the template, but have no fear...the "Chiz" was there. Once again Robert came to the rescue and taught me how to create special textured text. Rather than make me struggle, Robert created the text for me, but gave me the outline to build better cards for the future. I also want to thank my good friends on the OOTP board, who helped me collect 6 or 7 missing A's players photos. Amazingly I have found it is easier to track down outliers from older teams when compared to teams of the last 8-15 years. I'm guessing it's because people have more of a "kinship" to the older player and less love for those of the "steroid era".
On a side note, Rob Ryan is the only player in KOD14 who's card I wasn't able to replicate. I have searched high and low for a photo of him. It's impossible to Google search Rob Ryan Oakland and not see a million photos of that fat turd defensive coordinator who's got a mouth as big as his waistline. Both he and his brother have egos and mouths as big as their father and it sickens me to see CBS or FOX show them on TV play after play as if they are the stars of the game and not the guys who bang helmet for 60 minutes. Sorry for the rant, but is seems like I can never get away from the Ryan's, who just need to go away.
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