Tuesday, November 21, 2006
The Season in Review- Oakland Athletics
It may be tough to find an explanation for the Oakland Athletics winning the AL West, but either way, they managed it. The Athletics, who scored only 44 more runs than they allowed during the season, rolled right past the heavily favored Twins in a 3 game sweep. Frank Thomas played a big part in the ALDS for the A’s, but when he failed to get any hits in the ALCS against the Tigers, Oakland got swept. It can certainly be seen as a successful year for the A’s, as they were finally able to advance past the LDS for the first time since 1990.
Pitching was the biggest part of the Athletics AL West championship season and playoff run. Ace Barry Zito led the team with a 3.83 ERA and 16-10 record. His first half was significantly better, with a 3.29 ERA as compared to a 4.55 ERA in the second half. After Zito, Haren had the second lowest ERA, at 4.12. Like Zito, he had a better first half, with an ERA of 3.52. Haren’s ERA may be a misleading number however; if you take out his starts on August 21st and September 18th, his ERA is a team leading 3.66. The same is true for Blanton, whose 4.82 ERA is a disappointing follow-up to a 3.53 2005 ERA. Eliminating his starts on April 13th and 19th, his ERA is only 4.40, quite a bit lower than before.
In the bullpen, they had 2005 A.L. Rookie of the Year Huston Street as closer, who finished with a 3.31 ERA and 37 saves in 48 opportunities. For a large portion of the season, though, it was Justin Duchscherer who held the closer role. Duchscherer saved 9 games in 10 chances as a closer, with a 2.91 ERA. Kiko Calero also supported the Athletics bullpen throughout the 2006 season, with a 3.41 ERA and 2 saves.
The Oakland offense was very average in 2006, with the exception of Frank Thomas. Thomas, a free agent signing last off season, hit 39 home runs and drove in 114 runs. After him, the best hitter in the lineup was Nick Swisher, who hit 35 home runs and drove in 95 runs, but only hit .254, compared to Thomas’s .270. The biggest problem was SS Bobby Crosby, who, whenever he was actually off the DL, hit only .229 with 9 home runs. Crosby won the A.L. Rookie of the Year in 2004, but since then has lost his power, plus his batting average continues to decline. At 2B, the Athletics had Mark Ellis, who finished with a .249 average and 11 home runs, but spent most of the season under .230 in average. Even more upsetting for Oakland is that their supposedly big hitter, 3B Eric Chavez, hit only .241. The 22 home runs he hit might make that look better, but 9 of those homers came in April, and 3 more in May, meaning that throughout the last 4 months of the season, he hit only 10.
C- J. Kendall- D+
1B- N. Swisher/D. Johnson- B+
2B- M. Ellis/M. Scutaro- D+
3B- E. Chavez- B
SS- B. Crosby/M. Scutaro- D-
OF- J. Payton/M. Kotsay/M. Bradley/B. Kielty- C-
DH- F. Thomas- A
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