A’s Eric Sogard and the Face of MLB Tournament Round 2

Aug 17, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics shortstop baseman Eric Sogard (28) throws the ball after making a diving catch against the Cleveland Indians during the eighth inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

A couple weeks back, Eric Sogard was voted as the Face of the Athletics in a Twitter competition put on by MLB Network. Last week, he beat out Anthony Rizzo, a solid up-and-coming player from the Cubs. In Round 2, he faces the established Troy Tulowitzki. The tournament-style competition is meant to declare a Face of Major League Baseball for 2014, as voted on by the fans. At first glance, I was disappointed because there are other people I would put above Sogard as the Face of the Athletics. Upon further reflection, I have come to realize that he is the embodiment of the Oakland Athletics, and he deserves our votes.

Eric Sogard is a platoon middle-infielder. He isn’t the fastest player, he isn’t a huge offensive threat and he has glasses. He is the embodiment of an underdog. The Athletics as a team are underdogs. Even after back-to-back AL West Championships, they are barely mentioned. All of the talk in the baseball world is about the Yankees, Red Sox, Rangers, Dodgers and Angels. All of these teams have shiny new toys, and have spent lots of money in the offseason. The A’s have made a slew of solid, under-the-radar moves and have significantly improved for 2014.

How do you vote? All you have to do is tweet out #EricSogard #FaceofMLB when the voting begins. Every account gets 25 votes. If you follow me on Twitter, I will definitely post when it is time to vote. It looks like voting will be on Tuesday, February 18. Voting is from 6 AM PST to 5 AM PST the following day. This round will be much tougher because Tulo is a household name. A’s fans, unite and tweet as much as you can! Every account gets 25 votes! There is a 1 hour time difference between California and Colorado, so let’s make sure to get Sogard a healthy lead before we retire for the evening too!

To me this isn’t just a vote for Eric Sogard. It is a vote for the Oakland A’s, for Billy Beane and everything he has done for the A’s, and a vote that says you still don’t like Matt Garza. At this point in the tournament, I would love to see both Sogard and Buster Posey advance to round 3, where they would face off against one another in a Battle of the Bay. Let’s show everyone that we are proud to be A’s fans. #EricSogard represents the whole A’s team and deserves to be #FaceOfMLB.