Wildcard Game Leaves A’s Fans Wildly Disappointed
Sep 30, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer (35) is tagged out at home plate by Oakland Athletics catcher Geovany Soto (17) to end the first inning of the 2014 American League Wild Card playoff baseball game at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Okay, so I’ve slept on it. Last night’s game was an emotional roller coaster filled with more drama than the script of Moneyball. Between the injuries, bad calls, stolen bases, and of course some expected bunting, A’s fans everywhere are carrying an immense amount of disappointment today. And Adam Dunn’s plan to retire is only adding insult to the injury. Now that our season has ended and April is so far away, we have time to reminisce, think about what could have been, and unfortunately let our feelings of anger and frustration stew within us. Yes, A’s fans deserve some time to mourn and cry our teArs but looking back at the season and this last game of 2014 there is still a lot to be proud of. Can we try and focus on that?
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The Oakland/KC Wildcard game was a fight. What was supposed to be a battle between top pitchers: Jon Lester and James Shields, turned into a battle between two teams in the longest winner-take-all postseason game ever played. Of course the back and forth, up and down theme of the game made the loss sting a little more (okay a lot more) but it also made the loss a dignified one. Let’s not focus on Jon Lester’s display of uncharacteristic shakiness or the one-hopper that got past Josh Donaldson. Instead, let’s talk Brandon Moss.
Some were surprised to see his name on the lineup considering his recent hip injury, but Moss proved that he belonged in this game. He slammed a James Shields change up giving the A’s an early lead of 2-0, but he didn’t stop there. After the A’s managed to get runners on first and second and Shields was replaced with Ventura, Moss hit his second HR of the game. By the end of the night Brandon Moss became the first player in team history with 2 HR’s and 5 RBI’s in a postseason game. Even Alberto Callaspo was able to do some good giving the A’s a lead in the 9th inning on an RBI single. Crisp (before his injury) and Reddick both delivered with runs, a single and scores.
In the end, both teams fought hard. The Royals didn’t’ fight any harder, they just got on top at the right time. This game was the epitome of the A’s season- it started off fast and strong, but in the end the team was not able to take it home. In my opinion, a crummy ending sucks, but it shouldn’t take away from the accomplishments made in the beginning. The A’s had some incredible accomplishments at the beginning of this season and even in this game that we should not allow to be taken away from them.
Last night’s game was one of the craziest, most exciting, most heartbreaking games I have ever seen, and I am proud of Oakland for being a part of it and fighting to the end. I sure am going to miss watching this team play. Now I have to decide what team to root on for the rest of the season, I’ll use a simple process of elimination: Who do I hate least?