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Oakland Athletics: Bob Melvin Captures 1,000 Career Wins

By Joey Lopez

ARLINGTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 28: Manager Bob Melvin of the Oakland Athletics celebrates in the locker room after advancing to the MLB playoffs at Globe Life Park in Arlington on September 28, 2014 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 28: Manager Bob Melvin of the Oakland Athletics celebrates in the locker room after advancing to the MLB playoffs at Globe Life Park in Arlington on September 28, 2014 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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The Oakland Athletics walked-off with a victory on Saturday night against the Minnesota Twins. The A’s 8th walk-off win this year also marked Bob Melvin‘s 1,000th career win as a major league manager.

Bob Melvin finally captured his 1,000th career win as a major league manager on Saturday night. The A’s came through in the ninth inning thanks to a lead-off walk from Adam Rosales and a walk-off home run from Rajai Davis.

The A’s have not gotten much production from either Rosales or Davis this year, but both were important in the ninth inning. Davis enjoyed his most productive game of the season on Saturday, going 4-for-5 with two RBIs.

Davis has played better in the second-half for the A’s and is currently hitting .300/.382/.433 since the All-Star break. The A’s signed Davis in the offseason with the hopes he could help the offense remain aggressive on the base paths.

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Like most of their offseason acquisitions, though, the A’s haven’t gotten much production from Davis. Saturday’s performance was a season-best for Davis, who is hitting .232 overall with 4 HR and 17 RBI.

Mr. 1000

Bob Melvin has been the A’s manager since the team fired Bob Geren back in 2011. Melvin changed the culture of the team upon his arrival and has won 507 games with the A’s.

With Saturday’s win, Melvin can now boast the fact that he’s won 1,000 career games as a big league manager. The A’s 2017 campaign has not gone as planned, but credit Melvin for leading a young team through a tough season.

It Hasn’t Been Easy

Not only has Melvin had to guide a young team through adversity, but he’s had to face the possibility of losing his best veteran players in the process. The A’s have parted ways with Trevor Plouffe, Stephen Vogt, Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson this year.

Sonny Gray is virtually on his way out as well. The A’s have been talking with several teams over the past few days, including the Yankees, about Gray. Billy Beane had demanded top prospects in return for Gray and would be willing (apparently) to keep Gray for the remainder of the season if the price is not right.

There has been a lot of uncertainty this year in regards to the A’s roster. Stability would not be a word associated with this year’s club, either. Turnover and a push to go younger has forced Melvin to stay creative with his lineups and rotations.

With any rebuild process, there is an expectation that you will lose your fair share of games. The A’s have lost 59 games this year. They sit 23.5 games behind the first-place Astros.

Wins will be tough to come by, but Saturday’s walk-off was done in grand fashion. It was a special victory in an otherwise forgettable season. Kudos, though, to Melvin for 1,000 wins as a big league manager.