Oakland Tries to Stay Alive in the ALDS

( Dave Reginek/Getty Images)

By Devin Pangaro | @devinpangaro

The Oakland Athletics are in a hole. A deep, dark cavernous abyss to be sure, but not entirely bottomless as they attempt to dig themselves out of the 0-2 disadvantage they currently find themselves in. They can really only blame themselves. While one can attempt to rationalize a 3-1 loss to Justin Verlander as nothing to be bent out of shape over, Sunday's loss was excruciatingly painful to watch unfold.

Solid relief pitching and sound defense, the two constants of this Oakland team suddenly failed them. The ever reliable Coco Crisp, a man whose defensive reputation for making highlight reel plays precedes him, suddenly cannot make a routine catch?

How did the three-headed relief monster of Sean Doolittle, Ryan Cook, and Grant Balfour suddenly quiver in the cold, hostile territory of Detroit surrendering multiple late game runs?
Are my eyes playing tricks?

Perhaps this isn't the team that came within one game of leading the American League in wins. Perhaps the walk-offs and the good feelings are over. Perhaps, the A's will head home, bow to the home fans one last time and die by the sword for a final time in 2012.

Oakland A’s Look to Walk-Off with a Spot in the Playoffs

This column was originally written for the August issue of Big Leagues Monthly | Magazine.

By Devin Pangaro | @devinpangaro 

Success is such a funny word. How one measures it is completely up to the standards in which theyset. Take baseball for example. If you can average three hits every 10 at-bats, you're a success. Where else in life can you succeed 30 percent of the time and sit at the top of your chosen profession? For the 2012 season, success is very much in grasp for the Oakland Athletics. Some would you say it has already been accomplished. Eight months ago, the thought of a decent season seemed like a pipe dream for even the most loyal of A's fans.

(Keith Allison/Flickr)

In a winter of discontent, general manager Billy Beane traded the three players on his roster of the greatest value in Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, and Andrew Bailey. In the course of a month’s time, Beane set forth to rebuild and retool the team with an eye to a prospective move to San Jose. This hypothetical relocation is at least three years away from happening, and standing in their way to dispute territory rights are the San Francisco Giants. With the assumption that the move will eventually be approved, A's management essentially told the fan base that they must endure yet another rebuild and lose their favorite players. To top that off, the team will be leaving the economically challenged city of Oakland in the near future.

For lifelong fans, that's a hard pill to swallow. For some, it’s a reason to turn their back on a team. For others, it provides a chance to curse the ownership and the disparity of finances in baseball. Yet some have kept the faith. They've trusted the process and track record of player development. They've rationalized and accepted the fact that the city of Oakland does not support the team, and some feel fortunate that ownership will at least keep them in the Bay Area.