The Oakland A’s clinched a wild card spot with Monday night’s 4-3 victory over the Rangers, but they’ve still got a lot to play for before Wednesday’s season finale. The A’s now trail the Rangers by just 1 game in the AL West. A sweep would push the A’s into the postseason as a division champ and out of the dreaded one-and-done wild card scenario.
I don’t know if anyone could have realistically expected to see this team in the playoffs, but the A’s have defied the odds to become one of baseball’s greatest stories of 2012. They’re a riveting bunch. They seem to hit home runs or strike out, come from out of nowhere to get walk-off wins or get shut out, and this just in, I’m pretty sure they’ve had more first basemen this season than guys on the roster with playoff appearances. They’re a young team with just the right amount of spunky veterans to keep this group in line and focused on the task at hand. Their stadium may typically only be half full, but that half capacity crowd can be more raucous than most sellout crowds in other playoff caliber cities.
So, where do they go from here? I have no idea. This team has been great since July 1, best in baseball. Despite that, people in the know are still asking if they have enough to make a deep run. I don’t know if they do – that still remains to be seen. What I do know is that this team has more heart and fire than just about any club out there. They believe that they can win and not just win a few games. They truly believe they can win it all, even if they’re not supposed to. That’s exactly the kind of team that should strike fear in the hearts of playoff stalwarts like the Rangers and Yankees.
One thing is definitely for sure. The next 48 hours are going to be absolutely fantastic.
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