A's Fans Are Cursed
-
Mason Miller just went on IL. I guess that's one way to avoid getting traded.
We just can't have nice things even in this last season before they rip the team away.
Still not sure who I'll root for once they move. I'm so depressed right now.
Wonder where Rooker will end up. Might trade Butler too, esp since he called them out on their stupid AstroTurf plan...
#FJF #SellTheTeam -
@Finn_Scotus_MLBTS hows Butler? I have a SSP golden mirror rookie card of his just wondering how he's projected to do as i do not follow the As too much.
-
@Cubsfan217_XBL said in A's Fans Are Cursed:
@Finn_Scotus_MLBTS hows Butler? I have a SSP golden mirror rookie card of his just wondering how he's projected to do as i do not follow the As too much.
You could probably get $35-40 for it.
-
@X-FREEZE-OFF-X_PSN ah that's cool, i just collect don't sell.
-
I really like Butler. I don't think he qualifies as a "prospect" anymore but he has always been considered a fairly good one when he was. I believe he will be a solid player for quite some time, with the potential to be a star.
And he's been on fire lately. He's not likely to keep up that pace but should settle in to being a very reliable player. -
I was told by John Fisher that A's fans didn't exist. How can they be cursed?
(I know...)
-
There is no curse at work here. Just a hard mathematical reality that if your ownership chain were all a collection of cheapskates and those who had minimal relative ability to finance an MLB team, then said team isn't going to remain competitive.
The so-called Moneyball solution made for an entertaining bit of fiction that was played out to the unfair tarnishment of several baseball people, most notably then manager Art Howe, whose actual career at that time bore no resemblance to the character the movie chose to portray.
In fact, the prime reason why the A's were briefly successful, though less than championship successful, was due to an outstanding starting pitcher rotation of Tim Hudson, Barry Zito, Mark Mulder, and Cory Lidle -- all of whom won at least eight games that year, with Zito winning 23 and earning the AL Cy Young that season. Closer Billy Koch was also ignored in the movie, and he merely recorded 44 saves in 84 appearances, with 11 wins, with an ERA of 3.27!
The movie never even mentioned Zito's name, much less show how totally dominant he was that season. But, after seven years with the A's, they let him leave to sign with the Giants for 2007. By this point, Tim Hudson, who won 15, was also long gone, having signed with the Braves for 2005. Mulder, who won 19, signed with the Cardinals in 2005, Lidle with the Blue Jays for 2003, and Koch with the White Sox in 2003.
The entire A's pitching staff that year recorded a stellar ERA of 3.68, by far ranking first in the AL. Yet, the movie only mentioned two pitchers in any context, Chad Bradford and Ricardo Rincon. Both contributed but in relatively minor ways.
When you have an ace pitching staff and in less than four years let every single one leave for other teams, then that's how you remain bottom feeders in a league. If an above average lineup had been put with that pitching staff, the A's would have been runaway favorites to win the World Series that season, not portrayed as shocking underdogs who overcame low expectations.
That said, there were three really good hitters in that lineup, Eric Chavez, Miguel Tejada, and Jermaine Dye. Funny, none of those guys were featured in the movie, but instead Scott Hatteberg and David Justice, who both had good but hardly stellar seasons. Tejada was gone from Oakland in 2003, Dye in 2005, and Chavez in 2011.
In fairness, Chavez left when injuries and age had eroded much of his former skills. But, Tejada and Dye remained highly productive players long after leaving Oakland.
-
I hate the Moneyball movie. I'm so sick of ppl finding out I'm an A's fan and then saying how much they love it.
It's propaganda is all for cheapskate owners -
My recommendation for all A's fans is to purchase Giants stuff and drive across the Bay Bridge! That may sound as palatable as drinking Drano, but honestly there is zero chance Oakland ever gets another MLB team.
Perhaps it was before your time, but one thing A's fans can really savor forever is the dynasty team from the 70's that won three World Series in a row (1972-74). There was a small connection for me in that Jim Hunter was from my neck of the woods in North Carolina.
But, Charlie Finley was a noted cheapskate and rather than pay his players their market value, he let them sail off to other teams. Finley's moves to trade away his best players actually invoked a rare use of the "best interest of baseball" power of the MLB Commissioner. Bowie Kuhn voided those ridiculously lop-sided trades, all because Finley wanted to get rid of all his players who would be eligible for larger contracts under the new free agency rule.
That was the start of the downfall for the A's, even as the Bash Brothers team reached two World Series in the 1990's, winning one against the Giants, and losing the other to the underdog Dodgers.
