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OPS: Begone!
It's not the A's that are the best example. It's the M's. The A's are a team in constant flux, and the fact that they are still so good is a tribute to Billy Beane. However, he is not a one trick pony. He is smart, period. He adjusts to his available talent. He lost Giambi (hell, both Giambi's), and he is living and dying with unproven players and his big three pitchers. The A's are not particularly patient any more.
The M's are the poster boys. Olerud, Boone, Cirillo, Cameron, both catchers, Edgar, even Ichiro who almost never hits the ball foul (see Tony Gwynn, who never walked and never struck out because he never hit foul balls), Wynn, only Guillen is a hacker. They may not walk 700 times this year because pitchers just won't nibble when there are men on base. However, they work pitchers so hard and put so many men on base that those fatter pitches add up to a lot more runs than they deserve to score.
They are 29-15 right now, and it is mostly because of their ensemble offense. A 40 year old DH that couldn't beat my mother in a foot race is hitting .333 with 10 homers, and the rest of the cast feeds off of him. He might go down, but the rest of them will continue the quest. No atbat is wasted, and no inning is given up. The M's score more with 2 out and nothing going than anyone. They just don't give away any atbats. 3 years of this has sunk in, and they just don't give up.
I know that this sounds like some announcer's crap. I don't know how to say it right. I have been watching this game for over 30 years. I have never seen a team like this. They just don't waste atbats. Maybe the 1998 Yankees.
Terry
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