I Do Not Have Enough Words To Express My Love For The 2012 Oakland A's Right About Now

Down 3-1 going into the ninth. Detroit poised to end the series in four, and set themselves up for multiple Justin Verlander starts in the ALCS. Three outs from the most fun team in recent MLB memory going down.

Does anyone leave the stadium? No. Mostly because they've seen the team come back too many times. Mostly because they've seen them win with a walk-off hit. FOURTEEN TIMES IN 2012.



So Josh Reddick, who about 10 days ago was riding an 0-for-Ridiculously Long, sneaks a single to right. Josh Donaldson, a guy who flailed his way out of the majors in the first half and mashed in the second, just misses a two-run homer to left off the wall. Seth Smith, a Colorado castoff who looked like a guy who could only hit at altitude in a platoon, rips a no-doubt double. And after two useless outs from two guys who have no real offensive ability, Coco Crisp, an injury-prone CF with defensive lapses who cost them a game earlier in the series, who was barely hitting his IQ earlier this year... singles to right. Tigers RF Avisail Garcia kindly failed to pick up the ball, letting Smith score without a throw, and that's just your garden variety 3-run rally in the ninth inning to save the season.

How insane was this? The A's had 4 hits in the first 8 innings... and 4 hits in the ninth. They struck out 12 times tonight. They failed to move Smith from second with either of the first two outs of the ninth. And they won anyway.

Tomorrow, Oakland goes for the 3-game home sweep and series win against the best pitcher in baseball. They'll start yet another rookie SP in Jarrod Parker. They will fill the building with people making more noise than anyone ever remembers for a baseball game. And if they someone get one more win...

They'll get to show the nation another four to seven games of what magic looks like. And add another 1-2 weeks to a year that we will remember for the rest of our lives.

GO A'S.