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| Monday, September 25 | |||||
| A's deliver, A-Rod doesn't Special to ESPN.com | |||||
| SEATTLE -- Spent four days at Safeco Field watching the A's and Mariners go at it.
Man, was that fun.
Great, big, tense games. Beautiful yard. Crisp air. Packed houses.
And a lesson in baseball.
See, you can't spend four days worth of watching the A's and Mariners fight for
the AL West title without learning a few things: Who's hot. Who's not. Who's clutch.
Who chokes.
How bad the fast-food pizza is at The Safe.
With that, let's wrap up one of the year's best tete-a-tetes with a look back,
a look ahead, and a list of What We Learned from the Showdown at Safeco.
The A's are the future of the American League. Hell, the A's might be the present of the league, too. With a nice finishing run against Anaheim and Texas at the Coliseum, and with a potentially favorable draw against pitching-poor Chicago in the Division Series, the Team You Know Nothing About could very well find itself in the American League Championship Series two weeks hence. There, a matchup against the Yankees wouldn't be as one-sided as you might think. In taking three of four -- and nearly sweeping before Sunday's taut 3-2 loss -- the A's showed what baseball insiders have seen coming for almost two years now: Simmering young offensive talent (22-year-old Eric Chavez's insouciant swagger and 25 HRs, 24-year-old Miguel Tejada's 106 RBI pop, 24-year-old Ben Grieve's 102 RBI sweetness) that is the best in baseball; a dominant starting pitcher (25-year-old Tim Hudson's split-fingered cockiness) and a devil-may-care atttitude (Jason Giambi greeted Grieve after Saturday's grand slam by mimicking Dr. Evil from "Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me" with a simple: "You completed me."). This all combines to form baseball's most rollicking, good-time show. With loads of game. The three of four at Safeco was a display of all of the above, and left Seattle shaking its head in admiration. "I don't want to see any more green and gold," Alex Rodriguez said. It's a quote that will be oft-repeated in the coming years. As one high-ranking A's insider said, marveling at the young talent: "Barring injury, you may be looking at the worst A's team of the next five years." Seattle can be punchless with the best. If the Mariners do make the playoffs, pitchers Jamie Moyer, Freddy Garcia, Aaron Sele and Paul Abbott better bring their A-plus games. If not, the M's are out immediately. Though pitching and defense has been the core of the Mariners' success this year, the offense's late-season fade is more than alarming: it's toxic. There were times during the series when the only player at the plate waving a menacing bat was Mike Cameron. Not A-Rod (that's another story). Not Edgar Martinez (despite some quality at-bats, Papa was neutralized.) Not John Olerud (his 4-for-14 series was lightweight in feel.) Not Jay Buhner (his 2-for-11 was a black hole). Sometimes, once Buhner was retired, it appeared A's pitchers had a free pass through the bottom of the order. David Bell, Joe Oliver and Mark McLemore were threatening no one. Only rookie third baseman Carlos Guillen provided some late-lineup pop, with two hits and a home run on Sunday. The M's looked as old and feeble as the A's looked young and strong. The Mariners scored a disturbing total of 10 runs in the series, and look to be tiring as October beckons. A-Rod was Nay-Rod. Look. I am not here to bag on the player who plays the game more beautifully than any player in the bigs. I'm just here to report the facts: A-Rod went 1-for-16 in the series. He pressed nearly every at-bat, drawing no walks in the four games. He was not clutch. In fact, one could say he was the opposite of clutch. No one on the A's wants to say A-Rod can't get it done in big games. Art Howe wouldn't touch a question about A-Rod's ineffectiveness. But the bottom line is this: If this guy wants $100 million as a free agent, he best deliver the final week of the season and make good on the M's playoff push. He was the worst hitter on either team the entire series. And that's a fact. Kazuhiro Sasaki should not be Rookie of the Year. This, friends, is an opinion. Sasaki made one appearance in the series, and he was righteous. He threw the final 1.2 innings of Sunday's win, and made huge pitches. His forkball was dipping, his temperament was steady. He walked Ben Grieve, and he plunked Ramon Hernandez, but he saved the most important game of Seattle's year. And according to Major League Baseball rules, he is a rookie. But he pitched 10 years in Japan. He is Japan's all-time saves leader. He has big-league experience -- albeit in Japan -- and this makes him different from other rookies. Besides, A's center fielder Terrence Long should take that award. Long came up in April with no experience in the bigs, and with a daunting task: hit leadoff and play a good center field for a team that expects to make the playoffs. This, despite the fact that Long was a middle-of-the-order hitter his whole minor-league career. This, despite the fact that Long was a natural right fielder. Here's how the kid has responded: He is hitting .292, .310 since the All-Star break, .320 in September. He trails only Jason Giambi on the team with 161 hits. He leads all rookies in runs, hits, doubles, RBI, total bases and extra-base hits. He trails only KC's Mark Quinn in home runs. He's doing it all as a pivotal player for a playoff-bound team, and he's 24 years old. End of discussion. A big series can produce gorgeous moments. This is not breaking news, but it is refreshing to experience. Thursday night, A's reliever Jim Mecir was summoned to face A-Rod and Edgar with the bases loaded in a 5-2 game in the seventh. Amid the clamor, the din, the roars, he fanned them both on sickening screwballs. It took your breath away. Sunday afternoon, in a game all of Seattle felt the M's had to win, the crowd urged reliever Arthur Rhodes to glory. Like Mecir, he was summoned into the lion's den. A 3-2 M's lead, top 6, runners on second and third with one out. In the creeping, dramatic shadow of Safeco, Rhodes fanned Eric Chavez and Olmedo Saenz. Safeco erupted. Rhodes leapt in the air, joyous. Oh. That reminds us. There's one other thing we learned this series: "In the shadows," Chavez marveled, "Arthur Rhodes is unhittable." Brian Murphy covers the A's for the San Francisco Examiner. He is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. | ALSO SEE The Hunt for October Mariners take series finale, AL West lead from A's AUDIO/VIDEO   Alex Rodriguez is happy to see the A's leave town.wav: 125 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6  | ||||