All Time Athletics

All Time Athletics

                With late August upon us and the playoff races heating up, work has cooled down and given me time to pump these articles out. Today’s team is the Athletics, who were founded in 1901 as the Philadelphia Athletics. They won three World Series from 1910 to 1913, and also won back to back series in 1929 and 1930. The historical Connie Mack was the head of the franchise for the first 50 years. In 1955 the team left Philadelphia for Kansas City, where they stayed until 1968 when they moved to Oakland for good. They won another three consecutive World Series in Oakland from 1972 to 1974. In ’89 they won another World Series amidst three consecutive AL pennants. Overall, that adds up to 9 World Series titles, 15 AL pennants, 15 West Division titles and 3 wild card berths. The A’s have had a bunch of players get into the Hall, but to wear their jersey, and from their time in Philadelphia are John “Home Run” Baker, Charles “Chief” Bender, Connie Mack, Eddie Plank, Al Simmons and Rube Waddell. None made it in from Kansas City, and from Oakland, Dick Williams, Rickey Henderson, Dennis Eckersley and Rollie Fingers. This team is going to trot out some very good cards.

                 Philadelphia                                     Kansas City                                              Oakland




                   This line up is a slightly better version of the Angels in the sense that the top end talent is great, but there is a bit of a fall off as you go down the list. Who else would lead this off other than Rickey Henderson, with his ridiculous 11 OB, 22 speed, 2 outs card. He’s setting the table for an unbelievably powerful group in Reggie Jackson’s 1969 card, that is 10 OB, with 4 HR, McGwire’s ’96 with 11 OB and 5 HR, and Giambi’s 2001 that is also 11 OB with only 2 outs and 3 HR. After those ridiculous 4 cards there’s a massive drop off, as Sal Bando is in the 5 hole. Although he’s not bad, his 9 OB and 3 HR pales in comparison with those ahead of him. At least he adds +2 defense at third. 

                  The other member of the bash brothers is behind Bando, and he brings a solid card with four home runs to the table. He's got a bit of an odd chart with no doubles, and his 5 outs bring down his value a bit. Gene Tenace is behind the dish and batting sixth with an ok card with 9 OB, +6 arm, two home runs but only two outs. Lowrie and Tejada provide very similar cards up the middle, but the 8 OB is really not ideal. It's just a pity to see two 8 OBs finish out a lineup that starts out as filthy as this one. This lineup isn’t atrocious by any means, but it’s definitely lopsided. Luckily, their rotation is spectacular. I have entered a 2014 Sonny Gray that has 17 outs, but I can't seem to find him. The common one has 16 outs, and since I can't find his 17 out card, I'll defer to his more commonly found card which doesn't make the rotation. With him out as the top pitcher, Vida Blue and Catfish Hunter lead the way. Blue leads off with a great card in 6 Control, 8 IP, 16 outs and a walk, couple of singles and a double. Catfish Hunter steps in with a similarly built card with 5 control, 7 IP, 16 outs and no doubles card. Anytime I can get a 5+ control and no doubles, I'm very happy. Third is Lester's 2014 card that is almost identical, although trading a walk for a double. 

                   Dave Stewart and Barry Zito round out the rotation, and every single one of these pitchers can go 7, which is a huge help to the bullpen. Stewarts' card is a bit unique with no singles and a double, but gives you a solid option with 17 outs, although the 4 control is a bit scary. Barry Zito’s 2001 card comes in just behind Stewart, and would get a top 3 slot on almost every team out there. Having a 6 Control, 7 IP card in the 5-spot is unreal depth. The bullpen doesn’t let off the gas, with Eckersley rocking a great 5 control, 18 outs and two singles card. Treinen follows him with a 6 control, although “only” 16 outs, but no doubles. This still makes for an incredible 1-2 punch. With every starter having 7+ IP, you can roll these two guys out there and nail the door on opposing offenses. Nelson and Honeycutt both have 4 control, albeit one with 17 outs and no doubles, the other 18 and a double. Both will be great against lower OB, and overall solid. Knowles is an interesting card as he gives up two doubles, something you don’t see every day. Pett and Grant provide insurance with solid, but unspectacular cards. Unlikely they will see a lot of action with the rotation’s innings eating abilities. 

Overall I think this team will be a typical A’s team, in that they have some serious stud,s but not necessarily jump off the page as a dominant team. I think it will undoubtedly win more games than we expect, and there’s some options off the bench to help. The top three batters off the bench are John Jaha 2000, Matt Chapman 2018 and Johnny Damon 2001. Jaha has a lot of power but his lack of a position makes him a bit trickier of a bench player. Chapman provides a great +4 defensively, but his 8 OB detracts from his ridiculous chart. Damon is a solid all around card and he could be used to pinch hit late in games if we're looking for offense. If the pitching wasn't so solid I would be less inclined to use these three guys since there's not a lot of positional flexibility, but they are good enough it's worth it. 

The lineup comes in just over 4,000 at 4,130 points, and would blow the doors off with a few upgrades. The rotation of 5 comes in at a whopping 2,940 points,and their bullpen clocks in at a ridiculous 1,430 points. The bench with the three hitters is 1,090 points for a total team of 9,590 points. This won't be on the higher end, but I think this team will win more games than their point total would indicate. 

Hitters

SP

RP

Jimmie Foxx takes the top two offensive seasons in ’32 and ’33, where he mashed a ridiculous 106 home runs over two years. In ’32 he slashed .364/.469/.749 with 151 runs, 169 RBIs, 213 hits and 58 home runs. ’33 came in at .356/.449/.703 with 204 hits, 125 runs, 48 home runs and 163 RBIs. Unreal. Eddie Collin’s MVP 1914 is next, and he played second which could be a good addition to this team. He slashed .344,.425,.452 and so despite getting on almost half the time he batted, he only had two home runs. Since it was over 100 years ago, we might not count it. The top four modern seasons are represented here with Giambi, Reggie, Rickie and Sal Bondo all coming in. McGwire’s ’96 seasons is barely top 30, however Canseco’s ’98 is better, in which he slashed .307/.391/.569 with 42 Home runs and 124 RBIs. Tejada’s 2002 was better than his 2001, so that would be an upgrade to the weakest position in the lineup. Otherwise, this team is as good as it’s going to get without reaching into old, old school baseball. Similarly with pitching, almost all the top performances are from early ball eras. Rube Waddell is top of the list in 1904, and he’s followed by a couple of Left Grove seasons. The first modern season is Vida Blue’s ’72, then Bobby Shantz’ 1952. In ’52 Shantz went 24-7 with a 2.48 ERA, 279.2 IP with 27 complete games yet only 152 strike outs. Tim Hudson’s 2003 is also up there, where he finished 16-7 with 162 Ks, 2.70 ERA and a 165 ERA+. In the bullpen, Eckersley unsurprisingly dominates, however Billy Koch in 2002 and Keith Foulke in 2003 would also be good additions to this club. Overall this team has some available help, although for the most part it’s about as good as it’s going to get. It shows that it’s a historically solid team, although it falls short of the level of dominance we shall see from some of the other clubs out there.