Good Night, and Good Luck Adam Rosales

Adam Rosales, will never be anything more than a footnote in Oakland Athletics history. Being relegated primarily to a utility role over four seasons in Oakland, will do that to a man. It will keep him safely out of team record books, and before long his memorable expedited home run jaunts will be nothing more than an endearing remembrance set to fade with each passing year. Statistically, he’ll go down in history alongside a pantheon of part time players such as Randy Ready, Kurt Abbott, and Lance Blankenship who suited up in Oakland with little fanfare before fading into obscurity.

Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

That doesn’t mean he won’t be missed. While I admit, I was amongst the legion of Twitter general managers who called for his designation for assignment as far back as last season. Every unproductive at-bat, or fielding miscue committed by Rosales began to raise my ire like a parking ticket. I called for him to be replaced, by literally anyone.

Unleash Jemile Weeks? Sure.

Free Grant Green? You betcha.

Resurrect Brent Gates? I’m in like Flynn.

When Rosales was sentenced to DFA purgatory on Monday, a sense of relief set over me. The Athletics were addressing a position of futility, and it was Green’s turn to attempt to form an effective platoon with Eric Sogard.

With a little free time on my hands on Monday, I proceeded to venture to YouTube and watch a replay of Game 4 from last season’s ALDS between the A’s and Tigers. As I fast forwarded to that faithful ninth inning, I watched the unfolding of events with feelings of glee and excitement as if it was last October. It was like a perfect symphony, all over again. There was Josh Reddick’s lead off single, Josh Donaldson’s ringing double off the wall, and Seth Smith’s drive into center to score both runners to tie the game and set the stage for the eventual walk-off courtesy of Coco Crisp. It was during my umpteenth viewing of the penultimate inning of 2012, when I noticed something for the first time. As Donaldson crossed the plate with the tying run, and the camera tracked his and Reddick’s return back to the exuberant dugout, Adam Rosales was the amongst the first from the bench to greet them. Shaking with kinetic energy, and displaying a Cheshire smile that extended from ear to ear, Rosales perfectly embodied the feelings of a collective of Athletics supporters.

As far as I’m concerned, that lasting image will always be frozen in time. Good luck, Adam Rosales wherever you may go.