What it Feels Like to be a Fan of the Oakland Athletics
By Jason Burke
The clock is quickly approaching two a.m. on Sunday morning, the day that the winter meetings are to begin. Currently, I cannot get baseball out of my head, and I’m sure that sentiment rings true with many fans of the green and gold. We’ve been on red alert regarding a Brandon Moss trade for days now, and nothing has come to fruition as of yet. This offseason, like many before it, is one where we will likely see many of our favorite players leave the Oakland Athletics in return for prospects, while the front office attempts to keep this team in contention.
After the Josh Donaldson trade, many fans have been angry, and rightfully so. Donaldson was a fan favorite in Oakland and it feels as though the A’s didn’t receive enough in the trade that send JD to the Blue Jays. Right now, we know this to be true, but at the same time, a pitch has yet to be thrown in 2015. There is still room for optimism.
As I wrote yesterday, the A’s are banking on Ike Davis to fill a large void in the middle of their lineup. Will this gamble pay off? None of us can say for sure. If Davis approaches the production levels of his 2012 campaign, the move to sign him, and trade Moss could pay off. It will be hard to see Moss go, if and when a deal is struck.
Jeff Samardzija will likely be on the move as well, and if the A’s go into full rebuild mode, Scott Kazmir may not be far behind.
So that’s the offseason plan for an Oakland Athletics fan in a nutshell. Just months away from being the best team in baseball, to having a shot at finishing last in the AL West, the toughest division is baseball. Could it get much worse? Probably not, but let’s not jinx anything.
For me, regardless of what the team looks like on paper, there will always be room for optimism with this team. Many fans have been using the offseason of 2011 as a reference point for the last time the A’s looked to be rebuilding, and then ended up winning the division in 2012 and 2013. In 2015, that task will be much tougher, with an improved Seattle Mariners squad looking primed to claim the division. Yet baseball is a fickle game. Just when everything looks to be going your way, a key player gets injured down the stretch. At least that’s how it goes in Oakland.
The optimist in me wants to see what Billy Beane has planned for the winter meetings. He has to land a major league shortstop, right? Let’s see who he is able to attain. If that issue is addressed, and we’re able to acquire a power bat in left field, this team could have similar production to the ones of the past few seasons, only the names will be different.
Of course, everything could fall apart with so many question marks present up and down the lineup.
The one thing i know for certain is that the Oakland Athletics never give up. Even in seasons when they aren’t as good, they’re still one of the funnest teams to watch. Regardless of the outcome this offseason, and however good or poorly the team is playing, I’ll still be at O.Co. I’ll still be watching every game on T.V. I am a fan of the Oakland Athletics. Sure, the owners should spend more money. Sure, we need a new ballpark. But the owners we have are ours. The ballpark is ours. A’s fans embrace these things because no one else will.
I feel proud to be an A’s fan. You’ll probably disagree. If you do, then I’m guessing I also probably won’t see you at O.Co next year either.