Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

Each year, the Oakland Athletics participate in the ever popular “Turn Back the Clock Day”. Fans come out in droves to hear authentic organ music, watch Monte Moore ring a cow bell, and gawk at the players in their classic duds. For the most part, many of the A’s players look awkward and out of place wearing the uniforms of the forgotten era during the team’s tenure in Philadelphia or that of the Oakland Oaks minor league club. With their sweatbands, knee and forearm braces, Phiten necklaces, and Oakley shades they don’t always sell the part of the classic ballplayer. That is with the exception, of former Athletic Mark Ellis who in my humble opinion was the greatest second baseman in Oakland history.

To me, Ellis is the very ethos of a ballplayer. With average offensive skills across the board, but  an unmeasurable amount of heart and intelligence. He captained the A’s infield for the better part of 8 1/2 seasons or as I like to see it, the majority of my adult life thus far. While his departure was bittersweet, it paved the way for the exciting Jemile Weeks to takeover and provided Ellis with the chance to further his career as a starter in the National League. While his departure pained many A’s fans, it didn’t feel like the same old story of an Athletic being forced to leave in his prime due to an escalating salary and the allure of bright lights elsewhere. It was an amicable split, one that was beneficial but heartbreaking for both parties. When Mark returned to town this past week as a member of the Dodgers, he was saluted by his former team with a tribute video of his finest moments as an Athletic. Here are some of my favorite Mark Ellis memories.

October 6th 2002

Game 5 of the ALDS was the final hurrah for the 2002 Oakland Athletics. In the playoff series against the underdog Minnesota Twins, they were pushed to the limit and overcome by a young, talented Twins team who capitalized on every Oakland mistake. In the last inning of the final game, a 2-1 deficit quickly snowballed to a 5-1 game when closer Billy Koch internally combusted in the top the 9th. Shell shocked and in utter dismay I sat silently in cold silence in my room, and prepared to say goodbye to the 2002 A’s. Refusing to go down without a fight, the A’s rallied in the 9th to put 2 on with 1 out for Ellis who was then in his rookie season. Ellis, who didn’t even start the season on the big league club took over at second base after both veteran Randy Velarde and fellow rookie Esteban German failed to impress during their opportunities.  Starring defensively, he also hit well putting up a very respectable .272/.359/.394 split in 98 games.  With the trade deadline acquisition of former all-star second baseman Ray Durham, Ellis remained at second while Durham shifted to the DH role. Despite having pinch hitting options on the bench, such as Olmedo Saenz and John Mabry, Macha allowed Ellis to hit against Twins closer “Everyday” Eddie Guardado. What followed was Guardado trying to sneak a 2-1 fastball by the rookie and Ellis crushing a 3-run homer to deep left field. For a second, the momentum was back. The score was now 5-4 and with only 1 out recorded it looked like he had given the A’s new life with one mighty blast. Unfortunately the A’s were unable to rally to tie the game, and making the final out of the game was Durham with a popup to second base.

June 8th, 2008

After losing two close games in a three game series in Oakland against division rival Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the A’s entered this particular Sunday in dire need of a win to salvage the series. Locked in a 3-3 tie in extra innings, the A’s loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the 12th. Up came Mark Ellis, to face off against Angels reliever Chris Bootcheck. A former heralded prospect, Bootcheck was effectively wild, armed with a mid 90′s fastball and a sharp biting slider. As if to say enough is enough, Ellis jumped on a first pitch fastball and deposited it deep into the left field seats for a game winning grand slam. The Coliseum broke out into pure bedlam and Ellis was mobbed by his teammates as he approached home plate. The beautiful thing about this game? It was turn back the clock day.

April 6th, 2010

Each year, It always seems like the first victory of the season is the hardest for the Athletics to attain. After a restless off-season, and an endless spring training, A’s fans have grown accustomed to the obligatory opening day loss and the feeling of desperation as the team suits up for game 2. In the year 2010, it was no different. Preceded by a bullpen failure and a defensive meltdown in the late innings of game 1 against Seattle, Dallas Braden took to the mound the next night determined to put Oakland in the win column for the first time in 2010. Showcasing the pinpoint control, and Bugs Bunny change up that would grant him perfection nearly a month later. Braden dominated Seattle through 7 innings, allowing a single run on 4 hits while striking out 10 Mariners. Unfortunately, as strong as the A’s pitching was this season, their hitting was equally as weak. Unable to do much against Seattle starter Ian Snell, the game went into extra innings at a 1-1 stalemate.

As the crowd grew restless, following multiple  innings of routine ground outs and pop-ups and a failed opportunity for the A’s to win in the 9th it seemed the game would never end. With two on and two out, the now salty veteran Mark Ellis came to the plate and sent the Oakland faithful home happy with a game winning single in the gap. As he was mobbed by his teammates, a look of pure joy spread across his face as high fives and hugs were exchanged. There he was in the center of an Oakland A’s victory, with “Celebration” blaring from the speakers. This is how I choose to remember Mark Ellis and his career in Oakland.

Devin Pangaro can be found ranting and raving about all things green and gold related on twitter @devinpangaro, and please follow my fellow Swingin’ A’s scribes @FS_SwinginAs or like us on Facebook.

December 14, 2010; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane (right) smiles while addressing the media as designated hitter Hideki Matsui (left) looks on during a press conference following Matsui signing with the Athletics at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

With the 2012 season officially underway, all eyes—especially mine—will be focused on Billy Beane and the rest of the Athletics’ management as the team enters yet another rebuilding phase.

The Athletics are not expected to compete this year given their demolition of their starting rotation this offseason and because of their unproven offense.

Instead, this season feels destined, really, to be another chapter in Billy Beane’s painfully-penned rebuild.

Oakland has been in this position before, namely back in 2007 when the team sent fan-favorites like Nick Swisher and Dan Haren packing in various trades that landed the A’s plenty of young prospects.

Beane’s inconsistencies in addition to the A’s ever-growing stadium problems have made the team’s rebuilding attempts extremely difficult to watch.

This touchy topic has been covered religiously on this site, especially by our very own Staff Writer Jason Leary, but the A’s rebuilding attempts serve as a reminder that not all clubs succeed in building a winning product. Beane has done a fine job in recent years of acquiring young talent, but holding onto that talent and having the patience with those prospects are another thing.

Perhaps the biggest mistake Beane has made in recent years was the decision to trade for outfielder Matt Holliday prior to the 2009 season. The A’s certainly thought they’d get a lot from Holliday, but for the amount of talent the team gave Colorado in exchange for Holliday and the overall timing of the deal didn’t make complete sense.

For one, the A’s gave up the talented young outfielder Carlos Gonzalez as a way to acquire the older Holliday. In hindsight, that was not a great decision on Beane’s behalf. It should speak volumes of Beane’s abilities to scout young hitting talent.

I just never felt that the A’s gave Gonzalez much of a chance in Oakland. He was shipped out of town essentially for a rent-a-slugger. Holliday, as you’ll all remember, didn’t last in Oakland and was traded by the 2009 trade deadline to St.Louis.

That was the biggest mistake the A’s GM made, in my opinion, anyway, as it disrupted his rebuilding efforts. The A’s were kidding themselves if they thought they could compete in 2009.

Guys like Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill were barely bursting onto the scene and even with an offense that featured Holliday, Jason Giambi, Orlando Cabrera, and Nomar Garciaparra—all of whom with the exception of Holliday, were old and inexpensive sources of veteran leadership acquired by the A’s—the pitching staff wasn’t up for the task of competing.

I think the A’s learned during the 2009 season that rebuilding is harder than it seems. You have to scout well, draft well, and more importantly know how to develop young talent once you have it in your minor league system. Looking at this season, the A’s have yet again laid out a solid foundation of young pitching.

Pitchers like Jarrod Parker, Brad Peacock, Sonny Gray, and A.J. Cole are just a few of the names the A’s are currently waiting for to emerge onto the big league scene. The A’s turned their focus onto their rebuilding efforts this past winter with the Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill, and Andrew Bailey trades, but their commitment is still relatively unknown.

One minute they’re wheelin’ and dealin’, and then the next minute they’re forking over $14 million to Coco Crisp and $36 million to an unproven outfielder named Yoenis Cespedes. The A’s are trying, I think, to build a winning club, but Beane’s recent attempts may not matter in the end.

The A’s are still waiting around —for three years now—for MLB and Bud Selig to deliver their findings about the Athletics’ stadium situation in Oakland. The team is desperately fighting for a spot in San Jose, a territory that the Giants claim as theirs. San Francisco isn’t budging on those territorial claims and the A’s are stuck in the vortex called O.co Coliseum.

So, citing Beane’s inconsistencies during the last few rebuilding years is only part of the organization’s problem. The A’s do need to have better consistency when it comes to evaluating talent and developing talent, but they also need MLB and Bud Selig to step up to the plate and finally deliver their decision regarding the San Jose mess.

Selig has kept the A’s waiting long enough. These past few years have made Beane’s job a little harder and have definitely put a strain on the ever-thining fan-base. No one likes to lose, but the A’s are not in a position to go out and sign a bunch of free-agent talent.

Instead, the team has been forced to tear down, rebuild, assemble, tear down, and rebuild. Will MLB deliver a decision before the A’s are forced to give up on their new crop of young talent (I’m talking about you, Parker, Peacock, Gray, and Cole)?

It’s become an excruciating process.

Beane can assemble all the young talent he wants. Heck, he can even have the patience to develop all that young talent in a way that produces a few wins here and there. But without a place to play, those wins won’t matter, will they?

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Ellis' Final Season In Oakland Wasn't Exactly Great, But So What? (Photo Credit: Darren Calabrese/AP)

The A’s will enter the 2012 season with a new energy at second-base with Jemile Weeks embarking on his first official full season as Oakland’s starting second-baseman. The memories left behind by Mark Ellis, however, will still remain.

Ellis, without a doubt, was one of the most well-liked A’s players in recent years. Ellis established himself, in my mind at least, as one of the premiere defensive second-basemen in the game during his career in Oakland. Like Eric Chavez, Ellis left his mark in Oakland as being a top-notch defender and an extremely popular player.

However, perhaps Ellis was a bit too much like Chavez. Both Ellis and Chavez struggled with injuries during their time in Oakland, with Chavez struggling to remain healthy in the latter part of his career in Oakland.  (more…)