Wake Me Up In Mid-June by Ned Kletz
ESPN and all those folks don’t give the phenomenon that is the Oakland A’s enough attention.
Every season since high expectations began (2000), the A’s have followed a pattern that has been as predictable as a movie you’ve already seen. In fact, watching how the 2000-2005 seasons unfolded felt nothing less than watching the same movie five times.
And now, 11 games into 2006, I’m not going to be fooled again into thinking I don’t know what’s coming.
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Time for me to explain: since 2000, the A’s have started the season by going 4-2…5-2…something nice like that.
Then, as we all know, they completely fall apart, looking as if they couldn’t beat the University of Puget Sound Loggers. No one hits, no one pitches. All of a sudden starters have 1-7 records with over 5.00 ERAs. Everything is way out of whack.
This lasts until mid June, when out of no where, with no warning…they go from being towards the bottom of the pile to the top of the heap. And there they stay until they manage to pull off a choke of epic proportions in the first round of the playoffs.
Thus ending our re-run movie titled, “The Oakland A’s of the 21st Century”.
Obviously, the pattern wasn’t totally solid when, last year, they uncharacteristically tailed off at the end of the year. And of coarse, the pattern didn’t lead them to the playoffs in ’04 either.
But, nonetheless, every year (even in ’04 and ’05)they played their first 2-3 season series well, then “got horrible” for the next two excrutiating months, finally going on a winning run almost unprecedented.
Why did I even take time writing this today?
I’ll tell you why: BECAUSE ITS HAPPENING AGAIN!!!
They burst out of the gate looking like a nice ball club…5-2. Now, we all just witnessed them getting swept by the lowly Twins, and they stand below .500.
Look out. Here we go. Wake me up in the middle of June.
Can’t you people see??? In the Twins series Haren looked terrible, Zito looked terrible, even Blanton (who I think is the A’s second best starter) looked terrible.
Blame it on the noise of the Metrodome? No way. Not with what we’ve seen for six years running.
Credit the Twins? No way. Not with what we’ve seen for six years running.
Chalk it up to “every team has a bad series”? No way. Not with what we’ve seen for six years running.
And I’m not thinking in the realm of some hocus pocus or a curse or anything along those lines. I’m simply outlining a pattern that, whether you want to acknowledge it or not, does exist.
Oh I know, you’ll say “thats the trials and tribulations that occur with every young team”. Well I got news for those of you who claim the “youth” theory: the A’s ain’t that young anymore…
If you look around at who’s struggling, plently of them would be labeled as nothing less than veterans. Frank Thomas, Jason Kendall, Esteban Loaiza, Barry Zito, etc. Call me crazy but those guys aren’t exactly spring chickens anymore.
Anybody else want to try throwing some flimsy explanation out there?
No?
Thank you.
I’m just saying, if you’re an A’s fan lock the door on your tornado shelter real tight and make sure you have enough rations to last you until the middle of June because its going to be a long two months.
And, oh by the way, when mid June does finally roll around…the whether gets pretty damn nice.
–Ned
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