This year, the A’s are dead last in the MLB in player salary. Compare that to the New York Yankees, whose total team salary is almost $200 million. In other words, they spend four times as much as the A’s, who have a team salary of about $50 million. Yet as of Sept. 24, the A’s are two games back of the Yankees, thanks to young players like A.J Griffin, Josh Reddick and Cuban rookie sensation Yoenis Cespedes.
Last fall, my brother and I had pitching lessons with Griffin. He was an exemplary pitching instructor, teaching us new skills and working on the basics. I knew Griffin was in the A’s minor league system, but little did I know that midway through the season he would get called up to start for the major league squad. Griffin was the first A’s pitcher since 1918 to record seven “quality starts” (six innings or more with three runs or fewer allowed) in his first seven career starts. Although Griffin suffered a minor right shoulder injury midway through the year, he is now back in the rotation and helping lead the A’s to success.
Along the same lines, Josh Reddick, acquired last year from the Boston Red Sox, rarely played with his old team and put up poor offensive numbers. But now, according to MLB.com, Reddick leads the A’s in runs, RBIs and home runs while receiving a salary of just $485,000 for the 2012 season. Reddick has hit 29 home runs, just one shy of reigning World Series Champion Albert Pujols’s 30.
Big name players like Pujols, who recently signed a 10-year contract worth $254 million with the Anaheim Angels, are the type of players that draw fans to the ballpark. However, these big name players are often under tremendous pressure and prone to struggles and numerous injuries. The A’s do not have the benefits of star players to draw spectators, but instead get the incidental benefit of lower pressure and expectations, which might help explain how well they’re doing.
Contributing to the underdog atmosphere, the A’s are also the only team in the MLB to still share a field with an NFL team (the Oakland Raiders), now that the Miami Marlins have a new stadium. Although the A’s and the Raiders are working on a new field, it does not seem likely for several years to come. Yet despite the shared stadium and minimal fan support, the A’s are still winning games and in good position to make the playoffs.
The A’s are not the only Cinderella story of 2012. The Baltimore Orioles are in the same boat as the A’s, with low attendance and low player salary, but a higher winning percentage than expected. As of Sept. 24, the Orioles are now a half game back of the Yankees in the American League East, which is arguably the strongest division in all of baseball.
This old school, “Moneyball” strategy is positive for the MLB, where more and more low- income teams are beginning to have better seasons than the top spenders. Baseball is a team sport, not an individual one, and any player can be the hero in any game. The big-name players might bring in the fans and money, but at the end of the day the better baseball team will take the win.
On the other side of the Bay, San Francisco sports teams have not struggled with low attendance the same way the A’s have. The San Francisco Giants set the tone for Bay Area sports after winning the 2010 World Series. This year they have a streak of over 150 consecutive sellouts. In 2011, the San Francisco 49ers sold out all their games and made it to the NFC Championship game, where they fell to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants. And, the Giants and 49ers both have legitimate chances to win championships again this year. The A’s and Raiders have been on a different path in recent years, but this season the A’s are hoping to rejoin the list of winning Bay Area sports teams with large, loyal fan bases.
After this season, the real question will be whether building a new stadium and acquiring big name players would really improve the Oakland’s record.
While the answer is probably yes, since fan support and an attractive field are huge motivator to players, the A’s are playing so well right now that it seems like nothing is going to stop them from capturing their fifth World Series title in franchise history.
