September 7, 2012

The Prophet

Jonny Gomes saw the rise of the Atheltics:

Raise your hand if you saw this coming.

Let’s see, that would be . . . just you, Jonny Gomes.

“We can shock the world,” he said in January shortly after signing with the A’s.

Reminded this week about his preseason prognostication, Gomes smiled and nodded. The outfielder (and, ahem, veteran clubhouse prankster) said he recognized from the moment he signed that the A’s had the same ingredients as his 2008 Tampa Bay Rays, a team that rebounded from a 96-loss season to reach the World Series.

There are so many great stories this season. The Nationals, Pirates, Orioles, and Athletics all rose from the grave. The White Sox and Reds rebounded from losing seasons. We could be looking at the first post-season since 1993 that did not include the Yankees or the Red Sox.

I have to admit, an Oakland-Pittsburgh World Series would go a long way to quieting the people who complain about the lack of money of small market franchises. I wouldn’t mind a LAnaheim-Washington pairing to see Mike Trout and Bryce Harper go head-to-head. I do get the feeling the Rangers deserve a World Series win, as they’ve been the best team in baseball the last three years. I’d love to see Joe Maddon win one with the Rays, and a Tampa Bay/Washington series would pit my two favorite managers against each other.

With all these compelling teams, something tells me Fox is rooting for the Yankees and the Dodgers.

2 thoughts on “The Prophet

  1. Devon

    The moment i read – “We could be looking at the first post-season since 1993 that did not include the Yankees or the Red Sox.” – I thought “that sure would be refreshing”.

    You know what I’d love to see? Rangers vs Nationals. There’s a few stories in it… most notably… A former Washington team, versus the new one. Harper & Strasburg vs the team that’s been the best AL club the past 2 years. (Stras is elligible for the post-season roster, right?)

    Altho, I’d also LOVE to see something “classic” like rematches of old 70’s series — Orioles vs Reds, Orioles vs Pirates, Dodgers vs A’s, Dodgers vs Yankees. Altho, probably the coolest rematch would be — White Sox vs Reds, rematch of 1919!

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