The 2011 Oakland Athletics went 74-88, the same record as this year's Mets. They had two pitchers who worked 200 innings — Trevor Cahill and Gio Gonzalez — and traded both over the winter. Cahill went to Arizona, Gonzalez to Washington, and they are bargains for their new teams, earning less than $4 million each this season.
But there are bargains, and there are Oakland bargains. In exchange for Cahill, the A's got a younger right-hander, Jarrod Parker. In exchange for Gonzalez, the A's got a younger left-hander, Tommy Milone. For roughly the minimum salary (less than $500,000 apiece), those two led the A's in innings this season and will start Games 1 and 2 of Oakland's division series at Comerica Park in Detroit.
"In January, when we all met, and I was just listening, we absolutely were committed to being competitive, so it wasn't like we were getting rid of salary with Gio and others," the A's owner, Lew Wolff, said last month. "It was really very well devised — quite Socratic, if that's a useful word in baseball. They thought through all this.
"I think each trade we made was good for both sides, especially in Washington, and I'm delighted how well Gio's pitched. I don't know if I personally thought we'd be in it. We were sort of David against Goliath a little bit. I thought we'd be very competitive, but I didn't think we'd be fighting for a playoff berth like we are."
The A's won that fight, of course, storming past the Texas Rangers to steal the American League West on the final day of the regular season. It was the only day all year on which the A's held first place alone — but, of course, it was the only day that mattered.
Now the A's face the Tigers, who struggled for months to shake the Chicago White Sox and establish dominance in a weak A.L. Central.
"Our year, up to this point, has been disappointing," Manager Jim Leyland said in his office on Sept. 25. "I don't think that's a secret to anybody."
But the Tigers still had a chance, Leyland said, adding that he would not be surprised if his team was soon advancing in the playoffs and energizing its fans. So far, he has been right.
The Tigers waited until the final series of the regular season to clinch the Central, and their 88 wins are six fewer than any other division winner. But here they are, with eight victories in their last 10 games and their ace, Justin Verlander, on the mound against Parker for Game 1.
Doug Fister faces Milone in Game 2.
The Tigers clearly have the edge in star power, with Verlander in the rotation and a lineup anchored by Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera, baseball's first triple crown winner in 45 years. But those who underestimate Manager Bob Melvin's Athletics do so at their peril. The A's have power, a stingy bullpen and nothing to lose. They want their party to last.
"At this stage in my life, I'm going to be 77," Wolff said. "I never thought I would have this kind of fun."
FEEL THE BREEZE The Athletics' hitters struck out 1,387 times this season, the most ever by an A.L. team an A.L. team record. The Tigers' pitchers struck out 1,318 hitters, tied for second in the league, with Verlander and Max Scherzer, the Game 4 starter, ranking first and second individually. Fister, meanwhile, set an A.L. record for consecutive strikeouts when he fanned nine Royals in a row on Sept. 27.
LUCKY 13 The Athletics had already clinched a playoff spot by the time they upended the Rangers for the division title in Game 162. Still, Oakland's 13-game hurdle in the standings is remarkable. Only four other teams in major league history have overcome a 13-game deficit, which the A's faced on June 30, to finish in first place: the 1914 Braves, the 1951 Giants, the 1978 Yankees and the 1995 Mariners.
TRAVELIN' MAN Tigers reliever Octavio Dotel, who spent two seasons with the A's, has played for 13 teams, more than any pitcher in major league history. Dotel sparkled for the Cardinals during their run to a championship last fall and is one of several Detroit setup men with more strikeouts than innings.
ESCAPE FROM BOSTON Three of Oakland's best players were recently property of the Red Sox.
Boston traded right fielder Josh Reddick (32 homers) to Oakland last winter for reliever Andrew Bailey. First baseman Brandon Moss (21 homers) left Boston in the July 2008 trade for Jason Bay, and center fielder Coco Crisp (39 steals) was shipped away four months later for reliever Ramon Ramirez. Moss and Crisp landed with other teams before coming to Oakland.
"The key to this team, that started this whole turnaround, is Coco Crisp," said the hitting coach Chili Davis, who spent last season as a Class AAA coach for — yes — the Red Sox.
CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES Tigers closer Jose Valverde is well known for his histrionics on the mound after saves. Grant Balfour, his Oakland counterpart, is gaining the same reputation.
Balfour vigorously pumps his fist and shouts after his saves, and his entrance inspires "Balfour Rage," as they call it in Oakland: essentially, an excuse for fans to punch the air repeatedly, nod their heads as fast as they can, and go crazy.
COMMON ALUMNI More than 200 players have suited up for both teams, a colorful list that includes a Champ (Summers), a Bip (Roberts), a Storm (Davis) and a Beane — as in Billy, the A's general manager, who went 1 for 6 for the 1988 Tigers before migrating to Oakland. Denny McLain, who won 31 games for the 1968 Tigers, stumbled to Oakland in 1972, the final year of his checkered career, going 1-2 with a 6.04 E.R.A. earned run average. Another widely known Tiger joined the A's at the end, but with better results: after 22 seasons with Detroit, the 40-year-old Ty Cobb played for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1927 and 1928, hitting .343.
PLAYOFF HISTORY The teams have met twice in the A.L. Championship Series, in 1972 and 2006. The A's prevailed the first time, three games to two, with a 2-1 victory in Game 5 at Tiger Stadium behind Blue Moon Odom and Vida Blue (baseball needs more names like that).
In 2006, the Tigers swept the A's in four games, with Magglio Ordonez smashing a three-run homer off Huston Street to end the series.
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