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Gaudin, Swisher latest in long line of former A's this decade to win World Series rings
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Former A's farmhand Eric Hinske scores in Game 5
of the 2009 World Series. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Maybe it started with Scott Spiezio.
But there seem to be a lot of former Oakland A's winning World Series rings these days, primarily players who played in the organization under current GM Billy Beane and then left for different futures -- and often, greener pastures in the postseason.
While the A's themselves experienced frustrating first-round playoff losses in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003, their former players were already asserting themselves elsewhere on the big stage.
This pattern has now continued to include Oakland's disappointing loss in the 2006 American League Championship Series, with former outfielder Nick Swisher and former pitcher Chad Gaudin merely the latest to be let go by Oakland only to win the World Series with another team.
Pretty frustrating for A's fans, who were rather fortunate this decade to have a small-market team make the playoffs five times -- including four times in a row to start it off. But the team's 11-16 overall postseason record meant Oakland fans weren't able to celebrate their team winning a title.
But they certainly could celebrate a few fan favorites winning the title elsewhere.
Spiezio was the A's primary second baseman in 1997 and 1998, hitting 23 HRs and 115 RBI combined. After a disappointing 1999 season that saw him become more of a utility infielder, Spiezio left to go thrive in Los Angeles for the Angels in much the same role -- albeit with better results.
No one will forget his 7th inning home run in Game 6 of the 2002 World Series, the big knock that launched the Angels' comeback from the precipice -- ultimately leading to their unlikely comeback and eventual Game 7 victory over the San Francisco Giants.
Thus, a pattern was born: former A's players making good on the big stage in a way they never did in Oakland.
It got significantly worse in 2004, as three former A's featured in prominent roles for the title-winning Boston Red Sox.
Mark Bellhorn, who had played in 126 games for the A's from 1997-2001, hit 17 HRs and 82 RBI as Boston's second baseman in 2004. Centerfielder Johnny Damon had been a disappointment his one season in Oakland (2001), easily having his worst year as a major leaguer (.256 batting average, for example). But in Boston during the 2004 season, the bearded man hit .304 with 20 HRs, 94 RBI, 19 SBs and a career-high 76 walks -- and led the huge ALCS comeback over New York with his Game 7 heroics at the plate.
But perhaps the worst insult to A's fans in 2004 was Keith Foulke. The A's closer in 2003, Foulke had blown a Game 4 save in Boston that would have ended the AL Divisional Series that year, a series Oakland eventually lost in Game 5.
But for Boston in the 2004 postseason, he was perfect -- Foulke didn't give up a single run for the Red Sox in 2004, leading the team to its first World Series title since 1918.
The pattern fully established at this point, Jermaine Dye added injury to insult for Oakland in 2005. No one doubts Dye gave everything he had to the A's from 2001-2004, even though he battled injuries that hindered his production. But when he won the World Series MVP for the Chicago White Sox one year after leaving the A's, it was another sad reminder that Oakland wasn't winning anything.
The 2006 St. Louis Cardinals received significant contributions from former A's, on many organizational levels. Beyond manager Tony LaRussa and pitching coach Dave Duncan -- the backbone of the coaching staff that led Oakland to three straight AL pennants 20 years ago -- Spiezio was a key utility player for the Cardinals in 2006, winning his second World Series after the A's released him.
Even though they were injured and missed the playoffs, former A's pitchers Jason Isringhausen (33 saves for the Cardinals in the regular season) and Mark Mulder (six wins in 2006, after 16 wins in 2005 for St. Louis) still got their championship rings.
The Red Sox were back in the World Series in 2007, winning their second title of the decade with contributions from two former A's: Eric Hinske and Bobby Kielty. While Hinske never played in the majors for Oakland, he was a rising star in the minor league system before Beane traded him to Toronto for Billy Koch.
Fan favorite Kielty (you remember the hair, right?) had been a part-time, platoon player for the A's for three-plus seasons, before catching on with Boston late in the season. His contributions may have been small, but there he was, collecting another ring that perhaps could have been Oakland's if all had been different.
The Philadelphia Phillies continued tradition in 2008, getting rings for former A's Joe Blanton and Matt Stairs. While Blanton had been with the A's to start the season, he was traded to the Phillies midseason. And although Stairs' heyday with Oakland was from 1997-2000, when he hit 114 HRs in four seasons, he was still another A's player scoring a ring with another team.
This year, the New York Yankees topped them all. Damon and Hinske won additional rings this year, while Swisher obviously added to the pile of rings won by former A's with new teams. Former A's pitcher Chad Gaudin also pitched in the postseason for the Yankees, after going 20-18 over three seasons with the A's from 2006-08.
If you're counting, that's 16 World Series rings this decade alone won by former A's organizational players let go under Billy Beane's watch.
That's not a good thing, and while some of it can be attributed to luck -- both bad and good -- it's just another reminder that it's now been 20 years since Oakland last celebrated a World Series title.
For more info: Sam McPherson will be donating the proceeds from his Examiner.com writings (through March 14, 2010) to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, via his Team in Training commitment to the Lavaman Triathlon on March 28, 2010. For more information, please visit his donation website. Thank you for your support!
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