San Jose, the playoff race and Moneyball

I’ve been asked to show a little love to San Jose after the L.A. Galaxy have dominated the news lately with all the Bruce Arena developments. Fair enough, and the Galaxy are quickly sinking toward becoming a non-story if they can’t turn things around, although the Lewis signing will surely help.

Amazingly, these Earthquakes are somehow not out of the race in their first season back following a two-year absence. Despite having a mere 21 points in 20 games to put them in last place, all San Jose fans can continue to ride the wave of optimism thanks to the traffic jam in the Western table. 21 points puts them just six out of second place, and if the Quakes win on Saturday against Chivas USA, they’ll be tied with the Galaxy at 24 points in 21 games.

But it’s not just the nature of the conference. The Quakes haven’t lost in four games, and their last two wins over the Galaxy and the NE Revolution have been impressive – especially the 4-0 shellacking they laid on New England.

And credit to them for not giving up on the season when it looked bleak. These past couple wins have seen huge contributions from the new San Jose pickups -- Arturo Alvarez (picked up from F.C. Dallas on July 28), Darren Huckerby (acquired from Toronto on July 14) and Scott Sealy (from KC on July 14). The effect has been evident from the day Sealy and Huckerby arrived.

In the four regular-season games starting July 19, Huckerby has two goals and three assists, Sealy has two assists and a goal, and Alvarez has a goal.

And if the Quakes end up making something of this season, we’ll look back on the extra-time game-winner from defender Ryan Cochrane on August 3 as a key moment.

San Jose doesn’t have an easy road from here on in – playing Houston twice – but they also don’t play any of the East’s top three (NE, Chicago, Columbus) again in the regular season. Stranger things have happened than this expansion squad making the playoffs, and the Earthquakes play six of their last 10 games at home.

And finally, given that it’s these new players who have turned it around for the Quakes and given them a shot, we need to point out one part of the San Jose front office.

For those who don’t know this or don’t follow the Earthquakes closely, please check out this article from Sports Illustrated this past April. Oakland Athletics manager Billy Beane has become an avid soccer follower and is now using his Moneyball approach to help put together the San Jose team (the A’s ownership group bought the expansion franchise).

I’m not saying this is where soccer is heading, or anything like that, but what I am saying is that Billy Beane knows how to put together a winner (of division titles); and the article says that once Beane started going hard after soccer statistical analysis, there was a “flurry of interest from other teams,” according to the statistics company.

Just sayin’.