Category: Oakland Athletics

Beyond Quiet: A’s limited to one hit, commit four errors in 6-0 loss to Tampa Bay

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–The A’s avoided the no-no. They did not avoid the oh-no.

On a quiet night–emphasis on quiet–at the Coliseum, the A’s were shutout 6-0 (the third time the A’s have been shut out in their last eight games), limited to one hit, committed four errors, and did so in front of the smallest crowd of the season to date.

That’s the oh-no.

The momentum from sweeping the Blue Jays four straight in Toronto? Completely disappeared. The A’s have opened their home stand following the once in a decade achievement in Canada by losing four of six. And apparently, losing their offense in the process as well. The A’s have scored four runs or fewer in each of their last 14 home games, tying an Oakland A’s record for such unwatchable things.

Unwatchable? The announced crowd of 6,705 was the smallest in Oakland since 2003.

“We’re struggling,” manager Bob Melvin said. “You’re never as bad as it seems when it’s your worst, and you’re never at your best when things are going great. We’ve got to find a middle ground somewhere.”

Occupying the middle ground on Wednesday–and making sure the A’s weren’t welcome there–was Nathan Eovaldi, the oft-injured, flamethrower who started for the Rays in his first start in nearly two years after a second, Tommy John procedure, and a follow-up procedure on his elbow.

Simply, Eovaldi was so good it’s like where do we start. Well, with his first pitch, clocked at 98 mph. From there, Eovaldi dealt, retiring 18 batters and walking Matt Chapman on four pitches. He started 13 of the 19 batters he faced with a strike, but only struck out four. Quick outs, unhittable pitches, and then Eovaldi was gone after six. What other decision could Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash make?

“Every time he gets on the mound the velocity is there,” Cash said. “It’s kind of “wow factor” velocity, but you learn that’s him.”

“He did not look really crisp with the pitches (thrown in the first inning) and the command, and he did a nice job of taking a deep breath and getting back in the zone. And then he just went on cruise control after that.”

“I would have liked to stay out there until I gave up a hit, but I understand the situation as well,” Eovaldi said of his inevitable, early departure.

Reliever Wilmer Font, the former Athletic making his Tampa Bay debut, would allow a hit to Jed Lowrie in the seventh, breaking up the potential no-hitter. But Font rolled through the seventh and eighth, then Vidal Nuno pitched a flawless ninth in a non-save situation.

Instead of hits, the smattering of A’s fans were treated to errors, two from Chad Pinder, playing shortstop while Marcus Semien was off at the hospital awaiting the birth of his child.

While the errors elicited groans from the crowd, they did not contribute to the Rays’ four runs off Sean Manaea, who again was off his game. Manaea’s biggest mistake was a 3-1, fastball that Rob Refsnyder transformed into a three-run homer in the third.

Manaea’s win-loss record fell to 5-6, after he started the season 4-1 in April.

“I’m trying to figure out some things,” Manaea said. “It’s just not working right now.”

Khris Davis, the A’s leading home run hitter with 13, is expected to return to the lineup Thursday afternoon  for the series finale with Ray’s. Davis missed nine games with a groin strain.

A’s come up short in 4-3 loss to Rays

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

Photo credit: @RaysBaseball

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Tampa Bay Rays edged the A’s 4-3 in the second game of the four-game series at Oakland Coliseum Tuesday night.

Rays’ starter, Blake Snell, improved his record to 7-3 as he baffled the A’s, allowing just one run, which was unearned, and two hits. He struck out seven.

A’s starter Daniel Gossett allowed three runs and eight hits. He was tagged with the loss. He gave up three consecutive home runs in the third inning.

The Rays scored three times in the third inning. Gossett struck out the first two hitters that he faced. The next three hitters, C.J. Cron (former A’s second baseman), Joey Wendle, and Rays’ catcher Wilson Ramos, all hit solo home runs.

It was the first time since August 1st, 2017 that the Rays hit back-to-back homers against the Houston Astros, and it was the first time since they hit three consecutive dingers in a game since September 21st, 2016 when they did it against the New York Yankees.

The A’s put one on the board in their half of the third. Catcher Bruce Maxwell reached on an error. Snell retired the next two hitters. Jed Lowrie, the designated hitter, doubled to left field to drive in Maxwell. The run was unearned. Rays lead 3-1 after three complete.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Rays’ pitcher Jamie Schultz made his Major League debut and had quite a debut as he struck out all the hitters he faced. Welcome to the Bigs, Rook!

The A’s had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth inning. Rays’ reliever, righty Chaz Roe, walked Marcus Semien to start the inning. The next batter, Matt Chapman, had a broken bat blooper that fell in safely in right field. Semien made it third, and Chapman reached second on Carlos Gomez’ throwing error. Roe struck out Lowrie and Mark Canha and retired Chad Pinder on a routine ground ball out. The Rays still lead 3-1 as the teams head into the ninth inning.

In the ninth, Rays’ shortstop, former A’s farmhand, Daniel Robertson clobbered his sixth dinger of the year to give Tampa Bay a 4-1 lead. The A’s rallied to score twice. Sergio Romo, who was a closer for the San Francisco Giants, was Ray.s manager Kevin Cash’s choice to finish the game. Matt Olson singled off Romo to start the rally. Stephen Piscotty doubled down the left field line to drive in Olson. Piscotty went to third on a ground ball out and scored on Bruce Maxwell’s ground ball to first base. Romo dodged a bullet when Marcus Semien hit a long fly ball that had the distance for a home run, but the ball went foul. Romo then retired Semien for the final out of the game.

Game Notes: With the loss, the A’s drop to 28-27 and the Rays improve to 27-26.

The Rays’ line was four runs, 10 hits, and two errors. All four of the Rays’ runs were the result of solo homers.

The A’s line was three runs, five hits, and one error.

Time of game was two hours and 55 minutes.

A very sparse crowd of 7,521 fans were on hand to see the A’s lose.

Up Next: Wednesday night’s game will feature the A’s big lefty Sean Manaea (5-5, 3.34 ERA) pitching for Oakland and righty Nathan Eovaldi going for the Rays. Manaea has been scuffling lately, and he will be hoping to return to the form that he showed earlier in the season. Game time is set for 7:05 pm PST.

Oakland A’s podcast with Charlie O: A’s getting good pitching, they just need some offense

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

mlb.com photo: Oakland A’s pitcher Daniel Mengden throwing a shutout against the Arizona Diamondbacks last Saturday May 26, 2018 at the Oakland Coliseum

Charlie O on the A’s podcast:

1) The A’s took 2 of 3 from Arizona and then lost the first game of the Tampa Bay series in an 1-0 extra inning heartbreaker. In those 4 games they scored 4 runs, what’s happening at the plate?

2) what about the pitching? How the staff perform in these games?

3) you say the A’s have some good news coming this week.

4) I have noticed on our Twitter account you have been doing some fantasy betting on A’s games? Why? And how are you doing?

Charlie O does the Oakland A’s podcast each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

That’s Amaury’s Podcast, News and Commentary: Oakland and Tampa Bay have similar business model situations; Both teams in need of new stadiums

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SFGate

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s, who opened a four-game set with the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday, started the series with the Rays at .500 on this current homestand. The A’s started the homestand against the Seattle Mariners, a very good team who is in second place followed by Arizona.

The M’s won two out of three from the slumping Minnesota Twins over the weekend. The A’s and Rays as far as front office organization situations are concerned are in the same boat. The attendance for both teams are low and their in two different divisions but similar at this time in history. Both teams are struggling in their current ball parks. They both are in need of getting new parks built. The A’s are looking to go to Jack London Square and build a waterfront park. The Rays want a waterfront park in Tampa Bay and want to get out of Tropicana Field in St Petersburg.

The A’s and Rays also speaking of sharing business models. It gets down to on the field and both teams also have bullpens on their home fields. They are two of three teams in MLB that have bullpens on the field, the Giants being the other. Bullpens on the field became an issue after the Giants outfielder Mac Williamson tripped on the AT&T bullpen mound and got a concussion in April.

I’m old-school. I like to see the bullpens on the field, baseball has changed. The fans still enjoy to see the bullpens and you like to see the pitchers warming up in the bullpens. When you broadcast a game, you can see whose loosening up. Some stadiums you don’t see whose warming up.

There’s more on That’s Amaury listen to Amaury’s podcast weekly at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Rays shut out A’s 1-0 in 13 innings

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

Photo credit: @RaysBaseball

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — It was a sizzling, sun-drenched day in Oakland. The temperature at the start of the game was 78 degrees, and the 10,881 fans in attendance thought they might see a few home runs in the game. The ball usually carries well on hot days, but that did not happen as the A’s, and Rays’ pitchers were sensational. The Rays scored the winning run in the top of the 13th. The A’s had their chances,but could not get a hit with a runner in scoring position.

The A’s starter, Trevor Cahill, had his best game of the year. Cahill went eight innings, allowed just four, didn’t walk a batter, struck out six, and did not allow a run.

The Rays’ starter, Chris Archer pitched six scoreless innings, He kept the A’s scoreless and allowed just 4 hits, too. Both bullpens were terrific. The Rays were a wee bit better as they won the game 1-0.

The Rays scored the only run of the day in the top of the 13th. Chris Hatcher, the A’s fifth pitcher of the day, retired the first two hitters in the 13th. He then gave up singles to John Field, Jesus Sucre, and center fielder Mallex Smith. The Ray’s Ryne Stanek retired Matt Joyce for the first out. Marcus Semien walked. Jed Lowrie fouled out. Rays’ manager Kevin Cash made a pitching change. He brought in the lefty Jonny Venters to pitch to Matt Olson. Venters struck out Olson for the final out.

The A’s had men in scoring position in the fourth, sixth, and ninth innings but could not score. The A’s drop to 28-26 while Tampa Bay improves to 26-26.

The line score for the Rays was 1 run, 7 hits, and 1error. The A’s line was no runs, 7 hits, and no errors.

Chris Hatcher was the losing pitcher, and Ryne Stanek recorded the win.

Game 2 of the four-game series will be played Tuesday night at the Oakland Coliseum. Daniel Gossett (0-2, 6.28 ERA) will pitch for the A’s, and the Rays will send lefty Blake Snell (6-3, 2.78ERA) to the hill. Game time is at 7:05 pm PST.

Montas’ Moment: A’s Reliever Turned Starter Shuts Down the D-Backs 2-1

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–If this is the path you travel to establish yourself at Major League level, then don’t try this at home.

Frankie Montas’ winding, professional run starting with the Red Sox organization in 2012 as a teenager, followed by trades to three, new clubs, the last a multiplayer deal where the Dominican righthander went from the Dodgers to the A’s isn’t unique, but Montas’ oddysey has rarely provided moments to suggest he could find a role and stick with a big league club.

But Sunday at the Coliseum in the A’s 2-1 win over the Diamondbacks, Montas may have come up with the performance that finally gets him over the hump.

In his first ever start for the A’s after two hands full of forgettable, relief appearances in 2017, Montas was nearly flawless. Throwing his usual smoke–with new and improved, secondary pitches mixed in–he controlled the Diamondbacks, allowing no hits through five innings, before three singles and a run in the sixth. Those three would be the only hits for Arizona the entire game.

“I thought his two-seamer was really good today, which is what he’s been working on. And then his offspeed stuff mixed in to keep them off-balance and make his fastball play that much better,” manager Bob Melvin said in summarizing his pitcher’s appearance.

Montas served up fastballs at 95 plus in the early innings, then liberally mixed in his deceptive stuff, a stew that kept the struggling D’Backs flummoxed. And he worked himself out of a pair of jams: in the fourth, when he allowed both his walks, and the sixth when the three singles lead to Jake Lamb’s run-scoring sacrifice fly and nothing more.

“I feel really comfortable as a starter,” Montas said with the help of interpreter Juan Dorado. “It’s something I’ve done my whole career and it’s something that I want to do. And now that I’m commanding my fastball a little better, it’s something that I’m working hard on.”

Work was demanded of Montas when he was demoted in July, after he allowed 39 hits in 32 innings of work across 23 relief appearances, including 20 walks and 10 home runs. Those ragged numbers placed Montas as arguably the second-worst among Oakland relievers for one season all-time, and created the possibility the then 24-year old might not get a second chance.

But boldly, he pleaded to be groomed for a starter’s role.

Montas went winless in eight starts at Triple-A Nashville, then a oblique injury ended his frustrating 2017 season. Then this season he wasn’t obviously new-and-improved at 1-5 with an 3.24 ERA for Nashville, but he had some, positive stretches and became accustomed to the rhythm and length of starting.

When Oakland’s rotation continued to take hits, the latest injuries to Brett Anderson and Andrew Triggs, Montas–with his signature fastball still creating intrigue–got another shot.

And he delivered.

Jonathan Lucroy homered–his first as an Athletic–in support of Montas. After the Diamondbacks tied it in the sixth, Matt Chapman delivered the game-winning hit in the bottom of the inning.  Chapman’s single scored Matt Olson to put the A’s up 2-1.

Relievers Yusmeiro Petit, Lou Trivino and closer Blake Treinen finished the Diamondbacks in short order. The trio expended just 32 pitches in retiring the final nine Arizona batters consecutively, while striking out four.

The quiet, abrupt end to the game shed light on the depth of Arizona’s woes. After losing Saturday and Sunday, the D’Backs have lost 15 of 17 while scoring just 34 runs total. Amazingly, seven of those 34 came in Friday’s win, vividly illustrating how stark their offense has been since they started the season 24-11, the best 35-game start in the Diamondbacks franchise’s history.

“It’s just not going the way we want it to right now, but we have to keep together,” said Arizona’s David Peralta. “We just have to keep together, we have to keep fighting every day and we have to play with the same mentality–positive–and things are going to turn.”

The A’s have won nine of 13, and gained ground for a second straight day in the AL West. They are now 5 1/2 games behind the first-place Astros.

The A’s open a four-game set with the Rays on Monday with Trevor Cahill facing the Tampa Bay’s Chris Archer at 1:05pm.

 

 

 

Mengden tosses a complete game shutout to lead the A’s to a 3-0 win over the D-backs Saturday

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
Joyce HR
Matt Joyce started the scoring with a first-inning leadoff home run Photo: @Athletics

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Daniel Mengden pitched a brilliant game for the Oakland Athletics on Saturday afternoon to lead them to a 3-0 victory and even the series at 1-1 as the teams head into the finale on Sunday. Mengden worked 9.0 – shutout innings giving up just two hits, walking none while striking out five Diamondbacks.

Athletics manager Bob Melvin had nothing but compliments for Mengden and his starting performance Saturday. The skipper did reveal that Chad Pinder’s eighth-inning leadoff home run probably gave Mengden the chance to go for the complete game rather than using a closer in the top of the ninth.

This game was all about the pitching

Oakland

Daniel Mengden

  • That is the only name that will appear in the box score for the A’s. This was his second career shutout. His first came versus Philadelphia on September 17, 2017.
  • Mengden has now won his last three consecutive starts. That is the first time he has done that in his career.
  • Over his last eight starts, Mengden has posted a 1.79 ERA while striking out 31 in 50.1 innings pitched.
  • Mengden threw 102 pitches of which 76 were strikes.
  • The key pitching stat for the game is zero Base on Balls.
  • Mengden is now 5-4 on the season with a 2.85 ERA.

Arizona

Clay Buchholz

Buchholz
Clay Buchholz took the loss but pitched very well for D-backs Photo: @Dbacks
  • This was his second start for the Diamondbacks. He started versus the Mets on May 20 but did not figure into the decision.
  • It looked like it would be a short outing for Buchholz when Matt Joyce his the first pitch of the game over the right-field wall into the seats for a “no doubt about it” home run to give the Athletics a quick 1-0 lead.
  • Buchholz then settled down and proceeded to retire the next 15 Oakland hitters he faced. The next A’s batter to reach base was Chad Pinder who hit a double deep into center-field but Buchholz was able to get out of the inning stranding Pinder at third base.
  • The D-backs lifted Buchholz after 6.0-innings of work. He allowed the one run (earned) on just two hits. He walked none and struck out three batters.
  • Buchholz was charged with the loss and his record falls to 0-1 for the year.

Jorge De La Rosa

  • De La Rosa replaced Buchholz in the bottom of the seventh inning.
  • After inducing Jed Lowrie to fly out to center, Matt Olson hit a 2-2 pitch over the center-field fence that bounced around in the television camera box for his eighth home run of the season. That gave the A’s a 2-0 lead.
  • De La Rosa was able to finish the inning without giving up any additional runs.

Fernando Salas

  • Salas was the third and final pitcher used by Arizona in the game. He came in for the bottom of the eighth to face the leadoff man Chad Pinder. Pinder hit the first pitch from Salas over the center-field fence for his fifth home run of the year to give Oakland a 3-0 lead.
  • Salas did give up one additional hit – a double to Marcus Semien – but he was able to close out the inning without allowing any additional scoring.

It was home run or nothing game

Athletics

  • Those “Swingin’ A’s” scored all three of their runs off home runs.
  • Matt Joyce hit his sixth HR of the season. His first leadoff shot of the year and the ninth of his career
  • Matt Olson hit his eighth round-tripper of the year and it was his first HR to be hit off a lefthand pitcher this season.
  • Chad Pinder who hit his fifth home run of the season in the bottom of the eighth inning had the only multi-hit game for Oakland. He hit a double to leadoff the sixth inning for the A’s.
  • Marcus Semien recorded his 12th double in the contest.

Diamondbacks

  • The D-backs had two hits in the game. Both were singles.

 

Up Next on the Schedule

Up next game

The Diamondbacks and the Athletics will close out their three-game series with the “rubber game” of the match on Sunday at 1:05 PM. The real surprise here is Oakland will be starting RHP Frankie Montas who has been called up from Triple-A Nashville. Montas has spent the entire season with the Sounds appearing in nine games recording a record of 1-5 with an ERA of 4.39 in 41.0-innings on the mound. He has struck out 33, walked 13 and allowed five home runs. His WHIP is 1.34. The transaction will not become official until tomorrow morning.

Montas will face the crafty RHP veteran Zack Greinke. Greinke is 3-3 on the year with a 3.71 ERA.

Charlie O
My namesake was at the game! Photo: @Athletics

Down-and-Out D’Backs: Arizona finally wins one, beats the A’s 7-1 at the Coliseum

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–After losing 13 out of 14, and falling out of first place in the NL West, the Arizona Diamondbacks arrived at the Oakland Coliseum on Friday either desperate, panicked or totally focused.

Or completely relaxed.

If the D’Backs’ collective mindset was the latter, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt–hitting just .200 and enveloped in the worst slide of his eight-year big league career–personified it the best. Goldschmidt simply suited up and went back to work, re-energized after a rare Thursday off.

And the A’s Sean Manaea was made to pay, roughed up by Arizona as the Diamondbacks built a 6-1, fourth inning lead on their way to a 7-1 win. Goldschmidt got help from the A’s Chad Pinder, who made an ill-advised dive at Goldy’s base hit, only to see it turn into a two-run triple in the fourth.

“It’s been a rough couple of weeks for us and it’s good to come out and get that early lead there and be able to tack on a few,” Goldschmidt said.

The Diamondbacks won easily for the first time since April 26. The A’s lost for the third time in four games at home–after a four-game road sweep in Toronto supposedly built momentum.

Patrick Corbin limited the A’s to a run on four hits in seven innings, with Mark Canha’s solo shot in the third Oakland’s only dent in the scoreboard. The A’s were limited to just two extra-base hits while collectively striking out 10 times. With Corbin dealing, it made for a quiet night at the Coliseum.

Meanwhile, Arizona put it together at the plate, after seeing their team batting average drop to .213, the major league’s worst.

“Guys came after the off day ready to go and we put some good swings on some good, hittable pitches,” shortstop Nick Ahmed said.

“You know at some point in time that’s going to end because they’re too good to go through long stretches like that,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said after looking at the recent numbers of the slumping D’Backs.

Manaea is 1-3 with an ERA over seven in May, after he posted a no-hitter and won the American League Pitcher of the month in April. On Friday, too many pitches over the plate were Manaea’s downfall.

“Just falling behind guys and just not really trusting my stuff right now,” Manaea said.

The A’s resume play with Arizona on Saturday with Clay Buchholz facing Oakland’s Daniel Mengden at 1:05 pm PST.

A’s nip Mariners 4-3 to win series finale

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Oakland A’s won the final game of the three-game series as they defeated the Seattle Mariners 4-3. However, the Mariners won the series two games to one and are 6-3 over Oakland so far this season.

The A’s were facing their nemesis, Felix Hernandez, once more. Hernandez has owned the A’s over the years and his 26-10 lifetime record is a testament to his dominance. Thursday’s game in Oakland did not go King Felix’s way. The A’s tallied four runs in the bottom of the first, and that was enough to win the game. Hernandez and three Mariner relievers allowed the A’s just one hit after the first inning. Josh Lucas went two innings for the A’s and gave up two runs. The A’s bullpen was fantastic as they kept Seattle off the board until the eighth and Blake Treinen closed out the game to preserve the win.

The Mariners jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first inning. The A’s starter Josh Lucas gave up singles to M’s shortstop Jean Segura and center fielder Guillermo Heredia. Lucas walked the ever-dangerous Mitch Haniger to load the bases with no out. Lucas now had to face the M’s slugger Nelson Cruz. Cruz, who has killed the A’s in the past, hit into a 5-4-3 double play. Segura scored. Lucas struck out Kyle Seager to end the inning. The A’s roared back in their half of the frame as they scored four times to take a 4-1 lead.

The M’s ace Felix Hernandez gave up singles to Matt Joyce and Marcus Semien to put men on at first and third with one out. Jed Lowrie flew out to left field. Joyce tagged up and scored on the play. Matt Chapman walked to put two men on with two out. Stephen Piscotty doubled to drive in Semien and Chapman. Piscotty scored the fourth run of the inning when Dustin Fowler singled.

The Mariners scored a run in the second inning to make it a 4-2 game.  With two out, Andrew Romine walked. He then stole second and scored on a single by M’s catcher David Freitas.

There was no more scoring in the game until the top of the eighth inning. A’s manager brought in rookie Lou Trivino to pitch. Trivino gave up a single to Jean Segura and walked Heredia to put men on at first and second with no out. Mitch Haniger hit a sharp grounder that was fielded by the third baseman Matt Chapman. Chapman stepped on third base for the first out, threw to second for the second out, but Haniger was safe at first as the throw arrived just a split second late. Nelson Cruz singled to send Haniger to third, and Cruz went to second base on the throw. Bob Melvin decided to use his closer, Blake Treinen to get the final out of the eighth. Kyle Seager singled sharply to drive in Haniger with the M’s third run. Cruz stopped at third base. Treinen retired Daniel Vogelbach on a fly ball to center field for the final out of the inning. The A’s are still in the lead 4-3.

Treinen retired the M’s in order in the top of the ninth. Ben Gamel flew out to left field for the first out. Treinen then struck out pinch-hitter Ryon Healy on a 99-mile-an-hour four-seam fastball for the second out, Treinen then struck out Mike Zunino for the final out. The A’s win 4-3.

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the A’s improve to 26-24 while Seattle drops to 29-20. The A’s used five pitchers in the game, and the winning pitcher was Yusmeiro Petit. Petit is now 2-1. Blake Treinen earned his 11th save. Felix Hernandez is now 5-4 for 2018.

Time of game was two hours and 44 minutes, and there were 12,633 happy fans in attendance.

Up Next: The A’s will now face the Arizona Diamondbacks for three games starting Friday night in Oakland.

Sean Manaea will oppose Patrick Corbin in a battle of left-handed pitchers Friday night.

Daniel Mengden will hurl for Oakland Saturday, and he will be opposed by the veteran Clay Buchholz.

Sunday’s game will feature Trevor Cahill going against one of the best pitchers in baseball, former Cy Young award winner Zach Greinke.

This date in A’s history: Campaneris sets an Oakland record

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @Athletics

By: Ana Kieu

OAKLAND, Calif. — On this day in 1976, Bert Campaneris set a record when he stole five bases in the Oakland A’s 12-7 win over the Minnesota Twins. Rickey Henderson later tied Campaneris’ record.

In case you need a refresher, Campaneris is a former shortstop who played for the Kansas City/Oakland A’s from 1964 to 1976. Campaneris went on to play for the Texas Rangers from 1977 to 1979, California Angels from 1979 to 1981 and New York Yankees in 1983.

Unlike other players, Campaneris joined the list of nine-position players in an MLB game. Campaneris became the first player to every position in an MLB game on September 8, 1965, on the same day a special promotion occurred in his honor. That being said, actor Will Ferrell played all nine positions in five MLB games to honor Campaneris on March 12, 2015.

 

As the oldest everyday player in the MLB at age 47, Campaneris hit .291 and stole 16 bases in 60 games.

Campaneris landed a couple of minor league coaching opportunities in his post-retirement life. The 76-year-old currently lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, but he continues to be a member of the MLB Players Alumni Association as well as play in Old-Timers’ games across the United States.