When the Oakland A's were officially eliminated from the playoffs on September 7, 2008, the organization knew it would have to look to its' lower rungs for any hopes at a championship. When the 2008 MiLB season came to end midway through September, it didn't come as much of a suprise that a franchise that puts so much emphasis on its' minor league system would hold three pieces of baseball hardware. 

The Green and Gold got its' first taste of success 68 miles East of Oakland in Stockton, California, home of the Class A Advanced Stockton Ports. The Ports defeated the Lancaster JetHawks 9-3 in to win the California League Championship in four games. The title was the Ports 11th, tying Stockton with Reno for the most in Cal League history. On paper the Championship Series matched up very evenly, with both the Ports and JetHawks finishing the season with a 76-64 record. The big difference between the two was that Lancaster's record was good enough to win the California League South Division, while Stockton reached the post season via the North Division wildcard. 

Continue reading "A's Minuses - Athletics Affiliates Shine in Post Season Play"

Battling the flu and tonsillitis, A's 1B Daric Barton picked up a key pinch hit to lift Oakland over the Seattle Mariners 8-7 Saturday night. Barton, who hadn't played since Wednesday, delivered the game winning RBI on a single to right in the bottom of the eight inning. In his only at-bat of the game, Barton connected on a hanging slider from Seattle reliever Justin Thomas scoring Carlos Gonzalez from second base to put the A's ahead. 

 3B Jeff Baisley produced half of the A's offense, picking up four RBI on a 2-2 night. Huston Street pitched two scoreless innings for the win and rookie phenom Brad Ziegler shutdown the Mariners in the ninth for his qqth save of the season. Ziegler is 2-0 in his first season with the A's and has allowed jsut five earned runs in 44 games. 

Continue reading "Barton beats flu, Mariners"