Former Oakland A's and New York Mets reliever Jerry Blevins recorded a video that was published by Last Dive Bar, an A's fan group, saying that he is sorry that he won't be able to attend the fan-led Fan's Fest. He also goes into detail about how much A's fans mean to him, saying "[the fans] hold a special place in all of our hearts."
Blevins was traded to the A's from the Chicago Cubs in 2007 in the Jason Kendall deal, and in a weird twist, was around for quite awhile. He was eventually traded to the Washington Nationals after the 2013 season, and went on to the Mets from there.
But the thing that he said that really caught my attention, was when he was talking about the 2012 season. For A's fans, that year was special. Not much was expected from the team that season, but with the addition of the second Wild Card, maybe they could sneak into the playoffs if you're being optimistic. Instead, they won the AL West on the very last day of the season, dropping the Texas Rangers to the Wild Card. Texas had been to the World Series each of the past two seasons, and ended up getting eliminated from the postseason before the A's had played a game.
Because of the addition of the second Wild Card, the A's, who finished with a better record than the Detroit Tigers, began the ALDS on the road to eliminate a travel day.
Jerry had some thoughts on that. "My favorite season of my entire career was that 2012 run, that magical run. We go from being picked to finish last, to winning the AL West on the last day of the season. I think if we didn't have to go to Detroit for the first couple of games, I truly think that we end up winning the World Series."
The A's dropped the first two games in that series in Detroit, but ended up winning games three and four in Oakland, forcing a Game 5 where Justin Verlander (and his expanded strike zone) shut the A's down.
If memory serves correctly, with a runner on in the top of the eighth, Brandon Moss hit a ball to the wall in right in Game 1. The conditions were cold that day, and if the same exact game had been played in Oakland, we would have been looking at a tie game instead of a 3-1 defeat.
If Jerry's prediction came true and the A's ended up winning that World Series, not only would it have potentially changed the direction of the franchise from where it is now, but it also would have taken away a title from the San Francisco Giants. Instead, they continued to dominate the region.
There are a lot of tantalizing "what ifs" in A's history, but this is one that flies a little bit under-the-radar, even among the fans in Oakland. What else would you expect from the guy that brought the Bernie Lean to the Coliseum?
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