On Hall of Fame Night, A's Celebrate the Past and Present

The A's presented green jackets to the Big Three Saturday evening in the Hall of Fame pregame ceremony which honored Barry Zito, Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and broadcaster Monte Moore. It was a special evening and as I looked out onto the field where the other A's legends sat, I could see some similarities in the current team, with a young and powerful offense that was on display Saturday evening.

After the ceremony concluded, all sights were set on the Cincinnati Reds, and the A's were able to get to starter Hunter Greene early. It was only fitting that with the Bash Brothers, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco in attendance, the A's did some bashing of their own.

Brent Rooker, Carlos Cortes and Nick Kurtz all homered in the 11-5 victory, with Kurtz's grand slam of 493 ft. being the longest home run in the Majors this season, along with being the longest grand slam and A's homer since Statcast began tracking data in 2015.

The offense was alive tonight with seven of the nine A's batters getting a hit, and five of them having multi-hit games. As the season approaches a close, it's encouraging for the A's coaches and front office to see so many of their young players realizing their full potential with their sights set on next year.

Some of the A's players were able to chat with the Big Three in the clubhouse pre-game, along with the other A's Hall of Famers. Although this team is young, they all seemed to appreciate and respect the advice and insight of the older players, something that's harder and harder to find these days—a true love for the history of the game.

In the clubhouse postgame, Lawrence Butler talked about a bigger goal in mind for next year for the ballclub, which includes the playoffs and the ultimate goal of winning a World Series. With teammate Nick Kurtz hitting blasts like he did on Saturday, the playoffs don't seem that far off for the Athletics.

"This is one of the greatest rookies years I've ever seen." he said of his teammate. He went on to add a remark about the distance of the ball that went soaring out of the park, suggesting it "might have hit all of the buses, cars" out there.

The Cortes at-bat in the bottom of the 8th inning, which manager Mark Kotsay called a "game-changer" following the game, was crucial in the comeback win and set up Nick Kurtz for his big moment.

A smart and focused at-bat from Cortes led to a single, moving Hernaiz to second base, and the line kept moving from there. A sac bunt from Zack Gelof and a RBI single to right field for Lawrence Butler gave the club a small cushion 7-5.

Cortes been able to get some more consistent at-bats with Tyler Soderstrom being sidelined due to groin tightness the past two days. He is day-to-day currently according to Mark Kotsay. In the meantime, it's great to see players like Carlos Cortes find their way and contribute to the team, making a great impression as the A's head into the offseason.

Next, the A's will look to finish the task and sweep the Reds on Sunday afternoon, as Luis Morales takes the ball against Nick Lodolo for the Reds. First pitch is at 1:05 PDT.