2012 Oakland Athletics: This season was more than just a game for me

A’s players salute the fans for an amazing season.

If you tried to write a script for a movie on the 2012 Oakland Athletics team you’d get rejected by ever major movie company in Hollywood. Their story was something that even the craziest writers in the world couldn’t dream up. The team defied so many odds, so many injuries and gave the city of Oakland and the baseball world one of the most improbable seasons in history.

Unfortunately the season ended last night in a 6-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers. But the scene following the game was one of the most beautiful things ever seen in baseball. As the Tigers celebrated, the Oakland A’s fans stood, gave their players a “Let’s Go Oakland!” chant. The standing ovation for their beloved Oakland team led to what I consider a pure moment of appreciation. The fans stayed to thank the players. The players in return gave their curtain calls to the fans. Even the Tigers tipped their caps to a worthy opponent. Then right there on the field, the A’s players embraced each other — acknowledging a truly amazing adventure through the summer of 2012 that they would never forget.

THE BEGINNING

It was a very odd start to the baseball season. The A’s entered Spring Training with hopes of bringing back Manny Ramirez to their roster in May. Scott Sizemore’s injury forced the A’s to turn to Josh Donaldson at the position and the roster was filled with rookies and some players that the fanbase barely knew. And stranger was the season began a week before everyone else — and it was in Tokyo.