Rich Harden has won seven of his past nine starts. AP

Friday, just before 6:00 p.m. in Oakland. Cloudless and cool, the beginnings of a picture-perfect NoCal evening. Deep inside McAfee Coliseum, Rich Harden is immersed in his pregame routine, locked in a tense state of concentration in a corner of the home clubhouse. It's an hour before the young ace of the Oakland A's -- the American League's hottest team -- is due to throw the first pitch in tonight's game, and here he is, stone-faced and silent, his eyes fixed on a blinking video screen in front of him.

"Yessss!" Harden suddenly howls as he raises his arms and leans away from the full-sized Street Fighter arcade machine, which he plays before each of his home starts. A few feet away, third baseman Eric Chavez is tossing a football around with a clubhouse attendant standing on the other side of the room. Chavez is launching perfect spirals -- "I should play for the Niners," he crows at one point -- until one of his throws smacks into a light fixture -- Thwack! -- hanging from the ceiling. A large piece of plastic falls to the ground.

At a nearby locker, A's rookie right fielder Nick Swisher, a 24 year-old Kenny Chesney fan who ranks Wedding Crashers as his favorite movie of the year (Who wouldn't?), laughs. "There's not a moment of peace and quiet in this damn clubhouse," Swisher says with the bass of the heavy metal music thumping loudly on speakers.

Here's how baseball's brashest bunch gears up for a big game: the A's watched a different movie before each game of a recent critical series against the Rangers. The selections: Braveheart, Troy and Gladiator. "It's a loose atmosphere here," says rookie righty Joe Blanton, who was lights-out (5-1) in June, when the A's rose from the dead. "I think that's good for a lot of the young guys here, we mix in pretty well and do our thing. It keeps us relaxed and confident."

Even Billy Beane, the A's famously high-strung general manager, is having a ball. Beane's no longer taking those wandering drives in his car during games, and is less frequently isolating himself in the team workout room. "By this time of year, we've heard [Beane] throw three or four tantrums," says Chavez. "So far -- none. He won't say it, but he relishes the fact that everyone counted us out, and here we are."

Last Sunday morning Beane was sitting in Ken Macha's office two hours before the trade deadline would pass, sipping coffee and eating an omelet. With one eye on a TV set hanging from the ceiling playing the Red Sox-Twins game, Beane talked about how strange the week had been. "I just talked to my assistant ... It's just very quiet out there, nothing going on at all," Beane says. "It's good to be a team right now without too many needs." More from Beane:

• It's no coincidence that these A's, who have won 33 of their past 41 games and are at the head of the pack in the AL wild-card race, lead the major leagues in defensive efficiency and have struck out the fewest times. Beane says on-base percentage is now the most expensive statistic in baseball, and as a result he's tapping the undervalued market in other ways, signing players for their defense and low propensity to strikeout. Beane's signing of Mark Kotsay reflects the shift in the market. So, too, did the Red Sox's trade of Nomar Garciaparra for Orlando Cabrera last summer.

• The A's are winning because they're finally healthy. Says Beane: "The injuries we had earlier this season were the worst we've ever had since I've been here. People say that we're playing better. We're just healthy now!"

• Beane has enjoyed this season as much as any other. "Even when we were losing in April and May, I truly enjoyed watching every one of those games. I knew it was just a matter of time before we turned things around. Right now I'm having as much fun as ever."

• Billy, can your A's overtake the Angels? Beane grins. "All I ask for is good health, and I'll take my chances."