EVENTS
 Sportsman of the Year
 Heisman Trophy
 Swimsuit 2001

2. Oakland Athletics

This free-spirited bunch might just laugh its way into the postseason party

By Jeff Pearlman

Offense Defense Starting Pitching Bullpen Manager 1999 Record 87-75 (second in AL West) Batting Order CF Terrence Long 2B Randy Velarde 1B Jason Giambi DH John Jaha RF Matt Stairs LF Ben Grieve 3B Eric Chavez SS Miguel Tejada C Ramon Hernandez Bench OF Jeremy Giambi OF Rich Becker C A.J. Hinch IF Olmedo Saenz Starters RH Kevin Appier RH Tim Hudson RH Omar Olivares RH Gil Heredia LH Ron Mahay Bullpen RH Jason Isringhausen LH T.J. Mathews RH Doug Jones LH Mike Magnante LH Doug Johns RH Scott Service Next Up... In last September's Triple A World Series, someone told Vancouver's Terrence Long that a minor league official had allegedly said the Canadians didn't have enough hitting to win. Long needed to hear no more -- he batted .429, led his team to the title and was named Series MVP. At the start of spring training in February, Oakland manager Art Howe said Long was something of a long shot to make the A's. Long needed to hear no more -- he batted .410 through the first 13 exhibition games to establish himself as the favorite for the starting centerfield job. Although he's still something of a free swinger, Long is a speedy (20-plus stolen bases in four of six minor league seasons), powerful and graceful outfielder who, on his best days, does a pretty mean Andy Van Slyke imitation. The Book An opposing team's scout sizes up the A's: "The Athletics are slow, they can't field, and they play station-to-station baseball, but they can score runs off anybody. They're for real -- they're capable of winning the division.... They have enough pitching, especially now that Kevin Appier looks like he's healthy. With Omar Olivares, Gil Heredia and Tim Hudson they have a solid rotation. It was a coup for them to re-sign Olivares after the year he had. I like Heredia. He's a strike-throwing machine. Hudson knows how to pitch. He's a guy who struggles with his command at times, but then he finds a way to get you out. He's got a knack for knowing what pitch to throw in certain spots. And rookie lefthander Mark Mulder will help at some point this year. I'm impressed with his poise.... Jason Isringhausen will do the job as the closer. He's got a great arm with great stuff. He's the key if Oakland is going to get into the playoffs.... The only real question mark is centerfield, where Terrence Long should be an upgrade on Ryan Christenson. If Long hits enough to keep the job, look out. A dangerous offense will be even tougher."

Back in 1989, when the Yankees' clubhouse was run by Don Mattingly, Dave Winfield and several other All-Star-caliber, no-nonsense veterans, Randy Velarde -- a timid rookie infielder from Midland, Texas -- would hide in his locker, afraid to say the wrong thing. This early experience explains a lot about Velarde: His stoicism. His dedication to physical fitness. His arrive-early, leave-late work ethic. His respect for authority. His sheer disgust upon meeting the A's.

Oakland acquired Velarde, along with righthanded starter Omar Olivares, from the Angels last July 29. The next day, when Velarde made his first appearance in the Athletics' clubhouse, he found players sprawled across the floor, laughing loudly. Some others played poker. A group of his new teammates watched Jerry Springer. Nary a one was hidden in a locker, afraid to speak. "It's too relaxed for me around here," says Velarde, 37. "I walk in that first day, and guys are having fun." What's wrong with having fun? "That's not the way it's supposed to be. In my first five years, in New York, I was a church mouse. Don't talk, listen."

Just as he fooled the experts, the unheralded Hudson baffled American League hitters, racking up nearly a strikeout per inning.Brad Mangin

Although Velarde still isn't 100% comfortable with what Oakland third baseman Eric Chavez calls "a room of goofiness," he does -- sheepishly -- admit that winning and fart jokes can go hand and hand. That was proved last season when the upstart A's, last-place finishers three of the previous four years, battled for the wild-card spot until the final week, winning 87 games with a $25 million roster dependent on unwanted retreads (DH John Jaha), obscure rookies (righty starter Tim Hudson) and supposed has-beens (reliever Doug Jones), and with all the stoicism and anxiety of a Cocoa Puffs taste-athon.

Billy Beane, the wunderkind 38-year-old general manager, owns a suit but prefers to walk the Coliseum halls in shorts and sandals. His assistant, Paul DePodesta, is 27. Every other player seems to have long hair or blond-streaked hair or, in the case of Chavez, long, blond-streaked hair. The emotional leader, first baseman Jason Giambi, speaks not in English but in yells and giggles and grunts. "There's something of an us-against-the-world attitude here," says Beane. "We're a small-market budget competing with the big spenders, and we do it with a casual professionalism. There's a communal feeling from top to bottom, and it works."

Mainly it works because for the past seven years the A's have spent their limited funds as well as anyone. Between 1992 (the last time Oakland reached the playoffs) and last season, the A's dedicated themselves to building from within, avoiding the risky trade that smells of short-term gain. As a result, six of Oakland's eight starting position players (Chavez, Giambi, leftfielder Ben Grieve, catcher Ramon Hernandez, rightfielder Matt Stairs and shortstop Miguel Tejada) as well as Hudson, the ace of the A's rotation, were developed in the organization.

Oakland made very few changes in the off-season, which was unusual for a club accustomed to watching stars walk in pursuit of big bucks. Free agents Olivares and Velarde agreed to below-market contracts to stay with the A's, as did Jaha, who never even spoke to another club before signing a paltry two-year, $6 million deal. Partly he signed out of loyalty, says Jaha, who was invited to spring training by Oakland last year when other teams didn't return his calls. "Mostly," he says, "I wanted to have fun again."

He will, especially if the Athletics' obscure-yet-talented sluggers can repeat their McGwire-esque showing of last season, when they ranked second in the majors with 235 home runs. Oakland needs the long ball. The A's are terrible on the base paths (70 steals, 13th in the league last season), they don't hit for average (.259, also 13th), and they fan more often than John Popper on a 100° day (a league-high 1,129 times). Heck, they aren't even decent in the field, where Grieve and Stairs are below average, Giambi isn't mobile, and Chavez is still learning the nuances. But the middle of the lineup, Giambi-Jaha-Stairs-Grieve, combined for 134 homers, 422 RBIs and, ahem, 467 strikeouts.

Manager Art Howe's Opening Day staff will be infinitely better than last year's, when now-departed Jimmy Haynes -- routinely ripped by teammates for his softness -- shared ace status with Gil Heredia, a nomadic righthander who never had more than six wins in a year. Olivares and former Royals All-Star Kevin Appier joined the A's in late July, and each won seven games. Heredia, a junkballer and ideal No. 4 starter, won a career-high 13 games. The surprise was Hudson. Tiny (listed at 6 feet, actually 5'10"), unknown (a sixth-round pick who never attended a big league camp) and, beginning with his June 7 call-up from the Triple A Vancouver Canadians, dominant, Hudson throws hard, but it's his changeup and slider that produced 132 strikeouts in 136 innings. Batters chased his off-speed pitches out of the zone, a trend Hudson fears may not continue. "Major League hitters are awfully smart," he says. "Eventually I'll have to find new ways, 'cause they might stop chasing."

Issue date: March 27, 2000

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