NEW YORK -- The A's know that most of the baseball world considers them underdogs in Wednesday night's American League Wild Card Game against the Yankees. That doesn't bother them one bit, though they'd respectfully disagree with their status.
“We know how good we are,” A's closer Blake Treinen said, before quickly adding: “We respect our opponent. Everybody here is here for a reason.”
“I think it helps that a lot of people have counted us out because it has given us that little chip on our shoulder,” explained reliever Liam Hendricks, who will open the game at Yankee Stadium. “We're going to go out there and do what we can and prove to all these people that no matter what talent or what you've got on paper, there's a whole lot more that goes into it in that clubhouse with character and everything like that. That's why the team has been able to do everything we've done.”
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By most reasonable measures, the A's should be considered underdogs. After all, they entered the season with the lowest payroll in Major League Baseball. The Yankees' payroll, believe it or not, ranked just 10th to open the season, but it still was nearly $100 million higher than the A's.
Of course, there are some things that money can't buy.
“(We're) confident in each other and root for each other, and we have each other's backs,” A's third baseman Matt Chapman said. “I think that's taken us a lot farther than anyone could have imagined.”
Added Treinen: “Our young guys truly bought into what they were capable of doing probably well ahead of what most people in the baseball industry expected. They won together in the minor leagues, they brought that winning mentality up here, and we just have the right blend of veteran presence and young talent. It's so much fun.”
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When the A's started to get hot around mid-June, many assumed it was just a temporary streak. They'd eventually have to cool off.
Incredibly, they didn't. After starting the season 34-36, Oakland went 63-29 the rest of the way -- an incredible .685 winning percentage.
“We feel like that was who we believed we were, so it was just us coming out and playing the kind of baseball we were capable of,” Chapman said.
“It's a group that literally plays for the guy next to them,” A's manager Bob Melvin added. “I've had instances where I've pinch-hit for a guy, and the guy who's being pinch-hit for is walking off the field high-fiving the guy pinch-hitting for him. It's kind of a unique trait as far as the group and how they mesh together and support each other.”
That trait has the A's in the playoffs for the first time since 2014, and on the verge of a trip to Boston for the AL Division Series.
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4:30 p.m.: A’s Pre-Game Show on NBC Sports California
8 p.m.: A’s Post-Game Show on NBC Sports California
10 p.m.: The Happy Hour on NBC Sports Bay Area