During the A’s 2020 playoff run, all seven of their games were played during the daytime. On the outside, that might not sound like a big deal, but the players were very outspoken about it, saying it throws them off of their pregame routines.
Even outfielder Robbie Grossman, who banks some of his success on remaining even-keeled no matter what, admitted it was a long season.
That’s how Grossman always has been though. A guy that always remains balanced.
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SIGN UP HERE “He’s super quiet,” said Pat Light, former teammate of Grossman, on the latest episode of the "Balk Talk" podcast. “I loved Grossman, he was such a nice guy and the Twins’ year in 2016 (59-103), they were the worst team in baseball. We were the worst team in baseball so you have a bunch of young guys trying to make a name for themselves and stay in the big leagues and Robbie was good, he wasn’t like amazing, but my thing with him was he was so even-keeled. There didn’t seem like there were ups and downs in his life.”
Light said this type of mentality is “extremely valuable in baseball.”
Despite an up-and-down season, Grossman's teammates always felt comfortable when they were on base knowing Grossman was at the plate. He also solidified why the A’s wanted him as a guy who was always on base.
Grossman made a small plate adjustment during spring training, and being able to train in Texas, he mastered it during quarantine while MLB waiting to begin the season.
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Despite the relaxed mentality, Grossman did admit the compacted 60-game season was the most stressful season of his life, both mentally and physically.
“Not even close,” Grossman said back in September.
You wouldn’t have known that though. He remained calm even with the weirdness of the A’s season that included plenty of doubleheaders, coronavirus delays and the playoff schedule that was nothing but day games.
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Grossman is a free agent this offseason and across eight seasons, two of which he spent in Oakland, he has a career .252/.350/.380 slash line. His power surged in 2020 with a .482 slugging and a .241 ISO.
While we don’t know if he’ll return to the A’s, he has managed to be a reliable player on every team he has been on.