State of the Athletics

Another month, another update on the state of the Oakland A's.

Last month I said they were the epitome of a .500 team through the first two months, but should start heating up through the summer months. And they did heat up. For the first three weeks of the month. At one game short of the halfway point of the season, the A's are at 41-39, a full two games over .500. They were 15-13 for the month of June, an up and down month that included a five game winning streak and a five game losing streak. They're solidly in third place, 9 games behind the Angels, 4 behind the Mariners, and ready to start getting hot again as soon as head home after this Roadtrip From Hell (tm).

They beat Igawa and the Yankees 7-0 today, behind three HRs and a one-hitter by Chad Gaudin. I was half hoping they would lose to keep their streak of .500 months alive, but it's nice to be above the break even point, and always great to beat the Yankees. Catfish Stew has a breakdown of where the A's have stood at the halfway point of the last five years and where they stood at the end of the season each of those years.

2006: 42-39, 1st place, 1.0 game up on Seattle, won AL West
2005: 40-41, 3rd place, 10.0 games back of LAA, missed playoffs
2004: 46-35, 1st place, tied with Texas, missed playoffs
2003: 46-35, 2nd place, 7.0 games back of Seattle, won AL West
2002: 46-35, 3rd place, 5.0 games back of Seattle, won AL West

This is a lot like two years ago, when the A's were horrible for the first two months of the year (14 games under .500) then started getting torrid through the summer before falling short at the end of September. Historically, they're always strong in July and August, so if they're still hovering around .500 at the end of July, I'll be ready to write them off. There's still half a season to go, and it should be an interesting summer, whatever happens.