Leo Durocher, the former major
league manager, was fond of saying that “nice guys finish last.”  Well, this week’s Oakland A’s award winners may serve as
Exhibit A and Exhibit B in disproving Durocher’s claim. 

 

When Andrew Bailey (right) was named American League Rookie of the

Year Monday
and then we learned Tuesday that Keith Lieppman
had received the Chief Bender Award–baseball’s top lifetime achievement award
for player development–the reaction from friends and co-workers was the
same.  It was pure joy and
exhilaration.  It seemed everyone was genuinely thrilled to hear
the news, which in a way, may have served as the greatest tribute of all for both
men. 

 

For Bailey, we were flooded
with phone calls and emails from people he had touched on his path to the big
leagues.  Shawn Touney, the media relations director at Single-A Kane
County, sent me a glowing note saying everyone associated with Andrew’s old
team was thrilled for him.  Even his old
coach and sports information director at Wagner
College (Staten Island, NY)
could not contain their excitement and felt compelled to contact us.  Of course, what’s not to like about a pitcher
who, minutes after learning he had won the Rookie of the Year award, is calling
many of his former minor league instructors to thank them for helping him win the award? 

 

And then there’s Lieppman (right) –he
shares the same nickname (“The Lip”) as Durocher–who may even be a nicer guy
than Bailey if that’s possible.  I just
got a phone call from Monte Moore, the former legendary
A’s broadcaster.  He wanted to get
Keith’s email address so he could drop him a congratulatory note.

 

Monte, now semi-retired and
living in Porterville, shared one rather
incredible story about Lieppman that dates back to his Little League days in Kansas City.  “This is even before I started broadcasting Kansas City A’s games,”
said Monte.  “I was sports director of a
radio station in town and we held this promotion on the lawn called ‘Strikeout
Sam.’  We had this framed strike zone for
kids to throw the ball through.  We
invited all Little Leaguers in Kansas
City to participate and they all got 10 pitches.   And who wins the contest?  A youngster named Keith Lieppman!”  Little did Monte or anyone else know that the
Lip would eventually begin a long association with the Athletics that will
reach 40 years this spring.  Lieppman, a journalism
graduate of the University
of Kansas, began his A’s
career as a player in 1971.  Later he became
a manager in the Oakland
minor league system before becoming the organization’s director of player
development, a position he has held for 19 years. 

 

Suffice it to say, he spans virtually the entire A’s
history in Oakland,
making a profound impact on the lives of literally thousands of young men and coaches. 
In many ways, he is the Oakland A’s!  So congratulations, Lip.  It’s comforting to know that nice guys can
actually finish first!

LAST PLACE IS LAST PLACE, BUT IS
THAT A SILVER LINING WE SEE?

When you finish in last
place in the American League West, 12 games under .500 and 22 games behind the
division-leading Angels, there’s not a lot of wiggle room in explaining how
your team fell short. 

 

I guess the big question is,
which A’s team will show up next season–the one that fell out of contention
early or the one that went 38-38 and led the American League in doubles and
stolen bases and ranked third in both batting average and hits after the
All-Star Break?  There are credible
baseball people outside our
organization who believe we have a bright future.

 

In a San
Francisco Chronicle story written by Susan Slusser in September, here’s
what some these sources said about Oakland’s
fast-maturing roster:

 

• “It’s an impressive haul.  It’s one of the best collections of
  talent in baseball,” -Kevin Goldstein, Baseball Prospectus analyst

 

• “I don’t think they’re far away from being a
  real good club.  All those young
  pitchers they have are learning on the job and they’ll be so much better
  for it.” -Dan O’Dowd, Colorado
  Rockies GM

 

• “The Oakland
  A’s have become a big player in the international market.  Billy (Beane) is all in.  He’s never going to be caught in
  no-man’s land…if these guys stay healthy and continue to develop, you’ll
  see the fruits of the labor.  Fast
  forward a year and the picture will look so much better.”  –Brian
  Cashman, New York
  Yankees GM

 

• “(Trevor) Cahill and (Brett) Anderson can fit into the top half of
  even a very good rotation.  And they
  hit on Andrew Bailey.” -Keith Law, ESPN.com analyst

 

Not to belabor the point,
but look at some of these numbers after the All-Star Break: 

 

Player                                     Post-ASB
Stats

Rajai Davis, cf                                   .325, 42 RBI,
30 SB

Ryan Sweeney, rf                              .319, 20 doubles,
31 RBI

Eric Patterson, lf-2b                          .302

Kurt Suzuki, c                                     .250, 10 HR, 51 RBI

Adam Kennedy, 3b                           .288,
32 RBI

Daric Barton, 1b                                .287, 23 RBI

Mark Ellis, 2b                                     .279, 7 HR,
43 RBI

Cliff Pennington, ss                           .279,
21 RBI, 32-game errorless streak

Brett Anderson, lhp                            6-4, 3.48 ERA

Trevor Cahill, rhp                                5-5, 4.59 ERA

Andrew Bailey, rhp                            16-for-16 in saves,
1.71 ERA

Craig Breslow, lhp                             7-3, 2.29 ERA

Michael Wuertz, rhp                           1-0,
2.25 ERA

Brad Ziegler, rhp                                1-1, 2.81 ERA