Behind the Notes

By Oakland Athletics

By Mike Selleck

Behind the Notes will be a regular feature of Clubhouse Confidential where we take a look at an A’s note and explain how we came up with it.

Our first example is this note for Opening Day:

FOR OPENERS: The A’s snapped their Major League record 10-game Opening Day losing streak with an 8–0 win over Texas last year on April 6…have not won back-to-back openers since 2002–04 when they won three straight…are now 5–17 on Opening Day dating back to 1994…will open in Oakland for the fourth consecutive season and will be the home team for the seventh straight year (2012 in Tokyo)…this is the third time in Oakland history the A’s have faced the White Sox on Opening Day…it is the first time since 1975 when the A’s won 3–2 in Oakland…also squared off in 1969, a 5–2 A’s win in Oakland…prior to moving to Oakland, the A’s and White Sox met once on Opening Day, a 10–9 White Sox win over the Kansas City A’s in Chicago in 1960…since moving to Oakland in 1968, the A’s are 21–27 on Opening Day, including 17–13 in Oakland, 4–11 on the road, 0–2 in Tokyo and 0–1 in Las Vegas…all-time, the Athletics are 53–62 in openers.

This note is a regular part of the A’s Game Notes on Opening Day from year-to-year. It breaks down into three sections: current Opening Day trends, trends against this years opponent and historical A’s trends.

Current Opening Day trends

The A’s snapped their Major League record 10-game Opening Day losing streak with an 8–0 win over Texas last year on April 6

While most of the A’s notes will involve some on-line research, this first line was done the old fashioned way. We opened a book. The Elias Sports Bureau publishes a baseball record book and one of the listings is for Most Consecutive Opening Day Losses. The A’s broke the previous record of nine in 2014, and Sonny Gray made sure it didn’t go beyond 10 last year.

…have not won back-to-back openers since 2002–04 when they won three straight

In some cases, we try to anticipate a question that might arise from the media and include it in the notes. Should the A’s win the opener again in 2016 after losing 10 straight from 2005–14, we figure the question, “When was the last time the A’s won back-to-back openers?”, might follow. The Oakland A’s Media Guide has a list of the A’s results in season openers since the club moved to Oakland in 1968 and a quick look at that list gave us the answer.

…are now 5–17 on Opening Day dating back to 1994

While looking for the last time the A’s won back-to-back openers, we noticed more losses following a six-game winning streak from 1988–93, so we extend the note a little farther back.

…will open in Oakland for the fourth consecutive season and will be the home team for the seventh straight year (2012 in Tokyo)

If it seems to you like the A’s always begin the season at home, you’re right. The A’s will be the home team on Opening Day for the seventh consecutive season in 2016, but one of those games was in Tokyo so we added the clarification. In this case, being the home team and opening in Oakland are two different things.

Trends against this years opponent

…this is the third time in Oakland history the A’s have faced the White Sox on Opening Day…it is the first time since 1975 when the A’s won 3–2 in Oakland…also squared off in 1969, a 5–2 A’s win in Oakland

The second part of the For Openers note takes a look at the A’s Opening Day opponent. The source is once again the media guide. In most cases, we would list the A’s record against that opponent, the result the last time the two clubs met and any significant streaks. With only two meetings against the White Sox, and none since 1975, we’ll list both results.

…prior to moving to Oakland, the A’s and White Sox met once on Opening Day, a 10–9 White Sox win over the Kansas City A’s in Chicago in 1960

Since the White Sox and A’s are two of the original eight American League franchises, we also take a look to see how many times the two clubs squared off while the A’s were in Philadelphia and Kansas City. To find that data, we have a spreadsheet with game logs for all A’s games since the franchise was born in 1901. That data is courtesy of the good folks at Retrosheet, whose stated goal is computerizing play-by-play accounts of as many pre-1984 major league games as possible. Filtering for the first game of the season and the White Sox as the opponent reveals just one other meeting in 1960.

Sometimes while researching a note, you learn a few things about baseball history. At first it seemed odd that the A’s and White Sox have been playing for 115 years but have only met three times previously on Opening Day. A further look at the data reveals the Philadelphia A’s faced only Boston, Washington, New York and the 1902 Baltimore club — teams close by geographically. By 1955, when the A’s moved to Kansas City, opponents were a little more varied, but Detroit and Cleveland were the most common opponents and although Chicago and Kansas City share a time zone, the two clubs met just once to start the season.

Historical A’s trends

…since moving to Oakland in 1968, the A’s are 21–27 on Opening Day, including 17–13 in Oakland, 4–11 on the road, 0–2 in Tokyo and 0–1 in Las Vegas…all-time, the Athletics are 53–62 in openers.

To finish off the note, we list the A’s all-time marks on Opening Day. Since we repeat this note every year, it’s just a matter of updating the records from the previous year. But the Oakland part originally came from the media guide and the last line takes advantage of our internal spreadsheet.

That’s it for openers. Look for more Behind the Notes when the season begins.

Mike Selleck is the A’s Baseball Information Manager.