Oakland A’s Destroy Texas Rangers to Win First Division Crown since 2000

Mandatory Credit: US PRESSWIRE/Kyle Terada

Someone get Aaron Sorkin on the phone, Moneyball: Part II is currently in the works. After staying out of first place for the entire season, the Oakland Athletics have penned one of the most incredible come-from-behind victories in sports history. For 161 games the A’s were anywhere from 2nd to 4th place in the American League West, but they reached first on the 162nd, thus clinching their fifth division title since 2000 and their first since 2006.

Not only have the A’s played their best baseball in September, they obliterated the Texas Rangers 12-5 to secure their place in the ALDS. Under the new postseason rules this year, had the A’s lost they would have gone to a 163rd style playoff game with either the Yankees or Orioles. Only with a win in that Wild Card play-in game would the A’s have secured a spot int he ALDS.

Instead, that is now the fate of the Texas Rangers.

After at one time being favorites in the American League after acquiring Ryan Dempster and looking sharp, the Rangers are now fighting for their playoff lives and have looked anything but impressive. All they needed to do was win one out of their last two games against the A’s and they failed to do that.

Here’s the real kicker for Rangers fans: not only have they been bumped to the brink by rival Oakland, but if the Yankees lose and a 163rd game is forced between the Yankees and Orioles, Oakland will have the A.L.’s No. 1 seed.

Fortunately for A’s fans who have seen a brutal half decade of baseball, they are cleaning up after their second champagne celebration in three days. Think about that: a week ago the A’s were fighting for a Wild Card spot and now they’re a Yankee’s loss away from the the top seed. The question now will be if Oakland can withstand the postseason.

Sure they’re in, but they now get a dangerous and red-hot Detroit Tigers team in the ALDS. Moneyball: Part II may be in the works in Oakland, but A’s fans are praying the sequel has a happier ending than the original which saw a team from the A.L. Central knock them out in 2002. But for now it’s party time in Oakland as the A’s have completed an insane storybook ending to a crazy season.