Fansided

Top 25 MLB pennant races of all time

By Joshua Sadlock

(Original Caption) Bucky Dent is a happy fellow as he jumps on home plate and is greeted by Roy White and Chris Chambliss after he hit a three-run home run in the 7th inning at Fenway Park.
(Original Caption) Bucky Dent is a happy fellow as he jumps on home plate and is greeted by Roy White and Chris Chambliss after he hit a three-run home run in the 7th inning at Fenway Park. /
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ANAHEIM, CA – APRIL 14: Pitcher Barry Zito #75 of the Oakland Athletics throws a pitch during the MLB game against the Anaheim Angels on April 14, 2002 at Edison Field in Anaheim, California. The Angels defeated the Athletics 4-1. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA – APRIL 14: Pitcher Barry Zito #75 of the Oakland Athletics throws a pitch during the MLB game against the Anaheim Angels on April 14, 2002 at Edison Field in Anaheim, California. The Angels defeated the Athletics 4-1. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images) /

6. The Moneyball A’s, 2002

This one might draw a raised eyebrow from some of the snobbier pennant-race connoisseurs  who like their races with a finish that comes down to the final day of the season. Bear with me, please, because there has never quite been a finish to the season like the 2002 Oakland Athletics.

By the start of the 2002 season, the A’s were more than just a cute story and an unexpected contender. They made the playoffs in 2000 and 2001, but were entering 2002 having lost Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon and Jason Isringhausen. It took a few months for the A’s to get themselves figured out with new additions like Scott Hatteberg, Ted Lilly, Ray Durham, David Justice and Billy Koch. They slumped to a 20-26 record by the end of May.

In early June, the A’s gave an indication of things to come in the month of August, winning 16 of 17 games to get back withing two games of the top of the AL West. The real fun began on August 13 when the Athletics picked up a 5-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. For the next three weeks, Oakland was unbeatable. They won 20 in a row, and the streak was capped off with three walk-off wins in a row. The streak set a new American League record and made the A’s the darlings of the baseball world.

Oakland did just enough down the stretch to hold off a 99-win Anaheim team. Miguel Tejada took home the AL MVP and Barry Zito won the AL Cy Young. Sadly, the A’s went down in the ALDS once again and another exodus of talent began. The end of the initial Moneyball Era came after the 2006 season when Zito jumped ship. The A’s have made the playoffs eight times with Billy Beane running the show, but have won only one series. His s–t just doesn’t work in the postseason.

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