ShareThisBy RON AGOSTINI
For people distracted this summer by things like Barry Bonds and the disintegration of the Boston Red Sox, we have news: Baseball's hottest team plays on a converted football field in the East Bay.
While we sweated through heat waves, charted hurricanes and tossed our water bottles into airport trashcans, the Oakland Athletics won many games in many ways. They're quirky, asymmetrical and, frankly, weird at times.
On May 30, they were 23-29, more cold than Fairbanks. Following a three-game sweep of the reeling Sox, they're 77-56 and leaders of the American League West by 7-1/2 games.
"If I knew what it was," manager Kenny Macha admitted, "I'd try it in April."
Macha, the A's minimalist manager, has seen this act more than once. He has ideas, of course, of why his team almost always grows into the Hot August A's (21-6). Why the A's insist on this learning curve each summer is, well, hard to pin down.
Go ahead, ask them.
"It doesn't make sense at all," left fielder Bobby Kielty said.
The A's lead baseball in hitting into double plays (138). Their team batting average of .254 scratches the bottom of the American League. Rich Harden, one of their most important pitchers, has spent most of the season on the disabled list. Their shortstop, Bobby Crosby, and their closer, Huston Street, are stewing on the DL for a second time.
Wait, it gets more strange: The A's catcher, Jason Kendall, is their leadoff man, and talk about putting baseball's beloved "book" through a shredder.
All the A's know is that they own the dog days like Mel Gibson used to own Hollywood. They've won at least 20 games in August in five of the last six seasons. This time, they're 32-13 since the All-Star break.
Again, how?
"We're a relaxed bunch of guys who don't put a lot of pressure on ourselves," said winning pitcher Barry Zito (15-8). "Most teams are putting a lot of pressure on themselves in August. We're chilling out. It's easy to say, 'It's the dog days and my arm is dragging.' That's not the way I approach it at all."
The A's mix and match and, safe to say, are miles better than the sum of their parts. For evidence, inspect their latest victory Wednesday over Boston:
Kielty, not long ago bitter and angry during a stay in the minors, touched Curt Schilling for his first home run of the season as a lefty.
First baseman Nick Swisher struck out three times but also contributed an RBI double and a classy over-the-shoulder catch in foul ground.
The A's pounded Schilling for 11 hits, only the fourth time he's allowed more than 10 hits this year.
Mark Ellis, batting ninth, merely homered, tripled and doubled.
The A's do possess one critical anchor _ starting pitching. Their rotation has walked two batters or fewer in each of their last 17 games. Their pitchers have yielded three runs or fewer in each of their last seven games.
Let's see: Clutch hitting, good pitching, solid defense. "A pretty good formula," Macha said.
Regardless, these A's have crept up on everyone. Who could have predicted six different pitchers would register saves, or the bargain-basement pickup Frank Thomas (28 home runs, 78 RBIs) or No. 5 starter Esteban Loaiza yielding only two runs (one earned) in his last four appearances?
There's reason to believe the baseball world might need a refresher course on the A's. Their attendance leads only Florida, Tampa Bay and Kansas City. ESPN's SportsCenter, preferring overkill on the Red Sox's sudden downfall, grants Oakland only token exposure.
Truth be told, Macha's vanilla exterior explains much of that phenomenon. He's not exactly the combustible Jose Guillen and his traveling soap opera. Macha reacts to both wins and losses with one eye-blink, a shrug and a Mona Lisa grin. It seems to work.
Then again, he understands his team more than he lets on.
"The whole season is a process," he said. "Our preparation is as good as anybody's. I've got a good pitching coach (Curt Young) and a guy who works good with our infielders (third base coach Ron Washington), we're diligent in the positioning of our players, and we've got a loose clubhouse."
Catch up, fans. Pay attention to the funny little team that, today, happens to be baseball's hottest.
