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GameDay: A's Loss In Wild Card Game A Tough One To Take

OAKLAND (KPIX 5) -- They always tell us media guys not to cheer in the press box. I suppose it was a good idea they didn't send me to Kansas City. No rules in this game.

This will sound like a tired cliché, but it's too bad one team had to lose: This was one great frickin' baseball game. Who in their right mind predicted a 9-8 finish with Jon Lester and James Shields pitching?

The debate over the Lester trade will come soon enough. Right now, I want to soak up every inning. I want to cry in my beer. I want to debate every pitch, every damn stolen base, every Moss home run and why the A's couldn't hold a 7-3, 8th inning lead.

The thing about the A's ballplayers is that they are your next door neighbors. If Reddick lived in the hood, he'd probably invite you over to his man cave for a cold brew out of his kegerator. You don't have to spend very long in their clubhouse before you develop an genuine admiration for their approach to the game. It's how every team should play. Boys just wanna have fun.

That's why the loss, this loss, was so hard to take. If Lester could have gotten just one more out. If they could have had one more base hit with the bases loaded. If Norris didn't drop the pitch out of the runner that would eventually score the game-winner. If Coco doesn't come up lame, does he catch that one-out triple in left-center field?

It is analyzed that Billy Beane made the Lester trade so the A's could advance in the playoffs beyond the first round. This time around, the A's couldn't even get past the Wild Card. But why don't we save the blame game for tomorrow.

Right now, I'm headed to Shanghai Kelly's to break down this game with the locals. We're allowed to cheer there. Or cry in our beer.

See you on TV.

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