Kyler Murray announces that he is giving up baseball to concentrate on becoming an NFL quarterback

ByTom

2019 – Kyler Murray, the 9th overall pick in the 2018 amateur draft by the Oakland A’s, announces that he is giving up baseball to concentrate on becoming an NFL quarterback. Murray, an outfielder, was originally committed to give professional baseball a try and accepted a $4.66 signing bonus from the A’s, but his plans changed after a tremendous season as a junior at the University of Oklahoma that saw him win the Heisman Trophy as the best college football player in the nation. He has declared for the NFL draft and is expected to be a top pick.

Yankees defeat the Athletics in the Wild Card Game, 7 – 2,

ByThis Day in Baseball

The Yankees defeat the Athletics in the Wild Card Game, 7 – 2, and will now face their arch-enemy, the Red Sox in the Division Series. They take a quick 2 – 0 lead in the 1st against “opener” Liam Hendriks as Aaron Judge homers after a lead-off walk by Andrew McCutchen. After the A’s…

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2018 – A two-run double by Alex Bregman in the bottom of the ninth stuns the Rays, 5-4, to match Houston’s club record for wins at twelve. The Astros would lose the next night, 2-1, to halt the streak. Within the surge, Houston swept a ten-game road trip for the first time and Evan Gattis enjoyed back-to-back five-RBI games in Oakland to set a two-day club record. 

ByTom

2018 – A two-run double by Alex Bregman in the bottom of the ninth stuns the Rays, 5-4, to match Houston’s club record for wins at twelve. The Astros would lose the next night, 2-1, to halt the streak. Within the surge, Houston swept a ten-game road trip for the first time and Evan Gattis enjoyed back-to-back five-RBI games in Oakland to set a two-day club record. 

Shohei Ohtani makes his pitching debut

Shohei Ohtani makes his pitching debut

ByThis Day in Baseball

2018 – Three days after being the starting designated hitter on Opening Day in his major league debut, Japanese phenom Shohei Ohtani makes his debut on the mound, pitching 6 innings in leading the Angels to a 7 – 4 win over the Athletics. The only blemish on his ledger is a three-run homer by Matt Chapman in the 2nd. Ohtani is the first player since Babe Ruth in 1919 to start as a position player on opening day and then start a game on the mound within his team’s first ten games. Joe Bush and Clarence Mitchell had also started games on the mound and in the field in their first ten games in 1920.

Dustin Pedroia becomes the second player in Red Sox history to steal 100 bases and hit 100 homeruns
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Dustin Pedroia becomes the second player in Red Sox history to steal 100 bases and hit 100 homeruns

ByThis Day in Baseball

On May 2, 2014, At Fenway Park in the 6th inning, Dustin Pedroia hit his one-hundredth career home run, a grand slam on-off Ryan Cook of the Oakland A’s, in a 7-1 victory. He became only the second Boston Red Sox player in franchise history with at least one-hundred home runs and one-hundred stolen bases….

The A’s cap a historic playoff run with 4-3 win over Rangers

ByThis Day in Baseball

The Athletics crown an improbable playoff run by defeating the Rangers, 4 – 3, securing at least a wild card spot in the American League. They can still win the AL West crown if they defeat the Rangers in their last three games. The Athletics had traded away two All-Star starters during the off-season, then lost their only three experienced starting pitchers – Bartolo Colon, Brandon McCarthy and Brett Anderson – during the season, going with an all-rookie starting rotation during an 8-4 run that clinched the playoff slot.

Oakland signs OF Yoenis Cespedes to a four-year contract worth $36 million

Oakland signs OF Yoenis Cespedes to a four-year contract worth $36 million

ByTom

2012 – The A’s sign OF Yoenis Cespedes to a four-year contract worth $36 million, a record for a Cuban defector, outbidding at least five other teams. The signing belies some of the A’s other off-season moves in which they traded established young players in return for prospects, but they see Cespedes as a future franchise player, and his outstanding rookie season will be a key contribution in the A’s unexpected AL West division title.

The Oakland Athletics win the right to negotiate with Japanese pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma

ByThis Day in Baseball

2010 – The Oakland Athletics win the right to negotiate with Japanese pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma, whose name was placed on the posting system by his team, the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Pacific League. The A’s, who maintained the lowest ERA in the American League in 2010, now have 30 days to come to an agreement with Iwakuma, considered the second-best pitcher in Japan after Yu Darvish, but will fail to reach a deal.

The Yankees turn their first triple play in 42 years

The Yankees turn their first triple play in 42 years

ByThis Day in Baseball

The Yankees turn their first triple play in 42 years when Alex Rodriguez steps on third to start a 5-4-3 around-the-horn play that results in three outs in a 4-2 loss to the A’s in Oakland. The team’s last triple killing occurred in June of 1968, on a 1-5-3 ground ball hit by Minnesota’s John Roseboro, a play started by pitcher Dooley Womack, continued by third baseman Bobby Cox, and finished by Mickey Mantle, who was playing first base.