Oakland Athletics Notes, Quotes 2008-09-30

--LHP Greg Smith (7-16) finished the season with 16 losses, the most by an A's pitcher since Tom Candiotti went 11-16 in 1998. The last A's left-hander to lose as many as 16 games was Vida Blue, who dropped 19 decisions in 1977. Smith's winning percentage of .304 is the worst ever by an Oakland left-hander; Doug Johns had a .333 winning percentage in 1996. On the plus side, Smith's 16 pickoffs tied the single-season record. The statistic has been kept since 1987.

--DH Jack Cust entered the finale having homered in four of six games and tied for the league lead in September with eight. His career-high 33 homers tied for fifth in the AL. Cust's ongoing single-season AL strikeout record finished at 197, fourth most all-time. He struck out once in Oakland's finale.

--RHP Brad Ziegler's ERA went over 1.00 for the first time this season when he allowed thee hits and a run at Seattle on Sept. 27. The rookie's 1.02 ERA is still the best among all major league relievers with a minimum of 50 innings pitched. Ziegler has a 2.55 ERA since recording his first save on Aug. 8.

--RHP Joey Devine pitched a scoreless inning in the final game despite allowing a single (center fielder Ryan Sweeney lost the ball in the sun) and two walks. That lowered the rookie's ERA to 0.59, the best mark ever for a pitcher with a minimum of 40 innings since the ERA stat became official in 1912 for the NL and 1913 for the AL. Devine did not allow an earned run in 24 outings after reinstatement from the DL on Aug. 2 and he gave up just three earned runs for the season.

--OF Travis Buck finished the season with five consecutive multi-hit games, capping the run with a leadoff homer in the finale to go along with a single and a double. He went 11-for-23 in the stretch, and he hit .367 after being recalled on Sept. 16. Buck hit seven homers in his last 21 games, putting himself back into strong consideration for a starting spot next spring.

BY THE NUMBERS: 58 -- Starts by rookie pitchers for Oakland in 2008, the second most for the club since 1984, trailing only the 1996 club's mark of 62 starts by rookies.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I have no clue about my situation right now. It's a mystery to me. All the rumors can't be false, but that doesn't guarantee anything. But I can go into the offseason knowing I finished strong and feel like I made a strong statement about my abilities, and I hope I that I do have a high (trade) value." -- RHP Huston Street, the most likely member of the team to be traded this offseason, in the San Francisco Chronicle.



Author: Fox Sports
Author's Website: http://www.foxsports.com
Added: September 30, 2008