The Oakland A's season came to end Thursday night in part thanks to a Cy Young worthy performance from the reigning Cy Young winner. Justin Verlander threw 122 pitches, striking out 11 A's batters in the process. Instead of focusing on the negatives of the loss, the fellas at Athletics Nations took a step back on the pain of the loss and instead decided to focus on everything that went right this season.
"Jarrod Parker proved down the stretch that he is a money pitcher. There were 15 walkoff victories, none bigger than last night's. There was a 4-game home sweep of the Yankees, something that no Oakland A's team had ever acomplished. Despite the minute chances given to them at the beginning of the season, the A's will hang a 2012 AL West Banner at the Coliseum next year, and knocked off the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels to do it. Yoenis Cespedes proved to be the signing of the offseason, and is a legitimate five-tool player. Sean Doolittle emerged as one of the game's premier setup men, and one of the game's best stories, period."
It wasn't the season fans expected and it wasn't the finish fans were hoping for, but the Oakland A's gave their fans a wild ride this season and, perhaps more importantly, an exciting foundation to cheer on for seasons to come.