2012 Athletics similar to 2010 Giants?

The San Jose Mercury News' Tim Kawakami sees a number of similarities between the 2010 World Series champion San Francisco Giants and 2012 Oakland Athletics, but will they each have the same outcome?

Sure, the Giants didn't hit 111 home runs since the All-Star break like the A's have, and the A's aren't stocked with old guys like Edgar Renteria, Pat Burrell and Aubrey Huff. But there are some striking resemblances that can not be ignored.

Here's Kawakami's similarities:

Regular-season records:

2012 A's: 93-68 with one game to play.
2010 Giants: 92-70.

Previous seasons without a playoff berth:

2012 A's: Five playoff-free seasons, 2007-2011.

2010 Giants: Six playoff-free seasons, 2004-2009.

Division race:

2012 A's: Need to win the final game of the regular season vs. top contender Texas to clinch the AL West. (Though the A's have already clinched a Wild-Card berth.)

2010 Giants: Won the final game of the regular season vs. top contender San Diego to clinch the NL West.

Game-changing rookie:

2012 A's: Yoenis Cespedes, 23 HRs, 25 doubles, 82 RBIs, .858 OPS.

2010 Giants: Buster Posey, 18 HRs, 23 doubles, 67 RBIs, .862 OPS.

Crazed closer:

2012 A's: Grant Balfour.

2010 Giants: Brian Wilson.

Ages of top starters heading into the playoffs:

2012 A's: Jarrod Parker 23, Tom Milone 25, A.J. Griffin 24, Dan Straily 23, Brett Anderson 24.

2010 Giants: Tim Lincecum 25, Matt Cain 25, Madison Bumgarner 21, Jonathan Sanchez 27.

Crucial/relatively unforeseen power sources:

2012 A's: Jonny Gomes (18 homers), Brandon Moss (21), Chris Carter (16), Brandon Inge (11).

2010 Giants: Aubrey Huff (26), Pat Burrell (18), Juan Uribe (24), Andres Torres (16).

Second-half surge:

2012 A's: 43-43 at the break, 9 games out of first place. 50-25 since.

2010 Giants: 48-41 at the break, 3.5 games out of first. 44-29 after.

HRs post-All Star Break:

2012 A's: 111.

2010 Giants: 80.

Team ERA:

2012 A's: 3.61, fourth in AL.

2010 Giants: 3.20, first in NL.

Seasoned manager, former catcher:

2012 A's: Bob Melvin, who won the 2007 NL manager of the year award with Arizona.

2010 Giants: Bruce Bochy, who won the 1996 NL manager of the year award with San Diego.

Catcher trade:

2012 A's: Traded veteran catcher Kurt Suzuki to Washington mid-season.

2010 Giants; Traded veteran catcher Bengie Molina to Texas mid-season. (And then faced Molina in the World Series. Does this mean the A's will play Washington in late-October?)

Beat the Rangers:

2012 A's: Two in a row in the last series of the season, with one to play to clinch the AL West.

2010 Giants: Four games to one in the World Series.

Pretty crazy huh? Now all we can do is keep our fingers crossed for another Bay Bridge World Series (without any earthquakes, of course).