This past week’s theme on SB Nation was underdogs, and the Oakland A’s are as familiar with that role as just about any team in sports. With their low payrolls and aging ballpark, they operate at a perpetual disadvantage compared with their rivals, and even in their own home market they’re only the second-most popular team. The literal book about them is a story of overcoming long odds to achieve unexpected success.
Perhaps no A’s season better illustrates this underdog mentality than 2012. Sure, the 2002 squad is immortalized in a Hollywood movie about this exact topic, but the dirty secret about that team was that they were still loaded with stars even after losing a few to free agency.