Oakland Athletics’ Coco Crisp, right, is congratulated by third base coach Mike Gallego after hitting a three-run home run in the first inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013, in Oakland, Calif.OAKLAND, Calif. – The Oakland Athletics are AL West champions again.
The A’s clinched their 16th division title and 26th postseason appearance when Texas lost 4-0 at Kansas City on Sunday. Oakland was hosting the Minnesota Twins.
With the Twins batting in the third, word started to circulate around the Oakland Coliseum of Justin Maxwell’s two-out grand slam that beat the Rangers in the 10th inning to seal the division title for the A’s. Some players, noticing the high-fives and hollers in the stands, kept glancing at the manual scoreboard in left field.
The ending of the Royals-Rangers game was shown on the video board between innings. There were no noticeable celebrations in the dugout.
It was quite a different scene than a year ago, when the A’s won the AL West on the final day of the regular season by beating Texas. This year’s run to the postseason is far less surprising but equally remarkable.