Final Tally for San Francisco, Oakland and Boston Teeth Grinders and Dodged Bullets

AP Photo/LM Otero

Sonny Gray cleared the gray days and made them sunny in Oakland. (That is a big word to pun ratio.)

And with that, the Dodged Bullet Teeth Grinder tally for the season is over

An explanation of what this is all about can be found HERE.

I took the three teams I followed the closest from the beginning of the year and figured out did they have more close games that got away or that they snatched from defeat. With 3 teams, I tried to see if there was a pattern in the final tally.

Let’s look how the Giants, A’s and Red Sox did…

 

GIANTS DODGED BULLET – TEETH GRINDER FINAL TOTAL

59 Dodged Bullets 53 Teeth Grinders

TOTAL: +7

 

A’S DODGED BULLET – TEETH GRINDER FINAL TOTAL

Sonny Gray’s complete game shutout gave the A’s reason to celebrate as they clinched a playoff spot, 4-0 over the Rangers. DODGED BULLET

56 Dodged Bullets 61 Teeth Grinders

TOTAL: -5

 

 

RED SOX DODGED BULLET – TEETH GRINDER Tally

Dodged Bullets 64 Teeth Grinders 78

TOTAL: -14

 

So of the three teams, only the Giants had a positive tally.

The A’s were 12 back of the Giants total and only 9 in front of the Red Sox. Yet the A’s won 17 more games than the Red Sox.

What did we learn from this? Maybe there is no correlation between final record and how many close games you win or drop.

If the Red Sox broke even, they would have a record of 85-77.

If the A’s broke even, they would have been 93-69.

Both instances, there would be no change. The Red Sox would be out of the playoffs and the A’s would be a wild card team.

In the end, maybe it was just a fun (for me) exercise in keeping track of how the teams I am following this year wound up doing. Yeah probably. Alas it is over… until next year.

So… it has come… to this… A’s fans

John F. Rhodes / Associated Press

What?

Am I supposed to recap the game? Am I supposed to break it down?

If you have been following the A’s for the last 2 months, you know what happened. They fell a run short. Opportunities were squandered. A bounce here or there and there would have been victory.

Instead it was another agonizing loss and then the indignity of sitting and waiting through an extra inning game between the Angels and the Mariners that didn’t go their way either.

They need to win tomorrow. The Mariners will be throwing King Felix against a practice squad team in Seattle.

Win and all of this will be gone.

Lose and suddenly… yikes. I don’t even want to think it.

Just win, already. I have no more teeth left to grind.

I guess I should update the Dodged Bullet/Teeth Grinder tally.

An explanation of what this is all about can be found HERE.

 

GIANTS DODGED BULLET – TEETH GRINDER Tally

Brandon Crawford broke open a 1-1 tie with a 2 run 8th inning double that gave the Giants win #87 with a 3-1 final over San Diego. DODGED BULLET

59 Dodged Bullets 53 Teeth Grinders

TOTAL: +7

 

A’S DODGED BULLET – TEETH GRINDER Tally

Holy Crap! Another one run loss, 5-4 to Texas, means the final game of the season MEANS something! What the hell?. TEETH GRINDER

55 Dodged Bullets 61 Teeth Grinders

TOTAL: -6

 

 

RED SOX DODGED BULLET – TEETH GRINDER Tally

Dodged Bullets 64 Teeth Grinders 78

TOTAL: -14

 

This ends today! Unless of course it doesn’t!

Just one more, A’s

(AP Photo/LM Otero)

OK, show of hands.

When the A’s fell behind 1-0, how many thought “Uh oh”?

When the A’s left some runners on base early, how many thought “Here we go again”?

I expect a lot of hands up.

But when Adam Dunn launched that 2 run double and Josh Reddick started clubbing the ball, there was a sigh of relief.

Sure, everyone gasped when Donaldson looked hurt, but he stayed.

And birthday boy Sean Doolittle sealed the deal.

Despite all of the heart ache and teeth grinding, the A’s are one win or one Mariners loss away from handing Jon Lester the ball in a do or die play off game.

There are 20 other franchises who wish they could say that.

I guess I should update the Dodged Bullet/Teeth Grinder tally.

An explanation of what this is all about can be found HERE.

 

GIANTS DODGED BULLET – TEETH GRINDER Tally

Ian Kennedy shut down the Giants bats, winning the game 4-1 for San Diego and killing any hope for a Wild Card game in San Francisco. TEETH GRINDER

58 Dodged Bullets 53 Teeth Grinders

TOTAL: +6

 

A’S DODGED BULLET – TEETH GRINDER Tally

Adam Dunn’s 2 run double and Josh Reddick’s homer gave Scott Kazmir the lead which he would hold on to, 6-2 A’s over the Rangers.. DODGED BULLET

55 Dodged Bullets 60 Teeth Grinders

TOTAL: -5

 

 

RED SOX DODGED BULLET – TEETH GRINDER Tally

Chris Capuano beat the Red Sox 3-2 in the first game between an eliminated Boston team and an eliminated Yankee team since the creation of the Wild Card. TEETH GRINDER

Dodged Bullets 64 Teeth Grinders 78

TOTAL: -14

 

An A’s win today would mean all 3 teams would essentially play meaningless games on Sunday