Updated 2023 Baseball Stats
The 2022 season was the worst Oakland A's season of my lifetime. The 2023 season said "hold my beer!" and sunk to new depths of terrible baseball. In 2023 the A's:
- lost 112 games, which broke their record for "most games lost in Oakland" by 4.
- gave up the most home runs in A's history.
- Watched one guy they traded away for nothing lead the NL in home runs (Matt Olson)
- Watched another guy they traded away for nothing be the best catcher in the NL (Sean Murphy)
- Watched a third guy they traded away for nothing lead his team in WAR (Matt Chapman)
- Watched a fourth guy they let leave without making an offer lead his team to the playoffs with a dominating season (Marcus Semien)
- Watched a guy they traded for a terrible player become one of the best catchers in baseball (Jonah Heim)
- Watched a pitcher they gave up on start the first playoff game for his new team (Jesus Lazardo)
- And oh yes, announced they are moving to Las Vegas, which simultaneously has a very small media market, very high altitude (ask the Rockies how that worked out for them), and where they expect many of the attendees to be tourists from visiting teams. It's not 100% final yet, but it might as well be and it's not a good look.
In other words, this year far surpassed 2022 to be the worst A's season of my lifetime.
At least my season tickets for the Cleveland Guardians let me watch some good baseball, right? Well, crap. The Guardians finished third and looked mediocre all season. Long-time Guardians manager Tito Francona retired due to health issues, which probably means that I'll be booing "Tito wouldn't have done that" for the next several years when the Guardians do something stupid. Nobody on the roster played consistently well, and so it's no surprise that in the 9 games I went to this year (all in Cleveland), the Guardians finished 4-5. I'm kind of surprised their record was that good. M took our nephew for our tenth game.
And even worse, John Adams, the greatest Guardians fan of all, passed away before the season. I was in Hilton Head or I would have gone to the wake. They're naming the bleachers after him, which is good. At least he didn't have to watch this disappointing season.
It wasn't all bad though. To start, I made it to the Home Opener for the first time since 2019. I went to games with a lot of different folks, including EJ, my dad, Jazzbo, JT, Shari, Ed, onabus, KJF, theferrett and Brandt. I need more season tickets / free time so I can go with more people.
The best baseball moment of 2023 that I saw in person was on May 12 when the Angels were in town. In the top of the 9th with the Angels trailing by 1, Guardian's closer Emmanuel Clase came in to face the heart of the Angels order, starting with the two best hitters in baseball. Mike Trout doubled, but the amazing Shohei Ohtani K'd. Unfortunately for the Guardians, the lesser hitters who followed came through and the Angels won 5-4. Still, any time you get to watch a top notch closer go against the very best hitters with the game on the line it's a great time. Earlier in that same game Logan Allen struck out Trout and Ohtani back to back with two men on to keep the Angels off the board. This was the first time in some years that Mike Trout actually played when I saw the Angels, and it was amazing.
There wasn't much in the way of other highlights. I can't celebrate the Guardians walking off the A's on June 20, even if I did predict it would happen. I saw Bo Naylor's first career hit. This was also the first season of the pitch clock, which proved to be universally popular with players and casual fans. It grew on me, which is good because it's clearly not going away. I love stolen bases, so I'm less ambivalent about the larger bases and pick off limitations that were introduced this year to make it easier to run. I can take more of that.
The Guardians finished 4-5 when I saw them this year, mostly on the strength of sweeping all 3 of the A's games I went to. That brings me to a lifetime total of 191 games, with 183 regular season games and 8 playoff games. That game total does not include my one Cactus League spring training game in 2013 or the All-Star game I attended in 2019. Exhibitions don't count, or at least not today.
American League East - 45 total
New York Yankees - 14 times. Saw them at two home parks. 3 playoff games.
Boston Red Sox - 12 times. 1 playoff game.
Toronto Blue Jays - 8 times.
Tampa Bay Rays - 9 times. The first three times they were still the Devil Rays. 2 playoff games.
Baltimore Orioles - 2 times.
American League Central - 207 total
Cleveland Guardians - 150 times, of which 129 were as the Indians. 8 playoff games.
Chicago White Sox - 21 times.
Minnesota Twins - 16 times. Saw them at two home parks.
Kansas City Royals - 11 times.
Detroit Tigers - 9 times.
American League West - 71 total
Oakland Athletics - 46 times.
Texas Rangers - 7 times. Saw them at two home parks.
Anaheim Angels - 7 times, once as the California Angels and all subsequent games as the Anaheim Angels.
Houston Astros - 6 times.
Seattle Mariners - 5 times.
National League East - 17 total
New York Mets - 5 times. Saw them at two home parks.
Washington Nationals - 4 times.
Atlanta Braves - 4 time. Saw them at two home parks.
Miami Marlins - 2 times, once as the Florida Marlins and once as the Miami Marlins.
Philadelphia Phillies - 2 times.
National League Central - 27 total
Cincinnati Reds - 8 times. Saw them at two home parks.
Chicago Cubs - 6 times. 2 playoff games.
Pittsburgh Pirates - 5 times.
St. Louis Cardinals - 5 times.
Milwaukee Brewers - 3 times. All since they moved to the National League.
National League West - 15 total
San Diego Padres - 5 times.
San Francisco Giants - 4 times.
Los Angeles Dodgers - 3 times.
Colorado Rockies - 2 times.
Arizona Diamondbacks - 1 times.
By play off round:
- 2 Wildcard (2022x2)
- 4 ALDS (2016, 2017x2, 2022)
- 0 ALCS
- 2 WS (2016x2)
On a side note, Jordan Walker made his MLB debut this season for St. Louis at the age of 20. He's the son of my boss's boss at my old job, so I moved some tickets around to see the Cardinals on Memorial Day weekend. Of course, by that point I'd been laid off, and Walker had been demoted to the minors, so I didn't get to see him. He came back up later in the year and hit well. His defense at an outfield position he'd never played before was pretty bad. He did get a lot better defensively as the season went on and he has a bright future.
- lost 112 games, which broke their record for "most games lost in Oakland" by 4.
- gave up the most home runs in A's history.
- Watched one guy they traded away for nothing lead the NL in home runs (Matt Olson)
- Watched another guy they traded away for nothing be the best catcher in the NL (Sean Murphy)
- Watched a third guy they traded away for nothing lead his team in WAR (Matt Chapman)
- Watched a fourth guy they let leave without making an offer lead his team to the playoffs with a dominating season (Marcus Semien)
- Watched a guy they traded for a terrible player become one of the best catchers in baseball (Jonah Heim)
- Watched a pitcher they gave up on start the first playoff game for his new team (Jesus Lazardo)
- And oh yes, announced they are moving to Las Vegas, which simultaneously has a very small media market, very high altitude (ask the Rockies how that worked out for them), and where they expect many of the attendees to be tourists from visiting teams. It's not 100% final yet, but it might as well be and it's not a good look.
In other words, this year far surpassed 2022 to be the worst A's season of my lifetime.
At least my season tickets for the Cleveland Guardians let me watch some good baseball, right? Well, crap. The Guardians finished third and looked mediocre all season. Long-time Guardians manager Tito Francona retired due to health issues, which probably means that I'll be booing "Tito wouldn't have done that" for the next several years when the Guardians do something stupid. Nobody on the roster played consistently well, and so it's no surprise that in the 9 games I went to this year (all in Cleveland), the Guardians finished 4-5. I'm kind of surprised their record was that good. M took our nephew for our tenth game.
And even worse, John Adams, the greatest Guardians fan of all, passed away before the season. I was in Hilton Head or I would have gone to the wake. They're naming the bleachers after him, which is good. At least he didn't have to watch this disappointing season.
It wasn't all bad though. To start, I made it to the Home Opener for the first time since 2019. I went to games with a lot of different folks, including EJ, my dad, Jazzbo, JT, Shari, Ed, onabus, KJF, theferrett and Brandt. I need more season tickets / free time so I can go with more people.
The best baseball moment of 2023 that I saw in person was on May 12 when the Angels were in town. In the top of the 9th with the Angels trailing by 1, Guardian's closer Emmanuel Clase came in to face the heart of the Angels order, starting with the two best hitters in baseball. Mike Trout doubled, but the amazing Shohei Ohtani K'd. Unfortunately for the Guardians, the lesser hitters who followed came through and the Angels won 5-4. Still, any time you get to watch a top notch closer go against the very best hitters with the game on the line it's a great time. Earlier in that same game Logan Allen struck out Trout and Ohtani back to back with two men on to keep the Angels off the board. This was the first time in some years that Mike Trout actually played when I saw the Angels, and it was amazing.
There wasn't much in the way of other highlights. I can't celebrate the Guardians walking off the A's on June 20, even if I did predict it would happen. I saw Bo Naylor's first career hit. This was also the first season of the pitch clock, which proved to be universally popular with players and casual fans. It grew on me, which is good because it's clearly not going away. I love stolen bases, so I'm less ambivalent about the larger bases and pick off limitations that were introduced this year to make it easier to run. I can take more of that.
The Guardians finished 4-5 when I saw them this year, mostly on the strength of sweeping all 3 of the A's games I went to. That brings me to a lifetime total of 191 games, with 183 regular season games and 8 playoff games. That game total does not include my one Cactus League spring training game in 2013 or the All-Star game I attended in 2019. Exhibitions don't count, or at least not today.
American League East - 45 total
New York Yankees - 14 times. Saw them at two home parks. 3 playoff games.
Boston Red Sox - 12 times. 1 playoff game.
Toronto Blue Jays - 8 times.
Tampa Bay Rays - 9 times. The first three times they were still the Devil Rays. 2 playoff games.
Baltimore Orioles - 2 times.
American League Central - 207 total
Cleveland Guardians - 150 times, of which 129 were as the Indians. 8 playoff games.
Chicago White Sox - 21 times.
Minnesota Twins - 16 times. Saw them at two home parks.
Kansas City Royals - 11 times.
Detroit Tigers - 9 times.
American League West - 71 total
Oakland Athletics - 46 times.
Texas Rangers - 7 times. Saw them at two home parks.
Anaheim Angels - 7 times, once as the California Angels and all subsequent games as the Anaheim Angels.
Houston Astros - 6 times.
Seattle Mariners - 5 times.
National League East - 17 total
New York Mets - 5 times. Saw them at two home parks.
Washington Nationals - 4 times.
Atlanta Braves - 4 time. Saw them at two home parks.
Miami Marlins - 2 times, once as the Florida Marlins and once as the Miami Marlins.
Philadelphia Phillies - 2 times.
National League Central - 27 total
Cincinnati Reds - 8 times. Saw them at two home parks.
Chicago Cubs - 6 times. 2 playoff games.
Pittsburgh Pirates - 5 times.
St. Louis Cardinals - 5 times.
Milwaukee Brewers - 3 times. All since they moved to the National League.
National League West - 15 total
San Diego Padres - 5 times.
San Francisco Giants - 4 times.
Los Angeles Dodgers - 3 times.
Colorado Rockies - 2 times.
Arizona Diamondbacks - 1 times.
By play off round:
- 2 Wildcard (2022x2)
- 4 ALDS (2016, 2017x2, 2022)
- 0 ALCS
- 2 WS (2016x2)
On a side note, Jordan Walker made his MLB debut this season for St. Louis at the age of 20. He's the son of my boss's boss at my old job, so I moved some tickets around to see the Cardinals on Memorial Day weekend. Of course, by that point I'd been laid off, and Walker had been demoted to the minors, so I didn't get to see him. He came back up later in the year and hit well. His defense at an outfield position he'd never played before was pretty bad. He did get a lot better defensively as the season went on and he has a bright future.