Cassie Kolias

October baseball is one of the most exciting events of the year. Being a baseball nerd, it’s almost magical. Miracles happen. Most Valuable Players are made. Legends are born. Pretty cheesy, right? Well it’s true.

With postseason baseball in full swing, I felt it would only be right to honor Bay Area baseball by recapping the top postseason moments of the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants.

6. JT Snow picking up Dusty Baker’s kid in the 2002 World Series

JT Snow, the first baseman for the San Francisco Giants in 2002, made one amazing save during game five of the World Series. It was during the eighth inning that manager Dusty Baker’s kid, who was 3 at the time, wandered onto the field and near home plate. Snow, who was running home on a two-run triple by Kenny Lofton, scooped up Darren Baker an pulled him out of the way before he was pummeled by David Bell – who was also running home.

5. Marco Scutaro

In 2006, when the Oakland A’s were going into the third game of the ALDS, they were already up two games in the series against the Minnesota Twins. You would think they had this win in the bag, right? Well that is pretty wrong. Going into the 2006 season, the A’s had lost the ALDS four years in a row, so A’s fans did not yet want to get too excited. It’s the bottom of the seventh inning, the A’s winning by 5-2 with bases loaded, and in comes Marco Scutaro. With the fans chanting, Scutaro blasts a shot to the right field corner, clearing the bases to give the A’s an 8-2 lead.

4. 1989 NLCS

This was a big win for the Giants, and it would be the first time the Giants won the National League Pennant since 1962. The Chicago Cubs took the first two out of the series, and the Giants took the second two. The series was spilt going into game five. Will Clark was not going to let the Cubs have a victory. He nailed the final two runs batted in and when he crushed a single up the middle of the diamond, he secured himself the NLCS MVP award.

3. 1974 World Series

The A’s made history in this series. Oakland clinched their third consecutive World Series title. Only one other team has accomplished this feat, and that is the New York Yankees. The A’s took home the win in game five against the Los Angeles Dodgers. They were only in the lead by one run, and the Dodgers were trying to pull off an eighth inning rally. Bill Buckner of the Dodgers hit a line drive, and the ball was misplayed in the field, advancing Buckner to second base. However, his greed got the best of him and he attempted to stretch the hit into a triple. Reggie Jackson fired the ball to second baseman Dick Green, who threw Buckner out at third – and the A’s took the title.

2. The 2010 NLDS

Sunday night, the Giants beat out the Atlanta Braves in four games to solidify their trip to the NLCS. Each game of the series was intense, and played extremely well. In game one, ace pitcher Tim Lincecum struck out a franchise postseason high of 14 batters, and held the Braves to a two-hit shutout. In game three, Braves’ infielder Brooks Conrad allowed Freddy Sanchez to score after he let a grounder through his legs in the ninth, bringing the Giants on top. Finally, in game four, Cody Ross hit a solo home run and batted in the second run of the night. The Giants will take on the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS on Saturday.

1. The 1989 World Series

Obviously the 1989 World Series is as good as it gets. Battle of the Bay – and that battle was epic. It’s like one of those series that may only ever happen once in a lifetime. The A’s had won the first two of the series. Game one was a shutout, and game two wasn’t much different. By game three it was time to take it to the city. But just minutes before the first pitch, the infamous 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake hit. Ten days after the earthquake, play resumed, and the break was not beneficial to the Giants. The A’s then pounded on the Giants in the next two games. The Giants put up sufficient runs, but it wasn’t enough. The A’s went on to sweep the Giants in four.

Cassie Kolias can be reached at [email protected]