Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anticipating a high pitched squeal of “Julio Rodriguez drops the ball!!!!” and a reprise of the most magical season since Billy Martin rode his starting pitchers 14 innings. There is only one 2012 season and 2026 is unlikely to match it in any way, shape, or form.
But the parallels are fun, and let’s face it: the A’s have a long history of strange seasons, from their 17-1 start to the 1981 strike shortened season to the 20 game winning streak in 2002, to a sudden .800 winning percentage
for 2 months in 2005, to their “5 back with 9 to play” sprint to the finish line in 2012.
If anything, the 2026 A’s are ahead of pace to match the remarkable 2012 team as the A’s, 14 years ago today, woke up from their Juneteenth win still only 32-36. Today’s team woke up at .500, 38-38. Here are some of the interesting similarities between the two clubs…
Dramatic Turning Point Win?
Last night’s win was “one for the ages,” coming in the third week of June, as the A’s battled back from down 11-4 to tie it dramatically on Jonah Heim’s 2-out 2-run HR in the bottom of the 9th and then walked it off in the 10th.
In 2012 a catcher’s dramatic 2 out 9th inning HR came on my birthday, also in the second of half of June (the 24th), as rookie Derek Norris blasted a walk off 3-run HR off Giants’ closer Santiago Casilla to propel the A’s to an unlikely victory.
In 2012 the A’s were 34-38 when Norris strode to the plate. Starting June 24th on the A’s went 60-30. The 2026 A’s can hope Heim’s swing starts them on a similar path to breaking out just in time for me to celebrate yet another birthday.
Third Base
In 2012 3B was unsettled with Josh Donaldson opening the season at the hot corner but not hitting a lick. Donaldson batted .153/.160/.235 in the 1st half and gave way to Brandon Inge, who promptly got injured. Inge’s role is played, in the 2026 movie, by Max Muncy, who was anointed the 3Bman but was hit on the hand by a pitch leading to an extended IL stint.
In 2012 Inge’s injury opened the door for Donaldson to return, solidify and lay claim to 3B, and help the A’s surge. Donaldson batted .290/.356/.489 in the second half. Donaldson’s part in this Freaky Friday film is played by another “sent down, got it together, came up and the rest is history” wonder in Zack Gelof. Gelof, replacing the injured Muncy, has been a revelation in his latest go-around, batting an “eerie similar to Donaldson” .286/.341/.502 and playing excellent defense.
Outfield
In 2012 the A’s were boosted by a rookie outfielder who provided electric moments both at the plate and in the field. It was Josh Reddick with his 32 HRs and +18 DRS in RF, mirrored in 2026 by Henry Bolte (.317/.402/.423 after 34 games, +4 DRS, +2 OAA in CF).
Pitching
Neither team boasted a rotation that impressed on paper and the parallels here are a bit of a stretch. But here is the casting.
Brett Anderson, a LHP with front of the rotation stuff, posted a 2.72 ERA (albeit in only 6 starts) and is played by Gage Jump. Much of the rotation wound up being a collection of young SPs with varied upside, from Jarrod Parker to Dan Straily to AJ Griffin (who made his big league debut starting the game Norris finished). They are mirrored by JT Ginn, Jack Perkins, and Kade Morris (if he’s seen again).
The bullpen had a “big 3” at the back of the pen in Grant Balfour, Ryan Cook, and the lefty Sean Doolittle. Here’s where the parallels become quite the stretch, but the A’s are trying to replicate it now with some new key additions: Elvis Alvarado and Mason Barnett joining lefty Hogan Harris.
The point here isn’t to compare quality so much as to note that Doolittle came out of nowhere, rising fast from A-ball as a converted 1Bman, and Cook was no great reliever, he just had a brief run of success that began in 2012. So for Alvarado and Barnett to match, say, Balfour and Cook, is no less likely than what Doolittle and Cook did. Relievers are unpredictable and so were the 2012 A’s.
Anyway, whether or not the 2026 A’s have a 2002 streak, a 2005 surge, or a 2012 magical run in them it’s interesting that there can be as many parallels as there are to such a memorable and fun season. Let’s hope — because baseball is about hope, not logic — that we look back on Heim’s blast as being a seminal moment in a successful season.
The 2026 A’s have this much going for them: When Norris hit the walk off HR on 6/24/12 the team was 4 games under .500 and 10 games out of 1st place. Today’s team is .500 and 0.5 game back of the Mariners. Now we just need Rodriguez to drop a fly ball and we’re there.
