Let the achievements of this year not be dampened by the outcome of the past week: our lads are now back where they belong, in the elite teams of MLB.  Yes, it's painful.  You never want to come this close and cough it up.  But sometimes you just must tip your hat to the better team, and it feels pretty clear to me that these Tigers are far and away the best team in MLB right now, and I fully expect them to do what's never been done in the Wild Card era and run the table with 11 straight wins.  When you're hitting walkoff, pennant winning homers, you know you've got the mojo.  Leyland may be the best manager of our lifetimes.  Impressive.

As for us, this was a tremendous season, in which monumental strides were made through daunting adversity.  If I'd have told anyone here that we'd dominate the division and go deep into October with Richie making only 10 starts and Crosby being lost for most of the year, you'd have thought I was crazy.  Not that I'm not crazy, but you'd have laughed me out of the room.

This was the best, most resilient team of the Beane era, and we finally broke through in the playoffs and terminated an ongoing series of failures that I know has eaten at all of us for years. So many magic moments, too many to recount, so many memories to last a lifetime.  We have a marvelous nucleus here, built on the twin pillars of pitching and defense, and even though Z will leave I think we will be fine and ready to roll the big ball back up the hill in 2007.  If I am BB I extend Bradley (another 3 hits today-- on one leg -- and inches and a stiff breeze from a huge HR) because there is no limit to his talent.  I truly believe that he has found a home here and can now go on to join the ranks of the elite, game-changing players in baseball.  In my opinion he's perfect for Oakland and I lock him up and keep the team built around his prodigious 5 tools and unequalable passion.

I feel sad we lost, but I also feel limitless love and gratitude for what our team gave us this year, and the same for this community, which I feel is the star around which all things Athletics revolve for the hardcore, real fans like us.  I want to say "thank you" to our players and organization and all the fantastic people that make this community the best team-related site in the world, hands down.  I had the time of my life this year, regardless of what happened in the last 4 games, and each of you helped make that possible.  Thank you all so very much.

And now, my top ten Athletics moments of 2006... please list yours in the comments section below:

10.  The 17-inning win vs. the Dodgers, culminating most appropriately in the bases-loaded walk.
9.   Huston's strikeout of Barry Bonds to beat the Giants in the 9th.
8.   Frank Thomas walking off a ridiculous blast on 3-0 into the toppermost bleachers vs. Scot Shields to crush the Angels.
7.   Jason Kendall finally hitting a HR in an A's uniform vs. Kansas City, aided by the emotional energy of Ray Fosse.
6.   Frank Thomas hitting 2 HRs vs. the White Sox on his return to Chicago to a 5-minute standing ovation from their fans, and then the 2 HRs to knock them from the playoff race on a weekend to remember in September.
5.   Barry Zito making his last start before the trade deadline, leaving to a deafening chant of "ZI-TO!!!  ZI-TO!!!" and then taking the only curtain call for a pitcher I have ever been in the ballpark to witness.
4.   Milton Bradley leading the offense to a 12-3 shellacking of Seattle, coupling with an Angels loss for the AL West title on a magical night in late September.
3.   Frank Thomas hitting a HR of inestimable value vs. Johan "Cy Young" Santana in Game 1 of the ALDS vs. Minnesota, and then sealing it with a titanic blast to give Huston the cushion in the 9th for one of the biggest wins in franchise history.
2.   Mark Kotsay, huffing and puffing and blowing the Metrodome down on an unforgettable trip around the bases in Game 2 of the ALDS.
1.   Magic Marco Scutaro putting the dagger in the Twins' season with an improbable 2-strike double to clear the bases and clear the path to that elusive first-round triumph in ALDS Game 3.  Being in the 6th row from the field for that game is something I will treasure for the rest of my lives.

Go A's!!!!