Elephant Rumblings: Vote on 2020 Best A’s Moment Bracket

Good morning afternoon, Athletics Nation!

The Oakland A’s only played 60 games during the 2020 season, plus another seven in the playoffs. But even in that short time, they managed to pack in a ton of great memories, as well as a cathartic postseason series win that none of us will soon forget.

There were so many exciting, iconic, or otherwise incredible moments during this truncated campaign, so naturally the question for November is: Which one was the best?

The A’s ace social media team is already on the case, putting together a bracket of top moments from 2020. Here’s what they came up with, with a mix of significant plays and simply beautiful ones:

There are 16 entries, seeded in the following order. Most of them have links to either an AN article or at least a video highlight:

1. Hendriks shuts door to save Wild Card Series win
2. Canha catch at the wall (Joe Rudi style)
3. Olson walk-off grand slam on Opening Day
4. Laureano home run robbery (vs. Brian Goodwin)
5. La Stella juggle catch (in Wild Card Series)
6. Piscotty go-ahead slam (vs. Giants)
7. Laureano game-ending catch (vs. Astros)
8. Pinder pinch-hit homer (vs. Giants)
9. Soria inning-ending DP in WCS Game 3
10. Olson throws to third (not sure which one though?)
11. Kemp diving double play
12. Pinder crashing catch at wall
13. Olson glove flip to Diekman
14. Grossman catch against wall
15. Bassitt over-the-shoulder play
16. Kemp dodge at home plate (vs. Rockies)

And the voting has already begun! Here are the first few matchups, beginning with No. 1 Hendriks vs. No. 16 Kemp.

Next up is No. 8 Pinder HR vs. No. 9 Soria.

I can’t say for sure that “Barehanded Diek” was the optimal phraseology, but nevertheless here is No. 4 Laureano vs. No. 13 Olson/Diekman.

And finally, in a battle of nice catches, No. 5 La Stella vs. No. 12 Pinder.

Which moment was your favorite of 2020? Are there any you think are missing from the list, such as perhaps one of Pinder’s many big hits in the playoffs?

A’s Coverage

• Lockard: A’s prospects: Tyler Soderstrom is No. 1, A.J. Puk remains in top-30 list ($$$)
• Dowd: Outpouring of grief as owner (Ricky Ricardo) of Bay Area sports bar Ricky’s dies ($)
• Nico: Edgar Allan Potpourri

MLB News & Interest

• Coleman: Braves sign Drew Smyly to one year deal for $11M
• Longenhahen: On the Coming Deluge of Non-Tenders
• Monagan: Harlem Globetrotters draft Mookie Betts?
• Today in Baseball History

Best of Twitter

Wishing the best to former Kansas City A’s lefty pitcher Tommy Lasorda

Lots of former A’s on this year’s HOF ballot!

Appears the A’s have released pitching prospect Nathan Patterson, one of the feel-good stories of 2019

Not to open this can of worms again, but it sure looks like Kyler made the right choice in the end

From Kim Ng’s introductory press conference