Friday, September 27, 2002
Athletics clinch AL West
The Associated Press
SEATTLE — A few hours after falling out of the postseason picture, the Seattle Mariners couldn't stop the Oakland Athletics from finally claiming their second AL West title in three years.
Miguel Tejada hit a tying homer in the ninth inning and Scott Hatteberg hit a two-out, two-run double in the 10th as the A's beat the defending division champion Mariners 5-3 on Thursday.
“I loved this game,” Tejada said. “I'm so happy we clinched.”
Oakland opens the AL playoffs at home Tuesday against Minnesota. The A's are a half-game behind the New York Yankees, who play Anaheim in the first round, for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Last year, the A's blew a two-game lead against the Yankees in the division series, and that memory tempers Oakland's approach to this year's playoffs.
“I'm not sure anyone has an advantage,” third baseman Eric Chavez said. “Once you get in, you can get lucky and come up with a break. I'm just glad to go back. We have different guys coming up with the big hits this year. We're better because we win as a team.”
Coming into the three-game series in Seattle, Oakland needed only one victory to secure the division title but failed to hold eighth-inning leads against the Mariners the previous two days. This time, the A's stormed from behind.
“We don't give up,” Hatteberg said. “To see us come back like that, it shows this team's character. It's something we'll need in the playoffs.”
The A's wore championship T-shirts over their uniforms and donned ”2002 AL West champions” hats for a 40-minute clubhouse celebration. David Justice danced for cameras, and manager Art Howe was doused several times with champagne, beer and Gatorade.
“We can kick back, enjoy it for a while and start to work hard again tomorrow,” said Billy Koch (11-4), who pitched two innings for the victory. “I don't know about any urgency, but we just wanted to get it done, win, and wrap up the West.”
After Hatteberg's hit off Shigetoshi Hasegawa (8-3) put Oakland ahead 4-2, Tejada added an RBI single. Tejada, who went 4-for-5, had tied the score with a one-out solo homer in the ninth off Kazuhiro Sasaki, who blew a save for the eighth time in 45 chances.
“There weren't many guys hitting good against Sasaki,” Tejada said. “I was happy I got a hit against him in that situation. The only thing I said was, 'I want to be on base.' ... I didn't think the ball would get out. I didn't think I hit it that hard.”
Tejada has a .306 batting average, 201 hits, 32 homers and 127 RBIs, making him a strong candidate to become the AL's Most Valuable Player.
“It topped off a fantastic year for him,” Howe said. “What can I say? He played every single inning for us. Every time we needed him, he stepped up and came through. He just had a phenomenal season.”
Seattle tied the major league record with 116 wins last year before losing to the Yankees in the AL championship series. The Mariners were eliminated from this year's playoffs 15 minutes before the start of Thursday's game when Anaheim beat Texas 10-5.
“It wasn't as fun as it could have been,” said Seattle's Bret Boone. “It was a long shot anyway. We kept that glimmer alive for a long time. Over the last 10 games, we showed a lot of character.”
The A's would have clinched earlier in the day if Anaheim had lost at Texas.
“I don't think anybody wanted to back into it,” Howe said. “Even if the Rangers had won today, we didn't back into anything. We had a great year and clinched it with a victory. We went our in style today. That was great.”
Seattle went ahead in the fourth on consecutive homers, Boone's 24th and Mike Cameron's 25th. Boone favored his right foot as he rounded the bases, limping slightly because of a bruised right heel.
Notes: Tejada's 32 homers are a career high. He hit 31 last season and 30 the year before. ... The A's are the 18th team to win 100 games in consecutive seasons. The last was the 1997-99 Atlanta Braves. The A's last consecutive 100-win seasons were in 1929-31, when the team was in Philadelphia. ... Since the league split to three divisions in 1994, the Mariners became the third to win at least 90 games but miss the playoffs. ... Boone takes a 10-game hitting streak into Seattle's three-game season-ending series at Anaheim.
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Athletics clinch AL West 
