A's win the 2018 WFBL championship

Post date: Sep 24, 2018 1:30:55 PM

Buck Showalter gets champagne shower (L) and Anthony Rendon is named playoff MVP (R)

The Philadelphia Athletics jumped to an early lead, withstood a pair of charges from the tough Detroit Drillers, then pulled away to an 11-1 victory in Whitey Week to capture the 2018 WFBL Championship.

The third playoff title in the 21-year history of the franchise followed on the heels of the Athletics also winning their 10th Owens/East Pennant under GM Matt Veasey.

"It takes hard work to make your team a contender, and even then a bit of good fortune to wade through September baseball to become champions. We always do the work. This year, those September breaks finally went our way again," said Veasey following the victory.

As the Athletics and their fans celebrated at Liberty Bell Park, the visiting Drillers prepared to head back to Motown after falling a step short of the ultimate prize. But it remains a highly successful campaign for GM Ryan Hreben, whose club enjoyed their first-ever winning record, Kalas/Central Pennant, and playoff victory in 2018.

"That's an outstanding, young ball club they have over there," said Veasey. "I would suspect this is just the first of many trips to September fantasy baseball for them in the coming years."

Manager Buck Showalter, who had previously announced that he would be retiring at the conclusion of this season, goes out on top after guiding the A's to a championship for the second time. Showalter was manager when the club last captured the WFBL crown back in 2008. "What Buck has done over the last few years getting this team back to the top, we just can't say enough. He deserves every bit of this celebration," said Veasey.

As the team's first round choice way back in the 2009 WFBL Minors Draft, Anthony Rendon has been around the Athletics organization as long as any player. So it was perhaps fitting that it was Rendon who led the team in this postseason, taking home the Chuck Klein Award as the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs.

The 28-year-old third baseman hit .387 over the two playoff rounds, banging three home runs with 12 RBI and a dozen runs scored. Rendon hit .435/.500 in Whitey Week with two homers, eight RBI, and five runs.

Also coming through in the Finals for the A's were Trea Turner (.429/.571 with a homer, five RBI, eight runs, three steals), Whit Merrifield (.333/.394, five runs, two steals), and Mike Trout (four homers, seven RBI, four runs, one steal) at the plate. On the mound, strong weeks from Stephen Strasburg, Corey Kluber, and rookie Tyler Glasnow and relievers Edwin Diaz and Dellin Betances set the pace.

The A's reached Whitey Week following a tough battle with the Owens/East Division rival Boston Bulldogs in the semi-finals that ended in a 6-6 tie. Thanks to an aggregate 14-9 edge in the regular season games between the two rivals, the A's advance to play for the WFBL Championship for the second time in four years.

The Dawgs edged out the A's by a 6-5 score back in Week #3 of the regular season. The A's then took the second meeting by a 9-3 margin in Week #19 to enter the playoffs with that tie-breaker advantage. Back in their 2009 WFBL Championship season, Boston advanced past the Athletics in the Division Finals, what would now be the WFBL Semi-Finals, via the tie-breaker.

After sitting around for two weeks as they patiently waited for the WFBL's first-ever multi-week Wildcard playoff round to unfold, the Athletics came out cold in their Semi-Final match-up with the Bulldogs. The first two starting pitching efforts ended in disastrous fashion, with both Corey Kluber and Alex Wood beaten up and knocked out early. To add insult to injury, both starters then had their scheduled second starts of the week cancelled.

Stephen Strasburg celebrating as the A's advanced past Boston in the semi-finals

Helping to overcome that horrendous start, the A's then got three strong outings from Stephen Strasburg, Mike Foltynewicz, and Jameson Taillon. Those three all won and allowed the team to compete in the Wins category until the very end of the scoring period.

On offense, the A's entered the weekend behind in the Average, On-Base Percentage, and Home Run categories. With the pitchers having already surrendered all but the Wins category, the A's knew that they would likely need to take all six offensive categories if they wanted to advance.

It was a big Saturday performance by the bats that first turned the tide, with Cody Bellinger, Whit Merrifield, and Andrew Benintendi leading the way. When Mike Trout homered that night, the A's took the lead. The A's entered Sunday action with a 6-5 lead. A year ago the club took a similar edge into the final day of the Semis against Spokane, only to see a pair of poor pitching outings blow it. There would be no repeat collapse as the bats came through again. This time it was strong days from Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon, and Willson Contreras that clinched the victory. With the A's having already clinched the advancement and still holding that 6-5 lead as the day was ending, Boston got a late 'W' from reliever Kirby Yates to take the category by one and make the actual final score that 6-6 result.

In the victorious locker room following the game, GM Matt Veasey spoke on the team advancing. "For the last decade or so the talent level in the east has been high, so we always expect tough divisional matches. That was especially so for this playoff. We knew it would be scratch and claw. Those early pitching outcomes really hurt, but Corey and Alex have been excellent all year and it was up to their teammates to pick them up. They did. We're happy to be back in the Finals and looking forward to another tough battle with Detroit."

This marked the Athletics fifth trip to Whitey Week. The A's lost the WFBL Finals in both 2001 and 2015, and won their two league championships in the 2002 and 2008 seasons. It was also the fourth time that the Finals were held at Liberty Bell Park which previously served as hosts in 2001-02 and 2008.

This third WFBL Championship for the Athletics, all under the leadership of Veasey as general manager, ties the franchise for second in the league all-time.

The City of Philadelphia will honor the A's with a parade on Tuesday that will begin at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, head east on the Ben Franklin Parkway to City Hall, then down Market Street to Penn's Landing, ending at Liberty Bell Park.

Also, Veasey announced a press conference will be set up for later in the week, possibly as early as Wednesday, to name Showalter's successor. It is believed that will be former A's player Chase Utley.