A's Reflect on Latest "Reverse Boycott" in Oakland

The "Summer of Sell" is in full swing as A's fans try to keep their team

On Saturday, fans held a second "reverse boycott" gathering at the Oakland Coliseum to watch the A's and Giants continue their rivalry. 37,553 was the announced attendance.

After the A's 2-1 win over their rivals, players compared the first reverse boycott to this one. Trevor May, who closed out both 2-1 victories, said that the crowds for both were very similar, but that the crowd was also different because of the rivalry. 

"I think even the other reverse boycott, we're going for our seventh win, playing a team that had absolutely, frankly, destroyed us the first four times we played them--and everybody--they hadn't even lost a game yet. So it was us kind of turning things around a little bit. This time was more of a [us] versus San Francisco, the crosstown rivalries. Anytime you get the opportunity to get the ball in those situations, it's important to realize the gravity. They were a lot of fun in different ways." 

Bay Area native Paul Blackburn got the start for the A's in this one and fired six shutout innings, allowing just two hits, walking three, and striking out seven in one of his better starts this season. The 29-year-old right-hander has tossed six innings in each of his last two starts, has totaled 17.1 innings and given up just three earned.

Part of the reason for his success on Saturday was his changeup, which he threw 23 times. It got 13 swings and led to ten whiffs. Heading into the game, his off-speed offering was his least-used pitch at 7.6% of the time, but he had a good feel for it, and by his estimation he used it more than he ever has. Those 23 change-ups accounted for 22% of his pitch mix. 

As for the chants in the top of the fifth, "I had to turn up the PitchCom a little bit just to kind of settle down. At least for me, a lot of time I don't really hear much out there. But then all of a sudden they just started chanting and it kind of felt like a wave that hit you. I don't think fans realize how much they do for players, as far as just bringing energy. It's a long year and there's times when guys are grinding, and just having a little bit of extra energy within the stadium that a fan base can bring, it definitely uplifts us."

Blackburn did say that once he turned up the PitchCom and put his glove over it, he was able to hear it. That could mean that the crowd may not have been quite as loud as the one on June 13. 

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Seth Brown laced a single into right field that scored the game-winning run. That was also just his third hit against a left-handed pitcher this season in 38 at-bats. 

The crowd on hand for Saturday's game was the ninth-largest crowd they've played in front of all season. One game at Yankee Stadium, one in Houston, two in Toronto, one in San Francisco, one in Colorado, and all three earlier this week against the Dodgers are the only crowds that have surpassed the folks that gathered in Oakland on Saturday to watch A's baseball this season. 

A's manager Mark Kotsay said after the game, "It's so great to have that type of energy in the stands."