Dr. A's Prescription of the Week: Patience

Let me start off by saying I love the Oakland A's. 

I loved them when I was five years old, watching greats like the Bash Brothers, Rickey and Eck slug, steal, and save their way to the first of three consecutive World Series appearances. 

I loved them in the "lean years" from 1993 to 1999, where they won an average of 67 games a season and finished higher than third in their division only once. 

I loved them at the beginning of the "Billy Ball" era with all these young, fresh faces with names like Giambi, Tejada, and a group of pitchers called "The Big Three."

I loved them even though I was red in the face from screaming at Jeremy Giambi to "Slide!" or hanging my head in disbelief after watching yet another 2-0 lead in a Divisional Series lead evaporate into a 3-2 Series loss. 

And I love them now. 

Yes, even now that they are 12-18 after 30 games and on track to finish this season 65-97. 

Now that we see the usual suspects (Chavez, Ellis and Duchscherer) on the DL...again.  Now that the A's are once again in the bottom five of the entire MLB in batting.

Because as an A's fan, I've been here before.  I know that, at the risk of sounding cliche, the night is always darkest before the dawn. 

While the A's may be at the bottom of the league in batting, they are in the Top 3 in pitching, and, were it not for a certain sub-1.00 ERA pitcher in Kansas City, they'd have the best Team ERA in the entire AL.

What does this tell us?  It tells us patience is needed.  Before we all start freaking out, we, as fans, need to realize that the A's are pitching well enough to keep them in games, despite the lack of an established ace or a standout relief staff. 

The offense is the area of most concern, and even that is starting to show signs of coming around, with the team having scored a combined 19 runs in the last two nights.

Are these all larger signs of a huge turnaround by the Bay?  Maybe, maybe not.

But at this point, patience may be just what the doctor ordered.