Major League Baseball

Is the 'Rally Possum' the key to A's success?

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 5:42 p.m. ET

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The Oakland A's lead Major League Baseball through Tuesday with 68 wins, so they hardly need any extra motivation to pull out a victory these days.

Yet baseball's best team found themselves in a tight one against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night, and they turned to a rather unusual source for inspiration.

With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning, A's catcher Derek Norris squeaked a ground ball up the middle to give the home team a dramatic 3-2 win.

So tell us, Oakland, what inspired you to victory?

That's right -- a possum.

The A's had nobody on base and one out in the 10th inning when the little critter scampered along the outfield wall. After the possum made it to safety, three of the next four batters reached base to set up Norris' heroics.

"He's been out here before when we're warming up," new A's pitcher Jeff Samardzija said, via MLB.com. "We're going to have to give him a name or a jersey.

"We'll keep feeding him, and as long as he keeps giving us enough wins, we'll be all right."

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