Major League Baseball

Once powerful A's struggle to go deep

Published Jul. 15, 2010 6:45 p.m. ET

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From the days of Reggie Jackson in the 1970s to the Bash Brothers of the 1980s to the slugging beer-league style teams that were so successful a decade ago, power has often been a big component of the Oakland Athletics' success.

It's that long ball power that has been the biggest missing ingredient in a first half of the season that had moments of perfection that were too infrequent for any sustained success.

''We can't be waiting around for guys to hit home runs to win games,'' slugger Jack Cust said. ''Everybody hits more home runs than us.''

That's pretty much been the case so far this season. The A's come out of the All-Star break ties with Seattle and Houston for the fewest home runs in all of baseball with 57.

The A's are on pace for 104 home runs this season - the fewest in a full season for the franchise since 1978. In fact, the A's are in danger of failing to reach 100 home runs for the first time since the franchise's inaugural season in Oakland in 1968.

Jackson had 37 home runs at the All-Star break the following season and the A's have been one of the game's best power-hitting teams ever since. Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire teamed up in the late 1980s to give Oakland a feared offensive attack and players like Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada, Frank Thomas, Matt Stairs and Nick Swisher continued the trend in recent years.

But this year, catcher Kurt Suzuki is the only player in double digits in home runs with 10. The team went 23 games without homering more than once in a contest, the second longest such streak for the franchise in 21 years.

Oakland's usual No. 3 hitter Ryan Sweeney has gone 54 games without going deep. First baseman Daric Barton, who plays a traditional power position, snapped a 34-game homerless streak last weekend with his fifth home run.

''There's more home runs in there from our guys,'' manager Bob Geren said. ''We don't have a lot of 30 home run guys. But there's definitely a core group that should hit in double digits or maybe push the 20 mark. The second half is usually more conducive to homers with the weather and things like that. Especially here in our park it travels a little better in the summer.''

Cust, the team's biggest power threat, snapped a 22-game homerless streak last Friday and added another deep ball Sunday in a sign that maybe he has finally found his stroke after starting the season in the minors.

The A's hit five home runs in the final three-game series of the first half, taking two of three against the division rival Angels. That helped Oakland improve to 43-46 at the break and move within 7 1/2 games of division-leading Texas.

''It was up and down,'' Cust said of the first half. ''We had some good moments and some struggles but I think overall we're in a good position. We get to play teams ahead of us head-to-head a bunch in the second half. The opportunity's going to be there so hopefully we can play some baseball like we've played the last couple days and make it tough on some of these teams.''

Oakland's pitching has been the key so far, led by All-Stars Trevor Cahill and Andrew Bailey. Cahill, who turned 22 in spring training, is 9-3 with a 2.94 ERA. Bailey followed up his Rookie of the Year campaign with 18 saves and a 1.70 ERA in the first half.

A's starters are fourth in the league with a 3.74 ERA despite getting only six starts from Brett Anderson and five from Justin Duchscherer because of injuries. Duchscherer is out for the year but Anderson is expected to return as early as this month to provide a big boost to the rotation.

Oakland also expects to get Dallas Braden back from the disabled list next week. Braden provided the first half highlight for the team with his perfect game against Tampa Bay on May 9, but has gone winless in eight starts since then.

''Our starting pitching has been pretty good even with their absence,'' Geren said. ''I think we're going to get some players back that are going to help us. And we play those teams ahead of us in the second half as well.''

The A's are also looking for a boost from outfielder Conor Jackson, who played only 14 games after being acquired from Arizona last month before going on the DL with a hamstring injury.

Oakland also was without outfielder Coco Crisp for 70 games, Suzuki for three weeks and second baseman Mark Ellis for a month because of injuries in the first half.

''In the second half, hopefully we'll be able to keep everybody together and everybody healthy,'' Crisp said. ''We stand a good chance of making a push to the end and we'll see what happens.''

One player who might not make it to the finish with Oakland is Ben Sheets, who signed a $10 million, one-year deal as a free agent in the offseason. Sheets is just 4-8 but put together back-to-back solid starts against the Yankees and Angels before the break.

That could be enough to get a contender to make a play for him before the trade deadline.

''I'm just trying to go out there and pitch the best I can,'' Sheets said. ''Everything else takes care of itself.''

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