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In my off-season update last year, I mentioned how the Braves responded to losing in game 7 of the World Series by signing Roger Clemens and Rickey Henderson, I failed to mention the Oakland A's responded to WINNING game 7 of the World Series by signing Barry Bonds. Keep that in mind.
The Angels went all-in to get the wild card and took the A's the distance in the 1st round losing in 5 as Bonds was the MVP of that series. The A's faced the Twins in the ALCS who took out the Orioles in 1st round in 4. In the NL, the Expos took advantage of winning the wild card from us by being swept by the Giants. The Braves easily dispatched the Cubs in 4 to make the NLCS again.
The A's made it back to their 2nd straight World Series by taking care of the Twins in 6 while the Braves massive spending went for naught as Gary Sheffield, Mo Vaughn and and Sammy Sosa and the Giants won in 6.
In the World Series, it came down to Game 7, top of the 9th inning and a tie game. With the bases loaded, Orlando Merced, just 4-for-26 in the World Series, hit a grand slam off Jay Aldrich to go down in history and the A's have won back-to-back titles. Jeff Blauser was named MVP and we head to the offseason.
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