PROGRAMMING NOTE: NBC Sports California is looking back at the A's 50 Memorable Moments since the franchise relocated to Oakland in 1968. Below are the next two moments you can vote on. Tune into A's Pregame Live today at 6:30 p.m. to watch highlights of the two moments. After the A's and Yankees conclude, tune into A's Postgame Live to see which moment will move on to the next round!
1. Scott Hatteberg's walk-off home run to extend A's winning streak to 20 in 2002 (Five-time winner -- Defeated Dennis Eckersley records 50th save in 1992)
(From Ben Ross)
Every A's fan remembers where they were when Scott Hatteberg hit the biggest home run of his career. With Oakland and Kansas City tied at 11 in the bottom of the ninth, Hatteberg hit a pinch-hit walk-off home run, giving the A's their 20th straight win, a new American League record.
Incredibly, the Athletics had blown an 11-0 lead in the game. The Royals scored five runs in the fourth inning, five more in the eighth, and one in the ninth to tie the game at 11. But Hatteberg came to the rescue, sending the sellout crowd of more than 55,000 into a frenzy.
Hatteberg hit 15 home runs that season, and 106 in his career, but only this one ended up in Hollywood. Hatteberg was portrayed by Chris Pratt in the 2011 film "Moneyball."
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2. Rickey Henderson sets all-time stolen base record in 1991
(From A's Pre and Postgame host Brodie Brazil)
There were only a few occasions in my youth where school was allowed to be skipped in favor of an A's game.
May 2, 1991 was one of those days.
Everyone in the ballpark was aware, and anxious for the inevitable. Rickey Henderson's next stolen base would be the 939th of his career and would surpass Lou Brock for the all-time lead in Major League Baseball.
Interestingly enough, Rickey reached first in his leadoff at bat. The attendance of 36-thousand was buzzing and knew the Oakland native had the green light. He did go, but was tagged out at second, to a huge dismay of the Coliseum crowd.
His second at bat went down with a backwards "K". The day was shaping up to be a bust, particularly because every A's fan wanted this to happen at home, not on the impending road trip.
And then, his third time up, it happened. Rickey was on second base and fittingly stole third.
What happened next were the two iconic elements attached to the play: Bill King's radio call, and Rickey dislodging 3rd base from its moorings and raising it over his head.
The baseball game shut down completely. Archives show the ceremony lasted just eight minutes, but I remember it feeling more like 15.
Henderson's family and even Lou Brock were invited on the field. You knew it was special to see a player give a speech during a game, while 90 feet away from scoring a run.
The highlight of Rickey's comments went like this: "Lou Brock is the symbol of great base stealing, but today I'm the greatest of all-time."
That day, he became the greatest of all time.
Today, he still is.
And tomorrow, it's hard to see anyone surpassing Rickey's 1,406 career swipes.
VOTE HERE:
Which @Athletics 50th Anniversary moment was more memorable?
The winning moment will move on to the next matchup.— A's on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) September 4, 2018
