North Bay A's History

2004 season: Slow start late surge to championship

Ray Trujillo's personified the A's season, starting slow and catching fire in the second half to win the REBL AL championship. The first team other than the SilverSox or Classics to do so.

The opening game would be both critical to the A's success and an omen of things to come. The A's trailed 4-3 heading into the top of the 9th when Ryan Metcalfe legged out an infield single in his first game with the A's. Rick Tweet drove him in with a two-out-two run single and the A's piled on two more runs in a 7-4 win over the Mets.

With the A's losing their next two game, an 0-3 start could have been devastating, but at 1-2 the A's recovered with a 13-game winning streak, scoring in double figures nine times and only being held under eight runs once. Different bats got hot at different times, but rookie Ryan Haven and founder Eric Brown proved to be a potent 3-4 punch in the middle of the lineup constantly driving in Billy Dodson and Metcalfe the table setters with .500 averages. Ray Trujillo and Brodie Nissen -- a midseason addition -- were two other key rookies, both sporting .400 averages and providing stable defense at the hot corner (Nissen) and centerfield (Trujillo).

Larry Forman had a command performance on back-to-back weekend doubleheaders going   6-for-8 with 5 RBI in a sweep of the Tigers then pitching a two-hit shutout to beat the Cardinals in the first game of a sweep the following weekend. The winning streak would end one week after Brown pitched a complete-game two-hitter over the rival SilverSox in an 8-1 that proved the A's were ready to contend for a championship.

The Classics ended the 13-game winning streak with an 11-6 win the following week, but A's avenged that loss with a two-game sweep in the opening round of the playoffs. The A's followed with a 2-1 series victory over the Silversox for details on the playoffs click HERE