How do you go from a 6.18 ERA in 15 minor league starts to a 0.92 ERA in 22 relief appearances during the same season in the minors? How do you go from barely making a big-league team as a non-roster invitee to being elected to the American League All-Star team, and then onto clinching the American League Rookie of the Year award? Right-handed pitcher Andrew Bailey did just that this season.

I sat in the stands on April 5, 2009, during Fan Appreciation Day at the Oakland Coliseum. The first peanut shells of the season began to litter the stadium aisles, as fans invested their hopes in Billy Beane’s bold off-season acquisitions. The A’s unveiled their newest players, and hyped fallow promises of a division title to those of us in the ballpark.

Baseball activities sprung up under the springtime sun. Eager fans gathered close to the field to watch their favorite players participate in out-field drills, in-field drills, stretching sessions, autograph sessions, and the main event-batting practice. This was to be the year of the long ball. Ha!

The stadium announcer’s voice battled above the fray. He read to a preoccupied crowd the list of 2009 rookies. Their names quickly dissipated in the cavernous stadium. Most sun-soaked fans barely noticed the announcement; their attentions focused on the big-ticket names I need not mention. Most of the unmentionables weren’t in A’s uniforms by the end of July.

Andrew Bailey’s name echoed over the public address system, and was immediately swallowed up by the circus. He made the regular season roster in the eleventh hour, the day before the regular season opener. He was a stone’s throw from where I sat at that moment. I glanced over toward the unassuming rookie. My thoughts filled with tableaus of his callow career for a moment: cheap hotels, dreary bus tours, oppressive Texas summers, disappointment, corrosive despair, buoyant minor successes, and the personal elation he savored at that moment. He privately took it all in and casually resumed his long-toss drills.

Only nine months back his pitching career was on the rocks. The kid (he’s 25) was yanked out of his starting job, where he suffered a 1-8 record in the first half of 2008 playing for the RockHounds in Midland, Texas. By the Texas League All-Star break he was parked in the bullpen-which saved his career. The RockHounds reaped instant benefits with Bailey’s transition. Their opponent’s batting average sunk to .207 when facing Bailey out of the bullpen. His ERA plummeted to 0.92. He adjusted well to his new role. But that was in double-A ball.

With a good showing in the Arizona Fall League validating his tremendous performance out of the bullpen, he checked in spring training as a non-roster invite. But Oakland’s bullpen was already filled with good arms, and two solid closers in line ahead of him: Joey Devine and Brad Ziegler.  Andrew Bailey was to see limited innings out of the bullpen and enjoy an easy transition into the majors. Life saw it a little differently.

Joey Devine suffered an elbow injury that eventually shut down his season. Brad Ziegler’s success in 2008 sputtered in 2009. Bailey shouldered the opportunity with apparent ease. In May he started chalking up his first of 26 saves on the season.

Bailey’s arc this season took on mythological tones. In April he walked on the field in total obscurity. By July his peers and the fans honored him as an American League All-Star. His brush with the legends of the game did not distract his stellar performance. He continued the ‘09 campaign with discipline and determination, maintaining his focus on the mound, and keeping his team in meaningless games during the second half. His All-Star 1.92 ERA dwindled down to a 1.84 ERA for the season, garnering him 13 first-place ballots for a total of 88 points and the Rookie of the Year award.

The Yankees spend a ton of cash on players, but they are tied as the franchise with the highest number of rookies who’ve received the award. That other club, with a total eight rookies honored, is the parsimonious Oakland A’s.  David can compete with Goliath.

The Oakland A’s recipients of the award are: Andrew Bailey (2009), Huston Street (2005), Bobby Crosby (2004), Ben Grieve (1998), Walt Weiss (1988), Mark McGwire (1987), Jose Canseco (1986), Harry Byrd (1952).

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