♪ the one and only, cheerios high and deep to left. cabrera back. it is gone! [ cheers ] >> what a way to end this series. how is if going, everybody? i'm mark ibanez. welcome. yes, this team is loaded with talent but with it comes just about as many questions that need to be answered. last year's manager of the year, bob melvin, has got to

get them answered quickly if this team is to have any chance of repeating in the western division again. though mel definitely has his work cut out for him. >> fly ball. center field. coco! ballgame. western division! the oakland as! >> reporter: the art of managing has certainly changed over the years. the as have gone from the volcanic billy martin to the authoritarian dick williams and all points in between, which worked with yesterday's players to varying degrees. this time around is the very now bob melvin who seems to be the perfect fit for players of this era. his relaxed, personal approach most certainly contributed to all of those swirling comebacks last season. >> there's a lot to left. and that baby is gone! >> reporter: creating an

atmosphere of less stress during the high tension late innings, his style, certainly works for his boss. >> i still pinch myself to think a by with this kind of qual -- guy with this kind of quality was available to us particularly having success in seattle not only do we have a professional relationship, we have a personal relationship right now which is unique between a manager and general manager. we're almost the same age. we played in the same era. >> when you have someone like him that's your manager that's your leader that understands the game, he understands personalities of people. he's a communicator, it makes him special. >> reporter: the sports pages are full of stories about managers with a short sheff live and hushly their demise can be traced baaing to getting along with the modern ball

player. bol melvin has the resume as a former big leaguer and he unders the game fully but it's the psyche lodgal aspect regarding his -- psychological aspecket regarding his -- aspect of his players. >> the door is always open. >> we spend six plus, seven plus months together. you want them to be their own people in the clubhouse. >> we actually had a lot of young guys. you don't want their confidence to shrink because they are not in there and you don't know why. >> nothing bob does -- if we loose, everybody has to be quiet. but other than that, everybody can be 100% themselves. >> reporter: of course, it goes without saying, you can have the greatest psychologist or

strategist calling the shots but if you don't have the players, chances are the postseason will not await your team. after the as' long shot success of last year, they now face that double-edged sword with great triumph comes expectations. >> the good thing is that nobody is picking us again to win the a.l.s., which is good for us. you look at the rangers and the angels. >> as far as this year, determination and ethic, you have to continually try to get better. if you remain neutral, you are losing ground. our focus this year is to try to find what we were defish the in last year and get better. >> reporter: too -- defishtent last year -- deficient last year and get better. >> reporter: last season, it was about the comebacks and the victories. joe fonzi has more on the as life of pi.

>> reddick. left center field. and that is going to get down. he hits it. this baby is over! >> okay. here they come. [laughter] >> reporter: it's something the as did more than any other team in the major leagues last year. they came on bloop hits. they came on sacrifice flies. >> that should be deep enough. >> reporter: and they came on home runs. >> high and deep to left. >> reporter: including the postseason, the as had 15 walkoff wins. when you develop a track record like that, the team starts to feel it's never out of a game. >> you watch some of those games, if the guys didn't hustle in the 9th inning on a routine ground ball or made a bad throw or the guy bobbled it because you are running down the line hard, some of those walkoffs couldn't have happened. you play hard for 27 outs and it can happen.

>> reporter: oftentimes it did. consider theseups. at the end of june, the as trailed the texas rangers by 13 games. just nine games left, they were still five back. the as needed to sweep the rangers and they did. >> ballgame! wev division! >> reporter: after game 162, they had sole possession of first place for the first time all year. >> to have a team as resilient as we were we were in it for the last out and we were able to come through it with a lot of tough situations. >> that all starts with the pitching because it keeps us in every game. >> reporter: a walkoff win usually proceeds a victorious postgame interview which thanks to josh reddick also comes with this -- >> there it is. >> reporter: fun. my son loves it.

these 3. every time he sees an interview, he always wonders, is he gonna get pie in his face? >> i'm sure that's gonna be part of the repertoire. >> i think we'll have to stick with the traditional pies. i don't think any superhero is gonna come out this year. >> reporter: the as will take wins of any variety but when they come in dramatic fashion, they do know how to celebrate the occasion. when we continue, meet the baby faces that make up the best of the staff. and under the heading you can never have enough great arms, fred ingles introduces us to a first baseman who can be a bullpen mainstay

swing and a miss. that's the first strikeout for tommy milone. >> reporter: the as had 12 rookie pitchers on their staff last year who combined for 54 total victories. that's a major league record. now unless you believe in something like the sophomore jinx, it only figures that this staff is gonna get even better. and that's gotta be a scary thought even for the likes of albert pujols and josh hamilton in the west. >> that was hit shallow center field. coming in. that's it. milone with a complete game. >> reporter: prior to last year, unless you are some kind of fantasy league fanatic, you would have been hard-pressed to name even a couple of pitchers in the starting location for oakland. although they haven't reached status quo yet, they are on the radar of many who matters beginning with the starter brett anderson who made his presence felt last august

following a return from tommy john surgery. in his six starts, he racked up four wins and a 2.57 e.r.a. a youngster considered a veteran. >> i'm 25. i feel like 45 next to the young guys. we had young pitching that stepped up. bartolo leading the way. i like where we're at and where we're heading this coming year. >> reporter: when it comes to this team's pitching, the as stand for astonishing. think about it. the tampa bay rays are the only team staff that allowed fewer ones than the as. considering two of the guys that helped put these numbers together were rookies in 2012, tommy milone and parker. they tied for the team's franchise record for victory in a first season with 13, both are so fresh, they don't even understand what it is they should fear in the big leagues. >> i haven't been around long enough to really know. but i feel like that the guys

that we had didn't make it feel like we're all rookies. we went out there and we battle nd a we kept the team in the game. it felt like we were out there doing our job. we had a friendly competition between the starters. just go out there and try to outperform the guy who just went before you. >> we real ized when we see another team that has a lot of guys that have put in 10, 15 years, we look at ourselves and we can't even add up to that many. we just kind of know who we are and we don't put too much into it. >> reporter: by the end of last season, the as were the fifth staff of the young majors. that said not to another get bartolo colon. >> ibanez, spwings and misses. >> reporter: -- swings and misses. >> reporter: a.j. griffin bolted up three levels in the as' system only to firmly implant himself with a 7- 1 record and a 3.06 e.r.a.

>> the definite drive is to come in and have it be like a seamless transition. you want to come in and contribute right off the bat. >> you never want to be the weak link on the team. >> you have a lot -- we have a lot of confidence in our stuff. that's why we're at this level. it's just the preparation that we take just to get ready. we don't take that lightly. we go in. just because we pitch every fifth day, doesn't mean like every other day is not important. the confidence play as big role. we have confidence in our stuff and i think we were able to see that last year. >> you won't have the same payroll and the name recognition as the angels or the rangers. so we have the underdog tag. we kind of like it. we go out there and nobody really knows who we are but we win ballgames. and i like it. >> reporter: under the heading of you have efinner have enough great arms. fred ingles introduces us to a former first baseman who can be

a bullpen mainstay. >> reporter: shawn do lool made his debut last -- sean doolittle made his debut last june. sean averaged more than 11.4 strikeouts for more than nine innings pitched. sean's fastball has been his key to success. >> obviously the vells toty -- vem lossty with it -- velocity is one thing. we've been developing secondary pitches but by no means am i gonna be a guy that's gonna come out and try to roll a breaking ball in there and surprise you. i'm still gonna attack with the fastball. >> 96 miles an hour from do lool. >> reporter: sean thought he would get here as first baseman. sean remembered he used to pitch in college. >> it did come back really

fick. i don't know if -- quick. i don't know if it's one of those things that i was meant to be. >> reporter: last season sean pitched six games with stockton, eight games with texas and two games with a triple-a -- with triple-a. this conversion is pretty spectacular. you realize that, right? >> it's not lost how crazy last year was. for me to make the transition to go to the big leagues in two months it's not something i take for granted. >> i don't know if there's a better story last year in baseball for sean doolittle. but a very humble kid, very grounded. i think that's one of the reasons he was able to have the success he did at many levels and changes on top of it. he's a special kid. >> i think there's a little bit of that factor there that there is a natural knack for it in the way that my body is able to

repeat my delivery and that sort of thing. it's something that i'm really proud of and i'm just really glad it worked out. >> and that's the ballgame. >> reporter: if you think three's a crowd, wait until you get a look at the as' outfield and a superstar in the making, yoenis cespedes. back in a moment.

♪ when it comes to the as outfield you could say they have a 5 for 4 going on. that's more like the way bob melvin describes his predicament. that would be five very talented placers for only four positions, left, right, center and designated hitter. but as joe fonzi explains, as

problems go, it's really not a bad one to have. the outfield here at phoenix municipal stadium is even more vast than the one an at the oakland coliseum -- the one at the oakland coliseum. the fact he's managerring in the leagues gives him one more option but bob melvin has a math problem on his hand. >> i'm not sure how it's gonna play out as far as a recipe yet. that is coco crisp, yoenis cespedes and chris young. >> that's the situation right now. as a player, you don't have really control over those things. >> you have to celebrate a play every day. >> reporter: one way the as figured it out was to move yoenis cespedes to left field. a regular there when healthy, the rookie from cuba batted .292 with 23 home runs.

>> you have to continue bat all year. >> reporter: right field will be handled by josh reddick. all he did last year was hit 32 home runs in his first season in oakland and develop a loyal following in the bleachers. >> they are great. they go et into the -- they get into the whole thing. me were all of my wrestling stuff. >> reporter: add one more player in the battle for playing time, seth smith. left, right, designated hitter, he'll do it all. >> takes care of itself. none of us will worry about. bob and his staff do a great job of communicating to us. it may not be what we always want to hear. >> reporter: it will be a jugglege act for bob mel -- juggling act for bob melvin all season but in this case, that's a good problem to have. fred ingles has more on the

cuban defector getting his second season in oakland. >> watch this home run get out. >> reporter: it's not very often a rookie leads a major league team in batting average but yoenis cespedes did that last year with oakland with a human highlight reel, on-base and slugging percentage, leading. >> this guy's a bullet. >> he's intimidating. he's afraid of nothing. by the end of the year, he was exactly what you hoped to become. >> translator: it's all about adaptation. the beep ginning was hard for -- beginning was hard for him. he don't feel really comfortable in the country yet because he cannot dominate the language. >> he never played a single game in the minors but he fell to a cuban league professional

record of 33 home runs. >> everyone knew he had power. the question was more about his consistency as a hitter. he learned pitches. he's a smart kid and a very good athlete. >> he reminds me a lot of would jack -- bo jackson. >> he's built like a linebacker and his workouts were a big hit on youtube. >> translator: the only difference that he have to prove is stretching, batting. be healthy. >> reporter: the rookie numbers speak for themselves you never heard the legal and family issues that kept yoenis cespedes distracted most of the last season. yop defected from cuba two years ago -- yoenis cespedes defected from cuba two years ago. and family members escaped to the dominican republic last year but they got caught in a political and bureaucratic

nightmare. >> when he first came over, it was hard to tell what was bothering him at times. we didn't find out until later that he was going through some of these things but earlier this month, his family finally moved to miami. >> translator: i think they are gonna be relaxed. >> reporter: his mother is a former pitching and can retomb coaching her son. >> translator: she always talk to him about you have to be prepared and put everything on the field. >> reporter: and like a good son, yoenis cespedes ising his homework -- is doing his homework. here they come. >> intense hello?

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back in the '70s when the as put together three consecutive world championships they were known for their free spirited attitude, remember the long hair and mustaches? these days they, of course, would like to replicate that kind of on-field success and maybe some day fans will remember them as the team with the long hair but the beards instead. fred ingles has more on that hair hairy predicament. >> that baby is gone! >> reporter: josh reddick lead the team in home runs last year. this spring he's leading a new category, most wis kerrs. >> -- whist kerr -- wis kerrs.

-- whiskers. >> no. >> i think we got a bunch of guys growing beards. >> what was the motivation? >> hunting. >> if i shave, i look like i'm about 15. >> that's a nice beard but it isn't a josh reddick's beard. >> it's better. that is nasty. come on? >> this is a professional. i know what i'm doing -- they are all pretty proud of their beards. >> when charlie finley owned the as back in the '70s he actually paid his players to grow facial hair. lew wolff is not about to dish out the money but he isn't about to stop this beard brigade either. >> i like them. others don't. i'm not gonna ask them to remove them. >> reporter: this beardoff has

crossed over to reddick's other love, professional wrestling. >> we can have daniel bryant challenge me to a beardoff at the end of the year. of course i'm gonna say yes. everybody knows i'm a huge wrestling guy. no shaving throughout the year no matter what goes down. >> reporter: this is not part of the a.s' fear the beard cam -- as fear the beard campaign. it's just a fun loving bunch to unite. >> sure. why can't it be? we had such a close clubhouse last year. anything you can use in bringing each other together, i think is big. >> reporter: not every player is on board with this idea. but josh reddick, well, he hopes it keeps growing every day. it's pretty clear to see that whereverrer the as finish this year, they are gonna have a good time getting there. they have the attitude, they've

got the talent, the oakland as got the talent, the oakland as 2013, yes, they are [ man ] i got this citi thankyou card and started earning loads of points. we'll leave that there. you got a weather balloon, with points? yes i did. [ man ] points i could use for just about anything. go. ♪ keep on going in this direction. take this bridge over here. there it is! [ man ] so i used mine to get a whole new perspective. [ laughter ] [ male announcer ] earn points with the citi thankyou card