The World Series had been over for only a few minutes when the word dynasty started to be thrown around like a batting practice grounder.
The Oakland Athletics are a good team, perhaps a great team. But dynasty?The New York Yankees from the mid-1920s to the early 1960s were a dynasty.
The Boston Celtics and Montreal Canadiens had dynasties.
Bill Shoemaker was a one-man dynasty.
The Oakland A's?
They are a team that has won one World Series and two American League pennants. Right now, that's not even close to a dynasty.
Sure, they looked invincible in wrecking the San Francisco Giants in four straight games. But consider the shape of the Giants' tattered pitching staff.
Scott Garrelts had a sore elbow, Rick Reuschel a sore shoulder and Don Robinson a sore knee. All combined to give Manager Roger Craig a sick headache.
In the four games, the Giants starters allowed 22 hits and 18 runs in 13 innings. Garrelts, Reuschel and Robinson averaged 3 1/3 innings per start.
There are rotations in the new senior league that look better.
The Giants were outhomered 10-3 and never led in 36 innings.
In the 1980s, no team repeated as World Series champion. The last club to repeat was the New York Yankees in 1978, when George Steinbrenner's baseball committee still had control.
"There are a lot of elements in becoming a dynasty," said Oakland pitcher Dave Stewart, the Series MVP. "Returning year after year and winning year after year. If we continue to play the game properly as we have, and if Tony La Russa wants us to play the game, then I can see us winning the thing a few more times."
There are indeed a lot of "ifs" involved in this dynasty business.
It's also a lot harder to build a dynasty now.
Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle couldn't file for free agency or demand trades.
The last baseball team to come close to a dynasty were the Oakland A's, who won consecutive World Series in 1972, 1973 and 1974. They probably could have won the World Series a few more years, but Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Joe Rudi and Rollie Fingers all wanted big bucks.
A's general manager Sandy Alderson faces similar problems this winter.
Rickey Henderson and Storm Davis are eligible to file for free agency.
"My first choice is to stay in Oakland," Henderson said. "But I have to see what's out there."
Rickey may get some nice offers, too.
With a little motivation, Henderson demonstrated in the playoffs and World Series why he may be the best leadoff hitter in the history of the game.
He was 9-for-19 in the Series and led off Game 4 with a home run to get the A's rolling. In nine postseason games, Henderson set a record with 11 steals.
"I think he's the single most devastating weapon in baseball," La Russa said. "Put him in your lineup and he's worth two or three runs. Then surround him with (Jose) Canseco and (Mark) McGwire and he's going to get them runs, too. He's got to be the greatest leadoff hitter in baseball."