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As bad as things got for the Oakland Athletics in August and early September, and they were historically bad for a while, the A's are still in a decent position for a team on the verge of one of baseball's greatest collapses.

Even after Wednesday's 5-4 loss to the Angels, Oakland is tied with Kansas City for the American League wild-card lead and three games ahead of Seattle with four games to play.

The A's have their ace, Jon Lester, lined up to start the wild-card knockout game Tuesday. If they win and advance to the division series, most likely against the Angels, they will have one of baseball's hottest pitchers, Jeff Samardzija, lined up for Games 1 and 5 of the first round.

They also have superb young right-hander Sonny Gray and resurgent left-hander Scott Kazmir to fill out what would be one of baseball's best playoff rotations.

"In the words of Lou Piniella, there are a lot more doors in the house besides the front door, you know?" Oakland outfielder Jonny Gomes said. "All you have to do is get in. You don't have to go in the front door. I'm sure there are quite a few teams that would love to switch places with us right now."

That was definitely true Aug. 10, when the A's had baseball's best record, 72-44, a four-game AL West lead over the Angels and an 11-game wild-card lead.

Then the injuries mounted, a Yoenis Cespedes-less lineup stumbled, and the A's went into a tailspin, losing 22 of 31 games from Aug. 10 to Sept. 12 to fall 11 games behind the division-winning Angels, a 15-game swing in the standings in 33 days.

To put that in perspective, the 1995 Angels, who suffered one of the worst collapses in baseball history, went from 101/2 games up Aug. 16 to three games back Sept. 26, a 131/2-game swing in 41 days.

An A's offense that averaged five runs per game before the All-Star break scored 3.4 runs per game during the slide, losing 10 one-run games. Oakland has been shut out seven times since Aug. 1. That has put a huge strain on the pitching staff, especially the bullpen, and there were a few late-inning meltdowns.

"Some guys wanted to step up and carry the team for a bit and were pressing," closer Sean Doolittle said. "We always felt like we were close to turning the corner, but we were never fully able to round it. It was always one step forward, two steps back."

More here:
A's lose to Angels, 5-4, but still have a good shot at playoffs

A new Knockout Game: Groups Beating Random People
So apparently a new version of the "Knockout Game" is going around. I share my thoughts on this shameful new "game".

By: TheKeithCarnes

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A new Knockout Game: Groups Beating Random People - Video

Knockout Game Compilation
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By: LookUpFool!

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Knockout Game Compilation - Video

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Its purpose is to render an unsuspecting victim unconscious with a single sucker-punch.

"The Knockout Game" is the name given to the phenomenon by media outlets and law enforcement officials, and it's a possible motive investigated each time a victim is felled in an apparently random, one-blow assault.

Has it made its way to Staten Island?

That's what authorities are investigating aftera 58-year-old womantold authorities she was sucker-punched as she rode the S76 bus on Thursday. The woman said she was talking on her phone when someone in a group of youths that was sitting behind her punched her in the back of the head for no apparentreason andfled.

"Somebody hit me very badly in the back of my head, really badly, like the roof fell down on the back of my head," she said.

Here's a look at some notorious recent incidents in the city that have been investigated as possible "Knockout Game" attacks:

PREGNANT WOMAN PUNCHED

In August, six-months-pregnant Brooklyn resident Jannatul Ferdous was walking along the sidewalk in the borough's Bedford-Styvesant section when a man walked up anddrilled her, according to the New York Post.

She was knocked unconscious, but neither she or her child were critically hurt, the reports said. The Post reported the attacker did not know her and the incident appeared to be random.

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Disturbing footage shows some of the NYC incidents investigated as 'Knockout Game'

"Somebody hit me very badly in the back of my head, really badly, like the roof fell down on the back of my head."

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Staten Island woman fears she was the victim of the "Knockout Game" after a young man sucker-punched her as she rode a city bus.

Kat, 58, boarded the S76 bus at Tompkinsville just before 5 p.m. Thursday, and was heading to the East Shore from work when the alleged assault took place.

She spoke to the Advance on condition that her full name be withheld, as she feared retaliation.

An NYPD spokeswoman confirmed that the alleged assault took place at about 5 p.m., near the intersection of Vanderbilt Avenue and Targee Street.

Kat was initially standing on the crowded, rush-hour bus, but found an open seat, and once sitting, became engrossed in her cell phone.

She had noticed a group of about seven or eight teenage boys and girls behind her, and at one point, she heard them singing or chanting something that sounded like, "dun dun da dun dun da," but, as she described it Sunday night, "My nose was in the phone the whole time... I was interested in the vote from Scotland."

A few moments later, she said, "Somebody hit me very badly in the back of my head, really badly, like the roof fell down on the back of my head."

Kat called out, asking who hit her and why, and ran after the group of youths, she said. At one point, she recalled, a girl in the group scolded one of the boys for hitting her, saying, "Why did you slap this lady with no reason? This is rude."

The boy mumbled a response, then slowed crossed the street.

Link:
Woman, 58, punched on city bus, fears she was victim of 'Knockout Game'