Is winning the World Series the only measure of success for the New York Yankees, the Los Angeles Dodgers or really any team? This episode challenges that notion, exploring the idea that a "perfect season" in MLB might be more about providing fans with an exciting summer.

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Coming off an absolute gut punch of an 11-1 beatdown in Houston, the A’s are staring down a major gut-check moment today After getting steamrolled by a lineup that looked like it was playing tee-ball, the A’s have a shot to punch back, split the series, and remind the Astros—and the rest of the league—that they’re not rolling over for anybody. Last night was ugly, no doubt. But baseball doesn’t give you time to sulk. It gives you 24 hours to get pissed off, regroup, and come back swinging. This is the kind of moment where you find out what kind of fight this team has. It’s easy to look sharp when you're winning—harder when you’re staring down one of the best lineups in baseball and trying to salvage a little pride in their house. The A’s need a response, not just to get back in the win column, but to make a statement: this rebuild isn’t soft, and this clubhouse isn’t here to be anybody’s punching bag. Let’s see if they’ve got that dog in them tonight.

After finally snapping an 11-game losing streak on Sunday, the A’s had a chance to build something—anything—against the Astros on Tuesday. Instead, they got bulldozed 11-1 in a game that looked like a carbon copy of the previous two weeks. So the question has to be asked: has anything actually changed? Or did Sunday’s win just give this team—and maybe even us—a false sense of hope? Because from the looks of it, the losing streak may be over, but the losing mentality is still alive and well.

And then there’s Mark Kotsay. His postgame comments after Sunday’s win were meant to sound confident, but they raised more red flags than reassurance. Is he the right guy to lead this clubhouse? Is there too much acceptance of mediocrity within the organization? Maybe it’s time to stop pretending this is a sleeping giant and start considering the possibility that the A’s just aren’t that good. Are the expectations wrong? Or are we just refusing to accept the reality staring us in the face? Let’s dig into all of that today on Locked on A’s.