The Oakland Athletics fell short again in the playoffs, losing an extra-inning thriller to the Kansas City Royals Tuesday night. But beyond that heartbreak, the loss may be most disappointing to Oakland's 14-year veteran who made his first postseason trip this year — only to warm the bench all game: Adam Dunn.
Dunn was among the active leaders in games played without reaching the playoffs. Meanwhile, three of the teams he's played for over the years — the Reds, Diamondbacks, and Nationals — all made the playoffs shortly after he left. Yet Dunn did not get the start Tuesday, and never got a chance to pinch hit even as the game dragged into the twelfth inning. And with the A's out of the playoffs after one measly game, so, too, is Dunn.
As he'd hinted earlier this year, Dunn is now likely headed into retirement, meaning he could finish his remarkable career — 462 homers, 2,379 strikeouts, third-most all-time — without ever getting a postseason at-bat.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"That's probably it," Dunn said after the game.
-
5 museum-grade cartoons about Trump's Smithsonian purgeCartoons Artists take on institutional rebranding, exhibit interpretation, and more
-
Settling the West Bank: a death knell for a Palestine state?In the Spotlight The reality on the ground is that the annexation of the West Bank is all but a done deal
-
Codeword: August 23, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
