A's closer Mason Miller giving Oakland fans something to cheer about

An Oakland Athletics rookie is giving fans a reason to cheer in a season that has been filled with jeers.

Closer Mason Miller is lighting up radar guns and locking down games in a way that is drawing eyes to an A's team crawling up the standings.

"It's been a coming out party of sorts," Miller said.

Former A's pitcher and current team broadcaster Dallas Braden put it in a different way.

"I call him 'Mason AKA Moses,' because when he walks into a room the sea parts," he said. "He just goes on about his business and everyone else just fills in behind him in his wake."

Miller really got the attention of the league back on April 22 when he struck out Anthony Volpe, Juan Soto, and Aaron Judge on pitches over 100 miles per hour.

"I think doing it on the big stage like that, that's the creme de la creme of baseball," said Miller.

Miller never imagined he would be in this position. He began his playing career at Division III Waynesburg University in Pennsylvania and at one point had an ERA in the sevens, something his old friends still remind him about.

"My buddies pull me back to earth. They say, 'Yeah, remember when you were at Waynesburg and I had a double off you?' or something like that. Good friendship reminiscing on the times we've had and how far I've come," said Miller.

His game didn't reach its peak until he learned he had Type I Diabetes and discovered how to add weight and keep it on. That helped raised his velocity on his pitches.

His main focus at the end of college was landing a job after graduation. Miller was ready to accept a budgeting efficiency job with a health network in Pittsburgh, but then he received an extra year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He transferred to Division I Gardner-Webb. He pitched well enough for the A's to draft him in the third round of the 2021 draft.

"It's pretty cool, I'm glad that COVID happened and I didn't end up in that situation," he said. "The difference a couple years has made for me is crazy."

Miller is perfect in save opportunities and owns a majority of the fastest pitches thrown by MLB pitchers this season. He has been called on night after night to close out games.

His unlikely path is giving a battered A's fan base something to cheer about after the news that the team would relocate to Sacramento after the season as they await a new stadium in Las Vega s.

"Now there's storylines for these fans to follow, to fall in love with that allows them to escape some of the other realities that face the franchise," said Braden.

"It's just a matter of being consistent and showing up with that attitude and that mindset every day at the field; that you're going to go in and the team's going to win and you're going to dominate," said Miller.