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For those unconvinced that the Oakland Athletics are a team that has everything, there is the matter of Stanley Burrell. As if it weren't enough that the defending world champions boast a starting rotation with two 20-game winners, a superb bullpen, twin towers of power, a man on the verge of a record for career stolen bases and a spare outfielder who clinched the National League batting title while observing an American League game, herewith the Hammer. Or M.C. Hammer, as he now bills himself.
To the DH, a position where they are at least three-deep entering the American League Championship Series Saturday night against the Boston Red Sox, the A's have added the DR, as in designated rapper. Fittingly, Oakland's gift to the latest phenomenon in music has sterling credentials. The man's second album, "Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em," has surpassed five million in sales. Not only does that make it the best-selling album of any kind this year but the best-selling rap album of all time.
Much like Spike Lee in his trademark Brooklyn cap and Dodgers shirt, Hammer frequently wears his hometown affiliation on his sleeve. But this is not a case of a celebrity fan identifying with a time and place, such as Tom Selleck in his Detroit Tigers cap. Burrell, aka Hammer, once served as an executive with the A's, if in name only....