On Sunday afternoon in Washington, D.C., the Oakland Athletics had a 7-2 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning, looking to close out the Nationals and win a second game in the last week. Enter A’s Manager Mark Kotsay, perhaps one of the dumbest “lifers” in baseball we have ever seen manage a team. He foolishly brought the Oakland closer in to the game in a non-save situation, and the A’s lost, 8-7. Futility, indeed.

Our Oakland Futility Watch reports this grim news today as the Athletics are now 33-85 after a blown gimme that is unlike any in Oakland A’s history. Somewhere we read this is the first time in 56-season history of the team’s East Bay residency that the Athletics have blown such a winnable game, up by 5 runs in the ninth inning—as the manager ignored the old adage of never using the closer in unless it’s a save sitch.

We happened to be watching this one on TV, for a change, and even the local announcers never thought Kotsay would use closer Trevor May in this situation, saying so in the bottom of the eighth inning as May warmed in the bullpen after four days of inactivity. Again, it’s kind of a known reality not to do this, but every time a manager does, it seems to blow up in his face, spectacularly so. Yes, Kotsay is that dumb.

We even texted a few friends across the country and bet them that May would implode in this situation: he walked the first batter and ended up getting just two outs while putting five runners on base. By the time Kotsay pulled him and brought in some nobody with a two-run lead still, it didn’t matter. The Nationals walked it off, and they’re not even a good team themselves (53-66)—but they just swept the inept A’s.

The Athletics’ .280 win percentage projects out now to a 45-win season, and every win matters when you’re trying to avoid a historically bad year. One more little note? In the top of the ninth, the A’s had the bases loaded with one out, with “veteran” Seth Brown at the plate. We’ve railed on Brown’s bankruptcy of actual talent before, but in this case, he struck out on three pitches and failed to get an insurance run across home.

Maybe it could have made a difference in the end; maybe not. But Brown is a garbage player at age 30 this season. He has no business being in the major leagues, and for Kotsay to keep running him out there every day instead of a younger player with more upside? Again reeks of stupidity. We do remember, though, how Kotsay himself was so bad in 2007 for the A’s—but kept playing every day due to his “veteran” status. Ha!

Loyalty to veterans is nice when you’re winning, but Oakland is losing and needs wins. By ignoring two common rules for modern managing, Kotsay is hurting the A’s chances to avoid infamy. He really needs to be fired as soon as the season is over, regardless of whether the Athletics surpass the 2003 Detroit Tigers (.265) or the 1962 New York Mets (.250) in terms of “winning” percentage. Kotsay is trash, period. Toss him!