For a team stuck in a stadium they hate and in a city they are trying to flee, the A's are a pretty lively bunch at the midway point of the 2012 season.

You could actually say the A's are entertaining, which is curious considering they have scored fewer runs than any team in the American League.

You could say they are brimming with talent, which is quite a development considering they spent the past winter off-loading their name players for younger, cheaper ones.

As they begin the second half of the season, the A's are a spirited collection of 20-somethings – several of whom have personality, luminous talent or both.

You haven't been able to say that in Oakland since Miguel Tejada, Jason Giambi, Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito were together a decade ago. Especially in the last five years, it seemed A's players had to take an oath of dullness before getting the nod from general manager Billy Beane.

That's changed.

At 25, closer Ryan Cook rode his blazing fastball to the All-Star Game and a 1-2-3 seventh inning with two strikeouts.

Left fielder Yoenis Cespedes, though still raw – especially in the field – is a Cuban Mickey Mantle as a 26-year-old rookie.

Statistically, the A's have the best pitching staff in the American League with a team ERA of 3.38. Left-hander Tommy Milone, 25, has been a revelation with a team-leading eight wins and poise beyond his years.

Only 23, right-hander Jarrod Parker started the season in Sacramento and didn't get the call to Oakland until late April, but he's taken a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the powerful Texas Rangers.

Right fielder Josh Reddick, 25, has 20 home runs and doubled home the winning run Sunday – lifting the A's to a 43-43 record at the break.

That puts them right in the mix, two games back in the wild-card standings.

Attendance is up so far this season, with the A's averaging slightly more than 21,000 fans per game.

It's a great story that the A's are not only competitive but have been resurgent considering they began spring training with a whopping three spots open in their rotation – and no clue who would play for them at the corners.

When I looked in their Phoenix clubhouse in spring training, I wondered: "Who are these guys?"

The biggest name in A's camp was Manny Ramirez, the suspended steroid star whose comeback with Oakland didn't get past Raley Field in West Sacramento.

It could have been ugly, and the first half did have its low points, including one rainy night game against the Kansas City Royals when there couldn't have been more than 500 people in the stands at O.co Coliseum.

By June 3, the A's had been shut out 11 times.

But Beane's offseason trades – which landed Cook, Parker, Reddick, Milone and rising 23-year-old catcher Derek Norris – have fashioned the A's into something worth watching.

They have eight walk-off wins, the most in the majors and five more than they had all of last season.

Before the All-Star break, Oakland hitters homered in 17 consecutive games for the first time in a decade.

OK. I know what some of you are thinking – that the A's as a franchise are most adept at exceeding minimal expectations. Beane detractors certainly feel that way, his fame as the lead character in the film and book "Moneyball" notwithstanding.

"Moneyball" shined a light on the philosophy of statistics-based team building and player evaluation – a once-maligned movement now mainstream in baseball.

But the numbers on the A's – in attendance and wins/losses – haven't added up for years, and the new kids could still wilt as the serious part of the season begins Friday.

Maybe. But manager Bob Melvin has the team playing hard and not giving up. The second half of the A's season could be interesting for the first time since 2006, the last time the A's went to the postseason.

The odds are that the A's won't reach the playoffs this season, but it will be fun watching them try for the first time in too long.

MIDSEASON SNAPSHOTS

• The A's lead the majors with eight walk-off wins (five more than the team had last season).

• Closer Ryan Cook is the team's lone All-Star representative. He strikes out two in a 1-2-3 inning of relief.

• The A's are the lowest-scoring team in the American League, yet are 43-43.

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