http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/21/SPBT1LKSMR.DTL Curt Young back as A's pitching coach Susan Slusser, Chronicle Staff Writer One year after leaving the A's for the Red Sox, Curt Young is back as Oakland's pitching coach. Young served in the same position with the A's from 2004-2010, and during that time, the A's staff put up a league-best 4.03 ERA and held opponents to a league low .257 average. "I'm disappointed with how our season ended," said Young of the Red Sox's late collapse, "but I'm excited to be back in Oakland and I'm looking forward to working with Bob Melvin." Young was under contract for another year with Boston, but the Red Sox, who are undergoing an offseason shakeup, will pick up "a significant portion" of his salary, according to a team source. The A's also had requested permission to speak to Reds pitching coach Bryan Price, who worked with Melvin when he was managing in Arizona and Seattle, but they were not allowed to pursue him. "I'm very excited. This was by no means a second-choice kind of thing," said Melvin, who has known Young for years and played with him with the 1992 Royals. "We went into the offseason targeting two guys, both of whom we knew would be very difficult to get because of the commitments those teams had made to them, and we knew we'd be very lucky to get one of them. "I definitely don't want anyone to think Curt was a second choice. I've seen him from the other side of the field - the pitchers respect him, and throughout the organization, everyone knows he's very valuable." That includes most of the A's starters, four of whom - Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill, Brett Anderson and Dallas Braden - have worked with Young nearly their entire careers. "I started with Curt. Why not continue with him?" Gonzalez said. "I think it's a great thing. It feels like he just took a year off, took a vacation." Young pitched for the A's for 10 years, and altogether spent 23 years in the Oakland organization before leaving for Boston. "The roots run extremely deep," Braden said. "His pedigree is Oakland all the way. He's back in his element. He knows what wave to catch." --

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