Infrequent Musings on the Oakland Athletics

Shutting Down ... For Now?

2013-05-11T06:52:00.004-07:00

Quick update - 4/14/15

Last season I started writing for Vavel USA, covering both the A's and the Seattle Seahawks. You can find all of my write-ups here. There are several of us writing about the A's on the site, so bookmark the A's page on Vavel here. Thanks!

As you may or may not have noticed, there has been a significant drop-off in my Athletics blogging since the offseason. However, I thought it would pick back up at the start of this season, but I just have not had the ability to do so. At the same time, I have actually missed at least a portion of many of the A's games to this point in the season and have been following them via online checking in vs. sitting in front of the TV and watching the games.

Therefore, I've decided that I'm going to shut this blog down for the time being, if not permanently. The one piece that I realize I did not complete was the last "A's Favorites" write-up on Rickey Henderson. I was saving Rickey to the end, as he is/was my all-time favorite Athletic. At some point, I would like to put that together, but I have no idea when it will happen. When it does, I will likely post it over at Athletics Nation.

Moving forward, if or when A's thoughts come to me, I will be leveraging Athletics Nation and Google+ as my writing space. Naturally, immediate reactions will be on Twitter as I'm watching things unfold during a game or as news breaks.

Hopefully this team can right the ship for the 2013 season. Things are not going as planned. Once again proving that any time my favorite team(s) has expectations put on it, things quickly unravel.

Let's go Oakland!

The Oakland A’s Are Back!

2013-04-01T14:29:00.001-07:00

Finally! The baseball season is upon us! Tonight, the Oakland A’s kick off the regular season with a four game series against the Mariners at home. Before we get there, let’s take a quick look back at the moves the club made in March to finalize the opening day roster – also covered below.

As you can imagine, there were a number of transactions in March, as the team looked to wind down the roster down to its final 25 men. Many of these moves were simply optioning some of the farm talent back to the minors as the regular season drew near. While some fans might like to argue for one player or another due to personal biases, there weren’t too many surprises.

Those that were optioned to the minors included Grant Green, Michael Taylor, Jemile Weeks, and Shane Peterson. The name most surprising (and disappointing) name on this list is Weeks. I was expecting him to come into this spring with a lot of passion and win back the starting spot at second base. He would bring a unique element of speed to the team – both in the lineup and on the field.

Earlier this weekend, the team designated Daric Barton and Travis Blackley for assignment. First, that will end Mr. Barton’s Athletics career and you won’t hear me complain about that whatsoever. After a terrible spring, the team decided that it had to let Blackley go due to the performances of quite a number of others that were positioning themselves for a spot in the bullpen.

Finally, the team claimed first baseman Nate Freiman from the Astros and RHP Josh Stinson from the Brewers within the past two weeks as well. While Stinson was optioned to the minor leagues, Freiman will be with on the opening day roster.

With all of that movement, here is what the 25 man roster looks like:

Starting Pitchers:

Brett Anderson, Jarrod Parker, Tommy Milone, AJ Griffin, Dan Straily (who will be replaced by Bartolo Colon, once his PED suspension expires)

Relief Pitchers:

Grant Balfour, Jerry Blevins, Ryan Cook, Sean Doolittle, Pat Neshek, Chris Resop, and Evan Scribner

Catchers:

John Jaso, Derek Norris

Infielders:

Brandon Moss, Nate Freiman, Eric Sogard, Jed Lowrie, Josh Donaldson, and Scott Sizemore

Outfielders:

Josh Reddick, Chris Young, Coco Crisp, Seth Smith, and Yoenis Cespedes

Disabled list:

Hiroyuki Nakajima and Adam Rosales will begin the season on the DL. It will be interesting to see who may struggle in the beginning of the season and who these two might wind up replacing when they are available to return. It will also be interesting to see if Nakajima can in fact beat out a few of the guys playing the middle infield positions for the A’s over the next week or two.

With all of that out of the way, here is tonight’s starting lineup:

Crisp (CF)
Jaso (C)
Reddick (RF)
Cespedes (LF)
Lowrie (SS)
Moss (1B)
Donaldson (3B)
Smith (DH)
Sogard (2B)
Anderson (SP)

The Oakland A’s are back! It will be great to see the 2012 AL West Champions back in action! Looking forward to tonight and the start of some meaningful baseball! Let’s go Oakland! (Complete overuse of the exclamation point!

A’s Offseason Summary & Thoughts thru February

2013-03-01T17:03:00.000-08:00

Photo credit: ESPN.com

February got off to a smoking start for the A’s and their fans as Billy Beane pulled off a bit of a stunner in sending Chris Carter, Brad Peacock, and Max Stassi to their new division rival, the Astros, for Jed Lowrie. The A’s also picked up RP Fernando Rodriguez in the deal.

I was pretty surprised to see Beane deal away Carter and several relatively prominent names from the farm system for a player that has been injured quite a bit and has played the majority of his time at SS in the past, given the Nakajima signing. However, in four preseason games, Lowrie has been playing all over the infield, including SS twice and one game apiece at 2B and 3B. We may see this happen quite a bit in the regular season as the A’s and Bob Melvin mix and match across the infield to try to the find the right combination of players and/or sticking with the “hot” player.

Chris Carter has always been tough to figure out for A’s fans. His career did not progress too far over the past two seasons and perhaps the team feels like he has plateaued a bit. Perhaps Melvin wasn’t convinced in Carter’s ability to play more frequently and wasn’t comfortable with his limitations. That certainly makes sense given the coach’s decision to use others in last year’s playoffs over Carter. Also, I thought this story over at AN provided some strong rationale as to why Carter was no longer with the A’s.

After this “blockbuster”, the month of February was very quiet. In fact, the only other deal that the team announced was the signing of LHP Hideki Okajima to a minor league contract. While the A’s have a good amount of depth in their bullpen, you can never have enough to cover for injuries, rest, etc. Hideki has made two appearances thus far in spring training and has not given up a run yet, pitching 2 innings with 2 K’s and 2 BB’s.

It is certainly nice to have baseball back in the mix, even if it is only spring training! Now, on to the WBC, where zero A’s will be participating … thankfully!

Let’s go Oakland!

A's Baseball is Back! (Unofficially)

2013-02-23T07:15:00.002-08:00

The #Athletics lineup for today's Cactus League opener against the #Brewers. twitter.com/Athletics/stat…
— Oakland Athletics (@Athletics) February 23, 2013

The Oakland Athletics Spring Training unofficially begins today with a 3pm (EST) game against the Milwaukee Brewers. Unfortunately, MLB.TV only has radio coverage of today's game. Those wishing to see Jesse Chavez opening up the Spring session for the A's will have to be there in person or live another day.

The A's Twitter feed posted the lineup above and I thought it was interesting to see the middle of the infield (Weeks and Nakajima) at the top of the lineup. I'm a big fan of Jemile and hope that he plays well enough to win the starting 2B job. We need his speed on the roster, he will need to do a little bit of everything else however to prove he deserves the spot.

Other notes from today's lineup - Cespedes and Crisp stay on the pine and Jaso gets the nod behind the plate.

While today's game is virtually meaningless, it is great to have A's baseball back! Let's go Oakland!

Photo credit: Oakland A's Tumblr Page

A’s Favorites – Tim Hudson

2013-02-17T13:24:00.000-08:00

Our next A’s Favorites piece continues from the early 2000’s era and my favorite pitcher from those teams, Tim Hudson. Again, as a quick reminder, the genesis of this series is from a thread on Athletics Nation regarding who were some of each poster’s favorite players from the past. My responses within that thread were grouped together by era:

80’s and early 90’s – Rickey Henderson, Dennis Eckersley, and Carney Lansford

Late 90’s and early 2000’s – Tim Hudson and Eric Chavez

Recent departures – Kurt Suzuki

Career Summary

Tim Hudson took quite a path to becoming one of the better pitches baseball has seen over the past decade and a half. He was drafted by the Athletics in the 35^th round but went to play at a Community College for two seasons before finally gaining recognition and landing at Auburn University. Hudson pitched his final two years at Auburn. He was also known as a good hitter in college and made the All-SEC team as both a pitcher and hitter. Tim Hudson was drafted again by the Athletics in the sixth round of the 1997 draft.

Small in stature but big in heart, Hudson quickly made his way to the pros in 1999. He was a June call-up for the Athletics that year and proceeded to go 11-2 through the rest of the season with a 3.23 ERA. In 2000, Hudson led the AL in wins posting a 20-6 record and helped lead the A’s back to the playoffs for the first time since 1992.

Tim pitched for the A’s from 1999-2004 putting up gaudy stats. In 183 starts for the A’s, Hudson was 92-39, good for a 70% win percentage clip. He posted a 3.30 ERA over that same timeframe, with 899 strikeouts and 16 complete games. He made the All Star team in 2000 and 2004 with the A’s.

As you are likely well aware, Hudson was part of Oakland’s ‘Big Three’ with Barry Zito and Mark Mulder. These three were close to dominant in the regular season and helped the team make four straight playoff appearances from 2000-2003. Unfortunately, once these A’s teams got to the playoffs, things crumbled for one reason or another.

The team decided that they needed to restock the roster and farm system and couldn’t afford to keep the big three in the middle of the decade. Hudson was traded to the Atlanta Braves for a package of players that never really became much for the A’s organization. (Why are the Braves the one team that no opposing team ever seems to “win” a trade?)

Hudson has posted similar numbers during his tenure in Atlanta and has come back Tommy John surgery during the 2008 season. The surgery cost him most of the 2009 season as well, returning for September baseball for the Braves. In 2010, Hudson returned to make 34 starts and win Comeback Player of the Year, with a 17-9 record and 2.83 ERA.

Interesting enough, Hudson has never had a record at or below .500 in his major league career. His career ERA is 3.42, which should be considered very impressive given the era that he is/was pitching in.

While his regular season numbers are strong, his postseason results are mixed. He pitched well for the A’s in their two series against the Yankees, but was hammered by the Twins in his two starts in their 2002 series. He didn’t get a decision in either of his starts when the A’s played Boston in 2003. Hudson’s time with the Braves has been met with limited success as well, as those teams have been unable to move past the NLDS in either effort (2005 and 2010).

What drew me to … Tim Hudson

Hudson was my clear favorite from the “Big Three”. He had a fiery attitude and wasn’t willing to back down from anyone when on the mound. He also liked to talk a little trash out there too. While completely ridiculous, Hudson wore #15 which happened to be the number I wore in Little League and another reason that he drew my attention/fandom.

Hudson used multiple pitches to get batters out and was consistently seen as a Cy Young candidate during his tenure with the A’s. I wish that those teams from the early 2000’s were able to move along at least once to get into the longer, seven game series, where they would have held an advantage over any other pitching staff.

Where is Tim Hudson now?

‘Huddy’ is entering the final year of his current contract with the Braves, as the team picked up his option for the forthcoming season at $9 million. Hudson has stated that he would like to resign with the team beyond the 2013 season, so it doesn’t look like retirement is in his foreseeable future.

Best of luck to Hudson this upcoming season, unless of course he is facing the Athletics in the World Series!

(Photo credit: San Francisco Chronicle Photo: Jim Merithew)

Grant Balfour Has Surgery on Knee – Out 4-6 Weeks

2013-02-15T16:43:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, the A’s announced that Grant Balfour, their first option at Closer, was to go under the knife for a minor surgery on his knee. This is by no means good news for the A’s but it certainly isn’t tragic either. While Balfour may be ready to go for the start of the regular season, the A’s – and Balfour – would be wise to take this slow and let his leg fully recover from the surgery. The team has two more than capable arms to fill the role for the time being in Ryan Cook and Sean Doolittle.

As I say that, Balfour has already reported to camp today to begin rehabbing his leg. Look, Grant has been my favorite player on the roster the past two seasons, but please do not rush back and please let the leg recover fully! The 2013 A’s have the chance to do some magical things and need to weather the storms in the earlier parts of the season to prepare for September baseball and hopefully well beyond that!

I really hope that this does not become an omen for the 2013 club. (Crosses fingers … please do the same!)

(Note that this plea comes from a Timberwolves fan, who has seen their current season turn into an unmitigated disaster because of injuries.)

(Photo credit: Daniel Gluskoter/Icon SMI)

A’s Offseason Summary & Thoughts thru January

2013-02-04T18:20:00.000-08:00

January came and went with a few more moves from Beane and company to tinker with the regular lineup for the A’s this coming season and sure up the bullpen.

The team avoided arbitration and reached an agreement with several players before the deadline – including Chris Resop, Seth Smith, Brandon Moss, and Jerry Blevins. Resop was acquired in a trade with Pittsburgh earlier in the offseason and will compete for a spot in the bullpen. After struggling earlier in his career, Jerry Blevins had a phenomenal 2012 season and really turned me into a believer. While it will be interesting to see what happens with Seth Smith and his playing time – given the team’s depth in the OF positions – this was a no-brainer signing for the team. Brandon Moss will be playing 1B for the A’s a lot more frequently in 2013 (given today’s move to send Chris Carter packing for Jed Lowrie … we’ll cover this deal in a separate entry later in the week).

The big news for January came when the team announced it had acquired John Jaso from the Seattle Mariners, who immediately became the A’s starting catcher in 2013 and provides Derek Norris with a little bit of breathing room in his development and takes some pressure off the kid for having to be the everyday man behind the plate. This was an interesting deal that came out of nowhere, particularly since just days earlier, the team had resigned George Kottaras to a one year contract. After announcing the deal for Jaso, Kottaras was designated for assignment and later claimed off waivers by the Royals.

Looking at Jaso’s career numbers the move itself screams “minor upgrade” for the roster and the everyday lineup. The team has gotten rid of the black holes that were seen towards the bottom of the lineup on most nights over the past few seasons and continue to show signs that they are fully committed to putting a winner on the field in 2013 and are “going for it”. Yes!

The only reason you may not love the deal for Jaso is if you had huge hopes for AJ Cole in the A’s organization. The A’s acquired Cole in the deal last offseason involving Gio Gonzalez, but he struggled mightily in Stockton. While he is only 21 years old, there are no guarantees here and I absolutely agree with the idea of “going for it” when you have the chance.

The one other piece of news that came from the clubhouse in January was that the A’s locked up Bob Melvin through 2016, agreeing on a contract extension for the skipper. I don’t think we need to go into too much more depth of what Melvin has brought to this team when he replaced Bob Geren. I think a simple “thank you” is sufficient here. That “thank you” is to both Melvin for what he has done as the manager and to Beane for getting this deal done.

(Photo credit: http://www.mercurynews.com/athletics/ci_22388601/report-acquire-john-jaso-three-team-deal-that)

A’s Favorites – Eric Chavez

2013-01-30T14:22:00.000-08:00

Next in line in the “A’s Favorites” series brings us into the 21^st century and another great third basemen for the franchise, Eric Chavez. Again, as a quick reminder, the genesis of this series is from a thread on Athletics Nation regarding who were some of each poster’s favorite players from the past. My responses within that thread were grouped together by era:

80’s and early 90’s – Rickey Henderson, Dennis Eckersley, and Carney Lansford

Late 90’s and early 2000’s – Tim Hudson and Eric Chavez

Recent departures – Kurt Suzuki

Career Summary

Eric Chavez was taken in the first round (10^th overall) of the 1996 draft by the Athletics and quickly made his way through their farm system. He was called up in the fall of 1998 to begin his major league career. At the age of 20, he hit .311 in his 16 games of the 1998 season. He became the A’s third baseman the following year and by 2000, he was becoming known as one of the best all-around third basemen in the game. Working with then Assistant Coach Ron Washington extensively, Chavez became the premier defensive third baseman in baseball, winning the gold glove award six straight seasons from 2001-2006.

From 2000-2006, Chavez was a key cog in the A’s (somewhat limited) success. Aside from his glove, he provided a consistent bat in the middle of the lineup - .273 BA, 199 HR’s, 660 RBI’s, 1,041 hits and 467 walks during this time span. Times were good, particularly when the A’s resigned Chavez in 2004 to a 6 year, $66 million contract. Fans were certainly not used to seeing the club resigning core members of the squad for big money.

However, those good vibes didn’t last too long. While it started to rear its head in 2006, the 2007 season was where things started to deteriorate for Chavez’s health. In 2007, Eric played in 90 games for the A’s and then seemed to hit a wall when he turned 30 years of age. In his final three years in Oakland from 2008-2010, Chavez only played in a total of 64 games (out of 486 regular season games available). Back pain was the major culprit for Eric, but he also suffered from problems with his shoulder.

The A’s declined Chavez’s option after the 2010 season and he went on to sign with the Yankees. The injuries continued for Chavez during the 2011 season, including a broken bone in his foot while rounding the bases. (I actually remember this happening and just putting my head down and shaking it in disbelief.)

The Yankees resigned Eric for the 2012 season and he put up very respectable numbers, replacing Alex Rodriguez as the regular third baseman for the team. In 113 games played last season, Eric hit .281 with 16 HR’s and 37 RBI’s. This isn’t necessarily lighting the world on fire, but it was a nice comeback from the veteran.

While not a highlight in his career summary, Eric’s numbers in the playoffs display a noticeable drop-off vs. his career averages. The two good series that he had (vs. the Yankees in 2000 and vs. the Twins in 2002) were both losses for the team. The cynic in you could point out that the “it” factor wasn’t necessarily there come October.

What drew me to … Eric Chavez

Chavez was a very popular figure in the A’s clubhouse and became a very, very good player. There are a few things that really drew me to Chavez, some baseball-related, some not so much:

Chavez fit in perfectly with the loose clubhouse the A’s had at the time. His persona on camera was one that was calm, cool, and collected.
Resigning with the A’s for the $66 million vs. grabbing every last nickel really impressed me.
The amount of work that he seemingly put in at third base to become a premier defensive player.
There were rumors floating around that Eric would wear a white mink coat when he “hit the town” (speaking in code) and for some reason I thought / still think this is awesome. (If anyone can confirm this with a picture, I would be forever indebted to you.)

Where is Eric Chavez now?

We may see Chavez in an Arizona Diamondbacks uniform this coming season, as he agreed to a one year contract with the team pending a physical. The National League version of the Oakland Athletics added another piece of the A’s past. Best of luck to Eric this upcoming spring / season!

(Photo credit: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4075/4883627803_d53d028241.jpg)

A’s Favorites – Dennis Eckersley

2013-01-16T18:47:00.001-08:00

We’re continuing the “A’s Favorites” series of write-ups with our second piece focused on Dennis Eckersley. As a quick reminder, the genesis of this series is from a thread on Athletics Nation several weeks ago regarding who were some of each poster’s favorite players from the past. My responses within that thread were grouped together by era:

80’s and early 90’s – Rickey Henderson, Dennis Eckersley, and Carney Lansford

Late 90’s and early 2000’s – Tim Hudson and Eric Chavez

Recent departures – Kurt Suzuki

Career Summary

Drafted by the Cleveland Indians in 1972, Eckersley made his MLB debut in 1975 and it took him very little time to make his mark in the majors, winning AL Rookie Pitcher of the Year. Some might forget that “Eck” was a starting pitcher for the first twelve years in his career and had a good amount of success in the role. After three seasons in Cleveland and an All-Star game appearance, Eckersley was traded to the Boston Red Sox in 1978 (some interesting, mindless information on the Wiki page linked above as for the reasons why) where he started to put together some gaudy numbers. In ’78, Eckersley put up a 20 win season, with a 2.99 ERA. He followed that up with a 17 win season and a matching 2.99 ERA in ’79.

However, in his last four, full years in Boston (’80-’83), Eckersley looked like an average pitcher and potentially on the decline, going 43-48 in 114 starts, with a 4.43 ERA. While he made the All-Star team again in ’82, Boston parted ways with Eck at the beginning of the ’84 season and sent him to the Cubs (for Bill Buckner). While with the Cubs, Eck went 27-26 with a 3.63 ERA.

On April 3, 1987, Eck was traded from the Cubs to the Oakland A’s. After starting two games early in the season for the A’s, he was moved to the bullpen out of necessity and due to an injury to the A’s closer at the time, Jay Howell. Those were the last two starts in Eck’s career, as he quickly became the dominant closer that A’s fans have come to know and love. After 16 saves in ’87, Eckersley became the most formidable closer in the AL for a five year span. Maintaining impeccable control with his pitches and perfecting his slider, you may not see many more impressive five year runs as you do from Eck’s performance from ’88-’92. Leading the AL in saves in ’88 (45) and ’92 (51), over that five year span, Eckersley saved a total of 220 games for the A’s. His ’92 season led to even greater accolades as he took home both the AL Cy Young and AL MVP awards.

Needless to say, Eckersley was a pivotal member of the championship years for the Athletics franchise and the run the team made over the same time period. While he is unfortunately most likely to be remembered by the masses as the pitcher who gave up Kirk Gibson’s HR in game one of the ’88 World Series, I choose to completely abolish this moment from the record books and focus on the dominating performances he provided in the ’88 ALCS and throughout the ’89 playoffs.

Eckersley played three more years in Oakland but saw his numbers start to decline. While he still closed games for the A’s, the expectations of a “lights out” closer started to fade. When Tony La Russa left the A’s to manage the Cardinals (!!!) he brought Eckersley with him. After two more strong years as a closer with the Cardinals (and against NL hitting), Eck finished his career with one final year in Boston in ’98.

At the time of his retirement, Eckersley was the only player to have recorded a 20 win season and a 50 save season; since matched by one player, John Smoltz. Eck finished a 24 year career with 197 wins, 171 losses and 390 saves. His career ERA was 3.50. He went to the All-Star game a total of six times and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004. The A’s franchise retired his jersey (#43) the following year.

What drew me to … Dennis Eckersley

Plain and simple, Eckersley was the most dominant pitcher in baseball and a member of what had become my favorite team. Similar to Carney Lansford, he had that unique look with the long hair flowing under the cap and the thick moustache. (Note; he still has that sweet hair style.) Eckersley was a phenomenal pitcher with a unique delivery, but he was also intimidating as heck on the mound. Very few players would get as fired up as Eck night in and night out. After closing down big games, his “fist clench and then point” could have or should have been patented.

In doing a bit of online research across a number of sites, I stumbled across this YouTube clip that I thought was pretty special. His Hall of Fame speech came from the heart and showed his special character. However, I find the beginning clips equally riveting where former players provide their perspective on facing him (and his arrogance when on the mound!).

Where is “Eck” now?

You can find Eckersley calling games for the Boston Red Sox on NESN and/or in the TBS studios for pre and post game shows with Matt Winer and David Wells. Personally, and admitting bias, I think Eck does a pretty good job in the booth and in the studio. While he has a bit of flair, of course – what would you expect, it doesn’t feel like pushed pomp and circumstance. I feel like he is just saying what he feels and how he would normally say it if he wasn’t on television.

(Photo credit: http://www.totalprosports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/13-dennis-eckersley-hometown-sports-heroes.jpg)

A’s Favorites – Carney Lansford

2013-01-01T09:40:00.003-08:00

A recent thread on Athletics Nation got me thinking about a new series of write-ups as we await the start of Spring Training and the return of Athletics baseball. Over the coming months, I’m going to work on a quick profile for each of my personal favorite A’s players over the years – a relatively quick career summary, what drew me to said player, and whenever possible, a where are they now. In my response within the thread, I grouped my favorites together by era:

80’s and early 90’s – Rickey Henderson, Dennis Eckersley, and Carney Lansford
Late 90’s and early 2000’s – Tim Hudson and Eric Chavez
Recent departures – Kurt Suzuki

The first player of focus is Carney Lansford.

Career Summary

Carney was drafted by the Angels in 1975 and played for them in the big leagues for three seasons (1978 – 1980) before being traded to the Red Sox. Carney immediately made an impact with the Sox, winning the batting title in 1981 with a .336 average. The A’s acquired Carney from Boston for Tony Armas and Jeff Newman (who?) prior to the 1983 season and he wound up in the green and gold for the next ten seasons and retired after the 1992 season. An interesting note regarding the trade to Oakland is that Boston was willing to give up Lansford due to having ‘some guy’ named Wade Boggs ready to take over the hot corner and rumor has it that he was pretty good. It is safe to say this deal worked out for both teams.

Over the course of his career, Carney didn’t necessarily put up gaudy stats by today’s standards, finishing with a .290 career batting average, 151 HR’s and 874 RBI’s. He played just over 1,200 games in his ten year stint in Oakland and was named to the All Star game in 1988. During the A’s fantastic stretch of baseball from 1988-1992, Carney was a fixture in the two hole of the lineup behind Rickey Henderson and was one of the strongest performers on the team and in each playoff series, excluding his struggles in the 1988 World Series against the LA Dodgers. (Those struggles were contagious in the ’88 Series.)

What drew me to … Carney Lansford

Carney didn’t have the power of the Bash Brothers or the flair of Rickey Henderson, but he always hustled and was always willing to get dirty. When I think or picture Carney in my head, there is always dirt on his uniform from running the bases or diving for a ball at third base. Speaking of, Carney played a fantastic third base for the A’s, a position that I was terrible at when playing in Little League around the same time. (This probably had something to do with my appreciation for him.) Lansford was a staple at third, playing in 134 or more games in 7 of the 10 seasons in Oakland*. He led the AL in fielding percentage for third basemen four times – 1979, 1987, 1988, and 1990.

*Carney Lansford missed all but five games of the 1991 season, the year the A’s team failed to make the playoffs after going to three consecutive World Series from 1988-1990. Coincidence? I think not.

Aside from his play on the field, who couldn’t love the 80’s moustache, long red hair, and flip glasses? Despite all of the big names in the A’s locker room during his tenure with the club, Lansford was dubbed “The Captain”. He came to play night in and night out and seemingly always came through in the clutch. (I know this actually didn’t happen, but it felt like it when I was a kid.) Carney didn’t get anywhere near the credit he deserved outside of Oakland, but when you go back to these A’s teams, it isn’t hard to understand/see why. With names like Henderson, Canseco, McGwire, Stewart, and Eckersley, the pecking order for attention was quite long.

Where is Carney Lansford now?

Carney was the hitting coach for that other team across the San Francisco Bay in 2008 and 2009 before being let go. He was then hired by the Colorado Rockies in 2011, but was relieved of those duties as well back in October at the conclusion of the 2012 season.

Here’s to hoping that Carney finds another coaching job for the 2013 season or lands in a TV/radio booth around the league.

(Photo credit: http://www.baseballcardbust.com/2012/02/carney-lansford-1984-topps.html)

A’s Offseason Summary & Thoughts thru December

2012-12-29T22:04:00.000-08:00

It was a relatively quiet December for the A’s, despite MLB’s winter meetings at the beginning of the month. However, two of the three transactions for the team were significant; one of which was good, one of which was bad and sad.

Let’s start small and get that out of the way with the news that the A’s sent Collin Cowgill to the Mets for infielder Jefry Marte. Cowgill had very little chance to see time in the majors with Oakland next season based on the assumption that Billy Beane is true to his word and has no intention of moving Cespedes, Reddick, Crisp, and/or Young. That four man rotation may not be topped in the big leagues. Marte played in AA last season and has been groomed into a third baseman that could also sparingly fill in at first base or the outfield. I don't expect to be rooting for Jefry in an A's uniform anytime soon, if at all.

The bad/sad news for December was Brandon McCarthy’s departure from the club, signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks – who are becoming the National League’s version of the Athletics. If McCarthy can successfully recover from the line drive off his head and other nagging injuries, he should have a very strong season in Arizona with the move over to the NL. I really didn’t see this one coming at all and thought Brandon (and Amanda) would be back in the green and gold in 2013. However, the 2 years and $15.5 million in the contract were more than expected or what I would have looked for the A’s to offer. There are very few times that I’m not upset when the A’s lose a quality player to another team willing to offer more money. This is one of them, as I wish nothing but the best of luck to Brandon in his attempt at a return to big league pitching.

The A’s finally resolved the million dollar question for the offseason and have their shortstop for 2013. Almost immediately after Stephen Drew signed with the Red Sox, Billy Beane finalized a two year deal for Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima worth $6.5 million. Yes, we are getting Nakajima for two years for approximately 67% of the cost of having to pay Drew for the 2013 season only. This has been a relatively polarizing topic among A’s fans but I’m definitely in the pro-Nakajima camp and taking a flyer on him and his potential to succeed in MLB vs. watching Stephen Drew hit .260 and bounce around the lineup during hot and cold streaks. Sprinkle in the inevitable injury for Drew (given his track record) and this deal is a no-brainer for me.

During Nakajima’s press conference, he completely won over the vast majority of the fan base with his responses to a few questions. If you read through the comments from the “two year deal” hyperlink above to Athletics Nation, you’ll find a few of his responses highlighted. Scouting reports suggest that Nakajima is relatively solid defensively and has a little bit of pop in his bat to go along with some speed. This is perfectly “OK” with me. He doesn’t have to come to Oakland and be a superstar or the second coming of Yoenis Cespedes – although if he wants to produce at that level, by all means, feel free. Nakajima needs to come in and be a net positive / solid contributor that doesn’t become a black hole / automatic out at the bottom of the A’s everyday lineup – like the team has trotted out in recent years.

With the answer now available at shortstop, it will be interesting to see what Beane can or will do the rest of the offseason. Will he try to improve the starting rotation, find depth at other infield positions, or try to upgrade the farm a bit? While the Angels continue to take all the headlines (read: signing Josh Hamilton and losing pitchers) the A’s have solidified their starting lineup (for now at least) and look to carry over momentum into 2013 as the defending division champions. Taking a high level view of the transactions across the division, as well as adding in the Astros into the equation, I love what I’m seeing in the A’s future and their chances at going back to the playoffs next season.

(Photo credit: http://mlb.mlb.com/cutfour/index.jsp?partnerId=aw-7227006434829460008-996#)

A’s Offseason Summary & Thoughts thru November

2012-11-30T13:27:00.001-08:00

Well, another month of the offseason has come and gone (thankfully) and the Athletics still do not have a starting shortstop to plug into the lineup. With the Winter meetings coming up this week (12/3 – 12/6), we’ll hopefully have a resolution to this issue soon.

November was a pretty quiet month for the club, announcing a few minor deals and seeing one major component to the 2012 club sign with another team. (Note that my October summary went up a week into November and I covered the Bartolo Colon signing from 11/3 there.)

On 11/16 the A’s completed a trade with the Padres sending P Tyson Ross and minor leaguer AJ Kirby-Jones for P Andrew Werner and IF Andy Parrino. Werner is a lefthander that will come in from the bullpen while Parrino could be a utility infielder that helps plug holes and gives others a day off here and there, similar to the role Adam Rosales has played most recently for the club.

I’m a little surprised that Ross was dealt, but not necessarily disappointed. He has been given several opportunities to fill different roles on the A’s pitching staff and it never really all came together for him. I thought that the club would give him one more season in a defined role (from the bullpen, where he belonged in my opinion) to see if he would succeed. Alas, we don’t have to give this anymore thought.

Several days later (11/20), the A’s decided to protect the following players from their minor league system: RHP Arnold Leon, IF/OF (what is he this week?) Grant Green, OF Shane Peterson, and RHP Michael Ynoa. At the same time, the team designated Jim Miller and Brandon Hicks for assignment. There’s some real good banter on this over in a Fanpost on Athletics Nation if you want to go check it out. Similar to several people’s thoughts over there, I’m pretty surprised that Jim Miller was designated and Jesse Chavez was not. I didn’t catch a single appearance from Chavez that remotely warranted him being on the club next year. Did I miss something?

Brandon Hicks’ tenure with the A’s came to an official end on 11/26 when the A’s traded him to the NY Mets for the infamous cash considerations. Hicks had a relatively poor showing in 2012, hitting just .172 with three home runs in 22 games. One of those home runs was a walk off against the Rangers, but I think it is safe to say the A’s will make it through next season without him.

Two days later, on 11/28, the A’s announced that they had come to terms with RP Pat Neshek. Neshek came over from the Orioles in August and played an important role on the team towards the end of the ’12 season, including several strong outings as the A’s caught up to and passed the Rangers to win the division. You likely also remember that in the playoffs, the Neshek family lost their newborn child, only to see Pat come back and pitch an inning of relief days later. I’m glad to see Neshek back in the fold given his performance this past season, but also because of his unique pitching delivery to mix things up coming out of the bullpen.

Saving the biggest news for last in the November summary, as Jonny Gomes reached an agreement on a two year contract with the Boston Red Sox. The deal with Boston is reportedly worth $10 million. I would have loved to have Gomes back in the A’s clubhouse in 2013, particularly over a few of the spare parts remaining on the roster. However, this price tag is way too high for Oakland to be paying. That isn’t to say Jonny doesn’t deserve the deal by any stretch, it just isn’t a number that the A’s can commit to a player like Gomes, particularly when the outfield is already overcrowded. Teams need a player in the clubhouse like Jonny and it is disappointing to see him go. However, knowing that it was beyond reason to meet a contract like the one he signed, all you can do is tip your cap and say “good luck”.

UPDATE: 12/1/12

Further proof that I should have just waited until the actual end of the month and not worrying about posting the article on the weekend, there were a few contracts tendered to members of the A's roster, specifically Daric Barton and Adam Rosales. There has yet to be an announcement on Brandon Moss, Seth Smith, or Jerry Blevins.

Regarding Barton, the only reason I am OK with this deal is because it is a non-guaranteed deal. I can't imagine Daric is on this club in 2013, but why lose him for nothing. Hopefully, the A's can find a partner in a bigger trade and Barton will be included.

Rosales is a nice player to have on your bench and spell guys here and there. Given the earlier trade for Parrino, I wouldn't be surprised or hurt if Rosales also isn't on the club in 2013.

The players that we've yet to hear anything on are all more concerning and bigger names for the 2013 club. Blevins became an important part of the bullpen, while Moss and Smith both made positive contributions over the course of the season and during the stretch run. Hopefully all three are resolved already and the club is just late in the announcement or working out some final details with each.

A’s Offseason Hardware

2012-11-17T14:12:00.000-08:00

The 2012 A’s season was certainly one to remember. It was so good in fact, the A’s are actually being acknowledged by others around the league and those that cover MLB. Both players and management were in the running for some serious recognition this offseason and the majority have panned out.

This all started with Josh Reddick receiving a gold glove for his outstanding play in RF for the team this past season. When Reddick was acquired from the Boston Red Sox last offseason, I thought this was a decent move that might pan out over time. In no way, shape, or form did I think the A’s would be the beneficiary of the deal so fast. While his bat struggled towards the end of the season, his defense never skipped a beat. Reddick’s 15 assists from right field were third most in the AL in 2012 and by the time we got to the All-Star Game, teams were largely done testing him.

Before we get to management’s new hardware, it is worth noting that Yoenis Cespedes came in second place in this year’s AL Rookie of the Year voting. He was up against a player who had an MVP-type season, let alone a strong rookie year. In just about any other season, Cespedes takes the award for the type of season he had. Also noteworthy, Jarrod Parker finished in fourth place in the same poll. Congratulations to them both and we hope to see much more success from them both in their future.

Earlier this month, Billy Beane was named the Sporting News’ MLB Executive of the Year. I don’t believe we need to go over Beane’s accomplishments in great detail. With the second lowest payroll in baseball, Beane put together a team that won 94 games, beating out two teams that were seen as far superior in the Spring to win the AL West. Last offseason, Beane once again retooled the pitching staff, trading Gio, Trevor, and Andrew Bailey away for various packages of players that all paid dividends over the course of the 2012 season. He brought in a handful of serviceable players to plug holes and keep the clubhouse fresh. Finally, he somehow managed to land Yoenis Cespedes, which will hopefully be paying off for years to come.

In somewhat of a trickledown effect from Beane’s award, earlier this week Bob Melvin was named the 2012 AL Manager of the Year. Melvin did a masterful job of plugging holes throughout the season due to injuries, pushed the right button the vast majority of the time, and knew when to ride someone’s hot streak or find a replacement during someone’s cold streak. He oversaw a team that had 17 rookies, including a starting pitching rotation full of rookies down the playoff stretch in September and into October.

Melvin received 16 first place votes, outpacing his closest competitor, Buck Showalter who finished with 12 first place votes. Acknowledging a total bias here, but I don’t think this should have been this close at all. It isn’t our fault that Baltimore has heavily underachieved for so long despite having a pretty heavy payroll, nor is it our fault that they play in the heavily competitive (and promoted) AL East. Sure, Showalter oversaw a revitalization of the franchise, but the cards he was dealt were much stronger than what Melvin was playing with throughout the season.

Congratulations to all of the Athletics players and management on their awards! Hopefully the team can build on this moving forward! If only Bud Selig cared enough to resolve the A’s stadium issues … (I really wish he would retire from his post)

A’s Offseason Summary & Thoughts thru October

2012-11-06T15:59:00.000-08:00

The lack of updates to this A’s blog is due to a number of reasons:

1. The offseason

2. A hurricane

3. A vacation

4. The Timberwolves season began

5. The offseason

As mentioned in the last post, the A’s offseason got off to a quick and early start with the trade for Chris Young. Since then, the team has remained relatively busy and left me with one head-scratcher; who is going to be play shortstop for this team in 2013?

The A’s wisely picked up Grant Balfour’s option but surprisingly passed on Stephen Drew’s one year option. When I first saw this news, I assumed it would be quickly followed by another signing, trade, or wrapping up Drew to a longer term deal vs. his one year option. To date, the question remains, who is going to play shortstop for this team in 2013?

In a surprise move (to me at least), the A’s resigned Bartolo Colon to a one year, $3 million deal. I thought for sure we saw the end of the Bartolo era with the team, but the length and price tag of this deal is appealing enough to keep him around to see what is left in the tank … while off PED’s of course. This brings up a good question about what’s next for the rotation and Brandon McCarthy’s impending free agency, but does not answer the question, who is going to play shortstop for this team in 2013?

So I can only imagine you see the $100 million dollar question that remains for this team. The good folks over at Athletics Nation have been talking about this quite extensively as well. I’ve seen/read all of the thrown out options – resigning Drew, moving Cespedes to the infield, signing a free agent, etc. However, if you take a look at that free agent list/link, you’ll see that Drew is a top-two choice on the list and that several of the options are a significant downgrade. I’ll add that Scutaro isn’t an everyday SS, so I don’t necessarily consider him an option. While the thought of moving Cespedes to SS is intriguing, I think the team would have made that announcement already if it was legitimately on the table. Right? I hope Beane has something up his sleeve because this could really come back to hurt this team’s chances of building off of this past season’s successes.

In other news around the clubhouse, congrats to Josh Reddick for winning his first gold glove! Josh is the first A’s outfielder to win the award since 1985, when Dwayne Murphy took home the award. While I don’t say this too often anymore, I’m too young to really remember the player that Murphy was, as he was with the club from 1978-1987 and that is right around the time I started following the team while playing Little League.

So, I’ll ask one last time, who do you think is going to play shortstop for the A’s in 2013?! Let’s go Oakland!

A’s Acquire OF Chris Young from Diamondbacks

2012-10-21T08:48:00.001-07:00

The A’s offseason got off to a fast start this weekend, when the team sent Cliff Pennington to, surprise surprise, the Arizona Diamondbacks for OF Chris Young. The deal also included the A’s prospect Yordy Cabrera going to Miami through Arizona as the A’s also took cash back ($500,000).

Let’s start with the departure of Cliff Pennington and what that means for the A’s moving forward. I liked Cliff’s glove at SS and 2B, but his bat had become a tremendous hole in the lineup. With several other weak bats throughout, there needed to be a change somewhere and I think we found our answer. Cliff’s departure likely/hopefully means that there is a deal in place with Stephen Drew, whether that is the option in his contract or a new deal for a few additional seasons. The FA list for the SS position is incredibly weak, so I hope this doesn’t come back to bite the team. At 2B, it looks like there will be an open competition between Sizemore and Weeks (and Grant Green).

Bringing in Chris Young adds more depth to the A’s outfield, who lost plenty of games (75) between the injuries to Coco Crisp and Yoenis Cespedes. In the CSN article linked to above, Billy Beane provides a nice 10 minute overview of what the deal means to the team and says that this does not spell the end to the Coco era. I think it is a good idea to keep these three guys + Reddick on the roster, allowing for days off and rotations without losing too much in the lineup day in and day out. Young brings a little bit more pop with his bat, along with some speed on the bases. He had back to back 20-20 years in ’10 and ’11, before injuring his shoulder this past season. Young says he is now fine / healthy and is looking forward to joining the Oakland clubhouse.

However, this will impact the rest of the roster, most specifically who the team keeps around to DH and play 1B. I can’t imagine Chris Carter and Brandon Moss are going anywhere, particularly Moss given the need another left-handed power bat. This leaves Jonny Gomes and Seth Smith in question. I would prefer to see Gomes back on the squad versus Smith, but from a rotational standpoint, and again, a need for another left-handed bat, I imagine Seth Smith would be the priority and that Gomes will be looking for a new team. The only argument I see against this logic is that retaining Coco and Drew, while playing Weeks at 2B gives you three LHB’s available for the lineup, with Reddick. In fact, I hope that is the logic and Beane decides to keep Jonny around over Seth. Someone please pass this logic along.

Perhaps the biggest news from this weekend’s trade and interviews is that Beane confirmed that the team will be adding payroll for the 2013 season. Yes! If you give this FO $75 million or so to work with, I think they can do the necessary patchwork to improve this team and allow it to continue to contend moving forward.

What did you think of the move and the ramifications it may have on the rest of the roster?

Let’s go Oakland!

Happy Halloween, from the Oakland A’s

2012-10-20T04:38:00.000-07:00

While still working through an offseason priority list for the A’s (vote in the poll on the right hand side of the page) I thought it would be nice to show some holiday cheer, Athletics-style. The A’s put 10 pumpkin stencils on their site for download in time for Halloween.

My favorite is probably the “Balfour Rage” stencil and if I had any artistic ability (and patience) to carve a pumpkin, I would go in this direction. What’s your favorite?

Happy Halloween from the 2012 AL West Champions, Oakland Athletics!

The A’s Season Comes to an End

2012-10-13T07:27:00.000-07:00

My silence and lack of writing over the past week during the ALDS against the Tigers was more or less due to a whirlwind personal schedule and a desire to not sound like a whining homer. Overall, while ignoring the final outcome, I thought the series was filled with good baseball and a ton of exciting moments. No one ran the gamut of emotional ups and downs more than Coco Crisp of course.

Game 1 started off with a bang, literally, as Coco led off the game with a HR. Parker pitched good enough to win, but the A’s could not do anything after the HR against Verlander – who I’ve grown to hate in one calendar week.

Game 2 was the crushing defeat that the A’s couldn’t stand to make. While Coco became the goat of the game, I don’t think that is necessarily fair. The rest of the lineup left way too many runners on base and each of our “big three” from the bullpen had a rocky inning of relief work to give up runs. This game was for the taking and it should have been won.

After game 2, my thoughts were already on the feasibility of beating Verlander in game 5. However, I didn’t realize how much excitement would be coming over the next few days. In game 3, Brett Anderson returned to the mound to pitch an absolute gem, with the A’s taking it 2-0 to force a game 4. Game 4 was absolutely amazing. In the words of Glen Kuiper, this was “un-be-lievable!!” I was traveling for work and believe I woke up half the floor at the hotel when this game ended. It was the perfect personification of the A’s season, walking off in the 9^th inning after doing virtually nothing for 3+ hours.

Going into game 5, I could only think of one thing – how were the A’s bats going to come to life against Verlander. In two words, they didn’t. There were so many bad at bats and strike outs, that it isn’t even worth calling one or two players out on it (not to mention a wildly exaggerated strike zone). However, when you lose 6-0, you can’t blame the strike zone. Oddly enough, I actually prefer losing in this manner vs. a game that comes down to the end. By the bottom of the 9^th inning, I was already in a positive-angle frame of mind and thinking about what a great season it was.

To that end, let’s not forget what the A’s accomplished this season and the amount of fun that it was, for both the players and the fans. We had the “Bernie Lean”, the pie celebrations, a collection of rookie pitchers playing their hearts out, and a lineup that had a flair for the dramatic. It was a great run for the team who wildly overachieved vs. expectations.

Beane has already stated that he wants to keep this roster together. There are a few small decisions to make based on this past season’s roster (Gomes, Drew, etc.). I’ll be putting together some thoughts on the offseason this coming week, but take a look at the new poll on the right hand side and let me know what you think the priority should be for this team.

For now, let’s remember what a great year it was for the 2012 AL West Champions, Oakland A’s!! Let’s go Oakland!

The Oakland A’s Win the AL West!

2012-10-04T19:22:00.000-07:00

(Photo credit to @newballpark)

Unless you live under a rock you are already well aware that the Oakland A’s pulled out the miracle comeback to sweep the Rangers, win the AL West, and avoid the one game play-in tomorrow (Friday). Look at that cover photo and the crowd from Tuesday night? Awesome! The reward for all of this is a trip to Detroit to play the first two games on the road as a 2 seed. Would someone in MLB please impeach Bud Selig?

The sweep was completed yesterday in typical, relaxing fashion. By relaxing, I mean going down 5-1, playing terrible defense, and then scoring 11 unanswered runs. By relaxing, I also mean having the end of the A’s bullpen – Doolittle, Cook, and Balfour – pitching in their 4^th, 4^th, and 5^th games in a row respectively. Needless to say, the day was filled with a lot of anxiety and a lot of celebrating. It was also nice to see a packed house at the Coliseum. There have been plenty of articles written about the A’s, their comeback, the success, and everything with it. I found this article to be one of the better ones if you are interested in more material for your bathroom break.

The A’s are now on their way to Detroit for a best of 5 series and have yet to release their playoff roster or pitching rotation. As others have suggested, I would be surprised if it wasn’t Parker. From there, I would love to see Anderson return but the A’s aren’t leaking anything. The schedule for this series couldn’t be worse for me personally. Saturday and Sunday games aside, the remaining games are Tuesday through Thursday and during a business trip. The weekday games are in Oakland and better be late starts. Do you hear me Selig?!

Game	Matchup	Day	Date	Time ET
Gm 1	OAK @ DET	Sat	Oct. 6	6:00 PM
Gm 2	OAK @ DET	Sun	Oct. 7	TBD
Gm 3	DET @ OAK	Tue	Oct. 9	TBD
Gm 4*	DET @ OAK	Wed	Oct. 10	TBD
Gm 5*	DET @ OAK	Thu	Oct. 11	TBD

The A’s and Tigers met in mid-September with the Tigers taking two of three. To be honest, I hope the locker room forgets that series because it was a pretty abysmal showing in the two losses. Over the course of the season, the Tigers won four of seven total head to head match-ups, so this is a pretty even series heading in. The A’s bullpen will have a few days of much needed rest and we’ll see who the team decides to put on the playoff roster and who they omit. Putting the lack of playoff experience aside, this has been too good of a run to end anytime soon; Prediction time: A’s in 4!

Unfortunately, with all of the good comes some sad news from the A’s clubhouse. Early this morning I saw the news that Pat Neshek and his wife lost their baby less than 24 hours after birth. I can’t even imagine what the family is dealing with. My condolences to the entire Neshek family and hope for the best in the days and weeks to come.

Let’s go Oakland!

The Oakland A’s are going to the playoffs!

2012-10-02T17:33:00.000-07:00

How awesome is that .gif file? No, really, how awesome is that .gif and how awesome are the 2012 Oakland A’s? (Thanks for creating this!)

When is $50 million worth more than $150 million? Take a look at the MLB playoffs standings right now and see where the A’s sit relative to where the Angels sit. If I didn’t see it with my own eyes last night, I’m not sure I would believe it, but the Oakland Athletics are heading to the (insert enthusiastic curse words here) playoffs! At the very least, they have clinched the right to play in Friday’s wild card play-in game. Depending on how things go tonight and subsequently tomorrow perhaps, the A’s could be looking at a division title and avoiding the one game elimination altogether. Rather than getting ahead of ourselves, let’s take a quick step back.

The A’s have the second lowest payroll in baseball, a mere $100K more than the SD Padres for the lowest spot in baseball. The team’s stadium situation remains in chaos thanks to Bud Selig and a handful of other issues. Billy Beane spent last offseason gutting the pitching staff for more prospects and younger, cheaper talent. The season started off with some pretty bad baseball in April and May. The team started to turn things around, playing just over .500 ball in June and then July hit, where the team went 19-5. They have the best record in baseball since the All-Star break. At that time, I had already given up on this season ten times. Yet, here we are, going to the playoffs and control of our own destiny to the division title!

Read that entire paragraph again. It still doesn’t make any sense to me either. I can’t wait for tonight’s game. Obviously, I hope the team can pull this one off and then go into tomorrow afternoon’s game with the chance to really deflate the Rangers locker room, while at the same time, avoid Friday’s one game playoff. Tonight’s game is going to be tough, with Blackley starting on the mound for the A’s and facing Harrison, an 18 game winner this season already. One game at a time, let’s do this!

Let’s go Oakland!

Game Day Diary – Mariners @ Athletics, 9/28/12

2012-09-28T22:12:00.000-07:00

Straight from the “it was a long week” department, I now have the distinct pleasure (or the complete opposite) of providing a summary paragraph of the A’s four game series that just past with the Rangers as we go into tonight’s game vs. the Mariners. By now, you are well aware that the A’s and Rangers split the series at two wins apiece, signaling that the team made no ground in the divisional race. However, the glass half full approach would say that the team didn’t lose ground either. While this series was going on, the Angels won two out of three against our opponent tonight and they are now two games behind us for the last wild card spot (with Tampa).

The best one word descriptor I can come up with for the series against the Rangers is “uncomfortable” because that’s how I felt throughout most of it. Game 1 was infuriating and felt like a game that the A’s gave away. Milone and Parker pitched great in games 2 and 3 respectively (both wins) and it felt like momentum was on our side. Then yesterday’s afternoon game took place. When the A’s score 7 runs and lose, you know it was a difficult game to watch. They fought back a few times, only to see the pitching staff give it right back in the next inning (or two). Let’s just move on before I start whining.

In the good news department, Coco is apparently going to be back in the lineup tonight. Would you like some more good news? The Mariners are in town and we are avoiding King Felix. The A’s must sweep this series in my opinion. Not to make the playoffs per se, but from a confidence perspective. We need to beat up the M’s this weekend and carry over some of that when Texas comes to visit Oakland to close out the season. According to this article, the A’s own the tiebreaker against the Angels and that isn’t going to change. The A’s and Rangers are tied head-to-head at 8 wins apiece right now. So … if the Angels take a few from the Rangers while the A’s sweep … you know what, forget it. I won’t go any further. Let’s enjoy tonight’s game and just take care of our own business. Please and thank you.

10:01pm EST: We’re (not really) live as MLB.TV has yet to turn on the broadcast. Someone flip the switch! In the meantime, I made a terrible mistake – just click here and know that I’m kicking myself for even peaking.

10:02 – We’re live and I have to admit that I was expecting more from Glen for the introduction. Where’s the conviction?!

10:03 – The Orioles are still amazing / baffling to me. Unrelated, Coco’s back and it is time to go back to the Bernie Lean! By the way, my nerves are shot and I have the Angels/Rangers game going on my tablet (Google Nexus 7 – go get one!) at the same time.

10:10 – Griffin K’s the Mariners leadoff hitter! How many times can or will I type “Let’s go Oakland!!” tonight?

10:12 – Moss catches a foul ball pop up and we have two down. I’m a little surprised at how quiet the Coliseum is right now. Hopefully the offense can get things going early.

10:13 – Griffin’s no hitter is gone thanks to Seager. The Angels go up 6-1 against the Rangers around the same time (just noticed out of the corner of my eye).

10:15 – Griffin walks Montero and we have 1^st and 2^nd. Let’s end this. Now!

10:17 – Jaso flies out and we’re going to the bottom of the 1^st. Well done.

10:19 – The Angels are blowing open the game in Texas. 7-1 Angels … and I can never figure out who to root for when these teams play.

10:20 – There we go, the Bernie Lean gets things going with Coco coming up to the plate. As an added bonus, CSN shows it from the get-go.

10:21 – Here comes the crowd! Cowbells, drums, 3-1 … and now 3-2 count to Coco.

10:22 – Coco!!!! Crisp!!!! Home … run!!! Let’s go Oakland!

10:24 – Stephen Drew drives the ball to the wall and it’s caught. So close!

10:25 – Cespedes drives the ball right at the right fielder. Two outs but everyone is making good contact.

10:30 – Seager makes a nice play to catch Redick’s foul ball and that ends the inning. By the way, I failed to mention in the opening paragraphs that Redick broke his 0-for slump yesterday in Texas with two HR’s. Hopefully that bat stays alive over the course of the next week.

10:33 – Phew, Smoak just misses a HR as the ball carries foul. That ball was crushed. Come with the curveball.

10:34 – Smoak flies out on the next pitch.

10:37 – Another opportunity for a shutdown inning and the A’s fail at it. HR by Robinson ties the game at 1.

10:39 – Groundout to end the inning but the damage is done.

10:41 – MLB.TV just went down on both feeds and came back on one source with grainy video from Oakland. Oh boy, I really have enjoyed the service this year. They couldn’t come up with a worse time to really strike a nerve.

10:46 – The A’s go down in order and my connection on MLB.TV is less than superb right now.

10:50 – I only know that the A’s got through the inning because I have switched over to the radio broadcast. #Firstworldproblems … and really, really annoyed.

10:54 – Pennington leads off the inning with a hit. The TV portion of MLB.TV is about 2 minutes behind the radio broadcast right now. Annoying, but I’m going with the TV version and staying off Twitter.

10:57 – Stephen Drew gets that one over the wall, 3-1 A’s!

11:01 – Moss grounds out to end the inning. Scoreboard alert – Beltre hit another HR to bring the Rangers to within three, 7-4 in the 8^th.

11:06 – Moss makes a nice play at 1^st to turn a double play to end the inning! We’re on to the bottom of the 4^th.

11:09 – Redick smacks a ball to RF but Wells makes a nice play/catch. 1 out

11:15 – Smith strikes out to end the inning, with the A’s still on top 3-1.

11:22 – It’s a final from Texas, Angels win 7-4. Three words: Let’s go Oakland!

11:23 – With a little help from the home plate umpire, Griffin strikes out two more and we go to the bottom of the 5^th.

11:31 – Coco with another hit, this one with 2 outs. The bad news, I just saw a reported attendance of 16,376. Hopefully everyone in the area is prepping for a weekend at the stadium?!

11:36 – After a Drew walk, Cespedes hits a rocket to SS and we have bases loaded. Seriously, what percentage of the time does the ball fly off of Cespedes’ bat? He’s going to become one of the most exciting players in the game to watch over the next couple of years.

11:39 – Coco scores on a wild pitch from Oliver Perez, who was “adored” by the local media here during his time with the Mets. Nice to see things haven’t changed much.

11:40 – Moss shatters his bat but winds up grounding out. 4-1 A’s as we go to the 6^th.

11:45 – Griffin’s given up a hit, a wild pitch, and now a walk to start off the 6^th. Let’s fix this immediately and get someone up in the bullpen just in case.

11:47 – Seager strikes out on three pitches, all of which were out of the strike zone. Thanks

11:51 – Jaso gets hit on the hand and barely reacts to it. How is that possible? In any case, with two outs and the bases now loaded, Doolittle is replacing Griffin. Nice outing from Griffin, but he’s going to need a large helping hand right now.

11:55 – Doolittle gets Smoak to fly out to end the inning. 4-1 A’s still. Phew.

11:59 – Redick leads off the inning with a hit. He’s out of his slump, right?

12:07 – A’s go down quickly and quietly after Redick’s leadoff hit. We’re going to the 7^th, 4-1 A’s.

12:10 – Saunders takes the first pitch deep against Doolittle, 4-2 A’s. Doolittle seems to be coming back to earth a little over the past few weeks. He needs to be the reliable left arm in the bullpen.

12:16 – After the leadoff HR, Doolittle puts the Mariners down quickly. 7^th inning stretch time

12:22 – A’s are looking to pad the score here a bit. Pennington walks, gets to second on a wild pitch, and is followed by Coco’s infield single.

12:26 – Drew walks to bring up Cespedes with the bases loaded and no outs. Before that happens, we have another pitching change.

12:33 – Cespedes walks after a number of pitches and the A’s force in a run. 5-2

12:36 – A’s get a gift run on a terrible throw home from the M’s second baseman. 6-2 A’s.

12:37 – Donaldson shoots one right up the middle and the A’s score two more! Game over? 8-2 A’s

12:49 – Cespedes lays out to make the catch in an 8-2 game? Yes. That should inspire the entire dugout.

12:57 – A’s go down quickly and quietly in the bottom of the 8^th. We go to the 9^th …

1:01 – Jim Miller is in to pitch the top of the 9^th. This may make or break Miller’s time with the A’s and whether or not Melvin goes to him anymore. Smoak gets a leadoff single.

1:03 – Cook is up in the bullpen again, as Miller goes 3-0 to the second straight batter. Miller walks him two pitches later.

1:06 – Robinson strikes out again and probably should have been tossed for arguing again. 1 out

1:07 – Moss makes a nice play on a foul ball. 2 outs

1:08 – Another foul out and the A’s win! 3 back of Texas and they remain 2 ahead of the Angels. Let’s go Oakland!

I’m going with the returning Coco Crisp as the player of the game!

Game Day Diary – Athletics @ Yankees, 9/21/12

2012-09-21T19:16:00.001-07:00

We’re live to start off the birthday weekend from the couch instead of Yankees Stadium. I’ve grown incredibly lazy in my old age and had no interest in rushing to the Bronx for a Friday night game. This was the only game that there was any chance to get to and we passed. Tonight, we have the distinct displeasure of not listening to Glen and Ray and will be subjected to either Michael Kay or John Sterling. I’m assuming it is Kay since it is a Yankees home game. I don’t have a preference on either, as they are both torture. Someone should actually create a Twitter parody account for both of them. I would do this but I have absolutely no interest in listening to either of them beyond the handful of games a year when the Yankees play the A’s.

Updated standings from last night’s games have the A’s and O’s tied for the first wild card spot, one game behind the Yankees. The A’s are four games behind the Rangers for the division lead, but have a 4.5 game lead on the Angels. I’m not saying anything about how this relates to the A’s chances of making the playoffs, given the amount of bad karma coming this week – postseason tickets went on sale and the national media finally picked up on the team. Stop!

Coco remains out of the lineup tonight, with Cowgill leading off and playing CF. Rosales is at 2B tonight, but I have a feeling we’ll see Weeks in the lineup this weekend. No, really, please make this happen. Let’s get him back in the lineup please. It’s Parker vs. Sabathia on the mound tonight and I’m on record from last night (see below) predicting a win. (Gulp)

7:02pm US EST – We’re live two minutes late because I forgot to change the channel. We’re off to a good start here. In the booth tonight on My9 (don’t ask) is apparently going to be Michael Kay, Ken Singleton, and Paul O’Neill. Oh boy. Before even finishing those thoughts, they go to commercial. The Yankees broadcast personified and we’re only in our first time-stamped entry. (Shaking head)

7:05 – You can’t make this up – we’re going to our second commercial break. They were in the booth “dissecting” this game for approximately 45 seconds. Good grief.

7:09 – Cowgill strikes out but had a decent at bat, seeing a few pitches. Sorry, I took my own commercial break while the announce booth talked throughout the entire at bat. This is going to be a long, sarcastic diary. There’s your warning.

7:12 – Gomes draws a walk after our first pink eye joke from the booth.

7:13 – The booth is now talking facial hair and haircuts. Reddick drives one that is just foul and misses a HR. Ugh!

7:16 – Reddick strikes out after a decent at bat as well, as Sabathia is already at 20 pitches.

7:18 – Cespedes strikes out as well and I think we have a theme for the evening.

7:21 – Jeter swings at the first pitch and we have one out. Nice pace for Parker …

7:21 – It is still 7:21 and we have two pitches and two outs. That joke was a lot funnier 25 seconds ago before Kay said something similar.

7:24 – Parker is dealing in the first and Cano goes down on strikes! Note that I’m restraining myself from touching my phone and passing along any text messages. For now …

7:28 – I had no idea the Yankees had Ichiro in left field. He just caught a nice pop off of Donaldson’s bat.

7:29 – Derek Norris swings at the first pitch and pops out to Ichiro. We’re going to the bottom of the 2^nd.

7:34 – A-Rod strikes out and I immediately give Parker a three clap salute. Thankfully, the wife is out.

7:35 – Granderson goes down on strikes too. (Remain silent, stay off your phone)

7:37 – Martin grounds out and we’re going to the third inning.

7:40 – Drew smacks the ball 55 feet and into Sabathia’s glove. No emphasis on the word “smack”.

7:43 – Rosales strikes out on a clear ball. We’re back to the top of the lineup.

7:44 – Eric Chavez, playing first base, beats Cowgill to first on a slow grounder. Let’s think about that as we go to the bottom of the 3^rd.

7:47 – Chavez dribbles out to Norris - I still can’t root against Eric (he was my favorite Athletic during his tenure).

7:48 – Parker gives up his first hit to Ichiro and it’s a ball that gets stuck in his jersey. Naturally, this had to happen against Ichiro, who I still don’t like from his Mariner days.

7:53 – Ichiro steals second and I feel like the Yankees booth is stealing signs and relaying quick signals. At the same time, the pitch is called a ball and that was another terrible call.

7:55 – The umpire makes up for it and calls Jeter out on strikes. Thanks

8:00 – Reddick strikes out on a pitch that hit the dirt. That feels like another missed call. Seconds later, Cespedes pops up to quickly end the inning. Ugh.

8:07 – Swisher gets the first ‘real’ hit of the game. Why does it feel like Swisher punishes the A’s?

8:09 – A-rod hits a blooper to CF and the Yankees have 1^st and 3^rd with 1 out. Sudden illness is coming over me.

8:14 – Granderson gets a sac-fly to Cespedes. Yankees take the lead 1-0.

8:16 – Martin grounds out to end the inning and we’re on to the 5^th. The A’s desperately need to get a few base runners, at the very least, in this inning.

8:24 – Michael Kay stresses the “Al” in Alzheimer’s and I immediately hate him more. He does mention that he was touched by it too and that makes me feel a bit bad about the joke. Let’s move on.

8:25 – In the spirit of the Yankees, I’m taking a commercial break as well to point out that Casey Pratt pointed out that a guest appearance in the game day diary a few weeks ago (vs. Cleveland) had a Twitter account. Follow “The Mauler” here on Twitter.

8:29 – A beautiful play from Cespedes on an Ichiro blooper and they get him caught between 1^st and 2^nd. Two outs in the inning. That was the worst effort at a rundown I’ve seen in quite some time. Thanks Ichiro!

8:30 – Nunez grounds out to end the inning and we go to the 6^th. Hey Oakland, let’s get some base-runners please.

8:34 – Drew breaks up the no hitter from Sabathia, thankfully!

8:35 – Rosales flies out to right field. In Yankee Stadium there’s always some potential for that carrying out.

8:36 – I’m calling it now before it happens. Gomes goes long.

8:39 – So much for that, Gomes strikes out looking. I even time-stamped a text message just in case for future proof. I’m losing my touch.

8:45 – Parker gets Cano to ground into a double play to end the inning. Let’s go Oakland!!

8:50 – Reddick strikes out again. Please move him to anywhere else in the roster. Try him in the two hole or the five hole. Please!

8:53 – Cespedes strikes out on ball four. At the same time, I realize that CC threw about 20 pitches in the first inning and is only at pitch 90 through 6.2 innings.

8:56 – Carter walks and that brings up Donaldson. Let’s go Oakland!

8:57 – Singleton throws out a bizarre stat that has Donaldson hitting over .400 on Friday nights and just above .200 the rest of the week. It’s time to put that theory to the test.

8:58 – Well, so much for that, as Nunez robs Donaldson. Ugh. Seventh inning stretch

9:05 – Would the A’s bats please help Parker out?! He’s through 7 with virtually no damage. Give this guy some run support please!

9:07 – The wife is back and handed me a birthday present – A’s pajama pants. I’d put a picture up of them, but I am also wearing a throwback Reggie Jackson jersey and this combination is downright scary and I have a legitimate concern of this going viral. Let’s move on and score some (blank) runs please!

9:09 – Cano has Norris played perfectly and we have one out in the top of the 8^th.

9:10 – Stephen Drew with another hit. Come on!!

9:12 – Rosales has made some nice contact but it continues to land in the glove of Yankees.

9:15 – Cowgill beats out a slow grounder and I think I see an A’s runner at 2^nd base! Let’s go Oakland!

9:16 – Gomes gets HBP and here comes Reddick with 3 K’s on the night. Please, please, please is about all I can come up with.

9:18 – Reddick flies out to LF. !@#$%^&*( … I don’t know what else needs to happen to move him out of the 3 hole in the lineup.

9:26 – One pitch to Jeter is a strike and the next in the exact same location is a ball because Jeter stretches out further over the plate. I hate the Yankees by the way. By the way, there are two outs in this inning already.

9:28 – Parker strikes out Jeter to end the inning. We’re going to the top of the 9^th. Cespedes and Carter need to go deep. Please?!

9:31 – Cespedes just (bleep) misses a HR and we have one out in the 9^th.

9:32 – Brandon Moss is PH’ing for Carter?

9:34 – Like I said, Moss is PH’ing for Carter and hits a HR!!!!!

9:36 – Martin makes a nice play as A-rod wanted nothing to do with running towards the A’s dugout. Yes, I might be taking that opportunity to make fun of A-rod. Two outs.

9:39 – Norris walks and we have a Coco sighting, as he will pinch run. Nice!

9:42 – Coco steals second base and here we go!

9:43 – Drew walks and here comes Seth Smith. Let’s go Oakland!!

9:47 – Smith strikes out and the A’s will have to deal with the heart of the Yankees lineup.

9:52 – I think I hear a faint, little “Let’s go Oakland” chant from one person in the crowd. Well done.

9:54 – A-rod gets a hit to keep the inning alive. Of course he does. By the way, Doolittle is in and got the first two hitters out.

9:56 – Yes! Extra innings live from the Bronx. Thank god I’m not at this game.

9:59 – Pennington leads off the 10^th because he came in to play defense in the ninth. I only know this because Kay just announced his entry into the game when he came to the plate.

10:00 – Pennington continues to swing at high fast balls and flies out. If he could hit home runs this would be acceptable.

10:06 – Here’s a summary of my thoughts:

john flesta ‏@jflesta

I love Reddick and what he has brought to this team. But for the love of god, get him out of the 3 hole in the lineup! #Athletics

10:09 – Martin with a walk-off HR off Doolittle. Thanks Reddick!

Player of the game goes to Parker, despite the walk-off HR because I can’t stand the Yankees. If he had any help whatsoever, this should have been a W.

Tigers Series Wrap-up and Yankees Preview

2012-09-20T16:03:00.000-07:00

Earlier today the A’s saved face and avoided the sweep against the Tigers, putting up late insurance runs to seal the deal as the team gets ready to head to NY for a big three game series against the Yankees.

The first two games against the Tigers were an unmitigated disaster and that may be understating it. Game 1 was an embarrassment with the A’s losing 12-2. The only time it felt even remotely good was in the top of the 1^st when the A’s had a 1-0 lead. That lead was quickly given up in the bottom half of the inning and the deficit grew in just about every inning thereafter, with the Tigers scoring in six of the eight innings they came to the plate. Despite the score being closer, game 2 was actually worse. The A’s have lost Brett Anderson to an oblique injury and Melvin is saying he may or may not be available for the postseason. So that’s awesome.

In the 3rd inning of yesterday’s game, Anderson looked awful fielding a bunt and then fell to the ground on a subsequent pitch. He exited stage left immediately thereafter and the hopes of beating Verlander quickly fell apart. To be honest, yesterday’s lineup card against Verlander was a bit more than puzzling and looked like we were throwing in the towel early and waiting for today’s game. Coco remains out with conjunctivitis (pink eye) and Weeks still couldn’t find his way into the lineup. To make matters worse, Barton returned to the starting lineup in place of Carter because Melvin wanted left handed batters in the lineup. Hopefully, that is the last time we see that experiment, even though Barton did have a nice game at the plate.

After today’s victory, there was a little rookie hazing in the locker room apparently:

Casey Pratt ‏@CaseyPrattCSN

The #Athletics rookies are wearing green collegiate wrestler uniforms complete with ear guards. Lookin like Rick Steiner.

Thankfully, the pictures online have been limited. The A’s are off to NY to play the Yankees and here are the pitching matchups:

Friday, 7pm (US EST) – Parker (11-8) vs. Sabathia (13-6)

Saturday, 1pm – Blackley (5-3) vs. Nova (12-7)

Sunday, 1pm – Griffin (6-1) vs. Kuroda (14-10)

Hopefully, the A’s can take two out of three here in NY. The teams have had two series thus far this season, with the A’s suffering a three game sweep at home in late May, but returned the favor in July by sweeping the Yankees in a four game series in Oakland. If the A’s can pull off two victories, they’ll own the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Yankees. I’ll go out on a limb and say that the A’s will do this, with victories tomorrow from Parker and Sunday from Griffin. It will be interesting to see how Griffin responds coming off of his first loss of the season. If this picture means anything, I think we are OK.

Tomorrow’s game will include a game day diary with the distinct pleasure of having to listen to the Yankees announcers for 3-4 hours. If you don’t already, you’ll completely understand after reading the diary.

Below you’ll see the up to the minute standings, before tonight’s games take place. The A’s are currently tied with Baltimore for the top wild card spot and 3.5 games behind Texas for the division.

Let’s go Oakland!

Game Day Diary – Orioles @ Athletics, 9/14/12

2012-09-14T21:52:00.000-07:00

Pregame: Friday night and complete exhaustion equals a game day diary in an effort to stay up through the conclusion of tonight’s big game against the O’s. I doubt anyone reading this is living in a cave, so you know that these are the biggest surprise success stories in MLB this season. The O’s come in a half game behind the A’s record wise and to state the obvious, this is another huge series for this franchise. Tonight’s matchup pits Tommy Milone against Joe Saunders. To be honest, I have way too much confidence in the A’s winning tonight.

Again, we’ll be keeping an eye on the out of town scoreboard. At around 9:45, the Angels and Rangers both have 1 run leads about half way through each game. In the AL East, the Yankees are down 5-2 against the Rays and I don’t have any feeling one way or the other on who to root for in that series. Ultimately, I would prefer to play Baltimore in the play in game vs. either NY or TB. There’s way too much baseball left to start thinking about this.

Finally, two quick updates on the A’s injuries mentioned last weekend. The A’s twitter feed announced that Brandon Inge had successful surgery on his right shoulder and there isn’t a timetable for his return, which is obviously not this season. Second, from Mrs. McCarthy, the McCarthy’s are at the stadium tonight! A little extra inspiration never hurt anyone, right?

10:01pm US EST – We’re live for Glen Kuiper’s opening montage! Kuiper and Hatteberg sitting with the crowd for tonight’s game. Fosse is still in the radio booth and will be there until Tuesday? Come on! We want Fosse! Nothing against Hatteberg, he’s been good, it is just … just … Fosse! Who doesn’t want this …

10:09 – The Orioles starting lineup has just as strong of an average as the A’s. That’s not a compliment and they don’t play in this albatross of a stadium. What a bizarre year of baseball.

10:12 – After two quick outs, Adam Jones breaks up Milone’s no hitter with a double to the corner.

10:15 – Josh Donaldson with a nice play at third to end the inning without any damage. At the same time, scoreboard alert – The Royals put up a few runs on the Angels and take the lead in the bottom of the 6^th!

10:18 – An early “Bernie Lean” with Coco leading off the game for the A’s!

10:21 – A’s go down pretty quickly and in order and we’re scoreless after one.

10:27 – Milone gets through the second without any noise at all. A quick game would be nice here.

10:31 – Cespedes is back in the lineup but gets called out on strikes. If the prior pitch wasn’t a strike, I have no idea how that one was. See: make up call.

10:32 – Chris Carter is back in the lineup and flies out on the first pitch. It’s good to see Carter back in the lineup though.

10:33 – Donaldson breaks up the no hitter with a single.

10:34 – Derek Norris flies out to end the inning though and we’re scoreless through two.

10:40 – Teams are now openly tagging up from first base against Coco’s arm. Ugh

10:46 – Hardy hits a ball to Donaldson that ricochets off of him and to Drew. However, the play at first isn’t in time and the Orioles are able to take the lead, 1-0 on the error.

10:47 – The inning ends there with another fly ball to Coco. Scoreboard watching – KC is up 7-5 on the Angels, while Texas still leads Seattle 2-1.

10:53 – Again, CSN must do more to show the outfield bleachers when Coco is coming up to the plate. As I finish that complaint, Coco lines out to end the inning. 1-0 O’s through 3 innings.

10:59 – After a walk, Carter makes a nice over the shoulder catch for the first out.

11:00 – Donaldson makes a potential low-ranking web gem (does ESPN still do that, I feel like I haven’t watched ESPN in seven years) to start the inning ending double play. Nice play!

11:06 – After Gomes leads off the inning with a single, Glen sends it to the studio. Is it just me or does MLB.TV never show this?

11:07 – After a terrible Reddick at bat, Cespedes hits a HR to left field!! Yes!! 2-1 Oakland

11:08 – Carter walks on four pitches. Let’s go Oakland!

11:14 – After Donaldson flies out and Carter doesn’t tag up on it, Norris gets an infield hit so we have 1^st and 3^rd with 2 outs.

11:17 – Stephen Drew strikes out for the second time tonight, leaving the score 2-1 at the end of the 4^th inning.

11:20 – Milone gives up the lead quickly, with Davis hitting a leadoff HR to tie the game. Joy.

11:21 – Machado quickly follows the HR up with a single to RF. Let’s get someone up in the bullpen.

11:23 – Thankfully, Milone gets the 6-4-3 double play to clean this inning up a bit.

11:25 – Milone gets his first strikeout in the game to end the top of the 5^th.

11:27 – First: Rosales leads off the inning with a double. Second: The “2” key on my keyboard is misbehaving and I have to pound on it to get it to work. #Firstworldproblems

11:30 – Coco gets a single putting runners on 1^st and 3^rd with no one out and the heart of the lineup coming up! Let’s go Oakland!

11:33 – Gomes comes through with another single, and the A’s retake the lead 3-2! (Annoying key)

11:35 – Reddick can’t catch a break right now. He crushes a ball and it’s grabbed by the first baseman. That had two runs written all over it. Instead, runner on seconds with two outs and they are intentionally walking Cespedes.

11:36 – Glen makes a “Cespedes for the restivus” joke and I immediately hate that I didn’t think of that first. Meanwhile, Carter grounds out to end the inning. That rally was short lived.

11:45 – Milone is not doing a good job of producing ‘shut down innings’ after the A’s give him the lead.

11:47 – Donaldson starts another double play and CSN cuts to someone in the crowd banging a bell almost the size of the Liberty Bell. How and why did he bring that into the stadium?

11:54 – Scoreboard alert: Angels and Rangers both won tonight, making tonight’s game that much more important.

11:57 – It might be a good time to give Drew a couple days off and put Weeks back at second base. Drew strikes out for the third time tonight.

12:05 – Melvin comes and pulls the hook on Milone after 6.1 innings of pretty solid pitching. Nice job Tommy! Neshek is on his way to the mound.

12:11 – Another double play turned by the A’s defense and we go to the bottom of the 7^th with the A’s still up 3-2!

12:15 – Pinch hitting with Cliff Pennington isn’t necessarily what I would call a strong game plan. Rosales is out of tonight’s game and Pennington strikes out.

12:16 – Ask and you shall receive apparently, as CSN shows the right field bleachers as Coco comes to the plate.

12:26 – Ryan Cook has a nice, quick top of the 8^th with two strikeouts and a real nice bare handed play from Donaldson. Can you say insurance run?

12:30 – Reddick leads off with a single. Let’s go Oakland!!

12:34 – Cespedes strikes out and then the catcher hits his arm on Cespedes’ bat and helmet, so Reddick is also out at second base. Rally … killer.

12:35 – I think Angel Hernandez wants this game to end more than I do. A very high strike is called on Carter to expedite the inning.

12:36 – Similar comment from directly above, two pitches later. We’re going to the top of the 9^th with the A’s up one and turning it over to Balfour.

12:44 – After a quick hit to lead off the inning, Balfour gets Chavez on a strikeout .

12:45 – Reynolds just missed a HR and it sounded like it had a chance on the TV. 2 outs.

12:46 – Crowd has risen to its feet (good crowd tonight!).

12:47 – I love when Buck Showalter does dumb things! The O’s try to steal second base and Norris throws the runner out to end the game! Yes!!

The player of the game is tonight’s starting pitcher, Tommy Milone! Let’s go Oakland!!

A’s 2013 Schedule is Released

2012-09-12T18:51:00.000-07:00

Today, MLB and the A’s released their 2013 regular season schedule. A few questions immediately became apparent:

· The season starts on a Monday?

· The season starts on April Fools’ Day? (Insert Bud Selig joke here)

· Why does MLB continue to release the following year’s schedule in the middle of the chase to the playoffs? You would think they would learn from the NFL & NBA and take a day where there is limited to no news for your sport and celebrate the release of the upcoming season during the long and boring offseason.

Now that we have cleared that up, here are a few dates that caught my attention:

4/5 – 4/7 – The A’s play at Houston, our new division rivals. The A’s play the Astros 19 times in 2013. Side note: I love this division realignment and this should have happened years ago to even out the six divisions. Then again, see questions 2 and 3 above for your answer as to why it has taken so long.

5/3 – 5/5 – The A’s lone trip to this area for a three game series against the NY Yankees. I have to miss the series coming up later this month so I’m hoping that part of my Cinco de Mayo celebrations include a trip to Yankee Stadium.

5/27 – 5/30 – The scheduling gods managed to split a four game series between the A’s and Giants, giving each team two home games apiece. This makes sense to anyone else? (The A’s also have a split series vs. Cincinnati with games in late June and early August?!)

7/15 – 7/17 – The All Star break … oh wait, no one cares about this whatsoever.

September baseball – The A’s play the Rangers in early September and again in the middle of the month. However, after this the team has two series (home & away) with the Angels that is broken up by a four game, home series against Minnesota. The A’s close the regular season (see what I’m doing here?) with three games in Seattle.

I have a hard time even thinking about the 2013 schedule when the A’s are in the middle of a playoff race, further enhancing the earlier thought of – why does baseball continue to shoot itself in the foot and release the schedule in September when you can use a quiet day in the offseason to create some buzz for your league?!

In any case - Let’s go Oakland!

A’s kickoff another series vs. Angels

2012-09-10T18:52:00.000-07:00

The A’s kickoff a four game series against the Angels tonight, the last time we will see Anaheim this season. It looks like Parker, Straily, Griffen, and (I imagine) Anderson will be the rotation for the series, going up against Haren, Williams, Santana, and Weaver – who looks to be returning for Thursday’s matinee game – respectively. Let’s hope the A’s fare a bit better than last week’s terrible showing.

The A’s made three call-ups today – Jemile Weeks, Daric Barton, and Jessie Chavez. Weeks is a welcomed return even if Melvin has yet to commit to how or when he will be used. Weeks also said that he used the demotion to work on his swing. We’ll see how this goes, but I’m still more comfortable with Weeks vs. Pennington, even if the latter has been playing very well in September. I trust that Melvin will find some more magic in pushing the right buttons at the right time. Barton returns as a situational hitter and late game, defensive replacement. I can’t imagine it goes much further than this plan. Per CSN’s story, Chavez will be used sparingly from the bullpen, if at all.

One last, quick update as Brandon McCarthy continues to make progress. He walked a bit in the hospital today and may return home sooner rather than later. Good luck Brandon!

With that said, let’s take care of the Angels tonight and over the next couple of days please! Let’s go Oakland! This won't be your player of the game ...