Oakland Athletics Blogs

While the fans in Cincinnati, Atlanta, and St. Petersburg may not have appreciated it, nearly every game played so far this postseason has featured a dominant pitching performance.  Roy Halladay no-hit the Reds, Tim Lincecum shut out the Braves on just two hits while striking out 14, and C.J. Wilson and Cliff Lee combined to hold the Rays to one run in 13.1 innings.  Lee displayed his talents during last year’s World Series, earning both of the Phillies’ wins over the Yankees, but Halladay, Lincecum and Wilson were all making their postseason debuts, and not one of them showed any sign of butterflies.

Continue reading "Playoff newcomers show the baseball ..."

After their playing careers are over, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera will undoubtedly be elected to the Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility, but will teammate Jorge Posada join them in Cooperstown?  Yankee fans may feel differently, but the truth is that if Posada retired from baseball today, he would not belong in The Hall.  His credentials include five trips to the All-Star Game, five Silver Slugger awards, 243 home runs, and five seasons with 90+ RBI’s, as well as having caught the perfect game thrown by David Wells in 1998.  Arguments against Posada’s candidacy are that he is not a strong defensive catcher, has only once batted over .300 (.277 career average) and his 1,488 career hits do not make him stand out among his catching peers.  Despite 11 career playoff home runs, his postseason line (.239/.351/.384) is sub-par for a catcher known primarily for his hitting.

Continue reading "Third member of Yankee trio not a lock for Hall"

I generally prefer beginning my blog with news that is positive or at least neutral, but I cannot think of a more worthy story than that of former Major Leaguer Jose Offerman, who was banned from the Dominican Winter League for life after attacking an umpire earlier this month.  The incident, sadly, is not the first time Offerman has embarrassed the game of baseball.  While playing in the Atlantic Independent League in August 2007, he charged the mound – bat in hand – after being hit by a pitch, and proceeded to break one of the pitcher’s fingers.  The catcher, trying to protect his pitcher, was hit in the back of the head and received a severe concussion that ended his career.  Now, two and a half years later, Offerman is still making the game look bad.  His behavior, without question, is Bad for Ball.

Continue reading "Offerman a disgrace to the game"

Oh man, it’s been a bit too long and I’d like to apologize, first and foremost, to my legion of loyal readers. Who still checks in on occasion? Rogers? You still out there? Bark twice if you’re in Milwaukee!  Slim Bob? Herman? Dalton? Petey? Reginald? David Lefort from the Boston Globe? 

Continue reading "Checking In... And Talking Sox Shortstop Situation"

For the first time since 1990, both the American and National Leagues saw first-time Gold Glove winners on the pitcher’s mound.  It is no coincidence that 2009 is the first year that Greg Maddux, Mike Mussina, and Kenny Rogers aren’t eligible, each having retired following the 2008 season.  From 1990 through 2008 – his final year in the big leagues – Greg Maddux was named the National League’s Gold Glove pitcher every year but one – 2003, when teammate Mike Hampton won.  From 1996 through 2008, the American League saw two pitchers – Mike Mussina and Kenny Rogers – win all but one Gold Glove.  (Johan Santana received the award in 2007.)

Continue reading "Gold Glove on the pitcher’s mound: ..."

Fedor is a Yellow-Bellied Coward

Strikeforce announced that World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) Heavyweight Champion, Fedor Emelianenko, signed a multi-fight agreement to fight for their promotion Monday.

Continue reading "Fedor is a Yellow-Bellied Coward, ..."

The New York Times reported last week that Boston Red Sox World Series heroes of yesteryear, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, are two of a 104 players who tested positive for performance enhancing drugs when baseball conducted its "anonymous" testing survey in 2003.

Continue reading "Manny & Papi Are Juiceheads, Rickey ..."

Baseball families have made history in pinstripes. The Boones are in their 3rd generation playing baseball. Aaron Boone, whose brother Bret, father Bob, and grandfather Ray all had 10+ year careers in the majors, cemented his name in Yankee history. Jose Molina, whose brother Yadier plays for the Colorado Rockies and other brother Bengie plays for San Francisco Giants, also cemented his name in Yankee history. Now that the Yankees have acquired Jerry Hairston, Jr., whose brother Scott is playing for the Oakland Athletics, and father Jerry, Sr., uncle Johnny, and grandfather Sam also had MLB baseball careers. Now Jerry Jr. has a chance to continue this trend of success for baseball families playing for the Bronx Bombers. Before we get into the Hairstons, let’s take a look at what the Boones and the Molinas have accomplished in pinstripes.

Continue reading "Move over Boones. Move over Molinas. ..."

You may be wondering how Joba Chamberlain came off the All-Star Break with 2 consecutive victories: 1 against the Tigers and 1 against the A's. Before the break, it just seemed to be no-decision after no-decision. He holds the Major League Record for most No-D's in a season.

Continue reading "How Joba Got His Groove Back"

I know, I know.  We’re all grieving over the way our boys have been playing.  I hope everyone’s been keeping the faith though.  Sure, it’s a cold streak.  But they’ll be back.  I know it.

Continue reading "This Week in Baseball – Notes"

July 3, 2009

I thought I would try to watch an Indians game again, well at least more than a couple innings even if it got to the usual 6-1 opponent lead by the third inning. So far as I’m writing this the Indians bats have come alive and they are leading 8-3, but it’s wayyyyyy early. There is still that thing called the bullpen waiting in the wings. I’m guessing win or lose the Indians and A’s players will want to escape from Progressive Field like smooth criminals before the MJ tribute fireworks show starts.

Continue reading "Indians are a good Bad on MJ fireworks ..."

http://atdhe.net/7388/watch-mariners-vs-yankees    Yankees vs Mariners

http://atdhe.net/5632/watch-rays-vs-blue-jays : Blue Jays and Rays

  http://atdhe.net/5711/watch-red-sox-vs-orioles   Red Sox vs Orioles

Continue reading "More MLB Links"

Disgraced former MLB slugger Jose Canseco apparently has one more trick left up his sleeve to help keep himself in the limelight, well beyond his 15 minutes of fame. Canseco wants to get together with fellow disgraced steroid users Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro to file a lawsuit against Major League Baseball and the Players Association to seek compensation for loss of wages and defamation of character.

Continue reading "Jose Canseco to bring full circus ..."

Hazel Mae interviewed Ken Rosenthal from Fox Sports the other night on MLB Network’s show Quick Pitch. Mae brought out the point that the Yankees needed to improve their bullpen. Ken mentioned that the Yankees are all set with Brian Bruney and that they expect improvement in their bullpen upon his return. He also brought out some possibilities considering that Brian has been on the DL twice this season. Here are his picks along with my personal reaction to each pick:

Continue reading "Rosenthal’s Picks to Improve Yankees ..."

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim won the American League West by 21 games in 2008, a margin 13 1/2 games wider than the next largest difference which was the Chicago Cubs’ 7 1/2 game lead over National League Wild Card winner Milwaukee. With the departures of some key Angels and the acquisitions of some big name players by the other teams in the West, the race will tighter, but don’t expect Texas, Oakland or Seattle to leapfrog Los Angeles who should capture their fifth division title in six years.

Continue reading "The Sports Don's 2009 AL West Preview"

New York Yankee signings and trades over the last eight years (Mike Mussina, Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui, etc.) have not yet led to a single World Championship.  That’s right – these “impact” players, as they are commonly called, have not been able to bring even one trophy to the city of New York.  Sure, the Yankees have been perennial contenders this entire decade, but they haven’t been able to seal the deal for The Boss, who expects everything and more from his high-priced talent.  So while it is inevitable that all Yankee haters worry about what the 2009 season will bring now that the Bronx Bombers have signed CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, and A.J. Burnett, there’s no reason to suddenly assume that the team has what it takes to go all the way.

Continue reading "Yankee moves don’t guarantee championship"

I coached youth sports a few years back.

 

I was living in Orlando and decided to volunteer some of my spare time at the downtown YMCA.  I coached boys 11-13 years old and can say without hesitation, it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

Continue reading "To Coach Or Not To Coach... Should ..."

It was nearly 20 years ago that Rickey Henderson took that first step towards second.

In a Sunday afternoon game against the Texas Rangers, the Athletics left fielder started his career off with a double.  But two innings later, Henderson would do one of the many things he became known for -- a single followed up by a stolen base.

Continue reading "Rickey Henderson Slides in Easy -- ..."

Jason Giambi coming back to the Oakland Athletics turns my stomach.

It turns my stomach because I remember Giambi signing with the New York Yankees for seven years and $120 million because Oakland’s six-year, $90 million dollar extension wasn’t good enough. I turns my stomach because I remember the last press conference I watched of his had the tattooed sporting, goatee wearing, long haired first baseman I had come to admire on stage in pinstripes, clean shaven, short hair and no tattoos saying that he has waited his whole life to be a New York Yankee.

Continue reading "Billy Beane Reunites with “Moneyball” ..."

This could be a short post.  No, no one will bite and claim Bobby Crosby and his $5.25 million contract.  For the sake of completeness, though, let's run through who might conceivably pick up Crosby. 

Continue reading "Bobby Crosby on Outright Waivers...Will ..."

        Rafael Furcal finally decided his future- he is staying with the Los Angeles Dodgers.  This is the wrong decision.  Furcal would have done the best had he signed with Oakland.  In Oakland, he could have taken his pick of which position he would want to play, which spot in the order he would bat, and even which days he would want to take off from playing in the field and just DH. By staying in Los Angeles, he has pigeon-holed himself into the shortstop role and the lead-off batter position.  I mean, don't get me wrong- even with the Atlanta Braves, Furcal was the natural leadoff hitter that they have sorely missed since his departure to Los Angeles.  And although he has had an unlucky streak of injuries recently, he still remains one of the top shortstops in the NL, and even in Major League Baseball.

Continue reading "Rafael Furcal- Playing for the wrong ..."

With Rafael Furcal turning down the A's and going to play for the Braves, the A's now have to look at other options of what to do with the money they had budgeted to signing Furcal.  Most of what I said last time it looked like the A's were out of the running still applies.  We still know the A's are willing to spend about $15 million extra in payroll for next season.  We know they are comfortable signing a player for up to 4 years.  We know, or at least I still believe, that the A's should try to compete in 2009, but do not yet have a roster that could make a serious run at the playoffs.  There are a few things that have changed, though, some good and some bad for the A's.

Continue reading "Dance Over - Furcal Goes Home with ..."

It looks like the A's are once again in the hunt for Rafael Furcal.  It looks like the A's are willing to up their offer by one or two million a year up to a four year - $44 million deal, and that Furcal is considering it.  It's right in the range of figures I guessed he'd get. so if this turns out to be the final deal I'll be happy. 

Continue reading "FA Bargain Bin, Also Furcal Dance Continues"

Nothing big happened for the A's at the Winter Meetings in Vegas, but they have made a few minor moves over the past few weeks.  Here are there moves in reverse chronological order:

Continue reading "A's Minor (League) Transactions"

A few days ago I outlined a plan for the A's to take this offseason now that they were no longer interested in Rafael Furcal.  In my analysis, though, I missed two options the A's have for turning their roster into a contending one for 2009.

Continue reading "Two Options I Overlooked"

Apparently the A's offered 4-year $40 million take-it-or-leave-it deal to Rafael Furcal, which he turned down.  This means the A's are no longer pursing him as a replacement for Bobby Crosby.  I'm disappointed by this, but I can't say that this wasn't a smart move.  I may have left the deal on the table longer, but at the end of the day, if Furcal wasn't going to accept the A's top offer they weren't going to get him.  Should they have offered more?  Maybe a million or two per year, but guaranteeing the 4th year was the big deal and if that wasn't enough to satisfy him, who knows how much more it would take?  Now the A's can take their money and spend it on other upgrades, which they'll definitely need to make to compete in 2009 (which they should since that's how long they're likely to have Matt Holliday).

Continue reading "Report: A's out of Running for Furcal...What's ..."

Shortstops are changing places left and right.  In the past two days the Giants signed Edgar Renteria, the Cardinals traded for Khalil Greene, the White Sox traded for Brent Lillibridge, and Jack Wilson looks to be on his way out of Pittsburgh.  That leaves the A's, Dodgers, Orioles, Padres, and Tigers as teams that may be looking to add a shortstop, though it looks like Wilson may be on his way to Detroit.  Assuming Wilson does go to the Tigers, that leaves four teams who have holes at shortstop and might be interested in signing Rafael Furcal.  The Braves, once thought to be in the running for Furcal, appear to be set, as a Furcal signing appeared to be contingent upon trading away Yunel Escobar for Jake Peavy.  Now that they've acquired Javier Vazquez, it is less likely they'll make that deal.

Continue reading "Where the A's Stand in Shortstop Roulette"

Being an A's fan and going to school in San Francisco in the late 90's made me a little defensive at times.  The Giants were either 1st or 2nd in the NL West every season but two from 1993-1998 while the A's were awful in that time span, never winming more than 78 games.  While the A's-Giants rivalry isn't a big deal to most, and not even that big of a deal to me most times, there are days when I am truly grateful to be an A's fan.

Continue reading "Why I'm Glad I'm not a San Francisco Giants Fan"

I like to write longer, more thoughtful pieces, but I had a few thoughts in my head that don't really relate.  That means it's time for a Blogger Special (AKA bullet article).

•  I was right about The Big Hurt...still waiting on Alan Embree (according to the SF Chronicle).

Continue reading "A's Bullets"

Monday is the deadline for all MLB teams to offer their free agents arbitration.  The A's have two players they need to make decisions about; Frank Thomas and Alan Embree.  Both are type-B free agents.  This means that if the A's offer either player arbitration, they decline and sign elsewhere, the A's will receive a compensatory pick between the first and second rounds of next year's amateur draft.  Generally, teams should offer arbitration to their free agents (if they're rated as either type A or B) unless there is a chance that the player will accept arbitration and he has no role on the team (and the team doesn't want to pay his salary).  Both Thomas and Embree might fall into this category.

Continue reading "A's Face Arbitration Decisions"

Baseball Prospectus' Marc Normandin has a great write-up on what to expect from Mark Ellis and Daric Barton for 2009. Correctly estimating what these two might do in 2009 is essential to determining what the A's need to do to increase their offensive output this season.  While the A's are committed to Ellis (which is fine because of his excellent defense), they may need to consider finding ways to increase their offense at other positions if they presume Ellis won't be productive at the plate.

Continue reading "Notes on Mark Ellis and Daric Barton"

Rafael Furcal is rumored to be headed to a new team soon, with the A's, Giants, and a mystery team being the supposed bidders.  Furcal would be a great fit for the A's, replacing Bobby Crosby's anemic bat in the lineup and giving the A's a true leadoff hitter with both on base skills and speed. 

Continue reading "Furcal Bidding Wars - How High Should the A's Go?"

The A's pitching staff was the key to the team being not horrible in 2008.  They were essentially tied with Boston for the fourth best staff in the league, giving up 4.29 runs a game.  There's good news and bad news in these numbers and what they mean for the 2009 season.  First, the good news: every returning pitcher will be 31 or under next season and at least five will be under 25.  What this means is that there's likely to be some intermal improvement, without much decline.  The bad news from last year's numbers is that it includes the numbers of Rich Harden, Chad Gaudin, Joe "I Homered in the World Series" Blanton, Greg Smith, and Huston Street.  This means the A's will have to replace over 500 innings of dominant (Harden) to mediocre (Smith, Blanton) pitching.

Continue reading "A's Pitching - Where it stands now"

In my post yesterday I presumed that the A's would need to make some improvements to their team in order to compete in 2009.  What did I base that on?  Well, nothing, or more accurately it just seems like they'll need to do more than just add Holliday.  That's not good enough for me so I'm going to try to see if my assumption was correct.

Continue reading "The A's Cannot Compete for a Playoff ..."

The Royals acquired Coco Crisp today for Ramon Ramirez, a deal the A's should have made (acquiring Crisp, that is).  The A's have basically the same player as Ramirez in Santiago Casilla, who is probably the A's third best right handed reliever.  Casilla is a little more than a year older than Ramirez and has virtually the same amount of service time (a little over two years).  Ramirez has been a little better over his major league career, with an ERA of 3.62 compared to Casilla's ERA of 4.74, but Casilla had better minor league numbers with awesome peripherals.  Regardless, if the A's could have had Crisp for a decent reliever they should have made the deal.

Continue reading "Oakland should have been coo coo for CoCo (Puffs)"

Most people presume that the A's won't re-sign Matt Holliday after this season and will only have his services for one season at most.  This is consistent with the A's behavior in the past as they've allowed almost all of their free agents walk at the end of the year or traded them before they reached free agency.  The only players they've signed to long term deals that went more than a year or two past their arbitration eligible years were Jermaine Dye and Eric Chavez.

Continue reading "Can the A's re-sign Holliday?"

One of the underrated benefits of the Holliday deal is the flexibility the A's now have.  As I see it, there are four distinct options the A's now have.  From worst case to best case scenario, they are:

Continue reading "After Holliday, What's Next?"

A big thanks to everyone who participated in the "Inbound Link Contest".  We have a winner!  A big congratulations go out to Marija.  Thank you for all your hard work on this.  While we had a lot of people participate, Marija was able to win with only 4 links!  So it wouldn't have taken a lot to win this contest!  We'll be having another contest soon so stay tuned.

Continue reading "Inbound link contest winner announced!"

Theory of the Week:  Relief Spending

    Every winter the free agent frenzy escalates as contracts rise to astronomical amounts and lengths.  Some MLB executives balk at the dearth of talent and exhorbitant contracts, while others jump at the opportunity to sign what they think are the missing pieces, for whatever the market demands.  Swarming the headlines this past off-season were some of the questionable contracts signed by relief pitchers.

Continue reading "Are Relief Pitchers Worth Their Contracts?"

    Neither the good nor the bad version of Oliver Perez showed up on Thursday at Shea--the spectacular version came to play against the Phillies.  Perez struck out 12 batters over 7.2 innings, including six whiffs of Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, as he out-dueled Jamie Moyer, who pitched a gem of his own.  Carlos Delgado came through with the big hit, a two-run double off the previously unhittable J.C. Romero, in the eighth, and Billy Wagner nailed down the win in the ninth with his 26th save.  Fittingly, Jimmy Rollins, who did not start because he arrived an hour late to the ballpark, made the final out of the game.  After Tuesday night's ninth inning meltdown, the bullpen tossed 4.1 scoreless innings, including back-to-back saves by Wagner, and the Mets took two of three from Philadelphia, despite losing the first game of the series.  New York is now 9-4 against the Phillies this season.

Continue reading "Mets Continue to Roll Behind Delgado, ..."

To try and motivate our bloggers to get inbound links we're going to have a contest to see which blogger can get the most inbound links to their blog. The contest begins now and ends July 31st, 2008. To be entered in to the contest all you have to do is go out and get as many websites to link to your blog as you can and at the end of the month send us an email listing all those links. All links must be active from August 1st through August 7th when we'll be judging the entries - a winner will be announced on August 7th. All entry emails must be received by Midnight on July 31st, 2008. You can email them to sportsfan@nbabasketballonline.com

Continue reading "Inbound link contest - Win $100!"

The other big trade that happened recently was the Cubs’ acquisition of the oft-injured Rich Harden from Oakland. This move is typical of Oakland’s business model, which involves shedding young stars before they get too expensive, often in exchange for other young or undervalued stars. In this way, they’re similar to the Florida Marlins, except that the Marlins tend to load up for concentrated runs at the championship (they have as many championships in the last decade as big-market Boston, and more than the Cubs have in the past hundred years), while the A’s tend towards consistent competitiveness.

Continue reading "NL Central Trade Analysis, Part Two"

It’s been three days since the Cubs acquired former Oakland ace Rich Harden, and those three days have shown a lot about the club. Harden has said he couldn’t be happier in pinstripes and has so far looked like a good fit in the clubhouse. He instantly has formed a sort of kinship with fellow British Columbian Ryan Dempster, and has received the praise of pitching coach Larry Rothschild. Like fellow former American Leaguer stud pitcher “CC” Sabathia, Harden has been place right in the middle of the Senior Circuit’s best race so far. With the Central’s big three clubs separated by less than five games, the division could go either way. For the Cubs, Rich Harden will be a key piece in taking their second consecutive title away from Sabathia’s Brewers. Sabathia was acquired a mere 24 hours before Harden, but by no means is Harden any less of a pitcher despite being the consensus second best available pitcher.

Continue reading "All-Star Break Push: Harden added, ..."

    This time last week the Mets were 4.5 games behind Philadelphia entering their pivotal four-game series with the division leaders.  After Johan Santana gave up a 2-0 lead and Duaner Sanchez allowed the winning run in the ninth, the horizon looked bleak for the orange and blue.  However, since that devastating defeat, New York has racked up six straight wins and the Mets now find themselves just 1.5 games back of the Phillies in the NL East.  During the winning streak the Mets have scored an average of seven runs per game while yielding only three per contest, including back-to-back shutouts of the Giants on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Continue reading "Mets Go For Seven Straight Tonight at Shea"

You ready for more heartache, Cubs fans?
You've already had close to 100 years of pain and suffering to go through, so the rest of this year shouldn't be anything different. Have fun when your shiny new acquisition, Rich Harden, inevitably ends up on the disabled list and the prospects that you traded away rush into the big league with the Oakland Athletics.

Continue reading "Cubs roll snake eyes with Harden deal"

The Chicago Sun Times is reporting that the Cubbies have been discussions with Billy Beane (wow, two references in 1 day!) about the A's oft-injured righty. From Chris De Luca's article:

Continue reading "Harden to the Cubs?"

The Mariners lost a good one. The M's lost 4-3 at the expense of the Oakland Athletics.

On the night after the Mariners lost in 15 innings, they needed a solid start from Jarrod Washburn. The bullpen was so tired, that Jamie Burke had to pitch an inning last night. Washburn knew this going in. He made sure he got it done. Washburn went 8 innings, and threw 102 pitches. He gave up 4 earned on 7 hits, no walks and 5 Ks. Sure, it's not perfect, but it usually should be good enough to win a game.

Continue reading "Washburn Solid, but A's still provail"

You can’t say there are many teams the Dodgers have enjoyed playing this season.  The team is inconsistent to the point that consecutive wins are hard to come by, and winning streaks , other than an eight-game stretch B.F.I. (Before Furcal’s Injury), are few and far between.

Continue reading "Win Some, Lose Some: Dodgers Win ..."

The brooms were out at AT&T Park over the weekend, it's just that they were carried by fans of the cross-bay Oakland Athletics.  The A's swept the first three of the six games the two teams will play this year.  (The other three are in two weeks at the Mcafee Coliseum...The A's pitching were blue chip, showing that Billy Beane knows how to pick them...The rotation was somewhat off blue chip, but very competitive.  Matt Cain Struck out 11 on Saturday evening, one off his career best...Kevin Corriea came back from an oblique strain and pitched remarkably well for his first major league appearance in nearly two months...And Barry was Barry.  He was in command of most of his pitches, but ended up issuing those dreader walks...The Boo Birds were out!...Now what I really think:  All of these Boo Birds, many who were probably cut from their 8th grade team, I always won dered if they could do better?  There are always references to the big contract--$126 million over seven years.  With the All-Star game coming up in one month, maybe Manager Bruce Bochy needs to step back and look at the staff ace and say maybe that isn't the spot for him.  Perhaps he would be better suited as #3, as in Oakland.  The pressure would certainly be off him...Tim Lincecum, wh  the staff ace, may be suited for that role...The scores of the three games were:

Continue reading "The Brooms were out at AT&T!!!!!"

Good game all around tonight, Chien-Ming Wang got back on track, the defense was great, turning 4 double plays, and the offense scored just enough to get by.  Aside from a bit of micro-managing in the 8th inning,(Veras replacing Wang 1 batter into the inning) things went well tonight.

Continue reading "Yankees at Athletics gm. 1 of 3 POST GAME THOUGHTS"

Well it has been almost 3 weeks since my last blog and a lot of things have happened.

The unstoppable Kyle Farnsworth has been stopped.

The best 8th inning pitcher in the game is a starter.

Continue reading "A lot can happen in 3 weeks"

Here I take time to answer questions sent to me, or questions posted in public forums worldwide.

Q: What does it mean when you see on the scoreboard at the park there will be a P then numbers below for each team like example 35 23 whatever

Continue reading "Q&A and Random Thoughts"

For those of you in the Seattle area who read the Times, you probably know who Larry Stone is. For those of you who don't, he is a baseball writer for the Seattle Times.

This morning, I was reading through the section, and came across an article of his titled

Continue reading "Mariners should emulate Athletics"

Yes, as tradition (and position numbering) dictates, I'm skipping SS to go to 3B first. The Yanks third sacker in that magical year of 1961 may have the most memorable name to Yankees fans (or at least to this one). Clete Boyer wasn't your modern third baseman, where the bat can so often outweigh the glove--general managers tend to look for guys to play the hot corner as if they're looking for a mirror-image third baseman, with perhaps a little less pop and a little more glove. Look at Ryan Braun, one of my fave players, and one of the best sluggers in the game. If he hadn't been hitting the commish's name off the ball last year, he'd have been sent down to the minors for his stone glove. Instead, he was voted Rookie of the Year.

Continue reading "Around The Horn With The '61 Yankees: 3B"

For much of my life as a Minnesota Twins fan, the team's biggest rivalry was with the Oakland Athletics. Oakland had established themselves with a series of World series wins in the seventies, then when Tom Kelly became manager of the twins and Tony LaRussa took over the A's things really heated up. kelly and LaRussa were the best managers of their time, each could out maneuver pretty much anyone in the league except for each other.

Continue reading "The Old Rivalry"

           If you’re a baseball fan (any team), you know better than to get excited about the results of any single series of games. If you’ve been a Boston Red Sox fan for longer than (say) 10 years, you know better than to get excited about almost anything until (say) mid-September (and even then. . ).

Continue reading "Don't get too excited. . .but the ..."

I was so looking forward to watching the Boston Red Sox battle the Oakland As in Japan in what is the earliest opening season game in MLB history and figured that down here in North Carolina, I'd be less apt to hear about the score before I was able to watch a replay later in the day (I'm a fan, but 6 a.m. is just insane). Anyway, I stepped in to talk to my significant other around 9 a.m. and first thing, she tells me that according to Regis Philbin, the score is 4-4. Less than two hours later, I get an e-mail from a Sox fan down here, who tells me that they won, 6-5 in 10 innings. . . Grrrrrrr!

Continue reading "As I watch. . .the Boston Red Sox ..."

If your going to wait nearly 5 months for opening day, and have to get up at 6am to watch Dice K turn into Nuke LaLoosh, you better win the game. Well, thanks to the Manny/Moss combo, the Boston Red sox eked out a 6-5 win over the Oakland Athletics. 

Continue reading "Breakfast With The Bo Sox"

           It’s hard to assess the true nature of the events that transpired prior to the start of yesterday’s pre-season game against the Toronto Blue Jays, because we weren’t there. What we heard was that prior to the game, Boston Red Sox players voted unanimously not to play the game or board a plane to Japan for scheduled exhibition games against Japanese teams and two regular season games against the Oakland A’s, unless the team’s coaches were compensated for the trip.

Continue reading "An attack of the 'warm and fuzzies' ..."

For the latest installment of my preview of the 2008 Major League Baseball season, I’ll take a look at the American League West.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Will Torii Hunter be able to provide another big bat to help Vladimir Guerrero carry the load?

Continue reading "MLB 2008 Season Preview: American League West"

I would love to have a nice piece about Roger Clemens right here. A nice, satirical gut-shot at Major League Baseball. The only problem is, I already wrote it, and stipulation from The Daily Collegian (www.dailycollegian.com Search: Boys will be boys) prevent me from putting it here.

Continue reading "No Clemens: Just Stupid Deals"

To be an A's fan means that one absolutely must expect the unexpected - with a lot of blind faith. Got a young switch-hitting outfielder whose adored by fans on the roster? And he's at the beginning of a big contract? Unload him. What's that? One of your arms is a strikeout machine who started the All-Star game las season? Trade him for prospects.

Continue reading "Sreet, Blanton sign; Is stability on the horizon?"

One of the most underrated outfielders in baseball is no longer a member of the Oakland Athletics. Mark Kotsay was traded to the Atlanta Braves for a couple of young arms, in a move that will ensures that Travis Buck will have the most experience in the outfield next season barring a return from Shannon Stewart.

Continue reading "Kotsay, we'll miss you!"

To be an Athletics fan, one has to understand why Billy Beane makes the decisions that he does, that until Cisco Field in Fremont is built, the Elephants will be a small market, low revenue team that is constantly in the position of being unable to sign our big name free agents to extensions and coax others to move to the East Bay.

Continue reading "Pledging Allegiance"

Reliever Justin Duchscherer avoided arbitration, agreeing to a $1.2 million, one-year deal with the Oakland Athletics, according to the Associated Press.

This is excellent news for both the team, as well as Duke. The A's get to hang on to one of their top pitchers from the last few years - Justin made the All-Star game in 2005 - and Duke gets a year to show the organization and the rest of baseball that he can be a starter. Pending any more trades (and injuries), a rotation with Joe Blanton, Rich Harden, Cahad Gaudin, and Duke could bode well for a team in rebuilding mode.

Continue reading "The Duke Signs On For Another Year"

There's a special feeling you get when you walk into the Coliseum and you here the ultra smooth voice of Roy Steele, aka The Voice of God, utter the words, "Welcome A's Fans!"

Continue reading "Welcome A's Fans!"