The Missing Piece

Well, Blanton didn't bounce back completely like I expected yesterday. But one aspect of our pitching did - the bullpen. Incredible job by the pen - especially Huston Street, pitching two great innings after struggling the day before. Is that guy a strikeout machine, or what? I love watching him pitch. Hopefully this team starts racking up runs and creating save situations so everybody can get a glimpse of this guy. He's going to be big.

I still have my doubts on putting the guy immediately in the spotlight right now, but I don't have a problem with it until Dotel returns. I mean, honestly, who else are we going to put in there? All in favor of making Britt Reames closer, raise your hand! That's what I figured. For that matter, is he even on the roster anymore?

And for the fans who still continue to trash Yabu - why? What has this guy done to get the trash talk? This guy has been one of the few positives of the season, in my opinion. He's had three legitimate bad outings out of sixteen appearances. C'mon. Not bad for a guy who's a rookie and making the adjustment to MLB hitters as the season progresses. I think he's got great stuff, and is a very valuable part of this team. Just hope the A's watch this guy and how much he pitches - he's effective, but you have to think his effectiveness dwindles after a lot of work - he may be a rookie, but that doesn't change the fact he's come over from Japan in his late 30's.

Well, great exciting game yesterday. That last inning was great. I was trying so hard to stay awake from a tiring day to catch the ending, and I did. Thomas friggin' delivered. Scutaro delivered in the clutch once again. Kendall played great and came through. And finally, I believe our best overall hitter this season, Kotsay came through to drive the winning run home.

Oh yeah, and Bobby Crosby came back. Maybe he's been the missing piece all along?

Learning the Hard Way

Tonight, it's back to the west coast for the A's. The D-Rays are following. Maybe you can get away with losses to Tampa in the dark and silent distant world of Tropicana Field. But now, now is the time to get their feces together. They already left enough droppings in some of the crappiest ballclub's fields. Let's quit leaving 'em in our own.

Blanton takes the mound again. I refuse to give up on this guy already and proclaim that he doesn't have the "stuff" or "mental ability" to maintain his role as a major league starter. If this were the case, don't you think Beane and Co. would have realized this minor detail long before making the decision to bring him up? Give me a break. He's a rookie. He'll get it together. Every new game is a learning experience for him. That last game against Tampa Bay? A learning experience. I highly doubt he embarrasses himself like that again.

The A's face Scott Kazmir again. This guy isn't exactly the anti-walk either. He's on a two game winning streak. I have my doubts that he'll have the same success against us that he did the first time around. I realize our offense is apparently even more boring and crappy than a defensive hockey game but the hitters still study film and work on the side. These aren't little leaguers, they know what's up and what has to be done.

Besides, last time we faced the guy, we pulled out seven hits. Teams have put up fewer hits on Kazmir in 50% of his appearances and put up better run totals than we did (1 ER). Make him work. He's young just like Blanton. And for that matter, make that Tampa defense work. These guys aren't that much better than we are defensively.

Blanton's work? Keep the D-Rays out of scoring position. I'd even say put Adam Melhuse in tonight to catch. At least he has somewhat of an ability to throw out a guy stealing. Tampa Bay leads the entire major leagues in AVG with RISP. It's gonna be about Blanton and his control, as well as whoever catches handling their great speed/SB ability.

And Dan Johnson, knock the #!%^ out of those Kazmir fastballs. It's time for the first major league HR. Or two.

Pow Wow Gone Wrong

Congrats to Dan Johnson on his first major league hit. He's got a hit, 3 BB, and 3 K, so far. I'm liking the consistency on the walks but would like to see more of that power hitting that I've heard about. He's hit some fly balls pretty deep though, so at least we have sort of an example before they actually start leaving the ballparks. And just to throw in, I really like the guy's swing. This guy looks like the real deal to me. If he gets sent down, with the record we have right now, I will be royally pissed.

Now that the massive amounts of positives are out of the way, the A's were just swept by the Cleveland Indians. If you're wondering why I am not posting as much after every game, it's because I have absolutely no motivation. This much losing, with this boring baseball we're playing, it's hard to get on here and write about anything. You know Mr. Rhodes thought that series was great. Probably grinning right now as he polishes his womanly earrings.

I wonder if we have the worst record in baseball yet? I'm not sure. I'm not keeping up with it. It really feels that way.

I was also just thinking - it's funny how some of the guys were looking in spring training as opposed to the actual season. Mark Ellis, the homerun hitting beast! He hasn't emerged yet! You don't even play Eric Byrnes! I mean, Bobby Kielty practically owns you now. Who would have figured that? Johnson, you put up the stats in spring training. Too bad you were never given the opportunity until now to see if it would carry over.

Spring training illusions suck. So does this season.

So now, it's the powerhouse Tampa Bay D-Rays again. Stand back as I let out a good ole' southern yeeeeee-hawww and cook me some tasty squirrel in excitement.

Single Position Versatility

Swept. By Tampa Bay.

Luckily, I hadn't checked the time for the game earlier in the day, and figured out it was already over when I finally looked at earlier game boxscores. Luckily I didn't have to witness Hideo Nomo throw 8 shutout innings against us. Hideo Nomo!

Now it's Cleveland. Zito's on the mound tonight. I've had mucho confidence in him lately, so I'm not as worried about his performance against the struggling Indians offense as I am about the A's hitters versus Cliff Lee (5-2, 34 K, 12 BB).

I'll just try and ignore the Tampa series and hope for the best. Seriously, I dont know what happened there. Did anybody prepare for that game? I'm not just talking about the players, I'm talking the whole organization. Does anybody care anymore?

About the only good news I've heard today is that the 1B/DH hot-hitting prospect Dan Johnson is finally up. Finally a decent call-up. I checked out that info on the Scout.com board but have yet to figure out how it came about. The rumor going is that Durazo is being put on the DL, but who knows. It'll come out eventually.

But if that were the true reasoning, let's just say it wouldn't break my heart. I've never been a big fan of Erubiel. Sure, the season with 100 walks was nice. But that's what everybody points to when it comes to keeping the guy. That # was basically cut directly in half last season, anyway. I wonder how that happened? Well, wait, he did manage to keep his 100+ in strikeouts. At least he stayed consistent there, I guess. He's a guy who can only play DH, gets hurt playing first base (!!!), and to me, is just one of those streaky hitters who'll put up semi-decent looking stats that are really misleading towards his overall value to the team.

But, that's just my opinion. Johnson, give 'em a reason to keep you in an A's uniform. I don't think I can handle that bug-eye thing Durazo does after every pitch anymore.

Send in the Reinforcements

You gotta be kidding me.

It's bad enough I had to watch the awful "Rays-TV" broadcast that we get here in Florida. Man, televised games in Tampa are just plain depressing. It looks depressing, the announcers sound depressed...I'd like to say the fans are depressed too, in some capacity, but there aren't really many of them.

To put up with that, the entire game, and watch that ending...I don't know. What's up, Bobby Kielty? Bases loaded earlier in the game. Nothing. Guys on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs in the 9th inning. Still nothing! Didn't you hear the drugged-out Tampa commentators? You're our hottest hitter right now!

Foolish Ken Macha. Shoulda' pinch hit Thomas.

Well, whatever. I'm over it. I'm getting used to it now. We play this series against Tampa, then we play Cleveland, and once again Tampa. Seems like it'd be a breeze against these horrible teams, don't you think? Not really. Not when we're just as damn horrible.

Swisher. Crosby. Harden. Whoever. Get here soon. Fast. The team and it's fans needs you more than ever.

Collecting Cobwebs

OaklandAthletics.com:
"Macha said the A's, who are currently carrying 11 pitchers, will add another Tuesday night. Jairo Garcia is the only pitcher at Sacramento who is on the 40-man roster, so unless he's the one promoted, it's likely that A's utilityman Jermaine Clark will be designated for assignment for the second time in less than two weeks. If Garcia is promoted, it's possible that cobweb-collecting outfielder Charles Thomas could be sent to Sacramento to get some regular work."

Jermaine Clark gone? Again? But the productivity..and potential..and..wait, Charles Thomas too? For some regular work? Forget that, bench Kotsay and get that hittin' machine in there!

Thomas gets some rough treatment from Oakland fans. Including me. But I'm not one of those people who immediately judge newcomers based on their first few months with the team, so I don't know why I do it. Thomas played decent in Atlanta before this. I expect, in time, that he'll be a player though. Keep in mind he's coming off his rookie season and changing leagues/teams in the process. There are a lot of adjustments involved there.

But I still don't get why Clark was brought up twice. I'd like to do the inspirational speech on how he needs time and a baby bottle to develop into a real hitter...but honestly, he doesn't belong on the roster. I'm dying to see some of those top prospects come up. Who cares if it's just a short callup? At this point, not me.

Man, that love for making Keith Ginter an everyday player sure did die fast, huh? You can't throw bricks through his windows after just one game, but boy was that a bad game. Don't you hate that? It's engraved in your mind. Now you're going to visualize Ginter's "uhhh-duhh" facial expressions to any mention of his name. It's probably worse seeing his mistakes live on television, and seeing Zito's depressed demeanor afterwards, than looking at a plain old boxscore. Now I know why Billy B. prefers to avoid watching games.

Danny Graves is a genius. Flippin' out about some dumb fan and you get released. What are you getting mad about? All the fans say you suck. Get it in your head Danny, you suck. Every save situation is hell. And speaking as a fan of a team who's closer is Octavio Dotel, I hate closers like you. Just quit baseball.

Fielding Adventures

What a game. Barry Zito actually makes it past the 5th inning without throwing 250 pitches and ridiculous defensive errors put all his efforts to waste. I mean, sure, the A's would have still been down 2-1 going into the ninth inning. But you have to think mistakes like that just completely take the air out of the whole team.

Keith Ginter's defensive botches reminded me of the highlights of Kaz Matsui's "gold glove" ability that FOX showed during the Yankees/Mets broadcast yesterday.

But it really figures the young Huston Street stopped the bleeding in the 8th. Everybody loses their composure except for the rookie closer. How often does that happen. It makes me think. Maybe I was wrong about Street's ability to handle the pressure? Too early to tell, but he's definitely one of the most confident rookie pitchers I have ever seen.

I'm so frustrated it's not even funny.

Please let the upcoming series be the team's revival. The series against Tampa Bay, that is. I missed Seth Etherton's first start this season, so I'm kind of interested in seeing him on the mound tomorrow. Also, living in Florida, I've seen many Devil Rays games this season. This team is going to mess with Jason Kendall bad. You think teams run on the guy already, wait 'till Carl Crawford & Co. head to the film room. Tampa Bay is ranked 2nd in all of Major League Baseball with 43 stolen bases.

Hopefully it makes no difference. I mean, they're still the friggin' Devil Rays.

Finally Back

Lack of posts lately - I'll start updating regularly again either tonight or tomorrow morning.

For one, I've had graduation. I've graduated from high school. Finally. No more school. Until fall, anyway. Then it's to Florida Community College of Jacksonville...and after two years, hopefully the University of North Florida.

As for the technical difficulties...along with the graduation issue, I've also had my Comcast internet down for several days. I finally had a technician come in and fix all the issues this morning, so now I can finally get back online and back to Oakland A's baseball. Since Comcast is my internet and cable provider (meaning no MLB package), I haven't been able to keep up except for SportsCenter highlights. I'll need to catch up on all the news and check out the game tonight...then I'll be back here.

That Nasty Feeling

I'm feeling sick. No. Not because of the game last night. I don't know why. The only connection between the two is the puking from this morning. Those feelings resembled my own from last night, as I watched the Yankees rack up run after run on the A's pitching. It was just plain nasty.

So today, in my day of frequent bathroom visits, I look forward to the intriguing matchup of the A's offense versus Randy Johnson. Seriously. I look forward to it. Despite the fact that all signs point to The Perfect Game: Episode II, it seems like the buildup of the god-awful hitting team being carved up by the future hall-o-famer never goes down like it should. Odds are statistics prove me wrong there, but from my baseball viewing experiences, that always seems to be one of the storylines that disappoint the most. I'm praying it does today, for the sake of my sanity.

I really liked the move of putting youngin' Matt Watson in LF. I've heard a lot about the guy over on Elephants in Oakland. Maybe his fresh presence inspired the A's offense to come through with all the hits they did. Or maybe Kevin Brown was pitching. I'm not sure. But it was refreshing and I would like to see Billy Beane slowly start calling up the hot-hitting-prospects we have and getting them in the lineup.

The beer-tossing incident involving the Oakland fan above the Yankee dugout and Jason Giambi was pretty stupid. I did like Giambi's comments. He handled the situation well. Although the wide-eye stare he gave afterwards, in the dugout, was pretty creepy. I'd rather not have a heartattack over the situation, like ESPN will probably do, but big props to the fans around him for pointing him out immediately. Sucks to be him.

And speaking of ESPN, they are so damn wrong. After Giambi gave the comments regarding his distinct beer-odor issues, they pointed out, with a split stat comparison, how the Atlanta Braves pitchers are out-hitting him. Where did that come from? I thought it was pretty funny.

Anyway, back to bed for me. I'll be back in front of the television at 4:00pm for the game. Nothing like listening to the YES Network's prestigious David Justice point out, through indepth research, how and why we suck. Get 'em in the strikezone Dan Haren. Please. And let's see the A's newest outfielder hit a big one off of the Big Unit. Hell, let's see anybody do it.

Trading the Wooden Paddle

Fourth inning and Rich Harden is gone. That's what happened last night. I could be seeing things, but leading up to the AB with Jorge Posada, where he would end up leaving the game, I did notice slight hesitations in his delivery. Maybe Jason Kendall noticed. Or maybe Harden just called him over in pain. Either way, this injury is basically the A's sore ass getting upgraded from wooden paddle to spiked leather belt, in terms of abuse. I mean, both hurt, yeah. But there is a big difference between single stinging pains and the addition of profuse bleeding.

I'm not sure what to make of it. I've read about the closed-door meetings between Billy Beane and Ken Macha-N-Friends. They're either.. A) Finding religion together in this time of struggle..B) Examining several unnamed sources of literature by Dr. Phil for ways to psychologically handle the team in a "loving..caring..heartfelt..yet still aggressive, from the soul" kind of way. Seems as if Macha's "look down, stare, look up, glance at papers, mouth a fake conversation to confused bench coach" approach needs revising. Or C) Watching Office Space, because it's sweet.

They can't possibly be discussing personnel moves. Everything that has happened should have triggered some kind of move by now. I'm not talking about trading everybody. I'm not talking about switching places with one of the minor league teams. Just something. And no, Jermaine Clark doesn't count. Ever.

Oh yeah. Nice audition last night, Jason Giambi. You look like a real winner up there at the plate! A real fighter!

F'n Sox

See the Red Sox hit a walkoff homerun for the 2nd night in a row off of Octavio Dotel. During the broadcast, deal with Red Sox commercials and advertising, because of the MLB Extra Innings package. Later that night, go see movie with girlfriend. What do I see? Fever Pitch. A comedic love story. About the Red Sox. Drive back to the beaches to drop off girlfriend. Take back roads. Usually a quicker way to go about things. Entire time, stuck behind a puke-colored SUV with an elderly woman who feels the need to go 15 on a 25mph road. Oh, what's that on her back windshield? A Boston f'ing Red Sox sticker.

Talk about getting it shoved down my throat. You'd think living on the complete opposite side of the country, that after cutting off my television, the connection to anything involving the Oakland A's that pisses me off is shut off from my life for a good "calming-period" amount of time (until the next game, anyway). Not yesterday. God felt the need to punish me yesterday. Makes me reconsider, for the future, what obscenities I decide to yell after a Dotel fastball slides just inside the foul pole of whatever random park and random 9th inning scenario I'm witnessing.

Replace Dotel with Huston Street? I'm not sure I'm on that bandwagon yet. Not to say I wouldn't mind if it did happen, but that's more emotionally-based thinking than anything. The possibilites of failure and the effect it could have on our very young and inexperienced closing prospect run through my mind. Many people like to bring up the switch. As fun as it may be to think about, be sure to consider the other side of what could happen as a result of actually going through with it. Putting Street in that kind of spotlight, this soon, could have more detrimental effects on his closing career than you may think.

About the Site

Welcome To My Oakland A's Blog!

The A's East Coast Advocate...you're probably wondering what the deal is with that name, huh? Well, I'm an Oakland A's fan on the complete opposite side of the country. I'm "operating" out of Jacksonville Beach, Florida, which is northern Florida, incase you don't know. And yes, I realize there are definitely hundreds, if not thousands of A's fans here in Florida and all over the east coast, but to be honest, I thought the named sounded catchy so I stuck with it. I'm not saying I'm THE main A's fan on the east coast or anything like that...just one of many who are making themselves known!

About myself..I'm seventeen years old (turning 18 in August - don't be shy in sending me birthday cash, of course) and just graduated from Fletcher High School here at the beaches. I'm starting off for 2 years at the Florida Community College of Jacksonville in the fall and plan to transfer to either the University of North Florida or University of Florida, while seeking a degree in finance (and hopefully a future job in some professional sports team front office!). I'm a huge sports fan, let me just get that out of the way. As far as baseball, I've been an Oakland A's fan for a while now. Heck, I even sported the A's uni when I was like one or two years old (I'll bust out with those pictures soon enough, trust me). I also tend to follow how the Dodgers are doing over in Los Angeles, mainly because their AA affiliate, the Jacksonville Suns, play here in Jacksonville at The Baseball Grounds. You know, just watching the younger players move through the minor leagues to the pro's, it's exciting to watch. I'm a fan of ALL sports, but the other main teams I follow are the Jacksonville Jaguars (NFL), Florida Gators (NCAA fball, basketball & baseball), Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL, when it comes back anyway)...and that's pretty much it. But I'm pretty much always up for watching anything. I'm just a straight up sports fanatic.

But anyway..my main affiliation lies with the Oakland A's and that's exactly why I created this blog. Just to have fun and type out my opinions on what's going on. Keyword there is fun. I do this for fun. I realize this blog probably isn't the funnest to read, most exciting or most interesting, and definitely doesn't leave you with any meaningful information or obscure statistics...but it's what I do when I need to let it all out after a good or bad game. It's not like I have many A's fans around me to do that with anyway... So this is where I go...I just enjoy it. That's really what it's all about.

But don't worry, I'm spreading the word down here. My girlfriend Nicole, who I've dated for a long long time and I love very very much, is almost completely converted from Atlanta Braves fan to Oakland A's fan. In due time, my friends, in due time.


Look's like an "aww.." moment..
But the evil plan is underway..

Well, that's pretty much it. If you have any questions about this blog or about me, just be sure to email me @ floridagators787@comcast.net or instant message me on AOL/AIM at FlawdaGatorz.

THANKS A LOT for visiting my blog!
See ya later!