Bombs Away

2005-07-15T23:22:00.000-04:00

Jay Payton introduces himself with a homerun in his first AB as an Athletic. Chavez and Swisher also join in the action.

And to this point, the 5th inning, Zito's pitching almost as good as Harden yesterday.

Doesn't get any better.

Speaking of Swisher - this guy's gonna win Rookie of the Year. Book it.

Byrnes in Colorado

2005-07-14T16:07:00.000-04:00

Yep, he's been traded to Colorado for Kennedy and Witasick. Two acqusitions I really like.

But Byrnes in Colorado, I'm seeing big things there. Sure, he's not great on defense. But I think this guy is going to put up huge offensive numbers in Coors. I just picked him up on my fantasy team and I'm starting him as soon as possible. Byrnes has been a fan favorite of many Oakland fans, including me, for how he plays the game. It'll definitely be reason for me to check out the Rockies on Extra Innings every now and then.

A quote from Byrnes in a Yahoo! article on the trade:
"I'm excited about the opportunity to go play for the Rockies and I'm sad to leave Oakland," said Byrnes, who grew up in the Bay area and appreciated the fan support. "I'm going to miss everybody in the organization. It's the only organization I've ever known. The 24 guys in the clubhouse are 24 of my best friends, everyone from the janitor on up. I can't thank them enough for giving me the chance to play major league baseball."

With the supposed heat between him and the management, that was a pretty classy quote to leave with. Big props there.

Jay Payton for Chad Bradford was finally finished too. Payton isn't that great, and I'm hoping he'll be shipped pretty soon too. But it's good to see that trading Bradford won't be that much of a loss with the two pitchers we just brought in.

Tonight, it's Harden vs. Rogers. Hopefully his bad outing at the ASG carries over. I wonder if we see any of the new guys in action tonight.

New Football Blog

2005-07-09T15:49:00.000-04:00

If anybody out there happens to be a Jacksonville Jaguars fan or just wants to check it out and tell me what you think - check out my new blog located here.

Scott Hattey-berg and Bubba Crosby

2005-07-08T23:36:00.000-04:00

Yeah, those White Sox announcers sure are annoying. Gotta love those guys with names. Makes you wonder how they consistently get Scott Podsednik's name right.

Oh yeah, and that "Hegone!" that sounds like a hillbilly making karate noises..well, that got old really, really fast. At least we didn't have to listen to the homerun routine.

Good win after losing some aggravating games against Toronto. Nothing sweeter than Street striking out Frank Thomas for the game clinching out. Hearing that abrupt hush, all across a packed stadium...It's great.

By the way, I never realized how strong of arm Swisher had out there in right field until tonight. Don't ask me why, but man, he can sling it.

Tomorrow, I'm going to count how many times I can hear a fan say "hey so-and-so, you suck @&$#!" on the Chicago broadcast. Fun game.

Bradford for Payton?

2005-07-08T13:00:00.000-04:00

The A's have reportedly agreed to a deal that will send Chad Bradford (back) to Boston for disgruntled outfielder Jay Payton. - Rotoworld.com

Interesting. I would have liked to see Bradford come off the DL and back in our pen, but then again this trade could be as a result of perhaps one of the OF'ers getting traded soon.

Payton had been complaining recently in Boston about playing time with manager Terry Francona, and according to Rotoworld, had a recent confrontation with the guy in the dugout that finally caused the front office to make a move. That's what makes me think if he does infact come to Oakland, he's going to demand a starting role, and the A's just might end up having a hole to have him fill.

Then again, a lot of people are saying Beane will immediately ship him elsewhere upon his acquisition, but we'll see.

Breaking Down Joe Morgan

2005-07-07T01:41:00.000-04:00

Great article I found on the Scout.com A's message board, that you can find here: http://www.sfweekly.com/Issues/2005-07-06/news/feature_print.html. It takes apart Joe Morgan and his "Billy Beane wrote Moneyball and is the devil" ways. Very, very, very good read that all of you should check out immediately.

The A's took the first game in the series against Toronto, but lost pretty badly today. But it's all good. Back below .500 but I'm very confident that even better things are coming soon. And by the way - screw that Texas pitcher, Nick Swisher for ROTY!

One final note for yet another short entry - I'm up at 1:55 AM with NBC on. It's official - Carson Daly is by far the worst late night host in the history of mankind. The lame jokes and midget-size furniture make me want to hurl.

Currrrrvvveeeee

2005-07-04T13:48:00.000-04:00

A's win the series against the White Sox. Nice little streak going on. National attention slowly coming.

Not anything better than watching Zito curveballing to death somebody, 10 different times in slow motion on SportsCenter (or Baseball Tonight, whatever it was). Even had the lil ball tracking line! Thomas' reaction to the pitch was great. What the F are you doing, Frank? Bunting? Yes, your homerun made the highlight reel, but Zito made sure he also was included, a couple thousand times, with you as the victim.

Great, great, great stuff. Especially with so many White Sox trash talkers out there. Which speaking of those guys, when are you guys pulling the trigger on the Chavez trade? We really need that Crede guy, he's the next big thing...or whatever.

Day Off

2005-06-27T22:37:00.000-04:00

A's got the day off today, and I'm looking forward to watching Zito and Moyer go at it tomorrow.

That 16-0 game was insane. The team has been a complete turnaround from the start of the season. Not a lot of people are noticing yet - but they will.

Got a bad stomach ache, so I'm not writing much on here tonight. It's probably from watching Stephen A. Smith and Stuart Scott at the same time, during the ESPN NBA Draft preview. That alone made me want to puke.

The New Look A's (In More Than One Way)

2005-06-24T02:13:00.000-04:00

Oakland Athletics' Nick Swisher has a "Bazooka Joe" bubble gum comic stuck to his forehead after taking off his batting helmet late in the game against the Seattle Mariners Thursday, June 23, 2005 at Safeco Field in Seattle. It was unknown whether the comic placement was a prank from teammates or intentional. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Yeah, I found that picture on Yahoo! from today's game. Thought it was interesting. I think the bubble gum wrapper definitely brings out Swisher's artistic side. Or something.

Either way, the boxscore I did find was very fun to read. I wasn't able to watch the game today because Extra Innings once again decided to not carry the game, but the guy I had been criticizing, Saarloos, threw a CG 4-hit 7 K shutout. Pretty insane for a guy who usually barely makes it out of five innings. If he can continue to improve like this throughout the season..well, what a steal.

The starting pitching as a whole has just been sick lately. Screw that, the whole team has been sick. Everything's coming together and the team is reeling off wins so fast it's not even funny.

The Gigantes again tomorrow night, with Joe Blanton on the mound. My emotions for that guy have really fluctuated throughout this season. At the beginning, I was excited. Around the middle, I was like, man, I'm not watching this guy get tore up again. Once again, he has become intriguing as heck. I'm praying it remains that way. I'd like nothing more than to see this guy succeed and prove his doubters wrong.

And on a final note, big game by Hatteberg. Even with Dan Johnson showing that he's infact the real deal, he comes out there and has a 4 H, 1 RBI game. Everybody's steppin' up lately.

The "Fit As Many Pitchers Into The Ninth As Possible" Game! Whoo!

2005-06-23T16:03:00.000-04:00

Soooo close to removing ourselves from the bottom of the pile..

Street's injury is really hurtin' us, that or Macha's stupid decision making. Even with Duchscherer's frequent apperances, I was almost certain I'd be seeing him out there when the bottom of the ninth came around. The momentum Seattle had once Macha FINALLY decided to put the Duke in the game, well, pretty much dismantled any shot of the save. Not to mention the runners on second and third.

Let me just say, however, Dan Johnson continues to impress and impress some more. His defensive abilities should keep Hatteberg from playing any significant first base time for the rest of the year. Keep Johnson there, and if he needs a day off, stick Swisher at first. He's made some web gems over there as well. Oh, and if Durazo ever comes back, be sure to never have him on the field to play first. His defensive skills are downright sad and pathetic. I don't want to hear about "let's see you..blah blah..do what they do..blah blah". Obviously I'm not going to do a better job, but this guy has tons of time and ability, as well as professional coaches to work with on this kind of thing. Give me a break.

Thanks to Zito for pitching another great game and making it enjoyable for me to stay up till 1 a.m. and watch a game with anybody vs. Jamie Moyer. The curve was sick. It's a shame he was robbed of another win. I saw this funny post on the Scout.com A's board where a guy went ballistic, calling for everytime Macha makes a stupid bullpen decision to cost a game, the pitcher who fails to record the win as a result, gets to smack the, well, you know, out of him. Sounds like a very professional and interesting method to me.

FOX = Aggrivating and Annoying

2005-06-18T19:11:00.000-04:00

Yes, I hate Joe Buck and I also hate the FOX Network in general. Not only do they prevent me from watching any games other than the crap that they decide to show, but if I do want to watch some baseball, I have to listen to their idiot commentators blab on about fashion and other assorted fruity discussions.

No, I don't care about the fact that the Yankees and Cubs haven't played in forever. And I'm sorry, but that noise that came out of Buck's mouth before the start of the telecast was very disturbing. It was almost as if he was having some kind of orgasmic experience over the fact of being there. Yes, I'm sure it's somewhat cool to be in his situation - but don't ever let out that girly pig squeal noise ever again. Thanks.

Yeah, I know it's only one game every week that I may have to miss. I'll have to get over it I guess.

Saarloos ended up getting the win versus the Phillies, with a 2-1 score. Looking at the end of the game pitching stats were surprising - Rincon pitching 2 innings of relief and Duchscherer being put into the game for the save. I've always thought Duchscherer had potential in that role but we all know Huston Street is the closer, so you have to wonder about his availability. Injury troubles? Sickness? Tired arm? What was it that kept him from going out there? And I know my fantasy team certainly could have used the save with Todd Jones as my only closer (who took the loss for the Marlins against the Angels, friggin' Vlad Guerrerro).

Although, the versatility of the bullpen is exciting. Especially the recent callup of Jairo Garcia. I'm hoping it's not to build his trade value for that stupid deal for Rockies starting pitcher Joe Kennedy (they asked for Garcia and catching prospect Kurt Suzuki), because I think he has the potential to be Street's future setup man and/or some other club's closer via a trade to get the A's something sweet. He can throw some heat, although I've heard their are control issues. Nothing that can't be corrected.

And speaking of recent moves, Juan Cruz was sent to the minor leagues. It's time to condition and convert him to the role he wants to be in - a starting pitcher. He's got some sick stuff and velocity to back it up. If we can get his head straight, he can be devastating as our 5th starter. It's definitely a hole in the rotation we desperately need to fill, as Glynn just ain't getting it done.

That Disappearing Offense Trick, It's Getting Old

2005-06-09T22:17:00.000-04:00

Well, there goes another series. I'll try hard not to sit on here and female-dog to you guys, the entire time. It's hard, but I'll try not to. The game tonight had me on the edge of my seat at the end though, so I will give credit where it's due, they almost came through on Washington's tough closer. Which, speaking of him, how does he even see? His hat is ridiculously low.

Also, another positive note, the play by Huston Street. The dive and skipping the ball off the ground to make the play was insane. I loved the expression when he got up, like it was just a regular routine play. Actually, I can't believe he trapped the ball on the ground in the first place. What a competitor. Seriously.

So now I won't be making the trip to Atlanta for the upcoming series. Too much stuff to do here at home. It's a shame - I really wanted to go. The pitching matchups look to be pretty good, although it would have been way cooler if Zito was scheduled against Smoltz in the last game. That's what I thought it was going to be a week ago but I guess I counted it up wrong.

Charles Thomas was sent down to the minor leagues, before the game today. Matt Watson is back up. Somebody misinterpreted me last time I commented about Watson, assuming I meant that he's a worthless guy to call up in the first place. That's far from the truth. I definitely approve of bringing him up. What I meant by my comments was that the call up before had no significance, as in he wasn't being brought up to compete for a starting spot or anything, it was basically because of injury, and that's how his chance arose. This time, it seems like he's being given a legitimate opportunity on the big league club. Hopefully Thomas can work out his kinks in the minor leagues and become a decent outfielder for us in the future, but until then, let's see what this Watson guy can really do.

similar to one of the other A's blogs that I enjoy reading, the 7th Inning Stretch, I'm hoping to make a few minor layout changes and additions to the front page of the site pretty soon. Nothing drastic. Just little things here and there to make it a little better looking and also a little more interesting and informative. Honestly, I know this blog isn't the most exciting one out there. I have nothing that stands out. It's just me and my reactions and opinions to the latest happenings that go on. So, hopefully I can make it a little more appealing for the random reader to maybe find a reason to come back. I've never had anybody in Jacksonville, for obvious reasons, to vent my frustrations or release my excitement to, when it comes to A's games and news and etc. It's the main reason I created this blog in the first place. I could reach Oakland fans all over the world and hopefully find some that share similar opinions with me. But, anyway, I'll stop rambling on.

Tomorrow, Danny Haren faces off against Atlanta's great young pitcher, Kyle Davies. Fear our dreaded offense, rookie! Yeah, that's it..scarrrryyy..

Barry the Batting Champ

2005-06-08T00:56:00.000-04:00

Where'd the friggin' offense go? Zito pitched a pretty good game and got nothing. The fact that he got a loss on his record for that is a joke. Come on. Honestly, with his early high pitch count (which is not something new with him), he shouldn't have been in the game when he did give up the homerun to Nick Johnson anyway. Yes, he was pitching a good game, like I said. But whenever his count gets that high it shouldn't matter what he's doing. For most pitchers, I don't have the pitch count belief. But Zito does seem to legitimately implode once he gets a little under 100. When I saw his count after five innings I couldn't even believe it, I couldn't understand how he got that high so fast. It didn't seem like he was even having to throw that much.

I wish I could have saw Zito get that hit off of Armas. I bet that was kind of funny.

Once again, I had to get all my updates on Yahoo!'s scoreboard thingy. MLB Extra Innings decided not to show the game. I hate when I spend all day looking forward to a game and then right at gametime, I go downstairs, cut on the TV, flip through every channel, and only then figure out they've decided they'd rather show some other crap. I really wish they'd alter that package where you really can see every game of the week. It's already expensive enough as it is.

I was also very disappointed to see Hatteberg starting over Johnson. I realize Hatteberg drove in our only run of the night, but I really think Johnson needed the AB's a lot more and probably could have contributed a lot more. Johnson did make a PH appearance when Zito was finally pulled. He drew a walk. Demonstrating, once again, his great eye at the plate. I'm really hoping we see Johnson starting tomorrow at first base.

Nice little closers matchup going on in this series also. Huston Street and Chad Cordero. Cordero picked up the save tonight for Washington, so it's time to match that in tomorrow's game. Both of these guys have very similar careers thus far, as far as getting drafted and very soon after ending up in the big leagues. Their success was often being referred to as one of the main reasons for different teams in the draft today selecting closers with high draft picks.

And speaking of the draft, that was a real change of pace, huh? I guess everybody was right as far as finding value in the H.S. players now that everybody has flocked to the college draft philosophy. Sure was a ton of right handed pitchers, though. I guess they're just trying to increase the odds of the success rate at getting a decent righthanded for the future. My only problem with the high school picks is the issues with signings as opposed to the guys heading off to college. I'm sure the later round H.S. prospects won't see much money coming from Oakland because of the low budget, and that could very well turn their attention away to a college career. You know, wasting the pick, in otherwords. It's entered my mind but I'm hoping the front office researched their signability and interest levels.

Ryan Glynn is making his second appearance tomorrow, facing off with one of the Washington starters I happen to like, Esteban Loaiza. Lets just hope the A's bring out the New York Yankee in him as opposed to the Chicago White Sox version.

The Potential Waiting Game

2005-06-07T00:10:00.000-04:00

Dan Meyer was one of the main reasons Billy Beane pulled the trigger on the deal to send Tim Hudson to Atlanta. But we're still waiting for the reasoning.

It's safe to say Meyer hasn't lived up to the hype that many A's fans had heard from media sources as well as Braves fans. Many were disappointed over his failure to secure a rotation spot despite Ken Macha giving him every opportunity to do so.

But, it's really too early to judge. He's really early in a transition process between the two organizations. This kid has great potential, that's for sure. While he struggled early in the season, recent injuries have hurt his chances towards bouncing back and emerging as one of the A's top pitching prospects.

I bring him up, most of all, because I received an e-mail regarding him from Tom over at Balls, Sticks, & Stuff (a primarily Philadelphia Phillies blog). They've got a great interview with Meyer up on their site that I recommend everyone check out. You can head over there by clicking here.

According to the interview, he should be back on the mound by mid-June. Great thing to hear. I had already been checking out his statistics constantly when he was pitching. Now I'm interested to see if he'll make that Atlanta trade look at least a little bit better than it already does.

Sometimes, Thomas and Cruz have me thinking about jumping into my bathtub with a hair dryer turned on.

Scutaro Showin' Off

2005-06-05T22:04:00.000-04:00

Another huge offensive game to end the latest series. Toronto really fell victim to the A's current offensive hot streak.

It's great to see Eric Chavez turning his season around. I doubt we'll hear many people voting to trade Chavez to some random team anymore. I figured if he was given time he'd turn it around. Definitely was not one of the people jumping on that stupid bandwagon. He's already shown he is, infact, a superstar caliber player. He's not just going to suddenly become god awful out of nowhere. You can tell, after each of his latest big hits, that when he gets into the dugout he's having fun now. That's more than likely what it takes for Chavez to really produce. He needs to actually enjoy being out there and that's only going to happen if the team is winning. You could tell by his comments after the Hudson/Mulder trade that the guy is absolutely against playing for a non-contender.

It's no question to me that the heated offense has influenced his recent ourburst as well. Which, then again, that can go for anybody right now.

Dan Johnson is beginning to assure his roster spot upon Durazo's return from the DL. Johnson has walked his tail off and is finally starting to really hit. You have to assume the power will be coming soon.

Up next is another interleague series, against the Washington Nationals. It's basically two very hot teams going head-to-head so it's a tossup as far as who has the advantage. I'm thinking Oakland's overall pitching edges their pitching by a bit, so hopefully that carries the A's to a few wins. Washington is now in first place in the NL East, but honestly, that's liable to change everyday with those teams. The Marlins went from first place to last place in what seemed like a week.

After that it's to Atlanta for a series against the Braves. The reason I mention this so early is because I'm hoping to head up there. It's about an eight hour drive or so, but it's rare they're around that often other than games against the pathetic D-Rays. Hopefully I'll get some decent seats and I can take a few snapshots for the blog. We'll see how that works out. If anybody's got any ticket connections as well as the predicted pitching matchups for each game, let me know.

Oakland has the day off today and I'm hoping that helps in the healing process of Mark Kotsay. The A's have fared well in his absence but I really believe he is one of the main keys to our future success. Big props to Marco Scutaro for stepping up in his place. God knows Jason Kendall hasn't provided anything, so Macha stuck Scutaro in the leadoff spot and we all proceed to watch Scutaro have one of the best games of his career. I always enjoy watching teams, particularly the A's, make interesting lineup choices like that. Some fans really get mad about it though, for some reason. Rather than dissing it before you've had the chance to see it in action, how about waiting for the outcome first. It won't take that long, trust me. Not all out-of-nowhere moves like Scutaro at leadoff turn out fine, but man, some of those A's fans out there need to chill out.

First of Many Saves

2005-06-03T14:29:00.000-04:00

Another good win last night. Bobby Crosby continues to swing a hot bat. Eric Chavez is slowly turning his season around - a grandslam in the bottom of the fifth inning. And Huston Street picked up his first save as a major league closer.

The plate-patient A's even caused Jason Towers to surrender four walks. He only had given up five the entire season, before last night's game. Towers was clearly effected by it. But was it just me, or in the first inning did you just kind of figure he wouldn't walk more than one guy the whole night? It seemed almost as if the plate umpire was extremely hesitant to give the base on balls. I figured it would be a tough night in that regard but turns out, I guess he noticed that everybody noticed his predetermined calls. Especially Kotsay - he looked like he was going to rip his head off.

The eighth and ninth innings were fun. Got to see Jason Frasor pitch for Toronto, who I watched pitch here in Jacksonville for the AA Affiliate of the L.A. Dodgers a season or two ago. I head out to the minor league games here as much as I can, and it's always fun to watch the different players develop and spread throughout the major leagues. Then, in the ninth inning, Street finally got an opportunity to show his stuff in a pressure situation. The guy is so young and confident, it's insane. As I said in one of my earlier posts on here, I was not much of a Street-4-Closer supporter simply because of the fact that if he failed at such a young age, it could possibly ruin him, mentally, for the rest of his career. I didn't want to waste the great potential on such a quick move to get him into the big leagues. But there is something to him. Nothing seems to faze him. He's mature beyond his years and then some. If you want proof of that, just check out his new diary he opened up on ESPN.com. My favorite part is his definition of what a closer truly is - a symbol of trust. The last paragraph of that entry, and everything he's done so far on the mound for Oakland, has me believing that this kid will eventually become one of the better closers the baseball world has ever seen.

Most of all, Street probably has the support of the entire clubhouse. I've yet to find one reason for anyone not to back him at every single opportunity. It's really a mirrorimage of teammate Octavio Dotel, who's basically abandoned and given up on the entire team by opting to have surgery despite four legitimate doctors telling him it wasn't necessary. It is extremely rare for a pitcher to simply give up on the type of injury Dotel has, so it really speaks volume on where he's at mentally. He's throwing up the white flag. He's scared. He's struggled early on this season and is basically saying "Forget it, I'm done trying". The injury is his way to drop off the face of the Earth and still gain a nice little paycheck for himself. What a loser. Seriously. Odds are if he came back, Ken Macha would have given him back his closing role anyway. If you didn't think Dotel was mentally fragile based on his ninth inning failures alone, you really know now.

What a way to ditch his teammates. Yeah, they'll support him and his decision for surgery. But you really know it's killing each player that he's so eager to quit on them. That or they're laughing because Dotel's decision occurred at the very moment Oakland's season looked like it was full-speed-ahead in the right direction. In otherwords, it's "jackass" or "dumbass". What a choice!

Game two of the series looks tough. Halladay vs. Etherton. Toronto's ace versus Oakland's last guy in the rotation. Really gotta hope the offensive hot streak carries over tonight, Halladay has been tough all season long. And please Macha, no more of Hatteberg hitting cleanup. That's the one of the most confusing things I've ever read/seen.

Offensive Explosion

2005-06-02T17:31:00.000-04:00

Finally, we swept a team. What an extreme turnaround compared to the previous series in Tampa. The last two games were massacres to say the least.

Big pitching performances and props to Danny Haren and Barry Zito. Haren got his first complete game this season and Zito actually, gasp, got some run support to do a little pitching with.

The offense has been clicking to perfection since the return of Nick Swisher and Bobby Crosby. Ever since those guys came back, and the A's began giving Dan Johnson significant playing time, I've actually been excited to watch the games. Can't say that for the first part of the year.

The adjusted hitting lineup has been great too. Putting Jason Kendall back in his natural leadoff position was an excellent move. It's an idea I've been supportive of before the season even started. For some reason, I've never really been that fond of Kotsay hitting leadoff anyway. He can do way more damage lower in the order.

Everything that's happened..well, it's hard not to be excited. But we do have to keep things into perspective. Oakland wasn't expected to have the record they do, at this point in the season. Tampa Bay, on the otherhand, was expected to have their current record. Probably worse, actually. In all honesty, we're better. We should have won. We should have dominated. The friggin' Tampa organization is a joke - it rubs off on the field and creates a fragile team that's just asking to get beaten on. The sleeveless jerseys alone are reason enough to beat the crap out of them.

Tonight, we face a team that's significantly better. They're not a powerhouse, or a legit playoff team, but they are more of a challenge. The Toronto Blue Jays. Ricciardi's team. And tonight, it's Jason Towers on the mound to face us. We might have a lot of discipline at the plate but this guy walks nobody.

I have confidence that the team's current hot streak will carry over. Yahoo! Sports always features Favorable/Unfavorable matchups for the night's games and Eric Chavez's name was the first that came up. "Eric Chavez OAK Career vs J. Towers - 2 HR, .500 AVG, 3 RBI (16 At Bats)". Sounds good to me. Sure, it's obviously a small sample size, but I got the guy starting on my non-power-hitting fantasy team. In otherwords, I'm desperate for something.

Meaningless fantasy perspective aside, let's go for 10+ runs again. Saarloos might need some help - he's on a two-game losing streak and his last outing against Toronto lasted all of 3.2 innings.

The Missing Piece

2005-05-31T16:20:00.000-04:00

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

2005-05-30T10:28:00.000-04:00

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

2005-05-29T17:11:00.000-04:00

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

2005-05-27T09:57:00.000-04:00

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

2005-05-24T23:00:00.000-04:00

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

2005-05-23T23:32:00.000-04:00

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

2005-05-22T23:15:00.000-04:00

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

2005-05-21T18:10:00.000-04:00

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

2005-05-15T09:58:00.000-04:00

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

2005-05-14T10:52:00.000-04:00

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

2005-05-12T12:05:00.000-04:00

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

2005-05-01T01:32:00.000-04:00

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!