Athletics Nation

I wonder if Street was really

well enough to come back? I love that Kid...If he isn't hurting I expect him to get back on track soon.

IM4Oakgal - June 29, 2006 reply

re

Ron Flores doing exactly what his Sacramento numbers said he would. Great job. I hope he's in the bigs to stay now. He's been earning it, and there's no reason that shouldn't continue.

I really don't think Huston can struggle like this if healthy. I'd bet cash he's got something bothering him again.

31Boots - June 29, 2006 reply

I'll bet it was the Hamdan decision

He no longer feels secure.

Astute game analysis aside...

I just want to say (and I know it's been said before) to all you naysaying nabobs of negativity:

YOU WERE WRONG!

AGAIN.

The A's did win.

I don't care how they did it. And I don't care how they do it. I WANT THEM TO WIN!

When I follow a game, I'm an A's fan first and foremost. I WANT THEM TO WIN!

Unless they're hopelessly out of it, I WILL ROOT FOR THEM TO WIN!

I don't want to hear from you during the game thread how much the team sucks, or this player or that player sucks. We can pretty much tell who sucks.

Just root for 'em, anyway, o.k.?

Ice Cream - June 29, 2006 reply

You suck!

Jennifer - June 29, 2006 reply

you're a nabob

a NATTERING nabob

Not "naysaying nabob"... pfffff... Ice Cream's a bumb...

Poppy - June 29, 2006 reply

Yeah, yeah. I know.

I used it before here.

And it's negativism not negativity.

I was just giving the phrase a swirl.

Ice Cream - June 30, 2006 reply

<Pusser!>

"Walking Tall"

Ice Cream - June 30, 2006 reply

nice!

Sorta Spiro Agnew-meets-Bobby DeNiro-as-Al Capone.

Shouldn't...

....William Safire and Brian DePalma be invited to the party?

GreenNGoldSooner - June 29, 2006 reply

technically ...

... the Untouchables script credit goes to David Mamet.

Though the performance of the lines, with the emphasis on final words as above, probably should be credited across RDN, BDP, and DM.

Plain and simple

Macha needs to stop using Street in the 8th. Period. Done! Just stop doing it.

He doesn't look good in the 9th if he cools down on the bench.

Street is close to automatic when he enters a game. But, everytime he has to sit in between innings, he is shaky!

Bigtoe - June 29, 2006 reply

Agreed

For the 9th, and the 9th alone, Huston is close to automatic. But if you add in the eighth, then we start having problems.

Chavinator - June 29, 2006 reply

YES, YES, YES

china bob - June 29, 2006 reply

And if you are going to bring him

into the 8th to get out of a big jam (not a bad idea), then someone else needs to pitch the 9th.

Bigtoe - June 29, 2006 reply

The bullpen hates Danny.

Dare I say

The Tim Hudson syndrome?

jb - June 29, 2006 reply

<sigh>

I don't want to 'Wear It'

It doesn't match my shoes.

Jennifer - June 29, 2006 reply

Guffaw chortle snort

New sig line!

FreeSeatUpgrade - June 29, 2006 reply

<steals Jennifer's shoes>

There ya go. Now they match.

Being Harened is the new Hudsoned?

Kyli - June 29, 2006 reply

Hmmm

Maybe he needs to be more generous with his stash.

andeux - June 29, 2006 reply

manys the guy who does need to be ...

"more generous with his 'stash"

Fate is just running a little late, is all

Last season, the offense got him several wins and no decisions he probably didn't earn. Now the offense and bullpen are stealing from him.

TurnTwo - June 29, 2006 reply

Let me disagree and say

I think it's fine to use Street for 4-out saves in the near future. Personally, I think the two blown-saves being "4-out save" tries is coincidence, and that more significant is that Huston was simply overused over a 21-game stretch (in which he pitched 14 times). In other words, I imagine he'd be struggling now if these had been one-inning save attempts.

I think with both Calero and Street, we are seeing the effects of overused pitchers--and I'm not necessarily indicting Macha, as it got us a 17-4 run while Duke was out. As long as they're not injured, it was probably well worth it--but I think the workload is taking its toll, and has nothing to do with those 8th inning outs.

A great win we didn't really deserve, but hey--the Lovable Muppets deserve any win they can get!

Four-out saves

Street is going to have to gut out those 4+ out saves sometimes - it's part of a good closer's job to pitch when he's needed most, not just in the ninth inning - but given his recent struggles with those situations (coincidence or not) I'd prefer that it only happened when it's really necessary.

Last weekend in SF I thought it was warranted, even though Street had been used the day before. The tying run was already on base, and Calero had already worked more than an inning himself, and seemed to be at the end of his rope. Getting that out was crucial.

Today, it made less sense to me. Halsey had worked less than an inning, the potential tying run was at the plate, not already on base, and Greene isn't exactly a great hitter. It seemed to me that leaving Halsey in there to face him would have been fairly safe, unless there's something about that matchup that I don't know.

andeux - June 29, 2006 reply

I disagree

Eck had the same problem, as does Rivera. Not all the time of course, but often enough to stop doing it.
LaRussa learned that Eck getting 4 outs was a lot different than Eck coming in ready and raring to go for 3 outs. Some here speculate he is hurting, I doubt it with the velocity hitting 93, but both of his last two blown saves follow a pattern, come in in the 8th to get a key out, then start the 9th with control problems.

china bob - June 29, 2006 reply

Over his career,

Rivera has NOT had a problem going more than one inning!

BTW, for those kibitzing about our roster moves, don't forget about Doug Clark--he should be one of the ones sent down tomorrow.

But he broke our oh-so-significant PH drought!

That's got to be worth something, no?

;-)

GreenNGoldSooner - June 29, 2006 reply

I'm with you on Flores

But one clutch walk ain't gonna change my mind on Perez -- especially in a game I couldn't see, so don't even know how notable a walk it was. Were the pitches way out of the zone, or close enough to be tempting (and require actual restraint of an urge to swing)?

Poppy - June 29, 2006 reply

The last one was kind of close,

but the others weren't really. Soriano would have swung at the last one.

WaddellCanseco - June 29, 2006 reply

Long game

I kept thinking it was going to be over. It's always good to win those long games...Does anybody know our record for extra inning games?

Squeaky - June 29, 2006 reply

4-3

Perez hasn't had much of a chance...

to get into the groove. But still his contributions when playing are quite meager. I wish that Beane would unload him in a trade.

IM4Oakgal - June 29, 2006 reply

Has he really had a chance?

I don't know the number of at bats he has had, but I do know that for two months DJ was in the lineup with a BA under .200. For 3 weeks Chavez is under .200 but he plays every day. How can a guy show he can hit getting 3 AB's every 3 weeks. I do know he hit close to .300 last year which suggests he knows how to hit, and a few times this year he has hit the ball real hard. I just can't understand why Chavez isn't rested more and give Perez a chance to see if he can hit.

china bob - June 29, 2006 reply

Dudes

Can we get some love for the effin' Giants and what they've done to the Rangers? I mean seriously. A moment of silence for our appreciation.

ORthey - June 29, 2006 reply

Screw the giants

They can thank us for what we did to the Dodgers!

Bigtoe - June 29, 2006 reply

Seattle 2 out playing AZ

WaddellCanseco - June 29, 2006 reply

<five seconds later>

GIANTS SUCK!

(I hope someone gets this. I, by the way, was NOT the one who screamed "Yankees suck!")

Love for Flores.

I've been a fan of that guy while he was in Sac and I've been so happy whenever he's been called up with the club... I can't believe I was at work today and missed his four innings. Great to see the guy get to have a day like this. Go Ron!

Gaining a game in the standings is a beautiful thing. Though... damn, look out for Seattle!

Kyli - June 29, 2006 reply

Caught the game on XM..

...still missing our T1 at work (ONE MORE DAY!!!) so I missed all of you, nearly died about 14 times, but we WON!!!

Was there a blow-up that I somehow missed,,,

after Slusser's article last week about Swisher's carousing? Did he get pissed or something? I wasn't quite sure when reading it why it had been written...if the guy is not running into problems and if he is not hurting the team, what he does on his own time is his own business. And that is coming from a journalist who usually subscribes to the notion that very little is off-limits when it comes to people in the public eye. But what is this "blowup" referenced by Blez?

willcmatthews - June 29, 2006 reply

Fwisher was all fwowny-faced about it

... mostly b/c he got called on the carpet by management about it.

Here's another possibility: maybe Headstrong Nick Who Won't Change Who He Is decided hell with 'em all, kept up the carousin', and now it's catching up to him?

<Taps pipe ashes out, adjust glasses

and puts down clinicians manual.> <clears throat> Could be something to that. Could be that Swish, and I surmise he is a sensitive type, is having a negative re-action to outfall of the Slusser article alright. It's stuck in his head and has gotten out of proportion....so he is not 100 percent in the game.

ak_A - June 29, 2006 reply

Whew!

I was afraid you were about to tell me I had a brain cloud.

<stops typing your email address with

the bad news>

ak_A - June 29, 2006 reply

<buys 4 immense steamer trunks>

My thoughts exactwy,

Monkey. If he can't take a Chronicle article or a slap on the wrist from the principal, how can he handle the nasty slider?

Maybe it's the article getting him down and maybe it's his lifestyle catching up to him--or maybe it's a 2-week slump in the ebb and flow of a season, not helped by the circumstances but not caused by them either. That's my real guess, when you get down to it.

agweed

If Swish was half the man Kendall is, he would have put Slusser in a headlock.

I mean ... I agree with the 2-week slump under likely unrelated circumstances.

I'm puzzled

This team is playing good baseball but do it without many stars and at the same time lose leads in late innings, props to Flores and is Chavez really that bad because unless the A's trade for Jack Wilson or some hot prospect there is no way the A's DL him.

doublehustle22 - June 29, 2006 reply

If someone is having their period,

could they share it with doublehustle22? :-}

I thought Sal had 'em all?

Brain Dead

I watched it on MLBTV today and it appeared that Street was slinging it up there. Well, sling the damn thing over the plate for Christ's sake. His inability to throw strikes with a lead in the game seems to mesh perfectly with our brain dead approach to situational hitting and our manager's do nothing approach to running the club. This perfect harmony will probably result in our beloved team winning the AL West. Someday before I die find me an outfielder that can hit, a relief pitcher that can throw strikes with a lead in the game and a manager with at least a little league understanding of the game[does the name Casey Stengel ring a bell?] I will go to my grave a happy man

I think we found the period Nico was looking for

Helloooo 1st - June 29, 2006 reply

Oh how the tide has turned

I find it very interesting that we are so quick to accuse Swish of something just because he is sliding into a little bit of a slum.

This is the same man who was essentially carrying this team, (along with Chavey) for the better part of April and May. I shudder to think where we might be had it not been for him during the first part of the season.

Sure, he may be having his issues, and some of them may have something to do with the article, but chances are, scouting reports are better than we are giving them credit!

If there is one thing that I know about Swish, it is that he has an amazing ability to adjust and refocus. Sure, he may be a little distracted by this recent drama, but I don't think he is the kind of person who is going to let it get to him for too long.

And frankly, it is about time the rest of the team carries him for a little while, return the favor in a way.

I have total faith that he will snap out of it soon.

And then there is the possibility that Big Frank had a bigger impact on this team than we realized. And now we are seeing the effects of not having him in the line-up.

In all honesty, I am just happy to get our butts back into the American League, where the Pitchers Pitch, the DH is the big man on campus, and the Bunts come few and FAR between!

BobbyCrosbysGirl - June 29, 2006 reply

Swisher's moving to the Tenderloin?

Unless he moves to the DL...

with a tender loin.

Ice Cream - June 30, 2006 reply

Well said, BCG!

As for Street not throwing enough strikes (comment above yours), this is the same guy who opened the season walking 3 batters in his first 28 innings, IIRC--and that includes his struggling period in April.

How quickly we forget that for much of the season, Swisher has been consisently good and Street has been "lights out"--until used so heavily to get 10 wins in a row that he may have a bit of a dead arm.

Sure we miss Thomas, Bradley, and Ellis--you can only go so long with a AAAA lineup before it catches up to you.

And the way it has caught up to the A's is a 2.5 game lead in the division. Somehow.

I wasn't slighting Swish

at all...I was just saying that he could be a little distracted right now. He's one of my faves, and always has been. I just want to make sure that I make that really, really clear.

Tyler Bleszinski - June 29, 2006 reply

Why, would it

just be KILLING you if Swish was mad at you?

Nico - June 30, 2006 reply

i am a LITTLE confused...

...about why Melhuse stayed on the bench, but...

Perez did the job.

I assume it was because

Macha didn't want to use his last backup catcher. Which is ironic, because the Padres played the last 5 innings with no one to replace Josh Bard if he got hurt--both Bowen and Piazza were used and removed by the time the 10th inning began.

Sensative Swisher.

Nick needs some thicker skin. We are going through the same issues that arose last year after his Grandma past away. He seems to have a problem leaving personal stuff in the dugout. As for Street, that lame ass world baseball classic B.S. seems to have taken it's toll on a lot of players. He will be fine but he's probably cost himself an all-star bid along with Chavy during this streak. And can we please leave Ellis in the minors until he catches fire, we need him back at the top of the order hitting .300+ with that gap power.

jjham15 - June 29, 2006 reply

Yeah

Cause having a not so nice article writen about you and having your Grandma die are the same thing! That's It!

BobbyCrosbysGirl - June 29, 2006 reply

song dedication

Blez, I know you mentioned Perez as a hero, but you forgot his song moniker: Mr. Unswung.

Seattle COMING ON STRONG!

Just turned a 2-1 loss into a 3-2 win.

AZ still has last AB

If Putz blows it,

I will eat my hat.

<shakes up mustard bottle>

Is that in case

the Diamondbacks catsup?

I'd relish that

Made no difference.

AZ has got nothing.

Say what you want about the A's, but they never gave up today.

yyyyyyyyyyeah ...

Neither did the Padres. Who were an inning away from losing. Against a closer, regardless of his recent struggles, better than Putz. And AZ's got a better lineup than the A's.

Sure, but MaEl will be back.

And no one can stop MaEl!

Yeah.

I was trying to make myself feel better about the team.

I wasn't really meaning 'you', per se, just talking out loud ;)

Oh, I know

I'm grumpy being still stuck at work at 9:45.

That's odd--

I could swear the zoo closed at 6:00pm.

sure, for the "exempt" animals

Stupid kangaroos

and their damn unions.

Kangaroo marriages threaten the institution

I don't know--

I've been institutionalized for a while, and it doesn't appear to me to be threatened.

Stop following me.

Seriously, stop it.

Not you, the toaster.

were you institutionalized by a ...

... kangaroo court order? Those activist judges do pursue a marsupial agenda, you know.

(And, yes, I myself used to have a marsupial agenda -- a nice opossum-skin folio.)

I'd be grumpy too...

I have to go to bed now. Leaving for Oakland tomorrow night. I'll be at Sunday's game...anyone else?!

Not me. :(

Thanks for not telling me!

I'll be there Sunday, with batgirl, in the bleachers, had no idea you wuz going.

I had no idea I was going either!

Until last night when I wrote that!

baseballgirl - June 30, 2006 reply

Sort of like, you wrote it

and then realized, "Sheesh, now I have to go," and made sudden travel arrangements?

Nico - June 30, 2006 reply

Throwing Strikes

Please throw strikes now when we have a lead in the game. Thank you

I can't help rooting for Seattle

Maybe it's the "I can't take them seriously as a division threat" factor, maybe it's the "I really do like Ichiro" factor, or the "I TOLD you they'd finish ahead of Texas!" (even though they won't) factor, but...

GO MARINERS!!!

I can't help rooting for truffles

One needs a pig for that, not a monkey.

What's the matter with J. J. ?

He's a Putz!

Richmond - June 29, 2006 reply

My original comment stand.

3-2 loss.

And ^(&)%^$# that we have to go face them after this loss.

Maybe we should take Seattle more seriously.

Since our team is playing like crap.

No no, thats ok, keep ignoring us.

Keep thinking we aren't a threat.

We like that you don't notice us as you go on your annual run. We like that you don't notice us as this time, we run beside you.

We've very quietly worked our way into the best Run Differential in the AL West(+30). We've very quietly worked our way from one the worst offensive teams in the AL to the upper half. And we've very quietly worked from being in last place, 10 games under .500, and about 7 games back to 2 games over, 2nd place, and knocking at your door at 2 games back.

But remember, we're not a threat.

Goose - June 29, 2006 reply

I read LL every day, so I've definitely noticed.

Sharon - June 30, 2006 reply

You've also very quietly....

Worked your way into a 1-9 record vs. the A's. Now that's a way to win a division!

EastBayA - June 30, 2006 reply

True and I'll readily admit that you guys have

owned our asses so far this season, and winning the division becomes a hell of a lot tougher if we can't beat you, but we'll see if that continues.

Goose - June 30, 2006 reply

Indeed we will see...

You guys have been playing great ball the last two weeks, and as a native Oregonian it's nice to see some good baseball finally coming out of the Pacific Northwest.

By the way, for this site, you should amend your signature line from better to healthier ;-).

EastBayA - June 30, 2006 reply

C'mon, Saarloos with

a completely depleted bullpen behind him? Piece o' cake.

<Macha insults piece o' cake>

hehe

I'm still bitter ...

... that my "Icin' Joe" nickname for Cupcakes hasn't caught on.

The real question is...

does the icing have to be bitter?

lil' bit of espresso in it, sure

Mmm, espresso icing ...

Cupcakes

Man, that really sucks for you, I am liking it

Ellis: 1-4 in Sacramento

And Windsor had a nice game,

but I've noticed that he seems to throw a lot of pitches in his 5 to 6 innings of work.

While college coaches

stand idly by.

Grrr....

110 in 5 1/3.

only walked 3, but had 10 ks. 69 strikes out of 110.

Statline sounds like Z on a good night.

hahaha

just about to say something about Windsor's likeness to Zito.

Helloooo 1st - June 29, 2006 reply

i didn't get to watch the game today, but good

lord swisher struck out 5 times!? and now kendall has a higher BA then him. i never thought that would happen this season

larrysgurl - June 29, 2006 reply

yup

all five were swinging too.

my god! what happened to good swish?

larrysgurl - June 29, 2006 reply

Street should start a

"blown saves for troops" campaign. That way, some good could come of these outings, and Armando Benitez would actually be useful.

maybe swisher should pay everytime he strikes out

barry would get a lot of money out of him.

larrysgurl - June 29, 2006 reply

"icin' joe"

It caught on with me,sorry
skeeter

<notches "1" mark in air>

The Lamer, and the Big Pain

I can't wait for them to come off of the DL so that they can go right back on it, and we can keep on winning. Get well, Chavvy, lets go Oakland

observations....

Okay, this is only mildly conscious rambling at this point because I'm tired and sunburned and annoyed at Southwest Airlines for taking so long to get me home, but I just had to mention this...(forgive me if it's in the game thread or somewhere else already)...Street was pissed in the ninth inning at the call to intentionally walk Giles. I thought at first that they were just getting their signs crossed up, but when Kendall went out to talk to him, it looked like Huston was yelling and him, and then taking his sweet dang time before throwing the pitches. He was not happy about putting a guy on base. I think it messed with his concentration - and if he can't get through a distraction like that, he needs to get his head cleared up...

Also, any word on DJ? He went running into the wall going after a foul ball in the ninth, and the very next play was a pick off attempt that he didn't bend down enough to get - worry was that he smashed his knee on the colision and that's why he wasn't moving well. Did they say anything up here about it? (This was the play that immediately preceeded the above Street incident, so perhaps that also pissed Huston off, but again, he needs to focus...)

gigglingone - June 29, 2006 reply

I couldn't see any of it,

but I imagine if Street was upset about something it was the two walks that started the inning. Especially the first one, which wasn't even the tying run. He was furious at himself for falling behind Sweeney, and for walking Bonds, on Saturday. I doubt he was too thrilled at walking the first two hitters in his "bounce back" outing.