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Open Thread: Game 87 - A's vs. Angels

The A's need to grab at least one of the last two games before the All-Star Break to avoid hearing loud Angel footsteps. Oakland pins its hopes tonight on the inconsistent Joe Blanton, hoping that he comes up big tonight. I think he will; I just hope he pitches effectively. The A's also hope the law of averages brings Jared Weaver crashing back to earth, because his 5-0 record and 1.35 ERA is a tad intimidating to a club working on a string of 27 straight batters retired, having already been one-hit in back-to-back games this season.

I'm off to (hopefully) enjoy the proceedings, from the front row of Section 117, and I'll look forward to reporting on Weaver's stuff after the game. So if the camera shows the area right behind the backstop, look for a tall man in his 50s with a mohawk, green suspenders and gold sunglasses, and most of his front teeth missing. For all you know, I could be in the row in front of him.

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Comments

those are some great seats
enjoy!!

I'll be at the game tomorrow

YAY!
Melhuse! lives and is batting eighth and catching.
anybody else
having trouble with mlb-audio-radio feed?  
The Lineups for tonights game
Angels

C. Figgins  
M. Izturis 3b  
O. Cabrera ss  
V. Guerrero dh  
M. Napoli c  
J. Rivera rf  
K. Morales 1b  
T. Murphy cf
A. Kennedy

A's

M. Kotsay cf 0
N. Swisher 1b  
E. Chavez 3b  
F. Thomas dh  
J. Payton rf  
B. Crosby ss  
B. Kielty lf  
A. Melhuse c  
M. Ellis 2b

Anyone have the line-up??
DOHH
nope haven't seen them yet
Guess it's going to be quiet in here today....
hope everyone else is at the game.  15K for a Friday against the Angels was a pretty poor showing.
I'm not
I had to pick one game to not attend, so this was it
seems that way
Let's go Oakland!
Gameday Goof
says that Izturis lined out to Swisher on that foul ball.
Lineups of Futility
.655 CF Kotsay
.899 1B Swisher
.800 3B Chavez
.885 DH Thomas
.703 RF Payton
.668 SS Crosby
.844 LF Kielty
.696 C2 Melhuse
.605 2B Ellis

.680 LF Figgins
.617 3B Izturis
.778 SS Cabrera
.859 DH Guerrero
.990 C1 Napoli
.845 RF Rivera
.713 1B Morales
.721 CF Murphy
.672 2B Kennedy

Come on Joe...
I don't like the fell of this
but I do like the feel of that.
OUTSTANDING Joe....8 more to go..
well good top of the first...
we'll take em one at a time
Gameday is still frozen
redoing the Izturis AB. Its like the guy forgot what pitches happened during the AB and is trying to redo it.
Any odds on our hitters reminding young
Mr Weaver that he is mortal???
just have to trick them into thinking
that they are still facing Jeff Weaver.
an idea of someone to acquire
the Rangers seem to be souring on Brad Wilkerson. Personally, I think he would be the perfect guy to acquire right now.

A guy who SHOULD be able to hit .250/.400/.500 with 30 Home Runs.

positives?
he worked the count...
Ungh... perfect game here we come....
Gameday is Scott Boras.
It's going to be a long night if Gameday died during the first batter.
lol...
do you just use gameday... CBS sportsline has a pretty neat gameday type thing too... it's always my backup
Naw.
I'm watching it on television. I just like Gameday if I miss something.
oh... that's pretty smart
I don't get it with this kid Weaver....
it doesn't look that he throws all that hard....wonder what it is about him that makes him hard to hit....Of course, by that I mean a team with a line up capable of hitting...
he supposedly has an unusual arm angle
or release point. Let's wait til the league gets used to him before he gets anointed...
Can Blanton lower his ERA to league average?
IE: around 4.50
Joe looks like he's up to matching Weaver.
2 K's....and one ugly hook.
Blanton looking good...
Ok Thomas, Payton, Crosby.... give us something to cheer about
At least I don't have to listen to
Rex Hudler blather on endlessly tonight.  You just don't know how much you miss Fosse until you don't have him.
baserunner!
...well, basetrotter really.
Ok, its official
Frank Thomas: Slowest Runner in the World
thats true....
I thought Crosby might have a hit... but nice catch.  Then I went and grabbed a beer, walked the dog, called my cousin, mediated peace talks in Israel, came back.. and saw Thomas get doubled up.
Consecutive hitless streak
33 batters now?
I think Frank needs a leg transplant.
come on Blanton
get Pantyman out!
I said get him OUT!
Not get him to 3rd!
Stand Up Triple
What a Chone.
Stupid FSN producers!
Show the damn vid of the ball going over the bag, not the other stuff!
WHAT?!
He called Swisher out on that pitch!
GOD DAMNIT
game over
Mother F'er
Dammit Joe!
Boom!
What a splash.

Izturis related to the guy on the Dodgers?

They are half brothers
Cesar is by his father's actual wife, and Maicer is the result of an affair.  They were both raised as his sons.
Oooh
Scandalous.
i hate this
Oh yeah, that's why I hate the Angels...
Bitches. :-(
Wow Melhuse put his glove up there...
after the ball went by him, lol
Well....
That went to hell in a handbasket.
I swear the UMP hates us
He's not giving Blanton anything

Yet anything remotely high is a strike for Weaver.

Where is that at blue?????????
Run support is key
Doesn't matter how good a pitcher really is...
its a terrible feeling....
2-0 in the third and I'm sitting here thinking "It's over"... come on guy.  Rebuild my confidence.
Will the offense give up here
or come out pissed?
Joe had Izturis struck out...
I think he's squeezed....
Dang!
Nice snag Murphy...
Thats the A's luck
Kielty hits a long ball, its caught at the wall.

Izturis hits a lazy fly ball, and its a homerun.

there's our luck
Once again he didn't have to jump for that
He caught the ball on the "S"...
which is shoulder height
Melhuse as a catcher
is normally shaky for pitchers I'm guessing...
Patience? Where's the Patience?
i hate
huddler, the angels, this ump (except if he allows us to hit vlad and count it as a ground ball everytime)
wake me up when the offense does so...
See ya after the AS Break
Our streak of 36 batters and no hits continues....
Our offense sucks.  No other definition exists to suit them and their abilities.
If I were pitching for this team
I would start beaning the opposing players jsut to get the hell out of the game.  And then I would tell our hitters where to stick it.
You know, even if we were to trade
our entire offense for prospects, and call those prospects up, and do exactly what the the Marlins have done, we'd STILL improve our offense.
Putting the "offensive"
back in "offense". Or maybe just the "AUUUUGH! SCREAMING PAIN! IT BURNS! RAAAGE!"
High strike ump
<shrugs>
Internal Monologue
"I gotta tell ya, I don't think three guys is enough to stage such an elaborate offensive."

"I think we should listen to this guy, Captain, he seems to know plenty about being offensive."

I hope Billy is taking notes.
This team can NOT continue
with out one or two more GOOD hitters.

We have a NEGATIVE Run Differential!

We have a TERRIBLE Batting Average!

We have a TERRIBLE On Base Perecentage!

We have a TERRIBLE Slugging Percentage!

We can't hit a double to save our lives.

Ummmm....we can't hit a single to save our lives.
Here comes the 37th consecutive batter for the A's
to K, line out, fly out, or failing that, invent a new way to make an out.
Kotsay starting the inning right
let's see if Swish plays it differently from last night
IT"S A MIRACLE.....now watch the sorry
pukes we call hitters actually dream of scoring some runs.  
Well, look on the bright side
The Cubs are a worse offensive club than we are.
Is that even possible?
I think...
Kotsay needs to attempt a steal here..
watching Chavy the past month
has just been depressing
It's not just that they don't hit
They don't even get close to hits most of the time. This is a painful offense to watch.
Weaver hung that
And Chavez just popped it right up. Pathetic.
Yeah, that was an awful pitch
Yeah, right now Chavez is probably
the most depressing player on the team.
<Obvious>
Apparently FT is the only A's hitter
that the Angels pitchers don't consider their personal bitches.
This ump blows
Yeah, Payton
Why swing at the pitch that's maybe an inch to the left of being right down the pipe.
looks like our MVP tonight
is going to be Liriano.  
JayPay just go sit down - that pitch...
was FINALLY a strike
Payton was robbed!!!!
Since when did a pitch right down the middle of the plate become a strike?! What the phuck!!!!
What a joke
Too often you just want to blow this offense up. I can't believe we add Thomas and Bradley in the offseason, the young guys get a year older, and this is how pathetic it is right now.
It's truly a sorry lot.
Booooooo!
Panties sucks!
Final point
Another real problem being a diehard A's fan right now. Some nights we just seem so completely overmatched that you can't help but feel there's no chance to win.

Like tonight.

Overmatched and boring. A bad combination....
Suck it Socsia
Hit him again!
It's kind of strange
seeing cupcakes strike out people - weird huh?
4-0
thats it
Im getting heartburn!
2 hits in the last 13 innings
I'm not sure we'll muster four hits, let alone four runs.
Yep.....our offense is incapable of scoring 5 runs
so this game is truly over.  It would be nice if the sorry sack of dog crap we call offense would at least not allow themselves to be shut out. At this point I wouldn't blame Beane if he engaged in wholesale trades just so we don't have to watch this sorry crap next year.
I always hated it...
that Yankees fans booed their players when they were underperforming (according to NY fans at least).... and I can't bring myself to boo our guys.  But I'm starting to sympathize.
East Coast teams mostly
Money is money.
Yeah
But while they're busy booing Alex Rodriguez we'd only be booing Dan Johnson or Marco Scutaro or someone, or even Esteban Loaiza if the unfortunate occurrence that is his day to pitch happens to arise. I think we'd be justified.
5 innings.... 1 hit
this is a joke
yeah...
they just made fun of them on Baseball Tonight
What did they say?
Scott Reiss and Brantley
just made quirky comments about that being the only hit in 12 innings and started laughing... TK was talking about how they had the worst B.A. in the AL and were still 1st in the division...
dammit! that hurts
I would like to tell them where to get off....
but they are completely right.  You would think the A's would have some semblance of pride.  But they're just pathetic.
Padres
were first for a long time last year in a division that was only close to being .500

Everyone is the joke of baseball sometimes.

At this point, if I were at the game...
I would do alot more than just boo them.....I think I would let them know how I really feel about shelling out money to watch them trash the good game of baseball.
Tommy Murphy
Has as many hits as our entire team.

Let that sink in.

Tommy Murphy>

Who is Tommy Murphy.

Tom Murphy
is a pothead from my high shool...
"What did five fingers say to the face?"
"SLAP!"
why is yesterday's game on mlb.tv?
A little comic relief during this troubling time..
Mmmm...lobster and blue Gatorade
lol....
thats soooo cute...i heart huston street...
USE A FORK!
<starts hyperventilating>
Adam Melhuse
probably some of the blame tonight, but the offense hasn't been smelling anywhere near roses lately.
Safe on a pitch out - pathetic
Figgins...
is better than our whole team.  Ack.
Gamecast... off
Does anyone else sorta miss the good old days, when we could hit but couldn't pitch? That was more fun.
Everytime I drive
and I dont like traffic, I have this strategy where I close my eyes and pretend nothing is there....and keep them closed until all badness disappears. Maybe thats what I should do with the A's
I think the Angels are invincible
... well, we make them look that way
Bright side
after giving up a lead-off double Nathan K'ed 2 then got Kinsler to fly out... Texas loses 4-0
Well at least someone we know is hitting, although
it is in Sacramento.  Milton Bradley is 3-3 with a HR, and 4RBI.  Maybe he will be the spark after the ASB.
put all our hope on one hitter
bailing us out, havent we done this before?
no, but you get one more hitter
and bunch him up with people who have been hitting (i.e., Payton, Thomas), and you might be able to sustain something.
Let's hope so
Bradley has a lot of catching up to do.  Ethier is batting .354 with a .950 OPS for the Dodgers.
that's good
here's hoping he does the same without getting hurt with the big club
Blimey (a bedtime rant)
I cannot believe I stayed up until 3:45 am to watch a repeat of yesterdays game. Would they please DL Chavez, he is a fricken zombie out there. Obviously Melhuse can't call a game, that is why Kendal always gets the nod and apparently he can't throw anyone out either. But anyways goodnight to all of those in Akland (aparently there is no more O in Oakland). Maybe I'll wake up and the A's will have mounted an A'mazing comeback.
These fucking umps are on the Angels cocks
for crying out loud
Macha out of the dug out? holy jesus!
Macha needs to get out there....
yell and get tossed.  SOMEBODY has to get fired up
you took the words right out of my mouth
but it would only get them fired up if he gets tossed... has he ever been ejected?
Only once....
but we let the sorry turd come back for his old job.
I ejected one of those once
once..way back when he was 50
Apparently the umpires figure
that any hitter on the A's is only worthy of one hit....if any at all.  I can't blame blue, I would pile on this piece of crap offens too.
The rout...
...has been on.
Seriously this is repulsive
damn umps
the blue woouldnt give blanton anything.  and that call on kotsay at first..shull bit
Agreed. It's all the umps fault!!!
Dear Billy Beane,
The team you've built as currently constructed is a mess. Any help would be appreciated.

Love,
walkoffbunt

Didn't they have that rally to keep
the A's in Oakland scheduled for tonight?  Cause if they did, this sorry ass performance is surely going to change their minds.  They might take up collection instead to send their sorry asses to Fremont or anyone else who will take them.
Okay.. Okay..
It's been a while since I posted anything, so I think it's time for one of my ridiculous, pointlessly optimistic predictions:

Next inning: the A's will get 5 hits. I can just feel it. If I'm wrong, so be it.

if you're right...
I'll send you a dollar.
let it be 2 dollars
HAHA....
your not wrong.....your hallucinating.  I suggest medication.
hahaha our only highlight is...
Vlad didn't actually get hit
yawn...rainy evening here
otherwise...click.
Yay more than 1 hit!!
Jay Payton can still hit
He stole Nick Swisher's talent somewhere back when June begane. I swear.
WOW
Break up the A's - we got a hit!!!!!!!!!!!
a hit!!!!!
omg we got a hit.
YAY!! JayPay
now they won't make fun of us being 1 hit for the 4th time!!
and a stolen base!!!
The A's release
their offensive juggernaut!

4 baserunners tonight. Yeah!

that has to be some kind of record
Crosby's going to be turning it around
soon. I loved that AB of his; going the other way with the outside pitch was beautiful!
soon? like, during this season?
with the surfdawgs in 2015
You better watch it, the hens are going to get
riled up with comments like that (although it was funny).
I'm just going with what all the ladies have been
saying for the past 3 months whenever Crosby hits the ball to the left side. It's therapeutic.
Sorry, right side (too many beers).
If you're still typing...
that means you haven't had enough beer.

3 hits in 2 games. Ouch.

You're right; I need to step up to the hard
stuff to deal with this game.
*Next* Inning...
So I when I said they'd get 5 hits next inning, I meant next inning. Like the 8th.. Maybe the 9th..
Maybe total.
outside pitch
going the other way with an outside pitch is what your supposed to do with it.
Wow I'm looking forward to the All-Star break
three whole days without having to go through this
Yay! Our offense is shut out again!
They must think we like this.
If I were an A's pitcher....
I would seriously consider dinging Figgins upside his noggin....or his knee.  If I were still in the game the next time he came up to hit....I would try to drill him in his other knee....take that rabbit.
So... hmmm. Well, that's... yeah
Should I bother posting my "A's as Buyers and going for the title' diary or just skip it?
While I was misguidedly
seeing Pirates of the Caribbean 2 last night there was a preview for this movie about a guy who made the Philadelphia Eagles back in the 70's after they just held open tryouts.

What this brings me to is that I think the A's would do well to perhaps try this. I'm sure a few of us ANers could hit as well as Scutaro.

I can certainly get out....
so you could basically put me in anyone's spot... except Payton right now.
Yeah....and that's the female segment.
A's can probably get back in it
if they get some key hits here.
Kielty!
whaaaaaaaaa?
woah
two in a row?  wtf
At least make them
use K ROD.
Watch Out
Angels might pull a Triple Play.
mr. pop-up
crap, i was making a salad while listening to the two hits...just settle down in front of the mac and pop-up!
come on swish...
one run.  please.
Ive been pondering ways
to forget tonight.

  A)Drive 30 miles to the  nearest book store and buy Ace's
  B) Eat (20 minutes after my last meal)
  C) go to sleep early

wow, my life is one exciting life.

Aces...
is it in paperback yet?
Dont know, I was under the impression
that it was a paperback book
the original is hardback
but they have made/making a paperback with more content...
We're on the board!!!! WOOH!
This is too much to handle!
THANK GOD
Bottom of the 8th
and twilight is already here?

The A's played a Saturday Day Game, Fox should've had this game blacked out.

heart attack
im having a heart attack from all these hits.
Overwhelming isn't it?
oh Frank
Come on HURT
jesus
where did this all come from.  
Thank you Franky!!!
There are Angels
in the Outfield...
wooohooooo!
okay, pinch runner for frank
Hey, who called that there'd be 5 hits
in the 8th inning?
That was me.
Okay, I was high at the time, but I called it. Actually, I said there'd be six.
5 hits so far
someone owes that guy a dollar.
and I'll gladly send it!!
HOLY PIECE OF GOOD HITTING!!!!
MY BRAIN HURTS
A's offense waits
for the sun to go down.
C'mon Crosby!
You can keep the dollar
I'll take the 3 runs so far instead.
okay, i'm back in it now...
but boy howdy my negative side is claiming "day late and dollar short"....but that's just being onery.  COME ON A's!!!
whats that i hear?
is that the crowd?
Okay 4 runs...
Nasty stuff
Real Nasty.
oh Croz..
that was ball four!  But still, happy inning.
Trade Bobby Now!!
mvp my ass.
whoever said crosby would be mvp should die.
Well,
he is in the hospital.
gah.
What are you doing here?
The usual.
Killin' a rally.
Isn't that Crosby's job?
I'm working on getting the A's to hire me for it.
They don't want to talk to me. I think it's because Boras is my agent now, too.
<shuns Poppy>
{shops punny}
yep, crosby's job
he did it well.  (was not going to post that negative...until i saw you did!)
Just trying to fit in.
Now I'm going to stare at my GIANT poster of Bobby Crosby's ass.
snort....
i tell ya, i am really getting negative on some of the guys....a combination of "what have you done for us lately" and "you know, there's a pattern here.....more downside than upside"
I'm ready for the AS break.
I'm tired of AN and the A's "offense".
I'm ready for any break.
sheez, crosby...
There may be no such thing as clutch....
but there certainly is such a thing as lack thereof- see: Crosby, Bobby.
so it seems.
but he looks hot (not) doing it
I fell asleep for a minute....
and seem to have woken up in an alternative universe.....where the A's actually score.  
Kiko should close
Striking out the Side for one inning...
nice job Calero... very nice...
and the same three guys coming up who started the rally last inning
Milton is liking AAA pitching today
hE IS 4-5 2hr and 6RBI
sonofa!
crap....freaking pop foul
At least the score
makes it seem like the game was much closer.
That's the spirit!
Well it was a nice rally.
End Game
Start Again?

Still, the offense slowly found itself.

damn
Trade Kotsay NOW!!!!
oh...shit, kotsay up. (reverse jinx pleeze)
Hey, they came alive
and made it interesting

I feel better now

..going to the game tomorrow...

nope....
damn it.  pop up, dribblers, popup
Well, my work here is done.
{collects payoff from Angels fans}
what's your alias on halo heaven?
good job anyway.
good job anyway by the boys.  need to get started earlier next time.
By the way...
Why was this the only game thread, and why does it have fewer than 300 comments?  Is everyone tharn from last night's game?  (I know I was pretty stupefied by it.)
This game ended much better
than anyone would have thought it would have with the way the a's offense is going. Bottom line is, we made it close, i'm sure everyone's happy the all star break is near. Bradley raked today in Sacramento so he'll be coming back soon and everyone will get a rest. I'm more optomistic now than i was in the 7th inning.
Tomorrow
The bats seem to have awaken. Now we need Haren to do his best Lackey impression and shove it up the Angels grittier than thou hindquarters.
i was in the left field bleachers
and yeah, i feel better than i did in the 7th, when i was publicly calling for beane to deal for a bat, or at least someone who can hit the baseball once in a while.  we were all curious what the league will do to adjust to this weaver kid the 2nd & third time through the league, and that crazy motion can't be all too great for his shoulder, but for now he is unreal, every pitch is like a hidden ball trick.  during the early innings when the shadow line was right between the mound and home plate, our guys might as well have been swinging their dicks at his stuff, we had slighlty less than no chance.

bottom line is we gotta get bradley healthy and make sure he plays more than 10 minutes before getting hurt again.  that and i wanna see richie out there by august 1 mowing them down.

There's no way Harden is back
by August.

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