What was a fairly competitive game for 7 innings quickly turned into a route as soon as one Jeff Williams stepped on the mound for the Hanshin Tigers. Poor guy couldn't find the plate, and even when he did, he got hammered. The hits came early and often for the A's in the five-run 8th, capped off by Donnie Murphy's Grand Slammer-ooo. That guy just feasts on left-handed pitching!
The Duke pitched exactly 80 pitches (his pre-ordained limit) and faired well, going 5 innings, striking out four, walking none, pounding the zone and only allowing two runs. Keith Foulke finally got through a scoreless inning of relief, and the southpaw squad of Dallas Braden and Lenny DiNardo closed the door on the Tigers, pitching three scoreless innings at the end.
On the offensive side of things, it was nice to see Daric Barton bounce back from his ugly o-fer from last night to go 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Cust was, well, Custian, with a 2-run shot, a single and a walk. Buck chipped in with a solo shot in the 3rd, and while Donnie Murphy's Slam was the highlight of the night, I'd give the MVP award to Mark Ellis who made a strong case to be considered a permanent top-of-the-order hitter as he catalyzed the A's offense early on with 2 hits and 2 runs scored.
Although just an exhibition game, this win was important nonetheless, as I'm sure the team needed a little pick-me-up after learning earlier that Eric Chavez will likely be out indefinitely with his latest setback in his recovery from off-season surgery. Thank God for Jack Supermannahan!
Well, we've got two off days and then they start counting folks! See you on Tuesday at 3:30am!
0 recs | 36 comments
I love it when the A's win.
I hope the Giants beat the Red Sox.
FoolshGame22 - March 22, 2008
Can you really count on Chavez this year?
The handwriting is on the wall, and Chavez's three surgeries during the off-season will really render him a part-time player going forward. I'd look at his setback as an uphill battle to get back to where he once was. Count on Hanahan to be minding 3rd base for the foreseeable future.
Mikko O - March 22, 2008
Don't look now
But Bobby Crosby is having himself one hell of a spring. Maybe this will transition over to the regular season.... The teams not looking bad guys, not bad at all....
Shippee33 - March 22, 2008
Of course, if it doesn't carry into the regular season...
...we'll know whom to blame for jinxing him.
Nick - March 23, 2008
JINX! JINX! JINX!
OaklandSi - March 23, 2008
mlb.com
has some good video highlights of the game for people like me who are too cheap to buy mlb.tv. Buck's homer is described as "mammoth".
It was pretty good but not has big as Hannahan's earlier this morning.
micdog2001 - March 22, 2008
But we all love when Buck is causin' a Ruckus
Or maybe it should be Buck is Bringin' Da Ruckus and he can have Wu Tang playing as he comes to bat.
thejd44 - March 23, 2008
OTOH
Murphy's slam barely got out. Oh well, I'll take it anyway.
LoveDemAs - March 23, 2008
However, It was to the Opposite field...
...driving the ball 350' the other way is nothing to sneeze at.......ahahahahchoooooooo
BleacherGuy - March 23, 2008
Great game threads
I made the mistake of going to a lovely but dull Taiwanese-French film instead, and only got to hear the last inning and the highlights on my way home. But reading the game threads was just as good, really. Eeeeeh.
Englishmajor - March 23, 2008
The Chavez news
is not surprising, and is an argument on behalf of Beane's decision to rebuild.
It's also why I simply cannot muster any excitement over this year's squad. A lot of the players on this year's Opening Day team are simply roster filler. Jack Hannahan is just a guy. I hope he proves me wrong, but really, he's just somebody to play third because somebody has to.
The Chavez news has to be viewed in the same context. Chavez may be done, but it's also possible - not likely, but possible - that he will return by 2009 as something resembling his old self.
But it's not as if Chavez At His Best would suddenly transform the 2008 team into a contender, so it's best not to worrry about it.
bear88 - March 23, 2008
Just a guy? JUST A GUY?
Jack Supermannahan is not just a guy!
No, really, he probably is just a guy. But a badass nickname makes him seem so much more awesome than he really is.
thejd44 - March 23, 2008
Hannahan
Hannahan is just a guy who will hit .280, put up a .375 OBP, pound out 35 doubles, and play solid defense if he has to fill in for Chavvy all season. Not bad for a fill-in. Kudos to Beane for finding this guy.
boilerdan - March 23, 2008
Its times like this where stars are born
Give Jack 30 days to play every day, feel like he blongs and gain confidence and, shoot, who knows how good he might be. I am very disappointed not to have Chavy out there opening day...either one of them...but maybe there will be a silver lining in this deal.
BleacherGuy - March 23, 2008
I beg to differ
Imagine that bizarre scenario where Harden stays healthy for a change. Add Chavy's 30HR, 100RBI to Cust and M. Sweeney, with Buck and Barton at the top of the order, and CarGon on the way mid-season, and I don't see why the A's couldn't hope to contend.
Nico - March 23, 2008
That being a reply to bear88, btw
Nico - March 23, 2008
I'm hoping CarGon is all he's cracked up to be...
and, that he's on his way by mid-season (or sooner). Because I'm seeing a black hole in the lineup in center field, with Denorfia and/or Ryan Sweeney. How many months of this season will Kotsay out-OPS our centerfielder?
FoolshGame22 - March 23, 2008
a while back I speculated that
Chavvy might well begin the season on the 60 Day DL, thus opening up a spot on the 40 man roster for Sweeney – as well as on the 25 man roster, since now they don't have to hold that spot for Chavvy. (By the way, this would allow the A's to continue to carry DJ for as long as they want.)
OaklandSi - March 23, 2008
DJ
I was running through the possible roster scenarios in my head this morning, and that's one I came up with. That said, doesn't that leave us pretty thin where backup infielders are concerned? Right now, the bench would be Murphy, Johnson, Bowen, and Brown. If Crosby/Ellis/Hannahan have to leave a game, they're SOL for anyone to back up Murphy.
Melillo and Petit don't seem ready yet. I wonder if what this injury does is provide the impetus to trade Johnson, so we can free up a 40-man spot for Brooks Conrad. The Giants could really use DJ; hope Sabean is paying attention. I know Conrad's D isn't ideal, but the power he possesses isn't a mirage. He's shown it every year in the minors.
jeepers - March 23, 2008
Is Melillo even playing? He might be a candidate for the 60 day DL himself. Or an outright
AAA assignment.
WaddellCanseco - March 23, 2008
Whoops.
Forgot about that. Yeah, he's not an option.
The article on the A's site also references the fact that Gaudin will start the year on the DL, even though he's expected back by 4/12. So, there's going to be plenty of room on the roster for DJ.
jeepers - March 23, 2008
"He's shown it every year in the minors."
Really he's done that only when he's old for his league.
thejd44 - March 23, 2008
Shame on him for going to college.
Can't the same thing be said of Hannahan and Cust's minor-league numbers, by the way? Well, not Hannahan--he hasn't really showed power of any kind in the minors.
jeepers - March 23, 2008
It has nothing to do with college.
When you're not putting up power numbers until you're already in your prime - and it's in AAA - that's not really a sign of a guy who's a superstar in the making.
And no, Cust was putting up giagantic minor league numbers all the way throughout. He hit 32 HR in A+ when he was 20, 20 HR the next year in AA, and 27 the year after that in AAA as a 22 year old. It was at that point he was unable to translate it to major league success for whatever reason.
Conrad didn't show any significant power until he was 25-27 years old in AAA. Huge, huge difference.
thejd44 - March 23, 2008
.444, .477, .467, .477, .471, .534, .420
Seems pretty consistent to me. He's been showing significant power since he was a 22-year old.
Nowhere did I say that Conrad is a superstar in the making. I said he had power, and that we need another infielder, and that our younger options aren't ready.
jeepers - March 23, 2008
I think DJ hasn't been traded yet
because no one has yet offered anything in return. At the very least DJ should have a chance to increase his value with his play (if possible).
OaklandSi - March 23, 2008
For the 90% of AN that was saying
"Just get the damn surgery done" to Chavvy for the last 3 years...
salb918 - March 23, 2008
Not only that...
but you have to wonder if 2 of the 3 surgeries involved could have been avoided by simply having the one, rather than playing with the injury, trying to compensate for it, and possibly creating the need for the other two.
Anyway, hope he gets well soon.
jeepers - March 23, 2008
The surgery was necessary...
He was a known commodity without it, and he wasn't very good. It remains to be seen if the surgery will return him to his former abilities. Quite frankly, assuming that there is no structural or tissue damage which is causing the pain, he may have to learn to deal with playing in pain on a permanent basis.
alox - March 23, 2008
For being not very good
he was still an above average third baseman. I agree with the rest of what you said, but it bugs me when people say Chavez was bad just because he wasn't as incredible as he had been.
thejd44 - March 23, 2008
Eric missed a large portion of the season,
and frankly, to be considered good it's generally expected that you be on the field. His injuries have reached a point where he could no longer take the field. It should be obvious by now that Chavez was avoiding the knife for as long as possible. I can't really blame the guy for that....but if you want to play ball, then you have to make choices. I sincerely hope he comes roaring back.
alox - March 23, 2008
I agree with the need for the surgery
remember that the track record for back surgeries extends way beyond baseball. Unlike "Tommy John" surgery, which is pretty much caused by baseball throwing, and is measured in its success by baseball throwing, I'm pretty sure (with only anecdotal evidence) that recovery time from back surgery varies in a wide range. Perhaps, considering it was three surgeries, that the A's should have written him off until mid-season 2008 at the time of the surgeries. If he comes back sooner, great, but no pressure. Instead, according to Sayles, the previous recovery work is essentially "thrown away". That can't be good.
One won lost won - March 23, 2008
Well, that was terrible.
I want a half-hour of my life back. I expected the slobbering manlove given to this week's opponents, but their new anal yst can barely conjugate a verb, much less say ANYthing interesting. Send him down, Eastern Sports Panderers Network.
That whole show could've been taped weeks ago.
The Dogfather - March 23, 2008
That's 'rout', not 'route'.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rout
m1k3n3ls0n - March 23, 2008
I discovered it's impossible
to watch to the Japanese telecast without smiling.
Jennifer - March 24, 2008
I lived in Japan for a year back in the eighties...
my buddies and I would get together on occasion to drink beer and watch Japanese TV. We would laugh our asses off. Some of the stunts they pull are hilarious.
alox - March 24, 2008
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