Athletics Nation

Hopefully Jack H starts his bat early tonight

he has been overpowered alot this year

good start, ellis

Ellis!

EllisFanatic - April 16, 2008 reply

Middle Infield of Death!

He certainly killed that bat

did the bat get near anyone?

couldnt see… listening on the radio

They just showed a ball boy trotting off the field with it after Ellis got to 2nd

rally? please?

boooo DP

That's Daric's new spot!

I’m glad he hit that one. I was about to make a crack about changing his name to DariK.

I think Mike Sweeney needs to grease his wheels.

In public? Eww.

Ok, cupcakes. Those were all the runs you were allowed to give up tonite.

Shut out for the next 8 innings anyone?

sounds good to me

I don't think that's gonna do it

Unfortunately, he can't give up neg 3 runs

Nice save, Bobby.

Nice chin, umpire.

Ichiro is fast

And Joe West is portly

The sky is blue?

He looks like a kindly uncle with that double chin

Go Royals!

wow, cros, nice piece of hitting.

ak_A - April 16, 2008 reply

Bobby's first hit against Felix!

Woo!

Bobby's first hit against Felix!

Woo!

-1

What are you doing?

I'm not sure.

Fracking AN 3.0.

Drive him in Ryan

Make contact at least unlike someone else earlier in inning

damn

How many strikeouts does Felix get tonight?

a bajillion

hahahahahaha

Thanks Yuni!

Whoops.

Shouldn’t have tried to make that play. Felix and the SS.

LOL

That’s one way to score

Hey, I'll take it.

HaHA!

Error?

E6.

1B, E6, R but no RBI

Cool, Gameday is slow tonight

Thanks goodness Jack plays a good 3rd base

howsabout a dp

nope, not a dp

Ass.

This is ugly.

well

at least he’s better than Zito?

closetasfan - April 16, 2008 reply

I meant the entire game.

I don't like the way this is trending.

Every time I tune back in, the M's tack on another run

I’m going to stay buried in my spreadsheet now.

GO A’s!!

So stop doing that.

Holy crap, Cust.

Don’t scare me like that.

Jack Cust, Adventure Patrol Craft.

Blanton

Should have traded him when he would’ve gotten something decent for him

stephanc101 - April 16, 2008 reply

question on Cust's defense

I haven’t seen him play in the field much; he’s not Jeremey Giambi bad, is he?

rhyun - April 16, 2008 reply

He may be Jason Giambi bad.

Ugh.

Unlucky liner to third.

Ugh.

Unlucky liner to first.

fuck

WTF?

What was that, four pitches the entire inning?

Blanton isnt fooling anyone tonight

So, I just finished up putting in the finishing touches of the new bathroom

Should I not bother turning the game on or what?

mikev - April 16, 2008 reply

Well helluuuooo everybody! I'm here now so

expect a comeback. I’ve been good luck so far for this team. A special “shout out” to anyone who was at AN DAY IV- A New Hope and Jennifer, MikeA, Nico and Kapers and. sprtsnwyn (when he gets here) and…

We are in 1st place for God sakes!!

Hey ohtobe!

What up, biatch?

Did you see the good news?

Blanton's ERA?

It's a little high but I'm okay with it since we are 9-6.

or BITCH if that is still allowed :-)

I'll let it slide this time.

Really good of you to do that. I'm drunk... but you've seen that before.

I’m in a great mood.

Usually when you're drunk I see two of you.

Only because I’m also drunk.

Yeah. Remember that ONE time. That ONLY time ;-)

Hi. I'm not supposed to be here because I'm causing bad luck so don't tell anyone.

I'll keep it between us. Please don't tell anyone.

God, you sound just like my childhood priest.

Easy. I'm still representing Catholicism. It was forced on me by my

parental units.

34 pitches through 3 innings, at least this game will be over quickly

Blanton and Weaver in a race to see who can suck

the most

Weaver 7 hits so far

Blanton 8 hits so far

The more I see it, the more I like Barton's stretch.

Looking for the positives here.

Yea. Kendall is not behind the plate so we gunned

down a cheesy runner.

yet people are still talking about him at games

He does have grit. That is tough to measure.

I won’t be attending a “live” game until later this season. Please tell them to shut the hell up until I can do so in person.

will do

but hard to do when every dropped ball receives a “Kendall woulda had that” from some ass in the crowd

His stick should do the talking.

Kurt!

He is a keeper

Offense is great so far

He is in a groove with the pitchers

Throwing runners out

What more could we ask for

Amen.

A batting average over .350?

Oh, wait.

To be fair, Yuniesky Betancourt

is an absolutely shitty basestealer.

redwolf75 - April 16, 2008 reply

Go Royals!

Let's hope they don't represent the "K"

Our Royals or the real Royals?

real ones

Egg rolls

Well, the game isn’t going that well, but I got me a deep fryer (I don’t care what you say, health Nazis!), and these egg rolls are delicious. Silver lining.

Silver lining for you, maybe.

Grrrr.

Send me some collect on UPS account 72737489

Beltre wins the Gold Glove last year by default

Beltre is getting alot of action over there

So's Johjima :-(

I don't like it

Felix’s pitch count isn’t all that high, and our boys aren’t being very selective. This could go on for a while…

Positive of last inning was that Cust didnt strikeout

I think this year will be more fun to watch if I take a positive from every inning

Positive of this inning-- quick work by JB

Hey, I do feel better.

Positive of the top of the first:

3-spots aren’t nearly so aggravating when you’re rip-roaring drunk!

Get thee behind me, Nico

I’m trying to study, here.

If I got behind you,

I doubt you’d be able to study.

Rimshot!

Ew.

...

...
...
...

I’m going to go sit in that corner and gently rock myself back and forth…

Two trailer park girls go round the outside. Round the outside.

Round the outside. Oh wait… I guess you aren’t my teenage nephews that think those words are somehow c-o-o-l.

Geez. Blanton deserves some serious run support!

Yeah, if you can't give up a three-spot in the first

and 7 hits in the first 2.1 IP, when CAN you deserve a win?

Hey - only one hit since!

Like Pismobeach is saying: positives!

Shove it, pal!

LOL, we need colored text for sarcasm

Felix and the A's Comeback

I really like the A’s announcers. I think Korach is fabulous. But to listen to the announcers last year you would have thought that, game after game, opposing pitchers were really tough whenever the A’s got runners in scoring position. Tonight and even earlier this week it’s starting all over again. Gee this guy’s really dealin’, this guy’s really tough, etc. etc. With Felix, may indeed be true. But where’s the honesty? The fact is that when the A’s are 3 runs behind an above average pitcher, the game is pretty much over. That’s not the case with teams that hope to win the division. I love these kids (OK, Hannahan’s lousy ABs drive me nuts …) but can’t we at least acknowledge what we know to be the case: when the A’s starter gives up 3 in the first, we’re in for a long, long night…

Maybe, but down 3 to Felix IS different from

down 3 to Horatio Ramirez.

Please don't remind me of his existence

BrettJMiller - April 16, 2008 reply

...Fosse's favorite catchers?

If you say so, Ken.

That dialogue was oozing with sarcasm.

Not being negative but what is this team working on?

like 5 runs in 4 games? Maybe the A’s could move to the NL for a few years until they rebuild

I was thinking the Pacific Coast League

But I don’t want them to be in over their heads…

Hahahahha

What time is tomorrow's game

I am looking forward to that game already

same time

Who is pitching tomorrow?

Cy Washburn?

A GIDP inducing machine

Carlos Silva

Carlos Silva

Washburn?

Which one? Jared? Jarred? Jered? Jerrod? Gered?

or what Nico gets when he takes a shower??

We weren't scoring much when we got to the ALCS two years ago.

We are who we are. It’s painful but is what it is. F*!!!

True but there is no 2 guys on this roster that can hold a

healthy Frank Thomas’s jock strap, he carried this team, got soooooo many big hits for the A’s

I think this was directed at me. Frank was awesome but we will have a better

hitting team by the end of the year. Trust me… I’m the dumbest, most optimistic A’s fan you’ll ever meet. Ellis will have 20 bombs and the rest will follow.

We need an A's optimism club

Because I dead on agree with you.

Sorry Ohtobe, it was directed towards you

Your goin out on a limb huh? If these guys dont hit better then they are now they dont deserve to be in MLB period, If you cant hit over .200 then you had better have a crazy OBP or be the next coming of Ozzie Smith

No problem. I have blind faith that leads me to believe

that this team will improve offensively as the year goes on. There is no pressure on our boys and that should make a difference in the long run.

dragged myself from the sick couch

to post my own pessimism over same ol same ol.

ak_A - April 16, 2008 reply

Was it the "out of town" water that caused it?

I’m heading to Sarasota, FL in about a week. I hope I can keep my health while hanging out on the beach.

I'm going to the Space Coast next week

Hmmm... not for work I hope? You still in the legal system?

for an interview with another Lockheed company

Good luck!

Thanks. It's mostly just to feel out the area and if the job has no downside,

perhaps I’ll take it. It’s not a promotion, so I may hold out for another position that is. But it would get me out of Texas!!!

Summer in Texas is nothing to look forward to...

am thinking that i let up once on the

obsessive hand washing and lysol spraying during my stay in DC and that did it.

ak_A - April 16, 2008 reply

I went to the Final Four and my room was such a shithole that my buddies

and I went to Walgreens for Lysol before going to bed. Sad.

JUUUUUUST a bit outside...

Is Felix Hernandez a felon?

“No.”

“Well, he oughta be.”

Sexson had a better shot at catching that than Johjima.

Man, that's just unhittable

Couple that with the way we are not hitting

yes it is

Sigh...

What’s Felix’s pitch count? 90? Please?

...74.

@#$%

Oh, holy hell.

Blanton was at 72 before the start of the 7th, by the way.

about 75 or 76 pitches

Evening, everyone

Hey lookin’ good A’s!

Oh those aren’t the A’s.

Everyone knows the A's wear black now.

It all makes sense

I was wondering why they were playing like the Raiders.

Neither team hits hard

It's not quite that bad... yet.

You're right

I guess my dad got into me

Wait…

At least we dont have to hear "He Gone" anymore,lol

Dadgumit.

Blanton in the 1st

what happened? he looks pretty good to me…

Nothing worth discussing.

The Game Thread wasn't up. Completely screwed up our mojo

Yeah. What's up with that? I'm not paying anymore money to Blez now.

Same sh**, different day...

No defense, no offense, ok pitching. Home field advantage is 0 fer 3 thus far.

Oaktownflav - April 16, 2008 reply

This Burger King Ad Sucks

I hate Carls Jr commercials

watching people slurp, slobber and get chili all over the place grosses me out. If i want to see people eat like slobs in HD i will go to Hometown buffet

Jack is way better

At least he can talk.

Just Saw 1st Inning Highlights...

Sweeney makes that play which a good CF does and we’ve got a 2-1 game.

And he's not even the retarded CFer!

That's drunk retard to you

Very good point.

Yay! Cust with a hit!

About time.

CUSTY!

Awesome play by Ibanez (grrr…)

Felix is going to be tough this year, he is learning how to pitch now

It's frustrating that Harden is always hurt

Because he’s actually better than Felix.

Definitely.

Still, I liked Felix better when he just slung fastballs up there.

Felix is only 22 though

He could still be better than Harden.

Harden was way better at 22 than Felix though

Felix was better at 7, though

Todd Linden was better at 3

But Felix was better by 3:30

This game brought to you by

the Davie Niehaus Burger-Cam ®.

strike four!

I still have a hard time rooting for Crosby.

I hope he proves me wrong.

It looks like all of our lefties are spinning out on their swings

No weight transfer at all, no balance.

The righties look similar.

So does Joe West.

I can't post.

Woah.

Deep.

That might be the stupidest thing to post!

Seriously, I was having technical difficulties

never mind

Pitch Crosby Missed

waist high, inside half of plate … my kid loves that pitch, though not at 95 mph.

Dammit, Beltre.

Stop doing that.

Dangit.

Screw this.

Im hoping some of the offensive problems are just rust

It seems like it because alot of them are over matched on fastballs right now, So to me this is a good thing, they will start to catch up as the year goes along or at least we will find out by mid year who is for real or not.

If we can go .500 it would be an accomplishment. I think this is

gonna be a fun year to watch the A’s much like the mid to late 90’s. Painful but you could see the potential.

Who's potential do you like? Who are you watching?

I like the young pitching but I think at this time almost ever guy not named Suzuki or Ellis is replaceable. Im not sold on Buck yet 82 games in MLB is not enough to say a guy is going to be a star.

Who is potential do we like, you ask?

Barton, Suzuki, Cust when he heats up, C. Gonzalez when he comes up (soon).

I like the way you think...

Your talking about 2009 and beyond right?

Nope. Summer of 2008.

Are you the new AN pessimist?

I like a full season of Barton and Cust with high OBP's.

Buck will come around. Ellils will have 20 bombs. Suzuki should be an offensive upgrade and we are 9-6 playing mostly wroad games.

"More game analysis than you could ever want"

Well, I’m sold.

I don't mind losing when Felix is pitching

But God help us if we can’t take one from Silva. Bannister and Greinke have both pitching well so far this year…

Silva owns us

We always seem to struggle vs. the Royals at home. Not sure why.

We tend to blow 11-0 leads, but we often still win

That game in the 20-game winning streak. What a great feeling!

Hatteberg was quite fun to watch that season.

We're 20-17 against them

at home this decade. So yeah not exactly killing them here.

Yeah, but you can tell we're on the verge of breaking out

Oh yeah, we're due.

They’ve won 9 out of the last 13 here.

Two words- Mark Mulder

Blanton going at least 8 innings

8 innings and 4 runs given up, with no walks, is not shabby. That the A’s can’t score for him isn’t helpful though.

louismg - April 16, 2008 reply

That should give the team a chance most games.

I’m glad we don’t have to use our bullpen when Joe’ s starting…

Shoulda used Street for the 1st

Blanton innings 2-9. Anyone could have seen that, but could Geren? Noooooo.

like the stratagy

The reverse closer role…it could catch

The 12 hits aren't so great, though

Wait, 13. And I think 4 or 5 of them have been doubles.

LETS GO OAKLAND!!!!

A little 8th inning magic to setup a game winning 9th would be nice to see!

Let's go A's

got some runners on…let’s get them home…

1 run closer...

This is our "one chance"

Is this a good time

to point out the tying run is at the plate with nobody out?

louismg - April 16, 2008 reply

Okay, this is something.

I’m not holding my breath, but… let’s go A’s!

Ellis will hit a 3 run bomb here

I can feel it

or a DP

:(

I guess not

What a joke!!!

A’s baseball at its finest

I miss home runs

2006 seemed full of ‘em.

I just looked at some box scores

Did you realize that there are major leaguers who have 2, 3, even 4, 5, or 6 of them!

Hot Cup Joe - April 16, 2008 reply

Who are these "major leaguers" of which you speak?

Todd Linden?

Sal Fasano would give us more power at this point

Are you kidding

rally killer!!!

We were all thinking it, right?

But nobody wanted to jinx the A’s by mentioning the GIDP was coming…

louismg - April 16, 2008 reply

amen

to that thought… :-(

Remember, no Putz so at least

we’re in a 9 inning game.

Being in Seattle

I’ve seen firsthand how bad the M’s bullpen can be. The A’s still have hope!

O'Flaherty's been dreadful

after looking great last year – what’s up with that?

I don't know...

I’ve watched the M’s lost at least 3 in the ninth…

Nice oppo hit by Barton.

Let’s go ex-Royals.

Tying run at the plate, again...

Well

I guess I’ll take it.

That's better than zippo

Time for a 2 run homer

Rhodes!

There’s hope after all!

Now there's a gascan

Arthur Lee Rhodes

said it before I'll say it again...

good time for Sweeney’s 1st HR

Or his first K.

It's gonna be Rhodes-Cust

My Gak.

Does Sweeney still wonder why he is making

near the league minimum?

He better step up

doesn’t he know Piazza is still on the market…

Not to mention

He Who Shall Not Be Named.

Neifi?

I say we deal for Micah Owings

That dude can MASH.

Not against Micah Bowing ;-)

or Bowie

I always feel proud when I remember the old piece of Micah Bowie trivia

He is no Erik Hiljus (sp)

adam piatt

That was BALL FOUR UMP

Looked pretty good to me.

Me too - the pitch before looked like ball 4

but Sweeney swung at it.

I retract that, looked good from upstairs

Just looked low and out on the normal view

It had tremendous late movement

Because apparently the 97 MPH velocity wasn’t enough.

WTF? Im watching the Dodgers game and the pitcher for the Pirates has 6 fingers

I bet he was popular in High School

Actually, I think he has 12

Should have been a massage therapist.

6 on one hand,lol

Inigo Montoya

is looking for that guy,

they said something about Keiser Sorsee

That movie taught me

that Mr. Kobayashi is a cup of coffee.

Tru

Thanks for the perspective. I can’t wait till the young guys we traded for come up.

Watching Mike Sweeney bat

I have to keep reminding myself that Frank Thomas was below the Mendoza line, and looking every bit the part, well into May in 2006.

Soaker - April 16, 2008 reply

Whereas Sweeney, a lifetime .299 hitter,

came into the game batting .298.

With 3 RBIs and 3 extra-base hits

Yeah, I know the spreadsheet folks tell me I’m not supposed to care about RBIs

Soaker - April 16, 2008 reply

Nope, you're not

Although his bat speed is slow this year, which explains the low power numbers.

Cust's a good lead off guy for "need a baserunner"

Then we just need one of those 4-base thingies I keep hearing about.

You mean 2 doubles?

A Hummer?

Isn’t that what they’re called?

Nah, dude, that's a triple

Now if only one of our boys could get to fifth base…

In other news

Cahill continues his dominance today,

6IP, 2 hits, 1 walk, 0 runs and 9 k’s.

Devyn - April 16, 2008 reply

I have a gut feeling he's going to be the gem

He has the most mediocre

stuff out of the four, but is obviously the most dominant.

He’s just a straight up pitcher, knows how to get men out.

Devyn - April 16, 2008 reply

Aversion to Bunting

I’m sorry—the A’s aversion to “wasting” outs by sacrificing has got to become a thing of the past. This team doesn’t hit that many HRs. Until Ellis batted in the last inning, we had scored one run against King Felix. Felix is dominating tonight. Ellis comes up in a classic sac bunt situation (1st and 2nd, nobody out, down three runs), and Ellis hits into a rally-killing DP. Of course, Buck comes up and hits what WOULD have been a two-run single on the next AB. The “no sac bunt” rule makes sense when you hit 200 HRs a year, but when your team doesn’t have much power, you’ve got to take runs where you can get them. That was a terrible play by Ellis, and if Geren didn’t cal for a sac bunt, then it was a missed opportunity by Geren. The A’s can’t keep clinging to the same tired old philosophy that sacrifices are “wasted outs.” Strategies change based on game situations… that was a time to call for the sac.

think about that for a second....

I'm sorry but bunting there would have been stupid

Especially since Ellis hits Felix the best of any A’s hitter.

Felix is still in?

damn, still felix

He's vulnerable now!

I swear! We’ve got him riiiight where we want him.

This good, I think

He not do great last inning.

Come on guys. Swing the damn bat.

The should be fined for looking

That would cut that stat down quite a bit

Now let's swing the damn bat

for a hit!

On the positive side

That was only 2 k’s for Cust and he did get on twice tonight

LOL

Again with the positivity

I’m trying to Hulk out, over here.

Wrong

Again - using stats like “Ellis hits well against Felix” to justify a stupid strategy. Managers need to have a feel for the game - bunting there would have been smart. You’re wrong.

sac bunting when down by 3 runs is about the dumbest thing you can do

+1

Baseball is difficult for Cust...

without steroids in his system.

KMoAsFan - April 16, 2008 reply

Thats just

a low blow

Well, Blanton pretty much destroyed what chance

we had in the 1st.

Go get ‘em tomorrow.

Oy

Oh, well, it’s a long season.

A very… long… season…

Excuse me, I have to go weep myself to sleep.

Cupcakes gives up 12 hits

I miss all the aces we trade away.!

Like Zito

And Mulder? I’m glad we let Zito walk, I’m glad we dealt Mulder (for Haren, Barton, and Calero), and I’m glad we dealt Haren (for the core of our future). I don’t miss any of those guys. Blanton’s a good #2 pitcher. We just need Harden to get healthy (which will never happen).

Tru

Thanks for the perspective.

I can’t wait till the young guys Billy B. dealt for come up to pitch in the bigtime for us.

Go Royals!

until next series

that is

Well, good night people

Better luck tomorrow.

Nico

I admit that hindsight is 20-20 (although I was yelling at my TV for Ellis to bunt before he grounded into the GIDP), but the A’s need to have a more varied approach than just saying “sacrificing = wasting outs.” Teams that can bring a variety of approaches to the table win. Flexibility wins games, not single-minded (or close-minded) strategies. Just ask GW Bush—he’s been banging his head against the same wall for the last five years and hasn’t gotten anywhere. It’s because he doesn’t understand how to adjust. Ellis is a great bunter. He should have moved the runners over there.

undeniable

George W. Bush is the Bob Geren of American presidents

mistersalty - April 16, 2008 reply

Dude, for the last time, we were down BY THREE RUNS

We had two runners on base. You do the math.

I've been preaching for years that the A's need to vary their approach

and even I wouldn’t dream of having Ellis do anything but swing away there. Yes, the A’s shouldn’t always just hit away, hit away, hit away. But that AB? Hit away.