Athletics Nation

Just watched it again with the Mariners guys

I love how he shouted “Ground ball, up the middle! OH NO!”

mikeA - April 25, 2008 reply

That's the best!

Yes, the "Oh NO!"

made it a beautiful moment!!

Very awesome.

Made me laugh.

All I could think of was the announcer as a cat saying

o no teh crozbee?!

Andrew Brown's take:

A’s reliever Andrew Brown, who’d worked out of his own bases-loaded jam in the eighth after Crosby’s error, was watching the game in the weight room and, he said, “The Mariners’ announcers got all excited and then they were like, ‘Oh, no, Bobby Crosby,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, yes, Bobby Crosby.’ That was a lot of fun to watch. Unbelievable play.”

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/25/SP1410BV5E.DTL

I love the “Ground ball, up the middle, ba…(as in base hit)! Oh no! Bobby Crosby!” And then the “Oh brother!” After he throws him out.

Eggman - April 26, 2008 reply

thanks much--very cool

Great stretch by Barton, too!

DiegoSegui - April 25, 2008 reply

Thanks for posting this, Pie.

and for the exact instructions. You are good about doing that and I appreciate that about you.

IM4Oakgal - April 26, 2008 reply

On another Note

Saarloos cleared waivers and will report to AAA SAC

FWIW

Trainman - April 25, 2008 reply

just curious,

after ichiro got to second, I wonder why we didn’t just walk beltre to get to miguel cairo, who had come in to pinch run. seems like the safer bet but whatever; we won the game so that’s that _.

rhyun - April 25, 2008 reply

It's usually a bad idea to put the winning run on base.

doctorK - April 25, 2008 reply

I wasn't particularly a fan of giving the tying run 2nd base.

Ichiro! is pretty much a guarantee to score from second base on a single, but not from first.

he took it on a change up, strike 3

Buck Turgidson - April 25, 2008 reply

er, not strike 3, but a change up that was swung at

Buck Turgidson - April 25, 2008 reply

It's the old "don't put the wiinning run on base"

And you know what? I agree wtih Geren. In fact, I thought he did an impeccable job with the bullpen tonight.

madmongoose - April 25, 2008 reply

Stole a win

mikeA - April 25, 2008 reply

By the way-- It's now April 26 (where I live anyway)

and pur A’s have a better record than Boston, New York, Cleveland, chicago and Detroit—and every other Al team save the one we play starting Monday night.

madmongoose - April 25, 2008 reply

+1

And, it has been pretty entertaining, too!

but tonight's game was agonizing

in many ways. Happy for the win, but I rarely just “turn it off”.

“Turn it OFF” worked though, with the YBett GIDP!!

I still can't believe they had Lopez bunt

Also, great stop by Crosby and great getting the throw to first ahead of the runner, but he threw another sinker and it was a nice stretch and pick by Barton. If Barton doesn’t make the catch cleanly, I’ll bet dollars to donuts (mmm…donuts) that Ichiro scores from second…And then Putz pitches the 10th…And eventually somebody on our team probably balks in the 14th or something.

yeah, Crosby is short striding his throws again

and he’s WAY more sidearm than usual.

Brillliant Street Move

to walk Ichiro and take the bat out of a guy’s hands who had 4 straight hits. LOL Boy when things start going right in this sport….

madmongoose - April 25, 2008 reply

Barton deserves at least half the credit there

Especially considering Crosby bounced a throw to him earlier.

Well Barton should have had the earlier pick, that was weak glove work there and not that bad of a throw

Buck Turgidson - April 25, 2008 reply

What an amazing win....just awesome.

These A’s are SO fun!!!

I disagree, not awesome

kind of like looking for a tack by walking around barefoot!

However, a “W” is sooooooooo great! Esp. with my sister and brother, nephew…all Mariners fans!

More like looking for a tack by walking around barefoot,

and accidentally stepping into some gold. Or a win. Or some metaphor.

I've never stepped into some metaphor.

Is it squishy?

It's kind of like allegory, with a hint of simile

and not a little litotes.

Or....like walking around barefoot

and getting gum stuck to your foot!!

But wait! Stuck to that gum….
A
TWENTY
DOLLAR>>
BILL!!!

Oh Boy! I can get a double latte!

Crosby was webgem #8!!!!

Kurt was #6!!!

Crosby’s was better!!!

So Jeter adjusting himself only made #s 1-5 and 7?

This was a hard game to enjoy

18 A’s in a row making outs, coupled with some shaky relief pitching makes doctorK cranky (to say the least). Thankfully Betancourt bailed us out with that GIDP to end the 8th, and Lopez’s pathetic bunt attempt (side note – WHY IN THE BLEEDING HELL IS THE NUMBER 2 BATTER IN THE LINEUP BUNTING) gave us a free out in the 9th. The result of the game, of course, is very easy to enjoy.

doctorK - April 25, 2008 reply

The #2 hitter in the lineup was bunting

because the Mariners haven’t updated their ideas of baseball strategy since 1917.

(Side note: video game baseball helps you figure these things out… you really want your best hitter, or at least best hitter for average, in the #2 spot. Not some puny-ass slap hitter.)

PaulThomas - April 25, 2008 reply

Tonight he was a puny-ass line drive hitter

That’s what makes it all the more astonishing. That and the fact that Ichiro didn’t need a bunt to get to second.

I don't believe in "hot" hitters

but, yes, my god that was stupid.

Steal second and THEN bunt him over to third, idiot.

PaulThomas - April 25, 2008 reply

ZOOK'S was SIX!!!!!!

JINX!

Seattle's bullpen

was completely fried after last night’s game vs. the O’s … if you had told me we’d “knock” Batista out in the first, I would’ve said “easy sailin’” .... I can’t believe we made Baek look that good. Really bad job by our hitters … hard to make a bad pitcher look that good, but we did.

Vacafan - April 25, 2008 reply

It was actually a good job by Baek, too

He had the feel for his changeup on all counts. Bad pitcher, good outing.

I'd appreciate it

if you’d let me just bitch and moan and get it out of my system … ok, I’m good. HUGE WIN BABY!!! :-)

Vacafan - April 25, 2008 reply

I'm at your Baek and Call.

groan

ak_A - April 25, 2008 reply

Have to mention Casilla and Suzuki too

Casilla is easily the best pitcher in our ‘pen right now, and Zook is just AMAZING behind the plate, athletic on defense, and excellent on offense.

What are Casilla and Brown up to -

26 scoreless innings?

Something like that

Brown’s control was a little off, but it’s really hard to blame him for that inning. It should have ended with a routine runner at first and two outs situation, between Crosby’s bad throw and the ump’s bad call.

PaulThomas - April 25, 2008 reply

Godzooks !

Gadzooks used to be a profanity

Gadzooks is a corruption of “God’s wounds” referring to the blood and wounds on JC on the cross.
Profane to invoke!!!
Well, back then it was..sorta

If only Easter hadn't been so early this year

that would have made a great outfield banner.

You'd need a pretty big banner for all that

'zounds'

comes from “God’s wounds”. I don’t think gadzooks does.

Etymology dictionary says “God’s hooks” but unconfirmed.

What about Zoinks? Or jinkees?

JediLeroy - April 26, 2008 reply

I missed this, but noticed it in the comments:

Not to re-hash the negative…but did Brown and Cust make defense miscues tonight? I missed part of the action. Can anyone describe them? Did they cost us runs?

notsellingjeans - April 25, 2008 reply

Cust fell over a fly ball, which was generously ruled a double

Emil Brown missed two cutoff men, allowing runners to advance. Neither cost directly, but neither helped.

It doesn't help to roll the lineup over

and put Ichiro up, leading off the 9th. Totally avoidable.

With better play, tighter pitching, Bettencourt would probably been the last out in the 9th.

Who made the E tonight?

What’s our current streak? 3 games?

pam5981 - April 25, 2008 reply

Croz, bad throw on a routine grounder

Which I think we can forget about ;-)

Anyone else sensing the end for Cust?

No HR’s, no D, no BB’s, no nothing! And a whole lot of kkkkk’s!

Man, with the depth the A’s have right now I think Custy is a goner….. ” Arrrr..Time to walk the plank ye ole sea dawg!”

mrod - April 25, 2008 reply

"Sea Dawgs!" LOL

Aren’t they in the same league as the “Everett AquaCats”??

If they are

that’s where Cust is gonna end up playing soon…poor bastard!

mrod - April 25, 2008 reply

Poor guy is struggling

HRH - April 25, 2008 reply

It's like he's trying to hit a round ball

with a round bat…
Boing boing boing boing… no line drives! The last line drive was along the left-field line.

So many foul balls on hittable pitches.

He oughtta get “shin splints” too! Then head back to Daddy Jack’s academy for some instruction!

Oh,

I think ol’ Custy’s gonna be hittin’ long taters for the Carp or Marines or Fighters before this season’s out.

Yeah,

I thought we were gonna get a little of that with the Pi(a)zza man last year, but all we got was breadsticks…

As Long as the A's Keep Winning

the team has the luxury of waiting for Cust to come out of his slump. But that lucky streak is bound to end soon, and Cust better get his act together real fast or the A’s are gonna have to give up on him.

richwol1 - April 26, 2008 reply

Again, someone comes up with something

which is precisely the opposite of the truth.

Teams which are completely out of contention have the luxury of using their at-bats purely as trial periods. The more games you win, and the closer you get to competitiveness, the more of a liability (financially speaking) a failing player becomes.

I suppose in some idealized fictional universe where you’re so dominant that you could absorb one bad player and still win your division running away, this wouldn’t hold, but no MLB baseball team is even close to that.

Athletics fan and runner - April 26, 2008 reply

not even the Yankees?

oh wait, they’re a .500 club… who picked them to win the AL East?

FoolshGame22 - April 26, 2008 reply

well

I believe that he is leading the AL in walks, or was a few days ago, but you are right on the other accounts.
I still say start him in LF against righties, but keep him on a short leash.

during the game I kept hearing

“tick..tock…tick…tock” everytime Cust was mentioned.

Coincidence?

I agree....

It’s only a matter of time before he heats up!

mikeA - April 26, 2008 reply

Great Defense Wins Ballgames But Dumb Managing Sure Helps Out

Crosby’s play in the ninth was terrific. To win this game with just three hits….amazing.
The M’s manager John McLaren sure helped out with Lopez, trying to bunt over Ichiro, one of the best base stealers in baseball…..WTF was that all about? It doesn’t hurt that the Mariners have some deadweight in their lineup with Vidro and Wilkerson that make the A’s lineup look potent by comparison.

Check out a great blog on the Mariners called the USS Mariner….those guys are having an absolute fit about tonights game.

hokecole - April 25, 2008 reply

Lookout Landing isn't far behind

Just one profanity-laced rant after another!!

Off topic

But when will Sean Doolittle be promoted? He went 3-5 today and he’s absolutely raking for Stockton. I can’t see what else he has to gain from staying in Stockton.

lenscrafters - April 25, 2008 reply

Ideally you want to do a bunch of promotions (and demotions) at once

so that you don’t end up with a bunch of guys interfering with each other’s playing time.

That said, there appears to be room in Midland, so what the hell.

Speaking of promotions, Jesus Guzman: WTF? I wouldn’t mind seeing him “promoted” all the way to the bigs at this point. Bill Bavasi is like the gift that keeps on giving.

Who is Jesus Guzman?

I sure wish someone would write a diary asking this question.

oblique - April 26, 2008 reply

Just got back to the hotel from the game

BOBBY!!! What a sweet ending.

HRH - April 25, 2008 reply

MaEl before the game

Motioned to me that he would come sign after he took BP (Ironically I was wearing his player T) Sure enough after BP he came straight to me signed my ball and a pic and then took the field for grounders as M’s fans yelled MARK ! MARK!

Ellis is the man, thought I’d share that little story

HRH - April 25, 2008 reply

+1

Ellis is the Man. We need to sign this guy to another 3-4 year contract.

Colorado Fan - April 26, 2008 reply

I sure feel like being mean

when people write things like that.

It’s useless pessimism. Why rain on this nice little parade?

This is a good little club, and they’re not playing as far over their heads as you think. I’d be more surprised if they finished under .500 than I would be if they made the playoffs.

he IS the man

And in other news...

The Rockies are in another long game… It’s 7-7 vs. the Dodgers in the top of the 12th. Vin Scully has the game on MLB.com.

louismg - April 25, 2008 reply

I feel like I've seen a million innings of the Rockies...

...hmmm…wonder why

baseballgirl - April 26, 2008 reply

So you're staying up with me?

Somebody should. Wife and dog are sleeping. :-)

louismg - April 26, 2008 reply

Nice Win!

I could get used to this. Ellie didn’t look so good in the three hole tonight. Nice to see Frank back in the Green and Gold. It’s looking like the FO is giving Geren the tools to make a decent showing this season after all.

alox - April 26, 2008 reply

Good win....

but according to Chronicle’s A’s Game notes, at least 2 more A’s players are headed to the DL.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/25/SP1410BV5R.DTL

Enough is enough!!! The A’s are currently in a DL SNAFU but this situation is on its way towards DL FUBAR!!

5-7 players on DL – SNAFU
8-11 on DL – TARFU
12+ on DL – FUBAR!!

Oaktownflav - April 26, 2008 reply

I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about

That notes section says there is a “faint” chance that ONE player will go to the DL (Mike Sweeney).

and Sweeney is more of a numbers game. He is a bit lame, but the A's want to see what Frank

still has in the tank, and see if Cust can find it again. If both happens, then Sweeney can be shopped when he returns from the DL. The A’s need a roster spot for Duke tonight.

theblackpearl - April 26, 2008 reply

What really bites...

A’s got pwned by Cha Seung Baek.

Oaktownflav - April 26, 2008 reply

Just got home

I rarely go to games live and am not really used to it, so I’m sure I’m less informed when I’m at the stadium than when I’m at home with the radio. (But it’s still more fun.)

My overall impression was that we really didn’t deserve the win. Batista was just awful and we should have put up more than three against him. After that, no one looked good at all except for Casilla.

... and the final play by Crosby. That was totally sweet. I was sure it would get past him.

I missed the alleged web gem by Zook. Was that when tried to bunt and it popped back to the left? I was in the upper deck on the 3rd base side, so when that happened he just disappeared from view. Then after that a bunch of people in the row in front of me got up, so I couldn’t even see whether it was an out.

Games like Friday's...

are games the A’s should lose, and usually do lose. Three hits? Almost nothing after the first inning? I had to chuckle that the “drive of the game” was Thomas’ weak little single. Yeah, it drove in a run, and it was Frank Thomas’ first RBI since his return, but still…

When you’re hot, things like this go your way.

But the Mariners fans have every right to be furious with the idiot managing (let’s have our hottest hitter bunt with Ichiro on first) and player-decison making (good idea chasing a pitch with the bases loaded against a pitcher without command of the strike zone).

bear88 - April 26, 2008 reply

Everything going right

Yep, Rich Harden has been healthy. And so has Travis Buck. And Justin Duchscherer. And Chavvy’s recovery from 71 offseason surgeries has been remarkable. And look at how Cust has picked up right where he left off last year. Street and Embree have been just perfect.

Not to nitpick, but I really don’t think everything has gone right for the A’s so far this year. They’ve already had to overcome some injuries (and they have). Getting a little good luck to go along with the bad doesn’t hurt, either.

thejd44 - April 26, 2008 reply

Well, some of that was predictable

but mostly I think that the team has been so snakebitten, for so long, that any run of even somewhat good luck feels like divine intervention at this point.

bad luck/misfortune so far for the A's

- Continued nagging injuries/chronic conditions limiting roster flexibility/availability
- No Chavvy
- Not much Harden
- Not much Duke
- Not much Buck (and when he’s been on the field, he’s been subpar)
- Street giving up lots and lots of baserunners (no, PT, I’m not saying he sucks)
- Cust being stone-cold (albeit still drawing walks and seeing lots of pitches)
- No power whatsoever, neither from the young guys who are supposed to develop it nor from the old guys who were hoped to still have it
- Poor (or at least poorer than that to which we’ve become accustomed) fielding throughout the month
- The draining and loss-of-ST-practice-time effects of the Tokyo trip

Indeed, as PT says above, some of this was eminently predictable. But some not.

If you’d told me at the end of March that we’d see all that go down and still be 15-9 on April 25? Na. Ga. Ha. Pa.

The fielding has been fine.

P.S. I forgot how much

I love Frank Thomas!

Earlier this week when there was talk about maybe signing him, I was like, “Enh, whatever. He’s probably no better than Sweeney or Cust.”

But seeing the big guy out there just filled me with joy. Every time he came up I’d dance in my chair and shout “woo! go Big Frank!” I’m not getting that from anyone else on the team.

I realized I don’t even care if he’s better than Cust or Sweeney. I just like him. He’s so cool.

He's got that charisma

that a future HOFer should have. It is nice to have a bigtime player on the team.

IM4Oakgal - April 26, 2008 reply

Nice squeaker of a win

I wish I could’ve saw it, but I was too busy watching the Sharks blow it in overtime.

oaklandSMASH - April 26, 2008 reply

I'm happy that things are breaking just right for our A's...

otherwise, they couldn’t possibly win this season. After all, it’s a rebuilding season. They shouldn’t be winning. Of course, they’ll fall back. They can’t keep up this pace. Just luck.

FoolshGame22 - April 26, 2008 reply

Finally! Someone with sense!

Of course the A’s can’t maintain this torrid pace. This is all just a taste of what the future could potentially hold. Any day now the A’s will collapse proving all the pre-season pundit prognostications correct.

alox - April 26, 2008 reply

Luck or skill?

There was a time last year where the A’s were in first. We still had hopes of Godot returning.
Were we naive, or just wrong?

Enjoy it while we can. (After all, the Angles are tied for first also despite their injuries.)

MobiusKlein - April 26, 2008 reply

< / Ray Bolger >

Report: 84% of ANers' heads explode...

... because Bobby Crosby hasn’t given them a reason to call for his execution after 24 games.

Seriously, I don’t how long the team can keep up this sort of play, but the first leg of this season has already been more entertaining than all of last year put together.

Joey C. - April 26, 2008 reply

just gotta post this picture from today's game...

BAD ASS~! YARGH!

ConditionOakland - April 26, 2008 reply

Oh man, that rocks.

danmerqury - April 26, 2008 reply

The Dogfather - April 26, 2008 reply

Still can't believe we won that game

The Mariners just gave that one away. We’ll take it though. Good stuff. Now, let’s win the series today!

sprtsnwyn - April 26, 2008 reply

I just love the effort

Bottom line is, in close games, we are making outstanding plays. Some of it is luck, sure, but the effort is there. That is exciting, to see a bunch of young guys just playing with abandon. The more confidence these guys get, I see no reason why we can’t compete for the AL West. This is a talented team, and a deep team.

baseb3383 - April 26, 2008 reply

incredibly tense, nail-biting game

so much so that I couldn’t wad through the hundreds of comments in the game threads to comment (it loads VERY slowly—and I have the latest version of Firefox!)

I almost did when Cust showed his stuff at the plate and with the glove—I was very thankful when he was lifted.

I kept one eye on the RF out-of-town scoreboard at Warrantless Wiretap Park ...

... while watching Sanchez throw an absolute gem at the Reds. Old friend Aaron Harang nearly matched him, but the Giants got some solid hits.

In the “see something new at every game” department, I saw a Reds fan in my section (lower field box, sect 129 - my buddy has sweet season tix) throw a foul ball back on the field. WTF? Turned out he’d even FSU’ed - so he got escorted back out to the LF bleachers, to much cheering from our section—and much merciless jeering when he got back out to LF.

Seriously, WTF, dude? A foul ball? I think it’s silly for a home fan to throw a visiting player’s HR ball back on the field (although I appreciate the emotional sense of it); and it takes some cojones for a visiting-team’s fan to throw a home team’s HR ball back on the field; but a foul ball? That’s just frakkin’ stupid.

I had that game on the TV

and the A’s game on the radio

the Giants-Reds game was a treat for the pitching.

I read the Chron story this morning ...

... and it turns out Sanchez threw one changeup, early in the game, didn’t like how it felt (he has some minor hand injury)—so the entire game, he threw only fastballs or curves.

I have to say, the Giants are almost as not-disappointing as the A’s. Their frontline starting pitching is phenomenal, Wilson is coming into his own, and they generally field really well. There actually is a bit of energy/buzz at the ol’ WWP.

The pitching has been phenomenal.

But the fielding has not. One of the worst defensive efficiencies in the NL (better only than the Pirates), driven primarily by a truly awful infield.

Err, they don't really field well

Any team that starts Ray Durham at 2b cannot field well. Ray Durham is playing 2b like Ray Charles.

Castillo at 3b, is like Pedro Feliz, but without the phenomenal D.

The OF has been OK.

rfloh - April 26, 2008 reply

Sanchez throws curves?

Watching him pitch, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him throw a curve, only fastballs, changes and sliders.

rfloh - April 26, 2008 reply

Before we get too carried away

about how lucky the A’s have been … the Angels go to Boston and Detroit, and face 4 pitchers called Pauley, Lester, Masterson, and Robertson. You’ve gotta be friggin’ kiddin’ me … it all evens out, it all evens out.

Vacafan - April 26, 2008 reply

...but, but...

Lester can pitch, though.

A little bit ...

they got “Galaragga” today … wow. You a Halo’s fan?

Vacafan - April 26, 2008 reply

...but, but...

Lester can pitch, though.

Luck

Maybe it’s just because I live here, but has anyone else here noticed that Seattle’s starting pitchers got hurt in the game three days in a row? That’s gotta suck. And today they’re starting a guy fresh off the DL.

On Thursday Silva got his spike caught during a pickoff move and had to come out soon after because he tweaked something in his leg. On Friday, Washburn took a line drive on his ankle in the first inning and pitched the rest of the game hurt.

I don’t know what happened with Batista last night, but there was a guy in the row behind me who was obviously knowledgeable about the team. In the first inning he was already telling people Batista was hurt. He could see that his movement before each pitch was different and he was favoring one leg in a way he normally doesn’t. Sure enough, next inning they took him out.

Batista is day-to-day. Washburn should be fine. Silva says he’s good for his next start, but I wonder.