For all the close games the A's and Angels have played over the last few years, tonight was the rare exception. The A's blasted the hated Angels 14-2 with Emil Brown and Daric Barton leading the way with home runs and three RBIs a piece. Frank Thomas also was a home run short of the cycle. Chad Gaudin pitched through a rough strike zone and held the Angels to only two runs.
Let me get this out of the way right off the bat. Yes, Frank Thomas hit a triple in the first inning and Jack Cust had an infield hit. If that doesn't tell you that things have been breaking the A's way of late then nothing will. Thomas might've had a shot at the cycle had Bob Geren not put a pinch runner in at the bottom of the seventh when he led off with a double. The thing is, the game was actually still a game at that point because it was still 6-2 and despite Thomas' new found wheels that earned him a triple earlier in the game, I would want the extra insurance run if we can get it.
Emil Brown decided to eliminate that by starting the pain train on Chris Bootcheck, who got the check booted out of him. The A's started the Bugs Bunny style conga line going around the bases with Bootcheck. But the game was probably decided earlier. Home plate umpire Charlie Reliford had one of the most baffling strike zones I've seen in a while. And apparently Angels pitching coach Mike Butcher agreed as he got thrown out after Frank Thomas walked in the third inning. The funny thing is that Gaudin had to deal with the same weird strike zone and he worked through it. Is there ever a game when Mike Scioscia doesn't complain about something? The Angels announcers were blaming the loss on the Angels tough travel schedule about having to come home from Detroit last night late and play the A's today. Of course, no credit given to these anonymous A's. That's fine. Keep dissing this team. They love it that way.
I'm hoping Frank Thomas is now coming out of it with three hits tonight. That's his first triple since 2002 and Mulder, Hudson and Zito were still Athletics. That seems so long ago. Also, Daric Barton hits his first home run of the season and I thought the reason he did was because he was patient with the baffling strike zone. He essentially forced Garland to come in with an easy pitch right down the middle.
And finally, props to Vacafan who called Emil Brown's home run. Dude, are you getting an Emil tat or what?
This was one sweet night.
0 recs | 147 comments
just got back in the house
SWEET!
ak_A - April 28, 2008
don't forget Hannahan's HR
OaklandSi - April 28, 2008
Yeah
He actually almost hit another one later too. It’d be really good to get him going. I wonder how much not being in cold weather any more is helping the guys feel comfortable.
Tyler Bleszinski - April 28, 2008
It's just hard to hit when it's cold,
no matter whether you’re playing wiffleball, softball, or at the highest level.
Gaijin_Suketto - April 28, 2008
I like this team's anonymity
Let the media (national and bay area) ignore us, or favor the Gnats, etc. As long as the A’s keep winning, eventually they will have to pay attention.
doctorK - April 28, 2008
Best record in the AL, baby
And who would’ve thought the team would actually have a damn good April for once? When is the last time that happened? I can’t remember.
Tyler Bleszinski - April 28, 2008
Been awhile
17-10 in ‘03
67MARQUEZ - April 28, 2008
we never stopped rolling after spring training even with the international travel
dtownmbrown - April 28, 2008
Solid
We were ready. They weren’t. I doubt Garland was in Detroit last night.
Colorado Fan - April 28, 2008
anyone know what happened to carlos gonzalez tonight?
i was at the rivercats game, he left after going first to third and possibly hitting the base awkwardly. i didn’t think it was a big deal, but they took him away on a cart. any updates?
xbhaskarx - April 28, 2008
other than that mrs. lincoln, how was the play?
ak_A - April 28, 2008
Well...
...we already had the tickets, so…
- Mary Todd Lincoln
Derwood13 - April 28, 2008
yikes that doesn’t sound good. Hope he’s OK.
drmmerchk - April 28, 2008
yikes
mikeA - April 28, 2008
On a cart?
Holy…
lenscrafters - April 28, 2008
Well that sours my mood a bit.
HigherPie - April 28, 2008
oh nooooo!
not CarGon!
gotgreen - April 28, 2008
cargon really botched a line drive quite badly and let it get by him in CF. then he didn’t exactly go full speed on a routine ground ball in his first at bat. but later he made a sweet diving catch on a line drive to his right, completely horizontal eric byrnes style. after walking with the bases loaded, he went first to third on a single after the LF fumbled the ball. unfortunately i was looking at the ball so i didn’t pay attention to him running. there was no play at third, but they took him out. the cart came for him a bit later, and took him out through the LF wall. i don’t think they gave an update afterwards. perhaps something happened on one of the defensive plays, he looked quite awkward on the error.
other than that, petit and melillo hit well (of course it was against zito’s 0-6 buddy mike maroth), petit screwed up a routine grounder early on but made some nice defensive plays later. powell struck out twice, but there were some questionable calls including a really high strike three looking. blevins finished things off effortlessly…
xbhaskarx - April 28, 2008
the headline at
oaklandclubhouse.com says that he rolled his ankle.
dont have a subscription so i don’t know any more…
oakinboston - April 29, 2008
Its amazing what a win like this
does for my sometimes tenuous-lived-in-alaska-too-long-with-irritating-job mental health.
ak_A - April 28, 2008
this smile says it all!
big hurt’s post-game interview with fosse & kuiper!
gotgreen - April 28, 2008
Awww!!! Love him!
drmmerchk - April 28, 2008
looks good in green
149 - April 28, 2008
Ho ho ho...
...Green Giant!
Gaijin_Suketto - April 28, 2008
Ho ho ho...
...Green Giant!
Gaijin_Suketto - April 28, 2008
...crappy server!
Gaijin_Suketto - April 28, 2008
His winning smile
is as good as a cycle-clinching homer!
Thanks, Frank!
oaklandSMASH - April 29, 2008
Hey Blez
What happened to the thing in the sidebar that shows when the next game is? I liked that, but it’s gone now.
This afternoon I was wondering if the series started tonight or if it was an off-day and the series start tomorrow, so I looked for it on AN, but that feature is gone now.
Policy decision, or technical difficulty?
iglew - April 28, 2008
Technical difficulty
Since our servers crashed last week, we’re slowly adding elements back in. We need to make sure we’re on rock solid ground as much as humanly possible so we don’t have a ridiculous outage like we did.
Tyler Bleszinski - April 28, 2008
Cool
I’m all for taking as long as necessary to get it right. Just wanted to make sure you knew it’s a desired feature.
thanks
iglew - April 28, 2008
FWIW
The server (or, “swerver”) didn’t handle the rapid inputs very well tonight. I got stuck if I hit “POST” without hitting preview. It just hung. I had to turn the browser (IE) off. If I went “PREVIEW”, waited, then “POST”, it worked okay. But direct to “POST” it could not handle. Just hung.
Not enough testing on the rapid inputs. Server is not handling it well, whatever topography they chose for this app.
One won lost won - April 28, 2008
Weird
I didn’t have a single issue tonight. Worked flawlessly for me. Maybe cause I’m using firefox.
Tyler Bleszinski - April 28, 2008
not me
I’m using the latest version of Firefox (albeit on an old, slow processor), and any thread >200 comments starts to hiccup like Stomper after a particularly noxious batch of trough-urinal pruno.
monkeyball - April 29, 2008
Blez, I prefer Firefox
but I’ve found it coming up “short” on some links while linked to www.athleticsnation.com. I just figured SBNation, like a lot of sites, bow to the popular majority and code to favor Internet Explorer. So, I’ve been using IE instead of Firefox.
I’ll give it a try tonight with Firefox, when the action gets 4-5 posts every ten seconds, like last night.
One won lost won - April 29, 2008
I Could Feel This One Coming
Even the final score—I actually thought 13-2 or 14-2 earlier today—they were due to go deep—and Garland was a convenient foil.
Thing is, if we lose tomorrow I could easily see the Angels winning three straight. Santana is a beast against us and that final game of Blanton-Moseley looks like one of those trap games where the supposedlyweaker starter comes up big.
that said—it is the pitching depth that makes this team. No one else in the sport can match it.
madmongoose - April 28, 2008
Enjoy this One.
And, Blanton isn’t pitching until Friday.
Colorado Fan - April 28, 2008
Thursday is Duke for us -
and now it appears not Moseley for them. Adenhart?
I’m with you – I’ll believe a split when we win one more. I’ve seen too many 4-game series lately where we won the first and the Angels won the next three. Gotta keep rolling.
Nico - April 28, 2008
Agreed
I can’t believe how good our pitching has been this year. Just night in and night out, steady and solid pitching.
Tyler Bleszinski - April 28, 2008
sorry about that-- gotone day ahead of myself
But I do think Moseley still goes—this would be his normal night to throw anyway.
madmongoose - April 28, 2008
That's what they said on the Angels broadcast
Is that Moseley was only in because this was his normal day to throw.
Tyler Bleszinski - April 28, 2008
Adenhart pitched yesterday
Even if they are bringing him up, doesn’t make sense to start him on Thursday.
Bees’ 13-game winning streak ended today, by the way.
iglew - April 28, 2008
Crosby
Anyone else notice that he’s standing further from the plate lately? Someone needs to tell him to move closer to the dish, again.
Colorado Fan - April 28, 2008
I did, in the Seattle game
and, his orientation to the mound looked uncomfortable.
I thought, “Uh Oh!!” as soon as i saw it. Tonight, no hits.
One won lost won - April 28, 2008
for sure.... 'stanced kitty korner to the mound'
ak_A - April 28, 2008
Yup.
K, swinging at a slider low & away.
MobiusKlein - April 29, 2008
WOO! This game was a ton of fun to watch! I’m hoping the bats stay hot the rest of the series. LOOOOVE this team!!! Thanks to everyone in the game threads for helping make the game even more amazing!
drmmerchk - April 28, 2008
A's now lead the AL with the most runs scored and fewest runs allowed! Keep it up! Go A's!
jwnewman - April 28, 2008
One half of that
is a whole lot harder to believe than the other.
iglew - April 28, 2008
A's run differential is 10 times better than Angels
LOL
Ours is 40 and theirs is 4.
Considering all the errors, the fact that we have given up the least runs is quire amazing.
Trainman - April 28, 2008
Considering errors are totally useless as a stat,
the fact that anyone pays any attention to them is quite amazing.
PaulThomas - April 28, 2008
Yeah
Kinda like grammatical errors on a sports blog.
67MARQUEZ - April 28, 2008
but what if errors are totally your worst pet peeve?
Gaijin_Suketto - April 28, 2008
I don't think he was using them "as a stat"
Errors happen. They exist. Often runs score because of them.
dscel - April 29, 2008
They aren't completely useless
as long as you understand what they’re measuring, and what they’re not measuring.
rfloh - April 29, 2008
I guess
They’re OK as a “tools” stat to tell you how good someone is at fielding balls in their immediate vicinity. It’s like one minor component of defense, as if you measured teams’ offense purely by how many doubles they hit.
PaulThomas - April 29, 2008
Let's see I'm pretty sure an error led to run last night
So they do in fact have an effect on a teams run differential.
methodrampage - April 29, 2008
"Errors" may be useless, esp. as determined by our scorer * -- but I think defensive blunders are important.
The Dogfather - April 29, 2008
Thanks A's!
This game totally made up for the non-TV games I missed last week. Awesome fun!
Let’s do it again tomorrow!
streetfan - April 28, 2008
Thanks Blez
Just thought Brown caught a lot of grief in the Spring … for basically nothing more than signing a contract with us. So yeah, he’s my favorite this year … I hope he keeps it up.
I root for guys like that … just kind of floats around and earns a living ... he deserves some props.
Vacafan - April 28, 2008
but the 2nd (erroneous) call totally undercut the 1st
green star oakland - April 28, 2008
I know, I got greedy LOL
I needed at least one strike though—4 straight out of the strike zone … ala Bonds!!!!
Vacafan - April 29, 2008
A's get two TDs
and only allow a safety on the bad snap out of the end zone… :)
Great to see the hit parade and loved Gaudin tonight. Keep up the good work, A’s. The media can ignore us. I’d hope that the Richard Dreyfuss line from Jaws comes to fruition at the end of the season:
“Uh, I think that I am familiar with the fact that you are going to ignore this particular problem until it swims up and bites you in the @$$!”
Go Green and Gold! :)
Derwood13 - April 28, 2008
San Jose A's at Fremont
I don’t know how many people cought it, but Lew Wolf came as close as I’m sure he is able in confirming that the new name of the A’s will be the San Jose A’s when he gave his speech about Art Moreno saving him some money and paying for all the legal work when they changed their name to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Threepwood XX - April 28, 2008
I caught it.
Better than Portland A’s, or Las Vegas A’s.
mikev - April 28, 2008
Las Vegas A[ce]'s
methodrampage - April 29, 2008
but i live in portland now :-P
designatedforassignment - April 29, 2008
I'll still cheer "Let's go, Oak-Land!!"
“Let’s go San-Jo” doesn’t seem to cut it.
oaklandSMASH - April 29, 2008
He's said that before
But I think he means the precedent to call them the Oakland A’s of Fremont. He’s said that Fremont will definitely be in the name.
indigo - April 29, 2008
That wouldn't make sense.
The A’s wouldn’t be sued for adding “at Fremont” to their name after moving to Fremont, especially since Fremont knows they will not get top billing. Now what they would be sued for is adding a name currently part of Giant’s territory (like San Jose) to their name like the Angels did to the Dodgers.
Threepwood XX - April 29, 2008
I get what you're saying
But from what I’ve heard him say before I still think San Jose in the name is a long shot. Plus it’s a bit different since the Angels used to be the Los Angeles Angels. That said, I dislike any xxx of yyy name.
indigo - April 29, 2008
One thing, Blez
I am pretty sure you meant Barton hit his first homer of the season, though technically it was his first of the night, too. ;)
67MARQUEZ - April 28, 2008
Best record, most run scored, least run given up in AL
nuff said!
asfansince1989 - April 28, 2008
omigoodness
gotgreen - April 28, 2008
he could come in for cust if norf/sweeney aren’t available
MaineAthletic - April 28, 2008
I feel like that would be fun, but I would be nervous the entire time that he would get hurt.
drmmerchk - April 28, 2008
I'd be less nervous with him in left
than with him on the mound…
Don’t get me wrong; he’s a great pitcher… it’s just that my fingernails are really really short because of him, that’s all.
Gaijin_Suketto - April 28, 2008
That literally made me LOL
twice.
I’d love to see Huston as patrol craft.
iglew - April 28, 2008
Seriously, that's a nifty way
to bring in someone else to face a tough LH hitter, and then have Street go back to the mound for the RH’s who follow.
iglew - April 28, 2008
definately, did not think of that
MaineAthletic - April 28, 2008
didn't some NL team do it earlier this year
move a pitcher to the OF and then back to pitcher?
that could actually be really useful…
xbhaskarx - April 28, 2008
A's would be the coolest team ever if they did that
ChadGod - April 28, 2008
+1
Gaijin_Suketto - April 28, 2008
Braves did it
with Chris Resop, according to the SuSlu article linked above.
iglew - April 29, 2008
I think I love Andrew Brown.
Flying V?! Like, The Mighty Ducks?!
Jennifer - April 29, 2008
Great Street is the next Ankiel
methodrampage - April 29, 2008
This team is special!
What a beat down! Let’s keepit going and score 3 touchdowns tomorrow!
A'sfansince1970 - April 28, 2008
I'll settle for one kickoff return for a TD, and a FG
off a fumble.
10-3. I’m easy to please!
One won lost won - April 28, 2008
I thought we looked
crisp in the red zone tonight. Defensively, we only allowed that one deep pass; other than that, our coverage was excellent.
67MARQUEZ - April 28, 2008
although I'm worried that Parcells...
...I mean, Scioscia, might have been filming Zooks’ signs!
Gaijin_Suketto - April 28, 2008
I mean Belichick!
Gaijin_Suketto - April 28, 2008
It's so pleasant to
watch a member of the Angels coaching staff with bulging blood vessels. Especially when the umps run his sorry ass and Sciosia has to live with the same crew for the next three days. Hopefully the umps are tired of his sorry act this season.
On another note….we have POWER!!! Where did that come from? This team is full of pleasant surprises this season.
alox - April 28, 2008
got sport center on for past half hour...nothing yet
how was the coverage? 40 seconds at least?
ak_A - April 28, 2008
Uh, they showed Thomas hit his triple
and Barton’s homer.
Uh, I think that’s about it actually.
mikev - April 28, 2008
I love how everyone says our offense sucks
But we are 1st in the AL in runs scored. FIRST bitches.
baseb3383 - April 28, 2008
AP is distributing the following picture/caption from tonight
(emphasis mine).green star oakland - April 28, 2008
Great?!
This is our representative photo for the night?! If only the A’s would get some luv sometime….
streetfan - April 28, 2008
Stupid caption
but a worse picture. Poor Dallas.
HigherPie - April 28, 2008
At least he's rockin' the Kielty cut!
Gaijin_Suketto - April 28, 2008
Also he's wearing clothes that fit.
HUGE improvement!
oaklandSMASH - April 29, 2008
That's Dallas on the right:
The Dogfather - April 28, 2008
we took photos of the native
girls, but they were not developed.
ak_A - April 28, 2008
Dallas "Prince" Braden
HigherPie - April 28, 2008
oh my.
ak_A - April 28, 2008
Oh ak_A, you do make speeches.
HigherPie - April 28, 2008
Max Patkin, you're no Jackie Price!
Gaijin_Suketto - April 28, 2008
Mrs Monkeyball's nickname for Dallas
“The Fraggle”
monkeyball - April 28, 2008
Weird Al
salb918 - April 29, 2008
Do the A's have some kind of clown quota they need to meet.
Keilty and now Braden?
methodrampage - April 29, 2008
Zito
to bullpen.
drumber - April 28, 2008
It's official.
Link
HigherPie - April 28, 2008
xbhaskarx - April 28, 2008
gee whiz, he has no limits to the rationalization...on and on
and on.
ak_A - April 28, 2008
Why should he?
The only thing he’s got to rationalize is where to cash his paycheck. All the other garbage is the Giant’s problem….not his.
alox - April 29, 2008
hmm
maybe he forgot to eat breakfast again?
gotgreen - April 28, 2008
So much for feeling sorry for him.
Question Barry: if Oakland is under the radar, how in the name of Zeus’ butthole did you manage to earn enough votes to win the Cy Young Award? How about Jason’s MVP? Miguel’s?
(It’s one thing for AN to fret over lack of coverage (or worse, misleading coverage) but coming into this season, Oakland was under the radar).
Zito knew what he was getting into long before the ink dried on that fat contract of his.
67MARQUEZ - April 29, 2008
14-2
wow, how many pythagorean wins is that?
xbhaskarx - April 28, 2008
158.76 over a 162 game season.
green star oakland - April 28, 2008
I'm not good at math, but I can give you one sure equation:
Elephants > Panthers
oaklandSMASH - April 29, 2008
Not to be a downer ...
I love this offensive output and I’m thrilled that we are somehow leading the league in runs (albeit with a few more games played).
What worries me for the future is that we’ve scored all these runs despite having a still relatively low team OPS. I heard on the telecast tonight that we’re hitting extraordinarily well with runners in scoring position. Guys like Emil Brown are leading the league in RBI.
What appears to be happening is that an ordinary offense is getting extraordinarily lucky in “clutch” situations. You know how we decry these stats and note how team production in these spots will likely revert to the mean at some point? That’s what I’m worried about with the A’s. If that happens (and it will), we’ll become pretty ordinary pretty quickly.
In other words, our offense is succeeding based far too much on clutch performance, and that isn’t sustainable.
Don’t get me wrong; I love this team. I love how they’re playing … I just don’t expect it to last.
Crosbino - April 28, 2008
You're probably right
On the other hand, didn’t we all think the atrocious RISP numbers over the past couple years would revert to the mean? Maybe this is what it’s doing now. It’s possible they’ll remain this lucky over the course of a season if they were that unlucky for a season or two.
But you’re right in that it’s not something to count on. They need to start getting more consistent production, and not just in the “clutch” situations (Which would never be necessary if they could hit a few homers every now and then).
thejd44 - April 28, 2008
I'll be the first to admit...
that I’m a novice where the stats guru’s are concerned….but it strikes me that so many “clutch” opportunities are created by players other than the one holding the bat. The A’s are good because they consistently put runners on base. All the time. Sometimes we score and sometimes we don’t….but we always seem to have guys on base one way or another.
What are the A’s stats for LOB? Are we stranding a “league average” or are we truly “gifted” in scoring all the available runs?
alox - April 29, 2008
Last night's beating of Garland
upped the A’s OPS quite a bit. Before last night their OPS+, ie park adjusted OPS relative to league average, was 97, only ahead the Royals (78), Twins (80), Indians (92), Mariners (93), BJs (95). 100 is average.
Now, it’s 103. The teams in the AL that are better or tied are the Tigers (112), RS (111), Angels(111), Rangers(109), Yanks (103).
They are hitting VERY well with RISP: 318-418-445-863, 40 percent better than their overall park adjusted OPS, 30 percent better than the league.
Overall, with men on: 294-382-419, 801 OPS, 23 percent better than their overall park adjusted OPS, 12 percent better than the league.
When they get men on the bases, the only situation where they are hitting worse than the league average is with a man on first, 2nd and 3rd empty: 265-332-386, 718 OPS, 10 percent worse than league average.
With the bases empty: 223-309-336, 645 OPS, 20 percent worse than their overall park adjusted OPS, 18 percent worse than the league
Baseball Prospectus believes that the A’s “should” have scored 120 runs, instead of 134, based on how the A’s have hit.
rfloh - April 29, 2008
Neyer just did a bit on the A's with RISP
Link
to me, hitting is still a bigger concern than our defense.
oakinboston - April 29, 2008
not sure if that's an insider article... here's the gist
oakinboston - April 29, 2008
Not sure whethter you were around then
but there was once a VERY long winded debate here what regression to the mean means. Involving grover and some poster whose name escapes me, IIRC.
Regression to the mean does not mean luck / karma “balancing out”. It doesn’t mean that they’ll remain lucky over the course of a season if they were that unlucky for a season or two.
All it means is that they were unlucky.
rfloh - April 29, 2008
Emil
I considered making this a fanpost, but it won’t be long enough to be worth it.
While I didn’t hate the Brown signing (depth, injuries, he’s not useless, blah blah), I have been pretty outspoken about his utter mediocrity. While I still think that Brown is, at best, a stop gap player (and more likely a platoon player), he’s done some very good things for the A’s so far this year. As somebody who refuses to get too excited about individual performances in small sample sizes (especially ones that go against a long history), the guy still deserves credit for some big-time hits.
That said, he’s still Jay Payton 2.0, and that makes me very uneasy.
thejd44 - April 28, 2008
finally
FoolshGame22 - April 29, 2008
sorry, he's better than Jay Payton, too...
and, I was going to make this a fanpost, but it disappeared into the AN 3.0 ether, so I’ll just post it here:
1. Athletics most wins in the American League;
2. Athletics most runs in the American League;
3. Athletics largest run differential in the American League;
4. Athletics best starting rotation in the American League;
5. Athletics second best bullpen in the American League (props the the 1st place Rays, who I also picked to win their division);
6. Emil Brown second in RBI in the American League…
I had more, but I forgot them.
Oh, I had some snide remark for the national pundits, the Bay Area media and the know-it-all stat geeks of AN, who said this team wouldn’t even complete, let alone contend, but I’m too gracious to post it.
FoolshGame22 - April 29, 2008
I don't know exactly what you mean by "compete" vs. "contend"
but if you’re implying that the “100 loss season” panic-mongering was coming from the stat guys, you’re grossly out of line. The people I trust in that regard (devo, rfloh, grover, andeux, etc.) almost all predicted that the team would finish with between 75 and 85 wins, which is, in my book, a competitive (but not contending) team. We were virtually uniform in saying that the “worst team in the league” spin was ridiculous, unfair and ignorant. To the extent that there was any defeatism on AN, it was almost entirely from the “prospects suck, Billy Beane wants to lose” contingent.
I figured on 79 wins, with a possibility of several more if Harden actually pitched a full season.
PaulThomas - April 29, 2008
But can they "complete?"
I say yles.
The Dogfather - April 29, 2008
Good job jd!!!
I think he’s more “platoon” than All-Star as well … all the more reason to root your ass off and cheer like hell for someone like him … hard to feel sorry for anyone who makes even the major league minimum, but I have a much easier time rooting for the “fringe” player than the high-paid All-Star.
Vacafan - April 29, 2008
Just got back from the game!!!
Okay, first of all, Gaudin did NOT have his good stuff. At all. But he battled through his six, and basically toughed it out for a win. The game felt ridiculously close in the fifth, with Vlad up with two on, but Gaudin did a nice job wiggling out.
It must be said; there is not a nicer place to live than SoCal on an April night like this, where tanktops and shorts/jeans were the order of the night, and the weather was 70 degrees for the whole game. Just a wonderful night.
It is something special indeed when Frank Thomas hits a triple…on Vlad’s arm!!! It was incredible. We all hoped he was going to stay in for a chance at the cycle, but for defense reasons (and to save poor Frank yet another slide), he was pulled to give Rajai a chance. I’m sorry, but I still dislike Sweeney, R in center. I feel much more comfortable with Davis in center, if Brown and Cust are flanking him.
And this power surge? From a team that hasn’t hit more than a single homerun in a game I can remember? Hanny, Emil (or Emeral as the Anaheim announcer thinks), and Barton? Barton’s homerun got stuck in the wall between the fence and the stands, and they had to dig it out. Vlad went back on it, and I knew it was over his head, but I had no idea how far over! What a shot! And Frank 3-3 with a walk? No one wants him to succeed more than I. Love love love love.
I also found a fellow ANer in the parking garage. That was fun too.
And at least for tonight, and even if it doesn’t last, I just have to say, “FIRST PLACE BITCHES!!!!!!!”
This season is 200% more fun than anticipated, and I’m going to enjoy the hell out of this ride, for as long as the A’s will let me.
LET’S GO OAKLAND!!!!!
baseballgirl - April 28, 2008
Gaudin
Personally, I thought Gaudin looked pretty darn good tonight. He was hitting his spots w/ decent movement. Changed speeds effectively. Big Strikeout of VLAD. Except for a couple pitches (Sorry Torii), he looked like he was in complete control (for Gaudin)... The Home Plate Umpire had a nightmare of a game.
Colorado Fan - April 29, 2008
Okay, I ammend that slightly
Was not close enough to appreciate the terrible ump, so what I gathered was a TON of 3-2 counts, which usually means that Chad is struggling a bit-not like Bootcheck, mind you-but looking back, he did make some great pitches when needed.
baseballgirl - April 29, 2008
Ah, spring.
Tank tops, shorts and encounters in the garage.
Baseball, too!
The Dogfather - April 29, 2008
Emeril Brown?
Well, he sure was cookin’ tonight! (hey-ooooo)
thejd44 - April 29, 2008
BAM...?
franks a lot - April 29, 2008
Another great outing for James Simmons
now has a 1.13 ERA, 22K, 2BB (Cliff Lee numbers!) in 24 IP. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him in Oakland before Gio.
mikeA - April 29, 2008
Starting Pitchers
With Harden coming back, the A’s will have six solid starting pitchers, and when Harden goes back on the DL, they’ll still have five solid starting pitchers. Where do you put Simmons?
richwol1 - April 29, 2008
I doubt it will happen,
but I was more saying if it turns out we do need a pitcher in the second half, people assume it would be Gio, but I think it might be Simmons.
mikeA - April 29, 2008
When Frank got the triple
did anyone else get that “Defensive Lineman attempting a rushing touchdown from the other side of the field” feeling?
It was great!
oaklandSMASH - April 29, 2008
The one time I was at Angel's Stadium...
the A’s lost a close one on a late Vlad HR. I wish I was there to see this game. Man, this might be one of the most satisfying wins of the year. Hope the A’s keep up the offense.
Oaktownflav - April 29, 2008
Dustin Moseley was slated to start on Thurs...
yet he pitched today. Any ideas on who will pitch on Thurs for the Angels?
Oaktownflav - April 29, 2008
As far as I can tell...
he was just getting his side work in today. I think he’s still scheduled to pitch Thursday.
alox - April 29, 2008
Nice win, bitches!!!
Jennifer - April 29, 2008
One thing I forgot that was fun...
Being appalled at the batting averages behind our team in the 1st inning (especially compared to the Angels!), and watching those zoom up by the 9th. A thing of beauty!
baseballgirl - April 29, 2008
Wow
The A’s actually scored some runs.
justin3007 - April 29, 2008
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