Emil Brown's inability to catch a fly ball Dr. Earl Holloway could have handled allowed the Rays to score three unearned runs in the 8th and render useless brilliant pitching by Greg Smith and Joey Devine. Final Score: Rays 3, A's 2.
Everything else went swimmingly. The A's offense, even if not mistaken for robust, got the one run Greg Smith needed to beat one of the best lefties in the game, Scott Kazmir. Smith was sensational for 7 shutout innings, Joey Devine even better under dire circumstances. Frank Thomas even homered late.
All of which was offset when Emil Brown, with the bases loaded and two outs in the 8th, and the A's leading 1-0, lost a fly ball in the "I've never actually been very good at any part of the game, which is why no other team wants me, but I had a month where I drove in a lot of runs so they'll let me hurt the team for a while longer."
The ball will find you. Cust was out of the game at this point, which was supposed to be the reason we didn't have to hold our breath when the ball was hit, and when Ryan Sweeney came in, Geren could just as easily have put him in LF or RF. We only had one liability out there at this point in the game and it was Brown, now in LF - and the ball found him. Too bad he didn't find the ball.
No, we shouldn't have called Buck up by now. To lose a full year of his service time to get him back a week sooner would be dumb. No, we shouldn't have called Carlos Gonzalez up by now. He is still raw, inconsistent, learning - a guy you call up later rather than sooner because his skills are ahead of his "readiness for prime time". And no, Brown is not the answer to anything - not the present, not the future. Just a nice April, 2008, that's it. Eventually, soonish, our OF will get better. Right now, it's like the rest of the team: not quite good enough, frustrating, just bad enough to lose.
I hate May.
0 recs | 149 comments
ugh....just, ugh
time to go to bed
tomorrow is a new game
OaklandSi - May 20, 2008
I'm still extremely frustrated
... why the hell did we not attempt to steal a bag with Sweeney on and one out?? All of a sudden we’re going to string a couple hits together?? We’re lucky to get one hit an inning, for cryin’ out loud. So Sweeney just sits there and doesn’t budge until there’s two strikes on Bowen. When the team is slumping, you have to try anything to manufacture runs.
Vacafan - May 20, 2008
haha
before the end of the season youll see cust come in as a defensive replacement for brown in a game. it is that bad. and isnt it time for barton to start shopping apts in sacramento???
KennySeagle - May 20, 2008
Ryan Sweeney's career season high in steals is 8
His career stolen base percentage is 56.5%.
To break even with a runner at 1st, 1 out, bottom 9, down by one, you need to steal successfully ~69% of the time.
With 2 outs, you need to steal successfully 65% of the time.
PaulThomas - May 20, 2008
Plus, Daric Barton was supposed to triple
He must have missed a sign.
Nico - May 20, 2008
What are the percentages
we get two more hits in the inning?? Way worse than Sweeney’s stolen base percentage, guaranteed.
Vacafan - May 21, 2008
This is another one of those situations
where:
a. People have already done the math, and it is not necessary for me to redo it,
b. They’re better at it than I am, since I would be cutting corners and using approximations anyway, and
c. debating you is pointless in any case.
Yes, it is probably true that a stolen base followed by a base hit is more likely than two base hits. It should be (but apparently isn’t) blindingly obvious that that does not automatically make the stolen base a better play. The most obvious reason why is that two singles puts the winning run in scoring position. There are many, many other possible scenarios. People who study win probability have accounted for those scenarios. You have not. That makes it quite easy to figure out whose opinion to take seriously.
PaulThomas - May 21, 2008
You know PT
Is there some reason why you need to be such a prick when you respond to people? I mean it … explain that to me. I can only imagine the kind of childhood you must have had … and frankly, I don’t care if I get in trouble for this at all … you’re a little jerk. And you’ll make a lousy lawyer unless you learn to respect people. What’s going to happen one day is someone is gonna knock your head off (which probably happened a lot in school—that’s why you’re so friggin’ bitter) ... it’s a shame, because you seem like a highly intelligent person … but you lack class and humility. You need a good ass-kickin’, it would seriously do you good.
Vacafan - May 21, 2008
Oh my God. F*** Emil.
Just….
Fuck him. He sucks. He has a .280 something OBP. He’s dogsh*t.
Get well soon, Denorfia/Buck.
Or just have Davis and Sweeney play at the same time. Would that be so bad? Jesus.
BWH - May 20, 2008
Davis is worse...
PaulThomas - May 20, 2008
Not on defense
doctorK - May 20, 2008
Not defensively...
If he can get his OBP up to, like, .300 (which is still awful, but Davis did have a .360 OBP last year in 211 ML PAs) he’d be better than Emil, when you factor in the D.
Emil falls to his knees on every line drive hit to him.
BWH - May 20, 2008
He's signifigantly better on defense.
And, quite frankly, I’m not sure he can do much worse than Brown has been doing so far.
At this point, I’d rather see Davis play every day, hit 9th, and try to bunt every single time he comes to the plate than have Brown in there.
mikev - May 20, 2008
Funny thing is, when I was saying that a while ago
the response was less than enthusiastic – it’s amazing what a few absurd clunkers by Cust and Brown can do to make vivid what is too abstract on paper (or in this case, on screen). Though a few more lame-o K’s by Rajai and we’ll all be pining for a worse defender who can at least…
Nico - May 20, 2008
There are other players in the A's system
who are also better on defense and can actually hit a ball more than 10 feet at a time.
PaulThomas - May 20, 2008
Then get rid of Brown and bring Linden up.
Just stop running him out there expecting him to be good. He’s not. He’s old, doesn’t have any upside, and makes a SHITLOAD of outs.
mikev - May 20, 2008
But they're productive outs!
< /Joe Morgan >
oblique - May 21, 2008
Released
tresselfan - May 21, 2008
I'm still trying to find confirmation on that.
As of today, Linden isn’t listed on the roster at rivercats.com
If he was really let go, that’s a terrible move. I have no doubt that he would be better than Brown.
mikev - May 21, 2008
Here it is in black and white
http://www.rivercats.com/team/transactions/
theblackpearl - May 21, 2008
That wasn't there this morning.
Horrible.
mikev - May 21, 2008
I have a feeling
this is going to be a move that the A’s management is going to regret in a year or two. I don’t see Linden becoming a superstar, but i think he will be a serviceable major leaguer. I’m sure this is a very unpopular opinion to most people on this site, and I have no stats to back up this assesment, it’s just more of a feeling i have.
OrlandoAsFan - May 21, 2008
It was
in yesterday’s River Cats game notes.
My guess is that Linden would be roughly as crappy as Brown. He’s never hit in in the majors, and he doesn’t have a plus glove. Either one would be ok as a 5th outfielder, but neither is someone who should be playing every day. Unfortunately, we don’t seem to have an even halfway decent third starting outfielder right now to go with Cust and Ryan Sweeney, and even those two have some pretty obvious flaws as well.
andeux - May 21, 2008
I don't think Linden would have a .280 OBP
So I kinda doubt he’d be as crappy as Brown.
mikev - May 21, 2008
His career OBP is .303
Not exactly a major improvement.
PaulThomas - May 21, 2008
He seemed to be putting up solid numbers this year
Both in ST and in Sacramento.
To be outright released instead of being given a shot in Oakland when Emil Brown is making outs like crazy is the wrong decision IMO.
mikev - May 21, 2008
He had an out clause in his contract
Either he exercised it, or he made it clear to the team that he was going to do so and they released him in advance of the formality.
This can’t come as a tremendous shock to anyone, given his sullen attitude throughout the entire process.
PaulThomas - May 21, 2008
There could also be a roster crucnch happening. They
may have found a way to keep Denorfia down with Sacramento, and I read somewhere Robnett was getting close to returning.
theblackpearl - May 21, 2008
His batting this year notwithstanding...
...he really hasn’t shown all that much over the course of his career to get excited about. Maybe he has “turned the corner” and “figured it out”, but odds are not.
UncleLeo - May 21, 2008
altihy
lets just be hapoy with good pithing.
just got back frolm the xos game. hammerded.
i knew the offense would be questionable. patience. ,
oakinboston - May 20, 2008
awesome
flipgatey3 - May 21, 2008
Exhibit #093459075
on why intentional walks are frigging retarded.
Seriously. If I ran a baseball team, I would tell the manager that if he ever intentionally walks someone who is not an irrelevant runner in the bottom of the ninth inning, I will fire him on the spot.
PaulThomas - May 20, 2008
Also
we needed a K there, and ibb’d the AL K leader to load the bases with a guy on the mound with BB problems.
mikeA - May 20, 2008
I really didn't like that move -
in fairness to Geren, it basically “paid off”. But I still thought it was the wrong move.
Nico - May 20, 2008
It didn't pay off though,
given that Pena scored and we lost by 1. Errors are something that sometimes happen.
mikeA - May 20, 2008
It paid off in that Longoria struck out and Navarro flied to LF
Nico - May 20, 2008
I can't complaint about the int walk in the 8th. Why?
Because Devine did what he had to do with the next batter and Brown is probably the only outfielder in the major leagues who fucks up that play.
What if the batter was not intentionally walked and then hits a home run. Many of us would be complaining about why he was not walked.
oaktownmario - May 20, 2008
I said before the IBB that I thought they should pitch to Pena
What happened didn’t really have to do with why or why not.
Nico - May 20, 2008
It should be fairly obvious
that I would not be one of those “many.”
PaulThomas - May 20, 2008
So you honestly would be satisfied with the move to pitch
if Peña hit a three run bomb given his HR total last year?
Because at that time we don’t know Thomas is going to hit a solo HR off TP.
oaktownmario - May 20, 2008
I would - I prefer to decide what a manager should do
when it’s in “real time” (when if I were managing, I could still make the decision. Then I don’t second-guess if it doesn’t work out. You can make the right decisions for the right reasons – you can’t guarantee the outcomes.
Nico - May 20, 2008
Exactly
If the other team gets lucky, so be it.
Not to mention the fact that it’s much harder to pitch for a K with the bases loaded (although Devine got one anyway).
PaulThomas - May 20, 2008
Also, folks should remember that he fell behind 2-0
with the bases loaded – a bases loaded walk was a real possibility, as was getting a legitimate hit from being in a hitter’s count with “nowhere to put him”. With Pena, you can pitch on your terms; with Longoria/Navarro, you couldn’t.
Nico - May 20, 2008
Pena's the better hitter of the three. Plus there's the leftie/rightie
matchup. I had no problems with walking Pena.
OldhamA - May 20, 2008
If we don't walk Pena
And Devine gets a ground ball that squeaks through scoring 2 runs on a drawn in infield, then everyone would be talking about how we should have walked Pena and been out of the inning with a double play.
GusanoQuemador - May 21, 2008
Yes Brown's play was unfortunate
But the loss clearly rests on the offense’s shoulders. As I said during the game thread, the approach at the plate is atrocious. Over the past few games we’re getting into good hitter’s counts (3-1 and 2-0) and then swinging at bad pitches and grounding out feebly or popping up. Granted a lot of these hitters are young, but you should have an idea by the age of 24 or 25 that when you’ve got a pitcher on the ropes you do not bail him out repeatedly. Scott Kazmir did not have good stuff tonight. His fastball was topping out at 92 and he was leaving a lot of those meatballs right over the heart of the plate. We either laid off those pitches or just swung right through them. Van Burkleo better be working with these guys to improve the mental side of hitting or the season could go down the drain in a hurry and he could find himself in the enemployment line very soon.
Smith looked good though but he shouldn’t have gone out to start the 8th. Not that it really matters, you can’t score 1 run through 8 innings and expect to win very often.
Helloooo 1st - May 20, 2008
I really disagree about Smith not starting the 8th
You’re talking about a guy who’s pitching a shutout, with a bullpen that is down Casilla and A. Brown (both on DL), Street and Embree (probably both unavailable). Put in context, I think it made sense to let Smith pitch until he wasn’t effective. And probably the only reason he pitched to Crawford was the lefty-lefty matchup (and Crawford was 0 for 3 against him) – and Crawford just served a soft liner to CF on a good pitch.
Nico - May 20, 2008
Um
Did you actually watch this game?
By actual count:
2-0 or 3-1 counts: 4
0-2 counts: 9
Kazmir was hitting corners at will and getting ahead of every hitter. You literally could not have picked a worse game to complain about this.
PaulThomas - May 20, 2008
I still don't really get what makes Kazmir so good
He really doesn’t throw that hard. He was hitting corners here and there, but we still swung through quite a few pitches that were hittable. Frank did it a few times and Brown did it a few times on pitches right down the middle or even mistakes a little up in the zone. He didn’t even throw his off-speed stuff that much. The pitch that really doninated us was the 91-92 mph fastball. I guess his delivery must be deceptive or he has some late movement on his fastball though I couldn’t see it from where I was sitting..
GusanoQuemador - May 21, 2008
Read my comment again jackass
I did not say we were getting into a lot of those counts just tonight, I said over the past few games. And no, we swung through a lot of pitches that were fat, but as there’s no way to actually prove this short of you and I sitting down and reading a replay of the game then you’re going to think you’re right and I’m going to think I’m right.
Helloooo 1st - May 29, 2008
doctorK - May 20, 2008
+
.
oakinboston - May 20, 2008
lol!!!
day-to-day - May 20, 2008
If I had the skills
I’d make an ani-gif of the ball going right through him, like the one of Podsednik playing one off his head last season.
doctorK - May 20, 2008
well done.
regardleyss
oakinboston - May 20, 2008
And that guy is being paid a significant amount of money to play this game.
OldhamA - May 20, 2008
Friggin' A
3 errors in the game… this is not A’s baseball. I’d rather see them lose 1-0 and play solid D. I really like the idea of having Davis play OF for the rest of the season and dumping Email before his numbers start to get crappier.
VallejoA'sFan - May 20, 2008
The only bit of good news
Oakland RHP Santiago Casilla, on the DL with inflammation in his throwing elbow, will begin playing light catch in a few days. “That’s really good news,” said manager Bob Geren, who initially thought the injury could be worse.
Trainman - May 20, 2008
more good news
Another homer by Frank!!
iglew - May 20, 2008
Yeah, that's good news
I mean news after the game
Trainman - May 20, 2008
Clarification
Smith gets the loss, not Devine because Smith was “responsible” for 2 of the 3 runners that scored. Of course we all know who was really “responsible” . . . or should it be “irresponsible.”
oaktownmario - May 20, 2008
Oh crap, you're right - for some reason
I forgot it was 1-0 at the time. My bad. I’ll fix it.
Nico - May 20, 2008
I agree with Valejo A's fan.
Time to cut and run on Emil. Put in Davis and Sweeney and let them play daily. Very frustrating game. Nice homer by Frank, though.
A'sfansince1970 - May 20, 2008
agree on Brown
but not on Davis. The guy is terrible. Both Brown and Davis will likely be cut by late June, should Buck/Gonzalez come up.
Crosbino - May 20, 2008
I have to say this, though
Given the chance of catching a little lightning in a bottle, it wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world to go with Linden – who is a decent defensive OFer – instead of Brown. Linden can outhit Davis and out-defend Brown.
Nico - May 20, 2008
Linden would at least ...
make his at bats interesting. When Davis is at the plate I never even hope for a big hit.
IM4Oakgal - May 20, 2008
FWIW
Before Brown’s screwup, Davis had the game-winning hit.
bear88 - May 20, 2008
I saw it.
and good for him, but his hits are too little and too infrequent to make me feel any sense of excitement for his at bats.
IM4Oakgal - May 20, 2008
That's true of most of the team
Davis is a spare part who probably won’t end the season with the team. But at least he can play defense and run. He’s a late-inning defensive replacement/pinch runner/platoon guy.
I’ll agree that Linden is almost certainly a better, and more dangerous, hitter.
bear88 - May 20, 2008
and I agree with your
assessment of Davis. The kid can fly…and I like seeing him come in to run for Thomas and the big guys,.
IM4Oakgal - May 20, 2008
I don't
As things stand I expect the A’s to lose like 60% of their extra inning games, because they keep replacing their few good hitters with dreck in the late innings.
PaulThomas - May 21, 2008
I'm guessing the plan is...
...that it won’t have to go extra innings because the move worked as planned.
Kind of brings up a (rhetorical) question, though. We’ve talked here about roster crunches, more worthy players than roster spots, and so forth. Is it because everybody is so good, or everybody is so mediocre? And if they’re all so good, what’s the problem?
UncleLeo - May 21, 2008
The roster crunch
is because the A’s are attempting to evaluate a whole bunch of different players at once. Yes, most of them are mediocre—but we don’t know which are the gold flakes, and which are the river mud, until we see how they pan out.
(Get it? Pan out? Heh.)
That being said, I personally don’t think there is much of a crunch. We know that some of the guys on the roster right now can’t play. When the need arises, they can be waived without compunction.
PaulThomas - May 21, 2008
They just ruled that a base hit (double to Navarro)
According to Robert Buan
Pathetic
Trainman - May 20, 2008
that makes sense
scoring wise. nobody touched it. But scireing “rules’ are kind of stupid
Future Ed - May 20, 2008
Nobody touched it?
It hit Brown in the chest before rolling away, did it not?
mikev - May 20, 2008
don't remember
didn’t see a lot of replays, but if it landed before it hit him, it a hit. if he touched it after then the third run would be unearned. Again, scoring rules are dumb.
but who cares, it was a crappy play that should have been made. The A’s would have won if it was made. Or if the runners never got on in the first place. Its one of those things, sucks that it happened, but things will even out.
Future Ed - May 21, 2008
That's ridiculous.
OldhamA - May 20, 2008
they changed that to an error
since Brown admitted losing it in the lights.
OaklandSi - May 21, 2008
Gravity
This teaml, while better than expected because of the pitching, is simply falling to its more natural level.
It’s disappointing, but it’s not surprising and – if it continues – will prevent the team from making too many decisions for the short term that wouldn’t help next year or the year after.
bear88 - May 20, 2008
boooo.
i p[refer short erm tdecionsions.z
ok. enough from me godnight.
sadness.
oakinboston - May 20, 2008
sober up
flipgatey3 - May 21, 2008
I think Beane is smart enough - which includes
seeing slides like this coming – that he wouldn’t allow the team to veer from a future-oriented approach just because we were doing well. There’s a reason CGon and Buck are in AAA and it has to do with how ready they are to help significantly now compared to 5-6 years from now.
Nico - May 20, 2008
I watched CarGon on sat.
He seemed plenty ready and quite a bit above Rajai Davis . We are only 3 games back…would like to see the best players play.
IM4Oakgal - May 20, 2008
I'd bloody hope he's quite a bit above Davis. Davis can't hit.
OldhamA - May 20, 2008
Now v. the future
Beane was never going to do a bunch of stupid stuff while chasing a division title this season.
But if the A’s were to be a serious contender, which is still possible, that would dictate some decisions that might not otherwise be made. You might, for example, send Barton down to AAA because – for this season – Sweeney is a better option.
But on a team that is only on the fringes of the playoff race, Barton stays with the big club and gets the experience.
bear88 - May 20, 2008
looking forward to some bullet points bear88...maybe later in season?
ak_A - May 20, 2008
Ah yes... thoughts on the game
I was distracted with work stuff, so I don’t have many thoughts on this game, although I saw almost all of the run-scoring plays (except for Thomas’ home run).
I’ll come up with some thoughtful-sounding, albeit random, musings at some point.
bear88 - May 20, 2008
Hey, do that on a Tuesday and we can be twinsies!
Nico - May 20, 2008
Agreed.
I think this team fooled us for 5 weeks thinking they could win 90 games. They hit with RISP, made key defensive plays and held leads. Now they look like they could lose 90. Bad Ab’s, possibly the ML’s worst defense, and a beat up bullpen. It would be nice to compete this year, but i dont think it can happen. We need to adjust our sights as fans. Wait for TBuck and Barton to adjust to year two. Save CarGon for a september call-up. Bring up a 4A guy like Linden to see what you have. DFA old money like Brown and Hurt. Trade guys like Ellis and Harden and get ready for 2009.
KCB58 - May 21, 2008
Was April the abomination, or is May the abomination?
Maybe June will tell.
UncleLeo - May 21, 2008
I hit the hay without listening to Buan
then restless, I got up to get me a little Nico game-wrap read. very good. night.
ak_A - May 20, 2008
I feel asleep listening to Buan
OaklandSi - May 21, 2008
Yeah, listening to Buan puts me to sleep, too...
Sometimes while I’m driving home.
Poppy - May 21, 2008
that could be dangerous
OaklandSi - May 21, 2008
Huston Street said Brown should have made the catch
and he does not know why they changed it to a double when he thinks it was an error
Trainman - May 20, 2008
Street is right.
We are all thinking the same way.
IM4Oakgal - May 20, 2008
Wow - honestly, that makes Brown sound like a guy
whose teammates don’t care for him. Which for some reason, I suspect. I wonder how diligently he works in the OF to handle the field conditions – or whether he lost it in the lights because he hasn’t bothered to prepare for those kinds of situations. I just don’t see those kinds of things happening to Ellis…
Nico - May 20, 2008
Do you think the same thing...
when Cust “loses” it in the lights?
IM4Oakgal - May 20, 2008
Yes, until this past week. Why?
Because Cust and Brown were, I believe, among the players cited as “not taking pride in their defense”. However, just in the last week Cust has been mentioned as taking extra fly balls before games. All I can ask is for a strong work ethic and commitment – and I do. Suzuki works hard – he’ll still make mistakes and I can accept them because everyone reports he is early to the park, working hard on his weak areas. That’s all we can reasonably ask for.
Nico - May 20, 2008
I don't really know...
enough about how much Emil works on his defense. All I know is that his defense leaves much to be desired. However, his offense has been a saving grace many a time this season. It seems to me that people on AN just don’t like old Email.
IM4Oakgal - May 20, 2008
It's the USPS
They have been trying to keep Email down for years.
tresselfan - May 21, 2008
Cust makes up for it by hitting the ball and getting on base.
Brown makes up for it by leading the team in outs made.
mikev - May 20, 2008
Buan talked about the "error"
and Street replied that he should have had it.
He did say “we all make errors” so I don’t think he was scathing about it, just that he should have had it and was surprised they changed it to a double
Trainman - May 20, 2008
i didn't take Street's comment as implying
that Brown’s teammates don’t care for him, nor that they think he doesn’t work on his defense.
OaklandSi - May 21, 2008
Perfect title for this.
You said it all , Nico.
IM4Oakgal - May 20, 2008
It doesn't change the result but it sure pisses me off to see
Smith and Devine’s ERA go up because of Brown
Smith is now at 3.18 and Devine at 1.40
Of course I can’t let this go without an honorable mention to Geren for allowing Smith to start the 8th and for leaving him in there after the 4 pitch walk. We will never know but Devine starting the inning, we end with a 1-0 lead starting the bottom of 8.
Trainman - May 20, 2008
Geren did the right thing -
To remove your starter when he’s pitching a shutout and your 4 best relievers are unavailable is what would be stupid. And by the way, in your scenario Foulke pitches the 9th with Brown in LF – you can’t see anything possibly going wrong?
Nico - May 20, 2008
I undertsand him bring him back out but the 4 pitch walk
was the alarm there.
I know the hit was a soft single but he had Devine ready and Devine did strike the first two out so I disagree with him being left in there after the walk.
HUSTON STREET SAID HE WAS GOING TO PITCH THE 9TH
Trainman - May 20, 2008
They asked him if he was available and Street said he was coming in if needed
Trainman - May 20, 2008
My guess is that if a lefty hadn't been up,
Geren would have gone to Devine after the walk. To think that Devine-Crawford was some magical great matchup is a bit of a stretch, IMO.
Nico - May 20, 2008
Crawford is hitting .309 vs LHP
and .266 against RHP.
Trainman - May 20, 2008
Good for Carl Crawford.
Nico - May 20, 2008
LHB were hitting .179 off Devine
How is that a stretch to have Devine pitch to Crawford?
Trainman - May 20, 2008
You really have no understanding of small sample sizes, do you
PaulThomas - May 21, 2008
Yes it's a small sample size
so we should just say
“I don’t think Devine should come in to face Crawford because he might get a hit”
Give me a reason why he couldn’t have come in
Trainman - May 21, 2008
For his career,
Carl Crawford has an OPS+ of 106 against RHP and 85 against LHP. His career sample size is large enough to make this split reasonably reliable once it is regressed to the mean.
Greg Smith has such a short career sample size that it’s best to assume that he has a platoon split that is typical for LHP. The same is true for Joey Devine. An added factor is that each of them throws from a 3/4 arm slot and throws a slider instead of a curveball, both factors that suggest larger than average platoon splits.
Greg Smith is also far less likely to give up a steal.
I’m not MGL, so I can’t tell you exactly what this tells us in terms of how much better of a pitcher Devine has to be in that situation than Smith to make going to him the percentage play… but I suspect that the answer is “an awful lot.” And I also suspect that Devine is not, in fact, that much better.
PaulThomas - May 21, 2008
Smith was letting runners on
here and there throughout the game. I see no reason for removing him in the 8th after the 4 pitch walk. He got out of similar type jams all night long.
IM4Oakgal - May 20, 2008
But he was up to 102 pitches in the 8th
Trainman - May 20, 2008
You can blame our offense, our defense,
but to act as if the manager made some blunder with the pitching is just typical fan-BS at its worst, IMO. Every fan of every team thinks their manager mishandles the pitching staff and leaves pitchers in too long and also takes them out too soon and doesn’t play the matchups enough and relies on them too much. And you know what? The managers with the best pitchers look good the most often, and Dusty Baker really did suck.
Nico - May 20, 2008
It seems like a patterns though
And I do admit ‘seeming’ is a very squishy notion, I might be completely wrong.
But a pattern of bringing in relievers a few batters too late seems to be at hand. Yes, a reliever could well have given up 3 runs and we’d bitch about taking Smith out too soon.
MobiusKlein - May 20, 2008
Smith pitched great and earned the right to go back out there
but a 4 pitch walk and having thrown 102 pitches is a signal that he has more than done his job
I don’t see how you can say that is typical fan-BS wanting a pitching change because IMO Geren does this often. See Joe Blanton at least 3 times this year so far.
Yeah managers aren’t perfect. No one expects them to be. Had Emil Brown done his job we would not even be having this discussion. I think it turned out to be BS leaving him in there and having Brown butcher the game when Devine may have left him nothing to butcher.
Trainman - May 20, 2008
Yet, if Brown had caught that ball.
You would be here posting about how it was great that Geren pulled Smith as soon as he got into trouble instead of leaving him in to give up runs, right?
mikev - May 20, 2008
No Mike not at all
Trainman - May 20, 2008
Nah, would be Praising Devine for putting out the fire.
MobiusKlein - May 20, 2008
Devine did put out the fire
Trainman - May 20, 2008
Did Ryan start the fire?
bluthbanana20 - May 21, 2008
We didn't start the fire
PaulThomas - May 21, 2008
Did you order the code blue?
5Aces - May 21, 2008
cold as
the Rockies.
OrlandoAsFan - May 21, 2008
Emil Brown spoke to scorer who changed it to a hit
Brown said he tried to get low to the ground to have a better view of the ball, but that didn’t work. After speaking to the official scorer after the game to tell his side, the play was changed from an error to a hit.
“There’s nothing I can do about losing the ball in the lights,” Brown said. “The fact those guys had pitched out of the situation is why I’m more frustrated and angry. I was trying my best to get that. I wish I could have.”
Trainman - May 20, 2008
Yeah, god forbid he do something like PUT HIS GLOVE UP TO SHADE HIS EYES
mikev - May 20, 2008
It's more likely Emil 'Ticket' gave the scorer a fiftsky....
shading his eyes from the “glare of the stadium lights’’ is like Ray Charles saying he’s “scared of the dark”.
drink409 - May 20, 2008
That can't possibly be true.
OldhamA - May 20, 2008
Listen to the Jim Leyland Tirade. It's hilarious
http://www.971theticket.com/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=2266977
Trainman - May 20, 2008
Thanks
tresselfan - May 21, 2008
That was no double
From the stands behind home plate, you can clearly see that Emil committed an error. Weird.
My own thought is that Emil Brown and Rajai Davis’s time with the team is probably limited. When Denorfia comes back, a reliever gets sent down, and you won’t see Emil Brown in the outfield in the late innings. I think that when Travis Buck is ready, Rajai Davis gets released. And when Billy makes his June changes, Brown is either traded or DFA’d, and Carlos Gonzalez comes to the majors.
I’d consider bringing up Todd Linden immediately and giving him a shot. He’s a better fielder than Brown and can play in the late innings. More importantly, he’s been hitting the tar out of the ball all year and really should get a chance, particularly since the A’s line-up as constituted now, really sucks.
richwol1 - May 21, 2008
Linden opted out of his contract yesterday
or, at least, one assumes so because the A’s released him.
PaulThomas - May 21, 2008
im sick of people saying CarGon and Buck arent ready
At this point we have no choice but to bring these guys up and let them get there feet wet in the majors, well buck as already, this is a rebuilding year, so cut soem ties with these older players and bring up the young kids.
buckfan6 - May 21, 2008
Buck's swing is cocked up
Hard to see why the team would be better off fixing it in the majors—and losing games in the process—instead of in AAA.
Gonzalez is also not likely to hit well this season and has plenty of things to work on (eg pitch recognition) in AAA.
PaulThomas - May 21, 2008
Is is 2-2 today...
so theres hope.
Syphon - May 21, 2008
Buck is*
Syphon - May 21, 2008
Depends on what your definition of is is.
Poppy - May 21, 2008
I hate to say it...
...But Bonds would have made that catch. Just saying…
SwisherFan33 - May 21, 2008
Suggestion for Geren
Take Cust and Brown into the outfield at night and hit them each 100 fly balls.
Why is it the opposition can see and catch the ball at night and we are blinded? Some home field advantage.
Also trying coaching Suzuki , Sweeny and Crosby on base running…..
Morada Mudshark - May 21, 2008
No, no, no
Cust is supposed to spend all that time practicing his bunting.
monkeyball - May 21, 2008
Let's not act like
“losing the ball in the lights” isn’t an error. That’s like saying, “I can’t help it if the ball just clanks off my glove.” Or, “I can’t help it that I took the wrong angle to the ball.”
I have no idea how that “explanation” warrants changing the play from an error to a hit.
The way you position yourself, the way in which you charge the ball, the way in which you hold your glove, these all determine whether or not you lose the ball in the lights. It was a horrible error on a very playable ball. I would rather Brown just admit that and move on.
When Suzuki got thrown out rounding second the other day, he said, “There is no excuse for it, so I won’t offer one. It was a horrible mistake, and it won’t happen again.” Then he shut the hell up. That’s what I want a player to do when he butchers a routine play. Tell us you sucked, and then shut up.
Vacafan - May 21, 2008
I agree that he should have caught it, and that he should own up
But I also think it’s a quasi-”acceptable” excuse/error to lose it in the lights. It happens.
monkeyball - May 21, 2008
correct it is an "error"
but not in the scoring rules. Which are stupid.
Future Ed - May 21, 2008
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