Athletics Nation

Ususaly rubbing it in is bad form

But for fair weather BoSox fans, it’s just what they deserve.

He's a pretty hardcore Sox fan

and he always puts down the A’s and my allegiance to them.

So I thought I would give it to him—good naturedly of course!

I know it’s not a broom, but we did mop ‘em up real good!!

Funny you should mention it....

My brother’s girlfriend, a big Boston fan, just got back to my brother’s and my apartment in north Oakland. Seeing me sitting at my computer, a huge smile plastered on my face, she grimaced. “You need to work on your fans,” she told me. “There was a guy walking around with a mop. How does that work?”

Without missing a beat, I smiled. “Hey,” I said, “it’s another way of cleaning up scum.”

What a FANTASTIC weekend this has been. :-)

Wes7 - May 25, 2008 reply

Let's turn it green!

I just want to thank

all the Red Suckers for coming out to the Coliseum these past three days and spending all their hard earned cash on our entertainment. Maybe we’ll give Mark Ellis the nice raise with the proceeds that he so richly deserves.

Lavrentii - May 25, 2008 reply

Well, monkey, we meet again

I;ll agree with you this far—he got out of bigger trouble. That counts for something—he could have blown up big time.

And I do hope he has turned a corner—but I suspect not. I don’t think any of the four members of the rotation all having much better years than Blanton would have walked two guys in front of Ortiz in that situation.

But to have him essentially your #5 starter—shows just how good this rotation is when working on all cylinders.

And I agree with nearly all of Geren’s moves but for the pinch-running of Frank.

madmongoose - May 25, 2008 reply

I won't defend those walks per se ...

... but I look at them as akin to Emil’s losing the fly ball in the lights: sometimes a players just effs up due to circumstances not entirely within their control.

Sometimes a pitcher’s control can just evaporate momentarily due to a very slight mechanical flaw that can take a while to correct.

Mostly, I hope that Joe delivers a stretch of effective pitching so that Billy can trade him for maximal value.

a's free agents

old guys who were not in high demand, they all came cheap, and they’re all helping the a’s win games.

i don’t think anyone could have expected foulke to be this useful…

xbhaskarx - May 25, 2008 reply

I thought Foulke would be a disaster

Our new tagline for free agents should be

Come to Oakland and be rejuvenated!

in small print

make sure your old club picks up most of the tab

It worked for the Raiders for a quite while but I hope it's not a long-term

plan for the A’s. This team has enough young talent to keep me interested in the future but I love the veterans- Thomas, Sweeney and like the other veterans- Embree, Foulke.

i thought he'd be high upside, low risk

mrrickyg - May 25, 2008 reply

An important sweep...

Another bad series would have had the A’s farther out of first, and would have dumped them out of spitting distance of the Wild Card. They end up picking up a half game in the wild card race, and at least maintaining the 2.5 game disadvantage in the West.

Coming against the Red Sox makes it all the more impressive.

mrrickyg - May 25, 2008 reply

watching BBtonight

I expect to see the much yada-yada over Lester, then Ortiz HR, then breeze though A’s.

ak_A - May 25, 2008 reply

Lester's dad also got cancer,

ESPN has that as the BoSox headline, and the loss to the A’s is just a side note.

Not to be a jerk but is Lester's dad a bigger story in regards to sports?

I think it’s a really sad deal but I just don’t see it trumping the sweep on ESPN’s website.

we can always hope that BoSox gets swept so often that it's no longer a story

The BBtonight report will say

ManRam loses flyball out due to Sun Interference.

Umpires could not be reached for comment.

They actually said ManRam saw the yellow car over his left shoulder and it scared him.

drink409 - May 25, 2008 reply

LOL and they DID say that...

ManRam's secret fear

The movie Cars

OOGA BOOGA!!

van ram man

SwisherThresher - May 25, 2008 reply

grace personified...

is he even looking at the ball?

Dugout style

MannyTheTorpedos: oh hai mr van r u gonna hit me

Tizoc - May 25, 2008 reply

Sports Center: "Manny look out for that bus!"

I think he even added some “beep beep” audio during the highlight

drink409 - May 25, 2008 reply

sign ellis to an extension NOW!

no ellis – A’s went 2-7

ellis comes back – A’s sweep the sox!

make it happen, billy!

gotgreen - May 25, 2008 reply

+1

+1

batgirl - May 25, 2008 reply

+1

And yet, I’m only the second person to recommend the comment. Make it green!

Poppy - May 25, 2008 reply

-3!

Now you have to start over. :-)

louismg - May 25, 2008 reply

+ 1 million.

Christine - May 25, 2008 reply

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Cindi

whoa!

i like the green-ness!

gotgreen - May 26, 2008 reply

gotgreen has got green

Poppy - May 26, 2008 reply

I'm starting to like Street, again...

I’m wondering if that is a wise move? But, he’s looked damn good his last 3 or 4 outings.

paraphrasing from someone else's name

ohtobebackintostreetwhenhewas21again

I approved this message :-)

Oh good

I was afraid there was a typo in it.

It looks like I was wrong for doubting Thomas

and R Sweeney, but, on the other hand, I’ve insisted all year that Street is genuinely talented and has been very effective over his career—and that giving up on him would be silly.

Street has been money lately but I still wonder if he is a closer.

When you see a healthy Casilla mow down hitters with an overpowering fastball… it makes me wonder if he is the future.

I think you were right on all three!

I think I'm more convinced by the old guy than the young one

Thomas is going to the hall of fame. If he says that he figured out a technical problem with his swing, then corrected it and immediately started ripping the ball, then it’s pretty hard for me to believe he’s completely washed up. I thought the problem was that he’d gotten too old to hit well any more—I think I was wrong about that.

The basic reason I haven’t bought into R Sweeney is his non-eye-popping minor league record—he’s never hit for any power, or gotten on base a remarkable amount. And he’s not exactly Rajai Davis in the field, either. Even if he matched his minor league stats, he wouldn’t be a superstar. And for the first month, he was a singles hitter who never walked. Now, he’s walking more and seems to be hitting for more power. I’m still not sold on him, but I don’t think he needs to be sent to Sacto immediately.

I just meant you were right to doubt

I was very pleased with signing Thomas, but it seemed like there was a very real possibility that he was done, which appears not to be the case. Also, there was and is every reason to doubt Sweeney, but he’s been about as good as we could hope. If he can stick in CF (which I think maybe he can’t, at least not well), he’ll be a very good player for us. And he can be an average or slightly above average player in one of the corners, and we’ve done worse than average there for a lot of the past decade…

Question for Ryan Sweeney is...

will he be better than one of Gonzalez, Buck, and Cunningham? He’s put himself ahead of Cunningham at this point.

I'd say he's ahead of Buck right now, too

possibly, since he can handle CF somewhat decently

but I would take Buck’s bat every day of the week.

I'd take the bat of April '07 Buck over April '08 Swooney

May ‘08 Swooney is on an intriguing trajectory, though. And if Buck can’t get healthy …

I have something of a bias in favor of upside relative to injury risk,

which is not an easy thing to make sense of. I am not a believer in Swooney power potential (or even plus BB potential), but he’s definitely a very skilled hitter.

your bias aside, I don't disagree with any of that

(I doubt Sweeney will ever put up an .851 OPS for a season in Oakland)

82 games doth not a season make

true,

but it’s difficult to imagine Swooney doing it (he’d have to hit .320 or better) and pretty easy to imagine Buck doing it, since he did it for half a year as a rookie.

Swooney...

has OPSed .807 away this year and .726 at home.

Travis Buck was OPSing .874 away and .086 at home.

Guess the Coli is a pitchers’ park.

Sweeney and Buck seem to be converging

I’ve never seen CarGon play, but he’s hit for much better power than Sweeney ever has in the minors—the big issue with him is strike-zone judgment. I still think he’s likely to be much better than Sweeney or Buck.

As far as Cunningham is concerned, he also seems to have put up better power numbers than Sweeney in the minors, but folks seem to think he just doesn’t look as good. Maybe it’s just because he’s shorter. Kinda reminds me of this Monty Python sketch. I’m excited about possibly having a good young righty come up out of the minors.

well, Huston has looked like a different pitcher...

in recent games than he has for months. Whatever he’s found that he had lost, I hope he keeps it. I kinda like the feeling of comfort, rather than dread, when he comes into pitch the 9th.

I offered a few weeks ago to check Huston's stats after he got off the DL last year

and PaulThomas observed that he’d been excellent at the end of 07. He was right. So that kinda undermines the notion that he’s never recovered from his ulnar nerve injury.

Faust posted his L/R splits, and demonstrated that pretty much all the extra offense against him this year has been due to lefties raking him—but we can all see what happens when he gets his control back, and especially when his changeup is working. Suddenly, he’s tough for lefties to hit.

He’s not a superstar, but he’s very good, and if he can stay healthy he’s a keeper.

Did you see how pissed he looked

walking off the mound after the Atlanta game (where he gave up 3 runs to make the game close)? He shook hands and so forth but he was clearly seriously unhappy with his performance.

I think he’s given up one baserunner since.

Faust - May 25, 2008 reply

he looked almost as pissed as Crosby...

after being called out on that steal attempt… and, Crosby kept glowering even after Ryan Sweeney’s home run. LOL

Remember Chavvy saying over the offseason that he was going to prove to everyone that he's still a great player

(I would say “that he would play with a chip on his shoulder” but I think he’s been doing that for like 5 seasons or so)?

It looks like Crosby has the same attitude about this season.

Chavvy's problem

He promised he was going to play with a chip on his shoulder, but instead he played with a chip in his shoulder.

Faust - May 25, 2008 reply

That he's going to prove Chavy is still a great player?

Did I say "attitude?" I meant "altitude"

Crosby is out to prove this season that he’s just as tall as Chavez.

Don't believe Croz when he says he's 6' 3"

I’ve stood next to Blez and so I feel fully qualified to say there’s no way Crosby is taller than 6’ 1”.

A True Story

Back in the late 1980s, when Detroit’s “Bad Boys” were a rising power in the NBA, two friends of mine from Michigan got into an argument over whether Adrian Dantley (then with the Pistons) was actually as tall as his listed height of 6’5”. Eventually they made a bet about it.

But how to resolve such a bet?

They decided to mail postcard ballots (stamped with a return address) to the other members of the Pistons. Amazingly they actually got a number of responses (some with pretty funny notes scrawled on them)!

Unfortunately, I can’t remember who won the bet.

GreenNGoldSooner - May 26, 2008 reply

That's awesome

I’m sending postcard ballots to all ohad’s friends tonight. Well, both friends. OK, his friend. Imaginary or not, I hope to get one ballot back.

I think you're right about Croz...

he’s tired of the injury rep. But, he needs to start hittin’ some damn home runs this year, though. The doubles are great, but this team needs his HR power. And, I think he’ll heat up with the weather and start jacking them out regularly.

If Chavez comes back with HR power, this will actually be a scary lineup, something the pundits (and some on AN) have yet to consider.

I am glad for the doubles.

they are, indeed...

I think he’s doubled every other Athletics’ double total.

If Crosby hit 40 doubles and 10 homers or so this year

that would be tremendous. I’d prefer more homers, obviously, but the doubles power is significant on its own.

Yeah, why doesn't Crosby just hit

40 HRs and 10 doubles? Wouldn’t that be better? Think, Bobby – think.

He's pretty much on that pace for doubles right now

What does he have, 16 doubles? 40 isn’t out of the question. Only 3 HRs so far, though.

how about 40-40...

with 40 stolen bases. Now, that would shut up the critics, BoCro!

Run, Bobby, run!

Is that you, Ross Perot?

How about 40 caught stealings

on 40 bad calls?

ummm...

that wouldn’t be as good.

I'm way late to this discussion

but I think this is very wrong. Crosby is a natural ground-ball hitter. His tendencies are more in that direction than any other player on the A’s (with the possible exception of Ryan Sweeney, I didn’t study him).

I would much rather see Crosby as a patient singles-and-doubles guy than as a hacking slugger, because he simply does not hit the ball in a way that is conducive to a lot of power. And I think his (somewhat) improved stats this year are largely a result of taking a different approach to hitting.

PaulThomas - May 26, 2008 reply

He has also struck out about 4 per inning

(possibly a slight exaggeration). His fastball has an added 2 MPH or so and his changeup suddenly has late darting action. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s painting the corners at will. No, at Kurt.

You need to spend less time in the hyperbolic chamber.

What is that, like, the

7,000,000th time you’ve posted that? It has literally ruined my entire life.

His stuff has been incredibly inconsistent,

to the extent that it’s hard to recall anything like it. You can tell how he’s going to do with some confidence this year by the first few pitches, and I wouldn’t have any confidence predicting pretty much anyone else in the league based on how they look. Hopefully, the “slow fastball, zero-break, no command” outings are behind him.

I agree - within 1-2 fastballs

you can see whether or not he has “giddyup” on it (regardless of velocity) and that truth holds throughout the inning.

Btw, foolsh,

Ortiz has outhit Pena by roughly a metric shit-ton since the almost-bet. Woe is me….

lol...

I’ve been keeping an eye on it. But, Pena is starting to come around.

"how great was it to sweep the Sux

at the coliseum, particularly in front of all those Sux fans?”

duh

(no, I’m not Ray Fosse!)

OaklandSi - May 25, 2008 reply

The answer: It was GREAT.

If we get to the postseason this year, I think a lot of the retrospectives will put this series down as a turning point - the moment when the team really realized that they could do it.
If we don’t, well - it’s still a great memory.

Englishmajor - May 25, 2008 reply

Dumbest thing to analyze in sports- the follow-up no-hitter.

On the Boston postgame they acted as if there was a good chance of Lester doing it again. I have never been a proponent of that type of analysis.

"follow-up TO a no-hitter"

They actually said that Hannahan broke up the no hitter

technically he did, but still LOL

They were talking about the 4th inning when they said

“the next hitter Jack Hannahan comes up. Remember he’s the guy that broke up the no-hitter leading off the game”

Pitchers fear

jack hannahan

That's not a big deal. Most of AN fears Jack Hannahan

in the infield or at the plate.

Go A's!

Go A's!

Can we count on this team from here on out?

Ms. Slusser said Harden was gone if he could pitch—at the beginning of the season.

I think we have a good chance-small, but good-for the division with this team. I think Billy and Blez show up tomorrow, maybe we’ll get some clues then.

I understand our market and modern baseball, and Billy Beane is a fine, fine baseball executive. But I miss our people, I do, ‘n well, I would like to see this team as it is given a chance. We’ll just have to wait to see what happens.

paradox - May 25, 2008 reply

Harden's value will do nothing but increase if he stays healthy and pitches like we know he can all season long.

Unless somebody is going to back up the truck in order to get him at the deadline, I think he stays and then his option is declined for next year and he signs another 3 year extension to stay in Oakland.

As frustrating as he is by always being hurt, he’s too damn good to let go of. This isn’t Bonderman that we’re talking about dealing, here. Hell, it’s not even Mulder.

mikev - May 25, 2008 reply

if the a's are only going to get one top prospect for harden,

as some sportswriter said a few days ago, they might as well wait until summer 2009, keep him if they’re in contention and take the draft picks, or trade him if they’re out of it.

xbhaskarx - May 25, 2008 reply

or sign him to an extension

Give him incentives every season for innings pitched, make it worth his while.

Shit, the guy is only 26. Why not keep him around.

mikev - May 25, 2008 reply

Give Harden a Wakefield contract:

$5 million / year for the rest of his life with an opt-out option for the A’s every year until he is eligible for Social Security, or his arm literally falls off, whichever comes first. Same with Mark Ellis, except $10-150 million / year is fine.

I think $150 million/year is a bit high for Ellis

Faust - May 25, 2008 reply

High? I was thinking low.

We’re talking UNICORN POWER here.

no, you were clearly thinking high

I am now a supporter of the "keep Harden" campaign. We have Gaudin as a #6

option so why not combine their numbers and see what you get over a full season? I don’t necessarily see any reason to re-sign him unless he remains healthy for the rest of the year. His injuries are no fluke (like Crosby’s) and it would be crazy to roll the dice and ante up again IMO.

Also see no reason to trade Blanton. We should know how difficult it can be to find an innings-eater and we have one in Blanton. Keep EVERYONE!

I agree ohtobe -

You don’t trade good starting pitching unless you’re getting a Haren-haul in return. Harden and Blanton are more useful to the A’s than their trade value is.

I dunno

if you can get a top prospect, one with a very good minor league record, you’re probably better off taking him, than taking 2 picks. The average return of those 2 picks are usually not a top prospect.

rfloh - May 25, 2008 reply

yes it's not as much, but if we're a legitimate contender next summer i'll settle for that

if a healthy harden is worth one top prospect right now, i think he would still be worth close to that at next year’s trading deadline to the right team.

xbhaskarx - May 25, 2008 reply

This team will always go through scoring droughts unless they suddenly

start hitting more HR’s when Chavy comes back. Obviously Chavy will hit more than Hannahan so that is a good start. Mix in more Old Sweeney and who knows? The pitching is good enough to keep us in most games but I’m assuming that some of our young arms will tire come August & September.

I see the Angels winning the AL West but the WC could be ours and that would mean that either NY or Bos are sitting at home. It would kill the TV ratings but it would make me very happy. Very happy.

$1,139.88 !!

That’s how much AN has raised for Ken Korach’s Winning for the Community Foundation, which supports baseball programs in Oakland schools.
Thanks !

If you want to join the list of contributors, add your name here.

Combining winning and giving feels great.

SportySpice - May 25, 2008 reply

Fantastic! Thanks for the update! :)

Poppy - May 25, 2008 reply

Go Pale Hose!

Where's sal? I want to know whether today's game was neat!

After reviewing the boxscore:

That was neat!

salb918 - May 25, 2008 reply

Thank you for issuing your ruling.

Swish shall turn it around tonight.

Ks on a nasty pitch....

At least kick Lackey’s ass if you’re going to keep sucking, Swish.

Hsiws?

Gesundheit!

llabyeknom

regnilf poop

JediLeroy - May 25, 2008 reply

Sweep

of another sort – Gnats just got swept in a DH by the Marlins.

doctorK - May 25, 2008 reply

R Sweeney > Swisher?

Will it be the case this season, and down the line? It seems to me the trade has so far already worked out better for us.

God, I wish we'd gotten Carlos Quentin...

c’mon Thome, jack another one out!

All kinds of coulda wouldas, Milton Bradley got healthy one year too late for us

He may only be healthy because he's DHing

and that wouldn’t really serve our needs anyway.

Predictable, but still sad

ESPN

SI.com

doctorK - May 25, 2008 reply

Blanton needs to lose about 10 pounds

His stamina would improve greatly if he would loose weight and do some cardio training.

Ran - May 25, 2008 reply

Are you saying that the thighmaster isn't getting it done?

calgbear - May 26, 2008 reply

Reds and Padres

in the 16th now. Harang has pitched three innings out of the pen with seven K’s.

day-to-day - May 25, 2008 reply

Harang...

4 innings pitched… 9 K’s.

I love me some post game monkeyball

What a sweep. Sox fans in the shop looked at the matchups, and considered Saturday and Sunday gimme’s. I have tickets to tonights River Cats game, and Kiko is going to pitch 2 innings….but I am at a party with 10 twenty somethings in bikini’s….and tequila, and fat tire..

tresselfan - May 25, 2008 reply

we want pictures

and an address

and streaming video

doctorK - May 25, 2008 reply

OMFG

It did get kind of crazy. Check out the video @ (address deleted by manager)

tresselfan - May 26, 2008 reply

Good Sweep

Good feelings all around in A’s Country.

Hit4TheCycle - May 25, 2008 reply

Zooks on Sports Update

NBC 11 @ 11:25pm

Honestly

I’m not really surprised we swept this series. That last game against the Rays really felt like a turning point. The whole Rays series did, even though we lost the first two. I think bigger things are in store. Barton should go down when Chavez is up, send Jack to 1B, and we’ll be in business.

sprtsnwyn - May 25, 2008 reply

why?

why would you rather have Hannahan at 1B instead of Sweeney? I’m all for sending Barton down but I don’t see why Jack would play first.

Christine - May 25, 2008 reply

I agree but would rather see Sweeney, Mike play more 1st base with

Hannahan as a backup guy. People keep mentioning Old Sweeney’s health as a reason to not play him more but that seems idiotic to me. Play him until something bad happens and then use Plan B.

Anyway, you can't just put Hannahan at 1B because it's convenient

That’s not the position he knows how to play. If you could do that, Frank Thomas would be in RF and Jack Cust would be our LOOGY.

True but it wouldn't surprise me if Hannahan was equal to Barton

at 1B. My intention was that Hannahan would be our platoon guy and, more importantly, Sweeney needs more PT. I wasn’t planning on really figuring out who the hell would play 1B :-)

It wouldn't surprise me if Hannahan were equal to Barton

defensively eventually, but not right away. He’d be cutting in front of Ellis too much, making tosses “to the pitcher covering” and throwing behind the pitcher, etc. Offensively, even as is – with Barton hitting as badly as you could fear in your worst alcoholic nightmares – the difference in batting average and OBP is not that huge, because Barton is still walking and Hannahan isn’t hitting for a very high average. And the odds of Barton beginning to hit well are better than the odds of Hannahan adapting seamlessly to a new defensive position.

Nico, not sure why you think Hannahan would take so long to

get used to playing 1B again? He played some first base in the minor leagues in 2005, 2006 and 2007. It was not his primary position, but having played it a bit over all of the last three years would make me think that the transition would not be that difficult. Especially if we are not asking him to be there everyday, but rather to just give Sweeney a couple days off per week.

AsFanInLA - May 26, 2008 reply

Oh, I didn't know he had played there before

I must have been face down on my neighbor’s lawn when that happened. That does change my perspective.

Probably should have said that

I thought about it right after I posted. I think Sweeney at first with Hannahan as the backup is the way to go. I meant putting Hannahan at first once Chavez got back, but not necessarily as a starter. I like what Sweeney brings to the table.

sprtsnwyn - May 25, 2008 reply

That makes more sense, but likely

1. Hannahan would have to start working out at 1B 2-3 weeks (if not months) before he could play there in a big league game and

2. Chavy will need days off, giving Hannahan plenty of opportunity to get ABs at 3B.

So Barton stays up then?

I think so.

I’d say for now: Barton against most righties, Mike Sweeney against some, Mike Sweeney against all lefties. Keeps Sweeney fresh/healthy, keeps Barton in the lineup enough to get over the hump, keeps an excellent pinch-hitter available every day.

He is our new Olmedo and he hasn't quit yet!

Have we been reduced to stealing Saenz?

I don't have a problem with Barton staying up.

However I do believe that a minor league assignment would benefit him quite a bit.

If so, I have no problem with him being sent down

I just wonder if it would. It depends on whether he’s 100% healthy or playing through an injury, and on why he is not hitting well – I’m not sure. I know he seems to be swinging too hard, swinging for the fences, etc., but I’m not convinced that’s all it is. What I am convinced about is that I’m not sure what it is. I have a sneaking suspicion, though, that we may learn he is this year’s Gaudin – a guy playing through an injury without saying anything publicly. Or maybe he’s just tanking.

I'm a Barton fan and all...

but, you just can’t have your 1B hitting .205 and slugging .301 on a contending team. And, the A’s are a contending team.

Send him down.

YAY Carlos!!!

Carlos Pena with a better attitude.

Pena has 10 home runs...

;-)

Maybe Barton should write a diary for ESPN?

ANGELS LOSE!!!

drink409 - May 25, 2008 reply

WOO HOO!!!

Carlos Quentin walk off HR off of John Lackey.

He goes all Olmedo Saenz on him.

What a way to cap off a great day!

Lackey coughs up the walk-off HR to Quentin leading off the 9th in Chicago!!

Carlos Quentin!

Yeah baby!

Lackey couldn't get Quentin out

The curve for the homer to make it 2-0 was not a bad pitch except Quentin had to be sitting on it. His stance sure is made for hitting those.

I just replayed the home run about 10 times such is the great feeling at watch those POS get beat.

Trainman - May 25, 2008 reply

Travis Buck: 3 for 4 for the Rivercats -

Game is 4-4 in the 8th. (CGon is 1 for 4 with an RBI, Brooks Conrad has a HR, Chavy is not playing.)

Buck now 4-5 with a Double.

Syphon - May 25, 2008 reply

Make it 4-5 with a double for TBuck

BA now over .300 for Travis….OPS I’m too lazy to calculate

vignette17 - May 25, 2008 reply

.797OPS

Syphon - May 25, 2008 reply

Gracias

I think it’s growing ever more likely that Travis will be called up on the day after we gain an extra year of club control. What did people calculate that was? May 31? Who goes down/is DFA’d when that happens? Brown would be my choice, but not my guess.

vignette17 - May 25, 2008 reply

We could send Braden or DiNardo down

Right now we have, with Gaudin, three starters in the bullpen.

Chavez and Buck should be coming up at the same time...

a position player has to go, no?

My guess is Barton.

Or Donnie Murphy

With Hannahan becoming a backup and Petit in the wings, the A’s may decide they can live without Murphy. But he’s out of options, IIRC.

John Donovan – SI.com Power Rankings

They couldn't wait to drop us to #14...

when we had a little bump in the road trip. I wonder what they’ll say now:

ESPN.com Power Rankings
Dropped the A’s from #5 to #14. They had this to say about the D’backs after they were swept in a three-game series:

The rulebook clearly states: “No team can occupy the No. 1 ranking after it has been swept in a series of at least three games.”

Wonder how far the BoSux will fall now after they’ve been swept by a #14 ranked team?

Oakland Athletics
The early season mojo seems to be fading fast for the overachieving A’s, who now have lost four straight series, the last to the almost-as-green Rays. The A’s are now dangerously close to going sub-.500. In fact, with the mojo-laden Red Sox up next, if the A’s finish this weekend with their heads above the line, they’ll have done well.

Is the mojo fading as fast now, John?

Mojo Laden

Any relation to Osama?

A sweep of the RS is soooo satisfying to watch.

I was Happy for Joe Blanton and I am sorry tomorrow is an off day. I am revved up for A’s ball. :-)

IM4Oakgal - May 25, 2008 reply

Everything right?

Great as it is to sweep the Bawston Red Sox, to claim we did everything right is, well, “just a bit outside”. Crosby in particular did NOTHING right at the plate. Two men on, nobody out or runner at third and less than two outs (and it happened three times if I remember correctly).... and we got NOTHING. Once is somewhat excusable but three times is completely unacceptable especially against an offensive juggernaut like the Sox where every run is precious.

itsgemme - May 26, 2008 reply

Celebrate the win(s). It's a team sport and the team did just fine.

ohtobe21likehuston - May 26, 2008 reply

Crosby doing something right at the plate constitutes "getting lucky"

monkeyball - May 26, 2008 reply

One of those outs was a liner snared by Lugo

Crosby has done great at the plate overall. He has a solid BA and a solid OBP, with a truckload of doubles and several key hits. Honestly, so far I have no complaints – ever hitter goes through poor stretches and when Crosby does that it will look like “oh God, the Crosby of old”. He can lunge at sliders and try to pull everything when he’s slumping if he doesn’t slump often and hits well when he’s hitting well. So far, that’s what he’s done.

The best part about sweeping the Red Sox?

Getting to see it in person on my birthday :D
And getting to hear the two poor-sports and pottymouths behind me sulk, whine, and moan the entire game!

Kimberly - May 26, 2008 reply

you really should have turned around and said "hi" to me and Nico

monkeyball - May 26, 2008 reply

I wasn't there - musta been you and Cindi