Athletics Nation

i'm not one of the emil brown h8ers

but when the sweeneys are healthy again, he needs to go.
i’m sick of watching him swing at pitches above his head and not being able to throw a baseball with any accuracy.

He really has outlived his usefulness

At 33, he’s close to being done.

To be fair he never really got started. He's a good guy but not someone

you want as anything more than a #5 OF’er.

He's a #5 OF on a team with a poor OF

He can’t really play center, his arm isn’t accurate, and he doesn’t have any on base skills or a whole lot of power. The only thing that’s kept him on the roster has been his timely (aka lucky) hitting.

and he helped win a lot of games for the A's

this season.

no "and" it was already covered.

The only thing that’s kept him on the roster has been his timely (aka lucky) hitting.

You are certainly

in fine form. Now knock it off. You have no need to be so rude.

i'm sorry but nothing you say makes any sense!

like even this, what does that even mean?
he’ll be nervous tomorrow from not pitching the day before? as opposed to today, having just joined the team?

i just try to avoid interaction with certain elements i have no use for, but you replied to my comment with a totally nonsensical question that no one here could possibly answer, and certainly not with the “no” you were apparently looking for…

Which elements do you not have any use for?

I’m guessing strontium and nobelium.

-random people who join up and only participate in game threads, almost exclusively to post negative and useless “we suck at scoring runs” type comments.
-people who for some reason find it necessary to mention that hannahan is an alcoholic every freaking time his name gets mentioned.
-people who have absolutely nothing of interest to say, yet post fifty comments anyways.
etc.

To me it's people who put things meanly

when they could put things more neutrally or not at all. And europium.

yeah

i’m just in a bad mood because the freaking royals lost again…

It is pretty upsetting -

I was in a much better mood two weeks ago when they last won a game.

They are trying to match our 20-game streak

in reverse fashion. I think they can do it!

Again? Don't they need to sign T-Long first?

But this time we don't play them in time

to derail their efforts.

Plus, they can’t rely on the inspirational efforts of Jose Lima any longer.

Faust - May 31, 2008 reply

x...

I responded to Nico not you, and when I said that Brad will be jittery tomorrow I meant this… sometimes it’s easier to just get in there and do it rather than thinking about it for another day. and BTW? If someone bothers you try ignoring them…that’s a lot more mature. You aren’t the thread monitor and your behavior does you no credit. Now to please your childish ass I am going to drop it and my participation in this thread . The reason I can do that is because I have the maturity to be tolerant of others and I want to show you how that’s done.

I responded to Nico not you

“Is Mike Sweeney really so hurt that he needs to be on the DL?” was a response to my comment about emil brown…

I'm so popular!

Two people are fighting who have only been responding to me and are only conversing with each other by accident!

(street cred is rising)

Last I checked....

Calling someone a “childish ass” and then crowing about then making a big show of how mature you are were not leading examples of maturity… Of course xbx was being pretty rude too… And sticking my nose into this is probably also rude….

Really I and everyone should just only respond to Nico.

mikeA - May 31, 2008 reply

LOL - definitely

As everyone knows, I am so perfect I would never crow about how perfect I am and I am so tactful that I have never upset anyone in any way.

I should note that this comment is in response to myself.

Good point, me.

Thanks!

No doubt. I just think that historical stats will eventually work

their way to the top. No reason to expect something out of him that he has never done in the past.

His defense has also contributed to us losing a few games this year.

Is Mike Sweeney really so hurt that he needs to be on the DL?

i don't understand the point of that question

I think the answer is,

“Unless you think the A’s would rather hit Hannahan for Barton instead of Mike Sweeney for Barton, yes.”

"K

I get sick of watching Barton ” gain MLB” experience.

do you not understand how to properly use quotation marks?

and if that’s your point, why did you respond to my comment? i see no connection.

Come on xbh. We are all on the same side even if we have

different opinions.

I'm not - I'm against xbh

Go Rangers!!!!

Ya know... Cindi is a real bitch.

I don’t mind you, Nico, but Cindi… ohmuhgod.

HOW DARE YOU????

Did Geri put you up to this? Grrrrr….. She did, didn’t she? :-(

-Cindi

Rangers Suck! Go Islanders!

people say guys not on the DL should be on the DL

now apparently we’re questioning whether guys on the DL should really be there?

i’ll save my opinion for after i get a MD… and hack into their confidential medical files…

I saw him run to first base as if

he was running on hot coals with bare feet. I thought, “Why is he playing, if that is how he’s running?”

Overdue for DL, IMHO.

One won lost won - May 30, 2008 reply

Yeah, the whole "he sucks" thing

isn’t doing much for me.

A key part of the game was failing to score after Gonzalez’ leadoff double. Give the A’s a 2-1 lead instead a 1-1 tie, and the rest of the game looks very different with front line relievers at the ready. You can’t take 7 called third strikes (and I refuse to blame the ump for that many – you have to protect the plate on borderline pitches) and fail to advance runners if you want to compete.

This guy was terrible though

I can’t even begin to describe how poor that call was on Barton in the late innings. It was in the other batter’s box. The curveball called on Emil wasn’t a strike either. It was a high and in curveball; a good umpire doesn’t call that a strike. I can understand calling a pitch that hits the inside corner or is a little above the K zone tracker, but both? Those were two notable bad calls, and I just started watching the game in the 7th.

Didn't see the Barton call but the one to Emil was a strike.

I don't know what kind of stats anyone keeps on umps

but there’s a pretty well-documented effect on players from expansion: basically, a divergence of results as you add formerly AAA players to the league. Already great players get to fatten up on the crappy competition; lousy players put up sucky numbers in the majors, instead of good numbers in the minors.

Why would it be any different for umps? Guys who used to be “not good enough” have regular jobs. The guys who serve as vacation fill-ins - like the dude who called Cros out on that SB, just utterly blowing the call - wouldn’t have even had a sniff at the majors before.

True, but this was Paul Emmel

who I believe is a veteran ump. He did have an overly wide strike zone, but I think that accounts for 20% of the problem, with the A’s hitters having to take responsibility for 80%. Borderline calls are unpredictable, but you are allowed to foul some of them off.

Unpredictability is its own problem

MLB has been trying to enforce a uniform strike zone, but that’s obviously harder with 200 umps or so than with 80. And in the past, the AL and NL had separate crews, so players really got to know how individual umps called balls and strikes.

+1

I remember the days when most umpires were known by name in the league. Now it seems like we get the guy who just got called up from the minors or the veterans that we have never heard of.

This uniform strike zone idea has really been a poor one. It used to be the strike zones in each league were clear cut and the umpires were somewhat consistent in their pitch calling. Now, it seems like the strike zone gets less and less consistent every year.

Part of the AL/NL difference was due to the chest protectors

AL umps used the outside “balloon” chest protector, which made it hard to crouch down really low—so they saw the high pitch better than the low pitch and called a higher strike zone. NL umps used the inside protector, which is what they all use now, so it was easier to crouch down and see low strikes.

Well, why do people =still= oppose the

electronic strike zone? Just another example of (1) knowing your own strike zone doesn’t help (2) umps giving up on pitches.

Just a buzzer in the ump’s pocket. Strike, it buzzes, he calls it. Not a strike, no buzz, watch for catcher’s interference, stay away from foul tips, etc.

One won lost won - May 30, 2008 reply

I will always oppose it because

I believe it’s a game played by people and that the arbiters are part of that “human fallibility”.

In that case

let’s have bats made by hand (sorta round…it looks round!) and balls wound by hand, stitched by hand, all with “human variation”. Home plate? Sorta like what my human mind and eye recall it to be….

Sixty feet, six….or seven…or fifty-nine feet, four inches. Ninety feet, or ninety-point- something.

It is a good game when you’re a kid, and a t-shirt is first base, a hand-towel is second, balls hit to right field are an out (that is the street).

One won lost won - May 30, 2008 reply

Personally, I think Mark Ellis

is the best hand-towel-baseman in the league.

I'm not happy about the game but "40 years of A's baseball"

is on FSN. I’ll try to enjoy the program.

Missing points

Ks
Lots of them.
Was the ump strike happy, the pitchers on target, or a bit of both?

MobiusKlein - May 30, 2008 reply

3-1 Blue Jays over LAA in the 3rd,

and Jered Weaver has thrown 78 pitches through 3 IP (7 hits).

Boooooo! I love LAA.

Sincerely,

Raymond Newman (Randy’s brother)

Weaver gone after 4 inn. + 3 batters

This looks like it will be a 10-9 game though…

Soaker - May 30, 2008 reply

Not that it mattered

but did Foulke really need to come out for a 2nd inning?

Buck Turgidson - May 30, 2008 reply

In April, Foulke looked like he was

succeeding with his usual pinpoint location and more use of his slider to offset the loss in velocity. Now it just looks like he’s “running on fumes” – a slump, or he had one more good month left in him and it was April, 2008?

Funny thing is I think his velocity on the fastball is actually up

He’s hitting 88-89 mph now, and was topping out at 84-86 in April. I think in the long run, he’ll be a fine bullpen option, it’s just that, with the injuries to Casilla, Brown, and now Devine, we have no proven late inning options besides Embree and Foulke. And that’s a scary thought.

I'm perplexed as to why he's not throwing his changeup more

Seems like he is actually throwing the slider more then the changeup.

Well that's just great. Boston Red Sox. New England Patriots

and now the Boston Celtics. I hate everything that is Boston.

I hate being called THAT.

I’m such a whimp and an incredibly big pussy. Please call me one or the other and don’t water it down so much.

when it comes to my hatred of boston-area professional sports teams, i’m never exaggerating.

Don't worry Kobe will take care of business

HRH - May 30, 2008 reply

I think the Lakers are a lot better than the Celtics.

They didn’t play with Pau Gasol so you can throw out the 0-2 record. Jim Morrisson said it best “the West is THE best.”

well...

at least the Bruins failed to escape the first round, and their fans haven’t seen the Cup since ‘72.

SwisherThresher - May 30, 2008 reply

Hallelujah!

although...

Boston College won this year’s NCAA hockey championship

SwisherThresher - May 30, 2008 reply

ouch

that hurts.

pbruins92 - May 31, 2008 reply

Hopefully the Bluebird do us one solid against the Halos

Duke deserved a better fate today.

I missed out on watching the rest of the game today because I was vacuuming the inside my moms pathfinder. Someone had smashed her passenger side window and took her radio, leaving bits of broken glass strewn everywhere.

I guess it sucks all around.

oaklandSMASH - May 30, 2008 reply

Man, sorry about the stolen radio

I had my Pathfinder hammered a while ago; I was pissed. Car thieves need to be castrated.

OW!!!!

Cool radio, though.

Thanks

The thing that sucks the most is that this is the third time a car from my immediate family got broken into.

The first time, someone stole our Toyota minivan, joyriding it to Oakland and smashing the back of it into a post, and rendering it undriveable.

The second time, my parents came back to our Camry parked in the Emeryville Ikea parking lot, only to find the door broken open. The thieves stole our radio and a leather jacket.

My only comfort comes knowing this time that the thief was injured because there was a small trace of blood on the door.

Still, I could hear the weariness in my father’s voice when he recalled these times.

oaklandSMASH - May 30, 2008 reply

Wouldn't a DNA test of the blood

identify the thief? Or would it just confirm that “someone with Type A blood is dishonest!”

No police station would go through the trouble

just for a car radio.

This isn’t like Law and Order.

And yes, your blood does make you dishonest!

oaklandSMASH - May 31, 2008 reply

Our local weekly paper just published a front page strory today

about how locking your car doors can help deter thieves.

Next: when it’s cold, try wearing a sweater.

Gulp.

I say don’t lock your car door. Then you have a stolen radio but no broken window.

You are giving way too much credit to the thieves.

I doubt they would even check.

And if you're hungry, try some soup

With this new sweater on? Fat chance.

Better alarm systems would be nice

I heard in Europe they were experimenting with one that shot out flames from the side if someone hammered the window, causing 3rd degree burns. That would be something I would like to invest in.

Nevermind, S. Africa

This "40 years" show is pretty damn good.

until it ended and they put on some story about the red sox

what the heck are the red sox doing on my tv??

gigglingone - May 30, 2008 reply

It started 10 minutes early so it's already over.

I am too lazy to change the channel so I saw it :-(

Wake me up when we win one...

and when Thomas is back as DH

butler19 - May 30, 2008 reply

7-3 Blue Jays, still batting in the 5th,

4 runs in with a rally started by…

Marco…

...SCUTARO!!!!

The last game I can watch for almost three weeks...

and they can’t win. Shoot.

gigglingone - May 30, 2008 reply

sadly, i a sweeping up the confetti

streamers, and left over cake I had ordered from the Party Shoppe for what was going to be a grand game with all the new call-ups. Guess, I’ll let these balloons free into the air too.

ak_A - May 30, 2008 reply

Well this frigging sucks

Not only did the A’s lose today, but both BA college teams did too, which (thanks to the extremely weird format the NCAA baseball tournament follows) virtually ends both of their seasons… prior to the point at which they would actually make it to ESPN.

And I just had my wisdom teeth pulled yesterday, so my jaw is more swollen than Ryan Sweeney’s foot.

What a shitty couple of days.

PaulThomas - May 30, 2008 reply

I noticed you just didn't seem quite as wise

as you were Wednesday. Of course, I had my funny bone removed this morning, so…oh well.

Had your funny bone removed?

I think DLS had the same procedure…

PaulThomas - May 30, 2008 reply

Yes, they have grafted a ligament

from the somber bone in my leg into my elbow. It’s very sad and not at all droll.

Don't forget about my alma mater, San Jose State

(or Santa Clara either)

Today, the Spartans were RAINED OUT!!

oaklandSMASH - May 30, 2008 reply

Re: wisdom teeth extraction: Percoset is your friend

If combined with red wine, this becomes (in the words of an RN I worked with) a “Mercoset”.

Nick - May 31, 2008 reply

Take that combo while watching old film

of Kent Mercker pitching and…

I've never even heard of Percoset

My solution has been Vicodin and Advil in copious quantities…

Absolute killer losing Thomas and the Sweeneys

The next few weeks are crucial as the team is still in this. I think that the addition of Gonzalez is fantastic. He has a decent future. I think the team needs to send Barton down. I have been advocating putting Mike Sweeney in all year but now he is hurt and may be out for a while.

I think the team should look to make a trade to add a 1B or for a corner OF immediately.
There other options could be to rotate Hannahan and Barton at 1B until some of the guys get healthy, but the problem of an unproductive 1B spot still remains. Maybe Cust or Brown can play 1B if Sweeney is hurt for an extended time.

I don’t see how the A’s can compete with 0 production from the 1B position. They must look into other options at 1B.

The manager and team have to be giving up on Barton as the main poster commented – Hannahan was being sent up to Pinch Hit for Barton in the 9th. If that doesn’t tell you who low we have sunk then what will. 1B is the position where teams need offense.

Our 3B, SS and 2b are fine. No All-stars but decent players and hitters.
CF looks good as C. Gonzalez or R. Sweeney can play here.

Corner OF is very weak. Once R. Sweeney gets back things will improve but I we can do better than Buck and Brown.

I think the team will hit a horrible slump unless some guys start hitting soon

Yellowhorse - May 30, 2008 reply

where's ruby?

Get me ruby.

sourstuff - May 30, 2008 reply

I think Dan Johnson might be available.

iglew - May 31, 2008 reply

How embarrassing would that be?

YAY!

Angels LOSE!!!

FoolshGame22 - May 30, 2008 reply

That's another small positive for today

Coffee13eans - May 30, 2008 reply

Does anyone else find it ironic....

that so many people on here are complaining about a lack of run production (rightfully so). Many of those same people are saying that Emil Brown should not be getting as much playing time as he does, yet he is leading our team in RBI’s. A little too ironic, don’t ya think??

bdemartin - May 30, 2008 reply

Not unless you are operating under the delusion

that RBI’s have anything to do with run production.

PaulThomas - May 30, 2008 reply

what's saddens me is that

even if rbi’s were a useful stat to keep track of, emil brown has only racked up a whopping 4 of them since may 11. not any worse than the rest of them but still

chipper1001 - May 30, 2008 reply

Your misunderstanding of the situation and assessment that it involves irony

is ironic.

mikeA - May 31, 2008 reply

I wonder if it rained on Emil Brown's wedding day

He's getting a free ride, but he's already paid

oblique - May 31, 2008 reply

Does he use the same Horse Hooker service I do?

I mean, that I don’t but have heard about from ~~friends~~ strangers?

Sounds like those strangers had some good advice

that you just didn’t take.

oblique - May 31, 2008 reply

someone tell Ty the batting coach to tell Jack Cust the following: you are a number three hitter! you are not up there to walk! you are not up there to take pitches with the bat on your shoulders! you can be fooled on a pitch but you can’t stare at pitches! IRemember you are not here for your fielding! I am a an A’s fan for 50 years.

aerobicsman - May 31, 2008 reply

do you not know jack cust’s career? he walks, strikes out or HR’s. plus having a bad ump behind the plate didnt help.

Glomar - May 31, 2008 reply

I know his record! Does the word adjust mean anything . If the umpire has a wide strike zone, common sense you have to swing at close pitches. I know his ranking with walks strikeouts. He appears just to me as taking far to many pitches . In this lineup I will take his swinging third strike, scream a little to the TV and move on.

aerobicsman - May 31, 2008 reply

+1000

IMO a player should be fined by management for striking out looking 3 times in a game. Cust and the other knew this guy had a terrible zone in yet they continued to look like idiots up there just looking and wondering why they had to go back to the dugout.

It is called making adjustments. They didn’t adjust

Millwood was throwing strikes and a normal hitter on any other team would have been swinging early in the count and probably getting hits.

That's an excellent idea

Let’s mess with the approach of the best hitter on the team. I mean, sure he will make more outs and become worse. But he’ll LOOK BETTER DOING IT! And as everyone knows, that’s what’s important. Forget this “winning” crap.

How can you call protecting a close 2 strike pitch

messing with his approach?

It is not WINNING when you strike out looking 3 times.

I seem to remember Cust swinging at the first pitch from the lefty who came out of the pen for Boston and hitting a 2 run homer.

Cust is currently in the 3 hole. He is there to get on base and drive the runs in. Not strike out looking 3 consecutive times.

Having him protect when down 2 strikes is not messing with his approach and you might had he and a few others protected on close pitches, we may have scored a few more runs too.

He is supposed to be a professional hitter and being such he should have protected with 2 strikes

That is meant to be

we might had he and a few others protected on close pitches, scored a few more runs too

Also

what you are saying PT is that is by messing with his approach and swinging and making more outs is that you have no faith in him making contact and driving in runs or getting hits in the first place.

Do you think he may be able to make contact if he swings and protects?

He sure can’t make contact when he’s looking 3 times in a row can he????

Yes, because you know more about hitting than Jack Cust

It’s not like he has a school of hitting or something.

I believe that Jack Cust knows more than anyone else does about what will maximize Jack Cust’s chances of doing damage at the plate. I certainly believe he knows more about that than a random fan.

I could go into more detail here, but really, what’s the point? Your attack on him is nonsense. You aren’t in the batter’s box. You have no clue what he “should” or “shouldn’t” have done.

The bottom line is you would rather see him strike out looking

that protect with 2 strikes.

And No, I do not know more about hitting than Jack Cust but I have a clue that he should have swung at those strike 3 pitches as he made an OUT each time.

But according to you “He Knows Best”

I know this

“If he swings (or had swung) the bat in half of the strike 3 lookings he has had, his strikeout numbers would be way down. I don’t have a problem with players striking out who swing and I don’t have a problem with players who swing early in the count and make “1” pitch outs because they are going to get “1” pitch hits as well. A “strike 3 looking” is a totally unproductive, wasted at bat and while his OBP is fantastic, he needs to improve in those other areas if he wants to be a good 3 hole hitter.

Cust is an above average with 2 strikes

because he takes those close pitches. Often he winds up striking out, but he also walks a lot, which would not continue to be the case if he changed his approach. He is also hitting .370 on balls in play with 2 strikes; that number would also come down. He would miss most of the pitches he is taking for called third strikes if he swung anyway.

When Cust gets 2 strikes on him, he is better than nearly every other player in the league at not making an out. Changing his approach (because various fans have an irrational hatred of called third strikes) would be insane.

mikeA - May 31, 2008 reply

OK and being that he may well miss most of the pitches he is taking for called K's

I would rather have someone who hits for higher average (around .300) who walks and K’s alot less in the 3 hole. Granted injuries have made it necessary to have Cust hitting 3rd and when Frank and others come back, they can move Cust down a couple.

Mike Sweeney, Frank Thomas and even Ryan Sweeney are way better at delivering in clutch situations than Cust.

Cust’s forte is getting on base which is fine. He does that better than most but I don’t think he is that dumb that he can’t make a little adjustment and protect a little more. Yeah, the walks go down a little but the hits may go up a little as well