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Open Thread: Game 91 - A's vs. Mariners (cont.)

You know, I was all set to delight in the A's 4-1 lead over the Mariners, topped off by a 3-run double from Donnie Murphy which saw Jack Hannahan just level Jeff Clement at the plate, but unfortunately for us, there was another inning, which saw Blanton implode, giving up five runs, which now has the A's trailing 6-4.

Whether it should be 6-4 or 5-4 is up for debate, thanks to Kurt Suzuki performing some odd calisthenics at the plate, and missing Ibañez (or so says the ump).

Cust's 2nd inning home run is but a distant memory as well. Onward and upward, A's!

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Comments

Fuck you Bob Geren

Fuck you Joe Blanton
Fuck You Billy Beane (For trading Gaudin instead of Blanton)

While we're at it

Fuck you, ump. Ahem. We now return to your regularly scheduled broadcast.

Please tell me why Blanton is still in the rotation?

He has single handedly kept the A’s out of contention this year.

I think they were hoping and praying

he would have a good first half. Then he has pretty good trade value.

Still hoping

and praying.

Exactly

He is a right naded Barry Zito.

He wasn’t traded because no one wanted him. That is obvious. Either that or Billy thinks he is worth more than what a normal person thinks he is worth. Right now he is not worth half a dozen bats

Are you telling me Zito favors his left nad?
MOJO!

Come on!

Oh, and bitchy bitch for A's unable to score

3rd base, 1 out.

Could Barton have thrown home first?
Yes, but aside from a tough/bad throw from Hannahan they did everything right

Just got jobbed by baseball Tim Donaghy.

Actually I think Barton screwed up by throwing to third
Like KMo said below, it was hard to tell which way he was leaning

But if he throws home there’s no play at all and runners are at first and third. He took a chance and it paid off if not for whatever that call was.

eh,

they had plenty of time to get him/did get him.

watch it again....
I think the runner was leaning back towards 3rd when he threw it there.

It was kind of hard to see for sure on the camera though, but he was still in the picture when they showed the ball arriving at 3rd.

Hannahan had time.

The throw arrived way ahead of Ibanez, but it was a little off target.

I always thought the rule was to throw to the lead base?
Yes. That rule seriously applies to little league baseball.

Major league players should have been able to execute that play much better. I still would have preferred going home first.

Run at him until he commits, throw there

If he’s too close to third and gets back, then not throwing was a good idea anyway.

Nico, thank you for stating the apparently not so obvious.....

I’m truly befuddled that some regular posters here on AN, did not know what to do in that situation. You run at him until he commits one way or the other (Barton did not do this) and then you make the throw dictated by the runner. This is a pretty fundamental “rule of thumb” to follow.

I guess many of you have not played baseball. You sure know your stats though. Keep up the good work AN.

Glad to know Nico knows his stuff (no sarcasm intended).

Country Joe Blanton

What country? Is it Afghanistan, cuz we’re getting bombed!

Well good night all,

after the huge FUBAR event there Im going to bed. Good news the Rivercats are up 11-1, and this may be the worst idea, but I would like to see Saarloos, DiNardo or Barden get a start or two, could they be that much worse than some of the stuff Blanton is throwing

Buck is again hitless so far.
the Rivercats have 11 runs....

and Buck is hitless?!?!? Wow….

I'm sure Beane

is taking notes.

He infact had 1 Hit and 1 run, lol....leave Buck alone!!!
Oh look - a mop up guy I've never heard of

pitched a shutdown inning.

Lordy, PatrolCraft made that look routine
Blanton has a 5.00 ERA

why is he still in the rotation? I am sure that Gio can pitch better than hm. I know Gaudin could pitch better than him. I am almost convinced that Braden could pitch better than him.

Woah, let's not go overboard here.
I have a bad

feeling about this.

I’ve had a bad feeling about this for months now.

cause he started out fine

4 innings, was fine. It’s the blowup inning that hits

Hmm

well, 3 hits in 4th, they should have scored more
Perhaps not

They were showing how

he does well the first time through the order, then shitty the second time and teams are hitting .328 or something like that the third time.

He admits it gets into his head

He is mentally challenged when they start hitting him. He has no composure.

Here's a thought...

The only way Blanton’s ERA goes down… is if he pitches more. Let that sit. :-)

1-2-3 inning for Cupcakes

One inning too late

Why does he always have one bad inning?

Is it a mental thing? It seems like nearly every start he goes into Zito mode for one inning where he is just tossing up BP.

How convenient.

Gio has given up 1 hit thorugh 6.

Gio needs to have a little more consistency. I realize that he has been pitching

well of late but we’ve seen this before from Dallas Braden, Connor Robertson, Shane Komine, etc.

Unlike those three, though, Gio is actually a legit prospect.
Blanton may not be a bad fit for St. Louis.

They’re constantly having injuries in their rotation, and they love ground ball pitchers there.

Hell, I'd trade him anywhere.
Dave Duncan has a habit of making below average or average pitchers good

He would have a challenge here but go for it.

We will take 3 bats for him

Make sure they're ash, not that maple crap
LOL

He is worth maple. They both blow into pieces when under pressure

I'd take

Joe Blanton for Chris Duncan.

I don't think the Cards would take that
No doubt.

Beane is not done. I feel deflated.

watching Suzuki replay on gameday

Looks like he was spun around by the collision a moment after the catch. Good base running.

Zook

got him.

Right on, Zookie
Good Kurt!!!

Gotta score some here

Don't bunt, dammit
I'll take a bunt!

Cmon, get a runner advanced.
So many times I’ve seen nothing happen after a lead off double.

Nice hit Suzuki.

Criticism of him sure has gotten quiet around here lately.

Blanton is having a terrible first half but I think everyone

is overreacting. An innings-eater with a proven track record is worth quite a bit to our team. Oh… I am pissed off about it right now though!

We never overreact. NEVER!
Saying that we overreact is an overreaction.

You should be ashame of your self and should be sent to prison for slander. Or something.

Are you going to pass your class "goofing off?"
Inning eater.

It sucks when thats his only redeeming quality.

He eats a hell of a lot more than innings
LEAVE BLANTON ALONE!!!!

/cry

LEAVE HIM ALONE!

I saw half that video once.

That was enough.

No, sir.

That was far, far too much.

Inning eaters are great but

you like them to not give up 20 hits an inning.

Is he tipping his pitches and missing location because most of his hits are not cheap

He has been in the zone basically throwing BP.

I just have faith that he can turn things around. We are only half way through this rebuild year.

Given the amount of "good" guys...

We could have a lot of rebuilding years ahead of us.

He handled that bad call well
Never advance to third on fly out?
Hey, at least Kry-Rod gave up the game tonight.

I love to see that guy fail.

I recorded it with my DVR

After I finished laughing at the look on his face.

I feel like Bill O’Reilly…

Don't block the shot.

Okay?

I can't read that. What does that mean?
O'Reilly v. Obama Bodyguard.

This is a crazy

game. Only in Oakland.

Productive outs and we're 6-6

Grr….

And fighting Seattle

wtf!

It's just stupid

why it happens so often we don’t move runners over. Just never know.

Either Blevins is in...

Or Blanton just lost 100 pounds.

i think it would be more like a buck 75
Or a buck

fitty! Thats a long tall glass oh water!

I don't want to come off as cruel but....

Cupcakes -20lbs would, in my opinion, make a HUGE difference. I know it is easy to pick on his weight but it seems Joe has had a consistent pattern of starting off really well (first 4 -5innings), and then imploding. If he had less weight to carry around, I’ve got to belive he’d have more endurence, and be able to sustain his performance longer (please ignore the inuendo). Perhaps they should work it into his contract, or mandate it this offseason.

Would that make him more like Bran Muffins instead?
Bran muffins

are a disgrace to the muffin race.

But they probably out run all the other muffins in the muffin race
Maybe so.

Although, I think many believe his weight contributes to him having less wear and tear over a season. Thus allowing him to stay off the DL.

When has he been on the DL?
Oh. Nevermind just re-read your post.
Never

That is the problem. About three months ago would have been a good idea.

Sorry but I had to say it. Trying to be a little humerous but I have too much anger to suceed I think

I believe he's one of my people, Blankowski.

Having said that, the sooner he loses some weight, the better.

Just curious.

Where’s Murton hanging out these days?

Trade blanton for a bat boy
Oh yes, please bring in Rhodes to face the top of our line-up!
How about that Rangers and Angels game tonight
I was feeling great about it...

when we were up 4-1.

yea i was to
I Hope The Rangers and Mariners

Kick their asses over and over again. Still won’t change that we are done.

Nice PatrolCraft-in
Okay... I need clarification.

I don’t get the whole Patrol Craft thing.

Me either

Came from a bad babelfish-like translation from a Venezuelan article.
Oh.

Translation of what..?

computer translation of a Spanish language article

Spanish word for outfielder is something like “patrullero”, which means patroller (which sort of makes sense), but it’s also the Spanish word for a boat, so the program translated it as “patrol craft”.

I remember reading an outfielder was called a gardenier or something that sounded like he was out there picking daisies or something
"Center field" comes out "center garden"
Hi boys and girls. I watched F-Rod give up the bomb to Josh Hamilton and I demand the A's win tonite.
I'll back you on that
me too
Alrighty then. Someone please notify the A's dugout that we demand a win. Simple.
He gave up a jack to Hamilton

Alright, PT has to like him at least a little bit now.

times were grim when Rhodes was our closer
double wild pitch

to lose the game!

good ol queen arthur....

too bad he is not in the same form as when he was with us.

after this game Blanton better be out of the rotation
Yes, let's bring in Dallas Braden
what world do you live in
I highly doubt that will happen.

What are you smoking?

He won't be.

If we still had Gaudin though…

we dont win with him shit why not
Because Blanton > Braden.
Did you watch his start against the ChiSox?
Can we please stop losing to these jokers?

Our team may be bereft of big names, but theirs is bereft of talent.

One second...

Who won the first two games of this series? Oh yeah, we did. :-)

I just meant tonight

Believe you me, I was pleased with the last 2 games.

I hear yah!

Its like our bubble has burst.

But stupid-ass Beane traded Gaudin so who do you put in his place? Not Braden, please.
Beane suck!

/rolls eyes

why not?

Blanton had a 7.16 ERA in June. Braden could’ve done that. Colby Lewis could do that, Shane Komine could do that.

How about we get a long man in just for Blanton games? Let Joe face the lineup twice, regardless of the inning or pitch count, then just bring in the long man.

Or

Bring in the long man to start the game for 2 innings, then let Blanton pitch 4-5 innings, so if he does well he still has a good chance to get the W.

I've been living under a rock (in other words, work, relo, etc). When was Gaudin traded and for what?
Pickles

sour pickles.

Oh wow. You have a lot of catching up to do.....
seriously? I'm afraid to ask.............
Yes, seriously.
He and Harden went bye-bye to Chicago
Geez dude..

You HAVE been living under a rock.

Harden and Gaudin traded for Sean Gallagher, Matt Muron, and a couple of minor leagues.

Including C-Pat’s younger brother.

Oh, to the Cubs by the way.

And the Cubs

ar very happy.

They'll be unhappy

when Harden inevitably goes to the DL.

And when he doesn't?
It can't have been THAT long ago as I did hear the Cubs were interested in Harden and that was day before yesterday.
No.

We’re kidding. This is just a dream. Seriously.

can I live under a rock?

I would have liked to not remember yesterday…..

Let's not revive the discussion in this game thread,

but go down the front page a bit and check out the trade threads.

A's dugout didn't get the memo listing our demands
MmmmmmmmmmmmmmmCrosby woulda had that

Just sayin’.

So last night I decided I am no longer an A's fan.

In revenge for them ending the happily Hardenful era of my life…
But then I needed some comfort… and my mind turned to Swooney… Ellis… and… here I am.

I can’t believe my swearing off the A’s only lasted one fucking game.

Cardinals asked for Harden + Swooney

Beane said no.

Link
I saw it too.
So did I.

Can’t remember where I saw it, because those couple hours have now blended together in a shower of anger and confusion, but yeah, I remember hearing something about Sweeney.

3 responses = better than a link
Mulder lasted 16 pitches tonight

Cards should know better to ask about an injury prone A’s pitch

Damn!

I love him!

Lemme guess

You just imagined Swooney singing this to you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn-enjcgV1o

PS When I opened that, I thought the title said Baby Got Back

and I was very confused

Hahaha

Swooney does have a bumpin’ beat playing when he comes up to the plate.

you missed a great game last night
Yeah, I was in no mood to see the A's do well last night, so I'm glad I missed it
no, seriously, they did great last night.....

....can you stop being an A’s fan until, oh, November? ;)

I'll turn off the game right now, let's see what happens
Beltre ♥ Oakland

Seriously, win or lose, he always hits well against us.

ok, Kari's all caught up now. Thanks a lot. (insert sarcasm here)
Well we got FOUR guys for TWO.

Wish quantity translated to quality. Maybe it will?

jeez

don’t make it worse, Jairo Casilla

Those F$%&en Drums!

When we go up to bat, those F- – - – - – drums need to stop!!!!!

Relax,

I think the players like the drums, at least they’re invested.

Just yesterday my son was woefully looking at his baseball cards of former A's. Wait til I tell him to add Harden and Gaudin to the pile.
It was the worst trade on the Bay Area since the Warriors gave up Robert Parish and Kevin Mchale to the Celtics for a guy who lasted in the league for a year.for a
How could we know at this point?

Harden has already been scratched.

Yeah

Beane is a genius, imo

I dig your opinion.
a regular Einstein
Whatevs.

I like Harden as much as the next guy, but he’s not exactly been reliable over the years . So forgive me if I’m not whining that he’s gone.

You're forgiven. It's just that I want to win now, not in 2010.
We won't win anything significant

until we’re in our new ballpark. Thats the plan.

excuse the typo's
How about DeShields for Pedro?
Not a bay are trade, but gotta be the worst in MLB history
Oh yes

much worse than Nathan, et al, for Ass-Jack

Delino?

I love Delino.

They picked Joe Barry Carroll with the #1 they got from the Celtics for Parrish and the #3 (McHale)

JB obviously wasn’t worth either Parrish or McHale, but calling him “a guy who lasted in the league for a year” is ridiculous.

The Dubs would LOVE to have JB Carroll, and his 20 points/9 rebounds a game, next year. And he was a key guy in the Warriors’ comeback from 0-2 to the Jazz in a 5-game playoff series, which they won 3-2.

Runs would be wonderful right about now

I give up 1.5% of my a/c cost due to my 60" HDTV.

Just did a study based on the square footage of my home Never knew that until now but the A’s are worth it.

random strange post... I know.
The A's

are always worth it.

Playing Blanton must be frustrating.

Every time he takes the mound, you expect to lose instead of win. When you play as hard as you can and score a few runs, he gives them right back and more.

I only expect to lose if his pitch count

was over 100 in his previous start.

I only expect to lose if it's over 10
Your analysis certainly seems valid.
One more data point on the chart

Still not conclusive, but the evidence mounts.

Well you need to go back to '07, '06...

but I believe it’s more of a recent trend simply due to the ballooning ERA.

Yeah, I'd like to run the numbers on past seasons.

Not sure when I’ll find the time. Maybe this weekend.

As good as the team ERA has been

Blanton, Foulke and Embree are responsible for 18 losses if you count tonight as a loss. 17 if we come back and there is still home, be it minimal.

You cannot blame the run support thing on most of Blanton’s losses of late. He plain sucks and is an embarrassement to his team and fans alike.

And as Iglew points out below.

He threw 1,000 pitches the start before

Averaging 1 L / 11 IP

They are way ahead of other pitchers on our staff in terms of ability to pick up a loss. Joe is well on target for a 20 loss season.

(shaking head)

does blanton sucking for 1 inning every start

drive his price down so that we can resign him on the cheap? i mean, i highly doubt we get much for him if we trade him by the deadline. and something’s up…i mean, blanton has CONSISTENTLY gotten killed in one inning in his starts. he’s not this bad.

Well, his numbers will factor into his arbitration hearing

That will probably drive his cost down somewhat. Then, when he pitches a little better next season, he’ll seem like even more of a bargain to whatever team we trade him to.

It seems like a sell low deal right now.
How about running a "Big Joe's Big Blowup Inning" promo

If Joe gives it up, we all get free muffins

He'd give it up just to get the muffins
I'll be a happy man for the rest of his tenure on the A's
Biscuits and Gravy

would be more appropriate.

"CONSISTENTLY" = oh, except in his last outing.

July 4 against the White Sox. Seven innings pitched, gave up just one run.

Also, June 24 against the Phillies

Again, 7 innings pitched, one earned run.

right

what i meant was, when joe tanks (which happens a lot), its usually just one awful inning. those good starts, and the fact that he coasts for much of his other starts minus the bad inning, and ultimately his track record, are why i think he can’t possibly be this bad. its also why he’s a terrible candidate to trade – his value is rock bottom. but that also means we can resign him on the cheap.

Brown is not doing well.

I’ve read all the game thread posts now.

9th inning

And Cust is not out for defensive replacement. Thank goodness.

I hope he gets to bat again.
K-Fraud's first career walk-off-HR tonight

Still not as sweet as the sulk-off brain fart

It's good to see him losing games in different ways.
That was soooo much fun.

I remember reading that in Yahoo! Sports (how I found out) and seeing the last run came in on defensive indifference. Huh? How does that happen. Classic.

Manny got him in the playoffs last year

That ball might still not have come down yet.

Murderer's Row coming up in 9th

As far as tomorrow’s game goes.

We should be able to beat R. A. Dickey right?

Well, he's got that speed-knuckler

So, yes.

Dickey is 0-4 with a 9.00 ERA vs Oakland
And they have not faced Greg Smith yet

So We need to mark down a W

Should we do smashed watermellon signs for K's for Gallagher?
Ugh, I hate that watermelon guy.

One of the worst things about the 1980s: Nasty, bitter comics.

Eddie Murphy was good
Robin Williams, too.
But my fave

for the ages will always be George.

I liked Steven Wright.
Decaffeinated coffee table?
Agreed. I like Eddie.

I don’t think he was nasty or bitter.

what if he's more a "black gallagher" guy?

black gallagher, bitch! i got warrants!

I am told the A's are playing

...oh…crap!

What's up, creep?
DId not think there was a game on tonight

Im bummed

It's a nice long game
Couldn't you have lied to me

by telling me it was a boring game? that would have raised my spirits

Well you did miss a good start at 4-1.

I am still wondering what the hell happened???

Rally time please!
morrow throws Gas
too bad he's gonna blow the game

I like him, he’s a Cal guy

Oops, forgot to check who's coming up for the A's in 9th

before I shot my mouth off

and our book of paper matches
Win, please

An Angels loss needs to be capitalized on.

Exactly

Whether you are rebuilding, 20 games over or 20 games under, a win is a win and it is not satisfactory or acceptable to have some worthless pitcher throw up on the mound and lose game after game because he does not have the mental capacity to buckle down when the going gets rough. He implodes.

Just imagine if he pitched half way like he was supposed to pitch at the start of the season. Say he was 10-7 instead of 5-12 and we would be a hell of a lot closer. It is amazing we are 7 games over .500 with this imposter on the mound

I guess taking a pitch is not such a good idea against this guy.
Scorebaord said 100MPH
My car wont even go that fast
So his change is 92?
He's got 2 speeds

Fast and super F*in Fast

Morrow is awesome.

Such a sweet, smooth delivery. I want him on our team.

I saw that.

Not sure I believe it.

Gameday says 98
Yeah, you don't see that all the time in AAA

So, we are hosed.

click
Jeez, can't even wait for one more out?
we have no chance
winning run is on deck!
Well this half inning is going by quick.
It's not over yet.
walk!

MaEl, lets go!

Oh well, so much for that
oh he's walking back to the locker room alright
The tying run is at the plate.

Let’s go Ellis! (or not)

C'mon, Mark, you're a professional hitter...

Aaaaaaaaaaand crap.

he wasted zero time in ending this game
The M's and the A's have the same hits as they did Monday night

Eveland wasn’t sharp but he stayed away from the big innings, and he picked up a win 4-3.
The A’s scored 4 runs again tonight, but they lost because Blanton blew up in the big inning again.

The A's have a pretty good winning record when they score 4 runs or more

but Blanton’s ERA dictates a run support of 5 or more runs per game.

And because Ziggy bailed Eveland out

Eveland easily pitched badly enough to give up 6.

2 out of 3 ain't bad.

We need to get 3 out of 4 and I’ll be happy.

I won't - this was a series to sweep

It was right there for us.

Sorry but 3 out of 4 in any series is a good thing.

I wanted a sweep too!!

I just mean that everything aligned uniquely

to give the A’s an especially good shot at a sweep.

Sure but we gave up 11 damn hits.

Tough to win those type of games, but you’re right, it was there for the taking :-(

Yep!

I think the bad call didn’t help.

That call was ridiculous

I don’t mean to pick on the blind, but fuck.

Even a blind squirrel

Blah, blah, blah.

Well, still only 5 back

Would’ve been nice to be only 4 back. Oh, well. Go for the series win tomorrow, I guess.

day game tomorrow?
Indeed
I'm getting off-boarded at 2 pm so I can't listen at work (rats)
I'll be listening

and hope to post. Love these guys, no matter what.

Joe blanton loses again
I wonder if Beane offered Blanton instead of Gaudin to Cubs

I am sure Hendry would have said No before Billy got to the TON part of Blanton.

Out of his mouth
To the Mountains

ears.

Damn Big Joe

Even though Donnie Murphy had a good game the A’s never should have parted with Scooter, because as Reg says he’s way VORPIER than VORPER than Donald.

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