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Open Game Thread (cont.) A's at Mariners

The action rolls on. 

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If any image calls for

width=200, it’s that one.

Run away!

run away!

Flagged for grossness
Flagged for eeeew!
Runs, please

And not the kind Taco Bell gives people.

well this thread is off to a great start
If anyone is watching the USA v. Japan game

Do you think those commentators are better than Joe Morgan?

there are none?
My point exactly.
I know he's not very popular...

but I actually like him…would anyone agree if I compared him to John Madden?

I like Morgan, too.

We’re definitely the minority here, though.

definitely. silence > Morgan
Yeah, I really like the silence.
Wow.

Uh… thanks for the free baserunners?

Go A's!

New thread mojo!

Anderson is workin quick
I agree...

it seems like he’s working too quick but I haven’t seen him much

Bases loaded, nobody out!

Shit.

This never ends well.
Yeah can't believe it!
Well, so much for this inning.
WTF!

back to back pitches that should have been strike 3 called balls

It's been a weird strike zone
Yeah what's up with that, Anderson should have K'd that dude
Needs to be an Olympic game thread

You’re confusing me.

He's not getting anything thrown down in the zone
How hard is Anderson throwing?

He looks legit!

doing the conversion his curve was at 80
Car Gone!

Please!

Battle of the poor defenses
we got a run!
Enjoy while you can...

Crystal ball predicts a GIDP by Louganis…

Oh no!

Thomas hit his head on the diving board!

USA lookin good
I could be really vague and leave people wondering which game I'm talking about
i was just thinkin about that
Well, the guy who said the balls should have been strike 3

sure wasn’t talking about A’s-M’s.

Holy Hell!

Unbelievable that we cant beat these guys!

NICE PLAY!!! (Anderson)
Nice, a reach-out-and-touch-someone hit
Wow Staplehead..

proves me wrong….

Best nickname ever.

IOTM

LOL

I made that quickly after someone asked for a picture of Barton with staples in his head.
Haha!

too funny!

Wow Gonzalez was way out…but I’ll take it

M's announcers just said he was safe.

I was looking away from the screen, so I didn’t see it, but if the M’s guys said so, they must really believe it.

I don't like Pennignton's chances on getting the ball out of the infield...
That sort of applies

to the rest of today’s lineup…just to be fair..

or Patterson
Has anyone here been paying attention to the Anderson fastball?
whats the velocity?
I was just wondering that.

It looks very good.

I'll check next inning at post it
Futures game he was 91-94
I converted his curve at 80 in the first inning
Thats prob his chnage.

Curves are almost never in the 80s.

We need Jason Donald
That was a great piece of hitting by Barton

Kendall-good, but still – I prefer to delude myself into thinking it was more Wade Boggs good.

God, that story about him drinking 50 beers as told by Jeff Nelson is F'ing hilarious

And educational.

Dexter Fowler has quite the batting stance
Yu Darvish is warming up for Japan.
I wonder if he's whirling
Wow, Pennington couldn't have dropped it in there any better
Yeah, but way to (not) hustle.
That's the problem with thinking it's going foul
Yep, he had to play it safe.

If he had run hard and then it did go foul, then he sure would have been in trouble.

Dunno about that. If it's borderline you have to be running.

Problem is, running on Ichiro.

Sorry, I forgot the [sarcasm] tag.

Of course you have to run. Why wouldn’t you?

Pennington!

laces on the right

O.o

I’m speechless…who are these guys in Green and Gold!

OMG!

What a doink!

frozen rope

They’ve scored over their quote the sky is falling…RUN!

The power of the Bomb Shelter!
Woo hoo!

Yay for cheap hits and HBPs!

Woohoo!

Gio can get a win.

Dude.

The jinx?

No such thing as a Jinx.
th a's

are hitting the cover off the ball. if the ball were a stewed tomato

We've said it a lot since the All Star break, but

Thank God we’re not Mariner’s fans.

THat was one of the lucky bloops we've had in a while.

About time we got one!

Pennington's hit was ugggggly

And I’ll take it.

Cairo never had control did he?
Geren's got a legitimate

argument on this…too bad no replay…

come on Bobby 4-4
The A's just scored 4 times in 1 inning.

I’m gonna have to keep saying that over and over again until I really believe it.

this isn't a gossip thread
I'd have to keep saying it...

even if the A’s score 1 time in 4 innings….

One more inning for Gio?

Then Devine & Ziegler? Do we trust anyone else?

I trust Street right now, but I'm weird that way. And Blevins.
More than just that way, dear
someone must be making chocolate chip cookies
Anderson looks a lot like Washburn.
That 3rd strike pitch was nasty
You know, as ugly as Pennington's swing and hit were

he did the one thing A’s hitters keep failing to do: in an RBI spot he swung the bat with two strikes and put bat on ball. There’s a lot to be said for that.

Too bad Cust has blurry vision

He probably didn’t see that.

Pennington = New Eckstein?

Clutchy and unencumbered by talent?

With these two teams playing..

Is it me or does it feels like no one really wants to win the game….

i think its

neither team is good enough to win this game

sadly, one will

But the A’s have a mathematical chance of a winning season, so I predict A’s win.

cairo

looks like a cartoon dock worker

So much for the shutdown inning
When a resistable force meets a movable object

About sums up this game

Double play!

(USA)

USA double play!
Still tied?
yep

Anderson lookin good

keep that Ichi meter right where it is
Anderson just ended the fifth inning with a ground ball for a double play...

i got his fastball at 92.584 mph and breaking ball at 82.542

Awesome.

Cause if his fastball was sitting at like, 92.583, that would spell trouble.

Don't. Even. Joke.
who are these girls they keep showing in the stands?
Matt Laporta's ladies.
they are pretty hot I would say
whaaa

thats down from an average of 92.972. what is wrong with that guy. shut him down

did you want me to give you the kph..
Thanks for the conversion.
yes

but don’t tell me that its kph. that would look pretty

okay...

133-breaking ball
149-fastball

syd finch
you've heard a lot about anderson...

but you didn’t know he was that amazing

That ball was pissed on to left field!
Emil Brown kind of looks like a Mr. Potatohead to me.
you me a pothead
Frank!

C’mon baby!

Brown does it again! Double!

(USA)

I wish guys in the big leagues would run that hard
Is this the same Brown that belongs to the Angels?
Yeah. Plays for Salt Lake.
you shouldn't have given that USA caption though..it would've been interesting
Yeah, but our Brown already grounded out
he's in AAA right?
Corey, Andrew, Emil

We have lots of Browns.

Not ours
i'm talking about the guy on USA..double
Zook!

Homer now!

Our Zook has more HRs than their Zook

Ellis..any update??

"sore shoulder" is the last I heard
when I hear

“Ellis” amd “sore” i just figure he is mad cuz he didn’t get juice

It's actually kind of fun watching two games at once
Brings up an interesting question:

How many games do we need to watch at once to have a decent chance of winning one?

Since the ASB?

Probably about five.

Well if the A's are involved...at least two porobably more
So, anybody want to adopt a puppy?


I’ve got five more just like it.

Damn you Beltre.

Damn!

He is cute!

Awww what kind are they?

Australian Shepherd/Black Lab/???
Don't let Leo

see him!

I should get him one

how much?

Sorry, I was away from the computer.

$20!

Angels being beaten down 9-0.

That’s always nice.

That makes me a smile a little.

Things that make me smile:
  1. Puppies
  2. Angels lose

Things that make me sad:

  • The A’s
  • Alan Embree pitching

    Insane Clown Posse.

    Nick Swisher in a White Sox jersey.

    Insane Clown Posse.

    My friend who is a DIEHARD Angel and Boston Celtic fan

    calls up everytime his team wins a game.

    He called up and said he was not near a TV and wanted to know the Angel score.

    I told him they were winning 9-0. When he gets home, he will find out they are getting their arse kicked.

    Hahaha!

    Oh man! That’s harsh!

    That's actually funny!
    When they won the WS in 2002 he called at least 25 times to rub it in

    When they beat the A’s, he calls up and laughs and then hangs up.

    I could see it being justifiable homicide if i decided to end his life. Believe me, He is the most nauseating, annoying POS you can imagine. When the Angels clinched in Oakland on the second last day of the season a few years back, he came in the next day and wore his Angel hat and sat on my couch and laughed.

    And how is he still your friend?
    Simple.
    I have friends that do stuff kinda like that...but I don't know if its that bad
    Read one way, that could be a heck of an insult
    Saw that

    couldn’t be happier!

    that. was. a, bad, throw. Bobby.

    And why was Zook, once again, five feet in front of the plate? Gaaack.

    Probably saw clips of the hit Schierholtz put on the Chinese catcher the other day...

    …and figured he’d better be REALLY careful.

    I like that Chinese catcher.

    Whatever his name was… I saw him during the World Baseball Classic (am I the only guy that watched it?). He’s pretty good, by China’s standards, at least.

    Who's pitching? if Lackey was pitching I would be even happier!
    Saunders...Lackey pitched yesterday

    OH MY GOSH! I think i’m going to vomit.

    Teagarden doubles in a pair! USA 6-4!
    Great piece of hitting...

    opposite field half way up the wall, let’s go Anderson, shut em down.

    Came about a foot from being a 3-run homer
    Embree in... woohoo!
    three outs carlos

    you only need to get three

    USA USA USA USA!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Looks like W/Sox had pitching problems from the 5th inning on

    Keep it going TB

    Wouldn’t it be great to see Minny win the WC andf Boston and the Yankees both eliminated

    Yeah...

    I’ve been rooting for that it would awesome. It hurts to see all those bandwagoners.

    How about Twins win the Central

    White Sox win the wild car. And anybody but the Angels wins the WS

    HR for Donald right down the line! 8-4!
    USA...another double wow...this teams a doubles machine.
    wow i'm an idiot...that's what happens when you watch two games at once
    It hit the fair pole
    Bullshit I saw it hit the foul pole.
    I thought it was a double too.
    i'm an idiot i thought it hit the wall
    8-4 USA after 5
    anyone got a pitch count on Anderson...they better not overwork him dammit
    Yeah, we need to do that!
    Another K

    What is the K count for Anderson?

    Dunno. The boxscore on the NBC Olympic site is incomplete.
    I'd say around 6-8
    Not sure, but I hope we get Cahill in relief.
    it's not likely...would us having a lead change that though?
    It's for the bronze and he only went 3 innings the other day. I'm sure he could pitch for it.

    Please score 2 + runs. Kthanks.

    1st base umpire is blind tonight
    Rajai Davis, our top hitter in August

    batting .421

    Fuck you!

    Cairo!

    Hey, I'd like to visit Egypt someday
    Me too,

    but still, fuck him!

    OK, I don't follow the Olympics at all

    But I see USA and Japan are competing for the bronze. Is it a spoiler if I ask who got gold and silver?

    I think that game is tommorow.
    Yeah, OK, but who's playing?

    Like I said. I haven’t been following at all.

    No, because Cuba and South Korea play tomorrow, or in the middle of the night here, or whenever.
    Cuba plays undefeated S Korea for the two top spots
    Ah, thanks.

    Korea? Really?

    They've been very good lately. They were unbeaten in the WBC until...

    …the semi-final loss to Japan and had already beaten Japan twice in the tournament before that.

    Why didn't we start Anderson yesterday?
    I dunno. They went with Strasberg.

    He pitched all right, I think 4 runs in 6 innings, but the bullpen gave up a pair of 3-run homers in the eighth.

    Davy Johnson thought Strasburg was the best

    possible starter. He went against Cuba, had problems.

    He probably thought that because he looked dominant...

    early on in pool play he faced some bad team and didn’t give up a hit or something

    Who did Barton face in pool play?
    Korea=8-0 Cuba 7-1

    Korea beat USA 8-7 (I think) in the bottom of the 9th, walkoff SF.

    Cargon

    from doubles machine to Gidp machine….ugh

    4 runs on 3 hits against Anderson through 6
    yeah...it was just those two walks and two homers really
    Damn, how bad does your lineup suck

    if Hannahan comes in to pinch-hit?

    it really sucks...but not as bad as the m's
    And yet

    They are winning

    What?!?!?! Pinch hit hannahan for Pennington!?!?!
    remember the defensive replacement yesterday sound familiar
    wrap your head around that one
    I'm still pissed about that one...pennington was playing so good on defense why Geren?
    Geren said on the pregame show

    that he prefers Hanahan as a defensive replacement for Pennington because of “experience”.

    Experience...

    came into play when he made that play early on.

    K!!!!

    good call coach!

    Bowen is really hated. I forgot he was on the team until they showed him.

    It's a time-honored Oakland A's tradition

    to hate the backup catcher.

    Remember who Steinbachs back-up catcher was?
    Ron Hassey?
    Yeah, from 88-90

    He had 845 ABs in those 3 years though… more than bowen will ever have with us.

    In recent history

    Greg Myers was reasonably liked.

    Melhuse, Fasano … not so much.

    Greg Myers did okay

    I was looking at the 2001 season once, game by game. I had forgotten the A’s even had Greg Myers.

    I still remember that game where he Myers roped one off of Percival...

    … Loved it.

    Why can’t it be a time honored tradition to hate Crosby, Hanahan or DFA?

    that was just a guy in the stands with a BP jersey
    Tomorrow's matchup: Eveland vs Washburn

    God, what a suck-fest this series is.

    I think eveland will pitch good tomorrow...he looked really good in AAA and he's facing the M's
    He may pitch well

    apparently they did some adjustments to his windup to keep his head steady, and he doesn’t lose the target.

    Much better on walks.

    basically...

    he from my eyes watching him…he doesn’t bring his left hand and glove over head anymore, but just around shoulder level. I’m not an expert but it just looks simpler.

    i miss vidro and sexon
    haha, did he really have to dive?
    It's the only way to make Web-Gems.
    That was exactly my reaction -

    it looked like he slowed down so he could dive.

    Take a bad route...then dive...

    you look amazing and it’s a guarantee web gem

    The "Eric Byrnes" play.
    Just showing Daric

    how you’re suppose to dive.

    Don't knock it.

    It got Torii Hunter a $90M contract.

    CarGon!
    That's how you patrol!

    Patrol Craft!

    Well,

    The face into the turf was a little dramatic.

    It's the drama that keeps us watching.

    Admit it.

    But it takes

    experience to become Kotsay-like.

    Mariners announcers:

    “Ryan Feieieieieieireband turned in a very strong performance tonight.”

    No, we just suck.

    They've lost seven in a row.

    Grasping for anything positive to say.

    How about:

    “At least we’ve still got Yuni!”

    Wait, that’s not a positive.

    He's hitting in the 2 spot!

    Spin: Wow, Yuni has arrived!

    Reality: Everyone else sucks, may as well try him.

    Not that I'm disagreeing.

    Yes, we suck. No, Feierabend is nothing to get excited about.

    Anderson back out for the 7th
    A good hitter ties the game with a HR

    Hanging slider

    i understand all those words

    just not in that order

    The tease is on........
    GIDP, anyone?
    If anyone can do it Big Frank can!
    wow!
    Sigh.

    What did I tell ya?

    You called it
    I hated to do it.

    But the A’s are the A’s, yes?

    Indeed

    These are the A’s of our lives.

    sigh.....goodness
    Its on the Hurt
    If anyone is still watching...

    Anderson is carving up these Japanese hitters…comes out throwing strikes and working fast. Made a few mistakes but other than that really dominant. We’re headed to the bottom of the seventh USA 8-4.

    I didn't want to call that DP
    And that's the way the game ends.

    We have a tendency to win game 1 of the series, and tank the rest of the way, right?

    The one thing we seem to be good at

    is losing.

    What are you talking about we're winning...

    oh (sigh) thats USA.

    If I had to pick one team to win tonight, it's USA
    I wasn't expecting the A's offense to be this bad tonight...wait what did I just say.
    You mean "this good," right?
    honestly I was expecting them to score more runs of feirabend...but I guess you're right.
    It's almost as if we see a really sucky pitcher

    and take it as a challenge.

    Double for Schierholtz
    Frack.

    I can’t watch USA because my computer won’t run stupid Microsoft Silverlight. DAMN YOU BILL GATES!!!

    I forgot to pay attention to the end of the A's game,

    not that that’s a bad thing. Too distracted by the Olympics in general. It’s actually pretty nice to be able just to read the commentary instead of listening to random announcers. Except when my feed freezes on LaPorta touching his helmet. Oh well.

    Have to agree with the Slusser article

    Not looking at signing Thomas next year.

    I hope so, I really don't think he can add anything to the team anymore.
    yeah bat speed is a lot slower

    come to think of it, the word speed and Frank Thomas should never be mentioned
    near each other.

    I know it's easy to kick any hitter when he's down,

    but I’ve always backed Thomas when he needed ABs to get it back together – this is the first time that it looks like it may not just be rust. And considering that his age, speed, and injury history are givens, why take the chance on “he might have something left, might not”?

    agreed. I think we have reached the end of the Frank that is feared by the opponent
    Yeah, that's what I'm thinking.
    Rather go after Burrell and Furcal
    do we have jack cust for next year...

    because if we do then he will dh because of our crowded outfield besides the fact he plays a terrible LF

    Bring Giambi Home!!!
    I couldn't agree more

    Giambi, Chavez, Cust is a good start, with Suzuki, Gonzalez, Sweeney, Cunningham behind them. Personally, I’d like one of the mashers to be right-handed but I’m not for asking any of those three to try hitting righty.

    Pat Burrell
    Giambi could spot start in 1b as well
    I think Cust would be DH

    and if you got Jason he would have to play a lot of 1b

    Get me Giambi and Furcal and I'm a happier camper, circa

    Furcal – SS
    Cust – DH
    Chavez – 3B
    Giambi – 1B
    Suzuki – C
    Gonzalez – CF
    Cunningham – LF
    Sweeney – RF
    Patterson? – 2B

    Chavez...I thought he couldn't play 3B anymore?
    The current "party line" is that the A's expect

    there’s a good chance Chavez will be “good to go” at 3B come spring training. I’ll believe it when I see it, but I think his chances are enhanced, not decreased, by surgery #4 – even though it’s #4. Wish he had done it a little sooner – like THE FIRST TIME THEY OPENED UP HIS SHOULDER – but the time line is still realistic.

    Ugh.

    Setting aside any question of how they’re hitting … I just don’t like Jason Giambi. And I totally love Frank Thomas.

    The Giambi years where fabulous
    And well in his past
    and could be the future.
    Highly unlikely without Balco's juice running through his veins.
    .888 ops isn't that horrid.
    Anderson is done. 7 solid innings. Jepsen in.
    Jepsen in and throwing heat
    Hit 155 kph or 96 mph
    Just broke off a 118 kph or 73 mph breaking ball
    96.31253476
    Is that irony?

    Or are we unclear on the concept of significant digits?

    no just making an ass of myself...theres nothing like watching a baseball game with a calculator in hand.
    DP after a single, on to the bottom of the 8th for the USA
    who's he play for? i like his stuff
    Angels system
    AAA

    Salt Lake Bees

    is he closing for them or starting?
    things are looking good
    Post-game wrap is up
    USA tries to pull off the steal second/steal home play but Japan throws home in time for the out.

    USA is three outs away from the bronze.

    Looked like he may have been safe at the plate though
    does jepsen remind anyone of morrow?

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