Athletics Nation

Actually, that reminds me of the kid that goes to his first night game

when the first pitch is thrown at 7:05 he says, wow that’s fast!

What the hell?

I just got home… the game’s over?!?!? I was hoping to catch the last couple innings : (

in HD?

xbhaskarx - September 19, 2008 reply

Um, I'm from Iowa.

What’s HD?

Just kidding. I know what HD is. Hog Delivery! I just did one the other day! Although I don’t see what that has to do with the A’s.

Oh crap.

You were the GD, weren’t you? My bad.

Just put some wool on it and be done with it

Flashfire - September 19, 2008 reply

Do they come with or without lipstick?

Flashfire - September 19, 2008 reply

No comment

Don’t wanna get politically banninated.

No, Flashfire is not political

just,
uh,
has strange tastes.

MobiusKlein - September 19, 2008 reply

Now I'm confused as to how I feel about bush

Bush good

Tree bad

MobiusKlein - September 19, 2008 reply

Bush = the worst ever. Trees = good.

jdub69 - September 20, 2008 reply

but IIRC, trees cause pollution

monkeyball - September 20, 2008 reply

But trees fight Global Warming.

Shrubs? Not so much.

And why am I asking this question for Nico? He's here now.

Flashfire - September 19, 2008 reply

devine threw a dominant...?

skutch - September 19, 2008 reply

He was so dominant

that the Mariners were still scared of him in the ninth.

notsellingjeans - September 19, 2008 reply

LOL

I fixed it. Sorry :)

Great night for Eveland

No walks – it helps that the M’s love to hack away, but still, he was very sharp.

doctorK - September 19, 2008 reply

That was indeed a great night for him.

He owns the Mariners

Though it’s arguable that the Mariners own themselves.

Nine more wins to .500!

What do you think? Do we have a shot?

Curse the rainout in Baltimore!

And curse Math.

Aw shit.

I forgot about that rainout.
…
What is this math that you speak of?

I want 9 to be less than 8

DyeLongJustice - September 20, 2008 reply

but i dont want to finish in front of the rangers

Then don't

Personally, I’m rooting for a 9 game winning streak to end the season because I watch and listen to the A’s to root for them to win.

Nico - September 20, 2008 reply

+ 1

FreeSeatUpgrade - September 20, 2008 reply

I'm still looking for that song.

Jennifer - September 19, 2008 reply

I want it. I looked for a while then gave up.

I.ll look again tomorrow.

This song?

Omg! Leslie Gore is awesome!

Sunshine and rainbows!

She should add in unicorns.

I saw Leslie Gore live once.

With Lou Christie. She was very entertaining, but Lou made her look like an amateur.
Lou Christie!

1950's overload!

There go the fireworks!

Love that I can see them from my house,

and if I walk down to the end of my street I can hear the music too.

Yeah, I'm on LSD too

You're just jealous!

You have better LSD?

Serves me right for accepting a “bargain” from a midget tranny.

Haha!

Oh you! I can’t tell if you’re kidding me or trying to kick my ass.

No, I'm not kidding

But it’s possible he/she was a dwarf – I’m never sure of the technical distinction between a midget, a dwarf, and salb918.

Well,

never having met salb918, I definitely can’t.

You might have met him and not known it

because you were looking straight ahead.

And you would know this how?

You know the creepy guy who's been stalking you?

I’ve been stalking him.

< files restraining order against Nico >

oblique - September 19, 2008 reply

{puts with all the others}

(Puts oblique in my little black book under "gentlemen"

and nico under "kinky").

(oblique sell name rights to Nico)

captain bubblehead - September 19, 2008 reply

Ziggy

He’s doing a great job…even though he’s seeing a truckload of lefties (expanded September roster has alot to do with that). Cool under pressure!!!

2nd base

I wonder whether Ellis would have got that ball in the 9th inning that Pennington couldn’t come up with. It would have changed the whole inning. Perhaps a one-year deal for Ellis could be mutually beneficial because it’s not clear Pennington or Patterson either hit or field well enough to be full-time major league second basemen. Ellis had 4 errors this year in 115 games. Pennington has 5 errors in 27 games.

SA - September 19, 2008 reply

I'd love to see a one-year deal

Given the way Ellis’ season has ended it seems like it might be mutually beneficial. I think Ellis would have gotten to that ball without diving but then would have had to make a quick throw with little on it – probably just in time (he has a knack for that).

I'd be ecstatic with a 1 yr deal for Ellis!

I’d even be happy with two years, as long as the total money isn’t too much.

UncleLeo - September 19, 2008 reply

Agreed,

A one year deal with Ellis might could be in everyone’s interest. If he can rehab the way he thinks he can I would want him back.

just got back from the game

a bit late because of the very colorful but muted music fireworks — anyone else notice that the music was much harder to hear than usual?

Highlights of the game were Eveland and Buck. Lowlights included several plays that Crosby missed, and of course Cust setting the American League record for strikeouts.

Over 30,000 fans attended — and unfortunately started the Wave in the eighth inning.

For the Mariners, Felix and Ichiro were impressive as usual. The rest of that team looks as beaten down as any I’ve seen.

oh yeah, Stomper danced without losing his head.

yes, the music did seem quietter. Maybe it's just because I didn't know most of the songs by heart, but still seemed quiet...

I'm just back too

I wasn’t having a problem with the music, other than being embarrassed by not knowing what any of it was after the first two songs (1968 and 1978…..I didn’t know any of the more recent stuff). The fireworks were great as always, even with the low clouds. The rain in the first inning was annoying and a sad reminder of the end of the season, but it stopped. A great many people in the left field bleachers shared this gamethread sentiment about the familial sucktitude of the brothers Tuiasosopo and wished to share their insight with Matt. A very drunk young man behind me predicted Hannahan’s base hit and congratulated himself on it for the rest of the game. There is no tent sale, but all of the stores have 50% off sales now, and most still have a pretty good selection of stuff, including the satin warmup jackets and the elephant-in-sunglasses patches which someone was asking about earlier.

Englishmajor - September 19, 2008 reply

You beat me by one song.

I could name Jumpin’ Jack Flash, of course, and have some vague recollection of the late 90s boy band song, but those were not classics (I hope). Maybe the royalties budget was running low.

Oh, and I got my 1.5 secs of fame cheering for the Travis HR. I warn’t pretty.

1978 was Donna Summer

asfaninpismobeach - September 20, 2008 reply

I knew Jack was gonna get that hit

The NL MVP this year is probably going to be a guy who struck out 200 times. Cust’s record really means nothing.

As for Ichiro: Ichiro 2008 EQA: 286. Ryan Sweeney 2008 EQA: .282. And a lot of people might not realize it, but Sweeney’s a better defensive player. Ichiro has the super cannon arm, but he hasn’t actually been a plus defender for quite some time.

That Ichiro contract is already ugly, but in a year or two it might be the worst in baseball for a position player (MIchael Young will give him a run for his money).

thejd44 - September 20, 2008 reply

Cust is certainly not close to being an MVP

that he leads in some offensive categories on the A’s says less about his abilities than it does about the A’s offensive weakness.

and Ichiro is hardly a lousy player offensively (six straight years of 200+ hits is not too shabby) or defensively (Sweeney doesn’t have nearly the number of games or defensive chances…Sweeney’s future is certainly brighter, as he is quite a bit younger). Ichiro’s contract may seem ugly because the Mariners are on their way to a 100-loss season with a $100 million payroll.

Anyway, my comments had to do with this particular game.

I never said Cust was an MVP

What I said was that one of the guys who will finish in the top 3 in NL MVP voting will have 200 strikeouts this year. They are, basically, outs. Very slightly worse than regular outs. The strikeout record says as much about how good a hitter is as a saves record says about how good a pitcher is.

Where did I say Ichiro was lousy? He’s an ok hitter (especially now) making the money that should be reserved for an elite player. Ichiro has 200+ hits every year for a handful of reasons: He’s a leadoff hitter, he plays nearly every game (health is certainly a positive attribute), he doesn’t walk, and he’s fast so he gets lots of infield/bunt hits. He has a fairly empty .300 average most seasons. All that makes him a pretty good, but not great, hitter. An .808 career OPS for a corner OF (what he’s primarily been and what he should always be) is nothing to sneeze at. It’s also not an all-time great number. His speed/stolen bases help. But not enough.

He’s not great defensively. At all. He’s not lousy defensively, but he’s a seven-time Gold Glove OF and he shouldn’t have any of them.

This year, Ichiro is only a marginally better player than Ryan Sweeney. That’s my real point. He’s worth a half-win more, maybe a full win because of Sweeney’s injuries. Does anybody think Sweeney + 1 win is worth $17 million?

thejd44 - September 20, 2008 reply

my comment really had more to do with

how beaten down the Mariners looked last night as a team. But I had to note some exceptions, notably Felix’s performance last night, as well as Ichiro’s (he made a highlight reel-worthy catch that even A’s fans were applauding).

notsellingjeans - September 20, 2008 reply

I agree that Ichiro is generally overrated

but you’re underrating him just as badly. He’s been a 30 RAA hitter over his career. His defense seems to be the most contentious thing in baseball short of “Moneyball” but it’s certainly not worse than 0 runs overall (which is a slightly above average corner OF or a slightly below average CF). +3 win players are usually paid $15 million or more a year; surely his marketing proceeds easily make up whatever difference there is between his salary and his value.

If he declines in future, all bets are off of course. Right now he’s worth the money.

The sad thing is that he would be 10-15 runs a season better than he is offensively if he was not such a selfish prick.

PaulThomas - September 20, 2008 reply

I had a whole response typed out, then hit the wrong button

In summary: Fair point with the marketing. It’s financially a good move even when he sucks in 3 years.

He’s had 4 years (out of 8, including this year), where he’s been 2.5 or fewer wins above average, 1 year at about 3, and 3 where he was pretty freakin’ awesome. Averaged out, that’s about +3 wins, like you said. But I think looking at the numbers more closely shows a guy who has been very inconsistent (despite his reputation) over the years, and three of the last four seasons will be slightly above 2 wins above average. Bad? Nah, of course not. But not worth the $17 million from a baseball standpoint.

As for him being selfish. I assume you mean that he doesn’t hit for the power he has so he can have a +.300 average and 200 hits. If this is the case, I think it’s funny that the media claims this makes him unselfish when it’s really the opposite. He might hit for a lower average and some fewer infield singles, but he’d produce quite a few more runs with an extra 10 or so homers (and probably more doubles and triples) a season.

I dont know if BBPro has a sorting feature that can do this: Over the course of Ichiro’s career, how many corner OFs have had the same number of RAA or better? Over the past five seasons, Ichiro has been 1 win better with the bat than Aaron Rowand (149 RAA to 138). I assume bbpro accounts for league, park, etc. That’s pretty telling, I think.

thejd44 - September 20, 2008 reply

Blah blah blah, Ichiro is phenominal.

jdub69 - September 20, 2008 reply

Ichiro stinks

He’s pheromonal

monkeyball - September 20, 2008 reply

Well, when you put it that way

All my research and comparisons just look ridiculous. Touche!

thejd44 - September 20, 2008 reply

I wasn't talking about power, I was talking about walks

Ichiro is well-known to deliberately foul off balls so that he doesn’t have to get a walk and “waste” a plate appearance.

PaulThomas - September 20, 2008 reply

Ichiro's marketing value vs. performance value

I don’t have the article handy, but I’ve read somewhere (THT? LL?) that the Mariners have a ~$25MM a year cable/TV deal in Japan. Obviously they didn’t have this deal before Ichiro, and they might not have that kind of presence after he leaves.

If you look at it that way, the TV deal he generates pays for his contract by itself. Plus, if his continued presence and eventual Hall of Fame entry as a Mariner allows the M’s to maintain a permanent marketing foothold in the Far East after he retires, the deal looks even better.

Michael Young can lay no such claims about his impact upon Texas.

Also, in terms of in-game attendance, Ichiro is like an elite NBA player – one of the few major leaguers (A-Rod, Clemens, Bonds, Dontrelle at one point) who legitimately sells tickets on his own.

Absolutely

I did concede this point because it’s a great one. He’s absolutely worth the money from a financial standpoint. I’m not so much questioning the Mariners’ decision to give him the deal as I am pointing out how not-great he actually his on the field.

I do wonder, however, at what point down the road will he be bad enough that playing him hurts the team. At that point the organization needs to figure out if the cost of him being a bad player (which he’s not now by any means) hurts more than the benefit gained by the financial side.

thejd44 - September 20, 2008 reply

I don't see playing him hurting the team being a problem any time soon.

Flashfire - September 20, 2008 reply

Albert Pujols isn't going to be near 200 strikeouts.

mikev - September 20, 2008 reply

Albert Pujols isn't going to be near 100 strikeouts.

Are you suggesting Ryan Howard might be the MVP again? Because seriously.. if that happens.. I will shit myself. No way he steals it twice from Albert.

VORP is too nerdy - September 20, 2008 reply

The wave was to prove and remind everyone it was firework game.

Athletix Man - September 19, 2008 reply

What a night....

As the season comes to a close, I’d like to offer my thanks to everyone for this joyous evening…

Thank you to the random strangers, who jumped out of their car and offered their remaining free parking passes to the cars waiting in line to get into the parking lot. Saved me $15. Awesome.
Thank you to the random stranger who gave me a Buy One, Get One Free thing to buy my tickets for Sunday’s game.
Thank you to my friends for remembering to bring their IDs so that they could buy my beer for me after we stood in line for a while, only to realize that my ID was in my car.
Thanks to Poppy, for the Ellis jersey from last weekend, and the free parking pass that I can use on Sunday.
Thanks to my sister, for allowing me to call in the top of the fourth inning to say “No hits, no walks, no runs”, only to call back seconds later to say “jinx worked, buck hit a homer”.
Thank you to the really really loud group of kids behind me that were just really really excited and shrieky about everything. I thought they were going to pass out when Stomper came out to dance. “Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!! Stomper!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Thank you to the kids in that group who kept running up and down the space between the seats. I really enjoyed having my beer spilled onto my socks. Oh and the nachos? Yeah, I guess I was done with those, you can step in them.
Thank you to that same group of kids, for reminding me why I am not ready to be a parent.
Thank you to the over-sexed high school kids who were sitting next to me on the grass for the fireworks. Okay, “next to” isn’t quite accurate. If I’m laying on my blanket, and you have your own blanket, then how can you explain your ass parked on my lap? But thanks, it’s been a long time since these jeans have been anywhere near a make-out session. But please, did you really need to grab my ass?
Thanks to the same group of kids for the contact high. Next time, can you bring some brownies? I’m kinda hungry now.
Thanks to the PA system during the fireworks. Couldn’t really hear the music, but that’s okay, the fireworks were awesome. Major kudos on the finale.

It's always like that on fireworks night

When they turn out the lights, start your stopwatch — if you can get to ten seconds without the scent of weed, it’s worth noting.

Englishmajor - September 19, 2008 reply

When The Lights Go Down In The City!

and the dudes spark up in the baaayyyy!

So, THAT's what that huge cloud was.

thanks for that long list

I was with three other grownups — the kids around us never had a chance!

We had a soccer team or two.

Must’ve been at least 25 kids. I think all the parents were drinking somewhere. Maybe one or two parents and that was it.

wow

even worse.....soccer players = kids kicking the seats

ouch!

Darn hooligans.

OldhamA - September 20, 2008 reply

Why is Hannahan getting playing time over Barton?

Is Barton hurt? This is no different than if Emil Brown were playing over the other young guys. I don’t understand why it’s not Barton at first and Baisley at third for the remaining games.

thejd44 - September 20, 2008 reply

Barton was sick tonight

Probably a leftover from witnessing Brown’s slide yesterday.

Flashfire - September 20, 2008 reply

Just saw this and that he has a sore Achilles tendon

Fair enough. That’s why I asked the question. I wonder why Petit hasn’t been called up at this point. I’d rather see him playing than Hannahan, too.

thejd44 - September 20, 2008 reply

it was initially reported as a

“Non-baseball related” illness…wonder how he hurt his Achilees tendon, then?

The game notes on the A's site mentioned the flu

And a sore Achilles. If it’s just sore, it probably happened just from running. I’ve got an Achilles problem and sometimes it hurts, sometimes not. I could run full speed and it could be fine, but if I plant my foot funny while walking I might aggravate it. It’s a weird little tendon.

thejd44 - September 20, 2008 reply

…but if I plant my foot funny while ~~walking~~ diving I might aggravate it. … FTFY

the reason it sounds a little odd

is that for a professional athlete to have a sore Achilles tendon doesn’t sound at all like it wouldn’t be related to the sport. Perhaps it isn’t. but most of the time I’ve seen that it’s due to something that really doesn’t sound like an occupational hazard.

VORP is too nerdy - September 20, 2008 reply

I think the flu was the unrelated illness.

thejd44 - September 20, 2008 reply

Back from the game as well.

Mmm, I love being herded into BART cars with hundreds of other people and being rammed into by those who have had too much to drink. But other than that, it was a great night. The fireworks were wonderful, as always, and I especially enjoyed the heart fireworks to go along with that 1998 classic, “Tearing Up My Heart.” Other notes:

*I was in 216, so I heard the Crosby girl (“Bobby, you’re hot!!”), but I only remember hearing it his first at-bat. Maybe after that she realized he sucks.
*I had two questions when I was there, which could probably be answered by reading the game thread but I’ll just put them here first: Why did Dana come out after 7? He didn’t have very many pitches and was doing so well. Also, why did Baisley start instead of Dale again? I feel like Dale would’ve made a few of those plays that Baisley didn’t… but who knows.
*I really would like to see Huston closing again. Nothing against Ziggy—I love the guy—but I miss Huston’s glory days, and he’s been pitching well lately, and I feel bad for him, so let’s have him close, shall we?
*After the fireworks, I considered rolling myself up in my green blanket and hiding under the bullpen bench so I could camp out on the field overnight. I just love it out there.
*It wasn’t as cold as I thought it would be, which was nice. And the hot chocolate vendor came back in the later innings, which was perfect.
*I heart Travis. And Ry Ry. And Zook. Hooray for little bits of offense!
*The lineup was kinda funny—all 3 outfielders at the top, then DH and catcher, and then all 4 infielders at the bottom. Yep, that seems about right.
*I forgot about the strikeout record until an old guy near me started cheering for Cust to strike out during his 2nd AB. There were actually a lot of cheers when he did set the new record… gotta appreciate what we have.
*I got a tshirt for 50% off (hooray!) but they didn’t really have any good sizes in the player tees, just XL and youth larges. Ah well, maybe next year.
*The field looks sad. :( Stupid football.
*On the giveaway team photo, Chavy was quite obviously photoshopped in; Huston looks angry, exhausted, and scruffy; Emil looks pissed; Ellis is smiling big; and Mike Sweeney is there and smiling (obviously before his release). I wonder when they took the pic… it’s not that great of quality, but it’s kinda funny to see all the guys like that.
*I heart my boys, and I will miss them when they’re gone. Why must they leave? :(

whiteshoes40 - September 20, 2008 reply

My man crush of Travis Buck was mentioned?

Hell yes. I’m finally famous.

I hope that crush is on, not of.

green star oakland - September 20, 2008 reply

Buck can never take away my love for Pujols though.

So I’d have to say Buck’s going to be more like a Man Like, not a Man Crush.

DyeLongJustice - September 20, 2008 reply

You marry a Pujols (complete player)

You just have a fling with a Buck.

notsellingjeans - September 20, 2008 reply

THE question, of course, is: Will Spartacust become the Majors' first 200/100/30 man?

Howard missed by one SO in a previous season, and won’t get enough walks this year. Jack’s got the BoBs in the bag, but lacks 1 HR and 13 SOs, with 8 games to go.

Let’s go Jack! They’re out there!