Athletics Nation

You had me at “Monday”.

vegAN ryAN - April 2, 2009 reply

We'll be degrading Monday in no time.

I have that thread too.

And tomorrow in BBG’s place (well partial). Good gawd.

Oh my!

exactly!

I broke my small toe earlier today.

At least prescription pain killers dulled that ache.

Oh gosh!

I’ve done that. Hurts like hell!

Half of my foot has turned an angry purple.

I’m sure it would hurt like hell if I didn’t opt to eat vicodin with a pez dispenser.

Angry purple

That’s not in my box of crayons.

That vicodin with a pez dispenser made me laugh. Not out loud. But deep inside.

Hearty?

or… Heart-y?

mikev - April 2, 2009 reply

Definitely the second one.

I think.

Yikes!

I chose ice and sleep.

Sadly, I chose hysteria and wailing....

until I was properly medicated. Does that make me less of a man? Yeah, sure….but I can live with it.

I'm not allowed to say this, but it happens to be true:

I initially read that as “I chose ice and sheep.”

{secretly misses sheep jokes}

Lol!

lynnzgal - April 3, 2009 reply

In Florida,

they pass out hydrocodone like it’s candy.

So let’s just put that one in the plus column.

Leopold Bloom - April 2, 2009 reply

We think far to much alike

for me to feel entirely comfortable.

As well you shouldn't.

In fact, I recommend an immediate psych-eval.

Leopold Bloom - April 2, 2009 reply

Only if it's court ordered.

That way I get an early retirement.

or a straight jacket.

or both.

no thanks. I freak out the evals.

mikev - April 2, 2009 reply

in soviet union

candy passes out YOU!

You must have...

…one very constipated population, then. (Oops — TMI, sorry)

skigurl - April 3, 2009 reply

Yes, that is one of the rather unfortunate side effects...

15 day DL for you

who is coming in to take the open roster spot?

A'sfaninNC - April 3, 2009 reply

I don't know.

I’m too busy scratching my nose.

Is it

the nose or the nostril?

And is it a light one-finger scratch? Or more of an agressive knuckle scratch?

It's more of a

consistent, I’m on junk, can’t stop nodding scratch.

Ah,

the best kind. The crazy-ex-brother-in-law-Frankie kind.

Frankie Marquez?

We did time together down in Soledad! He could cook a radiator grilled cheese that would blow you away!

Holy crap

That was you?? Suddenly my world is starting to make sense. Damn, the stories he’d tell. He’d mention how you would always talk in your sleep, but only in French.

Which is strange because I don't speak French!

And never sleep

Well, that would make me cra..

nevermind.

Go ahead and say.

Yes. Yes, it would make you crawfish. Wear it.

{attempts to scuttle under nearby rock}

Nice scuttlebutt!

Chavez

Looked pretty good in the field. Admitedly I was chasing a 2 year old around the partk form the 3rd to the time I left, but what we saw early was good.

Awesome

I’m taking my 2-year old (godson) to Fan Appreciation Workout. Speaking of workout…

Mine

likes holliday and tejada. When Holiday first came up the kid kept saying “number five? he has a five on his back. Who is number four? where is number four?” It didn’t help that Chavez was hitting next.

Great stuff

I dig hearing stories like that.

Problem is

he is a social clapper. WHenever Giants fans would applaud, he would too. Good news we were out in the bleachers for Chavez’s home run and he clapped with the A’s fans there.

Yeah, but he'll learn.

Hopefully before he’s three.

That Chavvy rip was killer!

I hope he can keep on!

Without dying

mikev - April 2, 2009 reply

or spontaneously combusting

A'sfaninNC - April 3, 2009 reply

at that point,

we concede the season, right?

Never!!!!

Oh c'mon

If Chavy spontaneously combusts, we gotta think it’s just not our year.

I'd be more inclined to think

“Hmm, it’s a year.”

Cahill

it was kinda funny when Lincecum went to a 2 ball count on Cahill. He wasn’t even pretending to hit.

Oh

Whoever is the fella with the Ginter jersey is a hero.

That would be Keith

vignette17 - April 3, 2009 reply

in that case

Biggest hero

Future Ed - April 3, 2009 reply

Chavez

Chavez power is as good of news as Cahill poor control is bad news. Hurr…crap!

ChadGod - April 2, 2009 reply

Definitely some good and bad from Cahill

This is the first time I’ve seen him pitch since the futures game and although the results weren’t there it wasn’t all bad.

His control is obviously an issue but he is not completely hopeless. He seems to know generally where the ball is going but the movement makes it unpredictable. He was generally getting the ball in the vicinity of where the catcher wanted it.

The fastball was as advertised, and he seemed to be able to throw it two ways. He would throw it at 87-88 mph with great sink and tailing action on it. It would drop late and dive away from left handed batters. Sometimes he would pump it up a little bit to 90-91 mph where it would flatten out some but still retain the tailing action like a traditional 2-seamer with good movement. All of the Giants hitters except for Sandoval seemed to have real trouble squaring up the fastball.

The curve was not there at all and this can mean one of two things. Either the curve is just poor right now and Cahill will struggle to get K’s, or it’s just inconstent and it wasn’t there today for whatever reason (possibly the cold weather and heavy winds). I tend to think its the latter as Cahill has never had trouble striking people out in the minors and his curve had been rated above average. This could be a good sign that even without his best stuff Cahill can rely on the fastball to get outs.

The change-up was touch and go as well. This has never been a strength for Cahill but he unleashed a couple of really nice ones in this game. It seems to have the same sinking and tailing action as the sinker but comes in about 10-11 mph slower. If he could learn to control it better it could be a very effective pitch

While it was not a very good outing for Cahill I think there were some positive signs. If this is what Cahill’s bad outings look like I think he will be pretty good this year.

OkayJay81 - April 2, 2009 reply

Thanks for that....that was good!

baseballgirl - April 3, 2009 reply

It was ST

He might have been laying off the curve deliberately.

Lovejoy - April 3, 2009 reply

I'm not sure why he would do that.

Spring is the time to work on things

WaddellCanseco - April 3, 2009 reply

Excellent analysis, DiegoAsFan

Basically, Cahill’s movement is his greatest friend and worst enemy. Hitters can’t figure out where his sinker is, but sometimes neither can Cahill. To succeed, I think he’ll need to be able to throw his basic “here hit it” sinker at the knees for a strike when he wants to, something Webb and Lowe can do and Cahill currently cannot do reliably.

I can relate

I have this thing that is my greatest friend and worst enemy.

What’s that? Corner? It’s not even noon!

It's called the "Preview" button

To work on other pitches, particularly ones that might be an alternative.

Lovejoy - April 3, 2009 reply

He was trying to throw it

It just had no bite and wasn’t very effective. Usually it seemed to just kind of spin out there and end up off the plate outside to lefthanders. I think this lead to a couple of the walks, he’d get to 1-2 and 2-2 counts and not be able to put the hitter away because the curve let him down. Then when it got to 3-2 he’d miss low going back to the sinker.

OkayJay81 - April 3, 2009 reply

Saw that curve

I was at last Friday night’s game against the Padres and was able to see their DH deposit a Cahill curve that broke meekly into the wheelhouse for a three run homer.

Cahill wasn’t in much command of the strike zone and therefore couldn’t keep hitters off balance. Opposing batters will sit “dead-red” looking for a fastball to get himself back in the count if can’t locate or is unwilling to throw anything else.

A's Fan in LA - April 3, 2009 reply

Nice presentation of photos

Number 8 looks like that change-up.

Lovejoy - April 3, 2009 reply

Well

Don’t thank me; thank Dino. We go back. Like 12 hours back. Hey, don’t knock it. Leo and Kate did more with less time.

I had nothing to do with that strumpet!

Oh. Wait. I see.

Nevermind.

You play strumpet?

I did once in college,

but I was young and needed the money.

The picture quality

on CSN-CA was awesome, especially compared to Ch 36 last year. Even though last night’s game wasn’t in HD, I could still see a huge improvement in the sharpness of the graphics and the overall picture. And that annoying box in the lower right is gone!

skigurl - April 3, 2009 reply

drK had a different experience, I think.

at the end he blamed his the comcast in his area

and not the channel specifically.

micdog2001 - April 3, 2009 reply

Blame this guy

somebody needs to give Gio a homeplate to carry around ...

… so he can become closer with it.

Ouch.

Funny, but ouch.

Wow, that hurt.

ZigFan31 - April 3, 2009 reply

I was happy with seeing Gio hit 93-94

on the gun at time. More control and hes a #3-4 starter.

Syphon - April 3, 2009 reply

One could say the same of me as a poster

I'm more of a Blevins-type reliever:

I’ve got a few big fans, but most just groan when they see me come in.

I guess I'm more like Ziggy:

Within a half hour of posting, everyone leaves.

Oh cool

I was wondering which way to the low self-esteem meeting.

So let’s see, I’m more like Springer. New guy in town, but still old.

I’m not good at this
/attempts to kick rocks/misses/falls down

baseballgirl is like Casilla

Has been here a while, and arguably has the best stuff of the entire group.

I think he's got mental toughness issues, as well.

But I agree — one thing at a time.

I was real pleased with the one time I saw him in AZ. First guy whacked a ball that had every right to be a homer (except for Rajai’s effort). Then he settled down and nobody else made good contact. And then he got hurt, so maybe last night was just a small bump in the recovery road.

‘Cuz it’s April, and everybody’s a contenda.

I'm not sure I'd describe Gio's issue as "mental toughness"

so much as “excitability” that he has yet to harness. He also doesn’t seem to repeat his delivery that well. Often the pitch leaves his hand a ball, misfired from the git-go.

Gio is Warren Zevon!

My favorite part is after they let him out.

You like ribs?

Announcers

I watched a couple of innings last night, and noticed that the announcers weren’t even bothering letting viewers know who was batting in the late innings, and the screen didn’t always tell us. Very annoying. I assume it was Kuiper and Fosse, and insofar as I know, it’s Kuiper’s job to let us know who’s at bat. These clowns were just babbling. Yeah, I know it’s spring training, but c’mon…I’m watching for a reason.

richwol1 - April 3, 2009 reply

In their defense, Curtis Thigpen came up wearing Joe Dillon's #21

and I know Ken/Vince had trouble figuring out who it was. That kind of stuff happens a lot in ST where it can’t in the regular season.

In their further defense, they didn't suck any worse than usual.

"How much does it help you to know that you suck so much,

you can have a bad broadcast and no one will really notice?"

You mean

like this recap?

Oh, I thought we were still playing.

Wait until tonights broadcast

Kruk and Kuip will yuk it up, eliminate people, endlessly look at little kids and have neat little “inside” baseball terms. Foss and Little Kuip will start looking pretty good.

+1

micdog2001 - April 3, 2009 reply

Totally unrelated baseball development:

Emil Brown, aka Mr. First Half RBI aka DFA, was sent down to the Padres’ AAA affiliate. I know this will upset everyone here, but try to keep it together everyone.

RichSpider - April 3, 2009 reply

I thought Jermaine Dye was

Mr. First Half RBI?

(unreasonable hatred re-stirred)

Why does everyone knock Emil Brown?

I thought he was great for the A’s last year. The only reason his 2nd half wasn’t as good as the first was that Geren stopped playing him. Now that he’d be cheap, the A’s should take another look at him. Why not trade for him and put him at AAA? He’s clearly better than Denofria and could help out the big league club if somebody got hurt (which we all know will inevitably happen). Or even better, they could check out Sheffield or Catalanotto. They would be solid veteran presences. If someone is cheap and can help the team out, why not pick them up?

HugeA'sFan - April 3, 2009 reply

Emil

Shows how much has changed around here, last season speaking of Emil positively would get you destroyed. I thought he was representative of the A’s play last season; played far too well at the start and flamed out at the end. And he wasn’t a very good defender. Cust seemed better to me, at least he improved, while Emil was Emil. And I’d rather have Cust in the game than Emil. Cheap? Yes, Veteran? yes, Solid? Not so much. Same for Sheffield, but even worse in the clubhouse (so we are told.)

Pirates could use him