This sums up the way I feel about tonight's game and the way the A's have looked lately.
I know the pronunciation doesn't quite fit, but oh well.
Angels 5, A's 3.
One positive from tonight's game: Matt Holliday hit his first home run in the Coliseum.
Oh, but it came in the bottom of the ninth when the A's were down by four. Up to that point, he'd scored their only run in the second after being hit by a pitch. In typical A's fashion of late they managed to get only one run on a gapper by Travis Buck. Jack Cust, who was at first, would only make it to third as Gregorio Petit grounded into a bases-loaded double play to kill that rally. That would be the first of three double plays for the A's in four innings.
Predictably, the A's struggled against Angels starter Shane Loux, managing just the one run against him in 7 innings. He allowed five hits and a walk, striking out three to get the win. Not even Dallas Braden could lead the A's to the win because he was unable to toss a shutout (prior to the meaningless Holliday homer). He was also victimized by poor defense and the kinds of hits and plays only the Angels seem to benefit from. Braden went 6 innings and took the loss, giving up 8 hits, 5 runs, 3 earned runs, a walk and 6 strikeouts, but I don't think the Angels hit more than a couple balls hard off him.
Jack Cust had a couple of hits, one for a double. Travis Buck doubled. Kevin Cameron allowed a hit in two innings. Brad Ziegler, who is still alive, worked a 1-2-3 ninth.
Texas comes to town for another two-game series tomorrow night.
That's all I've got.
Oh, I wish the A's had a real, healthy third baseman. Hopefully one of these days they'll at least address this issue. It's not going to be solved by Chavez/Garciaparra/Crosby/Hannahan/Pennington/Baisley/etc.
0 recs | 112 comments
Infield singles.
ElQuesoCapitan - May 5, 2009
's enuff'
One won lost won - May 5, 2009
Well
on the somewhat bright side, there is a Lew Wolff interview coming tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. PST.
Not sure if that makes anyone feel better right now, myself included. I don’t know if I can deal with a whole year of a team that looks just as lethargic as this one does. I thought that having G around would at least inject some life, but it doesn’t seem to have worked. At least not yet.
Tyler Bleszinski - May 5, 2009
At least Texas is coming in
after beating Seattle a couple of times. That should make them unwary of the Athletics and their fevered determination (as shown with one swing in the 9th innning!!)
One won lost won - May 5, 2009
Could we sign a little person to bat once and draw a walk?
Or perhaps burn a huge pile of Jonas Brothers records in the middle of the diamond after a game one night?
Maybe the problem is that Beane using the wrong definition of general managerial success!
GreenNGoldSooner - May 5, 2009
Nah, we can't afford Pedroia
Kallus - May 5, 2009
Rimshot!
GreenNGoldSooner - May 5, 2009
thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week. don't forget to tip your waitress
Kallus - May 5, 2009
All week?
You’re stickin’ around for this?
oaklandSMASH - May 5, 2009
wherever there's a RedSux joke to be had...there I'll be
Kallus - May 5, 2009
What's remarkable is how many times the A's gave away the same 2 runs
in the second inning. Crosby boots a routine ground ball that should have ended the inning three up three down. Then he throws to the wrong base on Hunter’s chopper or the inning is over scoreless. Then Petit relays it to first, still in time to get Hunter, and Giambi is off the bag not ready for the throw. Then Sweeney misses the cutoff man on Figgins’ RBI single, allowing Aybar to go to third, where he scores on an infield hit. Pretty amazing.
Nico - May 5, 2009
They are consistent
Trainman - May 5, 2009
Consistency is BoCro's greatest baseball strength.
GreenNGoldSooner - May 5, 2009
When it rains, it pours.
Rated-R Superstar - May 5, 2009
Same story since 1901
as to why a team has a losing record in the American League…
It begins with poor defense.
One won lost won - May 5, 2009
that was the inning that really bugged me
OaklandSi - May 5, 2009
yup
pam5981 - May 5, 2009
yo, after that inning, I was like....wtf????
ak_A - May 6, 2009
I think the A's are tired of finding ways to lose and just laying down for the count
I know that is the most negative thing I could say right now, but that’s how I feel. Crosby’s error on third caused the snowball effect on my mind. Does no one want to step up and be a big leaguer?
Time for Geren to chew out some ass and for beane to throw his weight around because if we can’t stand it here, you know the faithful are dropping out of the ballpark one by one.
(vent)
oaklandSMASH - May 5, 2009
Seriously? I agree with you wholeheartedly ...
but I really think Geren thinks it’s “not so bad”. As far as I’m concerned, Geren and Beane are two of the problems … who’s gonna “chew out” their sorry ass?
Vacafan - May 5, 2009
time for one of Chavez's patented motivational speeches...
Kallus - May 5, 2009
Next time I go to the park
I’ll have a sign with this info.
I may be lost in the mix, but I might need the paper bag over head treatment.
oaklandSMASH - May 5, 2009
The way things are going right now
admission should be free.
Who wants to pay to be at the Coli at this time?
oaklandSMASH - May 5, 2009
I'm listening to Geren right now
heaven forbid Sire ask him a tough question.
Vacafan - May 5, 2009
"Why do you suck so much?"
Just say it!
ElQuesoCapitan - May 5, 2009
How 'bout
“Bob, this team is really struggling right now. They’re not hitting, they’re not playing defense … how are you planning on shaking things up? Or do you think this team as currently constructed can turn things around?”
I mean, is a question like that too much to ask? Probably. Crap, even our TV team sucks.
Vacafan - May 5, 2009
"Security, get this girl out of my office"
ElQuesoCapitan - May 5, 2009
Or y'know take the camera away. She could probably stay.
OldhamA - May 5, 2009
It could be worse...
think of all the starving children in India who don’t have Kurt Suzuki
Kallus - May 5, 2009
They're interviewing Holliday
He looks so shittingly depressed.
ElQuesoCapitan - May 5, 2009
Rightly so.
You’ve gone from being a stud to being a dud in a matter of 100 ab.
OldhamA - May 5, 2009
from hero to zero
ak_A - May 6, 2009
Yeah, you see that?
“I guess he (Geren) ‘ll tell us what he means by that…I don’t know…”
PDSF - May 5, 2009
I hate listening to Geren
Too fuckingly nauseatingly positive.
This team needs a tirade unloaded on them.
Trainman - May 5, 2009
Kinda offtopic
But the more I think about the Eveland demotion the more it doesn’t make sense. So are the A’s that desperate to have the services of Ben Copeland that they couldn’t hold off until Gio and Gallagher are ready to start before demoting Eveland? Who the hell cares about Ben Copeland anyways when he projects to be about as good as Rajai Davis? Or is Beane that desperate for twice the Rajai suckiness? Nevermind the fact that the rotation has shown an inability to go deep into games. Nevermind the fact that the bullpen has been constantly overworked and an extra reliever might have been useful (instead of someone like Ben freakin’ Copeland who, unless I’m missing something, can’t pitch). And on top of all that, you’re replacing Eveland with Dan Giese who’s pretty damn close to replacement level.
Usually I’m level-headed enough to not criticize management (and usually it’s because A’s management makes sensible moves). But I guess after all the questionable early season moves (putting Gallagher in purgatory, not giving Buck consistent ABs) plus the recent ones (Eveland) plus the recent shitty play have really tried my patience. Seriously Beane, what the fuck are you doing?
lenscrafters - May 5, 2009
Eveland had to go down
but you would think they would bring up another pitcher. Geren talking about Edgar Gonzalez. This team is in deep trouble.
Giese is worthless.
Beane sometimes appears to have no clue as to what he is doing. Pretty hard to compete with bad players, bad manager and moves that don’t make sense. Yes, there are injuries but that excuse only goes so far.
The players lack motivation
Trainman - May 5, 2009
Eveland for Copeland
You’re right.
If the A’s think Eveland needs to be sent down, either because he’s going to be unavailable for several days or because they think he needs to work on things, I can live with it.
But what do they need with Ben Copeland? As you say, he’s a variation of Rajai Davis. If he’s better, Davis can be released. If not, why is he here? How many fast reserve outfielders who can’t hit does a team need, especially when that team is constantly out of pitchers?
I’ve become less level-headed about management because of their recent odd decisions and failure to deal with the third base situation.
bear88 - May 5, 2009
I believe Copeland had to be put back on the club or be offered back.
There’s only so long he can be on a rehab assignment in the minors.
mikev - May 5, 2009
I was wondering about that
As far as Eveland goes, Geren stated the obvious that he needs to work on all his pitchers and where they are going when he throws them.
No better place for him than down there.
Trainman - May 5, 2009
Okay...
but that begs the question of why a team needs Copeland AND Davis.
One of them needs to go, especially given the A’s constant crisis involving pitchers.
bear88 - May 5, 2009
Well, Eveland wasn't exactly solving the crisis...
mikev - May 5, 2009
I assume that Davis will be cut loose
the next time we bring a pitcher up.
The way I see it, Copeland and Eveland aren’t really connected. They just happened to coincide because Copeland needs to be put on the roster now, and Eveland sucked one time too many and needs to be sent down. But another pitcher will be needed soon, and the way to make room for one is to DFA Rajai.
Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking.
iglew - May 5, 2009
I would rather have Rajai than Copeland though.
Rajai is Rajai. Copeland has a chance to be Rajai (which is pretty sad IMO).
lenscrafters - May 5, 2009
Rajai sucks. Copeland might be OK and might not.
Need to find out one way or another. It’s not gonna be hard to replace Rajai if needed, a really fast guy who can’t hit or run for shit isn’t that tough to come across.
mikev - May 5, 2009
I'd trade Geren for herpes
Kallus - May 5, 2009
Too late!
At least "TWSS’
MobiusKlein - May 5, 2009
hey, at least herpes breaks out from time to time, unlike the offense
Kallus - May 5, 2009
nice one
UOSportsDude - May 5, 2009
Our offense has flared up a couple times
mikev - May 5, 2009
back from 242 row 1
Holliday’s ball was right below us, too bad he showed up late. I was sure Hunter was gonna go over the wall, just to make a perfect evening.
Pretty clear this is not a ML-level product out on the field right now…. there were 5 balls hit hard by us all night, adding to the total invisibility of the offense last night. Defensively we are an embarassment… they may as well start Crosby in center field if the idea is to give the other team 5 outs per inning.
The giveaways better be good (nice blanket tonight) because we ain’t going for the baseball these days. I have tickets for tomorrow too, maybe they should start paying US $2 to look at this mess.
emperor nobody - May 5, 2009
I read that as you insisting on American dollars
as opposed to Canadian or Australian.
iglew - May 5, 2009
I'd go for Monopoly money at this point
Matt Holliday needs to pass Go and collect 200 hits or he’s off to Jail… he’s needs to stop thinking about next year’s Community Chest, because he’s taking the Short Line and stinking up our Park Place. And we’ll have none of those Water Works about tonight’s last-minute bit of Free Parking, because Scot Shields put that one right down the Boardwalk. The way things are going, I thought Hunter had a Chance? to snatch that one off Marvin Gardens there, too.
emperor nobody - May 6, 2009
just got back from the game
I can deal with losing. (My first childhood baseball loves were the Amazin’ Mets, and they lost a lot!!) But poor play, playing with very little perceivable pulse…that makes it difficult even for the most diehard fans.
We did enjoy the waking moment in the ninth inning …and the blanket is nice.
I have tickets for Friday and Saturday, and may go to the game tomorrow if I have time.
OaklandSi - May 5, 2009
I would like to cue up emperor nobody's comment from last night.
hilarity + despair
This game was painful AND boring. But at least I got a blanket. Fleecey warm green and gold happiness.
pam5981 - May 5, 2009
in honor of pam, more thoughts
tired dead in the water bob geren is clinically dead and is only kept alive by a remote control device billy beane keeps in his honeymoon suite drives nails into eyes with a dull butter knife throw it to first first first crosby you are the worst rookie of the year ever to play any sport except badminton oh my god it’s bad news bears blanket night can i hang myself by it over the railing in front of the batter’s eye will that wake them up sigh moan weep if weak rollover grounders to second were 100 dollar bills this team could put every kid in oakland through college and two years of grad school roy orbison singing in my head cryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyying eric chavez pick up the red courtesy telephone please shoving lit bamboo shoots under fingernails can ben copeland play third will the mcgwire throwback jersey be sponsored by balco labs i think i am having non-nerve-damage related chest pains well there’s holliday’s homer for may dave bing just won detroit mayor so let’s put rickey in office before it’s too late and the a’s move gasps falls dies
emperor nobody - May 5, 2009
I love you.
mikev - May 5, 2009
priceless
geogrman - May 5, 2009
Aw, thanks.
pam5981 - May 5, 2009
LOL...all factually correct Except I think that it is a close call between Crosby and Grieve for worst Rookie of the years...LOL!!
wacchampions - May 5, 2009
Oh, so true.
Oh, the pain.
baseballgirl - May 5, 2009
fair enough
although Crosby continues to not only hang around lacking so much as a single facet of MLB-caliber game, but dares to make himself look even more foolish than nature intended by attempting to do so at positions he’s never played before in his life, thus jeopardizing his health and well-being, the team’s (miniscule as it is) chances of winning, as well as his own chances of ever getting to co-host A’s Postgame Live when F.P. Santangelo finally falls asleep or retires. OK, I made that last part up.
At least Ben Grieve had the good sense to hang it up when it became clear that he was to hitting what Tom Carvel was to public speaking… although you really must hand it to the guy because, unlike Crosby, he had to defy genetics to suck as catastrophically as he did because his daddy, whose baseball card I had when I was 5 1/2 (summer 1972), could actually hit a lick.
emperor nobody - May 6, 2009
correction
Bobby Crosby does feature one aspect of MLB-quality game… he looks good with his socks up.
emperor nobody - May 6, 2009
Can you write one of these for every loss?
I’m going to replace my recaps with you! :-)
baseballgirl - May 5, 2009
P.S. I have Thursday afternoon's game...just sayin' ;-)
baseballgirl - May 5, 2009
so you're saying
I gotta do this 100+ times? Just kidding. I hope.
emperor nobody - May 5, 2009
I believe you just won the internet
walkoff baltimore chop - May 6, 2009
Also, I’m putting part of this as my sig. Because that is the most amazing paragraph I have ever read.
walkoff baltimore chop - May 6, 2009
like he said
ak_A - May 6, 2009
Seriously...
This and the original can feed a few dozen signature lines for weeks!
FormerHuntsvilleStar - May 6, 2009
I'm obviously in a minority here,
but I find several lines with no punctuation to be literally unreadable.
And yes, LB, I hate James Joyce, too.
iglew - May 6, 2009
I have been to every home game this year with the execption of last night.....
I was out there tonight and I just got home a few minutes ago. I am done done done…I hope that the powers to be hear this. I will not spend one more dollar on a ticket, on a hot dog, on anything at the stadium this season unless something changes. If you think there were small crowds last night and tonight just wait and see if play continues like this. I am saying that I do not even think that the product that we are putting out on the field is worth a $2 Ticket tommorow night. This is very sad for me as I love going out to the old ballpark for a game, it really is one of my favorite things to do.
Matt Holliday looks completely lost at the plate, he even looks like he is just getting lucky in the field, I really have no idea who that guy is. This is not the same guy who played for Colorado last year. He was taking fastballs right down the middle tonight. His home run doesnt even impress me as it was completely meaningless.
Once again we load the bases with less than two outs= FAIL!
I hate the Angels more thna any team in baseball, including there manager so the next comment is hard for me to say. Geren needs to take a page out of Scioscia’s Book. He had his closer up and ready to go before things got out of control. Were you watching Geren??? The game was pretty much over but he had him up just in case and at the moment that he sensed trouble he brought him in and Game over!!!
I dont have any answers and I really dont even know what to say anymore except thank goodness for the Blanket or it would have been an epic waste of time!
wacchampions - May 5, 2009
Feel bad for ya dude
I wouldn’t pay to watch them. I listened on radio down here in So Cal. I had them on TV and decided it was not worth watching after we only got 1 on Buck’s double.
This team is in a shambles at the moment.
Trainman - May 5, 2009
Every game, the As just wait for bad things to happen so they can lose.
While the Angels wait for good things to happen so they can win. For example, the Angels get those two pathetic bloop/infield singles, and you just knew that Braden would lose it and both would score.
I’m not a big “Scioscia is a genius” guy, but, despite losing an entire starting rotation, the Angels are positive, motivated and winning. The As are negative, unmotivated and losing. Either Geren steps up tomorrow or he’s got to go.
Miata71 - May 5, 2009
Angels are just a much better managed organization, top to bottom. At least that’s what it has become since 2002.
ATLDuck - May 6, 2009
I want to disagree. I really, really want to disagree.
Nico - May 6, 2009
then you should...oh
stm72 - May 6, 2009
Shit fan in Left Field tonight.
Some shit fan was booing Holliday tonight all throughout the top of the seventh inning. By yelling things like, “HOLLIDAY YOU’RE A BUM!” and “HOLLIDAY YOU FUCKING SUCK!”, he was definitely getting on the nerves of everybody in Left. What was interesting though was seeing Holliday turn around and show a look of anger, frustration and…sadness.
The fan was kicked out shortly after that happened and then we all know what happened in the ninth (I hope that Linceum look-alike liked that one).
Even if the guy is struggling, don’t show your disappointment like that. Maybe there’s a reason as to why he looked depressed during his interview tonight.
Boonee - May 5, 2009
Yeah, he was really annoying.
The fan, too.
pam5981 - May 5, 2009
Hand me $13 million dollars and I'll take the verbal jabs (Holliday)
Hell, give me $11 million dollars and I’ll gladly be placed eternally on the DL (Chavez).
franks a lot - May 6, 2009
Dull ... Uninspired ... Too Young ... Too old .. Too injury prone
Choose your descriptor.
I was there tonight too, and only sitting in 217 with the diehards (inlcuding a guy and his g-f commuting from Reno) prevented the evening from being a total downer. Oh and the blanket was nice.
It’s very dispiriting looking forward to your best starter going against the Slegna 7th best pitcher and you cant muster significant offense.
That and Braden actually pitched extremely well, save for Matthews double. And he was the victim of some very bad luck on the squib hits.
But give da Angels and Scoscia credit for this. At least several of the Angels hitters had a clue how to hit Braden. They stuck their bats out there (instead of swinging hard) and made contact, and something good happened. That and their 5th run was a thing of beauty execution wise. Have we done this even once all year?
I like to keep a perspective that this is just game 25 and it cant be like this all year. But with the personnel we have now, we gotta expect a lot of improvement from a lot of places to justify higher expectations. Who’s gonna step up?
geogrman - May 5, 2009
A little pessimism and a little optimism
This is the A’s lineup today with corresponding OPS:
.668
.581
.630
.660
.845
.833
.560
.702
.611
In total, the A’s line this year is:
.237/.312/.331/.643 13HRs.
.209/.316/.328/.644 is Khalil Greene’s line. The A’s are hitting like a weak hitting SS. Bobby Crosby has a higher OPS than the team as a whole. The A’s are two games ahead of the worst record in baseball (one back of the AL worst).
A little bit of schadenfreude always helps: .248/.325/.314/.639. That’s Rafael Furcal’s line. The A’s are outhitting the guy they were planning on spending $40 million on.
A couple more lines to give us hope:
.232/.315/.293/.608 Magglio Ordonez LF
.195/.273/.322/.595 JJ Hardy 2b
.222/.327/.267/.594 Russell Martin C
.128/.305/.255/.560 Milton Bradley DH
.210/.252/.290/.542 Jimmy Rollins SS
.209/.241/.282/.523 Adrian Beltre 3b
.168/.263/.228/.491 Brian Giles RF
.157/.276/.205/.481 BJ Upton CF
.209/.282/.363/.645 Derrek Lee 1b
Would anybody not be happy to have that team? The season does not end on May 5th. There is a long time for all of these 4-5 win players to pick up the slack. It’s unfortunate that the A’s have stumbled out of the gate, but May always was a time of depression, even when the A’s were good. Giambi and Holliday (Chavez too) have always been slow starters.
I feel the pain we all feel right now. But I still think the A’s can win this division.
Still not cheer you up? Dusty Coleman went 4-5 with 2 2bs and a HR today raising his OPS to 1.052. Corey Brown went 3-4 with a HR and a 2b raising his OPS to 1.183. Anyone still think it would be a good idea to call up Cardenas or Doolittle? Both went 0-4 and Adrian saw his average slip to .071 and Doolittle’s OPS fell below .800.
vignette17 - May 5, 2009
so you're saying
we lull ’em all into a false sense of security and then drop, what, the 30-game win streak on ’em in September?
emperor nobody - May 5, 2009
I like the cut of your jib
baseballgirl - May 5, 2009
because of your post, i'm going to be mr. optimistic. no more pessimism.
stm72 - May 6, 2009
Andre Ethier
Off topic, but every time I log in and see that he paying Microsoft-esque dividends for my fantasy squad, my life is shortened by ten seconds.
Pucking Insane - May 5, 2009
Flashfire...the pics made me laugh out loud.
Hard to do after yet another loss. It’s right up there with the polar bear on the iceberg from Zonis
baseballgirl - May 5, 2009
Is it safe to say that it’s a good thing I missed this series?
walkoff baltimore chop - May 6, 2009
If you support the A's, then probably.
Pucking Insane - May 6, 2009
Holliday?
Holliday CAN hit…
When he feels like it.
How depressing…
slkierley - May 6, 2009
So you think he doesn't feel like hitting?
Flashfire - May 6, 2009
No, I don’t.
slkierley - May 6, 2009
...okay
Flashfire - May 6, 2009
It is a lot of trouble.
Nico - May 6, 2009
Does anyone
have a link to the Holliday interview?
its been mentioned a couple of times and im just interested in what he said/expressed
i was at the game so i missed it.
On a side note:
Crosby sucks.
I think if we trade Holliday/get the compinsation picks the #1 priority by FAR needs to be a top 3B prospect.
In a few years we could have:
Maturer: Cahil, Anderson, Mazzaro, Ghallagher, Gio/ynoa
Entering Prime: Sweeney, Suzuki, Buck
Performing: Cardenas, Carter/Barton (DH/1B), (Insert Stud 3B of future name here)
plus a soild bulpen with devine at the back. who knows where ziggy will be then
we NEED a 3B. SS would be nice.
supermarc589 - May 6, 2009
I'm sorry, I don't have a link ...
it wasn’t as if Holliday said anything “bad” – he didn’t. He’s just not a great interview. He’s not very emotional, that’s all. Doesn’t make him a bad guy, he’s just not the type of person who’s going to express a lot of passion outwardly.
The problem with the interviews after the game is not the player/coach — its’ the lame questions they’re asked. Jaymee Sire said, “Take us through that last at bat …” Seriously? How about, “Matt, you were brought here to provide power in the middle of the lineup. Not only are your home run and RBI numbers down, you can’t be happy with your batting average, either. Can you tell us what’s going through your head right now? Is this a result of switching leagues and adjusting to a new team, or are you just in a slump that you expect to break out of soon?”
I just don’t see how this type of question can be considered inflammatory – Holliday couldn’t get mad about it — it’s simply a statement of fact. And who knows? He may answer the damn thing. I hate it when reporters don’t do their job.
Vacafan - May 6, 2009
Dan Giese starting tonight?
wow
closetasfan - May 6, 2009
Wow is right!
Who will we pitch when we blow a lead a lead in extra innings?
GreenNGoldSooner - May 6, 2009
Who will be the pitcher when Giese implodes in the 3rd inning?
franks a lot - May 6, 2009
It will not be going extra innings.
Trainman - May 6, 2009
Oh, come on, what are the chances of that?
The A’s never blow a lead in extra innings.
iglew - May 6, 2009
the fun thing
is that when the team is going this bad, the heckling can get downright laughtastic…
Tonight’s best example, after one of Petit’s rally-killing DPs, by the gentleman four seats to my left:
“I want my money back, that was only 35 percent baseball!!!!”
emperor nobody - May 6, 2009
When you bought the team
did you have a new park location in mind? Would you build in a throne, Emperor?
LibrariAN - May 6, 2009
holliday reestablishing his trade value. yay.
-wet blanket
oakinboston - May 6, 2009
when do we sign Rickey?
jlanning17 - May 6, 2009
Shake Things Up Now
The game was unbelievably depressing. No offense, lousy defense, and no fans.
Holliday, if you can’t take the uncertainty of where you will be later this season or next season, you will not get that big payday. You think it will be easier to play in the Big Apple ? How about a visit to the sports shrink to get your head screwed on right. It is pretty evident that you are a mess psychologically. I want to root for you, but you are making it tough.
Crosby. I have never been a big fan, but we need to leave him alone right now. He is at least trying to learn 3 new positions and keep his focus. His at bats are better. Less flailing. Give the guy a break—he is all we have right now.
Team. Let’s try something new. Figure out how to manufacture some runs. The Angels did it by hitting dribblers on a wet infield. Did we even once try that? Nope. Just hit it right to the infielders so they don’t have to run too far.
Geren. Sit some players. Mix it up. Stop smiling.
Ellis and Duke. Hurry back, please.
oaklandcrazy - May 6, 2009
I got MLB Extra Innings to watch this garbage?! It used to be fun for me to stay up late and watch the A’s game start at 10PM (out here in GA), but now it’s such a drag and I end up losing valuable sleep. I agree, we should shake things up. I’m really not into competing this year, we should get rid of those expectations. But if Billy Boy still insists on it, I say that he goes BIG or stays home. I mean, let’s go out and get Ryan Zimmerman or Adrian Gonzalez. Give up Crosby, Buck, Gio, Simmons, Cardenas…and throw in Kristian Bell for good measure. I’m so frustrated with this straddling-the-fence strategy of “competing” while waiting to reload. We’re going to just end up having 10 consecutive seasons of mediocrity at best. Let’s go down in grand fashion, send those propsects for a big bat that can actually hit; or just let all our young guys play, trade Holliday and Cabrera, if possible. Either way is so much more exciting than this roster they are sending out onto the field.
ATLDuck - May 6, 2009
You don't make a crappy trade offer better
by offering to throw in more crap.
iglew - May 6, 2009
Oh fine - add Rajai in to get 'er done.
Nico - May 6, 2009
Another Idea
How about we demote Geren and call up DeFrancesco? Has a team ever done that before? That would be a groundbreaking tactic for Billy.
ATLDuck - May 6, 2009
This idea, on the other hand, is intriguing.
I’d sign up for that.
iglew - May 6, 2009
remember how..um...well he did as 3rd base coach last year? yikes.
oh yeah, i promised to be more positive.
stm72 - May 6, 2009
I'm not convinced he'd be a great major league manager,
though he did well with Sacramento. However, I thought Washington was a better choice than Geren then, and I still think so now. I don’t know Wakamatsu well enough, but so far he certainly has been a part of a turned around clubhouse (who knows how much he has to do with it), the team looks good so far (small sample), and they have generally looked well prepared (but I’ve only seen six games, of which they’ve won five).
Nico - May 6, 2009
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