It’s not often that games are over barely seven minutes into their starting time, but that’s what would end up happening tonight; thanks to the early runs by the Giants, and a complete inability for this frustrating, maddening, poorly-hitting offense we field night after night to score any of the nine-trillion baserunners they left out there against Lincecum. SportsCenter will tell the surface headline of how Lincecum dominated the A’s, but I don’t think that tells the complete story of tonight’s game. I will gladly own a loss against one of the best pitchers in baseball; I didn’t think the A’s had a chance to start with, but what an amazingly unbelievable sequence of innings there.
Mazzaro got in trouble early; issuing a one-out walk in the first (it’s always the walk) and an RBI triple double by the unlikely speed demon Sandoval (who took the extra base on Holliday's throwing error), and after a sac fly, the Giants had the early lead of 2-0. Had the A’s lost by the final score of 2-1, I think more AN TV’s would have suffered casualties, but the fact that they lost 4-1 is nearly just as bad. The A’s offense certainly had opportunities all over the place to pick up Mazzaro after he allowed two more runs in the second (thanks in part to Cust’s fielding), and then shut the Giants down the rest of his night (6 IP; 6 K’s). Despite the rocky first two innings, Mazzaro looked great, and under different circumstances, he might have been able to pull out a ND or even a W.
Normally, I root for close games, but losing 10-0 could not possibly have been as frustrating as this game turned out to be, as the A’s offense wasted each and every chance to get back into the game. Yes, Tim Lincecum threw the complete game, striking out twelve, and I will be the last to ignore his incredible success with men on base, but I feel the A’s failed every bit as much as Lincecum dominated. When your offense reaches base eight out of eleven batters against a starting pitcher, and you score exactly zero runs over that stretch, you might be part of the problem.
From Cust striking out four times (and had two additional K’s the last time he faced Tim Lincecum; that combined with the fielding mishap, at least Davis might have accidentally run into a bunt?), to Adam Kennedy swinging at ball four after Lincecum opened the game with a 3-0 count, to the one-at-bat-a-day Garciaparra seeing one pitch with the bases loaded after a walk to Daric Barton (Daric Barton!!!), turning in one of two bases-loaded DP’s to end two consecutive innings (and nearly a third that only didn’t happen because of a dropped ball and subsequent bad call), it was a maddening game to watch.
The only run the A’s would put on the board was a bomb early in the game by Giambi where he connected with a fastball. But it wasn’t for lack of opportunity.
The A’s had a golden chance to cut into the 4-1 deficit in the fifth inning, as Sweeney and Cabrera had one-out singles, and Barton walked to load the bases. Pinch-hitting for Hannahan was the only call Geren could make, but Nomar Garciaparra hit the first pitch (not even hard) into exactly what he did his last pinch-hitting appearance; an inning-ending DP. Is one at-bat a day, or every other day, enough to keep Nomar sharp on the bench? Would things have been better had Hannahan just struck out to give the A’s another chance?
Adam Kennedy would single to open the sixth, and after Cust struck out (again), Matt Holliday would double. After a Giambi walk loaded the bases (again), Suzuki hit, and the Giants turned an easy double play (again).
The seventh was more of the same. Sweeney and Cabrera opened the inning with singles, and after Barton struck out (I was afraid he’d walk), Crosby did his very best to hit into the A’s third inning-ending DP in as many innings, but he failed only because the ball was dropped (and incorrectly called an out). Kennedy flew out and as ANers all over threw objects in disgust, so ended the A’s threat.
Yes, Lincecum was awesome. Yes, his line dominated the game. But you can’t convince me that the 1989 A’s wouldn’t have knocked him out of the game with the chances the 2009 A’s were given tonight.
But such is baseball, and this game was not ours to win. The A’s still have a chance for the series win tomorrow night; TBD (Gio Gonzalez, perhaps?) vs. Randy Johnson, 7:05. And for those of you who care about such things, the Angels have made their move; tying Texas for the AL West lead tonight; A’s remain 6.5 games back.
0 recs | 93 comments
Try watching those double plays
surrounded by Giants fans.
67MARQUEZ - June 23, 2009
Oh, I can't.
My couch was bad enough. I swear it was smirking. Tailor-made, those were.
baseballgirl - June 23, 2009
It was tremendously horrible.
pam5981 - June 23, 2009
yep
67MARQUEZ - June 23, 2009
ugh.
Way too many Giants fans and not enough A’s fans tonight. Amazing. On a night to celebrate our 20 years since winning the World Series, and the frickin’ Giants fans were out in droves…
gigglingone - June 23, 2009
Yeah, it was bad
I had to stress that the Giants are a cursed team when it comes to championships while walking back to the bart station.
oaklandSMASH - June 24, 2009
i had to restrain myself when
that call was made at second in the second. my buddy was wearing a custom giants jersey with his name on it and i wanted to rip it off his back.
dotracechampion - June 24, 2009
Ha!
Nico’s sarcasm is rubbing off on you.
Kallus - June 23, 2009
Except it was a double (took third on the throw home). :-)
Nico - June 23, 2009
Ahhh...yes. There's the error.
Fixed.
baseballgirl - June 23, 2009
Sandoval seems a bit deceiving to me
He’s a bigger dude, no doubt. You’d think he’d run like Molina, but he actually legs out a few groundballs. Way more than you’d think. And he plays a competent 3rd base. You look at him and think that he’d never have the quickness to man the hot corner, but he seems to get it done. I’ve told my Gnats friends that he doesn’t have the range to stick at 3rd, and eventually he won’t, but he could do it for a good bit longer than I’d guessed.
Kallus - June 23, 2009
Seeing him in person tonight
I’d have to agree with that.
67MARQUEZ - June 23, 2009
He could if he went on a diet.
OldhamA - June 24, 2009
There were things I liked amidst the agony
Nothing worked out, but I thought the A’s battled with spirit and I like that.
Nico - June 23, 2009
Those are all good things, agreed.
It wasn’t Geren’s fault one bit tonight. Our team isn’t very good, and it’s not really their fault either. And Lincecum is VERY good…was almost like he was just toying with them.
baseballgirl - June 23, 2009
I actually felt the same way (he was toying with us)
I told my friends, “He’s going to say that’s enough at some point.”
Which is what you saw in the last two innings.
67MARQUEZ - June 23, 2009
It was The Tease in the worst way.
You just knew we were gonna get shut down at every turn.
pam5981 - June 23, 2009
The epitome of tease.
67MARQUEZ - June 23, 2009
If you KNOW you're gonna get shut down
it’s not a true tease.
iglew - June 24, 2009
The voice of experience?
Admit it, you tried anyway didn’t you?
alox - June 24, 2009
Oh I disagree.
Every time the A’s put on The Tease, I think it’s going to turn out badly.
pam5981 - June 24, 2009
Good call on that last one.
I was actually surprised he went to his bench in that situation. Bad result, good move.
67MARQUEZ - June 23, 2009
I was surprised too,
and thought it was a great call.
Nico - June 23, 2009
It WAS a great call
I just thought Nomar had a lousy at-bat. If you’re going to hit the first pitch after some control issues, then you HIT the first pitch. That weak grounder did not qualify.
baseballgirl - June 23, 2009
Well said.
el campysino - June 23, 2009
Agree with that.
67MARQUEZ - June 23, 2009
agreement from me as well
gigglingone - June 23, 2009
I thought the pitch that Nomar hit
should have been plastered. He just missed it a little and got on top of it.
It looked like a changeup and should have been belted. I guess he thought he was getting something with more velocity on it
Trainman - June 24, 2009
Slider, and agreed...
Hittable pitch.
OaktownPower - June 24, 2009
Geren's Giambi's biggest admirer.
OldhamA - June 24, 2009
The photo looks to me like ...
Rickey’s jawing at Gags for some of the latter’s baserunning decisions as 3rd base coach.
Next line from Rickey (who clearly wants to wear an A’s uniform again): “What, you want me to coach like Mike Gallego?”
el campysino - June 23, 2009
they don't know their ass from a hole in the ground thoughts
just the other week ago/ my concubine and i/ took a little trip into san francisco/ to watch ourselves a li’l ol’ baseball game/ there were many friendly people there eating sushi and programming their iphones/ that night there was a l’il ol’ pitcher there/ and i’ll tell ya that kid can’t weigh 150 pounds soaking wet/ lucky for him he was facing a little ol’ offense i like to call the double a’s/ and that little kid could just stand out there and throw 3-2 changeup after 3-2 changeup/ and boy i’ll tell ya it would not have mattered if our li’l ol’ double a’s were up there swingin their little ol’ double a dicks it was steeeeeeeeeeeeerike three
my life is bad/ that’s right i said it/ my life is bad/ bob geren you spineless asshole maybe you could have brought cheese and crackers to that umpire to make him feel as accommodated as possible/ somewhere earl weaver is kicking dirt on yo momma/ goddammit my life is bad
just this evenin’/ my live-in secretary and i/ took a little trip to the oakland coliseum/ thinkin’ we’d see ourselves a little ol’ rematch/ there were many friendly people there who looked an awful lot like the others with the sushi and the iphones/ only no sushi this time/ so this little ol’ kid’s out there again and one guess what he threw/ any 3 year old child would have had half a clue/ maybe these double a’s can’t afford a videotape machine or a dvd or somethin’/ maybe they was out drinkin’ at egbert souse’s all last night celebrating 1989 when they were all 4 years old/ maybe jack cust thinks sitting soft is something you do in a hot tub with hookers before you break out the cialis and the cranberry juice/ maybe epic fail is as epic fail does/ i do not know but once again it was 13 times steeeeeeeeeeeeeerike three
see my life is bad/ my life is bad you pathetic excuse for a general manager/ you dollar dog you know you occasionally charge two dollars for games out of guilt because that’s what it should cost to watch a little league offense/ goddammit to hell my life is bad
just this evenin’/ a little ol’ while ago/ my buxom assistant and i built a time machine/ it’s sitting right here/ i got the idea from stewie on family guy/ i like his accent and his rakish attitude/ i just climbed in the thing and took it for a li’l ol’ spin/ went to the game they’ll play tomorrow night out there/ you wouldn’t be surprised/ to get the same result/ i saw this pitcher there/ our boys were hackin’ through/ they swung and missed the fastball/ they swung and missed the change/ they buckled at the curveball/ their swings were all deranged/ they muttered all the way back to the dugout and before they left you know what they said to him?
they said, “ran, i’m tired… how would YOU like to be the boss for a while?”
and he said….
well….
yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(blow big man!!! blow!!!)
my life is bad/ that’s right you rich underachieving douchebags my life is bad/ you carpetbagging soccer obsessed wannabe team stealin’ bastard/ that’s right my life is bad/ turd hitters with a two-strike approach worthy of pete weber or dick weber for that matter/ those guys always turkeyed strike three and you’re no different just way less successful/ fucking double a bullshit make me wait til 2010 or 2011 or 3009 when our offense finally wil be able to score more than once off the goddamned vancouver canucks hockey team/ my life is bad/ my life is bad
my life….
is….
bad.
all apologies to the great randy newman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMAmCNRwyw4
emperor nobody - June 23, 2009
I had to rec this for referencing the 'Nucks
I said during the game, after the A’s fell into an early 2-0 hole, it felt a lot like surrendering two goals to the NJ Devils and knowing a win would require putting three pucks past Martin Brodeur – yeaah, the Magic 8-Ball says “Outlook not so good”
SwisherThresher - June 23, 2009
nice
if the a’s offense had a magic 8 ball response it would be “not at this time” or “please try again later”
emperor nobody - June 24, 2009
Or it would say
“Please hold. your call is important to us….please hold and the next available representative will be happy to help you.”
Well said EN, that pretty much sums up the evening for us A’s fans.
They sure as hell better win tonight against that “Big Unich” guy or whatever his name is…..
mrod - June 24, 2009
"Big Unich", HA!
LOL
micdog2001 - June 24, 2009
btw
i think the word you were looking for was Eunuch. It took me several tries to spell it to even get close enough to find it. What a weird word.
micdog2001 - June 24, 2009
I can't listen to Randy Newman (well except strangley for the Toy Story song)
his voice is just so annoying. Without knowing much about him I imagine he is a good songwriter and pianist.
I guess the Family Guy bits make it worse.
The Littlest Bunny
Sings about everything he sees
micdog2001 - June 24, 2009
people often love him or hate him
And his voice tone is definitely an acquired taste.
But no one, no one I can think of anyway, can write a song from the point of view of the Worst Person In the World better than Randy, whether it’s this “My Life Is Good” tirade or “Rednecks” or “Short People” or “You Can Leave Your Hat On” or a million others. Songwriting is almost always from the point of view of the story’s protagonist or hero, so what RN does and has done now for 40+ years is kind of a triumphant achievement IMO.
emperor nobody - June 24, 2009
I'll take your word for it ;- )
micdog2001 - June 24, 2009
don't take my word for it
go with the word of the dozens of super legendary artists that have covered RN’s tunes, like Nina Simone (“I Think It’s Going to Rain Today”) or Harry Nilsson (“Living Without You”) or Elvis Costello (“I’ve Been Wrong Before”) or Etta James (“You Can Leave Your Hat On” ) or Three Dog Night (“Mama Told Me Not Come,” a #1 worldwide single for them) or…
;)
emperor nobody - June 24, 2009
alrighty then.
micdog2001 - June 24, 2009
I am so steamed over the 7th inning non-out.
He never had the ball, and the “out” killed our rally. If the call had been correct, we had bases juiced with 1 out. We could have gotten a hit/walk and maybe knocked Lincecum out of the game. Also, why didn’t Barton bunt the runners over? 2nd/3rd with 1 out would have been good. A basehit would have cut it to 4-3, and also may have chased Lincecum.
Woulda, coulda shoulda. Motto of our 2009 Oakland A’s.
chillicothe20 - June 23, 2009
I thought the motto was
“They came, they swung and missed, they drove home”
Gaijin_Suketto - June 24, 2009
Except they don't know where home is.
OldhamA - June 24, 2009
To many consecutive
left hand turns?
alox - June 24, 2009
Three highlights, from the mind of 67M
And two of them were courtesy of the video board or whatever they call it:
3. The “put the A’s hat on the Giants fan’s head” game. Fun.
2. The extended stick-it-to-the-Giants (and fans) tribute before the bottom of the ninth. The “got trophy?” sign, the highlight of the last out in ’89, the trophy photos, the World Series Champion flag…it went on and on, and the fans around me were- at long last- silenced and shrinking in their seats. Small victories.
1. The BART train door deciding to close with me halfway in and halfway out. When I forced my way in, everyone kind of “oohed”, like “is he ok?”, before cheering.
Bedtime, Francis.
67MARQUEZ - June 23, 2009
OK, they're bad, but they aren't out
The funny thing is that despite the fact that the A’s have looked terrible for almost the entire season, they are still only 7 or so games back. On paper this team should be hitting a lot better than they are. If, if, if, players actually start to play to the level of their past performance, this team could actually make a run.
rovingralph - June 23, 2009
But if someone were to tell me we'd be seven games back (or in last place)
I would have figured it was because our pitchers pitched like the rookies they are.
67MARQUEZ - June 23, 2009
Rather than Cust, Giambi, Cabrera and Holliday being terrible?
Yeah you’re probably right.
OldhamA - June 24, 2009
Honestly, do the '09 A's
have “The Look” of leapfrogging teams ahead of them and planting themselves firmly atop the A.L. West? An 8-Game winning streak and they’re STILL in last place. A very frustrating season that’s only going to get worse when they hit the road next month.
FurVault - June 24, 2009
I like the spirit.
Future Ed - June 23, 2009
The season was totally over in May,
and then the corpse came back to life,
and now it’s sick again,
but it’s still coughing and sputtering,
and maybe if it can just get that smoky black phlegmball out,
it may be able to get up and turn the coffeepot off before it sets the house on fire.
Here’s to small victories.
Gaijin_Suketto - June 24, 2009
Ahem
Tommy Everidge in Sac now hitting .347….but I guess he is not making 6 mil like Nomar and Crosby. Imagine that a right handed corner infield with some pop. So what’s the deal?
fonz - June 23, 2009
1B
Everidge plays 1B. They tried him a 3B, but no mas. If I were Everidge, I’d lose 30 lbs. and field a million ground balls at 3B this coming offseason. How bad do you want it?
Colorado Fan - June 24, 2009
Was considering skimming the gamethreads, but they're probably brimming with hate.
pam5981 - June 23, 2009
Good call - the threads tonight were brutal
doctorK - June 23, 2009
Not hate, just frustration.
el campysino - June 23, 2009
There's lots of swearing, but they're pretty fun
baseballgirl - June 23, 2009
I am going to find where you dropped an f-bomb.
That would make it all worth it.
pam5981 - June 23, 2009
Oh I did. It was lovely, and deserved.
Funny thing was, I wasn’t even mad at Suzuki himself, but to sit through those three innings was just unreal. Absolutely torture.
baseballgirl - June 23, 2009
those innings
might qualify me for some sort of damage award from the A’s, because they took years off my life.
emperor nobody - June 23, 2009
Did you happen to be drinking copious amounts of Smirnoff Ice tonight?
pam5981 - June 23, 2009
What is this, the Spanish Inquisition?
el campysino - June 23, 2009
Allow me.
THAT’S WHAT SHE FUCKING SAID!
mikev - June 23, 2009
wow
gigglingone - June 24, 2009
Don't bother.
Lots of swearing, but in terms of wit and erudition tonight’s threads were substandard.
The only good thing you missed was ak_A’s observation that Tim Lincecum looks like k.d. lang. That was awesome.
iglew - June 24, 2009
Damn that dyke can pitch!
Gaijin_Suketto - June 24, 2009
Except for BBG's f-bomb.
That was awesome.
pam5981 - June 24, 2009
though i think kd lang is bigger than lincecum
stm72 - June 24, 2009
Gio
Korach said he asked Geren to give him something about tomorrow’s starter. Geren told him that if Edgar Gonzalez pitched, it would be Gio tomorrow. So…there you have it. Straight from the horse’s ass, er, mouth.
skigurl - June 23, 2009
My Adopted Team Hurts Me So
I’m a Jays fan who, after a Jays/A’s series earlier in the year, found AN via a recap, and I adopted the A’s purely because I enjoyed the commentary here.
And, I must say, whenever I look at the scores at the end of the day and see an A’s loss I cringe and imagine what’s being said here – - so I then have to actually check out what is being said here – - and so I root for A’s wins so I have a happy forum to go read.
That winning streak (8/9? games) made me happy, but tonight, like many other nights, it’s just a little painful. But cheer up! You have lots of things to be happy about!
1) You don’t root for the Nationals.
2) You have a starting rotation that is young and promising (trademark A’s, yes?)
3) Hitting is one of those things that can turn around in a hurry – the Jays last year were like, the worst hitting team in the AL, and now they’re among the league leaders with pretty much the same lineup
3b) Don’t the A’s generally get hot during the second half (fingers crossed)?
4) AN is a seriously cool forum
Northern Fan - June 23, 2009
Yeah, but you have imperial pints
Future Ed - June 23, 2009
I don't drink though so that's a wash
Only 19, but the drinking age here is 19 so I could I guess if I wanted. Just not really an alcohol kinda guy.
Northern Fan - June 23, 2009
passes northern fan
the most popular alternative to alcohol in california
((((smoke rings))))
emperor nobody - June 24, 2009
[ ] <- me
that’s a square, for the record.
But yeah, I predict a happy forum tomorrow ^^
Northern Fan - June 24, 2009
Good point on the Nats
At least we dont have to wach their abysmal pitching
Although, they do have Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper to look forward to.
So they’ve got that going for them…which is nice.
nothinlikethetown - June 24, 2009
THIS
zodiac_chiller - June 24, 2009
i have to admit
that the screen name “zodiac chiller” is pretty awesome, sir.
I think when you post, you should intentionally misspell words and cross them out, and end each post with a score, like “zodiac chiller-37, LAA-0” or somesuch ;)
emperor nobody - June 24, 2009
haha the score would be a nice touch!
zodiac_chiller - June 24, 2009
also, I just realized that the link I included (about the Nats) might not look like a link, so click here
zodiac_chiller - June 24, 2009
I just got home
I have yet to read all the comments – I just wanted to add that that game had to be one of the most frustrating, aggravating games I’ve ever attended. And I’m sure others have already noted, it was only compounded by the elated cheers of SF fans, from the first pitch to the final out.
A’s HAVE to win the series tomorrow.
SwisherThresher - June 23, 2009
My baseball day
I bought front row tickets to see the 1989 team reunion, but work ran late for the first time in a long time, and I seemed to have been hitting all the red lights, traffic jams and slow drivers that pop up when you need to get somewhere.
As a result, I missed the 1989 team and was treated to GIDP fest. Lincecum was good, but looked beatable today, but there is nothing like leaving the bases juiced only to come up flat yet again. Giants fans were all over it and I had to remind them that we will always trump them in championships.
I was petty, but I want to reinforce that the Giants are cursed for the championship.
Let’s get them tomorrow. I’m sick of SF’s bullshit!
oaklandSMASH - June 24, 2009
Sorry, BBG, but your opening sentence is preposterous.
I’ve seen a lot of unwarranted “game over” comments in the game threads over the years, but never anything so absurd as to claim that tonight’s game was “over” seven minutes into the game.
The tying run was on base seven times in three different innings. How much more not over can a game be? Yes, having that many chances and botching them all is frustrating, but it’s the complete opposite of “game over”.
iglew - June 24, 2009
I was being dramatic in hindsight.
The second run for the Giants scored seven minutes into the game, and we would never get it back. In hindsight, that was the winning run; scored 7 minutes into the contest.
baseballgirl - June 24, 2009
That is the way I read it
I posted that there would be a bottom of the 9th. A nice way of saying that we have to bat in the 9th because we will be behind.
In hindsight, we could have scored half a dozen more runs the chances we kept getting.
Trainman - June 24, 2009
unless, of course, your team is to 2 strike situational hitting w/RISP
as Helen Keller is to lightbulb installation.
emperor nobody - June 24, 2009
oops
that was in reply to iglew ;))
emperor nobody - June 24, 2009
How many deaf mutes does it take to change a light bulb?
Answer:
Nico - June 24, 2009
I awoke this morning to learn that Poochini threw up in the middle of the night
I really can’t blame him.
Nico - June 24, 2009
My Cat Mulder threw up in the bathroom this morning
This is normal though as he eats like a dog and devours his food like it’s his last meal. He fetches like a dog, comes running when I call him liked a dog. He must be a dog.
The other day he wanted to get into the cupboard above the refrigerator and the door kept closing on him so he put both paws on the door, pulled back and swung on the door as it opened and was suspended in the air hanging off the door for like 2 seconds. I wish I had my camera phone ready. It was hilarious. He quite often opens cupboards but this one had that extra rebound in it.
Trainman - June 24, 2009
Good recap BBG
I feel the same way. One of the worst
loses of the season.micdog2001 - June 24, 2009
only 6.5 back ...
and those 1 run games are killing us right now. Everyone in the West except the A’s (8-12) has a winning record in those games. We should be at the very least 10-10. Geren?
joecooley - June 24, 2009
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