Despite a ninth-inning mini-rally that was the very definition of "too little, too late", there isn't a lot to say about tonight's game, except that the A's seem to like Nico's birthday every bit as much as they like mine.
Let's start with the BA/OBP/SLG for the starting lineup tonight:
The A's had three hits (a single, a double, and a triple) in four batters to start the game (from the only hitters within the zip code of decent MLB numbers) and they managed to score only a single run. Randy Johnson struck out the side in between the hits, setting the tone for the rest of the game.
That would be the entire offensive story of the night save for a token homerun by Suzuki in the eighth and a pinch-hit double by Nomar in the ninth, scoring Rajai Davis, who walked with two outs.
Based on the run support, and the usual A's non-supportive defense, it didn't really matter what Gio Gonzalez did tonight unless he tossed a shutout, but in case you were wondering, he was actually pulled in the fourth after allowing ten hits and four earned runs, walking two, and striking out six.
Amnesiac summed it up for A's fans tonight:
Sticking around tonight reminds me...
...of an office christmas party. You know the kind where the DJ is playing and almost everyone has left and the only people still around are the bosses, a few who are trying to sober up, and the ones making out in the corner.
I'm sure the non-Giants fans at the Coliseum tonight felt the exact same way. Another game, another loss, another series loss, and the next games the A's will play will be against the hottest team in Major League Baseball, the Rockies, starting Friday night.
Maybe the off-day will be magical.
0 recs | 58 comments
Happy Birthday, Nico!
ohtobe21likehuston - June 24, 2009
Happy Birthday Nico!
It is my birthday as well and despite the outcome, I had a great time at the game tonight. Got an autographed ball from Ziggy, another from Giambi and Kennedy. Maybe next 6/24 they can win it for us. Hope yours was a good one as well.
swishergirl510 - June 24, 2009
Hey, that date is MY birthday!
I had it first.
Nico - June 25, 2009
you say it's your birthday?
It’s her birthday too.
Leopold Bloom - June 25, 2009
We're gonna have a good time!
swishergirl510 - June 25, 2009
Super Fail for our A's!
and Happy Birthday, Kneeko!
oaklandSMASH - June 24, 2009
Geren really does look like a cartoon character
Normally in HD things look more realistic but he could be in another Toy Story right now.
ohtobe21likehuston - June 24, 2009
Major gripe of the day
I would once again like to thank The A’s for fucking up Josh Outman.
They knew he was hurting before his start and allowed him to go and what a shocker, he has a sprained ligament in his elbow.
Joey Devine anyone. They kept him pitching, rehabbing and pitching.
These clowns have no clue how to take precautions in keeping someone healthy
Trainman - June 24, 2009
That's actually a good point
We KNEW Outman was resting his elbow before his start…amazing to stretch that out in a rookie.
baseballgirl - June 24, 2009
At least Nomar didn't let me down.
He may be the only A’s player who steps to the plate in a high leverage situation where I have any legitimate hope of something positive happening.
Kind of sad isn’t it?
alox - June 24, 2009
I was thinking at least he couldn't hit into another double play tonight
Flashfire - June 25, 2009
That was painful to watch live
oaklandSMASH - June 25, 2009
Anderson missing his next start with a bicep issue, according to Mindi.
pam5981 - June 24, 2009
Yay, everyone is going down.
OldhamA - June 25, 2009
I heard he was just delaying the start a couple days to Monday
That would be “1/2 a start.”
Nico - June 25, 2009
Nomar?
Why is he not starting??? So what if he gets hurt. They don’t need a pitch hitter anymore anyways…besides what good is he if he only bats 5 times in 2 weeks. I say when Ellis comes back, start Nomar at 1st and Kennedy/Crosby at 3rd. And DH Nomar every couple of days and start Giambi when Nomar fills in at DH. It really baffles me that they keep running Hannahan out there….and Crosby for that matter. Whatever the season is hopeless anyways. It’s a sad day to be an A’s fan!
DoomandGloom - June 24, 2009
Might as well start Nomar, watch him get hurt again, DL him again, and have the roster spot for someone else again
Flashfire - June 25, 2009
They can't DFA him while he's on the DL, can they?
That would be a reason to keep him healthy.
Nick - June 25, 2009
I think if Nomar were traded or sent down, he'd retire anyway
so he’s not a DFA candidate. He was choosing between the A’s and retirement in the end, not between different places to play.
Nico - June 25, 2009
they can't start him because his calf strain still does not allow him to play in the field
nor even to DH
OaklandSi - June 25, 2009
Oh cool!
Great now we can call up Eveland for another wonderful 4+ IP, 6ER, 10 H night!
Cant wait! When does the party start!
DoomandGloom - June 24, 2009
Youth in Asia
It’s really depressing watching this lineup each night. They are dead, dead, dead. Any changes would be welcome. C’mon Beane, blow up this lineup!
Flamethrower - June 24, 2009
Blow up .235?
Why would you want to do that when you have the youngest pitching staff in the league? Really, don’t you want your young pitchers to learn how to pitch with -100000000 in run support!
DoomandGloom - June 24, 2009
Who would you be???
In reference to the office Christmas party, I would (A) be the boss, or (B) one of the drunk couples making out in the corner! LOL
DoomandGloom - June 24, 2009
A&B
Drunk couple making out in corner with boss.
Not Work Safe
MobiusKlein - June 25, 2009
Maybe...
Maybe we should have the pitchers bat rather than .200 Giambi, or flailing Rajai, etc.
Flamethrower - June 24, 2009
I like that idea
How bout we have Jack Hannahan bat leadoff. He’s an ideal candidate because of his potential to break the .220 barrier and .325 OBP!
DoomandGloom - June 24, 2009
To bad it's not Christmas...
We can play “Silent Night” everyday before the A’s game starts….cause that’s how quiet their ooooooffense is!
DoomandGloom - June 24, 2009
Wait, who was making out in the corner?
AN seems to be operating normally again. Also, the ads in the background are gone. Maybe related?
iglew - June 24, 2009
Ha ha
Do you remember back in the 70’s when the A’s had the homerun inning and someone won groceries? Sheesh…this lineup couldn’t feed 1 homeless person for a day.
Flamethrower - June 24, 2009
LOL!
Did they really do that? I went to my first game in ‘79. Don’t remember that, but I was only 5!
DoomandGloom - June 24, 2009
Yep, they did
I’ve been following them since 1968 and Monte Moore was a good friend of mine. Some of the promotions were hilarious, although I can’t say I miss the cow milking contests everytime we had a doubleheader. The A’s always lost those.
Flamethrower - June 24, 2009
Monte Moore was awesome.
Remember when he came back and did TV in the 80’s for us? And there she goes!
DoomandGloom - June 24, 2009
I did get a good laugh listening to all those W/Sox home runs
with Hawk Harrelson
“You can put it on the board, Yes”
What a homer he is
The second home run by Fields, he forgot to say it until the end and then slipped it in. Steve Stone does not do the YES part in unison so Harrelson says Yes, twice
Trainman - June 24, 2009
He was great
I used to record every A’s game on cassettes, and the A’s used the recordings for promotions and when Henderson broke Lou Brock’s record.
Flamethrower - June 24, 2009
What is there to say?
They are a good team, and very likely could be playing in October. The A’s very likely could be picking in the top five come June.
Gio strikes me as the classic “AAAA” pitcher.
Pucking Insane - June 24, 2009
lol solid team
that is playing better than expected. lincecum/ain sure do mask weaknesses. they wont be playing in oct basically they have to beat out mets/philly/ards/cubs/mil for a wildcard
Asfan4ever723 - June 24, 2009
That's like saying Pujuls masks a lot of St. Louis' woes
Pucking Insane - June 24, 2009
Well...
Perhaps Chicago might want Gio back again. They did trade for him twice already, right?
Flamethrower - June 24, 2009
Gio is talking to Robert Baun
Sounds like he’s drunk and laughing
Obviously not drunk but you would never know this guy sucked goats balls by the way he is talking
Now we know he’s no good as he is crediting Dana Eveland for helping him in the minors.
Trainman - June 24, 2009
The help showed.
Eveland’s last appearance for the A’s, he threw a ball to second into CF to help put us out of our misery in the 15th inning at Seattle.
Nico - June 25, 2009
LOL Baun telling Gio he may overthink things
when he gets in trouble.
Trainman - June 24, 2009
Great Caller ragging on Geren
saying the players don’t play for Geren and that he is sick and tired of Crosby, Hannahan and Cabrera who cannot hit and just plain sick of team.
Tune it, it’s quite good tonight
Trainman - June 24, 2009
Gotta feel like Gonzalez was set up to fail tonight
Facing Randy Johnson is already tough as it is with the offense the A’s have, but as good as Gonzalez has looked in Sacramento I didn’t feel like he was consistent enough to be given a spot start where he’d probably be feeling more pressure to pitch well and hope they decided to keep him around longer instead of getting another 5-10 more starts in Sacramento to try getting even more consistent, then bringing him up for the last month of the season or so to start every fifth day no matter what, if the team’s out of contention. He doesn’t need to feel like he’s constantly looking over his shoulder. If that sounds like coddling, it’s not. It’s intended to let him focus on pitching and only pitching. In the offseason they could evaluate things further from there and decide what else to do with him.
Sure enough, tonight he only threw 57.8% of his pitches for strikes. Of the 23 batters he faced he threw first pitch strikes to just 11, good for 47.8%. That’s not going to do it at the highest level.
Flashfire - June 25, 2009
I was thinking the same thing
I was also thinking that the failure of the A’s to get more than one run in during the first inning, plus the sloppy defense in the bottom of the first, was going to add to the pressure that Gio apparently let get to him.
I actually had to turn off the game after the fifth inning because it’s late where I am and I was very sleepy…and so apparently were the A’s.
Props to Suzuki, Kennedy, Holliday and Davis as far as their batting and running. It’s certainly not Davis’ faulth that the A’s couldn’t get him home from third.
OaklandSi - June 25, 2009
Pretty much
This is not to say Gonzalez had one or two breaks go against him. Allowing 10 hits in the time he pitched, he was VERY hittable.
Flashfire - June 25, 2009
I agree
I was just thinking that the A’s offensive failures of the bottom of the first and defensive failures in the top of the second just exacerbated Gio’s problems with letting the pressure get to him.
OaklandSi - June 25, 2009
The 10 hits is a little deceiving, in that 3 of them
were balls that should have been fielded for outs. However, the other hits were not cheap, fo’ shizzle.
Nico - June 25, 2009
A few things
I hope that Gio get’s to stay up for an extended period. I don’t think he will be successful until he gets an adjustment period, like he has needed at every level before being successful. I think it might take a while, but could be well worth the wait. Also, take a fucking pitch Jack Cust. Never thought I’d have to say that.
travdog6 - June 25, 2009
+1
seems to me that gio has a pretty clear pattern of sucking before adjusting, but then ripping the hitters apart once he gets comfortable. really would like to see what he can do with an extended stay.
tas7b - June 25, 2009
That lineup is quite shitty
Isn’t it time to release some guys? Or is Beane waiting for some other MLB team to come to him asking for the super-utilitiness of a Bobby Crosby or the defensive juggernaut Jack Hannahan?
If this team is going to fail, I rather see it done with guys with some potential upside and a possible stake in the future of this ball club. I’ll venture a guess that Crosby, Hannahan, and Davis have maxed out on their upside (“upside” can be read as “mediocrity”). In the end, I’m just bitter about this team. I’ve never seen a lineup cobbled together with so many poor hittiers. Two-thirds of your lineup is hitting below .250 and the A’s don’t have the added excuse of having the pitcher bat.
My hope? After the trade deadline passes, the team will undergo a major roster overhaul, which will see the jettisoning of the extraneous suck known as the Davis, Hannahan, Davis, Cabrera, Giambi, Springer collective.
franks a lot - June 25, 2009
To use the word "mediocrity"
in describing Crosby, Hannahan, and Davis is actually a compliment to those guys.
tazguy66 - June 25, 2009
After the A's failed to score more than 1 run
in the bottom of the first I knew this was going to turn sour. When you let a pitcher like Randy Johnson off the hook, leaving two runs on the bases, your ass is in trouble.
The A’s made no adjustments, RJ did, and Gio did not help himself with that terrible throw that would have gotten him a dp in the 4th. Oh well, I guess it’s too much to expect decent fundamentals from this team.
And Matt Holliday is really starting to piss me off out in left. He makes Jack Cust look like a gold glover….piece of shit!
By the way, Happy Birthday Nico. :)
mrod - June 25, 2009
LOL - thanks!
And thanks, A’s, for making it so…memorable.
Nico - June 25, 2009
7.77
Gio’s career ERA! When will the A’s finally realize this guy is not a major league pitcher.
fansince1980 - June 25, 2009
Oh please.
Like hes even gotten a fair shake to prove he can be a major league pitcher. You prob said that same thing about Carpenter and Halladay.
Syphon - June 25, 2009
In 46 1/3 innings, no less!
Not saying Gonzalez is going to have the guy’s career, but Tom Glavine wasn’t all that good his first couple years.
Flashfire - June 25, 2009
The strikeouts are encouraging though
muffinpryde - June 25, 2009
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