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Apparently "Dog Day" at the Coliseum inspired the A’s offense, because they showed up to help the bullpen secure the win against the Angels in a pretty exciting game. The only damper on the night was a hit-by-pitch from Spier to Scott Hairston in the eighth inning, once the game was all but over. My first fear was a broken wrist, and although Hairston stayed in to run (Holliday promptly ended the inning with a double-play), he was pulled the next inning. Think good thoughts.
The Angels got on the board early with a homerun by Kendry Morales; the only run Cahill would allow in his first four innings. The A’s answered back in the bottom of the fourth, as Rajai Davis doubled with one out, and pulled off a delayed steal of third. Mark Ellis walked to put runners at the corners, and on a 1-2 pitch, Crosby caught up with a hanging curveball and hit a three run homerun. (I know!)
Cahill wasted no time in giving the entire lead back, and it was only thanks to Geren’s hook that the damage was limited to two runs. Cahill had completely lost the strike zone; actually walking in the tying run. Rivera even tried to help Cahill out by swinging at ball two, but Cahill would not be denied his last walk. He would finish with 4.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 4 BB. Brad Ziegler (new middle reliever?) replaced him and although he went 3-1 to the dangerous Morales (batting left-handed, which made Ziegler an interesting choice), he got him to fly out to center.
Ziegler got in trouble again with walking two with two outs in the sixth. He was replaced by Breslow, who walked the bases loaded, but got out of the inning with the game still tied at 3. It’s not often the A’s walk three in an inning, and hold any team scoreless, but they managed. They would give up 7 walks in total, but received 8.
Rajai Davis stole a run from the Angels in the bottom half of the inning to give the A’s the lead. After walking Davis to lead off the inning, Saunders misfired a pickoff throw to first, and Rajai went from first to home on the overthrow. It was a closer play than you would like with no outs, but I can’t blame Gallego; I’ve seen the A’s offense. Rex Hudler said Davis was clocked at 11 seconds, but Hudler also drew on a dog on the teleprompter, so you can take it for what it’s worth.
The A’s would add two more in the eighth on a double by Cabrera, and Wuertz made sure that the Angels never had another scoring opportunity. He added four more strikeouts in 1.2 innings to bring his total to 26 K’s in 14 innings. That’s amazing. Bailey came in to close the game out, and the A’s win.
A couple of notes:
So the A’s even the series, and will take on the Angels again tomorrow at 1pm.
0 recs | 177 comments
The A's win and that's the way it is.
RIP Uncle Walter
sirbed - July 17, 2009
Awww!
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
I know I'm old,
(I told LB this) because I picture him in black and white.
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
I remember him as a very little kid
and I got to meet him in Kansas City several years ago.
sirbed - July 17, 2009
cuppingmaster - July 17, 2009
Migration.
ElQuesoCapitan - July 17, 2009
Meanwhile, fellas, from the realm of the possibly possible ...
… the woman in the center/back was there, with her dog, drinking beer and digging baseball —UNattended.
I consider that a damned shame and an indictment of anybody under 40 who shares the Y chromosome disability.
The Dogfather - July 18, 2009
In other news, the pistachios were popular.
The Dogfather - July 18, 2009
{GASP!}
I love you, DF! More, please!
Leopold Bloom - July 18, 2009
DOGGIES ROCK!
DOGGIES ROCK!
DOGGIES ROCK!
DOGGIES ROCK!
DOGGIES ROCK!
DOGGIES ROCK!
(….sorry…doggie-geeked out there for a minute…)
Leopold Bloom - July 18, 2009
Well, she's short on boobs and prickly armpits, but ...
… ain’t she cute?
The Dogfather - July 18, 2009
Cool cattle dog
and “Cowboy”
and Life’s Great Dog
There. How’s that LB?
The Dogfather - July 18, 2009
love it love it love it!
more?! {wags tail}
Leopold Bloom - July 18, 2009
let me see what The DogMa got.
The Dogfather - July 18, 2009
Damn it, Bloom!
Sorry, DF. He does that to so many of our guests. Last week he humped Rated-R Superstar’s leg.
67MARQUEZ - July 18, 2009
It's not him -- it's his alter ego.
Mr Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls. He liked thick giblet soup, nutty gizzards, a stuffed roast heart, liverslices fried with crustcrumbs, fried hencods’ roes. Most of all he liked grilled mutton kidneys which gave to his palate a fine tang of faintly scented urine.
No mention whether the “relish” included fermented cabbage.
The Dogfather - July 18, 2009
But only after Rated-R Superstar asked three times
At some point, you say “ok” just to get the guy to shut up.
Nico - July 18, 2009
Speaking of alter egos,
Izzat you or Cindi talking?
The Dogfather - July 18, 2009
But why
under 40, DogFather? Sigh.
BTW, you really should stop by more often.
67MARQUEZ - July 18, 2009
Because I had to clearly recuse myself — the better to answer /somebody’s/ anticipated curiosity about that particular photo.
The Dogfather - July 18, 2009
And speaking of The DogMa, she wrote a terrific first-person account of her ongoing tussle with Lyme disease:
Here. Nasty bug!
Never will ounces of prevention be better invested, folks!
The Dogfather - July 18, 2009
Oh yeah. That.
There I go again, thinking only of myself.
67MARQUEZ - July 18, 2009
I can't tell if you know her or if
you’re just taking pictures of a stranger.
Anyway, I wonder if she prefers flying solo at the game. I know my sister did, back in her season-ticket days. She later found a regular non-romantic male seat partner primarily so that she wouldn’t have guys hit on her when they saw her there alone.
iglew - July 18, 2009
I do not know her, but neither did I, you know, stalk her.
Just a bunch of folks with at least two common interests conversing at the game. You may be right about her preferences, but it was a Friday evening, which used to be a date night, didn’t it? Memory’s a little foggy.
Anyway, I figured if folks are gonna ogle Jessica Biel, they might at least consider someone who is, at least, no less unattainable, and apparently more local.
ONE MORE THING, he griped: How, the fark, can A’s business-side “management” set a fairly low upper limit on dogs, then sell each of them a ticket, and then (are you ready for this?):
The Dogfather - July 18, 2009
RUN OUT OF FARKING DOG PACKETS WITH COOL BANDANNAS??
This one, folks, should not have been hard to get right.
The Dogfather - July 18, 2009
To their credit -- they responded to my email, uh, bitching immediately, today.
Good jorb, Whitney from Customer Service!
The Dogfather - July 18, 2009
My sister did the same.
Until she started dragging me along. Then again, she was in her teens still. Always seemed so much older to me. I hope she’s not reading this.
67MARQUEZ - July 18, 2009
That's a fantastic photo.
Tell me more.
Elvez - July 17, 2009
see previous thread
gotta love the sexy librarian look
cuppingmaster - July 17, 2009
smart chicks are hawt
Kallus - July 17, 2009
I totally agree.
Rated-R Superstar - July 17, 2009
If only she was.
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
she's wearing glasses!! Of course she's smart!!
Kallus - July 17, 2009
Eh, I can think of others.
Rated-R Superstar - July 17, 2009
a boy can dream though, right?
cuppingmaster - July 17, 2009
That's what dreams are for.
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
She has plenty of brains
Problem is, they are in her boobs, and they are not connected to anything.
doctorK - July 17, 2009
except her nipples....
BleedGreen - July 17, 2009
Hands.
They’re probably connected to hands.
alox - July 17, 2009
Your hands?
Dream on.
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
pam5981 - July 17, 2009
In-deed.
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
I do!
But probably not as much as Rated R. He’s a tad younger.
alox - July 17, 2009
I don’t have dreams. I have fantasies and a lot of ’em.
Rated-R Superstar - July 17, 2009
Don't we all.
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
too bad there aren't scandalous pics of Depp and Biel together
we’d melt the goddamn server like american cheese.
Kallus - July 17, 2009
Lol!
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
At 17?
No doubt you do.
You will never know how many times I hit “cancel” rather than post.
alox - July 17, 2009
I learned the truth at 17.
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
Oh no my little fallen angel....
you were teaching the truth at 17 me thinks.
alox - July 17, 2009
Yeah, that Janis Ian suff is bs.
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
stuff.
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
lol...
so it was!
alox - July 17, 2009
What’s the truth?
Gulp.
Rated-R Superstar - July 17, 2009
women have a penis.
I’m sorry you have to find out this way.
Leopold Bloom - July 17, 2009
(Kallus rapidly deletes numbers from phone...)
Kallus - July 17, 2009
You just ruined my life.
Thanks.
Rated-R Superstar - July 17, 2009
TWSS.
{sigh}
Leopold Bloom - July 17, 2009
Quit IT!
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
Now THAT...
… is funny.
Joey C. - July 17, 2009
Word.
One of the best TWSS’s ever.
iglew - July 18, 2009
Hey, you're only 17...
Why let LB do that when somewhere there is a very nice young lady who’s patiently waiting.
alox - July 17, 2009
I think he beat her to it.
Rated-R Superstar - July 17, 2009
Um,,, yeah!
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
Oh...
the truth. You wanted the truth. Here it is.
She’s out there, but she’s not so “waiting” as she will initially have you believe. And she’s not so nice.
The rest may be true. Hell, I don’t really know.
alox - July 17, 2009
but she has a penis.
Leopold Bloom - July 17, 2009
and that’s, like, a deal-breaker or something?
Kallus - July 17, 2009
the biggest one ever
cuppingmaster - July 17, 2009
You're picky!!
Kallus - July 17, 2009
ya gotta be when it comes to things like that
cuppingmaster - July 17, 2009
size doesn't matter
iglew - July 17, 2009
Haha!
Its only symbolic. Take the lead, my young friend. We’ll succumb. Right, LB?
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
That love is meant for beauty queens.
Lie.
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
You don't stop having fantasies as you get older.
You have just as many, but they’re better.
iglew - July 17, 2009
And more imaginative.
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
I bet with more experiences they do become more imaginative.
Rated-R Superstar - July 17, 2009
Oh, yes!
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
exactly
iglew - July 17, 2009
Today is a really amusing day on AN.
pam5981 - July 17, 2009
I had fun.
Rated-R Superstar - July 17, 2009
TWSS
i think it was good for all of us
cuppingmaster - July 17, 2009
More amusing than usual?
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
Much.
pam5981 - July 17, 2009
especially compared to yesterday
iglew - July 17, 2009
Back to Natalie...
Let me entertain you, let me make you smile…
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
let's see, we had...
Armpits
A Crosby bomb
Johnny Depp pics
Sensual explorations
Rajai non-fails
Jessica Biel pics
Friendship and Camaraderie
and we even talked about baseball!
Kallus - July 18, 2009
Today, I learned what “erogenous” means.
That’s something to tell mom about, right?
Rated-R Superstar - July 18, 2009
uhh, mom don't need to know bout that
Kallus - July 18, 2009
Sarcasm.
Rated-R Superstar - July 18, 2009
And the A's won, too.
pam5981 - July 18, 2009
i see
more focused ones then?
cuppingmaster - July 17, 2009
richer and more lifelike
iglew - July 17, 2009
In a way that you can apply to real life, yum.
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
(sigh of happiness)
Joey C. - July 17, 2009
where wuz you?!
Leopold Bloom - July 17, 2009
Trying to secure new housing, friend
Pain in my Irish-American ass.
Joey C. - July 17, 2009
Tomorrow’s game is on Fox, by the way.
Also, that last thread was fun and informative. I thank Lynnz, Pam and Iglew for the valuable information.
Rated-R Superstar - July 17, 2009
You're welky!
You can never have too much of that.
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
you rang?
cuppingmaster - July 17, 2009
vhat a nice rendition ..... sank you boyz
ak_A - July 18, 2009
I'll never look at armpits the same way again!!!
not that I regularly look at armpits, though
Kallus - July 17, 2009
< thud >
iglew - July 17, 2009
"it's prickly!"
cuppingmaster - July 17, 2009
I don't think that Zig was demoted to middle relief
it was just a high-leverage situation
Kallus - July 17, 2009
I think that's his second 5/6 appearance?
baseballgirl - July 17, 2009
could be, I don't know for sure
but it’s not like he’s pitching the middle of the game just to eat innings, or to do mop up work. After all, if Ziggy can get it done in the 5th/6th, we have Wuertz and Bailey to finish it off.
Kallus - July 17, 2009
On 7/12...
Ziggy came in for the 5th inning of a tie game.
ZigFan31 - July 17, 2009
I should also add that he gave up 2 runs.
Luckily, the A’s came back to win later in the game.
ZigFan31 - July 17, 2009
So, he might be more a middle relief guy now?
That would be okay with me.
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
Hard to say right now.
They haven’t been very consistent with him lately.
ZigFan31 - July 17, 2009
Yes
Very yes.
Joey C. - July 17, 2009
I have to say,
he could be awesome that way.
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
were there runners on?
if the bases were empty, then maybe they were just trying to give him some work in a low stress situation.
Kallus - July 17, 2009
No. He came in to start the inning. Bases were empty.
He actually gave up the runs in his second inning of work.
ZigFan31 - July 17, 2009
huh, well then. that does seem strange
i’m starting to suspect that BMB’s bullpen plan could be the following, on the days when the starters can’t go deep:
Zig: 5 & 6
Wuertz: 7/8
Bailey: 8/9
If Geren has spearheaded a conspiracy to keep Springer’s rear all splintery, then he just moved up 3 pegs in my book. But I shouldn’t rush to give him credit.
Kallus - July 17, 2009
That’s like what I do in video games. If you give up three runs, you’re gone. I tax the pen.
Rated-R Superstar - July 17, 2009
well wuertz and zig can't go everyday
so casilla and springer will have to work in there somewhere, with breslow coming in for the lefties. i just hope that springer can come in during garbage time
cuppingmaster - July 17, 2009
well, shoot. neither can Bailey, but that doesn’t stop ol’ Bobby G from tryin!
Kallus - July 17, 2009
yeah but he's getting better about it
at least it seems that way.
cuppingmaster - July 17, 2009
could be, but he did pitch the 9th. and with a 4 run lead too
I see it this way. We’ve used Breslow, Zig, and Wuertz already. You need 1 more inning, and you’re up by 4 runs. You could pitch Casilla or Springer, but you may wind up bringing in Bailey to get the same 3 outs, only there are 2-3 runners on. Very high stress. Safer to just have Bailey do it himself. It just seems that in that situation, there’s a significant dropoff in the quality of relievers you have for those last 3 outs.
Kallus - July 17, 2009
Probably has something to do with the runs in the 8th
It was 5-3 going into the bottom of the 8th so Geren probably had Bailey warming up when the A’s scored and once he had already started throwing I guess you might as well let him come into the game. Especially because he hadn’t pitched in a while.
OkayJay81 - July 17, 2009
don't know how much warming up taxes an arm
if he’s not needed, he can just sit down again and save his arm for another night. But I digress…why the hell does like every position player get to play in the ASG, but so many pitchers don’t even play? Maybe they should just pick 9 pitchers and have them pitch 1 inn each? And elect a few others in case the game goes extras?
Kallus - July 17, 2009
BMB...love it!
But good point about Springer. Much rather have Zig than Springer.
ZigFan31 - July 17, 2009
It actually worked out ok.
I was skeptical.
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
but Hudler also drew on a dog on the teleprompter,
New Sig?
BleedGreen - July 17, 2009
I'm assuming pun intended?
pam5981 - July 17, 2009
Never one to pass up an opportunity
to kick a dog when he’s down, but what the hell was Geren arguing about on the HR call? And why does Guccione (1st base ump) hate the A’s? You would have thought Geren would have gotten himself ejected on that DP call. That was one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen an umpire make.
alox - July 17, 2009
it clearly didn't hit the back wall the way it bounced back
i think the argument might have been that it wouldn’t have gone out had it not hit the cam
cuppingmaster - July 17, 2009
The camera is set up
out of play. If it hit the camera, it was clearly a HR. Not that I mind Bob arguing just for the sake of arguing, I don’t. But why argue that and then let the DP call slide by unchallenged? That I don’t get.
alox - July 17, 2009
i've seen them set it up a little over the fence though
depends on the TV crew i think
cuppingmaster - July 17, 2009
I wondered about that.
But the camera guy said no.
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
He's Geren nobody gets him
adragon - July 18, 2009
To be fair...
…the A’s crew said he was going out to argue the DP call as they were heading to commercial. Too little, too late, perhaps, but I think he did argue it.
GreenNGoldSooner - July 18, 2009
Holliday and the fastball
Fangraphs says that Holliday is 0.37 runs above average per 100 fastballs he’s seen this year. That’s OK, but down a lot from 2.00 last year and 1.37 the year before. Holliday is continuing to be very good against changeups and sliders this year, but the pitch that has killed him has been the curveball. He’s 4.46 runs BELOW average per 100 curves this year, a quite abysmal number, and down from his career +0.99. I wonder why he’s been so good at hitting sliders and so bad at hitting curveballs… strange…
King Richard - July 17, 2009
and if the VP is such a VIP....
too many numbers…too late at night
BleedGreen - July 17, 2009
It is nice to find out how difficult it has been for Holliday to hit AL pitching at the A's expense.
44FAN - July 17, 2009
THANK YOU.
Very interesting.
baseballgirl - July 17, 2009
King, thanks your research, but I need a little help
I am unclear about what “.37 runs above average per 100 fastballs” means.
ptbarnum - July 17, 2009
Just a guess
But maybe the move away from Coors is responsible for his trouble with curve balls. They say that the curve is one of the pitches most affected by the thin air up in Denver. It could be that after years of feasting on hanging curve balls at home games inflated his numbers against that particular pitch.
OkayJay81 - July 17, 2009
PITCH TYPE LINEAR WEIGHTS
don’t account for pitch combinations – and I still haven’t seen the creators of the stat explain it. If Holliday is being pitched differently, it’s not necessarily that he’s literally, physically having a harder time hitting the fastball, it may well be that he’s expecting the fastball at the wrong time, and the AL has found that he succumbs to different pitch combinations – combinations he wasn’t seeing in the NL as often.
Also: we should break out how he hits the fastball both home and away. I’ve heard hitters talk about the Coliseum’s sight-lines being weird.
sleepingcobra - July 17, 2009
also
pitch type linear weights fluctuate greatly when they’re being based on ~3.5 months of data
harenshair - July 18, 2009
Watching highlights right now
There were some serious BOMBS hit tonight in other games
cuppingmaster - July 17, 2009
Did you see Longoria's???
Day-um
baseballgirl - July 17, 2009
not yet
but I can’t believe Thome’s was only 445 or whatever they said
cuppingmaster - July 17, 2009
okay just pulled it up online
Longoria’s was also ripped
cuppingmaster - July 17, 2009
TWSS?
alox - July 17, 2009
Just got home from the game
It was awesome. Shocker that Crosby hit the 3 run homer, and Raj stealing home was so exciting!!
OakA'sHoney - July 17, 2009
Hi, OakA’sHoney.
Rated-R Superstar - July 17, 2009
Hi Rated-R!
I haven’t been to a game since May so it was fun to go. Although right field is a little less hot.
OakA'sHoney - July 17, 2009
Take W's where you can get 'em
‘Specially against the Yorba Linda Angels. Is it too much to hope that Hairston won’t die tonight?
Joey C. - July 17, 2009
lol I live in YL
drmmerchk - July 17, 2009
SuSlu sez
No x-rays for Hairston
yet.
pam5981 - July 17, 2009
almost as significant
“A’s manager Bob Geren almost never says anything vaguely critical about his players, but he made it clear after tonight’s game that Trevor Cahill has got some things to fix. It’s not the 11 walks in his past 13 2/3 innings that has Geren alarmed, although the walks don’t help – it’s that so many of the outs Cahill is getting are in the air, and he’s a sinkerballer.
Geren said that Cahill “has some work to do” and he “has to go a little bit back to the drawing board.” Coming from Geren, that’s strong stuff."
Glad to hear that hairston is only day-to-day so far
cuppingmaster - July 17, 2009
"day to day" doesn't put me at ease...not anymore.
Kallus - July 17, 2009
LOL true true
cuppingmaster - July 17, 2009
"day to day" = funeral TBD
Kallus - July 17, 2009
Maybe they’ll need to bring up someone from AAA?
OakA'sHoney - July 17, 2009
I know you have a name in mind.
Rated-R Superstar - July 17, 2009
oh rated-r, don’t get me excited!
OakA'sHoney - July 17, 2009
Silver lining FTW!
Blicks - July 18, 2009
all i know is it sounded bad
and he was gritting his teeth as he told geren to keep him in to run the bases
cuppingmaster - July 17, 2009
It sounded bad. And he looked miserable.
Hope the swelling goes down and it’s nothing too serious.
pam5981 - July 17, 2009
Yeah, same.
If he needs extended DL time, DL him now. It’s a lost season. Don’t play around with good players and injuries.
Blicks - July 18, 2009
That optimism shit is overrated anyway
Joey C. - July 18, 2009
I know who saw the Rally Monkey being dragged face down!
I do know! I do!
louismg - July 17, 2009
Do tell!
lynnzgal - July 17, 2009
I saw the guy at the game with the rally monkey in a noose.
It was hil-a-ri-ous. The best part was when he was swinging it around and then slamming it on the A’s dugout. I think that was before he let anyone that wanted to – use it as a punching monkey. We laughed pretty hard about that!
BERRYJO - July 18, 2009
He should have let some of the dogs play with it, too.
GreenNGoldSooner - July 18, 2009
Bedtime
later peeps
cuppingmaster - July 18, 2009
Me too.
That was fun!
lynnzgal - July 18, 2009
I'm weirdly exhausted and can't fall asleep.
pam5981 - July 18, 2009
giddy over just one good win?
BleedGreen - July 18, 2009
Giddy over Johnny pictures, I'll bet.
iglew - July 18, 2009
Cahill
Nice comments about “Cahill” from rotoworld in that he’s winless since June 22 and can’t be trusted. Gee Bobby the clown and Billy the Geek would you possibly take his past performances as maybe he needs time in AAA to work things out. Hell no you two stooges will continue with the thinking that we’ll just let him figure it out up here and would hate to admit that we made a mistake and “rushed him”.
granja - July 18, 2009
When RotoWorld says a guy "can't be trusted"
they mean don’t choose him for your fantasy league, not that he can’t be trusted in real baseball.
That’s what the “Roto” part means. It’s all about who is a good play in the fantasy game, nothing to do with developing a young player.
iglew - July 18, 2009
Rajai continues his quest for consistent playing time.
OldhamA - July 18, 2009
good to see players building up trade value
Cabrera , Rajai, springer, wuertz, etc could have some useful value to contenders. Especially Wuertz, teams overpay for relievers and he’s an elite one.
This Holliday experiment needs to end
Asfan4ever723 - July 18, 2009
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