Athletics Nation

ah, I didn't see or hear his comments about not being the "new" SS until now

yeah, crosby, you had your chance and you blew it multiple times. Just keep your mouth shut, play out the season and go to some other team next year. They tried to give you away this offseason, what did you expect.

And I am still trying to find out what the consensus is

on what time you need to get there to ensure a jersey in any size. I don’t want to get there at 2, but fear I will have to….

darooster - July 31, 2009 reply

Same

And I’ll be stuck in line the entire time, as the folks I’m going with can’t show till 5-5:30. Guess I’ll bring a book and a few beers : /

Same here.

Though I’m not supposed to drink beers. Doctor’s orders.

Well, if you pass by a girl in line at the LL Gate

Sitting by her lonesome and reading “The Kite Runner” – feel free to say ’ello

LL.... which gate is that from the BART bridge perspective?

I’ll probably be reading Dark is the Sun at the D gate line.

Though I wonder… C gate might have less people since that lot won’t open until later.

Approaching the Coli, it's to the right

What time does C gate open?

The gates themselves should open at the same time as the other ones into the Coliseum.

But they specify on the main site that the 66th street lot opens at 10am. I assume that means the south lot opens later. So if everyone goes in the 66th street lot, most of them are going to line up at D gate.

Not that it matters. You show up that early, you’re going to get a jersey.

I'm going with friends

Doubt if we’ll be there before 4. However, I’m getting a jersey for a friend who wears a large or XL, so if there are any jerseys left, I’m cool.

richwol1 - July 31, 2009 reply

No doubt. 2pm should be a safe bet.

My routine has always been to arrive by BART and step into the LL line. I need a small or m, and those are always quick to go. Recently I got stuck with an XL Suzuki shirt, which is only good for sleeping in.

I’m going to be so bored. Seriously. Say hi if you see me!

Will do!

I'll be reading Omnivore's Dilemma and probably drinking beer

Mmmmm….beer….

Gate?

C me thinks...

Mmmmm... high fructose corn syrup...

This team needs to keep playing hard and keep using its speed. It’s fun to watch even if they’re not the most talented team around.

very true.

winchester5 - July 31, 2009 reply

If you would’ve told me that Rajai Davis (.352) would have a higher on-base percentage than Jack Cust (.342) heading into August, I would’ve told you to go see a doctor or something.

doctorK?

Possibly.

Sweeney haters......

Its time to jump on the Bandwagon while you still can! I’ve got your glasses of Kool-Aid right here………

0akFoSho - July 31, 2009 reply

Not only did he have some good at bats with runners in scoring position, but he did a lot of little things well too,

a couple good throws and good baserunning. great day for Sweeney

winchester5 - July 31, 2009 reply

Dude, you've really got to scale down the image sizes when you post pictures.

It’s pretty simple. After you click the little picture button, you add height=250 to the code right after the quotation mark, and before the slash-end carat, like this:

<img src="http://www.bobpitch.com/anon/Lordofthefiles_kool_aid_man_waving.jpg"height=250/>

And it will give you this:

I’m going to reserve further judgment on Sweeney until after the season. Reason being that he really still is a singles hitter. That has merit, especially when you can plate runs. We’ll see if Sweeney will be worth keeping around, but I really think the talent in the system will pass him up. I guess we’ll find out eventually.

You wearing your Hall Monitor sash?

Dude, I have a widescreen laptop and it's still annoying to have gargantuan images like that.

you have a difficult life, no doubt.

That's got nothing to do with my laptop.

Well maybe if you didn't flirt with all the other girls while I was away...

Gosh, Mike is so insensitive to you.

Well maybe if you were here to keep me occupied...

That's it

turn it around on her, (because that always works)

I was here all night until I had a little emergency.

My wireless router died! Do you know what its like not to have internet access??? Luckily it happened with enough time for me to diagnose the problem, attempt to fix it, and then get to Best Buy to buy a new one before it closed at 10pm. Hey! and look at that…I’m back up and running.

Crisis Averted!

Thank god!

It was very unpleasant around here for about an hour!

I'll make it up to you.

I like the sound of that...

OK then.

Mike does so much better with OakA’sHoney and ZigFan than I do, but I’ll settle for the on deck circle with ZigFan.

Dude, focus.

Don’t go running around throwing yourself at every female who wanders by. Celebrities, sure, but not real people.

It was much more attractive when you were smitten with Lexi. Be constant to your chosen lady muse.

I only throw myself at woman in the open thread because we’re just playing around. In real life, I’m shy.

It's not mike's first time at the rodeo.

You’ll be fine. Patience. You’ve come a long way.

I've only been to like one rodeo. ever.

Puh-lease

Seriously.

Rodeos are not my thing.

Then why, when I went to the bookstore, did I see the book

Horses, Cowboys and Rodeos: This Kind of Thing Is My Thing, Baby by Mike Voelker

Hrm?

Bag. Is my BAG, baby.

Also, it’s rather strange that you know my last name.

Yea, I know it's bag.

But you said it wasn’t your Thing, so I went with that.

And your name isn’t hard to find, if you know the right place to look.

gov't files.

Keep my employer outta this.

The GUBA?

yep.

I had a crappy router and it kept dropping my connection. I ended up ponying up $130 to get a Wireless-N with four gigabit slots.

Haven’t had any problems with it at all. I love it.

Likely because N is a stronger signal than B/G.

But you prolly could have gotten a wireless bridge, assuming your router was far away from whatever device you were connecting.

I don't use the wireless for my main computer, or the PS3. Typically only for PSP/Wii or my wife's laptop, all which just use B/G.

The PC and PS3 are wired so I can take advantage of the gigabit. But the old one was a shitty Linksys router and it dropped all connections once or twice every 24 hours, even on wired. The previous Linksys I had was fine, but apparently they totally effed the firmware on the newer line. So I had to get a new one.

And the old router was two feet away before. The new one is actually further away now.

Honey, my power went out last night at 7pm. It wasn't on until about 3:00 this afternoon.

I went to sleep at 10pm last night. 10PM!!!!

I'm guessing you have a phone with internet access

and you probably went to work today and had access there. And if you had no power last night, you should have been drinking.

Phone, yes. However, it has a battery. Once that dies, I'm fucked.

and today was my day off work.

and I did drink.

If it's just the wireless router, can't you just plug in directly?

No. It was the gateway.

(Is that the same as the router?) Either way, it wasn’t getting power and the network cable comes out of the gateway. So no can do.

Those of us who aren't on wide screen

can’t read you entire code text. When you use <pre> the text doesn’t wrap for line-ends, so you have to provide your own. The “height” part of the code doesn’t even show for me.

I didn't use though. I used

Um... that was weird.

I didn’t use the “pre” tags, I used “blockquote”

The big picture made me feel like the Koolaid guy had busted through the wall after we yelled "Hey Koolaid!"

Oooooo Yeah!!!!!

Sweeney is not a good hitter.

Syphon - July 31, 2009 reply

He’s hitting around .330 in his last 35 games as a 23-year-old guy who hit .286 last year as a rookie. I know that you can’t just look at batting averages, but he seems like a solid hitter to me.

Well the thing is, that BA is basically the only reason why his OBP is where it is, and his SLG isn’t very impressive. His OPS is unlikely to ever peak over .800 because he can’t sustain an OBP of 400 with singles alone, and I doubt his SLG will ever peak much higher than 400 or 450. He’s still young, but I think he has a lot of work to do.

He’s only 23, so I still feel as if he has room to grow.

I think he has potential

Reaching it is the huge question.

I may be wrong, but I believe Sweeney is 24,

and that extra year means something to me when you’re talking about a kid who is said to have nascent power.

Sweeney’s HR% is actually lower than Davis’ this year. This is a basically meaningless stat – but it shows that the hype regarding Sweeney’s power potential hasn’t come to fruit. On the contrary, his slugging is down from last year.

I want Sweeney to succeed, but I just don’t see why he should be given a starting job carte blanche with the numbers he’s put up, three years before his peak. For the time being I would prefer him either in a reserve role (which is where I think he’ll eventually end up) or getting regular playing time in Sacramento.

Aufheben - July 31, 2009 reply

You’re right; he was born in February of 1985.

This is EXACTLY how I feel.

he definitely need to learn to take a walk

but I don’t know why any pitcher would throw out of the zone against Sweeney, so that makes walking hard.

colin - August 1, 2009 reply

Career OPS+ of 88.

No power.. mediocre on base. OK in the average department.

Syphon - July 31, 2009 reply

You are 100% correct

I still think he is a viable ML’er especially when you analyze the A’s farm system and current roster. I doubt the power will ever come but we have worse players than him at the moment.

Who do you think is a better option because I don’t see it?

I think 80 percent of the people on this blog want to see a 2011 outfield of Buck, Hairston and Cunningham with perhaps Davis and Sweeney as the reserve outfielders.

Buck is a bigger question mark than Sweeney

regardless of what people want. I hope Buck makes me eat a shit-ton of crow because he does have the potential for power numbers.

How is Rajai a reserve? The guy plays “balls out” and you can see that his energy is contagious. Sometimes stats are meaningless and I think this is one of those times.

I think people would rather see Buck, Hairston and Cunningham out there together as opposed to Davis with two of those guys.

I'd be OK with that

That’s what I’d rather see in 2011, but I don’t think that management sees Buck in their future plans. Sweeney has a better chance of being there than Buck does.

Which makes no sense, because Buck is younger and has better numbers.

It’s gotta be some sort of off field problem with him.

but they haven't translated to Oakland

Not saying they can’t but they simply haven’t.

Yours wouldn't either if you didn't get consistent playing time.

I've heard that argument several times

This is Oakland. Several players have not been given a fair shot so I don’t see why Buck is such a special case.

He had a really nice 2007 season despite playing in only 82 games, so we have definitely seen that he can play really well.

Because of his rookie season?

Buck, Hairston, Cunningham

is a pretty poor defensive OF. Rajai Davis gives you better defense and a true base-stealing threat. At the very least, IMO, he should be platooning with Buck in that scenario.

Nico - August 1, 2009 reply

I wouldn't do a straight platoon.

But I’d have the 4 of them rotate to get everybody plenty of playing time as well as rest.

ohtobe21likehuston - August 1, 2009 reply

See Bob Hamelin, Bob Crosby, Ben Grieve

One year of promise does not guarantee anything.

Well, 2 out of 3 anyway.

Grieve was a good hitter until he was traded and stopped caring about baseball.

who is Bob Hamelin?

Tommy Everidge being interviewed by Buan

If he gets a hit for everytime he says “You Know” He would have 200 hits in a season.

I swear to God, he said “You know” at least 100 times in 5 minutes. (LOL)

Pennington did well tonite and finally, “Fuck off Crosby”

Trainman - July 31, 2009 reply

he did say You know a lot.

He’s a true product of his SSU education.

Baseballgirl went to Sonoma State.

Leopold Bloom went to Sonoma State.

My cousin went to Sonoma State

…I’m still lacking in the college department

I plan on attending CSU East Bay.

Hayward?

Whoa. Freaky. When did they rename/rebrand/expand?!

I have no idea.

2-3 years ago, about

They’ve had one or two other CSU Hayward locations so they went with the “East Bay” thing. Pissed a lot of people off who thought it took away from really identifying where the main campus was.

I used to live right below it for years.

Flashfire - July 31, 2009 reply

They clearly should have gone with California State University East Bay of Hayward

I plan on going to University of Oregon

;(

quack.

At least the colors are right.

Go Ducks!

I think you mean

Go (get new football uniforms) Ducks!

Well, yes

I went to Oregon before the crappy uniforms and the stupid O logo.

Yay Ducks!!

height parameter fail

This picture is better.

Where do you think you’re going, Oregon?

We know your allegiance RRS

All teams local

I am fully dedicated to the Oakland Raiders, Oakland Athletics, Golden State Warriors and California Golden Bears.

You forgot the San Jose Sharks

I’m not really fully dedicated to the San Jose Sharks or the San Jose Earthquakes, but I try to keep up with them as well.

I have seen you at FTF

I pop in from time to time, but I only have about 90 comments over there compared to my thousands and thousands of comments elsewhere.

USC TROJANS BABY!!!

Get Yo Whig Split!!

0akFoSho - August 1, 2009 reply

With all due to respect to the salary that the USC Trojan players get for playing there, the guy still caught the ball.

You know what's highly amusing?

My dad graduated from USC, and taught at Cal. My mom and grandma graduated from Cal.

I however, slacked, and have a snowballs chance in hell of getting into Cal. Which is why I’m probably going to go to U of O.

Orodawg - August 1, 2009 reply

I have friends at U of O,

and they all love it. Plus, it’s a good school.

designatedforassignment - August 1, 2009 reply

Its the third/fourth best school in Oregon

Reed
Willamette
Lewis and Clark/U of O
OSU
PSU

But I have a ton of friends there that love it.

Im going back up to Oregon so perhaps we can have an AN at PGE Park Day if youre up here in time.

designatedforassignment - August 1, 2009 reply

Oh no I don't go there, some friends do.

I go to Santa Clara.

I went to Oregon

Parents both graduated from Cal. Both grandfathers taught there. My mom still teaches there. I now work there. But there’s no way I was going to go to Cal. a) I couldn’t have gotten in, and b) I wanted to go somewhere different. I loved my time at Oregon. Absolutely loved it.

designatedforassignment - August 1, 2009 reply

I think you mean UC Oregon

I did not know that.

graduated with distinction with a degree in English lit.

which is why I run a sign shop.

I wish I would have went to Sonoma State...

because that would mean that my life had a litle more culture. Where is Sonoma State?

I think it is in California.

Officially, it's Rohnert Park.

But it’s really Cotati or Penngrove. Maybe both.

Penningtongrove?

You've ignored Cotati.

Play an accordion, go to Cotati.

Don't take this the wrong way but

Go fuck your mother.

I am in heaven now

I love the far side

Gary Larson’s was a god

That one's one of my favorites

in spite of the fact that I love accordions!

I have about 200 favorites

Cat fud

yup that's one

B Kliban was a uber-God

Not Penngrove, but maybe it might pass for Cotati.

It's Cotati

I live five minutes from SSU, (in Penngrove) and drive by it every work day twice. I have four freinds who either go or went there and go to alot of Seawolves games.

adragon - July 31, 2009 reply

Yea, but the comic book store in the shopping center next door is considered Rohnert Park.

Sonoma State University

1801 E Cotati Ave
Rohnert Park, CA 94928

I stand corrected

good job with the research

You were halfway correct. "E. Cotati Ave"

There's a HUGE story behind the physical address of SSU.

I’m not the one to tell it, but, removing the fun drama stuff… Cotati and Rohnert Park fought over ownership of the university and obviously Rohnert Park won.

it's very clearly Cotati or Penngrove, though.

Not RP.

Interesting.

When I check out this map application it seems to me that it would be in Rohnert Park, no doubt, if you base it on location. I zoomed into the two cities and checked out the sphere of influence, growth and planning areas maps. But notice how Cotati has a tentacle extending into Rohnert Park, halfway to SSU along E Cotati Rd.

The map's misleading.

The center of RP is significantly further than the center of Cotati. But again, Penngrove’s closer than either. JJ lived/lives two blocks from the campus and her address is Penngrove. In fact, directly across the street is also Penngrove if memory serves…

LB you should take a look at the new SSU site as there have been many changes/upgrades over the last couple years, (when was the last time you were there?).

physically there?

2006?

looks the same...

I heard an interview with Rajai Davis on the pre-game show a month or two ago

and he kept saying “you know” after pretty much every sentence. It became comic, and the punchline came when the (American?) airline commercial came on just afterward with the narrator saying “We know that your travel is important to you blah blah. We know….” The timing of it was perfect.

Not sure what Crosby did because I was out of pocket

However, Rajai Davis makes this team better. Plain and fucking simple. I was not a big fan when he was a spot starter but this guy is a part of our future.

Nice to win a game and let’s get one for His Rickeyness tomorrow!

Here’s what Crosby did:

“It’s a joke,” said Crosby, who will be a free agent at the end of the season. "I’ve been taking ground balls [at shortstop] every day in the event that something like this happened, and I’ve been swinging the bat great. It’s an absolute joke.

“I thought the idea is to put the team on the field that gives you the best chance to win, and I think I can play the position pretty well.”

Well I guess he'll see his true "value" soon enough

Can’t wait to see his next quote “the whole league is clueless about what I can bring. Clueless. There is nothing else I can do but know that I was ROY and am better than most of the guys playing SS in this league.”

( Ben Grieve says hello )

Crosby had every opportunity to show Oakland

he could play. Everyone was dying for him to do well and he never could make the adjustments at the plate to earn a permanent spot as a starter.

IM4Oakgal - July 31, 2009 reply

No doubt

I’m no Travis Buck fan but he has a right to complain when you consider what Crosby is saying. He had his chance… and he blew it. Time and time again.

I'm going to go out back and play some home run derby with my Bobby Crosby signed baseball.

go find a bandsaw and cut that thing up

I've got a 16v Craftsman battery charging.

Sears

“Where America Shops”

And the funny thing is, I bought my set at OSH.

18V Dewalt FTW.

Oh yea, duh.

I got the 19.2 volt set. I looked at one of the Dewalt sets too. Honestly, any power tools are cool.

Wow.

You’re all so manly.

I just ate a few grapes after drinking Pepsi.

I am manly.

I'm quasi-watching

a Leonard Cohen PBS special. I might be a homosexual.

It’s all good.

might?

I thought you were bi.

well, I speak a little Spanish,

but not really enough to be considered bi…

67M can help you learn to roll your R's.

no doubt.

I can't make signs though.

I'm sure you could.

just whip out some power tools and get at it.

Wouldn't know where to start.

Sharpies and posterboard.

That's why I went to grad school.

to make crafts.

I hate my life.

I think R-RS

is encouraging you to huff and do blotter acid.

It might represent a real

fresh outlook on my craft.

He may be onto something.

Warning:

Probably not a good idea to follow R-RS’s advice immediately before attending an MMA event.

Bad craziness.

hmmm.

good call.

bad trip.

As long as you can read them, we're all good.

I'm more interested in you reading them.

You know he'd be a much more valuable player...

….if they just went ahead and outlawed the slider!

GreenNGoldSooner - July 31, 2009 reply

where was this qoute from

I don’t see it on the A’s site or sfgate.com

we were talking in the car.

I was taking him home from the airport.

Bobby Crosby =/= Keith Hernandez

oh, nevermind

it was on the A’s site

Thank god

The A’s front office don’t listen to us when I any many others were calling for Raj Davis to be DFA’ed earlier in the season.

ironliver - July 31, 2009 reply

Rajai 4 prez!

harenshair - August 1, 2009 reply

When does Crosby's contract expire? Can we just dump him at the end of the season this year?

Vegas Ace - July 31, 2009 reply

Tomorrow?

Let’s see if anyone picks his worthless salary up on the waiver wire. I actually think someone like KC could upgrade with him when you consider Pena lasted for a while batting .091. Get the disease out of our laboratory, BB. Please.

the A's tried that in the offseason didn't they?

I believe he’s a free agent after this season.

He is

And I'd be happy for him if his career had a resurgence and he got better.

Sometimes you just need a change of scenery. But it’s obvious he doesn’t fit in with the plans of this team going forward.

+1

He might get it in the NL

adragon - July 31, 2009 reply

I can totally understand his frustration, and

I don’t blame him for speaking his mind.

Still don’t want him on the field, though.

Good luck in your next gig, Bobby.

Dallas Braden is refreshing honest

He talks about his pitching like I do about the team at times.

Said falling behind is PATHETIC and throwing too many pitches and giving up runs will get you kicked out of the game.

Was not happy with his performance and when they mentioned his performance was better than last time, he said that giving up 5 runs is better than giving up 7.

Quite funny and honest at the same time.

I am sure he would be good at letting some of the other players know if they are not performing.

Dallas Braden knows how to pitch to his ability and is a gamer

Trainman - July 31, 2009 reply

Be honest Trainman

If we lost 5-2 would you be backing Braden?

We backed him last time he lost and spoke the truth.

Yep

He knows when he sucks and doesn’t sugarcoat it like that buffoon that manages the club.

Braden works hard and gives it 100 percent which is great considering he does not have “lights out” stuff. For the most part he pitches above his talent level.

Trainman - July 31, 2009 reply

Alrighty then

Just figured I would ask the question.

It is refreshing when a player holds himself accountable ...

It’s just that we get used to the same old tired “company line” in Oakland …

Vacafan - July 31, 2009 reply

Braden for manager!

+1

I like that after losing how many games 1-0 & 2-1 the team picked him up

But how's his grammar, you know?

grover - August 1, 2009 reply

I laughed

bobnothing - August 1, 2009 reply

I love Rajai.

I’m pumped he’s getting playing time, and as long as he keeps swinging it, he better be out there.

I have been rooting for him

Since last year to improve his OBP so that he could become a regular leadoff hitter. He plays better with regular play and doesn’t seem to be one of those who can stay sharp in a bench role — those players are less common, I think. He brings that disruptive tension when he gets on base, often forcing the opposing pitcher and defense to make mistakes.

OaklandSi - August 1, 2009 via mobile reply

I'll admit I was strong about Davis.

When he was hitting .220, I thought he should be cut. He proved me wrong.

JJ Martin - August 1, 2009 reply

I'm pretty sure I jumped on the "he doesn't do anything well but run fast" bandwagon,

and for that I owe Raj an apology because not only is he one of my absolute favorite players nowadays, but I think he’s deserving of more than just a roster spot — he’s at least a platoon player, and were it up to me I’d tell him, like the A’s have told Pennington, “(CF) is yours for the rest of the season; let’s see what you can do.”

Nico - August 1, 2009 reply

That basically happened last year, though, Nico.

The same thing happened, too. He was pretty terrible save for a hot streak at the end of the year.

Call me crazy, but I don’t think he’ll sustain the the .400 BABIP he had in July.

Granted, if he were to continue to put up the .280/.360/.400 line that he had in June, that would work.

It's always nice when a player proves AN wrong by succeding

but yeah, 1 month of great play doesn’t mean he will be in CF for the next couple years.

succeeding? suceeding? crap, I need to learn how to spell.

Let's not start...um...Wolffing each other just yet.

The guy looked pathetic and WORTHLESS less than two months ago. Let’s stop jumping to conclusions on SSS. His experience prior to this year and prior to June has not been stellar.

You bringing in the Wolff?

Shit, that’s all you had to say.

love.

I've always said that if he could just put up an OBP of even .320,

he’s an asset. I just am not sure he can over time, but that’s all I need from Rajai to want him in the lineup.

Nico - August 1, 2009 reply

Geren might also deserve some credit for continuing to put him on the field

Giving Bob Geren credit is something that I thought I wouldn’t do.