The recap itself is pretty simple: Scott Hairston, AN's favorite whipping boy lately, endeared himself to the faithful with a towering grand slam in the 7th inning that turned a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 win. The grand slam came off a right-hander, reliever Shawn Kelley, and made a winner out of Gio Gonzalez, who had just finished 7 IP and left the game trailing -- only to be returned the winning pitcher. Other observations on the game:
* It was nice to see a classy move on the part of A's fans, standing and applauding in acknowledgment when Ichiro doubled (on the game's second pitch) for his 2,000th career hit in the U.S. The fans were aware of the hit's significance, and were gracious enough to cheer -- fans are not always knowledgeable or magnanimous, and I'm glad our fans were both.
* SCOTT HAIRSTON HIT A GRAND SLAM!!!!!
* Gio Gonzalez had a good outing from two points of view: He walked only 2 batters and he allowed only 2 runs. However, one pitch was all too familiar and that was Adrian Beltre's RBI single, off a Gio curve, to break a 1-1 tie in the 6th. Gio is incredibly predictable in throwing the curve as soon as he gets two-strikes on a hitter in a strikeout situation, and hitters know it. I was sitting on the curve there, and so was Beltre. Otherwise, though, we saw a lot of "good Gio" today.
* SCOTT HAIRSTON HIT A GRAND SLAM!!!!!
* Eric Patterson cannot catch up to a fastball, nor does he generally swing where it is anyway. Exactly how many at bats do fans want him to get before accepting this? This is a process issue, not a stat based one. I don't care what Eric Patterson is hitting, or what the sample is, because every single time he gets a bunch of at bats, the fact remains: Jack Hannahan can catch up to a major league fastball far better than Eric Patterson can. This is going to change because the sample grows? He will be Eric Patterson after 50 at bats, he will be Eric Patterson after 150 at bats, and he will be Eric Patterson after 500 at bats. Give it up, folks: The guy can run fast, but he can't field or hit. But who cares, because...
* SCOTT HAIRSTON HIT A GRAND SLAM!!!!!
0 recs | 132 comments
Did Scott Hairston hit a Grand Slam?
LOL
I guess that is his 1st. He’s talking to VC about it now.
Trainman - September 6, 2009
Gio really needs to work on that third pitch,
just to make him less predictable.
As Eric Patterson’s fan club founder and AN defender, my reaction to this:
is Rajai Davis. At the beginning of the year, Rajai Davis looked HORRIFIC. Eric Patterson-esque, actually. He couldn’t catch up to a fastball, and couldn’t recognize a pitch to save his life. But 3 or so months later, he’s probably our best hitter. I think Patterson deserves a shot to work out the kinks and get accustomed to big league pitching, the same wasy Rajai did. And frankly, I don’t see how a guy could put up good minor league numbers if he can’t hit a fastball. I imagine minor league fastballs are similar to major league fasballs velocity wise, no?
travdog6 - September 6, 2009
I'll give you that
Epatt should be given an opportunity, especially now that we are sucking. As for Rajai, I was all for DFAing him earlier this year.
sf drift king - September 6, 2009
Hey, even I'm for giving him an opportunity right now
In fact it will have the benefit of increasing the sample so that people will accept the reality — which is, IMO, that he can’t hit at this level. My point is that the fans whose main defense of Patterson is “the sample’s too small” ought to look at the at bats and realize that Patterson isn’t putting up horrible numbers because the sample is small. It’s not going to happen for Eric Patterson, IMO — but by all means, give him the ABs now. I have no problem with that.
Nico - September 6, 2009
Rajai changed quite a few things at the plate
If Patterson stays as he is, he’s going to suck. He needs to start choking up more and quit with the uppercut swing. Then he has to learn how to catch up to fastballs.
If he does all this, he can be a decent offensive player because of his speed, but he’ll still have zero defensive value.
You’re right on the money with this, Nico.
hero66 - September 6, 2009
someone
should quickly relay this info to the hitting coach. ASAP
sf drift king - September 7, 2009
Uhh... this.
NateHST - September 6, 2009
Gio
hero66 - September 6, 2009
Oops...
Gio’s arm action slows down noticeably when he throws his curve and change…that’s often why he gets hit hard. Gotta fix that.
hero66 - September 6, 2009
Ya, I've seen that as well.
I wish he’d work on it a lot more. Especially at this point in the year.
travdog6 - September 6, 2009
I've seen that with the change; haven't noticed it with the curve
Maybe it’s more noticeable with the change, and that’s why the curve still continues to be effective while the change just isn’t.
Nico - September 6, 2009
It is more noticeable with the change
But I’ve seen it a few times with the curve as well. It’s not as much of a problem, though. His curve has been a much more consistent pitch all-around for the most part.
hero66 - September 6, 2009
One difference is that the curve is a pitch
where you can know/guess it’s coming and still not square it. But if you know the change is coming, it’s pretty much like hitting BP.
Nico - September 6, 2009
Another thing about the curve, especially Gio's curve
is when it’s clicking and he can throw it for strikes early he is at a clear advantage. Gio’s curve is one of the best that I have seen in recent years, ala Barry Zito if you will, and because his fastball is quite a bit better than Z’s ever was, if he can turn his changeup into anything decent I think his ceiling is very high.
Personally, I really have seen Gio grow over the last month+ and he’s really starting to show that promise many of us were excited about when he came over in the Swisher trade, so the future is starting to look brighter everyday with our young pitching. Go A’s!
mrod - September 6, 2009
Powell said in a postgame interview
that Gio has been working on a slider and a change, and that he got hitters out with the change today. Geren also mentioned that the change was getting some hitters to ground out.
OaklandSi - September 6, 2009
I did see that in the Geren interview
I didn’t get to watch the game until the bottom of the 7th so I only saw the highlights of Gio pitching. It looked like he really pitches a damn fine game to me overall, I just would have liked t seen Gio pitch from start to finish today.
Overall, though, his shit has been money lately…
mrod - September 6, 2009
Wow. You guys are good!
The change is the slower pitch, right? And the curve kind of, um, bends? But seriously, I don’t think I’ll ever be subtle enough to see what you see, and I am impressed (mind-blown, actually) by all of you on this one.
Of course, so long as I watch all of my games on the radio, I probably won’t get better at identifying the different pitches during the windup.
paris7 - September 6, 2009
And if you listen to Cotroneo, forget it
You’re lucky to know vaguely what just happened in the game.
Nico - September 6, 2009
Rajai Davis could always play a good centrefield - his reads aren't fantastic,
but he more than makes up for them with his speed. Patterson can’t even play 2B and he’s never ever going to hit for enough power to hold down a corner outfield spot – especially considering his defence out there is mediocre at best.
OldhamA - September 7, 2009
Totalzone has Patterson as not being terrible defensively,
although I don’t really know much about that metric.
Anyways, my final thought on Patterson is this: at the big league level, he’s incapable of hitting a fastball. But in the minors, he has been crushing everything, including, presumably, fastballs. I don’t believe that he can’t catch up to fastballs, or that the difference in location is causing his failure. Lots of guys throw hard in AAA, and lots guys can locate. I think we are seeing a guy who is completely uncomfortable at the big league level. This inability to hit an 88 mph fastball leads me to believe we aren’t seeing the real Eric Patterson, and we won’t until he actually gets consistent playing time.
That being said, I do have my doubts about the guy. I just want to see him get a fair shot.
travdog6 - September 7, 2009
We actually said "beam it up Scotty"
And tried a mind meld in the seventh…
It also threw me off since for the first time I got on the wrong train… I’m now waiting in west Oakland for the next train to MacArthur
OaklandSi - September 6, 2009 via mobile
if i hadnt seen it myself i might think that Nico was just kidding about the GS!
That was a good one to see in person. There was an ok sized crowd their compared to what we have been getting. There were a lot of Japanese fans, way more than normal for a Mariners game. Most of them could have cared less about the game they were only there to see Suzuki. I don’t think they were even Mariner fans just fans of Suzuki. Gio looked pretty good out there today. For a while there I thought it was going to be the same old story of missed opportunities. How many times do we leave men on and can’t even get a sacrifice. I’m about to go nderground on Bart!
wacchampions - September 6, 2009 via mobile
Eric Patterson has proven that he is more than minor league filler/emergency backup
He’s put up an .850 OPS over his five seasons in the minors. You absolutely cannot judge him by his 180 at-bats that he’s received from spot starts and emergency call ups.
NateHST - September 6, 2009
Instead of arguing, let's just assume for a moment
that for whatever reason, Patterson doesn’t ever hit better in the majors. He’s still a proven excellent minor league hitter and an interesting question would be, “What IS the difference?” As travdog6 points out above, plenty of minor leaguers throw with good velocity — in fact many fail because good velocity is the only thing they really have — so for players like this, what is the barrier?
Nico - September 6, 2009
It does make me wonder
Like you say, with good velocity being the only thing many minor league pitchers really have, I wonder if something of the reverse is happening with Patterson in the Majors to some extent: not being able to sit on fastballs because they can throw more than that, meaning he’s too slow to catch up to them when they come because he’s thinking too much about seeing other pitches.
100% speculation, but maybe there’s something to it. He’s been great in the Minors but looked like absolute crap in the Majors. There has to be some explanation past “he just can’t hit fastballs.”
Flashfire - September 6, 2009
Maybe it’s more like “he can’t hit fastballs that are placed well.” If I had to guess, the main difference between pitchers in the minors and majors is the ability to locate pitches. I didn’t watch the game today—did he look silly even on meatballs?
speckops - September 6, 2009
That could be part of it, too
Then again, he could just be one of those anomalies. It’d be nice if someone could get an answer from him as to what he thinks is going on.
Flashfire - September 6, 2009
Right on, speckops, and yes --
he was swinging and missing, or swinging and fouling to the left, fastball after fastball. All up in the zone, mostly in but also away.
Nico - September 6, 2009
In one of his at bats
he basically swung through 3 straight 88mph fastballs that Fister threw…and from my eye, it didn’t even looked like he had that much movement on his pitches. How do you not catch up to that?
faninphilly - September 6, 2009
Location.
OldhamA - September 7, 2009
That's a difference
but there are also guys like Komine in the minors who can locate pretty well, but don’t throw hard enough, or have enough fastball movement, or throw a good enough breaking pitch to succeed in the majors.
Patterson has a long history of success in the minors. I’m sure that with the right information (both stats and reports of scouts) that it would be possible to figure out what Patterson has been doing right in the minors all along.
Nick - September 6, 2009
His swing is long.
hero66 - September 6, 2009
Yet his at bats not so much.
Nico - September 6, 2009
I'm beyond baffled by the difference between EPat at the minor league level and at the major league level.
I’ve just kinda assumed that given time, he’d adjust and start to hit at least a little bit better.
When I think of the difference between old Rajai and new Rajai, I think confidence. At the beginning of the year, Rajai looked like he was guessing at a lot of pitches and like he was really unsure at the plate. His pitch recognition looked miserable as well. Patterson might be having the same problem.
travdog6 - September 6, 2009
Watching Patterson, while Flashfire's theory is exactly what I'd assume
it looks like in fact they’re pretty much pounding fastballs, and are just able to put them in spots where he has “holes” (which are many) — most notably, up and in. He’s so focused on not swinging and missing that he’s starting early and should be very vulnerable to offspeed stuff — but he won’t get any until he shows he can hit the fastball, which he hasn’t done.
Nico - September 6, 2009
The A's are undefeated with my neice in attendance
Granted, she is only 2 years old, and today was her first ever baseball game, and she only made it 5 innings, but still, they’re undefeated in her presence! WAHOO!!!
Oh, and about Ichiro….I didn’t see anything posted on the scoreboard recognizing it as his 2000th hit, I think A’s fans are just really knowledgeable fans. The instant it was hit, fans started to rise and applaud. Awesome.
gigglingone - September 6, 2009
well, obviously she needs to attend every game until they lose ;-)
OaklandSi - September 6, 2009
That will be a problem, since they are only in town for the weekend....
but I’ll see what I can do about getting them to let me borrow her for next season… :)
gigglingone - September 6, 2009
I wouldn't make that offer if I was you.
They’d probably take you up on it.
OldhamA - September 7, 2009
the person next to me said,"I didn't know there were so many Mariner fans here...
…wait a minute, those are A’s fans applaudinghim…why?"
So I explained..
OaklandSi - September 6, 2009
They did post it, fyi.
BleedGreen - September 6, 2009
Ah, ok
I didn’t see anything immediately, so either i missed it, or they posted it shortly afterwards. I was on a Stomper hunt for my niece at that point….
gigglingone - September 7, 2009
It's been all over the news though.
OldhamA - September 7, 2009
Great game today. And yikes, I'm sunburned.
I completely missed the odd hop that sent the ball over the wall. since I was watching the runners. I was really hoping for a replay.
On games attended, I’m on a 4-game win streak. Woo!
SwisherThresher - September 6, 2009
That play was really bizarre
and it cost the A’s what could have been a crucial run. I have never seen anything like it.
Nico - September 6, 2009
It was like there was a string attached to that ball by someone in the stands....
truly bizarre indeed..
mrod - September 6, 2009
I have an issue with Gio
when Hairston hit the slam, Gio just sat on the bench, looking bored and tired. Of course, he should’ve leapt from his seat and raced out of the dugout to congratulate Scott. I remember that Gio has done this in the past, and that Ocab called him on it. I’m bummed that Gio still hasn’t gotten the message about what it means to be a good teammate.
Kallus - September 6, 2009
It was a bit odd.
Even from a selfish standpoint, that hit turned Gio from the pitcher on “the short side” of the ledger to the pitcher on “the long side.” So he wasn’t even being a good selfish athlete!
Nico - September 6, 2009
this is a huge potential problem with young pitchers
on crappy teams where they feel like they have to throw a 2-hit shutout every time out to get a W. I think what you saw from Gio was a pitcher who, like young guys without the maturation and battle-testedness do, was ripping himself up for coming out of the game behind and may not have been available psychologically to celebrate the turning of the worm that SH’s slam provided him.
This is perhaps a little far afield but I think it’s a factor and I’ve seen it from Cahill (although not Anderson, interesting) too, a need to be too fine and a tendency to beat oneself up when you really don’t deserve it. Maybe this will siphon out over time & these kids will get more comfortable, but as we know the thing that would accelerate them growing out of it would be if Beane and Forst went and got some damn sticks for this team already, or something.
emperor nobody - September 6, 2009
Strange thing is, they tried to bolster the offense for exactly that reason
(“we want to give the young pitchers some margin for error this year”) and it…didn’t really work, did it?
Nico - September 6, 2009
one word answer
No.
emperor nobody - September 6, 2009
I think Gio has said in interviews that he beats himself up mentally
after making mistakes. What we saw from him just after Hairston’s slam may just have been his slowness to react to what was happening in the field, if he was still replaying some of his pitches.
Did anyone see more of him in the dugout after that one brief shot from the TV?
OaklandSi - September 6, 2009
I dunno,
I was worried about that as well, but to me, it doesn’t seem like it’s the case. I would think that if they were trying to be too fine, their walks would go up. Yet only Gio and Outman’s BB/9 have gone up, and both cases the difference seems negligible.
travdog6 - September 6, 2009
New sigline!
Elvez - September 6, 2009
On TV, we lip read...
“Go, you son of a *” He was FIRED UP about that hit. Looked more relieved to me, than anything.
baseballgirl - September 6, 2009
I do remember that part. Not a great lip-reader but you could make it out
Flashfire - September 6, 2009
Yup
He looked more relieved to me also. That being said his post game interview was great. You could tell how young he is and how much he was glad to get picked up by his offense.
adragon - September 6, 2009
I thought I saw a replay of him looking happy
Flashfire - September 6, 2009
They showed one shot, then a replay of same,
where he looked anywhere from indifferent to a tad annoyed as Hairston’s ball went out.
Nico - September 6, 2009
like i said above
what i saw was a pitcher who was beating on himself so hard for little failures and coming out behind 2-1 that he wasn’t even really watching the game at that point, he was in full self-flagellation mode.
emperor nobody - September 6, 2009
He may have been beating himself up for throwing Beltre a curve
I know I was beating him up for it.
Nico - September 6, 2009
yeah
to me this is what will tank these promising young pitchers, even before injury this is my worst fear, that they are getting in a mindset where they have convinced themselves that we ain’t gonna score shit and they have to throw a perfect game to not chalk up another L.
BB and DF need to hear this and get serious over the winter or we’re gonna have shells, husks of men for pitchers and roughly 32 people in the stands.
emperor nobody - September 6, 2009
(mental image of empty husks on the pitching mound)
OaklandSi - September 6, 2009
Dana is that you?
adragon - September 6, 2009
I'm sure there's a lot of that going through Gio's head
but still, I would hope that Young or Geren would think to go up to Gio (or Cahill, for that matter), and say “look kid, you pitched a great game. You’ve got nothing to feel bad about. Now get up on the front steps and support your teammates.” As it is, it appears that Gio is content to mentally “check out” of the game. He is young and still maturing, so I should’ve said that I have an issue with Young and Geren, and not have put everything squarely on Gio.
Kallus - September 6, 2009
Eh
We really have no idea what was said or not, if anything. All we get on TV are a few moments that are easy to misinterpret.
Flashfire - September 6, 2009
Yeah, it's futility incarnate to try and guess what's going on in someone's head
especially as it’s someone we dont’ know personally, and when it’s just a quick flash on tv. I mean, how many times have all of us greeted good news at work with indifference, due to any number of personal factors? Or maybe he was just concentrating on what he was going to do in the next inning.
With all the faults of this team, looking pleased in the dugout is something that I can’t even begin to start caring about
bobnothing - September 6, 2009
+1
Earlier in the inning they showed Barton giving Gio a dap. Gio looked “into the game” when Barton did that.
Nick - September 6, 2009
What's a dap?
Elvez - September 6, 2009
In context, I'm assuming
it’s something sexual.
Nico - September 6, 2009
Negative.
Fist bumping. It’s 70’s slang/jargon.
Good times…..those seventies.
alox - September 6, 2009
"Fister"
And it all comes full circle.
Nico - September 6, 2009
It better be.
mikev - September 7, 2009
Terrorist fist-jab
Nick - September 7, 2009
agreed Kallus
Yes I agree it’s on the pitching coach and the manager at that point, to manage the personnel in the situations that come up like this, especially if it is a repeating pattern as we have seen.
No doubt they need to step it up when the kid comes out of the game and get him focused on positives so he doesn’t disappear up his own ass, even as we are putting up crooked numerals for his benefit.
emperor nobody - September 6, 2009
And to take it a little further...
…sometimes players just need to be left alone for a few minutes from what I’ve seen and collect their thoughts. I’ve seen it a number of times when a pitcher has a bad game in the minors. He’s upset when he’s taken out because he knows how he pitched and I don’t see everyone going up to him telling him to shake it off, don’t worry, etc. These guys go through it enough that everyone needs a chance to put it behind them on their own terms and if they swear and throw their glove or slam their batting helmet down and people act like they’re not seeing or hearing it it doesn’t make them bad teammates.
Flashfire - September 6, 2009
true, but that's different than neglecting to
greet a teammate when everyone else is doing so. He can give Hairston a pat on the back, and then go back to beating himself up. I don’t think that’s too much to ask for.
Kallus - September 6, 2009
Again, do we know that he didn't do that at all?
Or did we just not see it the moment he was on TV?
Flashfire - September 6, 2009
I watched and rewatched the slam
Gio was nowhere to be found. I watched again, in slo-mo this time. Nothing. Then they show Gio, sitting there in the same spot.
Kallus - September 6, 2009
And how long was Gio on TV during all of that?
Flashfire - September 6, 2009
not long
they were showing the players who were actually celebrating.
Kallus - September 6, 2009
LOL
Flashfire - September 6, 2009
I just watched that again
I’m pretty sure I saw him high five Hairston in the dugout. He was behind several other players in the shot so he’s not that easy to see.
OaklandSi - September 6, 2009
But did all five of his fingers touch
all of Hairston’s five fingers? I feel I need to know this in order to fully evaluate whether Gio is a future Hall of Famer or a deadly clubhouse cancer.
Nico - September 6, 2009
I thought we'd established that he's a clubhouse cancer?
He doesn’t even have pom-poms in his locker to break out when he’s not pitching. We should waiver wire him already.
OldhamA - September 7, 2009
Oh for crying out loud
Gio’s main problem is that he’s too emotional. He’s been working hard on tamping that down so he doesn’t lose control of situations. You think he wasn’t thrilled by that slam? He went from a frustrating well-pitched loss to a very satisfying victory in one swing. But you can’t just turn it on and off. He’s been trying to emulate Anderson, who always seems to be under control (but who somehow doesn’t get a lot of grief for it here). Gio’s been vastly more effective since he started working hard on that “composure” he’s been talking about. Gio’s doing exactly the right thing, and he’s rewarded by having you and Nico crap on him here. I’m really sick of fans looking at a player’s face, judging that it doesn’t show precisely the mix of emotions the fan wants to see, and then drawing malign inference about the players character.
Faust - September 7, 2009
How am I "crapping on him"?
I said it was odd, not that it was bad. It was just surprising to see someone react to a grand slam by his teammate the way he did, not “bad.”
Nico - September 7, 2009
Fair enough
You were sticking with appearances, rather than drawing making character judgments from that. I shouldn’t have included you in my criticism.
I am puzzled why you’re so critical of Gio throwing Beltre a curve. Leaving aside the change, which is still a work in progress, he’s only got the fastball and curve, and he gets hurt on the fastball a lot more frequently than on the curve. Batters frequently miss the curve even when they’re looking for it. It’s not as though any of his pitches are guaranteed success.
Faust - September 7, 2009
I just think he's stuck in a pattern
that allows hitters to sit on the curve on the first “two strike” pitch. To me there isn’t so much a right pitch or wrong pitch to throw in a situation as it’s important not to be completely predictable.
It’s kind of like what happened to Anderson, culminating in a start against the Giants — every time he got to two strikes he came inside and the Giants were sitting on the location. He figured that out and adjusted nicely after that and I think Gio can, and needs to, do the same.
It’s just gone on long enough that I’m surprised he and his catchers haven’t adjusted yet. It’s very predictable and you could see Beltre was just sitting on the curve — he wasn’t out in front at all.
Nico - September 7, 2009
Finally....a game where someone other than Nico is getting the beatdown!
:}
mrod - September 6, 2009
Well, I'm pretty sure he wasn't angry Hairston hit a grand slam...
…and all accounts I’ve heard and seen show him to be a pretty good guy who’s hard on himself, so I’m not going to make anything out of it based on one moment we see on TV.
Flashfire - September 6, 2009
Agreed
For all we know, he might have been reprimanded once again for attempting to do a happy dance after every homer.
muffinpryde - September 6, 2009
Are you being sarcastic?
bobnothing - September 6, 2009
The only guy I saw Hairston hug was Nomar
I assume that means that the A’s clubhouse is torn apart by factionalism, and that Hairston is a terrible influence who’s brought the whole team down.
Nick - September 6, 2009
+1
Flashfire - September 6, 2009
To me that only shows that Hairston
has a slight proclivity towards necrophilia.
Nico - September 6, 2009
I also saw him hug Barton
OaklandSi - September 6, 2009
So the crappy players stick together, huh? ;-)
OldhamA - September 7, 2009
Bull honkey. Unless the 2nd high-fiver here isn't Gio. Looks like 'im to me.
I think the nod to Gio is him acknowledging Gio’s thanks. EIther that, or he’s sending subtle hints that he wants his own bobblehead.
JediLeroy - September 7, 2009
How can you possibly tell who the second high fiver is?
He’s almost completely covered by another player.
OldhamA - September 7, 2009
I have a high-rez video that's about ten times larger
..from which I made the ambiguous video.
Pretty sure it’s Gio.
JediLeroy - September 7, 2009
yea it's him
you can tell by the way he’s wearing his hat
chipper1001 - September 7, 2009
+++! Gio definitely was giving Hairston props as he came back to the dug out.
mrod - September 7, 2009
People see what they want to see
BleedGreen - September 7, 2009
Then why do I keep seeing the A's lose?
Nico - September 7, 2009
Baha!
I see……… :)
mrod - September 7, 2009
Really happy with the A's performance in the series
Despite the fact that I missed all the game threads. Andrew Bailey should be AL ROY. 18 straight saves? Heck , ya!
worldblee - September 6, 2009
starting to agree, even beyond requisite A's partisanship
Bailey is really something else, hard not to begin to shoot him to the fore of AL ROY candidates given the utterly glittering numbers with an ERA sitting near 2 and 18 str8 saves converted on a crappy team.
emperor nobody - September 6, 2009
What helps is that there are extenuating circumstances
to legitimately hurt other candidates. Beckham missed 1/3 of the season; Andrus has not hit nearly as impressively as he has fielded (though he has hit well enough that he probably earns my vote); Anderson has neither a “wow me” W/L record nor ERA (both of which certainly matter to voters, whether or not they should).
But with 23 saves and counting, a sub-2.00 ERA, and terrific peripherals across the board, it’s hard to say Bailey would be a bad vote, even if there are other good ones in a pretty strong field (Ricky Romero could still get some legit consideration).
Nico - September 6, 2009
agreed
although closing is one of the toughest jobs and maybe even harder for a rookie… esp. one that wasn’t necessarily thought of as one before this season.
I’d say he’s got a good shot and it’ll get better the more saves he tacks onto this tasty little streak of his… if he can close out the year without blowing one, he could take the ROY.
It’d really be nice, something to hold onto in this most awful of seasons and a great indicator that things could get better in ’10 & ’11.
emperor nobody - September 6, 2009
That's a lot of pressure. He can blow one, I think.
18 straight through the summer kicks butt, and is very deserving of the award.
paris7 - September 6, 2009
And if he gets one like last night where a 5-3 lead becomes 9-3 while he's in a save situation and he allows...
…two runs after that and still gets the save, that works too.
Flashfire - September 6, 2009
That was crap
Geren so should have had one of the new relievers in there at 9-3.
Why have Bailey waste his energy on a 6 run lead?
Daniel777 - September 6, 2009
Here's the thing, though --
Bailey had thrown only 2 pitches, so a 15 pitch outing seemed likely enough if he worked the 9th, and Bailey had already warmed up and come in the game (and probably wanted the save, so he would have been a little irked not to get to finish, for whatever that’s worth).
Meanwhile, Ziggy and Wuertz were already spent, meaning that had someone else started the inning and gotten into big trouble, there was no great option to go to. So I can see why Geren played it the way he did.
Nico - September 6, 2009
Two Strikes
It seems to me that Rajai gets a lot of two strike counts. This seems to have started when he started to hit better. Is there a correlation between the two?
Graybeard - September 6, 2009
Please please please no ROY for Bailey...
…or this will be his first and only solid season on his way to a career of SUCK. Call it the “A’s ROY jinx”. See Crosby, Bobby; Weiss, Walt; Street, Huston; Grieve, Ben….
kitoko - September 6, 2009
But not McGwire or Canseco
So if Bailey gets the ROY…he needs to take steroids! Sorry, facts are facts.
Philip Christy - September 6, 2009
Who's to say he's not already?
Dun-dun-der!
OldhamA - September 7, 2009
Miff-miff-lin?
JediLeroy - September 7, 2009
Didn't listen to the game
But watched the highlights. Hairtson hit a slam… holy sh—-!!!!
Anyways, I was actually out at a chili cookoff in Malibu and I found a treasure I thought I’d share:
This was up for a silent auction. If I hadn’t just paid rent and stuff, I might have bid on it myself. Though it would probably be better if it hung in the AN home office (assuming it’s not Nico’s den or something).
Hopefully the upload works. Else I’ll be trying this again in a few minutes
cuppingmaster - September 6, 2009
holy tablet.
Leopold Bloom - September 6, 2009
I should have doctored it to read
“To AN,
Your Rally Girls for eternity.
Love,
Lauren and Alexis"
cuppingmaster - September 6, 2009
Excellent game.....
……it was only a matter of time before we scored.
Rajai made a quality catch where he ran about 12 (insanely fast) miles to get it.
The Sweeney raccoon’s diving catch was pretty special too.
To me Gio looks like he knows what he has to do, but doesn’t quite have the execution down yet. I think he’ll be a star next year with more seasoning.
We were right next to the warm up mound, and Ziegler was warming up for about 3 weeks, no wonder he was so impressive.
Daniel777 - September 6, 2009
Haha...3 weeks.
baseballgirl - September 6, 2009
We need to get Bails the ROY
baseballgirl - September 6, 2009
how would we go about that?
OaklandSi - September 6, 2009
I always felt asking nicely is a good place to start.
67MARQUEZ - September 6, 2009
Since I went to the game (my first in over 3 1/2 years at the Coliseum)
I didn’t know it was Ichiro’s 2000 hit until after the game. Hence I didn’t clap. I wish I had heard that over something, like, the PA system or something. (Or maybe I’m just stupid and didn’t hear them say it. Probably the latter.)
I thought the DP in the 1st inning kept the game manageable from a runs scoring perspective.
Gio Gonzalez pitches 25 games like this game next season, and the A’s will have easily won the Swisher trade. I still think the play of the game was Gio Gonzalez holding Ichiro on 3rd and getting the out on 2nd on the same play.
Good defense, Good pitching and timely hitting. Classic A’s baseball. Was nice to see a win I admit, even though in the grand scheme of things it means little unless the draft pick they take pans out next year. If the younger players turn out well, I’ll be happy.
Like usual, wait & see with this team. Hopefully 2010 is more interesting.
pookeyguru - September 6, 2009
Great point about Gio's play on the comebacker
He played that beautifully, if that’s the outcome he wanted. You could make a very good argument he should have just gotten the 1-6-3 DP and allowed the run to score, but given the decision he made he executed it to perfection.
Nico - September 6, 2009
Apparently Hairston's batt was powered with 1.21 gigawatts
before he took that mighty swing for the slam.
I thought I lip-read him saying, “Wow, this is really heavy,” when he grabbed the bat.
He must have told the ball to make like a tree and get out of here.
I just hope he learned something from Marty McFly in BTTF 2 and stays away from Needles!
darooster - September 7, 2009
"It's leave, you idiot! 'Make like a tree and leave.' You sound like a damn fool when you say it wrong!"
- Old Biff
Jackson23 - September 8, 2009
Oops, reply fail.
Jackson23 - September 8, 2009
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