Bridge Ball

2005-06-22T20:07:00.000-07:00

Tap tap tap. Is this thing on?

OK, so its only been several months since I posted. Would you believe I've been busy? But it's fun to look back at my old posts, which warned during spring training of a couple things. 1) The A's couldn't hit. 2) Occassionally, the A's pitching was good. Both have proven true.

Listening to the A's and Mariners fail to score on each other. Dan Johnson is back in the majors and yesterday hit his first MLB homer. Zito is holding the Mariners down, while the A's bats hold the offense down. Kotsay is on the block, supposedly. I wonder -- someone's got to teach the kids, and Beaneball 1.0 wasn't REALLY good till David Justice got here. 2.0 needs someone just the same.

Only in the very rarest of occassions do human beings elevate themselves to the top without the tutelage of someone who has been there. Not that they need someone to hold their hand all the way up, but they need a push in the right direction. Swisher got one from Kendall -- i.e, shut up until you do something. Kotsay has that kind of respect, I think. He's the kind of guy who would make a play in high school and see rest of us on our knees, bowing, when he came back to the dugout. You need people like that on a team. Their near supernatural abilities tend to mesmerize people into listening to them.

I'm excited. I didn't expect dividends this fast, but Haren can win 15-20 every year, looks like. I've only seen Kiko a couple times, but if that elbvow stays together he's N-A-S-T-Y. Street is not only really really good, he might be the brightest dude in the majors. Seriously. Read his ESPN columns. And Harden, to borrow from AN, truly is King Richard.

We've won our last four series. We have a losing record, but the future is a panacea. The riches on the horizon are unfathomable, if this team from top (Wolff) to bottom is managed correctly. The A's have, I would argue, the most underrated team history in the major leagues. From Jimmie Foxx and Shibe Park and the too-long Connie Mack years to the KC hiccup to the Swingin's A's and Charlie Finley's bizarre days to Billyball to the Bash Brothers to Beaneball, versions 1.0 and 2.0. So it feels like its starting over, even as the year's half old.

Let's go A's.

2005-04-26T14:42:00.000-07:00

Stark Reality

You know, I like Jason Stark. I think he's really bright and generally gets the story right. However his story about Lenny Dykstra on ESPN.com strikes me as a whitewash job.

Here's the story: Stark was a beat writer for the Phillies when Dykstra came into spring training camp weighing 15-25 pound heavier in 1993. When asked how he had bulked up, Dykstra said he had some help from "some real good vitamins," at which everyone laughed.

This is what Jason says about it:

He has always denied using steroids. But he couldn't have been more public about his "vitamins." So it never felt like an issue worth holding a congressional hearing over.

Back then, there was plenty of stuff a guy could buy down at the vitamin store that wasn't illegal -- not in baseball, not in America. And I always figured a player who was that open about his vitamin supply didn't fit the profile of a man doing something he was trying to hide from the proper authorities.

Nowadays, we view all stories like this with a very different eye. But just because no one made a big deal of it then doesn't mean we were involved in some massive, conspiratorial cover-up to protect a popular big-name player.

Say what? Okay, so you knew guys were taking steroids, but you didn't chase the story because why again? Because steroids weren't a big deal? Because Lenny came out and admitted it?

I don't want to single Stark out, but he's the one leaving it bare for everyone to see. But look, these guys were paid by their papers to get stories. And if even one of them had the gumption enough to ask more questions, dig deeper and really dive into this story, maybe we wouldn't be sitting here today questioning the integrity of the last 10 years of baseball statistics.

The reason why they didn't? Well, being a beat writer is more like being the juggler in a three ring circus than being the next Bob Woodward. Sure, you're paid by your paper to not get scooped. And yeah, all the papers are trying not to get scooped. But that sorta leads to more co-opitition than competition.

So if everyone has the same story everyday, then nobody gets in trouble, right? And how do you all get the same story? You don't ask the hard questions. If Stark asked, "Hey Lenny, who gave you the steroids? How long were you drug cycles? Nice pimples, Lenny. Did you know that was a side effect of the drug?" You can bet that the laughing would cease pretty quickly, and Stark would be out of the inner circle.

I worked for a magazine that idly sat by and watched the dot.bomb explode in front of our eyes. Sure we ran some stories that talked about how crazy the market value of it all was. But still, we weren't encouraged to really take it to task, to actually draw a picture of how completely fucked up Webvan and Pets.com really were and translated it into real dollars. The reason: well the dot.coms were strong advertisers that pumped up our monthly magazines from 200 pages to over 600 at the peak. Nobody wanted to see the gravy train end that way.

So it was ok to splatter a little mud here and there. But to say "Invest in Webvan and LOSE ALL YOUR MONEY" on the cover? Wasn't gonna happen. In some respects, it was similar with these beat writers. Nobody could afford to be on the outside looking in.

However....

For the media to be all over the steroid "cheaters" and act morally outraged is disingenous at best and outright lying at its worst. The press knew: How could they not. The writers were around these players every day. And while probably not close friends with them, they had enough connections to know what the hell was going on.

Come on guys. Just stand up and say, "Yeah, I knew McGwire was on the juice. I just didn't have the guts to put my career on the line to chase the story." We'll accept it alot better smarmy character assissnations that take the form of an apology.

2005-03-30T06:14:00.000-08:00

Bad Timing
Dan Johnson gets sent down the day he hits two home runs. Sure, it was only the PCL MVP's second and third of the year, but it was enough to tie him for second on the team this spring. The A's have shown a total lack of power: Eric Byrnes leads with five. I guess the good thing is that we go into the season with people that are due.

Scutaro and Bocachica are probably out, which in the first instance is too bad and in the second ... eh. Yabu means bullpen in Japanese. Etherton's outbust may have given Saarloos the fifth starter spot, at least until his elbow breaks again.

I'm a little worried about Bobby Crosby though. Didn't he lead spring training last year in homers? He has none this year, and sports a nifty .212 average. Overall, this has not been a good spring for the team. A lot of quiet bats, a lot of sloppy defense, flashes of brilliant pitching.

I hope better things are to come.

2005-03-20T14:38:00.000-08:00

Octiavio Dotel
Is he on the roster solely for trade bait? Just asking.

2005-03-17T14:26:00.000-08:00

Anyone

Please let me understand why the hell the House is holding steroid hearings. I don't get the point.

2005-03-17T09:07:00.000-08:00

Bogate
As in "Bo knows Watergate." Keith Olberman's typically good column last week compared the steroids scandal to Watergate. But in it, he said a doctor told him that the decline of a "seemingly invincible ballplayer" due to a rare nerve disorder in 1991 was likely caused by injecting steroids in a specific part of the body. Since, then, rampant speculation has swept the Web. Fred Lynn? Come on...But I think the answer is here.

2005-03-17T07:51:00.000-08:00

"Throw them out!"

Those are Sen. Jim Bunning's words on how to handle the steroid scandal. Go back, see who was using in 93 or so (an impossibility by the way), and toss their records in the trash heap.

Well ya know what, Jim. You must have had your damn head in the ground when you were playing, because abuse was rampant when you played too, buddy. Ever hear of Greeenies? Probably helped more than any anabolic substance out there.

He also critisized how a 155-lb. second baseman could hit a 425 ft. home run. Earth to Jim -- the point of steroids is to bulk up. BULK UP. If you're using, you're not 155.

2005-03-16T07:06:00.000-08:00

It's that time of the year. I actually surf baseball sites at home now, in the morning, because I wasn't getting any work done during the day. I live in a different city now, where most people are Twins fans (actually, most people are Vikings fans and care more about high school hockey than about the Twins, but that's another story) . Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I can still listen to Bill King, and Oakland's just a three-hour flight away.

Anyway, I found a decent article on Jason Giambi. Lots of people see him now as the mistake that could have been, but let's not forget how magical his rise was and how he carried the rest of the team. Here it is.

2005-02-24T11:35:00.000-08:00

Gwen Knapp's column on the media lying about steriods is a brave statement that journalists rarely make on the failings of their profession. If you believe Barry is guilty of using or not, you have to applaud Knapp's direct courage.

2005-02-21T11:19:00.000-08:00

[Batting] Times, They Are A-Changin'

Ok, perhaps not in the major league level, but professional baseball is experimenting with quickening the glacial pace of the game. Starting this year in the minor leagues, a player will be required to keep at least one foot in the batter's box at all times. A batter can leave the box, but not the dirt area surrounding home plate, only under certain circumstances. What it comes down to is if you take a strike or a ball, you can't leave the box. Of course this experiment is meant to be deployed in the majors just as soon as it is proven that it quickens the game. Baseball has already made some strides in the pace of the game. Gametimes have fallen by 11 minutes from 2:58 in 2000 to 2:47 in 2004. Now only if we can do something about the human rain delay, Steve Traschsel, we'll be set.

2005-01-12T08:59:00.000-08:00

Just A Thought But...
Wouldn't Mike Cameron look good in between the old guys in SBC's outfield for the home nine?

2004-12-16T14:40:00.000-08:00

This Just In
Three warm bodies for Tim Hudson. A's get Juan Cruz, lefty Dan Meyer and outfielder Charles Thompson for Huddy. I think I'd rather have Huddy for a full year than those three for their careers.

2004-12-15T15:15:00.000-08:00

An Embarassment of Retreads
Players the Giants signed to minor league contracts and invited to spring training as non-roster players:
Jeff Fassero
Armando Almanza
Matt Kinney
Jeremy Fikac
Brandon Puffer
Brandon Villafuerte
Brian Cooper
Yamid Haad
Donaldo Mendez
Julio Cordido
Julio Ramirez
Doug Clark

2004-12-14T13:52:00.000-08:00

Billy-Go-Round

Billy Beane continues to try to work his magic. Which would be, um, well, ahh. We're not sure. Generally Beane milks the very last drop of talent from a player before sending him on his merry way to the land of free agency and supplemental draft picks. It's a philosophy that has worked well be it a Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi or Miggy Tejada. But now Billy peered deep into the looking glass and sees one of the Big Three leaving the homestead and has freaked out.

Beane started the sweepstakes by sweettalking the Braves out of Marcus Giles and a prospect. A lineup topped by Kotsay, Kendall, Giles and Chavez looked pretty good to ole Billy. It would have worked, too, if Bobby Cox hadn't come to Giles rescue. Next Billy called on his pal Paul DePo. Apparently, Billy wanted one-time wonderkind Edwin Jackson and flavor of the month Antonio Perez. DePo had no problem with Mr. Jackson but he countered with Alex Cora instead of Perez. Beane looked at his roster and already saw at least three Cora's taking up spots in the names of Mark Ellis, Estaban German and Marcos Scutaro. That's an upgrade?

So what will happen? Probably the same thing that has in the past. Halfhearted negotiation followed by the usual hand wringing about how poor the club is then one last go around for a guy who has been the heart and soul of the team for six years, followed by a megabucks out-of-town contract and supplemental draft picks that will be used on guys that'll get hyped to the edge of sanity then traded for usable parts. Welcome to the Billy-Go-Round. Wash, rinse, repeat.

2004-12-13T15:16:00.000-08:00

A.J., We Hardly Knew Ye

After getting hosed by the Angels on Steve Finley, the Giants returned the favor to the Dodgers today by inking catcher Mike Matheny to a three year deal for $9 million. What does this mean? Well, first is the volcanic catcher A.J. Pierzynski is about to get traded if not non-tendered. And secondly, A.J. most likely will go to a team for an outfielder. According to Henry Schulman, the Giants refused to pony up either Noah Lowry or Jerome Williams for Milwaukee's center fielder Scott Podsednik, who was later traded to the White Sox with Luis Vizcaino for Carlos Lee.

However, it's going to take more than an arbitration-eligible foul-mouth blow-hard who grounds into a hell of a lot of double plays and throws out baserunners and a ridiculously horrible rate to get a center fielder of any value. Sabean has been attempting to package Pierzynski and/or Edgardo Alfonzo for something, anything. It doesn't look like he's finding someone stupid enough to take on that duo. Pierzynski is probably going to be in the $4 million a year range and Alfonzo is due $13.5 million.

Matheny will help the team get stronger defensively. He has historically rated higher in throwing out baserunners and blocking balls. He also probably won't end up with the pitchers hating his guts, too.

2004-11-30T15:57:00.000-08:00

Bank
After spending last winter hunting bargain bins for other team's castoffs, the Giants have hit the free agent market like a sailor at a tattoo parlor on shore leave. After signing the star-crossed closer Armando Benitez, the team has now promised $32.5 million to Benitez and shortstop Omar Vizquel. Interestingly enough, if the team had that duo down the stretch, they probably would have overtaken the Dodgers. Shortstop Cody Ransom made a critical error on Black Saturday and almost every member of the bullpen was worked way too much down the stretch. It's almost as if principal owner Peter Magawon told GM Brian Sabean that he had to address those positions pronto.

It's clear the Giants had very little extra money to throw around for the 2004 season. The team had one last lump sum $25 million to pay on their ballpark and it was taking all the team's resources to make the note. Hence signing Michael Tucker for two years at $3.5 million (which in essence meant two years for $2.4 million as the Giants didn't have to come up with the $1.1 million bonus money for a first round pick). Also they found a lot of players with the Nice Price sticker attached: JT Snow ($1.5m), Scott Eyre ($1m), Dustin Hermanson ($800k), Jeffrey Hammonds ($1m), Brett Tomko ($1.5m).

That kind of asturity seems to have gone out the door this year.

Even while picking up options, they've done things that would have seemed absurd last year. Snow had his $2 million option kick in. Marquis Grissom, who looks like he's in for a big letdown season, will return for $2.75m. Backup infielder Deivi Cruz will earn $800k plus bonuses. Brett Tomko banks $2.5m large. All these players performed admirably in 2004 but there are cheaper options out there. Sabean's one year on a budget seems to have pushed him to spend, spend, spend.

There are still opportunities to save some cash. A.J. Pierzynski clearly will be on the trading block if Sabean can't convince him to sign a cutrate multiyear deal. He may end up going for an affordable centerfielder, a hole that the team will need to fill especially if Grissom slumps. But some things never change. The Giants for the second year in a row have ceeded away their first round pick. This time it goes to Cleveland for Vizquel. Or maybe to Florida for Benitez. Or maybe somewhere else for another outfielder. Only time and Sabean's open pocketbook will tell.

2004-10-02T22:02:00.000-07:00

Blowup
Never one to cast aspersions (yeah right) I just have one question after the Giants monumental collapse today: how do you like the Ricky Ledee trade now? Felix Rodriguez's stats for September. 9 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 15 K. Might have helped a Giants bullpen that was well past slightly drained today.

2004-09-24T13:31:00.000-07:00

If the Giants are to polish off the Dodgers and win the West, they'll have the Brad Penny trade to thank. Penny pitched four innings on Wednesday, giving up 4 quick runs to the Padres before departing with the same forearm nerve injury that limited him to only start two games for the Dodgers. Today the team said Penny is done for the season. So for the price of their starting catcher, the best setup man in the NL and their right fielder, the Dodgers got Hee Seop Choi in return. Choi has had 11 at bats and one hit this month, and he might not see the plate again this year if it weren't for Yom Kippur. Nice move, Paul. They teach you that at Harvard?

This is the series that could well decide the season. With the Cubs schedule filled with games against the Norfolk Tides and Louisville Bats, the Giants might have a better shot at winning the division outright then taking the Wild Card. After last night's Dustin Hermanson blowup (nice swinging bunt Bags), the Giants are looking down the barrell of the 1.5 game deficeit with the Dodgers, so only a three game sweep will give them the division lead before they head to Petco Tuesday. Winning two of three will leave them a half game behind the Dodgers. Lose two of three and they'll have to hope the Cubs spit the bit in Shea. They get swept, and the team can start making October hunting plans on Jeff Kent's ranch.

This weekends pitching matchups.

Friday: Odalis Perez (6-6 3.39) ERA vs. Kirk Rueter (8-11 4.82 ERA)
Saturday: Jose Lima (13-5, 4.06) vs Brad Hennessey (2-2, 4.40)
Sunday: Jeff Weaver (12-12, 4.00) vs. Brett Tomko (11-6, 4.15)

2004-09-16T16:09:00.000-07:00

15 Games

After polishing off the Brew Crew today, the Giants head home for the most vital portion of their schedule. Every one of their remaining 15 games is against a team that has something to play for and all have winning records. They play the Padres and Dodgers six times each and the Astros three times. So much for the cakewalks against Arizona or Milwaukee. If the Giants intend to advance to the postseason, they most assuredly will earn it. While the hoopla is centered around Barry entering the vaunted Val Halla of baseball immortals, winning games will be the key. All of their opponents have easier paths to glory.

Schedule of opponents
Cubs: 4 home 4 away with Cincy (.462), 2 at Fla (.531), 3 at Pitt (.452), 3 at NY (.432), 3 home with Atl (.589)
Astros: 3 home 3 away with Mil, 3 at SF, 3 home Stl, 3 home Colo
San Diego: 1 home 3 away with LA, 3 home 3 away with SF, 3 home 3 away with Ari
LA: 1 away 3 home with LA, 4 home 3 away with Colo, 3 home 3 away with SF
Fla: 1 home 3 away Mon, 2 home Chi, 3 home 3 away with Atl, 3 home 4 away with Phil

2004-08-17T18:25:00.000-07:00

After a hot start, Jermaine Dye only has one more home run that Eric Byrnes. That probably says a lot about both of them, but more about Jermaine.

2004-08-13T12:54:00.000-07:00

For Pete's Sake
Mike Oquist is still pitching professionally? Why?

Check out this roster from the Midland Rockhounds. (You can also see a picture of fat catcher Jeremy Brown, who doesn't exactly look like he'll be storming the major leagues anytime soon.)

2004-08-09T13:36:00.000-07:00

Speaking of Prospects-With-A-Capital-P, the A's called up Jario Garcia today. He was untouchable at the trade deadline, and unhittable in the minors. From a story on the Oakland A's website:

At Kane County he was 1-0 with a 0.30 ERA and 16 saves, striking out 49 over 30 innings of work. Next!

After being promoted to Double-A Midland on June 24, he went 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA and two saves, striking out 32 in 18 innings. Next!

And finally, in just three games after being moved up to Sacramento on July 30, he showed enough to earn a shot in The Show. Over five innings, he struck out 10, allowed two hits, didn't issue a walk and picked up a save. Next!

By the way, nice of Chad Bradford to come down with a bad back, making room for Garcia, the day after an 18 inning game.

Jario pitched two scoreless in mop-up work. A's finish an incredible 7-4 on what is, arguably, the toughest road trip any team (not counting the Expos) will take, at any time, this year.

2004-08-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

Budding Prospects
Now that Brian Sabean is on record as saying that the team's pitching prospects were too good to trade, maybe it's time to say what the one loyal reader of the blog says and break down the Giants future rotation.

1. Jason Schmidt (Age 31)
Schmidt is having another career year after logging one last year. He probably is the most consistently dominant starter in the National League and could well be in line for a Cy Young, an award that was only wrested from him last year by The Beast. Long term however Schmidt has faced injuries a multitude of times in his career. This past offseason he had surgery on his forearm that slowed him early in the season. That was on top of shoulder surgery that scuttled parts of two seasons. Expecting that he'll remain healthy and effective is a huge leap of faith.

2. Jerome Williams (Age 22)
Now Jerome. He didn't make his way through his first full season after having bone chips and a spur removed from his right tricep/tricep, depending who you ask. He's expected to be out the rest of the season. Not surprising, since he's suffered throughout the season with the ailment. Williams velocity has been all over the place throughout his two year major league career. This does not bode well for his long term healthy. When healthy, Williams looks like a guy who can be a quality major league pitcher. Interestingly head trainer Stan Conte says that the problem could be related to work ethic. "Conditioning with Jerome is always an issue," he told the Mercury News. Hmmm.

3. Jesse Foppert (Age 24)
Conditioning will never be a problem with the gym rat Foppert. When questioned about the rehab from last year's Tommy John elbow reconstructive surgery, Foppert said he really enjoyed working out and couldn't wait to start rehab. True to his word, after working hard, he's way ahead of schedule. A September callup is possible. After gunning through the minors, Foppert got hit hard as his velocity went from the high 90s to the high 90s. So we really don't know what kind of success he's going to have until he gets healthy.

4. Merkin Valdez (Age 21)
The pitcher formerly known as Manuel Mateo has seen his stock rise like Google since his trade to the Giants in the Russ Ortiz fire sale. Last year he collected 166 strikeouts in 156 innings pitched in the South Atlantic League. During spring training the Gaints were making noise that he could make the major league squad until a bout of shoulder tendintis shut that talk down. He finally got his season going in July and has seen time in three levels before making his major league debut this past Sunday. Although he got knocked around but good in his five day stint in the majors, the Giants feel like Valdez is a serious pitcher. They sent him back down to double a to get more experience as a starter.

5. Matt Cain (Age 19)
And then there is Matt Cain, the current gem in the Giants organization. He of the blazing fastball and the unhittable curve. Playing in high a ball and double a this year, he's compiled a 2.08 era, with 144 strikeouts in 138 innings pitched. Most impressive for a kid who won't turn 20 until October. This is after destroying his south atlantic league opposition in 2003 while pitching for Hagerstown. But, once again, health is an issue. Cain has been a strict pitch count this year after suffering a stress fracture in his elbow last season. The Giants have changed his delivery to take pressure off the elbow. Most likely, he'll get only a couple more starts and be done for the season under 150 innings, which nearly doubles his innings total last season. Let's see if he can bring it back next spring.

2004-08-03T23:59:00.000-07:00

Houston, we have a Crosby fan
A's win 13-4. Mybe the best win of the year? But check this: "The shortstop made about four or five great plays, and it was a real momentum stopper for us on several of them," said Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, the reigning AL Gold Glove shortstop. As for Crosby?
"It's fun doing it anywhere. But especially here, when the crowd is into it and you're are able to shut them up."

Seems like Crosby gets the Bronx thing.

2004-08-03T16:57:00.000-07:00

Maybe we can bring Fox into pitch. This is starting to remind me Huddy's crap game against the Red Sox last month: Mulder has pitched just over two innings and given up four runs. After giving up his second homer, he plunks A-Rod. We've hit into two double plays so far. So despite having the same number of hits as the Yanks, were behind by three (and counting).

2004-08-03T12:48:00.000-07:00

Must admit I"m looking forward to this book.

2004-08-02T13:58:00.000-07:00

OK, OK, OK, OK...
Internal monologue: Try not to get too excited. They always beat the crap out of the Rangers, right? We've won five of seven from them. But playing in Texas heat to kick off a Sade-like 11 game stretch against first-place teams in the AL -- all three of them, all at their ballyards -- we went 3-1. In general, our pitching held them down (enough) and their couldn't get over on our offense. We could have won four, honestly.

And now we head to Yankee Stadium. Shocker that Zito isn't lined up to pitch, but the good news is that Huddies on the backstretch of his rehab. Right now he's set to start Thursday.

The biggest shocker of the weekend, though, is the non-moves by the A's. Nothing from the Beane counter on deadline? Should we crank call Kenny Williams or Allard Baird just for sport? What is scary is that, yes, it looks like the bullpen is coming around. And there really aren't that many other weaknesses on the team. Billy Beane is satisfied? Right now, I am too. This is as good a team as we've had in awhile. All we needed was for players to start playing like they can (you listening, Guitar Barry?). And a satisfied Beane should worry the rest of the league. We'll know much more after the weekend.

2004-08-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

Do Nothing Giants
The trading deadline comes and goes and the Giants pretty much stayed pat. Well, actually they said goodbye to Felix Rodriguez, the man of the power arm and the weak head. That's not actually fair. But F-Rod could never consistently throw his fastball inside to get guys off the plate to make his sloppy slider more effective. I guess when you've got a 97 mph heater, throwing inside could be considered a dangerous weapon. And F-Rod never really seems like he had appetite to maim, unlike say, Kyle Farnsworth.

At any rate, the Giants have the third worst bullpen in the league and it's getting worse. Subtracting one of the few effective relievers from the team (for another spare-part outfielder) doesn't help much. This weekend, the bullpen couldn't hold a lead on Friday, barely held onto one on Saturday and couldn't keep the Cards within stalking distance on Sunday. The total for the bullpen: 11.1 innings pitched, 23 hits, 15 runs, 11.91 ERA. Of course this is to be expected when you're facing the best offense in the world. However it doesn't exactly show the league that you've made the adjustments necessary after the deadline.

GM Brian Sabean could have helped the team considerably by trading for Tigers' closer Ugueth Urbina, but the price was too high. He wouldn't give up Matt Cain, Jerome Williams or Merkin Valdez for Uggie.

The Merkin Man made his major league debut on Sunday. Playing the role of F-Rod, Valdez had problems consistently locating his fastball. But what a fastball. Clocking in at 97 mph with movement, Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen were both very late on the heater. But since they're Pujols and Rolen, they both battled. Phat Albert got his hands on top of a in-the-zone change and poked it to the bricks in right for a double, then Rolen battled Valdez in an eight pitch at-bat before finally lining out to right. Valdez probably won't face a tougher duo to than Pujols and Rolen this year, and to hold his own in his debut is impressive. What is less impressive are his bullpen compatriots. Alou went to the Scott Eyre to get Jim Edmonds, who promptly singled in Pujols to tag Valdez with his first earned run.

Welcome to the Giants, Merkie. You'd better do it yourself next time.

2004-07-26T21:44:00.000-07:00

Tale of two games
Zito starts off poorly, but the A's offense comes back big time. It's 13-5, A's over Seattle, in the 8th inning.

A couple observations:

There has been a lot of talk about Zito tipping his pitches. I think he is, but not in the way you think. During Barry's windup, he flashes the ball behind his back. Looking at it, I'm pretty sure the hitter gets a good look at the grip as the bal comes back and to the left of his body -- before the kick home. Is this it? I'm just asking, but it seems like they could pick the grip up there - he holds it for a second -- before adjusting their eyesight to the release point.

Two, the A's offense is clearly better than last year. They have several hitters around .300, and power can come from most spots in the lineup. They could get even better on that front. Stars include Hatteberg, Durazo and Kotsay. Oh, and Crosby. I told ya the kid is good.

2004-07-20T14:22:00.000-07:00

This is David Bush's 3rd major league start ... and he just gave up his first hit. Whoo-hoo! Bottom of the eighth. Go A's.

2004-07-20T14:13:00.000-07:00

A's go down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 7th. Durazo's out was nearly a hit.

2004-07-20T14:09:00.000-07:00

As I write, the A's and Blue Jays have played 13 half innings today. Between them, they have one hit. The A's don't have any. Obviously, I write to jinx this.

2004-07-19T12:01:00.000-07:00

A very sad story in this week's NYT Magazine. Greed kills. Go http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/18/magazine/18PITCHER.html>Here.

2004-07-05T19:50:00.000-07:00

T-Long Watch

Allow me to introduce our new Monday feature: The T-Long Watch!

The erstwhile A's centerfielder was ridden out of town on a rail last December, with Ramon Hernandez' departure being the unfortunate consequence of this particular form of chemotherapy. We miss Ramon -- his performance in game three against the Red Sox last year, when he willed, cajoled, begged and demanded an epic performance out of Ted Lilly -- I mean the guy actually STOOD behind home plate sometimes to get Lilly to throw the ball up (I realize I'm giving Lilly zero credit ... but hey, he's Ted Lilly) -- will always be remembered.

But so far this year, T-Long's stats are -- 1 HR, 8 RBI. We will update accordingly.

He won't be in the league for more than two more years. Thank God.

2004-07-02T16:34:00.000-07:00

Bobbing for Bob
Well, the D'backs, who have been snakebit this year, finally took a step in the right direction. Did they make a big trade? Lower their ridiculous debt? Get a new owner? Nope, nope and nope. The team took its frustrations out on Bob Brenly, firing him for um, not winning many ball games.

The roots of the season's demise came early when the team has traded away almost one quarter of its active roster during the off-season for one of the most fearsome sluggers in baseball, Richie Sexson. This is same Sexson that tore up his shoulder on a check swing in late April and is out for the season. Anyways, it appears that at least for 2004, the Diamondbacks paid too much for Sexson. The Brewers received five usable players. The D'backs got a month out of Sexson. At least it was a good month.

Outside of the Sexson disaster, the team has also made some other questionable deals. Like signing Robbie Alomar to a contract (on the cheap, no doubt, but still), trading Curt Schilling for Casey Fossum and not very good prospects, and trading B.K. Kim for Shea Hillenbrand. The team always seems to go after a "name" instead of real prospects when there is a chance to improve by trading useful veterans.

Sure, Bob was probably not having the best season. But hey, he didn't fuck up the roster. It seems like GM Joe Garagiola, Jr. should take the heat for making bad deals. Instead Garagiola works the phones, trying to get what he can for Randy Johnson. Hey Joe, ask The Boss for something more than Bubba Crosby.

2004-06-30T13:21:00.000-07:00

Comparison for comparison's sake:

MIGUEL HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
TEJADA 12 63 24 24 0 0 .312 .361 .492 .853
Salary: $4.8 million

BOBBY HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
CROSBY 10 32 20 64 4 2 .279 .336 .478 .814
Salary: $300,000

So, for a savings of $4.5 million, we get player who is younger (by how much is debatable) and whose OPS is just .039 less than Tejada's. I'll take that.

2004-06-10T17:19:00.000-07:00

The Draft

Have failed to mention it so far, mainly because I don't know anything about it. So I'll say this -- are the A's trying to save money on scouting? In the first five rounds they had nine picks. They took two guys from South Carolina, two more from Fullerton. Two more from other California colleges. The others were from Texas, N.C. State (not too far from South Carolina....) and -- STOP THE PRESSES!!! -- a high school pitcher from Florida.

Actually the A's and Billy Beane have a good track record with high school pitchers. Jeremy Bonderman is a future star. Too bad he doesn't pitch for the A's anymore.

But I want to talk about the A's fourth overall pick, Huston Street. Is that a great name or what? He's got the name, the numbers, The Face. Hook 'em horns.

1. Landon Powell, South Carolina
1. Richie Robnett, Fresno State
Supp. Danny Putnam, Stanford
Supp. Huston Street, Texas
2. Michael Rogers, N.C. State
2. Kurt Suzuki, Cal State Fullerton
3. Jason Windsor, Cal State Fullerton
4. Ryan Webb, Clearwater Central Catholic HS (Palm Harbor, Fla.)
5. Kevin Melillo, South Carolina

2004-06-10T09:53:00.000-07:00

First Place
In the immortal words of Mel Brooks, 'It's good to be the king.'

2004-06-08T12:56:00.000-07:00

Can I get a rimshot?
Any bets on how many hits the A's get off Bong?

Hello? Is this thing on?

2004-06-08T12:30:00.000-07:00

Interleague
You know what being an A's fan is like? It's like you're always chasing Smarty Jones. It's not so much that the other teams crumble like Smarty, it's that we have one hell of a kick.

So what happens if you survive a rocky period by your starters, a rocky period by the bullpen, a demoralizing trip back East, are enduring a your best player's broken hand ... and wake up June 8, after beating the living hell out of the best team in the National League 13-2, and find youself only one game in the standings behind the team that Even God Fears? And know that despite that, the kick is still to come?

Well, it feels pretty damn good.

I've studiously avoided commentary on Bruce Jenkins' columns, mostly because I hate the guy with a passion and even TRYING to respond makes me apoplectic, dyspeptic and unhinged. But I have to say something about this -- Adam Dunn's swing is dull? Are you kidding? He looks like he's knocking somebody upside the head with a shovel! They don't call him Donkey Boy for nuthin'. That swing came off the back 40 - it screams 'Country Boy.' It's perfect.

2004-06-07T10:12:00.000-07:00

San Diego Padres owner John Moores just made a huge impact on the 2004 Pennant race. Moores decided to stick with the MLB guidelines for the first round pick, which ruled them out of both Stephen Drew and Jarred Weaver, the two top talents in the draft. Weaver apparently wanted "Prior Money", a package above $10 million and Drew was looking at big money, too. The team signed Matt Bush for $3.1 million.

Weaver in particular could well have had an impact on the NL West race. There's some thought that Weaver might be ready for the majors after only a couple starts in the minors and he could contribute in August or September. After the amount of money Moores has made in real estate around Petco Park, you'd think he'd invest in the immediate future of the team. Bush is a good player with a strong upside, but he's at least three to five years away from the bigs if everything goes well.

Who did pick Weaver? Omar Moreno's Anaheim Angels, once again proving that Moreno will spend money in the right way. It's an intriguing pick for the Angels, who could use some pitching help down the stretch.

2004-06-04T12:18:00.000-07:00

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
Look out you rock and rollers, Chavey's hand is stone cold busted. Can I get a Brushback, please? If for nothing more than spite? Instead we let the Sox slink out of town (after giving them a good whuppin', of course.)

Some happenings are related to that. Mark McLemore can play third, which makes me thankful for two things: 1) that we signed him, and 2) that Scutaro is playing so well. Mark Ellis? Who? Don't say I didn't tell ya....

In the meantime, there's trade talk. There's talk of Bret Boone, but that's just crazy talk. A $9 million option vests at 400 AB's, and Boonie ain't waiving that 'cause he ain't getting no $9 million contracts no more. Ever. Have fun weighing down the Mariners. There's talk of Olmeado Seanz, and as much as I pine for the days Scolmedo Hattebeanz, that platoon don't fly no more. Plus, he can't play third. So what am I saying?

I'm saying watch what's happening in the background. The A's call up Esteban German, the kid from the Rhine Valley. But he's no third baseman. He's there to cover McLemore, who was covering Scutaro. But McLemore's 97 years old and has a balky everything, so he won't last forever. What do the A's do then?

When German was called up, the A's promoted Mark Teahen to AAA. Teahen is a third baseman. Teahen is being groomed for a starring fill-in role (oxymoron? hmmm). He was banging .335 at AA. He's a raker. He's a local. He can stone cold hit. He will also be, boys and girls, your first pick from the 2002 Moneyball draft to make it to the Show. Welcome.

On the mound. I've been away, consulting voodooists and witch doctors about the abysmal state of the A's bullpen, and the abysmal state of the management of said bullpen. You throw Mecir back out there Wednesday after he gets Chavey's hand broken by sending the game into extras? Machavelli, what are you doing? Rhodes has shut up completely. He's in a shell, won't talk to anyone. And so Billy Beane -- Billy Beane! Billy Beane! -- says they're going with the DUKE-SURE thing. Justin Duchscherer, a budding stud -- and a rookie -- may take over closer duties. Good for the A's. out of the bullpen, he throws the most strikes. At this point, that's all I care about.

PS: Has anyone seen Chris Hammond? Paging Chris Hammond...

2004-05-28T09:28:00.000-07:00

Rolling
Sure it's mostly come at the expense of two of the lesser lights of the National League. And it's not like they're blowing the doors off their opponents, but the Giants now have won six straight games and are inching, slowly but surely, towards the .500 mark. Meanwhile, the leaders of the division, the Dodgers and Padres, have both been sputtering after getting out of the gates with hot starts. So the Giants find themselves 3.5 back of the Padres.

Last night marked the return to form of Baby Minor, who has shed 35 pounds and had changed his Tony Batista-like stance. Now it comes out there was a reason why he was wide open. Minor had 20/600 vision in his right eye. He opened up to see the ball. Last September Minor had laser surgery on his right eye and suddenly he's hitting. After being released by the Phillies in the off-season, the Giants picked him up. He hit with a vengence in Fresno this year before getting the call when JT Snow reported to the disable list. Last night Minor made the Dbacks pay when they chose to walk Bonds to lead off the 10th inning. After an errant pickoff play advanced Bonds to second, Minor hit a single to right to plate the game winner.

This team has been trying to capture lightening in a bottle since a rocky start. With Minor and the return to form of A.J. Pierzynski, this team may be getting close to at least listening for the thunder.

2004-05-27T17:53:00.000-07:00

"Kirk can go his own merry way. I'm going to the Hall of Fame, big boy." -- Dennis Eckersley

2004-05-25T17:05:00.000-07:00

Sox-A's Tilt
Love to Blog this whole game, but I can't -- work and all. In fact I probably won't see much of the series, with a 4:00 starts and all. So I'm following Game One on the Internet, pitch-by-pitch.

Bad Huddy showed up in the first inning. Giving up two doubles, walking one and hitting a batter. He escaped giving up only one run by sandwiching all that around a double play.

Several hits given up so far, and we're B4. He struck out Ortiz and Ramirez back to back, but two more walks in the inning just hurt him when he allowed a single to Varitek. I suspect Huddy's getting squeezed.

SCANDAL? Mike Fichter's the HP umpire. Who? Exactly. He's not a part of Gerry Davis crew. Neither is Davis, tonight. There are two replacements on the rotation for the A's/Sox series, which I consider epic and worthy of a decent crew. This is a joke on MLB's part.

DOH! Spinning out of control. Huddy is simply wild tonight, hitting Youkilis for the second HBP of the game. A walk and two consecutive doubles and the Sox are up 5-0. And Schilling is on.

Fan-TASTIC. Huddy's line through four: 9 hits, 4 walks, 2 hit batters, 5 runs, 97 pitchers and a whole lotta leaving the defense just standing around. BRILLIANT!

Cool. I leave the game for a quick sec, come back, and it's 9-1. The good news is, we scored.

2004-05-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

Giants Weekly Wrap--May 17-23

Record: 4-1
Took two out of three from Chicago and won two in a soppy San Juan before the rain ended the Giants’s chance to sweep the Expos. Overall 19-24 and now only 4.5 games from first as the Dodgers won only one game this week and the Padres went .500.

Best Game
Tuesday at Wrigley: Jason Schmidt was almost as dominant as a pitcher could be in shutting down the Cubs during a 50 degree night with the wind howling in.

Worst Game
Wednesday at Wrigley: The lone loss of the week. The bullpen blows a lead and Moises Alou launches a changeup in his eyes for a Cub win in the 10th inning.

Who’s Hot: Jason Schmidt
Much has been made of Schmidt’s 144-pitch one hitter. But he only threw five pitches that weren’t fastballs or changeups. It probably felt more like 2 hour 42 minute batting practice than a game for Schmidt.

Who’s Not: Barry Bonds
Three games + painful sciatica = one hit. Still led the team with four runs scored. Unbelievable. Also: Edgardo Alfonzo hit .174 in the five games.

Highlights
In 1998 Neifi Perez hit a home run off of Robb Nen to win the last game of the season for the Rockies. It forced the Giants into a play-in game for the National League Wild Card against the Cubs that team lost. On Thursday, Perez got a little bit of revenge for the Giants by hitting a two run home run for the Giants in the 10th inning.

Lowlights
The Giants shut down Robb Nen for a full month without any work after the thrice operated upon shoulder continued to bother the former closer.

Quote Me
"Tell Felipe not to say nothing. Be quiet. He doesn't know me. He sees a lot of people throw six innings. I can throw nine innings. I got four hits in a game once and wasn't tired. I think he made the wrong comment."
-Former Giant Livan Hernandez responding to Felipe Alou saying he thought Hernandez got tired in the 7th inning after running the bases. Hernandez loaded the bases before Luis Aylala "relieved" him.

Double Your Pleasure
Giant Double Plays This Week: 4
Season Total: 48

Coming Soon?
Andres Galarraga has beaten non-Hodgkin's lymphoma again. Could he be sporting the Orange and Black for the Giants again soon? With Pedro Feliz looking solid at short and JT Snow ailing, the team is seeking help at first.

Returning Soon
Jesse Foppert threw off the SBC Park mound a week ago for the first time as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. The team hopes to have him back on the roster by September.

Coming Up
Two teams that have struggled all season: Colorado and Arizona. The Giants will not see perfect game hurler Randy Johnson, which appeared to be the Diamondback’s best chance to win. A good week could near the team to the .500 mark.

2004-05-22T04:55:00.001-07:00

This is sad.

2004-05-21T15:57:00.000-07:00

Report Card
Athletics Nation has a fun post over at their website. Especially like their Crosby grade.

2004-05-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

Perfection
People have made much of Randy Johnson's perfect game, as well they should. They're rare, and you're lucky to see them. I never have, even on TV.

One of the points of amazement -- including his 13 strike outs -- is that Johnson went to a three-ball count on only one hitter. I've seen better. Try three starters doing that over a weekend. And I don't mean each of them -- I mean BETWEEN them.

It was July 6, 2001. The A's came into a pre-All Star series scuffling, with a below-.500 record. The Arizona Diamondbacks had the best record in the league. But the A's had their Big Three lined up -- this was, I believe, before the were actually called the Big Three.

First up was Mulder. He allowed only one blemish on his record: and eighth inning single. He Up until then, he'd been perfect. Three balls made in into the outfield. Three. And no batter went past a two ball count.

Next up was Hudson. He too pitched a complete game. The only D-Backs run scored with two out in the ninth. Zito followed on Sunday with six innings of shutout ball. He was pulled for Jim Mecir, who surrendered the first D-Backs walk of the weekend, and their second run.

In all, only one batter went to a three-ball count against the starters, and none walked. They gave up one measly run, and that with two outs in the ninth. The A's headed into the All-Star break on a run, having passed .500 for the first time all year.

Amazing. The A's went on to win 102 games that year.

2004-05-19T09:08:00.000-07:00

Schmidt Yeah!
With the wind howling in off Lake Michigan and game time temperate hovering around 51 degrees, Jason Schmidt had the pitching performance of the year for the Giants last night, only allowing a fifth inning infield single to Michael Barrett and walked Moises Alou in the fourth. He struck out 13. It could well have been the best game pitched in the majors this year, except for the fact that Randy Johnson threw the El Perfecto in Atlanta last night.

A Felipe Alou move last night got Schmidt the win. Sick and tired of Deivi Cruz and Neifi Perez supplying zero offense with good defense, Alou gave Pedro Feliz his first career start at shortstop. Just like that, Feliz came through with a solid single to center scoring Barry Bonds for the only run of the evening. Honestly, I don't know why Alou didn't do this earlier. Sure Feliz isn't going to remind anyone of Ozzie Smith out there, but he sure the hell is just as good as Rich Aurilia at this point. The team has to milk as much offense as they can out of their lineup. Making Feliz a regular at short will go a long ways toward accomplishing that goal.

2004-05-18T13:53:00.000-07:00

Money money
Sportline 680 host Larry Krueger on KNBR was going off last night about how the Giants are spending $100 million on the club. He came up with that magic figure by combining the $80 million budget with the purported $25 million balloon payment the club is making on SBC Park this year. Now it comes out that the Giants also had to pay $13 million to the league in revenue sharing. Soon enough Krueger will be talking about the team's $113 million nut.

Sure, they're paying that much, but the stadium fee and rev sharing is the price of doing business. The Giants have a $80 million payroll, which is very healthy. But it's not in the Phillies ($93m), Cubs ($93m) or Cardinals ($92.8m) neighborhood, let alone Red Sox ($131m), Angels ($117m) or Yankees ($183m).

Still $80 million for that club is pretty weak. How are they paying that much? We'll you're paying Barry Bonds $16 million, which is a bargain. But Brian Sabean seems to have been wasteful with some of the bigger contracts he’s shelled out of some folks that he’s brought over.

1. Neifi Perez $2.3 million (.512 ops)
Value comparion: Deivi Cruz $320k (.661 ops)
Perez performance level is just around someone that you’d pull off the scrap heap, like Deivi, for example. Not worth $2.3 large.

2. Edgardo Alfonzo $6.5 million (.711 ops)
Value comparison: Joe Randa $3.25 million (.785 ops)
Consistent, solid third basemen don’t grow on trees. But generally they don’t get $26 million contracts, either.

3. Ray Durham $6 million (.791 ops)
Value comparison: Mark Loretta $2.5 million (.780 ops)
Ok, ok, Durham *is* a good leadoff hitter. I’ll give you that much. But he’s not a dominant player. And since the Giants have been looking for someone to hit behind Bonds, giving a leadoff hitter $27.1 million seems Yankee-like, instead of Giants budget level.

4. A.J. Pierzynski $3.5 million (.605 ops)
Value comparison: Yorvit Torrealba $300k (.667 ops)
Not quite a fair comparison. Pierzynski had an OPS of .824 last year in Minnesota. Of course that was his career high. If he can come out of his slump and hit that number again, it might be worth the money.

5. Felix Rodriguez $3 million ( 2.79 ERA)
Value comparison: Tim Worrell $2.5 million (3.20 ERA, 2 Svs)
Rodriguez has been outstanding this season. His homers allowed and opponent’s batting average are down considerably. However, there are many guys who can do this job and generally for a lot less money than F-Rod is getting.

The fact is that replacement level players can do the job of many folks they signed for large dollars. Although this year is probably a washout, the team has a chance to turn it around, if Sabean can extract top grade prospects for some of the overpriced usable parts around the trading deadline. Durham, F-Rod, Alfonzo, and even Rueter need to move for guys that might fight for jobs next year.

Addendum on Krueger: His point is that the Giants's ownership is spending big money to bring the city a quality team and the finger should be pointed directly at Sabean for the failure of this team via poor trades and, even moreso, horrible drafts. As per usual, Krueger has salient points with sound logic, but, as always, he seems to take the most unusual leaps of logic and bending of the facts to prove his point.

The fact is the Giants have a healthy payroll. Does it prove his point to add $25 million of stadium debt to the payroll figures? Additionally, I find Krueger's consistent baiting of his colleagues at KNBR as brownnosers rather offensive and besides the point. By stooping to argument ad hominem to prove his point he not only runs down his station, but also himself and his arguments.

2004-05-16T17:34:00.000-07:00

SWEEP!
After five unsuccessful tries, the A's finally sweep by winning a game three over the KC Royals. Hey Neyer, you wanna piece of this. Thot not.

Things are looking good. I like the moves the team has made, jettisoning Menechino in favor of McLemore. Keeping Duchsherer over Harville. Telling everyone to shut up about new pitching coach Curt Young.

Coming into the game, the A's had won four of five games while only scoring an average of 3.3 runs in those games. Obviously, the pitchers have been doing well. The Big Three won in succession over the weekend, and Zito looked good today - he's the guy I'm most worried about. The Curveball (TM) was pretty humorous, taking a detour through the St. Louis area before coming to rest over home plate.

A story to illustrate why I like McLemore. Chavez was set to rest, with McLemore to play third. Chavez said he didn't want to rest. No problem. They just moved McLemore over to second. And Duchsherer has been throwing all-star quality ball, and I'm not exaggerating. Look it up. The guy could fill in for an injured starter, or at least Mark Redman, in a heartbeat. Just another stud, with both Mike Wood and Joe Blanton lurking in the minors. My God, we have alot of pitching.

We survived a number of games against Minnesota, NY, Texas and Anaheim, and we held our own agaisnt everyone. Well, except the Yankees. But we don't talk about that in polite company in my household.

2004-05-14T11:57:00.001-07:00

Good Times!
When you wake up after one too many bad gins, you need to do some work to get back into form. Could be exersize, could be a long shower. But good news also helps stimulate the endorphins, and that was the case yesterday when I read that Frankie Menechino was traded to the Blue Jays. Sold is more like it. For who knows how much? Whatever it was, it was a steal.

Frankie was a third wheel. He was Zeppo to whomever on the A's happened to be playing Groucho, Chico and Harpo. Actually, it was worse. He was Gummo.

He served a useful target for Billy Beane's rage once, and even Eric Chavez alluded to Frankie's 'history' with the organization. And he wasn't referring to anything you might call a legacy - not THAT KIND of history. He was the guy who warmed his jock in the over -- ha ha.

If anything, I'm hoping Beane moved him to prevent Ken Macha from pinch-running the 5'7", damn near 40-year-old Italian second baseman late in a crucial game against the Yankees. I don't know what that was, honestly.

But he's gone now. And Mark McLemore is in place. I hated that guy when he was on the Mariners, but because he was good - not in the way I hate Frankie. I'm just glad he's on our side now.

2004-05-12T10:45:00.000-07:00

Doomed Day?
The Giants slim chances at competing in the NL West took a serious hit last night as Jerome Williams, their only dependable starter, left the game in the fourth inning with what is described as a bicep strain. The culprit apparently is William’s sidewinding pickoff move, which apparently he’ll drop after feeling a tingle in his arm while throwing over to keep Pat Burrell close.

When you are 22 and the only starter the team has developed in the past five years, you can imagine that a tingle in the throwing arm is a very bad sign. The Giants expect to see if Williams has any pain today when he plays catch. I would hope that the team will be a little more careful with Williams, administering a battery of tests to assure there is not a serious injury.

Speaking of playing catch, Robb Nen apparently is ready to try to throw again today after taking 10 days off. My thoughts on Nen: his rotator cuff is torn and he’s done. The training staff sure seems tired of dealing with Nen. "We’re running out of trials,” Stan Conte said. “From the time Robb had his surgery, we knew it was a long shot to come back. We tried to put on a real optimistic face, and we're going to continue to be optimistic, but facts are facts." Maybe Nen should be more concerned about the future of playing catch with his daughters Taylor and Rylee than competing in the big leagues.

Quote Me:
“(The Giants) aren't technically buried in the division, but it would not be too early to audition pallbearers.”
-Henry Schulman in today’s Chronicle.

“I think that series against the Marlins we played like shit."
-Former Giants closer Tim Worrell speaking to reporters about the team’s poor showing in the playoffs last year.

2004-05-10T14:28:00.000-07:00

Giants Weekly Wrapup -- May 4-9

Record: 2-5
Got swept out of town by the Mets but recovered to win the series vs. the Reds. 14-18 overall, 7 games back of the Dodgers.

Best Game
Thursday at Shea: A classic pitchers duel between Jason Schmidt and Al Leiter decided by a Mike Piazza home run in the 10th for a 2-1 Mets victory, well after the two starters had hit the showers.

Worst Game
Wednesday at Shea: The bullpen corks up six runs with two outs in the 8th inning for a 6-2 loss.

Who’s Hot: Marquis Grissom
On a week that offense was in short supply, Grissom hit .435 scoring a team high four runs and batting in four. Also a team high. With both Bonds and Durham out, Grissom was the offense. Also: Alfonzo seems to be coming out of his prolonged slump. Tucker hit well in his four starts. Schmidt had an excellent change and a little better command of his fastball. Williams pitched well for five innings before the New York rains ended his evening.

Who’s Not: Pick Your Poison
Snow, Torrealba, Pierzynski, and Hammonds all his under .200. Ugly.

Highlights
A 7-6 win Sunday at Great American Ballpark. Dave Miley chose to start the top of the 10th by intentionally walk Bonds. Alfonzo doubled him to third and Deivi Cruz’s sac fly makes the Reds pay.

Lowlights
A sinus infection knocked Barry Bonds out the first two games of the Mets series. Could this be the worst lineup offered by a National League team this year:

B Dallimore 3B
J Snow 1B
M Grissom CF
J Hammonds LF
E Alfonzo 2B
M Tucker RF
D Cruz SS
Y Torrealba C

Hello, I must be going
David Aardsma to Fresno. Sooner or later he’ll stick with the big team.

Welcome Back
Dustin Hermanson

Returning Soon
Ray Durham thinks hell be back from a strained patella tendon Thursday. He has been greatly missed. Since going down, the Giants leadoff hitters are getting on base at a .300 clip, which is just not getting it done.

Phat on the Farm
Todd Linden continues to tear up PCL pitching. He’s hitting .321 although his power numbers aren’t great. Baby Minor is pounding again, but don’t expect to see him back in the Bigs with the Giants anytime soon. Mike Cervenak, a fixture on Norwich Connecticut is off to a hot start. He’s hitting .355 with 9 dingers already. Don’t look for him to move up though. He’s spent the past three seasons toiling for the Navigators and has probably even bought a house in town. Dan Ortmeier is hitting .300. He’s this year’s version of Linden. The highly touted Merkin Valdez still has yet to throw a pitch in a league game. He’s been shut down due to “mild shoulder tendonitis”.

Coming Up
Pennsylvania 6-5000. The Giants entertain the very hot Phillies and the very not Pirates at SBC.

2004-05-07T13:59:00.000-07:00

Now it can be said
I can speak again. My family and friends were worried about me following back-to-back and back to last week losses -- true gut punchers on Bill Simmons 'Levels of Losing' scale. I went mute, got that thousand yard stare going, even starting thinking basketball was worth following instead.

We're not exactly off to a good start here, but a) we never do, b) we've played the Yankees, Texas and Anaheim twice each, c) Ken Macha's showing some signs of getting mad and d) we can always trade Carlos Pena to send a message to the rest of the team.

Wednesday's night's game was fun despite the loss. A couple random thoughts: now that the Coliseum is named after McAfee, can we say 'Meet me at the Virus?' And from now on, the cheer for anyone pitching to Hideki Matsui is 'Let's go Mothra!'

2004-05-03T12:15:00.000-07:00

1.815
Even by Barry Bonds absurd standards of the past few years, this season stands out. The number above is his OPS tally so far for this season. That's a combination of his ridiculous .463 batting average and 44 walks for an .704 on-base percentage plus his 1.111 slugging percentage. His .696 OBP/1.132 SLG = 1.828 OPS may well be the single greatest month ever compiled by a hitter. He accomplished this despite constant pressure on him from the Balco debacle and the fact that he was pressing for at least a few games while pursuing the number three mark in homers. Amazing.

2004-05-03T09:38:00.000-07:00

Almost Even
Through just one month of the season, the Giants have been a freaking disaster. Starting pitching has looked shaky or downright awful, outside of Bonds the offense appears to be dead on arrival and new acquisitions have been deservedly ripped for their attitude. But despite all these things the Giants face the start of play tonight with a 12-14 record after besting the Beasts of the East, the Braves and Marlins. Let the record show that the A's are 12-13. Both are 4 games out of first. Although I'd be a fool to say that the Giants are anywhere near as good of a team as the A's, I'll say that the Giants seem like a more veteran group that knows how to close out the few opportunities they get to win a game.

More importantly, the Giants chances for a post-season appearance might be better than the A's right now. The NL West is a ridiculously weak division. The Dodgers currently lead with a 15-9 mark, but look more like a .500 squad. San Diego isn't much better. The D'backs are right there with them and the Rockies's pitching looks better than in recent years. It's possible that every team in the NL West could end up 81-81. This could be the year that a team makes the playoffs with a .500 record, and while the Giants don't quite look like a .500 team, they could get there. Meanwhile the A's have a 500 lbs. gorilla of the Angels in their division to deal with, let alone the Rangers, who are off to a best-in-the-majors start and have the best offensive team in the AL.

2004-04-30T16:44:00.000-07:00

Who?
The A's haven't exactly come out mad tonight. They've gone six up, six down against a TBD-Ray named Waechter. Uh, who?

UPDATE: Waechter gave up three hits tonight. Two of them counted -- 2 HR's to Ruby 'Where have you been all year?' Durazo. Waechter then hit Crosby and was ejected. No doubt a Lou Pinella-ordered beaning (rooks just don't do that) which, if you ask me, will backfire. The A's suck (of late) and they don't care. Why fire them up by knocking off the crown jewel?

2004-04-30T12:53:00.000-07:00

Suicide is Painless
I'm still not worried. Oh sure, I'm worried about Zito. And Kielty. And Kotsay. And Macha's penchant for the Frank Menechino's and Eric Karros' of the world. Or Damian Miller's handling of the pitching staff. And the fact that Tampa Bay is a better team this year. But I'm still not worried.

What? What's that you say? It's not even May yet and we're playing this bad? Ummmm......at least we're not the Giants.

2004-04-29T17:23:00.000-07:00

Bleacher Bum
Based on last year's stats, you would think Ken Macha would only let Eric Karros bat against lefties. But he hasn't -- Karros has only two more at bats against lefties (18) than righties (16). And the sad thing is, he hits righties better, batting just .111 against southpaws. Yuck.

2004-04-29T14:22:00.000-07:00

Oy Vey
I don't even want to talk about Tuesday's game. It sent me into a tailspin of cheap wine and expensive poker games that I'm still recovering from. A bender of the first order, it is, and I'm going going through women like Texas No. 3 starter goes through the middle of the A's lineup -- quick and easy.

Bloody hell. Do we always have to outplay the Yankees and STILL get beat by them? (The 5-1 game being an exception -- I can take a whoopin'). They have no fire. To remedy this, I'm building a portable cattle prod that pops up from behind the left-handed batter's box. Next time Chavey gets up there and looks lethargic, he gets hit with 10,000 volts and charges the pitcher. There's your new attitude, Mr. Eric "I need some downtime in Bellvue" Chavez.

Now it's up to Gascan Zito to stymie what is now a Five Game Losing Streak. But ya know what? I'm not worried. We played well for most of the first three weeks, and the Five Game Losing Streak hasn't killed us: We're only two games out of first. No one's hitting, and no one's pitching. That won't last forever.

And Tampa Bay is on the horizon.

2004-04-27T17:39:00.000-07:00

Dammit Munchkin!
Chavey hits a long home run to put the A's up. Tim Hudson, playing the roll of Bad Huddy, gives up four in the bottom of the inning -- largely to the bottom of the Yanks order.

The A's tie it up in the top, but a larger rally was killed when the 4'7" Italian joke-of-the-month rolled into a double play.

More to come...

Take it back, Frankie. Thanks for the single (though it could have been a double play, too).

And Jon -- Have you SEEN Dancer in the Dark? Zzzzzzz.......

Huddy has snapped back to life -- 76 pitched starting the sixth, with Mussina at 110 through the top. Huddy struck out Giambi looking to start. Let's Go A's.

2004-04-22T10:16:00.000-07:00

Runaway Season
The season sure looks like it's getting away from the Giants in a
hurry. Last night was a perfect example. While Jason Schmidt got
knocked around pretty thoroughly in his second start back from the
disabled list, the big problem for the Giants has been their offensive
output. Last night's tally: 0 runs, 4 hits.

Outside of Bonds, there isn't a lot going on. Only Grissom and Durham
have averages over .300. Snow, Perez, Alfonzo, and Tucker/Hammonds all
are underproducing, way below even my own diminished expectations. Sure
the pitching has been awful. Williams has been pretty good, but
everyone else looks bad. But this team needs to score runs to have a
shot. Of course that isn't going to happen.

Oh, and Jason: Mick LaSalle sucks. Lars Von Trier does not.

2004-04-18T20:33:00.000-07:00

.667
We won the rubber match tonight, 7-1 over the Angels. Bobby Crosby essentially ended the game with a 2-run home run to put us up 4-1. So far, the A's have taken two out of every three-game series they've played. Not bad for a team that starts slow.

2004-04-17T07:56:00.000-07:00

Back to Baseball
Heckuva game last night against the Angels. A's couldn't sustain rallies, but got three pitches that they knew what to do with. Jermaine Dye's was incredible, him whipping around on an inside fastball - by Bartolo Colon. Hudson was brilliant again -- it's pretty ovbious that the guy has learned that he won't get much run support as the No. 1 starter, and the way to remedy that is by refusing to let the other team get anything at all. We will have fun against the Angels this year.

Coupla notes - Ron Washington's reaction to the amazing Scutaro-glove-flip-to-a-bare-handed-Crosby double play in Texas. "Marco had the time to do it right. If that ball goes over Bobby's head, all hell breaks loose." Once a coach, always a coach.

The A's also managed to get something for Harville, even after designating him for assignment. Harville is now an Astro (a team that seems to collect pitchers exactly like him), while the A's get Kirk Saarloos.

Saarloos' recent 2003 AAA nummbers are OK -- 58 hits and 11 walks in 65 innings, while giving up 5 HRs. Though he pitched mostly relief for Cal St. Fullerton in college, he is a starter who throws 88 max, with command of his pitches. Is about 6 feet, 180. Could be somebody, probably won't, but definately worth the flyer since Harville was on the way out anyway.

Hey this Billy Beane cat might end up pretty good.

2004-04-16T16:15:00.000-07:00

Off Topic ... so 'Kill' me

The Boston Globe's review of Kill Bill Vol. 2 actually begins: "When was the last time you got high from a movie?"

The San Franisco Chronicle? "It's clear that the release of the film in two parts was an artistic blunder, a triumph of ego and greed over reason."

Of course Mick La Salle is an idiot. In what has to be the most critical three-star review in the history of American cirticism, he also goes on to suggest that the films could have been collapsed into a single 2 hr 20 min. piece. Just paragraphs later, though, he priases Quentin Tarantino's "throwaway conversations." The same one's La Salle just wanted to throw away?

If you combined the Chronicle's overheated sports columnists with their limp, undercooked movie reviewers, you just might have something. Then again, you might have C.W. Nevius.

As a group, the critics at Fifth and Market have lost sight of what movies are for. This isn't PBS, folks. The movies don't have to be slow, or dark (literally), nor do they have to mine the landscape of the miserable. The critics praise dialogue that pretends to mimic real life, but reads like conversations no one ever has, anywhere. They praise plots by half-mad English majors. In every movie, someone most cry -- preferable two people, in same same scene. Small budgets help. The Chronicle critics tape these 'films' up on their refrigerators and call them masterpieces.

When I went to see Kill Bill, Vol. 1, I was shocked. Not by what I saw, but what I didn't . I was prepped for stultifying, insulting violence by Bay Area movie reviewers. I was shocked that I didn't get it. In an 'infamous' scene where Uma Thurman bashes a rapists head with a door, I was suprised to see that at no time did we see said door hit said head. Which, being left up to our imagination, made it all the more violent. Isn't that what critics want, movies that aren't spelled out so explicitly? In the final scene, Uma gleefully slashed off arms and legs in, yes, an orgy of violence. But when she does, about 70 tiny streams of watery red liquid spurt out of the severed limb. It looks nothing like what we see every Thursday night on ER. It's a cartoon.

This is what had people up in arms?

The praise of Vol. 2 is damn near universal. The New York Times falls all over itself. The Boston Globe gets high. Newsday's tongue lolls to the side in wonder. Ebert calls it easily one of the best movies of the year. But Tarantino apparently doesn't jibe with the Chronicle's style. Meanwhile, La Salle praises Dogville as a cinematic triumph, even if he admits nearly falling asleep in the first hour. At least Ebert, after mentioning that he checked to see if his watch was working, still called Dogville dogshit.

Have you ever surfed? That's what Kill Bill Vol. 1 was like. Pure exhileration. I'm looking forward to Vol. 2, because the ability to do that to an audience has largely been lost, and it's certainly lost on the Chronicle's critics.

Where the hell did Wesley Morris go?

2004-04-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

Designated for Another Team
As I write, Rich Harden is keeping the A's in front of the Rangers by pitching effectively -- through four innings, he's walked none.

Last year's phenom was recalled from AAA to start today, which mean the A's had to make a choice they've avoided since the spring -- exposing either Chad Harville or Justin Duscherer to the wire. Both pitchers are out of options.

Of the two, only Harville saw time this season -- one pitch that retired Alfonso Soriano the other day. The SF Chronicle made much of this one pitch, but I think their tea-leaf reading was all wrong. The A's were right to expose Harville to the wire, while keeping Duscherer.

Harville is replacable. He had been tapped of the closer of the future, but if he doesn't have that job by now he probably never will. Duscherer is the reigning PCL pitcher fo the year, and proved he could do the job by shutting out the Angels over seven innings in his major league debut last year ... while his wife was in the hospital giving birth to their first child. Talk about a day to remember.

There may not be a place for either of these guys in the A's future. But Harville -- though I love his heat and his name -- doesn't fetch as much on the open market as Duscherer. We'll see if we lose Harville -- probably. But it would be nice to have him back as insurance against the A's positively flamable middle relief.

2004-04-11T21:12:00.000-07:00

I Karros, Bum
So you're on the verge of demoralizing a team, sending them to 0-6 to start the season in an insanely tough division. About to go up five on them, after six games. I'm talking Full Metal Jacket, Vincent Donofrio-in-the-bathroom-with-a-shotgun demoralized. And you blow it. You let them get up off the mat.

People will blame Arthur Rhodes, but I won't. And people who read this should know I'm no fan of Arthur Rhodes. All the hits off him were weak. Instead, the blame for this falls at the feet of Eric Karros, Ken Macha's special friend.

One down (on a K) and the second batter hits a ball behind second. Scutaro ranges far for it, catches it, and makes a hurried throw -- which he didn't have to make. Regardless, the ball was on line, though weakly thrown. It bounces in front of Karros -- not an easy short hop, and not an easy long hop either -- but still a lightly thrown ball on which Karros could have done a couple of jumping jacks between the time it bounced and the time it hit his glove. Karros missed it, and from there the gates were opened.

The rest of the hits were grounders through the infield. One was hit hit slightly to Karros' right, when he was holding a runner on first. He was slow to react, and when he did got no push on his lunge toward the ball. I swear to God (and remember this is Easter, so I'm not throwing that arfound lightly) Scott Hatteberg gets that ball. The worst part is, after Karros dives and misses, he throws on this overly dramatic act while on the ground, as if the effort was so much that it sent him into spasms. Bullshit. I'm sorry, but that was pathetic in the first degree. I'm pissed we lost that game, and I blae Eric Karros.

There. That feels better. At least Mickelson won the Masters. Here's to Lefty.

2004-04-10T18:21:00.000-07:00

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hudson
On Opening Day we saw that the bad Tim Hudson can still be petty good. On Saturday, we were reminded of how good the good Hudson can be. It wasn't on par with the 'versus Pedro' game, but look at this:

9 IP, 4 hits, 0 BB, 1 run, 18 ground ball outs, 86 pitches

Three of the four hits were in the first inning, as was the run. But for a single and an error, Hudson was perfect for the last eight innings. The 18 grounders accounted for 20 outs (there were two DPs) and he averaged less than 10 pitches an inning. Wow.

2004-04-09T14:38:00.000-07:00

Stuck in Modesto Again
In the history of the World, from pleistocene era through the Roman Empire through San Francisco in the 60s, no one has ever recommended a trip to Modesto. Ever.

Let me be the first.

Three of the A's top four draft picks in the 2003 amateur draft are playing for the Modesto A's -- starting pitcher Brad Sullivan (1st pick), infielder Omar Quintanella (3rd) and outfielder Andre Ethier (4th). The first two guys are near locks for Major Leagues success.

Tickets are five bucks for general admission (splurge on the eight dollar tickets if you want to sit behind home plate). On Thursdays, Budweisers are $1 through the seventh inning (as if anyone drinking dollar beers for seven innings is going to sober up in the next two), and the California League has some pretty damn good players -- last year, future phenom Josh Barfield played the entire season here.

So go East young man. Modesto's only an hour away.

2004-04-09T12:32:00.000-07:00

Off Day
I had an excellent record at A's games last year: something like 8-1. They lost the first game I went to this year on Wednesday, 2-1 to Texas, in what was the last game of the opening series. Sad to see 'em go: Jermain Dye, 2 HRs and five RBIs in the series. Glad to see 'em go: Damian Miller, still looking for his first A's hit.

Some observations: 20,000 on a Wednesday afternoon game is not bad. ... I ate five dollar hot dogs, which I didn't think I was capable of. ... At one point Vida Blue walked the plaza level -- but no one recognized him. People, on the banner where the five Oakland Cy Young winners are listed, he's the first one. ... along those same lines, a conversation overheard while waiting in line to buy an A's hat: (Kid, looking at the cover of the A's program) 'Mommy, who's that?' Mom: 'I don't know.' It was Dennis Eckersley. ... Worst fan T-shirt -- Carlos Pena. ... Could Alfonso Soriano wear his pants any tighter? I'm noticing this from about five hundred feet. I don't even want to know what they're like up close. ... Bobby Crosby is big, real big. Already bigger than most of his teammates. Makes the third baseman look like a shrimp. ... All the breaks went the Rangers' way, which will be a good team this year (they're beating up on the undefeated Angels as I write). ... Francisco Cordero is the Rangers' closer, not Carlos Almanzar. It won't be long though. ... Why did Ken Macha pinch-hit Eric Karros against a tough righty with two out in the ninth? Maybe it had something to do with that serious case of bedhead Macha was sporting before the game.

Very soon, I'll get around to that debate about which of the Big Three you let go.

2004-04-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

A as in Aardsma
David Aardsma, who last year was the closer for Rice University, out-shined his fellow Houstonian Andy Pettitte to get his first major league win. Actually Aardsma is from Colorado, but he did have 33 friends and family in the stands at Minute Maid Park last night. Aardsma also set aside an even bigger legened of the game last night. Next time they publish the Baseball Encyclopedia, he'll be the first player listed, bumping Henry Aaron to number two.

The game was an example of lost chances for the Astros. Brett Tomko had problems with command especially in the first two innings. He racked up a 62 pitch count in the first two frames, although he only gave up a run early. Key for Tomko was getting Adam Everett and Jeff Bagwell (who looks old) to strike out with the bases loaded in the first. Tomko didn't get an out in the fifth before Cap'tn Hook Alou came out to get the ball. Giants relievers didn't fare much better keeping the Astros off the basepaths. Even Aardsma gave up three hits in his two innings. All-in-all, the Astros left 16 runners on base. Meanwhile Pettitte was finding out what it is like to pitch at the Juice Box. He lasted 5 and a third innings, surrendering 11 hits and six runs. His nemesis? Neifi Perez, who went four for four on the day. Key being a two-out bases-loaded double that cleared the bases in the fourth.

Welcome home Andy.

Roger Clemens goes up against Jerome Williams as the Giants go for the sweep Wednesday.

2004-04-06T21:16:00.000-07:00

A's Win!
Arthur Rhodes is on pace to get 162 saves...

The good thing about tonight's game is that Bobby Crosby got his first major league hit in his 17th major league at bat. Congratulations. Of course he was promply erased on a Damian Miller double play ball. Won't be the last time you hear that....

3-1 was the final, the difference being a long home run by Jermaine Dye. Mark Mulder struck out Mark Teixeira all three times they met. I was talking with friends the other day about which one of the Big Three you let go. The consensus was Barry Zito, but I'm starting to have second thoughts -- even with Mulder's performance. I'll explain why tomorrow after I go to the game. The Great Zito is pitching.

By the way, new Texas closer Carlos Almanzar left AAA-Louisville in disgust last year after failing to be promoted. He had a case -- the guy struck out 54 and walked three. Three. And he looked very good tonight in a limited showcase. Watch this guy.

2004-04-05T22:04:00.000-07:00

Opening night

PREGAME
Bethany Hamilton, a 14-year-old surfer who lost her arm in a shark attack, throws a first pitch strike to fellow surfer Barry Zito. The A's present her with an autographed surfboard, which is nice. Unfortunately, the A's new marketing campaign is crassly displayed on the board. The opposition is Kenny Rogers, who's beaten the A's something like 167 times in a row.

BOTTOM 1
Jermaine Dye goes to right, doubling in a run. Dye had a great spring and ruined the Giants in an exhibition game Saturday. Let's hope he's back. 1-0.

TOP 3
Hudson starts getting seriously squeezed by Dana Demuth. Has this guy earned nothing in this league? He's won more games than any other pitcher except Randy Johnson over the last four years. Demuth calls ball four to force in a run. Husdon yells an expletive. The two growl once the inning ends. 1-1.

BOTTOM 3
Eric Chavez gets a hit off Rogers, which is a good sign considering he was terrible against southpaws last year. Rogers then walks Dye on four pitches, looking like he's lost feel on his breaking stuff. On the mound, he blows on his hands repeatedly. It's cold at the Coliseum tonight. Rogers hits Erubiel Durazo. He walks Eric Karros on four pitches to force in a run. But Crosby pops out with the bases loaded. Fox Sports has a great shot of Dye giving a talk to an obviously frustrated Crosby. 2-1.

TOP 4
Hudson is less than at his best tonight, but in typical fashion is skating through when he needs to make good pitches. Whoops! Smash past Chavez that ties the score. Huddy's probably got two innings left, max. Texas -- which has the nucleus of a great offense with Alfonso Soriano, Hank Blalock and Mark Teixeira -- is hitting a lot of balls hard. We'll get a taste of that revamped A's bullpen tonight. NASTY sinker strikes out Blalock on a 3-2 count with Soriano on deck. 2-2.

TOP 5
A hit and a walk to start the inning bring Curt Young out for his first mound visit as the A's pitching coach. I miss the mullet, but the mullet's in New York now and I just have to get over it. Coming with one out the in fifth, Hudson's 100th pitch almost hits David Dellucci. On the 101st, scrub Marco Scutaro makes a cat-like play at second to force a runner. Huddy gets out with a 106 pitches, but he's probably done.

BOTTOM 5
Leading off, Bobby Kielty doubles over Dellucci, who appeared to take a bad angle on the ball. Defense wins championships. Kielty scores the go-ahead run on another hard-hit ball by Dye. 3-2.

TOP 6
First new reliever: Chris Hammond. First batter: breaks bat in three pieces. I can throw faster than Hammond, but he's breaking bats. Another good sign.

BOTTOM 6
Crosby looks over-anxious at the plate. Damian Miller looks hopeless. Defense wins championships, but you gotta score.

TOP 7
Hammond starts the inning with a 72 mile-an-hour pitch, but Brad Fullmer missed it by a foot. Later, Hammond leaves one up. Apparently when he does that, it's happy happy joy joy. Teixeira rides one over the centerfield wall. Don't we have something like umpteen-million pitchers on the roster, Ken Macha? Use them. Why stretch the situational guy over two innings. 4-3.

BOTTOM 8
Jeff Nelson is on the Rangers? Huh. Too bad he got seperated from tag-team buddy Karim Garcia. Maybe they'll reunite for a match against the Iron Shiek and Junkyard Dog. The bad news is the Rangers got seven innings out of Rogers, which means they can try to close the game out with their only two good relievers, Nelson and the closer, whoever that is.

Durazo singles to lead off. Karros is left in against the righty Nelson and delivers a single. (Why are we paying Scott Hatteberg a million-plus?) Crosby up. C'mon kid ... Nope. Good news is the grounder was so weakly hit they couldn't turn two. Bad news is, Miller's up. Wait! Billy McMillon is pinch hitting. Should be making McMillions the way he hit last year. Playing percentages, Buck Showalter brings in Ron Mahay. My book says Jeff Nelson's a better pitcher than Ron Mahay. Macha burns McMillion and puts in Eric Byrnes. Byrnes doubles in two!!!! Fire Buck Showalter! The A's announcers are actually laughing at Showalter! Hey, but at least he's got a dress code on team flights.

TOP 9
Arthur Rhodes is coming in. I'm afraid.

Super scrub Scutaro makes a brilliant defensive play behind second base to get the leadoff man. Looks like he can handle himself as well as, oh, Mark Ellis out there.

Pop out, two down. Dellucci had a decent night, but Showalter pulls him for... Herbert Perry? The managing talent in Texas is astonishing. A weak looper falls in. I'm sure Showalter feels like a genius.

What's the matter with Kevin? He's a Mench! is up and quickly falls behind 0-2. Three straight balls and it's 3-2. Goes down swinging.

A lot things were promising about tonight, but it still feels like we stole one. I guess that's what winning teams do. Houston and the Red Sox are in last place, and the Yankees are a .500 team. There's a lot of baseball left, but it's good to have the game back.

2004-04-05T18:48:00.000-07:00

3-Run Luck
Jimy Williams could well be on thin ice this year if the Astros don't get off to a hot start. He sure showed that he might be well on his way to helping it along. With the Giants looking up at a three run deficit in the eighth inning, Williams watched Roy Oswalt give up singles to both Ray Durham and Michael Tucker around a JT Snow strikeout.

With Oswalt nearing the 100-pitch mark and Barry Bonds coming up in the top of the 8th, you’d think time to go to the best bullpen in the NL, right? Yeah, not really. First pitch Bonds sees he tomahawks a line drive into the right field bleachers. Tie game. A three-run homer.

And yes, you’d have to imagine that Williams knew that there was indeed a base open and a three-run jack would tie the game. Bonds only had three three-run homers last year, and they all came with a significant run difference in the game. As a matter of fact, Bonds had almost as many walks (38) as he had at bats (45) with two men on last year. Let the second-guessing begin.

After F-Rod gets the Astros out in order, Octavio Dotel comes out and premieres as the team’s new closer. He promptly pegs Tony Torcado in the foot on a curveball. After a sacrifice bunt by Durham, Dotel loses control of another curve, pushing the runner to third base. Snow golfs a low fastball for a flyout to right, the runner tags, 5-4 Giants.

But the Astros also had some bad luck on opening night. Both Craig Biggio and Jeff Kent were called out for making contact with a batted ball outside of the box. Kent’s was exceptionally painful, coming with two outs and the bases loaded and Kirk Rueter looking like he might be toast. Mark it in your scorebook as 2-unassited.

2004-03-31T16:31:00.000-08:00

Congratulations Brian Sabean!
You just acquired two pitchers that gave up the most home runs in the National League. Well, actually, that's not quite true. They just acquired Wayne Franklin who led the senior circuit in ding-dong-the-pitch-is-dead-the-wicked-pitch-is-dead with 35. Earlier this off season he got Brett Tomko, the man who gave up the second most homers in the NL with 34. I'm a man who like clarity, amongst everything else.

As an added bonus, Sabean also got reliever Leo Estrella in the deal, who only gave up a paltry 10 home runs (although he accomplished it in 66 innings pitched--a rate even higher than Tomko or Franklin). The good news here is that all three pitchers will get much more effective pitching half their games at SBC Park. The bad news is that Estrella and, even more so, Franklin suck.

The deal (if you want to call it that) sure looks like (a.) the warm body approach for the Giants (as in they have none to pitch with Nen and Schmidt on the DL and Kevin Correia and Jerome Williams sucking) or (b.) the get-the-the-hell-out-of-town approach for the Brewers. How badly did Brew Crew GM Doug Melvin want these particular fellows out of town? This is what he says about Carlos Villanueva and Glenn Woolard, the two guys he got in return: "They're not top-level prospects," Melvin said. "This came down to being a deal that had a deadline to it." Damning by faint insult if i ever heard it.

Maybe that deadline had something to do with April 12-14. As it happens, the Brewers will be visiting SBC Park those days. Nothing like some early season down-home pitching for the Brewers.

2004-03-31T13:34:00.000-08:00

Update
The Oakland Ellis Crisis, day 7: Bobby Crosby returned to action after bruising his thigh on Mark Ellis' labrum and promptly hit two home runs. That's a good sign coming this late in Spring Training -- he hit both off Ryan Franklin, and honest-to-goodness major league pitcher.

As for replacing Ellis, A's GM Billy Beane now says he's more worried about finding a backup for Crosby since the middle infielders are going to be mostly occupied with playing second base. It's called keeping your eyes on the prize, and the prize is Crosby. Praise yonder Beane, for thee is wisened. On to other matters:

Giants

have inquired

What's becoming clear is that the options available on the market aren't much better than what the A's have in-house -- and those option are pretty much as good as Ellis anyway. There's no need to trade for any Wayne Franklins.

Far more alarming are the Struggles of Arthur Rhodes (wasn't that a William Faulkner short story?) His 4.13 ERA is a vast improvement over earlier this spring, but he's still given up 22 hits and walks in 13 innings. Eveyone duck.

2004-03-30T10:11:00.000-08:00

Devestating
The Giants injury news goes from tenuous to worse. First, Robb Nen who has been throwing fairly well in spring suddenly can't throw at all. Apparently he's having shoulder discomfort. Of course when your rotator cuff is between 40-80 percent torn, discomfort is bound to happen. Jason Schmidt's elbow and shoulder (and forearm?) are also not responding so well. Both Nen and Schmidt will start the season on the DL. It's got to be even money if Nen ever throws a pitch in anger during a league game, let alone makes it through a championship season.

This team has been around having Schmidt throw 200 innings of shut-down pitching. If the Giants don't get Schmidt back until say, mid-May, this season, which already seems like it's going to be a long one, suddenly got a lot longer. By the way, when your stud pitcher starts making comments like Schmidt did on March 6th, you better take another look at the MRI. "I felt good, really good -- almost too good. I felt too strong and tried to hold back." Sure Jason.

2004-03-29T13:47:00.000-08:00

Sacrilege
Serious injuries coming late in Spring Training really hurt.

ESPN is reporting that Mark Ellis is likely out for the year with a torn labrum, though A's GM Billy Beane said nothing's conclusive. It looks bad, but looks can be deceiving.

Hold onto your hats, but I'm more worried that Bobby Crosby's bruised thigh (which Ellis so rudely damaged by slamming his shoulder into it) heals by opening day. Crosby is the key player to watch for the A's the year -- Ellis is expendable. Not expendable to the point of allowing Frankie Menechino to take over second base for the year, but still.

The A's believe Ellis to be the best defensive second baseman in the league -- That's his value to the club. But there's not a lot of agreement on this point (see Reese, Pokey). Since coming over as a back-of-the-binder throw-in during the Johnny Damon trade, Ellis hasn't hit enough to establish himself as the owner of the position. In mid-2002, Ellis' first year on the job, the A's traded for Ray Durham. He was handed the keys to the car last year and went .248/.313/.371. That is not good.

Second base is an easy position to play -- one of the easiest on the field and certainly the easiest on the infield. There are plenty of players available throughout the league who can pick it. And a new glove won't foul up the A's double play combination because Crosby is new as well.

What the A's need to do is find a capable second baseman who understands that he'll hurt the team if he swings at everything. Menechino's problem is the opposite -- he won't swing at anything. Also cause for concern is Menechino exerting too much clubhouse influence, a concern bolstered by Frankie having a starting job. Yeah, he plays the fool in the A's promo commercials, but let's not forget that Beane sent him down two years ago as part of the May Massacre, which resulted in Carlos Pena being dealt to the Tigers and, more than any other single event, is the reason that A's fans are now being asked to root for Eric Karros. No. I won't do it.

.248/.313/.371 isn't hard to replace. Hell, Esteban German could even do it if he didn't alarm the front office so much with his stunningly bad defense, aggravated by an utter lack of cognizant thought on the infield. Behind German are several possibilities: Freddie Bynum and Adam Morrissey, two Texas League middle infielders whose stars seem to have faded (though Bynum posted a decent slugging percentage in 2003, with the help of nine triples), and, more importantly, Omar Quintanella, a Modesto 2B who hit .417 in limited action last year. With Nick Swisher and Jeremy Brown having minor struggles, Quintanella is the Next Big Thing in the A's organization.

But Quintanella is a couple years away. I'm all for throwing Morrisey or Bynum intot he role and seeing what happens, but that's not likely to happen. Is now a bad place to remind fans that the players the A's gave up to acquire Johnny Damon were Ben Grieve and 2B Angel Berroa, your 2003 Rookie of the Year? I thought so.

So here's to Bobby Crosby's quick return to the lineup. And let's hope Ellis' shoulder isn't as bad as has been reported, but really, it's not the end of the world. It's not the end of much at all, as a matter of fact.

2004-03-23T15:57:00.000-08:00

And Take The Giants With You...
The news is not as great for the Giants, who's spring has featured a full-blown steroid-fueled media storm, setbacks to the best pitcher in the League not closing games and the former team fireballer, and the key catcher acquisition looking much less than the All-Star that GM Brian Sabean had promised.

But it's not all bad. Not really. We'll not exceptionally. The best player to ever don a Giants uniform finally started to get some pitches this week. It seems that spring training pitchers finally realized that these games don't count and started throwing the ball in the vicinity of the plate to Barry Bonds. Of course if a ball is thrown near the vicinity of the plate, Bonds will quickly change the Zip Code of the said spherical object. He's hit four homers in the past week.

But Bonds shouldn't get used to seeing many strikes. This is the weakest everyday lineup the Giants have put on the field since 1996. Look for a lot of pitches to be out of the zone. It's a lock that Barry will break his own single-season walk record this year. Could 225 free passes be possible? Depends on how weak the lineup truly ends up.

Fortunately for the Giants, the NL West resembles the AL East, that is if you removed the Yankees and the Red Sox. Just based on past performance, you'd have to imagine that the team has an excellent chance to win the divison crown and possibly even keep their string of four straight 90-win-or-better seasons alive. But only if the Dodgers offense continues to cough up blood, the Padres are not all that, and the Diamondbacks continue to age (the one constant in the west will be the still struggling Rockies). Last year the Giants racked up a sick 54-23 (.701 winning pct) record against their Western brethern. No way will that happen again, but a strong record in division could be the difference in who is grist for the mill in the playoffs against the Cubs, Phillies, or Astros.

Like Jason on the suddenly matured and professional (read: boring) Athletics, I'll be posting a position-by-position review of the Giants. And while the prospects aren't as hot for the team as the A's, the one thing you can bet on is that this season may be many things, but it won't be boring.

2004-03-22T22:57:00.000-08:00

The A’s lost today, after having won 8 straight. I know it’s spring training, but I still felt giddy. Must be ready for opening day.

We lost to Maddux, who pitched six shutout innings. We’ve beaten him before. I was there as a matter of fact - it was the night Eric Chavez made a sliding catch into the dugout. An extra inning game if I recall -- Jermaine Dye hit a home run. I was there -- I lived in Oakland at the time and watched the first inning at home -- Huddy v. Maddux. “What the fuck am I doing home?” I wondered. So I went. It was beautiful.

The good news was Mark Mulder pitched four scoreless (the final was 1-0). Things are coming together this spring, and anyone who says the A’s will finish third is full of patoohey.

The fact is the AL West will once again be the most competitive division. This year, we even have some stars to go with the teams, thanks to the Angels. In years past, the West teams have won without the truly marquis names, and yet as a division we‘ve won more games per team than anyone.

Take a look at the average wins per team, per division over the last five years:

NLW - 83.4
NLC - 79.4
NLE - 80.3

ALW - 86.8
ALC - 76.2
ALE - 81.0

In other words, the A’s play in the most competitive division in the Big Leagues -- even more competitive that the AL East, which is dragged down by bad teams -- which the Yanks and Red Sox feast on with the weighted schedules. And the A’s are the best team within their division.

There is Star Power in the West now. The A’s Big Three are legit marquis names - at this time last year they were still fighting for name recognition (remember how contoversial Barry Zito’s Cy was?). Now, Eric Chavez’ signing improves his profile -- he is widely acknowledged as the best 3B in the game, with only Scott Rolen putting up serious competition. Seattle became good once their marquis player, Ken Griffey Jr., left. As far as stars go, that left only Ichiro, who can’t talk to kids in the stands. But he is now widely accepted by American fans. As well he should be -- he’s a hell of a baseball player, even if he can’t pronounce ‘Duracell.’

The Angels have added Bartolo Colon, and one of the most exciting players in all of baseball, Vladimir Guerrero. They are interesting additions to a team that won the World Series two years ago with a bunch of nobodies. (You followed Garret Anderson before 2002? No you didn’t.) If the Rangers hadn’t jettisoned A-Rod, one could make an argument that in terms of star power, the AL West rivals the East. As Mike Scoscia says: ‘There is baseball on the West Coast.’ And 17 million fans know it.

Out of this pressure cooker -- one forged by competition, not the media -- the A’s have thrived. Paul DePodesta once compared the A’s to Darwinism -- the team had to adapt to survive. And they have done more than survive. They have altered the baseball landscape for good, and hopefully for the better.

I am looking forward to this like no other season. Then again, I know I must think that every year.

A preview of the A’s, position by position will follow later this week. Go A’s.