Posts Tagged ‘Oakland A’s’
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Wild Card FeverJuly 27th, 2008
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American League - Wild Card Standings
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Team |
W |
L |
PCT |
GB |
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59 |
42 |
.584 |
- |
|
|
60 |
43 |
.583 |
- |
|
|
56 |
45 |
.554 |
3.0 |
|
|
55 |
46 |
.545 |
4.0 |
|
|
52 |
49 |
.515 |
7.0 |
|
|
52 |
49 |
.515 |
7.0 |
|
|
52 |
50 |
.510 |
7.5 |
|
|
51 |
51 |
.500 |
8.5 |
|
|
48 |
53 |
.475 |
11.0 |
|
|
46 |
57 |
.447 |
14.0 |
|
|
44 |
56 |
.440 |
14.5 |
|
|
38 |
63 |
.376 |
21.0
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That’s right. Read it and weep. If you are watching the scoreboard, you already see the future. Here come the Rangers, out of the gate after the All-Star break like a “Ron Paul for President ‘08″ campaign wagon. After crushing the Twins and the WSox, taking one out of three in each series, Texas is sitting right where they want to sit, on the fringes of the Wild Card race, lulling the 8 teams in front of them into a false sense of security and waiting to pounce. Read more
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End of the Road for Boston Woes OR Just the Beginning of Boston’s Road WoesJuly 20th, 2008
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A few short months ago a la October, the Angels were basically running away from Fenway’s bombers with their proverbial tails between their legs. After losing two series ending in sweeps to the Red Sox on two separate post-season occasions since the turn of the millennium, the Angels seemed to have their work cut out for them again in 08 if they wanted any chance at another World Series run.
The Angels have been, in their career, weak against the formidable Boston lineup. It is because of this that so many sports writers have criticized the Angels’ management for not acquiring a more fear-inducing bat for the middle of the lineup to back Big Daddy Vladdy. In fact, despite a successful first half, power rankings on ESPN still give little credence to the team and still stress this same overly-repetitive theme: “The Angels are the clear favorites in the AL West despite an offense that ranks 23rd in the majors in OPS and runs scored. Will they make a run at Mark Teixeira or Matt Holliday, or cling to the hope that starting pitching, a great closer and a flair for one-run victories can propel them deep into October?” (Crasnik’s “Starting 9” on ESPN.com). Though that last little statement, ending in a rhetorical question, seems to be rather connotative of a negative sentiment, I beg to differ, and offer up a definite YES. Great pitching > great hitting. Almost always. Read more
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All Star Break: Back and ForthJuly 20th, 2008
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While Back-and-Forth would certainly be an accurate description of the Rangers to this point, a team written off for dead before April was over (at least twice…check our columns…) that has clawed its way back to the fringe of the playoff picture without sweeping an opponent yet. But this column is Back and Forth as Cary and I take turns looking at Texas topics for the second half. Cary’s answers will be in bold. Mine will be intelligent.
KEN: So, I’ll start this by tossing you a softball. (Just don’t hit it back at me….we both know I can’t field it…) Who is the Rangers’ MVP so far? The two-time player of the month, or are you going to avoid the obvious answer? Read more
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Crash Davis Returns!?July 9th, 2008
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Last year the Oakland A’s picked up a minor leaguer from the San Diego Padres for virtually nothing. When the trade was made, it wasn’t a big deal and was only found in the other notes section. A’s general manager Billy Beane has once again plucked a gem and given up nothing in return.
With all the injuries the A’s players had last season, that minor leaguer got a chance to show what he could do. Who was that minor leaguer and what did he do with the opportunity?
Does he really invoke memories of baseball movie (Bull Durham) legend Crash Davis (the minor league career homerun champion)? When I look at A’s outfielder/DH Jack Cust play today, I think of Crash Davis
Cust has had a few cups of coffee in the majors with a four different teams (Arizona Diamondbacks, Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies, and the Padres). In fact, Cust even played in AAA for the A’s back in 2005, yet never got a call to the show.
While some player get called up and just can’t perform, others go on to show they can. They make people think about why they had to wait so long.
While some players do great things in the minors, it doesn’t always translate to success in the major. The A’s once had a player, Adam Piatt, win the Triple Crown while playing in AA. That achievement had not been accomplished in over 70 years.
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Justin Duchscherer, A’s star pitcher…but is he an All Star?June 19th, 2008
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The Oakland A’s are known for the pitchers they develop. In the past, the A’s have drafted (or traded for) and developed some of the top young pitchers in baseball. Among those are Tim Hudson (All Star and 20 game winner), Mark Mulder (All Star and 20 game winner), Barry Zito (All Star, 20 game winner, CY Young winner), Danny Haren (All Star), Rich Harden, and Joe Blanton.
Of those starters, the only one not drafted by the A’s was Danny Haren. Haren was acquired in a trade with the St Louis Cardinals in exchange for Mulder. That deal turned into another one of Billy Beane’s mastererful fleecings. Read more
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Married to baseballMay 21st, 2008
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Wow, has it ever been a long time. I can’t believe I just survived three weeks without watching or listening to a single A’s baseball game. That has to be a new record for me. Of course, just because I wasn’t watching or listening, doesn’t mean I wasn’t being kept in the loop. That entire time I was having the A’s final game scores and notes texted to my cell phone.
We had no internet while we were away. And my wife was very gracious in allowing me to keep my cell phone with me to keep tabs on the A’s. I tell you, I married the best possible woman for me.
What was the point of this you might wonder? Well, I just got married and then went on our honeymoon to Hawaii. My wife is a great person. If things had gotten done quicker the day after our wedding, we would have gone to the A’s game in Oakland.
Doing so would have been perfect for us as well. I actually asked her to marry me at the A’s/Giants game last year. It was great, too; the A’s stomped a mud hole into Barry Zito and the Giants that game to a tune of 15-3. It was a great game for my family and friends who attended (knowing what was going to happen). Even my wife loved what happened (getting engaged) at the game…even though she is a Giants fan.
What did I notice while I was gone? Well, for starters Duchscherer and Harden came back. Both have been just what the A’s needed as well. But, at the same time the offense that has been getting this team through has suddenly come up short.
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California Doesn’t Exist to the MediaMay 15th, 2008
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*soapbox speech begins*
California used to be an important place: home to Hollywood, the place to see all the major stars, the place of movie productions, the place of television stations and filming, the place of music industry and radio… but not only media. It’s also the place of constant summer, the pacific ocean, Disneyland, and skiing only another hour drive away. Not to mention, the third-largest commercial economy in the world.
It used to be that everyone was in love with California, especially the “OC” (though I, being myself from LA, don’t really much understand the hype). But lately, us Angels fans should be feeling a bit dejected.
I often look to sports news and television to keep up with the rest of baseball which regional television prevents me from seeing on a daily basis. However, the more and more I read, the more media bias I see, and the more sickened I become. I understand that everything has an inherent bias. We all have our opinion of things, and we’re all entitled so. But the purpose of media is to present facts and information to all audiences. And without reliability, honesty, and timeliness, news loses credibility. As of late, the media has really been losing it, at least for me.
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Big Hurt returns while Cust and Barton sitApril 25th, 2008
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Babe Ruth hit 714 homeruns in his major league career. By strange coincidence that is the exact combined total of the A’s starting first basemen Mike Sweeney (198) and DH Frank Thomas (516) in yesterday’s game.
Although neither player hit one out yesterday, both still played a factor in the A’s dismantling on the Twins on Thursday. Just because they didn’t homer, doesn’t mean the A’s can’t hit any. Donnie Murphy had the first multi homer game of his career by hitting his first and second homeruns of the season.
With his second homerun of the game, Murphy brought the A’s team total to 11 for the season. That is ONE more than Chase Utley has hit for the Phillies ALL BY HIMSELF!
After an outburst at management, Thomas was released by the Blue Jays. Before signing with Toronto, Thomas played one year with Oakland where he had a steller year. He turned that year into a two year contract with the Blue Jays. After leading them in homers and rbi last year, Thomas fell out of favor due to a slow start.
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Walking woundedApril 23rd, 2008
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What do Eric Chavez, Justin Duchscherer, Rich Harden, Kieth Foulk, Kiko Calero and Chad Gaudin all have in common? With the exception of Guadin who came off when Duchscherer went on, they all are on the disabled list (DL) for the Oakland A’s.
Last year, the A’s were hit very hard by injuries. Some even believe the recent injuries were why GM Billy Beane made the trades he did this off season. Since health was not guaranteed, why risk trying to make the playoffs, only to lose that shot and then lose the players? By selling Swisher, Haren, and even Scutaro high, the A’s got some quality prospects to build with.
Now, the season is almost a month old and the A’s have already used the DL six times; there are five players sitting on the DL right now. Last season, the A’s used the DL 20 times, including five times in April.
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A Few, Good Baseball-Minded Men: Recent Battlefield Successes Could Be Foiled by Generalissimo Samuel Zell’s Continued OwnershipApril 22nd, 2008
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When local Real Estate Magnate Samuel Zell acquired the Tribune Company (and the Chicago Cubs) at the insistence of the Chandler Family, many thought Zell’s overly cozy relationship to the financiers of the deal, Merrill Lynch and CitiGroup, was a bad omen of things to come on Wall Street. Both Citi and Merrill were advising the Tribune Company on the viability of the prospective bidders, termed “staple financing”, as in Staples, “we got that, too.” (In actuality it is called staple financing because paperwork is often stapled onto the deal’s term sheet to help a seller develop a robust auction by offering on-the-spot financing to all “potential” suitors. Wall Street speak…)
The fact Zell (above) had Merrill Lynch represent him in a $39 billion sale of Equity Office Properties to the Blackstone Group likely meant that any bid made on the Tribune Company by Zell was going to be promoted over the other candidates. (Viagranaires Eli Broad and Ronald W. Burkle also submitted an exact dollar amount bid of $8.2 billion.)
So, in April 2007, Zell became commander-in-chief of the most woe-begotten baseball franchise, the lovable losers, the Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs in the 2006-2007 Hot Stove cooked up an entire pot of free agents signings to the tune of “Hey, Hey, Holy Mackerel!”, posting over $300 million in contracts. The Cubs replaced two-fifths of their starting rotation, signed the premier LF on the market in Alfonso Soriano to a eight-year, $136-million contract and resigned 3B Aramis Ramirez for over $70 million. With additional backup players, the money spent amounted to three seasons worth of salaries for a “Top Ten” payroll in the 2007 season. (But barely more than A-Rod’s contract.)
Primarily, this was due to the expectant sale of the Tribune Company, with the new owners on the hook for the ballplayer’s salaries. Long-time marketing guru John McDonough acquired the reins from ex-team president Andy MacPhail, who had not spent with the dangerous abandon of a drunken sailor on liberty in Thailand. (Is there any other kind…of sailor?) McDonough would resign his commission after only one season at the top, heading to the moribund Chicago Blackhawks as their new field commander.
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