Crib Notes and Cheat Sheets

The Twins Geek has his very own cheat sheet for you to download and printout.

This morning we'll add some common sense and what to expect when the game starts as an addendum.

We'll stroll through the umpteen thousand experts and point out the factors from the fodder for you.

Every website has their two cents to chip in, even if you only have a penny for their thoughts.

The Sites and Sounds

MLB Has a preview that is big on flash and low on actual, factual details. Their pitching analysis is decent, though we'd argue with the MPH on several of their reviews. Further, they do not preview the bullpens. Their position player review amounts to head-to-head match ups. We're not fond of many of them. The catchers, for instance, mention Ramon Hernandez is excellent at handling pitchers and weak with the bat. Ramon appeared in 136 games this year, most of those behind the plate. He also injured his wrist against the Yankees in the Division Series last year. He had a decent off-season in Winter League but tried to compensate for his ailing wrist too much as it healed. He hit a wall in the Spring and his swing was all jacked up. Ramon was brought up for his offense, which has suffered this season, but can you argue with the results he gets behind the plate with the pitching staff? Further, they listed the Twins have been the underdog historically in the playoffs. Oh, yah, very relevant since the Twins haven't been in the post season in eleven years. You might as well list that the A's have historically had very yellow jerseys and moustaches.


Yahoo! has a preview that is essentially an AP/Reuters type that doesn't make a lot of sense.


ESPN has several preview articles, this one from Tim Kurkjian. Is it us or does it sound like Tim is always mispronouncing his own name sometimes on TV? Tim basically runs down Five Question (ripping off former ESPN anchor Craig Kilbourn) that points out the Twins were a .500 team (40-40) on the road and that the Metrodome is loud.


Peter Gammons gives a drive by analysis of all the teams and what they'll face.


Eric Neel is a California guy who writes for ESPN but is a Dodger fan. He gets the surface qualities in 10 Reasons to Root For the A's, but misses the mark.


ESPN.com's site foir the Division Series.


ESPN's scouting reports are not good. The Twins Geeks likes them, but we think they stink. Again, we'll take the first listing, Scott Hatteberg. Scott isn't a spray hitter by any stretch of the imaginations. All together now, "SCOTT HATTEBERG OWNS RIGHT CENTERFIELD!". Repeat that as a mantra when Scott is in the batter's box a la "these pretzels are making me thirsty." Scott is a breaking ball/bad ball hitter. Anyone who can sit on a splitter and then drive it is a hell of a hitter. Who doesn't like to turn on a fastball in a hitter's count? Tom Candiotti was clearly just pulling vaugue generalities out of his over-sized ass...and he used to pitch for the A's. Come to think of it, the A's released Candiotti and ended his career.


The Sporting News' Ken Rosenthal stays close the the vest and doesn't really go out on a limb with anything.


CBS Sportsline actually has some decent scouting reports here.


Then they drop the ball and offer this garbage.


CNN/SI goes out of its way to prove why they are out of touch. Calling the A's defense adequate when they rank 3rd in the American league in Defensive Effeciency Rating, ahead of the Twins is asinine.


FOX clearly doesn't understand their core audience. Why they spend so much money on a bad website is a mystery to us all. For a network that houses baseball and football and doesn't cover either well, you would think they would try to hold the ardent fans with a decent website. Nope.


NBC might look like the precurser of FOx in a few years. At least MSNBC doesn't try to do too much.


We are very surprised USA Today didn't have color charts available.

How the West Was Won

Pitching

Pitching

Pitching

YEE HAW!

We're going to wait two full days after the A's win the World Series or are eliminated prior to writing our scathing review.

Then we're going to make our predictive analytic statements about next year, including the A's possibly going after Richie Sexson. Billy Beane has coveted him for sometime and has enough to entice the Brewers to let him go.

Until then, get ready for you're 2002 Oakland A's Playoff Primer.

Coming in 3...2...1...

Division Series

Minnesota Twins (94-67) VS Oakland Athletics (103-59)

Meet the Twins

The best way for you to learn about the Twins is to visit the Twins Geek. If there is a better blog/website about the Minnesota Twins and Gobstoppers we haven't bothered to look for it. Aaron's Baseball Blog is second, though a bit scattered into the ethereal plane of statistical variances and leaning toward baseball matters according to the points he wants to prove.

However, since we do our research and saw enough of the Twins this season to make our own judgement calls, we're going to, 'learn y'all real good' what to expect this week.

First Things First

Their heads are probably itchy from wearing the AL Central crown for a few weeks. A drop off in play can be expected of a team that clinches prior to the rest of MLB so their 94 wins could have very easily been 101-103.

The Twins also escaped the farcical threat of contraction. The tool used by Kaiser Selig to bully from his bombed out pulpit and garner owner Carl Pohlad (do you know how old Carl Pohlad is? He's 206) a nice kick back on his way to his family tomb, failed.

The Twins have put up with so much garbage over the last two years it would have been just as easy to phone it in and finish at .500 and still had a successful season. However, if any team outside of the A's has more character, focus and determination- it's the Twins. They sport a lot of talent that has come up through their organization and a few veterans snatched up to hold things together. For a team that wasn't supposed to do much they have done everything.

Make this a point to remember: the Twins are a TEAM. They empty the clubhouse and come out of the dugout at the same time for a team warm-up. They stay close together when shagging flies. They all hit a majority of the balls to the opposite field when they are in the cage in batting practice.

This is a team that relies on defense, decent pitching and timely hitting to make things roll.

They don't ask their pitchers to do more than they are capable of and don't give away a lot of at-bats. Counting foul balls becomes a more telling stat when the Twins bat than their opposing pitcher's pitch count.

While Torii Hunter has been the flash that gets s a lot of attention, the Twins are sound at every position except perhaps short stop and second base. The reason being, regular shortstop Cristian Guzman has been battling injuries that led to or account for his erratic play at times. At second base you can take your pick of Luis Rivas or Denny Hocking. Neither is going to force people wear protective headgear in the outfield bleechers. Both are typical utility mid-infielders. Both also can be considered pains in the ass on turf. They field well and run out ground balls when they make contact.

Torii Hunter solidifies the outfield offensively and defensively. In center Hunter can make the outfield wall his personal glove compartment, opening it up and grabbing whatever he deems necessary at any time, constantly robbing players of extra bases and homeruns. In other words, if you're going to do some yard work, you had better plan on getting dirty because nothing is coming cheap. Offensively Hunter is in the mold of Ray Durham from the right with better power or if you prefer Dave Henderson with speed. Hunter is tough to double up, hitting very few ground balls on the infield. When he hits the ball, he hits it hard.

At the corners in the outfield you have a mixed bag. Jacque Jones, Bobby Kielty, Dustan Mohr, Mike Cuddyer could all see time in this series. Jones is the semi-regular in left depending on left-handed pitching. Jones is not abysmal, but close, against left handers. It looks like management wanted to season Jones with some left-handed looks, but may opt for the safe bet in the playoffs. Defensively Kielty, Mohr and Cuddyer are interchangeable and all play defense well. Cuddyer has the most promise at the plate and has substantial power to the opposite field.

At the corners, Corey Koskie and Doug Mientkiewicz are the best tandem in baseball with the glove. Koskie could spit a loogie in the general direction of firstbase and Mientkiewicz could pick it with a half-hearted swipe. Offensively, these two are the key factors in the series. Get them out, don't let them hurt you and you could be very well on the path of advancing.

Behind the plate, A.J. Pierzynski is a bar fight waiting to happen. He's the dust in your brakes, the jam in your toes and the crust in your eyeballs. He's a good hitter with limited power, but can become an RBI machine if the sacks are occupied in front of him. Pierzynski calls a decent game and manages the plate well, though he might be a rung blow the upper echelon of catchers in the game right now.

The Twins DH is David Ortiz who has limbs as strong as Christmas tinsle at times-and titanium at others. Ortiz is a 1st baseman who grew into a DH. He has DH speed, DH power and a DH attitude. The A's neutralized Ortiz and Torri Hunter in late August and early September, striking each out several times.

The Twins pitching staff is a flip-flop from last year. The starters this year are it's weakness while the bullpen has excelled. The starters have been hurt, come back from injury or reinjured themselves. They show good resilience and can be the difference in the series if one or two decide they can pitch seven innings.

Brad Radke has always been a number one starter stuck in a number two or three mold. Joe Mays had a break out year last year and is suffering from the eternal sophomore slump and injuries. Jeff Reed is a National Leaguer the Twins grabbed last year in hopes of a stretch run. Reed is a solid starter and won't be knocked around very easily. Eric Milton is a fading shooting star. So much talent and expectation dragging him below his ability.

The bullpen is very good and has a few power arms. The A's really don't have any fear when it comes to closer Eddie Guardado. The A's have TWICE knocked game winning homeruns this year off of Everyday Eddie. And those who question Billy Koch, both closers have the same number of blown saves, six.

The difference is the road to Nice Guy Guardado. Mike Jackson and LaTroy Hawkins don't exactly strike fear into the hearts of most major leaguers, but they aren't surprised when they find themselves jogging back to the dugout a majority of the time. The key is J.C. Romero and when Ron Gardenhire decides to use him.

From our perspective, Romero is better suited to the blod-clotter role than set-up man at this point. If the Twins are behind and their pitchers are struggling, it would be advantages to throw Romero out there early, as early as the sixth inning. Stop the flow right away and hope the Twins' bats can play catchup. A turnicate is sometimes better than trying to drag along and hope to keep things close at the end. It's the playoffs, you need to make adjustments as needed, not warranted.

The Twins' running game is best suited for starting their runners and not necessarily stealing bases. Their stealing success is an awful 56%. Even thought the A's don't steal bases, their success rate is still at 69%. Ramon Hernandez hasn't expected his pitchers to develop great pick off moves or try to hold runner close with a thousand throws to first. If the Twins want to run, they can, but Ramon is decent behind the plate and running yourself out of an inning isn't the way to win playoff games. Late in a game, yah, you can run all you want on Billy Koch with his high leg kick. But, he won't care because he'll can just throw the ball at 99-101 mph to get the hitter at the plate and make the runners on base a secondary notion.


Against the Yankees the Twins might have been able to force a game five. The Yankees left-handers and starters overall are no longer upper tier. The Twins very well could have come out ahead against the Bronx Bombers.

The best series would have been the Twins versus the Angels. Two very evenly matched teams with similar make-up. We wouldn't even put your money down on a bet between these two.

A lot of experts, pun, pundits and wags rate the Twins at 7th or 8th best in the league. However, we would rate them even with the Anaheim Angels and in the top five teams in baseball. We would guess a seven game series would be advantageous for the Twins in the playoffs, but they draw the short end of the stick in a five game series against the A's.

I Ain't Gonna Be Steve Schott's Bitch

Let's pretend you have $35 to spend. Check that;

$35 Bleecher Seat Ticket
$10 Parking
$5 Program
+ $n Food/Drink

Okay, let's pretend you have $50. What would you do with it? Pay a credit card bill? Pay a utility bill? Feed yourself for a week? Blow it on a night out? Donate it to Dick Cheney's Defense Fund?

Let's say you decide to blow it on a night out at the ol' ballpark or in this case a once great place to watch a baseball game and now an overworked symbol of personal greed.

$35 will get you into an American League Division Series game. $10 will let you park in the broken glass and shards Network Associates Coliseum parking lot sure to be filled with numerous treasures less than 48 hours removed from an Oakland Raider home game of tailgating. Not to mention at least $5 for a program and whatever you decide to eat or drink.

Depending on your appetite and/or shred ability to discern what exactly is edible you're really looking at blowing closer to $65-$70 on a night out.

Let's go a bit further and mention it's not a night out, it's a day out. A 1:08 PM (PST) start time means you have to miss at least 6 hours to a full day of work to go to the game. Roughly speaking, this $35 is now costing you $150 and change.

Is it worth it?

Any moron without a job will say, "Yah, it's worth it."

What if you didn't consider that MLB would hold weekday playoff games on the West Coast?

You didn't ask for the time off and now you have to play sick and then try to explain your sunburn. Too early for explaining that facial blotch on snowboarding.

Can you afford to fake a horrible injury?

Dr. Nick Riviera asks how can you not afford to?

Wow, We Envy Giants Fans

In a move both crippling and ego stripping, we find ourselves jealous of Giants fans who can buy their playoff tickets for bleecher seats for $15.

The A's Ownership have gone against their last shred of decency and decided to make their profits off the back of the 'cheap seat' crowd during the playoffs. By jacking up ticket prices 500% for a $7 ticket, the ownership has secured themselves a hefty payday, should everyone bite.

Your Seating Chart

Single Game Prices

Diamond Level Regular Season $150
Diamond Level Division Series $165
Diamond Level AL Champ Series $200
Diamond Level World Series $250


Field Box Regular Season $60
Field Box Division Series $75
Field Box AL Champ Series $85
Field Box World Series $190


MVP Regular Season $27
MVP Division Series $50
MVP AL Champ Series $65
MVP World Series $175


Field Level Regular Season $22
Field Level Division Series $50
Field Level AL Champ Series $65
Field Level World Series $175


Plaza Club Regular Season $32
Plaza Club Division Series $45
Plaza Club AL Champ Series $60
Plaza Club World Series $145


Plaza Level Infield Regular Season $20
Plaza Level Infield Division Series $45
Plaza Level Infield Champ Series $60
Plaza Level Infield Series $145


Plaza Level Regular Season $16
Plaza Level Division Series $45
Plaza Level AL Champ Series $60
Plaza Level World Series $145


Upper Reserved Regular Season $8
Upper Reserved Division Series $35
Upper Reserved AL Champ Series $55
Upper Reserved World Series $110


Bleechers Regular Season $7
Bleechers Division Series $35
Bleechers AL Champ Series $55
Bleechers World Series $110

However, the A's have been snake bitten twice in the last two years by the Yankees in the Division Series. The smart move was to wait out the Division Series and snatch up League Championship tickets and World Series tickets should the A's be able to stay upright for a five game series against the Minnesota Twins.

While that may have been the smart move, the smart money is on anyone with enough disposable income to afford more expensive seats. Lower infield seats are only $10 more than bleecher seats despite the price fixing.

What's left is a lot of people who make $12 an hour who saw 15-20 games this year unable to watch the same team they supported for seven months leach onto the teet of someone who can throw a few hundred dollars around and not think twice about it.

If any of us were still in college we could probably use our grant and student loan money to work something out. But, now that we're out of college, that money is going toward paying back our student loans.

Math Major=Nerd, Economics Major=Stuffed Shirt, Business Major=Scum of the Earth

Here's the thinking of A's ownership in black and off-white. The A's need to get as much cash as they can now before the revenue sharing cycle kicks in next year. Any money the A's make this post-seaosn is going to be ear marked for Miguel Tejada after 2003 and Eric Chavez in 2004. The A's need this disposable cash to sign a free agent in the off seaosn and keep together a nucleus of yong players and a few cagey veterans.

That sounds nice, but in actuality, Ken Hoffman is looking to repeal the tag of silent owner and go the way most 80 year old business men who don't own the Minnesota Twins go. The guy wants to get his estate in order before he dies.

In order to do that, he'd like a nice golden umbrella from Schott and Schott would like to use the surplus cash to buy out his partner.

Schott is licking his chops because the A's are nearing new talks for a baseball only facility in the Bay Area and the thought of selling out a ballpark as fans shell out every night is probably making him sweat with anticipation.

Quick Math
The A's sell out the first two games of the Division Series:

Tickets Sales=$2.7 million
Product Sales=$1 million
Concessions=$500,000
Parking=$250,000

PAYDAY=Roughly 4.5 MILLION per Division Series Game

Do you wonder why home field advantage is important to the owners?

Irony SUCKS

So, we're going to sit around and wait for a rich Uncle to get softer in the head or a bag full of money to show up on our porches.

Other than that we see now way of being able to attend the first round of the playoffs.

To boot, we're not sure we could afford to miss the time away from our jobs. With economy being, for a lack of a better term; as a stable as the elastic in Al Newman's underwear, we can't afford to be fired or go jobless.

The only alternative is to tune into the games from work in the hopes our colleagues get caught up in the fever of playoff baseball.

Where's the New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh?

Like last year, the suits at MLB have decided to sublet Siberian Television to broadcast the 'lesser games' of the playoffs. Of course, soap operas are much more important to the public so ESPN/ABC/MLB won't pre-empt General Hospital for basbeall. More of MLB marketing 101.

Wouldn't you want to open the demographic to people who are at home in the middle of the day? Is it any wonder that the two small market clubs are playing each other on ABC's Family Channel?

A large portion of cable companies and satellite/dish packages don't even include this stepchild of a fourth rated network (can you name five (5) shows on ABC that you watch on a regular basis, besides MNF?).

More of Kaiser Bud's machinations at work, here;

"Let's put the two best stories in baseball in the corner and focus on St. Louis, Arizona and New York. They have big payrolls so should they have better ratings. We know about running Major League Baseball so we know how to run network TV, too. Look at how well we advertise the game and talk it up every chance we get. I didn't get the name Seligula for being an evil tyrant with no clear agenda for nothing, I had to try and kill baseball first."

A's Close Out Season on Up Swing

The A's got A-Rod's batting average down to sub .300 for all of two at-bats. In the bottom of the ninth Billy Koch was his usual uncaring self toward the heart condition of Art Howe and allowed a 3 spot before bringing things home.

Had A-Rod finished below .300, it may have had some questioning the MVP voting. Still, you have to wonder why Miguel Tejada was pitched around his first two at-bats, hit a ball two inches off the ground for a single before Art Howe pulled him.

The Texas Rangers didn't want to give Miggi any more fuel for the MVP debate, hinging all of their hopes of a successful season on the mantle of their $25 million stat man, Alex Rodriguez.

Jermaine Dye's grandslam buffered the A's and allowed Howe to empty the benches. Of course, it's not everyday when you see the Texas Rangers bullpen shut anyone down. But they did on Sunday, shutting down the Sacramento River Cats in A's unifroms for more than four innings.

Saturday Night and I Ain’t Got Nobody (Out)

The A’s are using an alternate lineup tonight. They are giving several people the night off.

Jose Flores, 2B
Randy Velarde, 1B
Miguel Tejada, SS
Jermaine Dye, DH
Olmedo Saenz, 3B
Adam Piatt, RF
Eric Byrnes, CF
Jason Grabowski, LF
Cody McKay, C

Aaron Harang is going to start and probably not go more than six innings. He's hasn't started in a month (August 23rd at Detroit). It’s debatable whether Eeyore (Harang) is going to be on the postseason roster. We hope so, he deserves to be a part of the roster. Hell, if Hudson, Mulder and Zito each pitch as well as they are capable the A’s only need a mop-up guy and a closer in the bullpen. No offense Minnesota.

Alez Rodriguez just got plunked by Eeyore.

Last night Mark Ellis was hit by a pitch and the next inning Mark Mulder threw behind Rafael Palmiero.

Chan Ho park nailed Randy Velarde in the bottom of the first on Opening Night and broke his hand. So, there is a history here.

Eeyore did a good job of coming back after loading the bases. He struck out Palmiero and Todd Greene. Remember that this is Cody McKay's MLB debut behind the plate. At age 28 he is an orginizational warrior. He's not taking any pitch signs from the Oakland bench, so the 4 spot in the bottom of the first is as much his as it is Eeyore's.

Eric Byrnes homered.

Eeyore got the hook.

Mike Fhryie came on to end the insanity. Rafael Palmiero pulled one of the (insert female body part here) moves of the year. Palmiero acted like he got hit on the hand despite replays that showed it hit the knob of the bat. He was awarded first base. Palmiero doesn't extend his pinky like some batters do, but, for a veteran like Palmiero to hide from an at-bat on a 1-2 count is just pathetic.

Brian Kozlowski just pulled the second (insert same body part here) move. Hitting shortstop Jose Flores in the knee with a pitch. Eeyore had hit A-Rod with a pitch in the 1st with a pitch. Obviously, Eeyore was not in control, pitching for the first time in a few weeks and starting for the first time in over a month. Homeplate umpire Gary Darling did not warn Harang, so it was clearly unintentional.

Miguel Tejada took a swing and came up clenching his chest. He seems okay. He launched another homerun. The same guy who caught Miggi's first homerun also got the second.

Susan Slusser and Evan Grant, a team writer for the A’s and Rangers respectively are in the TV booth arguing about the MVP race, essentially A-Rod VS Miggi.

We haven’t written about or even campaigned for Miggi, Barry Zito or even Art Howe for any hardware. Though, we might make a case that Mark Ellis deserves some mention in the AL Rookie of the year race. Nobody should have him number 1 on their ballot, but, if a guy can displace Ray Durham as the regular 2nd baseman, that says something. Eric Hinske (an A’s pick-up from The Chicago Cubs) should and will win, though Rodrigo Lopez of Baltimore should get PAID. Lopez signed as a minor league free agent. Anybody who gets 17 wins for the Baltimore Orioles should also have some say in the Cy Young race. Not win it, but get a vote or two for fourth or fifth.

The last (female body part) move of the night…Alex Rodriguez taken out of the game in the ninth. If A-Rod made an out, he would have fallen below .300 in Batting Average. The question is whether A-Rod will be in the line-up tomorrow.

AL WEST CHAMPS

Whew. Glad that's over.

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OUT THERE

The next time Art Howe decides to make a pitching change maybe he should be given a Rorschach Inkblot test. It may not reveal anything, but maybe Art would be distracted enough to go back and sit down.

Any visit to the mound should consist of the pitcher and catcher reminding Art there are plenty of seats in the dugout .

Stuck on You or 99 (Luft Balloons)

For the second night in a row the A's blew a lead and wasted a good performance by their starter.

What does it take to get a few outs and not let people score? It looks like it's a heck of a lot easier for the Mariners to score runs than it is for the A's to prevent runs. As ridiculous as that sounds.

Stupid Quote of the Day

"Two nights in a row they dodged a bullet. We'll have to see if we can keep that from happening again tomorrow."

Manager Art Howe on Seattle's two come from beind wins

RESPONSE

No offense Art but,

"Hey, JACKASS, how about trying to win a few games instead of trying not to lose and expecting the other team to just lie down?"

More from the Art Howe excuse file .

Is it all pitching?

HELL NO.

The A's offense has been pathetic and Miguel Tejada and Eric Chavez haven't been productive in about two weeks.
Here's some September breakdowns:

BATTER AVG/OBP/SLG
Tejada .270/.320/.393 (89 AB)
Chavez .226/.290/.345 (84 AB)
Long .250/.286/.438 (80 AB)
Durham .228/.322/.392 (79 AB)
Dye .241/.311/.506 (79 AB)
Justice .200/.316/.262 (65 AB)
Hatteberg .359/.446/.578 (64 AB)
Hernandez .226/.284/.339 (62 AB)
Ellis .250/.358/.339 (56 AB)
Mabry .138/.212/.448 (29 AB)
Myers .385/.200/.200 (10 AB)
Velarde .000/.167/.000 (10 AB)

The only one hitting is Scott Hatteberg and when your number nine hitter (Ramon Hernandez) has about the same Slugging percentage as your clean-up hitter (Eric Chavez), there are going to be problems.

So What's the Problem

The manager and coaching staff haven't been getting the most from their players.

So What's the Solution

We don't know, we can speculate, but they better find one soon.

The Big Three

All the talk about the Big Three is driving us nuts. They would be the Big Three if the bullpen could be a little reliable. Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson and Barry Zito would all have 20 wins. That's not a stretch, either. The bullpen has blown 23 saves. The 'pen ranks 14th in support in MLB. That is horrible for a team with 99 bleedin' wins.

Sure, the A's have come back a few times after a blown save, but they have also allowed teams to take and secure a lead when the game was tied going into the 7th. They have still blown a lot of saves. The point is, the bullpen is not reliable. Not as explosion-ready as the Texas bullpen, but pretty darn awful for a playoff team.

There's no such thing as blind luck, though Baseball Prospectus has been able to attribute numbers to luck. BP does a nice job of daily updates on their stats and it's worth your time to take a look at the relievers .

So, where does that leave the A's?

The need to find their swagger, their mojo, their what the French call "I don't know what". They need a fire lit under their asses...like the Twins Geek mentioned recently, they are in danger of becoming the Buffalo Bills of MLB. Not a bad team to root for from November to September, but keep some brochures around to check out all the great vacation specials and cruises you can take to the Bahamas in October.

Where is John Mabry?

Who the hell is doing the breakdowns that stipulate some of the pitcher/hitter matchups the A's are rigging for the late innings, i.e. Art's lament?

Who the hell is the Official Scorer in Seattle-how was T Long's play in center Tuesday ruled a hit when it went off his glove?

Who the hell thought that Long's catch in center last night wasn't a catch-have you ever watched baseball before (note to T Long: IF you read the ball off the bat THEN you can get a good jump and take a straight line to the ball instead of trying to circumnavigate the stadium before making a routine catch)

Is the pitching nightmare REALLY an elaboration of trying to offset the alignment of the upcoming playoff rotation?

Is it worth losing three games to get your starters lined up for a possible five game series over eight days?

Can the Yankees lose enough games to get the A's homefield advantage in the ALCS (should the A's trip, stumble and fall into it)?

It's Called Tough Love

We're not bashing the A's. But we really like to see the team's best every night and a focus on winning, not getting by.

UPDATE

Cory Lidle will pitch the afternoon game to close the season series with Seattle today, skipping Ted Lilly's spot in the rotation. By the way, the A's lost the 3 game series with Seattle. So much for the theory of trying to win each series.

Anyway, it makes for some projections on what will be the roatation for the rest of the season.

Likely; Scenario A:

Friday: Lilly on 6 days rest
Saturday: Harang on a lot of rest
Sunday: Fyhrie on a lot of rest
Monday: OFF
Tuesday: GAME 1 ALDS Mulder on 8 days rest

That doesn't really look too promising. Especially if the A's want to capture homefield during the ALCS.

Of course, they would have to win the ALDS, first.

More Likely; Scenario B

Friday: Mulder on 4 days rest (80 pitch limit)
Saturday: Zito on 3 days rest (80 pitch limit)
Sunday: Lilly/Harang/Fhyrie on a lot of rest
Monday: OFF
Tuesday: GAME 1 ALDS Hudson on 5 days rest

Eh, we like the straters getting some work, but, not if it's subject to the Texas launch site that is the Ballpark in Arlington.

Most Likely A's win AL West; Scenario C:

Friday: Lilly on 6 days rest
Saturday: Harang on a lot rest
Sunday: Fhyrie on a lot of rust
Monday: OFF
Tuesday: GAME 1 ALDS Mulder on 7 days rest

That is the more attractive solution with the A's heading down to Texas with the AL West crown and just having fun. That's what they need. Get some of the other guys in the lineup and basically give the regulars a weekend off. Keep Miggi's streak alive if you must, though we would like to see him have a few days off. Go bowling or golfing. Like the rest of the A's, he just looks out of touch and pressing too much.

FOX SPORTS is broadcasting today's game at 3:35 PST. So, we're be taking a late lunch or skipping it all together.

A's Loss a Wake Up Call?

If the loss last night is going to be a wake up call then they need to turn up their ringer tone and turn off their voice mail.

Art Howe had a busy weekend over-managing and kept up his quest to be manager of the year by micro managing via hand-wringing.

Art is on a management regimen that requires him to make more moves than he has to and then over react to those moves when they backfire. Just when you think it's over, he'll bring in another pitcher. Usually the wrong one.

Here are a few questions:

Why did Barry Zito start Ichiro with a belt high fastball over the plate?

Ichiro did the same thing on June 6th, hitting the first pitch offered by Zito for a homerun.

Why was Barry Zito pitching in the 7th?

If the plan is to go with a 3 man rotation for the playoffs, or alter the rotation for the last week of the season, why have Zito even come out for the 7th? Why wait three batters and getting only one out? Just get a reliever in there and shut it down. The A's had an off day on Monday, so there's no excuse for not having a happy, healthy bullpen.

Why weren't any of the runners ever started or at least offered a chance to swipe a base?

If you watched or listened to any of the games over the last week Art Howe has been moving runners and stealing bases here and there. Kind of an October primer. So, why drop the game plan in the Columbia River on the way to Seattle?

Who the hell positions Terrence Long in the Outfield?

We know Mike Quade is the outfield coach, but, we really don't know what the hell T Long is doing. Several balls were misplayed over the weekend and Long twice had to turn and go back for balls after he had already taken several steps toward the infield. Blaming it on the sun in Oakland doesn't help. The opposing teams never seem to have the problems Long does in center.

Why the hell would you bring in Chad Bradford and not Ricardo Rincon or Mike Venafro to face Bret Boone?

Art has figured out he gets his ass on TV a lot by visiting the mound. You get as much pub when you just make the right moves. Chad Bradford hasn't been Chad Bradford lately and having a right hander face a right hander doesn't make any sense. Especially a ground ball pitcher to guys who like to hit the other way.

Why leave Bradford in when he didn't get the only batter he should have faced?

So, what's the theory, stink up the joint and make sure you make the next pitcher's job impossible? Art should just stand in the dugout with a fishing pole with a line attached to the reliever's jerseys when they come out of the bullpen. You can't have a successful bullpen by setting up guys to fail.

Why have Rincon start the 8th inning?

We've written this before, Art needs to realize Jim Mecir and Ricardo Rincon don't open innings well. They are firemen in the purest sense. For whatever reason they just don't react well with the warm up pitches and the throw down to second. Who knows? The fact is, the are not efficient when starting an inning.

Where was Jim Mecir?

So Rincon gets into trouble, where's Jim Mecir? You know, the set-up guy?

Where the hell was Billy Koch?

For someone who like to pitch as much as possible and when the A's needed to slam the door on the Mariners it's kind of stupid to leave one of the better situational pitchers in baseball down in the bullpen.

Where the hell were the A's bats after the 7th?

If you score 7 runs against the Mariners, you better hurry up and get an 8th and 9th run, too. This is a team that doesn't quit and were playing for more than pride mathematical impossibility of knocking the Angels out of the playoffs.

BENCH TERRENCE LONG

It's not really about one person. But, one person can make a difference. One person can set the tone for everyone else. Either by leadership, performance or determination, a single person can show the rest how to get things done.

You can't really blame a single batter for going 0 for 4. It happens. The Law of Averages sleeps on your couch some days. Of course, when you go 0 for 4 a lot you tend to be the one on the couch and the law of averages has taken over your bedroom.

Terrence Long went 8 for 15 over the last five games against the Texas Rangers and Anaheim Angels pitching staff. Over the past seven days he is 9 for 22.

Some thought he might be out of his slump until he laid an 0 for 4 at the plate last night and grounded out to end the ball game.

You can't really blame a fielder for a lot of errors. A lot of playing the field is based on placement. That is the scouting department and coaching staff to position fielders correctly. Again, the Law of Averages sometimes is in the only bathroom in the house 30 minutes at a time every time you need to go. But, with fielding, the Law of Averages actually takes a leak in the backyard. The Law of Averages works in the fielder's favor. If said fielder is positioned properly and learns his craft well there really shouldn't be a problem. 98% of the time the fielder should be able to make the play, any play.

Terrence Long is the worst centerfielder in all of baseball and might be one of the worst fielders that isn't a regular DH.

Terrence Long is ahead of one person in Zone rating among regular centerfielders, Bernie Williams. Williams' shoulders were so bad that he went on a DL stint earlier this year and can barely get the ball into the infield with a throw from the outfield.

What are we saying?

TERRENCE LONG IS ONLY SLIGHTLY BETTER THAN AN INVALID

And that goes if he were playing rightfield, leftfield, running the bases, stepping into the batter's box, changing after the game, driving down the freeway...

Okay, maybe we're getting too personal.

Terrence blamed his low batting average on bad luck last week. So, he deserves some mistreatment.

"Right now, it doesn't matter who I get a hit off of, because there haven't been many, and that was a big situation. I haven't been aggressive, I've been taking a lot of first-pitch strikes, and those have been the only good pitches I've been getting to hit, so I wanted to be aggressive right there."

Terrence Long 19 September 2002

"I haven't had much luck lately,I was rushing the ball and swinging at a lot of pitches out of the zone. That has cost me a lot this year. But that's done and I'm trying to build for the playoffs."

Terrence Long 20 September 2002

432 Outs

615 Plate Appearances

.249 Equivalent Average

66.8 Equivalent Runs

12.0 Runs Above a Replacement

-15.2 Runs Above Postion

6.6 Runs Above Replacement Position


In other words, Terrence Long is less than 7 runs better over 162 games than any marginal replacement player at his position. Putting John Mabry, Adam Piatt, or the logical replacement, Eric Byrnes in center would be a hell of a lot more productive at the plate than what T Long has been serving up.

The defense is bound to be better as well, because it just can't get any worse.

Bottoms Up!

The A's got a very good outing from Tim Hudson and the ass end of the batting order provided some oomph kick the Angels down a notch to leading the Wild Card spot.

Tim Hudson set the tone early, only needing 8 pitches to get a 1-2-3 top of the first and punctuated with a strike out of Tim Salmon.

Hudson pitched 7 1/3 innings striking out four. Hudson threw only 101 pitches leading to speculation that the A's may go to a 3-man rotation for the AL Division Series.

Hudson's counter part, former Oaklander Kevin Appier was his typical crybaby self. After not getting a call against Scott Hatteberg in the 1st it looked like he was going to start throwing a pouty tantrum on the mound. Homeplate umpire Rob Drake warned ½ of the Brothers Molina (Bengie), though it didn't do much good. Appier had walked A's leadoff man Ray Durham on four pitches. Not to mention the pitch he was griping about was high AND outside. If it's high or outside, then, yah, sure, complain. But not when it's both. Appier lost his cool and would eventually take the loss

Durham went to second on a fly ball to right. Tim Salmon and most the Western Hemisphere did not expect a sac fly in the 1st. The replays showed that Durham might have been out. But, with Appier bitching to Drake, guess what? He's safe. You just don't show up an umpire.

The six-seven-eight-nine hitters for the A's went 7 for 13 yesterday with four runs and four RBI.

Terrence Long's two run homer broke open the game in the 6th. How did it happen? Dunno, because he took a pitch to start the at-bat? It sort of negated the double play Terrence hit into in the second. T Long swung and missed at the first two pitches in that at-bat.

Billy Koch came in and pitched a 1-2-3 9th for his 41st save and to break the Oakland A's record for appearances in a season. It was Koch's fifth working day in a row. Wednesday night Koch became the first pitcher to ever have 40 saves and 10 wins in the same season. A few moron TV analysts laid the claim that when Koch blows a save the A's still seem to win. Ugh, no, it's because he's worked in almost 80 games this year. Koch is 41 for 47 in save opportunities and with 79 appearances, you're going to rack up non-save decisions. Now if Koch had 10 losses, too, then you can make some lame arguments.

Koch broke Buddy Groom's record. Groom gets paid about the same as Koch, about $2.5 million a year. No real insight here. Just thought it should be mentioned.

A's Playoff tickets go on sale Saturday at 9:00 am.

Chavez's Window Service

Eric Chavez regularly does some window shopping in batting practice. The luxury boxes (brought to you by Al Davis and the forces of greed) are Plexiglas for a reason.

Last night Chavez banged one off the CENTERFIELD glass that was a grossly underestimated by ESPN at 460 feet from homeplate. Look, it's 400 feet to dead center. The luxury seats are a good 70 feet above that. They are 25 feet beyond the fence. There was a wind anywhere from 5-8 MPH. From differing reports, the ball was clearly not on its accelerated decline. You don't have to be a rocket scientist (or a rocket trajectorist) to figure out that 460, doesn't cut it. If anyone has the time if you want to monkey with the Home Run Calculator that would be great. Either that or play homerun derby on any of the many video games and bounce one of the glass at the Net and tell us what it measures. Those have to be really accurate. They're in a video game.

Chavez Blasts the A's back to Reality

After several days of acting like they had linguini instead of bats, the A's did some yard work last night. Mark Ellis, who can be recognized as the taller A's bat-boy, popped one out in the 2nd to knot things up at 1-1.

Chavez's blast came on the first pitch after Miguel Tejada continued his light hitting infielder impression (which has gone on long enough) by grounding out to third.

It rocked Callaway. He tossed up two balls that looked like they were 85-MPH fastballs. Dye fouled off a pitch before launching a 420-foot shot to left. Callaway walked Mabry on six pitches and then hit Ellis on the forearm as Ellis was heading toward the ground.

Yes, it looked like Callaway was throwing at Ellis.

Cool!

Anything to get this rivalry into high gear.

Terrence Long hit an RBI single on the first pitch to right center. Great. But, try taking a strike next time or at least take one pitch. It shows incredible impatience by swinging at the first pitch off a reliever. Sure, the reliever is probably going to try and get a head with a first pitch strike. But, for the most part, relievers are relievers because they didn't cut it as a starter or as a closer and have trouble throwing strikes.

End of rant.

Greg Myers struck out looking:

Pitch 1: Strike, swinging
Pitch 2: Ball
Pitch 3: Strike, swinging
Pitch 4: Strike, swinging

Oy!

Ray Durham concluded the scoring by hitting a three run Jimmy Jack that barely cleared the left-field scoreboard. It was only Durham's second homerun off a left-hander hitting right handed this year.

My Kingdom for a Horse

Barry Zito could not find his high horse last night and looked wobbly. He still got the win, but he wasn't Barry Zito. Will someone get the lad a set of earmuffs? Anytime Barry is surrounded by talk about peripheral activities he, well, he stinks. The All-Star game, winning 20, the first AL starter with 22 (and matching Mulder form last year). Of course, drop him into Yankee Stadium at age 22 with the Division Series and he'll be lights out. Ask him to shut down the Yankees to win the Division Series and he'll give up just one run on two hits through eight innings.

Odd.

We're all at our prospective jobs, today. But, we'll be writing in as we listen in and watch the game on its webcast.

Easy to Criticize (Fun, Too!)

Don't ask us. We don't know what Art was thinking. Maybe he had some insight to start Randy Velarde at firstbase. Because the logic escapes us.

Randy hits right-handed. Okay, then WHY start David Justice? Why start Terrence Long? Why start Eric Chavez?

Here are some options for Art:

Jason Grabowski (L) OF/C/1B .294/.387/.536
Cody McKay (L) C/1B .288/.337/.439
Jose Flores (R) SS/3B/OF .306/.380/.397
Adam Piatt (R) OF/1B .295/.385/.462
Eric Byrnes (R) OF .253/.304/.422
John Mabry (L) OF/1B .286/.318/.549
Greg Myers (L) C .231/.344/.403

Instead, Art started the game with three second basemen in the lineup for a team that has been struggling offensively. Olmedo Saenz, still bothered with a finger injury was unavailable.

How can you not give Jason Grabowski some at-bats? The A's haven't had a double in over a week and Grabowski is a slugging machine. Cody McKay couldn't do much worse than Ramon at the plate and he could have all the pitching signs called form the dugout. HELL, they used to do it with Terry Steinbach and he was a 12 year veteran.

When it came to take Mark Mulder out of the game after 115 pitches and nine shut out innings, what do you say? Probably something along the lines of, "we'll get you a run in the bottom of the 9th". How about, "can you go three more batters?".

Bringing in Billy Koch on consecutive nights without a save on the line is a disaster waiting to happen. Koch was not the best option out of the pen. Koch is a flyball pitcher. Mulder had gotten 12 groundballs and two in the top of the 9th. Bringing Jim Mecir or Chad Bradford out of the pen to pitch to the Angels makes a heck of a lot more sense than Billy Koch on zero days rest. But, the A's won Monday with the formula and Art can't be expected to use that lump three feet above his ass more than once in a week.

Now, do you bring out Billy Koch if there's a save to be had tonight? Probably not. So the closer is wasted because he was misused the last two nights.

The A's Get to use Bats, Don't They?

The A's got three hits last night. Three damn hits. Two from Mark Ellis.

Jarrod Washburn got 17 flyball outs and none of them left the yard.

Facing a guy pitching on three days rest it looked like the A's had Washburn on the ropes as early as the 1st inning. The A's worked the count and fouled off a few pitches. Washburn had to throw 24 pitches to get out of the first.

Knowing that Washburn had a 100-pitch limit, four more innings of that patience and the A's could have knocked Washburn out by the fifth and gotten into the Angels bullpen that had been taxed. The bullpen for the Angels has been used a lot lately. The thinking would be to get to the bullpen early and put them away for the rest of the series, ensuring a four game sweep and a two game lead in the AL West.

Instead, the A's are a game back and in danger of being three back when the series is over and only nine games left in the season.

In the second, Jermaine Dye saw six pitches before singling to center. Then David Justice decided that he didn't need to be part of the team. They guy who went 1 for 15 (.067) against the Angels in the recent series in Anaheim and 2 for 20 (.100) on the road trip swung at the first pitch and flew out to right. Not only did he not take a strike, he didn't even take a pitch.

Randy Velarde, who is still with Oakland, seemingly because the A's don't want a 38 year old second baseman they are paying $1 million to be back watching the game in Texas, saw four pitches before flying out to right (the A's have four second baseman on their roster Frank Mennechino, Ray Durham, Mark Ellis and Velarde while Jose Flores could play at second, too...WHY?).

Then came Terrence Long. With a runner at first and two outs T Long swung at the first pitch and flew out to right.

Terrence Long went 2 for 15 (.133) in the recent series in Anaheim and still found himself in the lineup. He went 2 for 26 (.192) on the road trip. Yet, he gets to play everyday. WHY?

In the third, Ramon continued the pitch selection of, "if it's out of his hands I can swing at it". He swung at the first pitch from Washburn and fouled it back and flied to right on three pitches. The next three batters all took a strike looking before swinging at anything. Ellis singled after Durham grounded out and Miguel Tejada left him at first after driving a ball to the wall in deep left center for a long out, on two pitches.

And that pretty much was the story. Sure Washburn looked good. He threw mostly fastballs and when the A's saw breaking balls they buckled at the knees. But, he was not overpowering in the way that Mulder was. Mulder has one win in his last four starts despite lowering his ERA a full run in that time. Ridiculous. Until David Justice's at bat in the tenth, no A's batter had an at bat more than six pitches.

That's a corner stone for the A's. Getting on base in a 10 pitch at-bat garners a free dinner at FRANCESCO'S RESTAURANT courtesy of the A's coaching staff. That means something coming from guys who make a tenth of what the players do.

It was an ugly scene in Oakland last night and Art Howe had better start feeling the heat because Ken Macha is ready for a manager's job. Howe's nice guy media persona and relaxed and not worried attitude is showing up in the A's bats. They have no sense of urgency and are flinging at the ball willy-nilly and not staying with the game plane.

In short, they were losing games they were supposed to win and now are in a position of losing games they HAVE to win.

Let the call go out from this time and place: BENCH TERRENCE LONG.

If you don't gain anything from his replacement, it sure as hell isn't going to hurt you by not having him in the lineup.

If it's presented as punishment for poor play, lack of focus and an attitude that needs counseling, the team would understand.

As for now, the A's are lucky Seattle has fallen of the face of the earth.