Made some changes to the blog.

If you'll notice the SCORECARD area I'm going to start recording the box scores, game logs and the media reports of the game. I'm still tinkering and might have a quotes area for a daily rundown of whom put whose foot in what mouth.

The A's will be a priority with the other teams in the A's organization to follow in kind. It might take a day or two to update some of the minor league scores just for the sake of my employer.

For those of you watching the Mariners at the A's, are you honestly surprised that the A's have only scored a single run through six innings?

Charles Thomas needs to be sent down and I think his first AB was not the trigger, but his poor throw to the plate that should have nailed Randy Winn by several feet.

Instead a two-hopper from shallow leftfield.

Meanwhile, here in Sacramento, here's Matt Watson's evening:

• WALK



• DOUBLE TO RIGHT



• WALK



• WALK

It's long past overdue, call Matt Watson up.

He's the only hitter in the A's organization above AA that is consistently getting on base and driving the ball when he gets a pitch to hit.

Oh, and fire Dave Hudgens, this is ridiculous.

In a little over an hour the baseball world should be focused on the city of the Delta hub.

Amy: So Fry, Atlanta was an American city in your time?


Fry: I think it was just an airport. They had a place where you could by nuts.


Umbriel: No, Ancient Atlanta was more than just a Delta hub! It was a vibrant metropolis, the equal of Paris or New York.


Fry: That's right honey, whatever you say.


Umbriel: Look at these fabulous ruins. Turner field, the Coca Cola bottling plant, the ugh, the airport.

Anyway.

Mark Mulder visits Tim Hudson's old and new backyard for the first time.

Even now that both pitchers are in larger markets, they still are not getting the attention they deserve.

The sportsmedia whores are pointing toward the match-up of Greg Maddux v Roger Clemens in Houston. Eh. I'll take Mulder v Hudson on TBS, thanks.

I know that game won't be blacked out.

Watch Mulder's mechanics. See if his hips stay strict or if there is some wobble.

Other than that, just enjoy watching those two pitch and not having it matter to the A's win loss column at all!

Over at the Oakland A's MLB site, they have a fairly crude poll on which minor leaguer fans would most like to see: In fact the poll question is, "Which Minor Leaguer would you most like to see in Oakland?"


USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH FAIR USE INTERNET STANDARDS
As is usually the case, the MLB poll lacks form. The players to choose from is lacking as Mike Rouse and John Rheinecker aren't even listed. On the poll you can choose from:

Dan Johnson


Tim Harikkala


Matt Watson


Jermaine Clark


Britt Reames

Okay. Well, the first problem is that there are no positions listed. That might factor into a fan's decisions making process. Also, these are all AAA players. Where's Kurt Suzuki, Andre Ethier, Brant Colamarino?

And John Rheinecker needs to be in Oakland right now out of the bullpen as a left-handed longman. Not a LOOGY making millions, just a good reliever who can pitch multiple innings. Think Justin Duchscherer from the portside.

Well, let's work with what we got, shall we?

Here are the numbers, positions aside, adding Mike Rouse into the mix:

Name	OBP	SLG	AVG	OPS	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO
Watson	.355	.422	.289	.777	2	5	35	9	11
Rouse	.361	.422	.281	.783	1	9	27	6	16
Clark	.374	.413	.250	.787	2	12	33	16	10
Johnson	.344	.429	.221	.773	3	16	33	15	12
Name	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	SB	CS
Watson	21	83	10	24	3	1	6	1
Rouse	19	64	8	18	4	1	1	0
Clark	21	80	11	20	5	1	7	1
Johnson	21	77	11	17	7	0	0	1

Now, from the appearance of those stats, it looks like Jermaine Clark and Mike Rouse are pretty even with Matt Watson coming in right behind. Dan Johnson seems to be a bit distant in this view.

Now, here's where that whole eyeball thing comes into play. Jermaine Clark came into Sacramento in a great mood, with a chance to play everyday, with a fat wad of cash from staying on the major league roster in Spring Training for March and was hitting leadoff or in the two hole for most of the first month of the season.

Dan Johnson was fairly upset coming out of Spring Training about not getting any playing time and being sent back down to Sacramento after an MVP year in Sacramento in 2004. In the last few weeks he's been reaching for balls at the plate, not just content to sit back, wait and drive pitches in his happy zone. He is not so much pressing as he is trying to do more than he needs to at the plate and in the field and it shows. You can't please everyone, and you can't convince the powers that be that Scott Hatteberg is a better decision for Oakland over Johnson.

Mike Rouse has been on the A's radar for a long time but always has the misfortune of being injured when the A's need to take a look at middle infielders. And for whatever reason, Rouse has been hitting in the 9th spot in the batting order. Fairly perplexing.

Matt Watson had steam coming out of his ears (though a smile on his face) since being the victim of first round cuts in Spring Training despite leading the team in Batting Average, extra-base hits, total bases, RBI and bats flying out his hands during a swing. Matt took his demotion in stride, but, clearly, what does a guy have to do to prove he is a capable hitter when he is hitting .438 against major league pitching? Matt got off to a slow start and has found his swing and his approach at the plate has dramatically improved. More on this in a post this weekend.

Let's not make a snap judgment, but let's look at the snapshot and consider what we see in the data...the numbers alone. Hard to make a decision, though, you err on the guy who drives the ball (high slugging) and the guy who gets on base (high obp) and also limits their strikeouts (K/BB ratio).

Still, it's hard to pick 'em.

Taking position into account, based off these numbers alone, you take Matt Watson and send Charles Thomas down. Jermaine Clark can play the infield and is a good AAA option as a multipurpose player. He's got some decent wheels and can make routine plays. But, the A's are loaded up the middle right now. Dan Johnson, unfortunately gets more time in Sacramento to wonder what would be and have AAA pitchers not throw him a pitch worth spitting at. Mike Rouse falls into the same trap as Jermaine Clark, though Rouse may not be adept in the outfield (or he is, and we just haven't seen him play there).

Let's come back in a week and see how the numbers play out. My guess is that Watson and Johnson take off as the weather gets warmer and the batting order becomes stabilized.

Went to RiverCats game.

Notes to follow with previous unfinished post.

Very busy.

Tonight Street Fighting Man Danny Haren against Aaron Sele and the Seamen from Seattle.

Hey, do you think the A's would have been better off calling up Huston Street last season rather than Jairo Garcia?

And doesn't sugar taste better than say granulated glass?

Monday night I got home from work and started making a few graphs. I had been up for 16 hours and trying to do that damn 'rithmetic in my head was making my eye go all blurry.

I wanted to find out where the A's have been in the last few years in several hitting categories as a team. I threw in the AL averages to simplify what I was looking for.



Here are the links:

• Oakland Team Batting Ave against AL Average



• Oakland Team On Base Percentage against AL Average



• Oakland Team Slugging Percentage against AL Average



• Oakland Team On Base Plus Slugging against AL Average



• Oakland Team Hits against AL Average



• Oakland Team Walks against AL Average



• Oakland Team Strike Outs against AL Average



• Oakland Team Runs against AL Average

Notice any patterns, say around 2003?

And, hey, if the A's can get a runner to 3rd base with less than two out employing a sacrifice bunt, what makes Ken Macha think the are going to score?

Durazo singles, Ellis sacrifices him to 2nd base. Ruby scampers down to 3rd base on a Wild Pitch and Swisher fouls out to third, ruining the opportunity. Skootch strikes out looking to end the waning threat.

So, the A's post a win and suddenly everything is forgotten, eh?

How nice to live such a charmed life and to be willing to wall up blind faith in the face of facts and push aside obscure references like statistics after witnessing one of the more ugly games ever played in the Oakland Coliseum...by a baseball team.*

These are the games the A's need to win. Not this ugly, of course. But, close games that promise a lot of opportunities.

The problem remains that the A's can't hit worth a damn, can't run the bases particularly well (this is not a stolen bases or speed issue) and can't seem to play defense unless their first name starts with a Mar sound (Kotsay, Ellis, Scutaro).

A's fans should stop wondering when the team will put everything together and start looking for reasons as to why they haven't put things together.

The are hints in the wind that Dave Hudgens is in jeopardy of losing his job and Ken Macha might be right behind him. Curt Young will most likely be reassigned somewhere within the organization as year's end.

Here's Ray 'I don't hate the A's, I just hate everything about them' Ratto's column in the San Francisco Chronicle (click here). What is a Lucy skit, anyway? If he is referring to Lucille Ball, she starred in situation comedies, or 'sit-coms' prior to being stuck on shows like The 'Danny Kaye Show with Lucille Ball' and the The Lucille Ball Comedy Hour where a sketch or skit would have been performed...who the hell has even seen an episode of those shows under the age of 50?

For the last few seasons the A's have been under performing and seemingly willing to take their poor play in stride. Constantly preaching the laws of averages and most recently 'track record'.

Here now, is your A's calendar:

• The month of March brings; "It's only March" and "C'mon, it's just Spring Training"



• The month of April brings; "It's only April" and "C'mon, it's just the first month of the season."



• The month of May brings; "It's only May" and "C'mon, there's still a lot of baseball to be played."



• The month of June brings; "It's only June" and "Billy Beane has made some great moves in the past."

It gets tired after awhile.

Last night there was an eruption in the dugout. Not, from supposed team leaders Eric Chavez, Jason Kendall or Barry Zito. But from Mark Kotsay.

From Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle:

"It got pretty heated...The game was ugly at that point, (Kotsay) just got mad. We scored three runs (after that), take that for what it's worth."
- A's 3B Eric Chavez

"He came in and let everyone know how he felt about that inning,"
- A's Manager Ken Macha

From Josh Suchon of the Oakland Tribune:

"He let everybody know what he felt about the inning...It was quite animated. I guess everybody listened."
- A's Manager Ken Macha

"It was heated. The game was ugly at that point. He got mad."
- A's 3B Eric Chavez

From Jonathan Oakanes of the Contra Costa Times:

"He came in and let everybody know how he felt about that inning...He was quite animated. Everybody listened."
- A's Manager Ken Macha

"It was heated. The game was pretty ugly at that point. He just got mad."
- A's 3B Eric Chavez

Huh.

So what exactly DOES Ken Macha do, anyway - besides make terrible decisions and execute those decisions within a strategy that would probably be a losing one even in Chutes and Ladders, I mean?

Macha brought in Ricardo Rincon last night with two runners on, and promptly gave up a run. Keichii Yabu followed Rincon only to do the same.

Smooth, Ken, real smooth.

Once again, we find Ken Macha reacting a day late for a move he should have made 24 hours earlier. Had Zito been relieved on Monday night...bah. I tire of trying to analyze the stupidity of Ken Macha, or should I say, his index cards.

But, how many times will there be an A's runner on 3rd base and less than two outs who fails to score? How many stranded baserunners is enough for A's GM Billy Beane?



Remember when Jermaine Dye was with the Kansas City Royals? I do. Sitting out in the rightfield bleachers, apparently, he sucked. That, according to the many A's fans and other idiots with nothing better to do or more intelligent to say than yell, "Hey Dye, you suck!"

Remember when Jermaine Dye became an Oakland A? It's very strange, but suddenly, because he wore an A's jersey, the congregation in the bleachers no longer mentioned that he sucked. Other rightfielders sucked, Magglio Ordonez, Bobby Kielty and David Justice to be sure.

In the last two games, though, Jemaine Dye has begun to suck again as a member of the Chicago White Sox. These character in the right field bleachers, some of whom form a smaller click known as the Dateless Wonders (when Zorba the Greek plays and they do their T Rex swaying dance - you've seen them...), must have looked back at the stats Jermaine Dye put up after signing his three year deal with Oakland.

Because, yah, he did suck. And he sucked more than $23 Million out of the A's coffers the last two years to do so.

* It should be noted that I used to be an Oakland Raiders fan, but I got sick of Al Davis in the late 1980's. When you pin your hopes each week on Dokie Williams, something's gotta give. Anyway - I was also a HUGE Dan Marino fan (I even had four knee surgeries) but I still considered myself a Raiders fan...until the team moved back to Oakland and after they had bilked Sacramento out of $10 Million and used Irwindale as a ploy. I'll be a Raiders fan again, some day, when Al Davis is dead and the A's no longer have to share a stadium with a football team. Notice I didn't say anything about a new facility for the A's.

BLUE JAYS DISMISS HITTING COACH:

Barnett replaced by former first base coach Brantley

Here's the problem...

TEAM	R	H	2B	3B	HR	TB	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Toronto	95	186	28	7	18	282	92	.270	.330	.409	.739
Oakland	70	155	27	1	15	229	68	.229	.299	.338	.637
AL AVERAGES	83	171	28	4	17	256	93	.250	.315	.315	.688

If Toronto's hitting coach is fired, but Oakland's Dave Hudgens keeps his job - what does that say about the A's organization?

For all the hyperbole about performance over talent and ability, why hold players to one level of standard and the coaching staff to another?

What does that say about the A's organization when the players are able to keep their jobs at the major league level without let or hinderance when they are clearly performing so poorly?

Why does a certain 3rd baseman get a free ride and not receive due condemnation for his poor play?

Why is Ken Macha so entrenched in leaving starting pitchers out on the mound to allow them a chance to garner a 'win' when they are clearly no longer effective? Last night was an excellent example of Macha trying too hard to be a nice guy and the player's friend.

Screw that.

Zito doesn't need any more friends. What he needs is to be lifted when he's got less than two outs and a runner on 1st and he is over 105 pitches.

But, here's the kicker...if the A's would score a few runs, that woudn't matter. When your margin for error is so slim that you need an electron microscope to see the difference - you need to change your process.

If you are anywhere near the Sacramento area, you might want to consider getting the hell out of my way.

As accustomed as I am to Ken Macha's idiocy, and the A's not scoring runs, I still hate watching the A's lose.

The A's now have a 22 inning scoreless streak and have only scored in one inning of their last 27 innings...if you are just tuning in, I'm not talking about the pitchers.

The A's have managed less than a dozen hits in the span.

Twelve hits in two and a half games. You would think somebody's job might be on the line. But, if you read any of the quotes harnessed by sportswriters recently - freshly pulled from the A's organization's collective ass, it's all about 'track record'. The players will start hitting. Eventually.

Of course, by that time, the A's might be 10-15 games below .500 and out of the AL West race and even further back of the AL Wild Card race.

It's time to wake the prisoners, their firing squad awaits.

I was stuck in a meeting at work and could not feign an illness quickly enough to get out into traffic and make tonight's game. By the time I had realized this, I had also given away the RiverCats seats I had for tongight.

Meh.

I have to be in Elk Grove tomorrow morning for a training session so it's just as well. I'm working on a few dozen posts that I'm half way through and just haven't finished...for whatever reason.

I did want to point out that today is Kerry's birthday. So head to the top right coulmn and start visiting her picture pages from this spring. Except the pics from 3/5/2005. Those are mine.

Garland against Zito tonight in a battle of the can't seem to score and the can't seem to lose.

This weekend sucked.