Tuesday, May 31, 2005
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THAT? OH, IT'S CALLED A WINNING STREAK
THAT? OH, IT'S CALLED A WINNING STREAK
On a night when Danny Haren didn't need much help, the A's put a bunch of runs on the board...or, the A's put a bunch of runs on the board and Danny Haren didn't need much else. Haren pitched his first major league complete game on 98 pitches.
The A's waited out the starting pitcher, Nomo, and then beat up on the relief pitching.
Wait.
The A's waited out a starting pitcher and then beat up on relief pitching. I know I've read that somewhere before.
And, the A's went with a different lineup, but, where they bat in the lineup doesn't matter according to Ken Macha.
Hell, if the A's score 10 runs a game, Macha is a damn genius, isn't he?
In Sacramento, the RiverCats pitching is getting pouded. Sort of. Each pitcher that appeared tonight; Steve Sparks, Keith Stamler, and Mike Saipe were not with the team when the month started. Sparks had asked and been granted his release from Portland (San Diego), Stamler came over from Oklahoma (Texas organization) and Saipe's last pitching duties took place in the Mexican League (is that you Tolbert?)
In other news, Jason Winsdor made his first AA start for Midland and got jack squat to show for it.
This is one of those things that you can only get a better idea of if you know how many pitches a pitcher is throwing; but with Windsor, you hope the A's are just being careful. Windsor hasn't been pitching deep into games, but hopefully it's because the A's are aware that Windsor the Windmill threw 14,578 pitches in the College World Series last year.
A lot of scouts felt that Windsor is the better pitcher between he and Huston Street over the long haul (classic relief pitcher versus starting pitcher stuff). Even so, if Windsor were able to contribute for the A's in late 2005, season ticket sales are going to go up for 2006.
Imagine, Windsor pitching five innings, John Rheinecker three innings and Huston Street closing it out.
Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E MIDLAND 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 5 0 Springfield 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 11 3
MIDLAND AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG Myers DH 3 1 1 0 0 1 2 1 0 .339 Perry RF 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .299 ROCKHOUNDS IP H R ER BB SO GB FB BF ERA Windsor 6 7 1 1 1 6 5 7 26 1.50 Fahrner (BS, 1)(L, 5-1) 2.1 4 2 2 2 0 3 4 13 3.44
posted by ZACHARY D MANPRIN at 9:44 PM
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What a great game tonight. I had the fortune of sitting in sec. 113, and when Orvella (sp?) came in later in the game (making his ML debut), his dad came down into our section with his video camera to film his son. It dawned on me how bloody rare it is to see a fully grown person get really excited about anything in life. And when you do see it...and you know the situation and understand the magnitude of it...well, you get the picture.
# posted by
: 31 May, 2005 22:52
Funny how, when Macha finally does what the players and fans have been clamoring for -- alter the lineup -- the A's start scoring...
# posted by
A's are 2-0 since "Jermaine Dye" came back to the lineup.
"Jermaine Dye" had a really nice AB in driving in the first run of the game last night.
# posted by
Winning is good. Let's be clear.
But, let's not look past the obvious. It's the Devil Rays with a historic run at one of the worst road teams ever in MLB.
Yes, GO A's.
But, keep the eyes on the horizon, not skyward.
# posted by
ZACHARY D MANPRIN : 01 June, 2005 09:31
agreed...the A's should be sweeping the D-Rays, not getting swept by them.
All I'm asking for is intelligent and genuine effort, both by the players and the management.
# posted by
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# posted by
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TAMPA BAY SERIES:
GAME 2
TAMPA BAY SERIES:
GAME 2
40 minutes to first pitch and the lineups are still not available.
TAMPA BAY AVG OAKLAND AVG C. Crawford lf .269 J. Kendall c .240 J. Lugo ss .275 M. Scutaro 2b .252 T. Lee 1b .284 M. Kotsay cf .289 J. Phelps dh .273 E. Chavez 3b .223 A. Huff rf .240 D. Johnson dh .077 J. Cantu 3b .281 S. Hatteberg 1b .277 A. Sanchez cf .342 B. Crosby ss .286 T. Hall c .308 B. Kielty lf .283 N. Green 2b .304 N. Swisher rf .200 TAMPA BAY ERA OAKLAND ERA H. Nomo 6.00 D. Haren 4.87
Dan Johnson batting 5th, Hatteberg 6th and fading, Nick Swisher batting 9th.
N I N T H.
posted by ZACHARY D MANPRIN at 6:23 PM
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WHAT THE SMURF?
WHAT THE SMURF?
Hey, the A's won a game!
They are undefeated in their last one games played.
Over a span of one day, the A's have not lost.
posted by ZACHARY D MANPRIN at 2:42 AM
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Smart ass. A win is a win, they came from behind, which they've only done once this season before last night(yes I know it was only tampa bay)
Sure it's going to raise a few A's fans hopes. Even a small part of me is hoping they may be able to turn it around and kick ass this season. New month coming, stupid stuperstition?
# posted by
The Smurfs
Smurf 1: Hey, you have a good time last night?
Smurf 2: Smurf-tacular.
Smurf 1: Yeah I saw you leave with Smurfette.
Smurf 2: Oh man. As soon as we got out of the bar, she started smurfin' me.
Smurf 1: Shut the smurf up!
Smurf 2: Yeah!
Smurf 1: Right in the smurfin' parking lot?
Smurf 2: Smurf yeah!
Smurf 1: Ah, that is freakin smurf.
Smurf 2: You smurfed it.
Smurf 1: That is freakin smurf.
Smurf 2: Yeah.
# posted by
Troubling times in central California. I understand the A's aren't as swingin' as of late, but radio stations in Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo have STTOPPED carrying the A's broadcasts. Something must be done. One must keep hope alive. I think smoking hot streaks could lie around the corner and I want to hear them in CenCal.
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Monday, May 30, 2005
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TAMPA BAY SERIES :
GAME 1
TAMPA BAY SERIES :
GAME 1
No word on the game's lineups as of 5:28 PM (VST). Still checking all of the media outlets.
Bobby Crosby has been activated and Keith Ginter sent down to Sacramento - an odd move and curiously without panache.
TAMPA BAY AVG OAKLAND AVG C. Crawford lf .268 J. Kendall c .241 J. Lugo ss .265 M. Kotsay cf .286 A. Huff rf .241 B. Kielty lf .284 T. Lee 1b .289 E. Chavez 3b .219 J. Phelps dh .279 E. Byrnes dh .240 J. Cantu 3b .283 D. Johnson 1b .111 D. Hollins cf .333 B. Crosby ss .500 T. Hall c .310 N. Swisher rf .198 N. Green 2b .312 M. Ellis 2b .288 TAMPA BAY ERA OAKLAND ERA S. Kazmir 4.13 J. Blanton 6.55
What's worse, having to listen to Glen Kuiper or Shooty Babbit? Having to listen to Shooty Babbit or Tim Roye? Or, still having to listen to Ray Fosse?
I am sick of Ray Fosse's homerism and his penchant for lack of respect for any sport but baseball.
TV and radio announcers have a duty to present the team, the sport and educate along the way. When they decry other sports or activities and "dangerous" they do a disservice to younger viewers and listeners. Whenever a fellow broadcaster will bring up the subject that an A's player or opposing player player football, basketball, skated, was in a band - Fosse will go with the phrase, "well, I think he made the right choice in baseball," usually adding that those other things are nice, but "distract from learning the game".
Something is still up with Joe Blanton's delivery. There's a hitch in his lower body. There's too long of a pause in the weight shift and Blanton is not dropping down far enough and is 'coasting' toward the plate.
If he keeps this up, he's going to be visiting Dr James Andrews in Alabama. If not pitching coach Rich Rodriguez in Sacramento.
Eric Byrnes now has one more walk (9) than Hit By Pitches (8).
From Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle:Exuberant outfielder Eric Byrnes has been wearing the letter "C", marked in masking tape, on his sweatshirt during pregame stretching.
"It's for 'Captain'," he said. "I appointed myself. It was unanimous: one vote."
Everyone now have an idea how clueless he is?
Ken Macha just yanked Joe Blanton after 4 2/3 and 86 pitches. On the one hand, fine - if the A's come out and say there is a problem with his delivery and there are erring on the side of caution. But, if they yanked him because Nick Swisher can't play RF, what are they saying to Blanton? "Hey, you have to get outs, regardless if you force hitters into routine flyballs - you should have anticipated Swisher would midread the ball."
Swisher broke in on Aubrey Huff's double and the ball sailed over his head. Anyone who has every played little league baseball knows that at the crack of the bat you take a step back rather than break in. It's easeir to run forward from a stationary postion than to turn and run to track a ball.
posted by ZACHARY D MANPRIN at 5:27 PM
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Macha gets to keep his job AND the backup he prefers.
Why don't we just buy him a year's supply of gum too!
# posted by
Everybody who's played little league knows that when you execute a slide into home, you always touch home plate just to make sure/
re: Eric Byrnes
Of course he has a clue that his GM doesn't want him on the team, that he is not respected by this ball club, that he would have been traded if Beane was not a greedy pig. What you see is Byrnes making the best of a bad situation. I believe all of the negativity from Beane and Macha have taken its toll on Byrnes play this year. I would hate to see him go, but for his sake, Byrnes needs to be traded; the team that gets him and treats him with respect will be rewarded with the enthusiastic and exciting player that the large group of Byrnes fans among the Athletics fans have grown to cherish.
# posted by
re: Eric Byrnes
Of course he has a clue that his GM doesn't want him on the team, that he is not respected by this ball club, that he would have been traded if Beane was not a greedy pig. What you see is Byrnes making the best of a bad situation. I believe all of the negativity from Beane and Macha have taken its toll on Byrnes play this year. I would hate to see him go, but for his sake, Byrnes needs to be traded; the team that gets him and treats him with respect will be rewarded with the enthusiastic and exciting player that the large group of Byrnes fans among the Athletics fans have grown to cherish.
# posted by
Yeah I can't wait to see his exciting misexecution of fly balls on ANOTHER teams roster:)
# posted by
Boo hoo! Poor Byrnes and his million dollar paycheck. He's a professional. If he gets any negativity from Beane or Macha he's brought it upon himself with that ego of his.
Maybe A's fans won't boo him when he misses a routine fly ball because he wanted to make webgems, but elsewhere other fans won't take that crap.
# posted by
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# posted by
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BLOGTASTIC
BLOGTASTIC
If you want to know if you've really mad eit in sports, you really need your very own ANTI-page. www.firemacha.blogspot.com is one such page.
Sometimes, we bring these things upon ourselves, it's long past overdue.
Still, the Macha Meter reads 6.
posted by ZACHARY D MANPRIN at 4:34 PM
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BILLY JOE AND BOBBIE SUE
BILLY JOE AND BOBBIE SUE
Bobby Crosby is not with the RiverCats today. But I'm three rows behind home plate.
The A's are running Crosby through a simulated game this morning and if all goes well, he'll be in the lineup tonight.
Have I mentioned this is a stupid move, yet?
No?
THIS IS A STUPID MOVE.
Crosby played three games over the weekend in Sacramento totaling one hit and more importantly, Z E R O walks.
BOBBY CROSBY G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS Stockton 3 9 1 3 1 0 0 1 4 2 1 0 0 .333 .455 .444 .899 Sacramento 3 12 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 .083 .083 .083 .166 TOTALS 6 21 1 4 1 0 0 2 5 2 1 0 0 .190 .260 .238 .498
Forgive me for totaling High A and AAA stats for the time being, and just look at them.
Does this look like a player ready to join a major league baseball team?
If your answer was, "No, but he fits right in with the Oakland A's..." that joke has been done to death.
Those pointing to the lack of strikeouts, remember Crosby was flailing at the first pitch in a majority of his At Bats, almost a billboard of the player afraid to strikeout - 'hey, if I put the ball in play I can't strikeout'.
The A's should hold out Crosby until he hits in AAA. Unless the thinking is he is not going to hit in AAA and embarrass himself and take a knock to the old confidence.
Still, it does little for the confidence of A's fans.
The PA Announcer here at Raley Field announced the player of the game from yesterday's game. "Marcus Gwynn. Marcus pitched 8 shutout innings...", and on and on. The problem is, Ryan Glynn was the starter yesterday and had his effort wasted by Jairo Garcia. Marcus Gwyn is a reliever on the RiverCats, Ryan Glynn is the starting pitcher.
Glynn indeed had a shutout and Sacramento took a 2-0 lead into the 9th.
The sequence:
- Pitcher Change: Ron Flores replaces Ryan Glynn.
- Casey Kotchman walks.
- With Luke Allen batting, wild pitch by Ron Flores, Casey Kotchman to 2nd.
- Luke Allen strikes out swinging.
- Pitcher Change: Jairo Garcia replaces Ron Flores.
- Nick Gorneault singles on a line drive to center fielder Freddie Bynum. Casey Kotchman scores.
- With Dave Matranga batting, wild pitch by Jairo Garcia, Nick Gorneault to 2nd.
- Dave Matranga walks.
- Offensive Substitution: Pinch hitter Brian Gordon replaces Adam Pavkovich.
- Brian Gordon homers (5) on a fly ball to right center field. Nick Gorneault scores. Dave Matranga scores.
- Ryan Budde strikes out swinging.
- Casey Smith lines out to first baseman Brant Colamarino.
That's why Garcia isn't going to be in Oakland anytime soon. He can't even start an inning for himself, the RiverCats have to bring in a lefty specialist to face Casey Kotchman...of course, that backfired.
posted by ZACHARY D MANPRIN at 1:16 PM
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Doing his best to not strike out...he is so desperate he finally has decided to go the other way.
Amazing what people will do when their back is against a wall.
# posted by
you know, you could stop with the ego thing and just admit it was a nice hit.
# posted by
What ego?
Any hit is a nice hit.
However, you're not looking at the big picture. Further, you didn't spend the last four days watching Crosby at the plate.
I've said it many times, Bobby Crosby is a good hitter when he goes to the opposite field. When he tries to jack every pitch to dead left...you get what Crosby produced during the 2nd half last year; .208 Average, .311 OBP and .396 SLG.
Remember, Crosby won the ROY, but he also has a career OBP of .315. Terrence Long has a .317 career OBP.
He is already 25 years old, so there's still some room to grow and improve. But watching the A's the last three seasons and not seeing any progress, just regression from hitters - it doesn't look good.
Also, the A's have Mike Rouse and Omar Quintanilla in the minor leagues at SS. And I'm not going to say his name, but the A's decided they could deal with his loss to free agency because they had Crosby.
# posted by
Garcia's lack of pitching ruined what was otherwise a beautiful day on Home Run Hill. Watching Cust pound his 10th HR makes me wonder why he can't be put on the 40 and brought up.
re: Eric Byrnes
Of course he has a clue that his GM doesn't want him on the team, that he is not respected by this ball club, that he would have been traded if Beane was not a greedy pig. What you see is Byrnes making the best of a bad situation. I believe all of the negativity from Beane and Macha have taken its toll on Byrnes play this year. I would hate to see him go, but for his sake, Byrnes needs to be traded; the team that gets him and treats him with respect will be rewarded with the enthusiastic and exciting player that the large group of Byrnes fans among the Athletics fans have grown to cherish.
# posted by
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Sunday, May 29, 2005
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SMSKC
SMSKC
Here's what has been going on in the A's organization since Thursday:THURSDAY
SACRAMENTO
25 MAY 2005 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Sacramento 1 0 0 0 2 5 0 4 0 12 13 0 Iowa 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 6 10 13 1
RIVERCATS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG Beattie 2B 4 3 2 1 0 0 2 1 0 .286 Garrett RF 3 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 1 .296 Cust LF 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 .298 Johnson 1B 4 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 .324 Rouse SS 4 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 1 .288 Baker C 5 1 2 1 0 0 2 0 2 .235 Smith 3B 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 .257 Morrissey DH 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .238 Herrera CF 4 3 2 1 0 0 1 1 0 .417
BATTING 2-out RBI: Beattie; Garrett 2; Cust; Baker 2. S: Garrett. SF: Beattie; Rouse. GIDP: Cust; Morrissey. Team LOB: 7. BASERUNNING SB: Beattie (2, 2nd base off Brownlie/Johnson).
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR GB FB BF ERA Sparks (W, 4-1) 5.1 10 4 4 3 3 2 3 9 28 3.86 Moreno (H, 4) 2.2 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 4 9 1.31 Sylvester 0 0 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 3 11.57 Mattioni 0.1 3 3 3 0 0 2 0 1 4 11.74 Garcia (S, 4) 0.2 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 3 3.48
Sylvester pitched to 3 batters in the 9th. WP: Sylvester. Inherited runners-scored: Moreno 2-0, Mattioni 3-3, Valdez 2-1, Norton 2-2. Umpires: HP: Darin Williams. 1B: Scott Kennedy. 2B: . 3B: Jack Samuels. Weather: 68 degrees, sunny. Wind: 13 mph, Out to RF. T: 3:04. Att: 8,894.
Just one of those PCL slugfests that happens every so often. Of course, when you look at Firday night...FRIDAY
SACRAMENTO
26 MAY 2005 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Salt Lake 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 Sacramento 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 1
It makes the 1-0 game sthat much more exciting.SATURDAY
SACRAMENTO
27 May 2005 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Salt Lake 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 4 8 0 Sacramento 0 2 0 1 0 4 4 2 X 13 14 0
Player AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG Crosby SS 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .125 Clark 2B 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .250 Morrissey 1- PR-2B 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .238 Watson RF 4 1 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 .347 Cust DH 5 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 .298 Beattie 3B 5 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .310 Colamarino 1B 4 4 4 0 1 2 5 1 0 .571 Garrett LF 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 .292 Baker C 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .232 Bynum CF 3 1 1 0 0 1 4 1 0 .226
BATTING 2-out RBI: Crosby; Bynum 4. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cust 2; Watson 2. SF: Garrett 2. Team LOB: 6. FIELDING DP: (Crosby-Colamarino). 1-Ran for Clark in the 8th.
Player IP H R ER BB SO HR GB FB BF ERA Serrano (W, 5-2) 7 6 3 3 1 8 0 8 5 27 5.3 Flores 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 4 3.46 Mattioni 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 2 5 11.42
WP: Mattioni. HBP: Clark (by Collazo). Umpires: HP: Jason Kiser. 1B: Ryan West. 2B: . 3B: Travis Reininger. Weather: 69 degrees, clear. Wind: 17 mph, Out to CF. T: 2:42. Att: 12,224.
If you were looking for a synthesis of the A's Organization of the last few years it's in this: The Call up of Dan Johnson was not so much about the A's continued death rattle. It had a little to do with Dan Johnson swinging the bat well (but he had for more than a season and a third). It had even little to do with the poor play of Scott Hatteberg and Erubiel Durazo (and Durazo heading to the DL). Dan Johnson was called up on merit, let's be clear of that, but the A's had to move Brant "That Guy is a Freak" Colamarino up from AA Midland. Instead of a top down organization, the A's have a player in AA forcing the big league club to make room for him in AAA. It just so happens the player being moved up from AAA in May of 2005is the reigning PCL MVP - who had been deserving of a call up a early as May of 2004.
Colamarino is making noise, now and hopefully this could be the rally call to the rest of the organization.
Matt Watson started off with two doubles in his first two At Bats to get the RiverCats going.
Freddie Bynum put an exclamation point on the evening with an 8th inning, two out GRAND SLAM.