A’s Offseason Summary & Thoughts thru December

It was a relatively quiet December for the A’s, despite MLB’s winter meetings at the beginning of the month.  However, two of the three transactions for the team were significant; one of which was good, one of which was bad and sad. 

Let’s start small and get that out of the way with the news that the A’s sent Collin Cowgill to the Mets for infielder Jefry Marte.  Cowgill had very little chance to see time in the majors with Oakland next season based on the assumption that Billy Beane is true to his word and has no intention of moving Cespedes, Reddick, Crisp, and/or Young.  That four man rotation may not be topped in the big leagues.  Marte played in AA last season and has been groomed into a third baseman that could also sparingly fill in at first base or the outfield.  I don't expect to be rooting for Jefry in an A's uniform anytime soon, if at all.    

The bad/sad news for December was Brandon McCarthy’s departure from the club, signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks – who are becoming the National League’s version of the Athletics.  If McCarthy can successfully recover from the line drive off his head and other nagging injuries, he should have a very strong season in Arizona with the move over to the NL.  I really didn’t see this one coming at all and thought Brandon (and Amanda) would be back in the green and gold in 2013.  However, the 2 years and $15.5 million in the contract were more than expected or what I would have looked for the A’s to offer.  There are very few times that I’m not upset when the A’s lose a quality player to another team willing to offer more money.  This is one of them, as I wish nothing but the best of luck to Brandon in his attempt at a return to big league pitching. 

The A’s finally resolved the million dollar question for the offseason and have their shortstop for 2013.  Almost immediately after Stephen Drew signed with the Red Sox, Billy Beane finalized a two year deal for Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima worth $6.5 million.  Yes, we are getting Nakajima for two years for approximately 67% of the cost of having to pay Drew for the 2013 season only.  This has been a relatively polarizing topic among A’s fans but I’m definitely in the pro-Nakajima camp and taking a flyer on him and his potential to succeed in MLB vs. watching Stephen Drew hit .260 and bounce around the lineup during hot and cold streaks.  Sprinkle in the inevitable injury for Drew (given his track record) and this deal is a no-brainer for me. 

During Nakajima’s press conference, he completely won over the vast majority of the fan base with his responses to a few questions.  If you read through the comments from the “two year deal” hyperlink above to Athletics Nation, you’ll find a few of his responses highlighted.  Scouting reports suggest that Nakajima is relatively solid defensively and has a little bit of pop in his bat to go along with some speed.  This is perfectly “OK” with me.  He doesn’t have to come to Oakland and be a superstar or the second coming of Yoenis Cespedes – although if he wants to produce at that level, by all means, feel free.  Nakajima needs to come in and be a net positive / solid contributor that doesn’t become a black hole / automatic out at the bottom of the A’s everyday lineup – like the team has trotted out in recent years. 

With the answer now available at shortstop, it will be interesting to see what Beane can or will do the rest of the offseason.  Will he try to improve the starting rotation, find depth at other infield positions, or try to upgrade the farm a bit?  While the Angels continue to take all the headlines (read: signing Josh Hamilton and losing pitchers) the A’s have solidified their starting lineup (for now at least) and look to carry over momentum into 2013 as the defending division champions.  Taking a high level view of the transactions across the division, as well as adding in the Astros into the equation, I love what I’m seeing in the A’s future and their chances at going back to the playoffs next season. 

(Photo credit: http://mlb.mlb.com/cutfour/index.jsp?partnerId=aw-7227006434829460008-996#)

A’s Offseason Summary & Thoughts thru November

Well, another month of the offseason has come and gone (thankfully) and the Athletics still do not have a starting shortstop to plug into the lineup.  With the Winter meetings coming up this week (12/3 – 12/6), we’ll hopefully have a resolution to this issue soon. 

November was a pretty quiet month for the club, announcing a few minor deals and seeing one major component to the 2012 club sign with another team.  (Note that my October summary went up a week into November and I covered the Bartolo Colon signing from 11/3 there.)

On 11/16 the A’s completed a trade with the Padres sending P Tyson Ross and minor leaguer AJ Kirby-Jones for P Andrew Werner and IF Andy Parrino.  Werner is a lefthander that will come in from the bullpen while Parrino could be a utility infielder that helps plug holes and gives others a day off here and there, similar to the role Adam Rosales has played most recently for the club. 

I’m a little surprised that Ross was dealt, but not necessarily disappointed.  He has been given several opportunities to fill different roles on the A’s pitching staff and it never really all came together for him.  I thought that the club would give him one more season in a defined role (from the bullpen, where he belonged in my opinion) to see if he would succeed.  Alas, we don’t have to give this anymore thought. 

Several days later (11/20), the A’s decided to protect the following players from their minor league system: RHP Arnold Leon, IF/OF (what is he this week?) Grant Green, OF Shane Peterson, and RHP Michael Ynoa.  At the same time, the team designated Jim Miller and Brandon Hicks for assignment.  There’s some real good banter on this over in a Fanpost on Athletics Nation if you want to go check it out.  Similar to several people’s thoughts over there, I’m pretty surprised that Jim Miller was designated and Jesse Chavez was not.  I didn’t catch a single appearance from Chavez that remotely warranted him being on the club next year.  Did I miss something?

Brandon Hicks’ tenure with the A’s came to an official end on 11/26 when the A’s traded him to the NY Mets for the infamous cash considerations.  Hicks had a relatively poor showing in 2012, hitting just .172 with three home runs in 22 games.  One of those home runs was a walk off against the Rangers, but I think it is safe to say the A’s will make it through next season without him. 

Two days later, on 11/28, the A’s announced that they had come to terms with RP Pat Neshek.  Neshek came over from the Orioles in August and played an important role on the team towards the end of the ’12 season, including several strong outings as the A’s caught up to and passed the Rangers to win the division.  You likely also remember that in the playoffs, the Neshek family lost their newborn child, only to see Pat come back and pitch an inning of relief days later.  I’m glad to see Neshek back in the fold given his performance this past season, but also because of his unique pitching delivery to mix things up coming out of the bullpen. 

Saving the biggest news for last in the November summary, as Jonny Gomes reached an agreement on a two year contract with the Boston Red Sox.  The deal with Boston is reportedly worth $10 million.  I would have loved to have Gomes back in the A’s clubhouse in 2013, particularly over a few of the spare parts remaining on the roster.  However, this price tag is way too high for Oakland to be paying.  That isn’t to say Jonny doesn’t deserve the deal by any stretch, it just isn’t a number that the A’s can commit to a player like Gomes, particularly when the outfield is already overcrowded.  Teams need a player in the clubhouse like Jonny and it is disappointing to see him go.  However, knowing that it was beyond reason to meet a contract like the one he signed, all you can do is tip your cap and say “good luck”. 

UPDATE: 12/1/12

Further proof that I should have just waited until the actual end of the month and not worrying about posting the article on the weekend, there were a few contracts tendered to members of the A's roster, specifically Daric Barton and Adam Rosales.  There has yet to be an announcement on Brandon Moss, Seth Smith, or Jerry Blevins.

Regarding Barton, the only reason I am OK with this deal is because it is a non-guaranteed deal.  I can't imagine Daric is on this club in 2013, but why lose him for nothing.  Hopefully, the A's can find a partner in a bigger trade and Barton will be included.

Rosales is a nice player to have on your bench and spell guys here and there.  Given the earlier trade for Parrino, I wouldn't be surprised or hurt if Rosales also isn't on the club in 2013.

The players that we've yet to hear anything on are all more concerning and bigger names for the 2013 club.  Blevins became an important part of the bullpen, while Moss and Smith both made positive contributions over the course of the season and during the stretch run.  Hopefully all three are resolved already and the club is just late in the announcement or working out some final details with each.

A’s Offseason Hardware

The 2012 A’s season was certainly one to remember.  It was so good in fact, the A’s are actually being acknowledged by others around the league and those that cover MLB.  Both players and management were in the running for some serious recognition this offseason and the majority have panned out. 

This all started with Josh Reddick receiving a gold glove for his outstanding play in RF for the team this past season.  When Reddick was acquired from the Boston Red Sox last offseason, I thought this was a decent move that might pan out over time.  In no way, shape, or form did I think the A’s would be the beneficiary of the deal so fast.  While his bat struggled towards the end of the season, his defense never skipped a beat.  Reddick’s 15 assists from right field were third most in the AL in 2012 and by the time we got to the All-Star Game, teams were largely done testing him. 

Before we get to management’s new hardware, it is worth noting that Yoenis Cespedes came in second place in this year’s AL Rookie of the Year voting.  He was up against a player who had an MVP-type season, let alone a strong rookie year.  In just about any other season, Cespedes takes the award for the type of season he had.  Also noteworthy, Jarrod Parker finished in fourth place in the same poll.  Congratulations to them both and we hope to see much more success from them both in their future. 

Earlier this month, Billy Beane was named the Sporting News’ MLB Executive of the Year.  I don’t believe we need to go over Beane’s accomplishments in great detail.  With the second lowest payroll in baseball, Beane put together a team that won 94 games, beating out two teams that were seen as far superior in the Spring to win the AL West.  Last offseason, Beane once again retooled the pitching staff, trading Gio, Trevor, and Andrew Bailey away for various packages of players that all paid dividends over the course of the 2012 season.  He brought in a handful of serviceable players to plug holes and keep the clubhouse fresh.  Finally, he somehow managed to land Yoenis Cespedes, which will hopefully be paying off for years to come. 

In somewhat of a trickledown effect from Beane’s award, earlier this week Bob Melvin was named the 2012 AL Manager of the Year.  Melvin did a masterful job of plugging holes throughout the season due to injuries, pushed the right button the vast majority of the time, and knew when to ride someone’s hot streak or find a replacement during someone’s cold streak.  He oversaw a team that had 17 rookies, including a starting pitching rotation full of rookies down the playoff stretch in September and into October. 

Melvin received 16 first place votes, outpacing his closest competitor, Buck Showalter who finished with 12 first place votes.  Acknowledging a total bias here, but I don’t think this should have been this close at all.  It isn’t our fault that Baltimore has heavily underachieved for so long despite having a pretty heavy payroll, nor is it our fault that they play in the heavily competitive (and promoted) AL East.  Sure, Showalter oversaw a revitalization of the franchise, but the cards he was dealt were much stronger than what Melvin was playing with throughout the season. 

Congratulations to all of the Athletics players and management on their awards!  Hopefully the team can build on this moving forward!  If only Bud Selig cared enough to resolve the A’s stadium issues … (I really wish he would retire from his post)

A’s Offseason Summary & Thoughts thru October

The lack of updates to this A’s blog is due to a number of reasons:

1.     The offseason

2.     A hurricane

3.     A vacation

4.     The Timberwolves season began

5.     The offseason

As mentioned in the last post, the A’s offseason got off to a quick and early start with the trade for Chris Young.  Since then, the team has remained relatively busy and left me with one head-scratcher; who is going to be play shortstop for this team in 2013? 

The A’s wisely picked up Grant Balfour’s option but surprisingly passed on Stephen Drew’s one year option.  When I first saw this news, I assumed it would be quickly followed by another signing, trade, or wrapping up Drew to a longer term deal vs. his one year option.  To date, the question remains, who is going to play shortstop for this team in 2013?

In a surprise move (to me at least), the A’s resigned Bartolo Colon to a one year, $3 million deal.  I thought for sure we saw the end of the Bartolo era with the team, but the length and price tag of this deal is appealing enough to keep him around to see what is left in the tank … while off PED’s of course.  This brings up a good question about what’s next for the rotation and Brandon McCarthy’s impending free agency, but does not answer the question, who is going to play shortstop for this team in 2013? 

So I can only imagine you see the $100 million dollar question that remains for this team.  The good folks over at Athletics Nation have been talking about this quite extensively as well.  I’ve seen/read all of the thrown out options – resigning Drew, moving Cespedes to the infield, signing a free agent, etc.  However, if you take a look at that free agent list/link, you’ll see that Drew is a top-two choice on the list and that several of the options are a significant downgrade.  I’ll add that Scutaro isn’t an everyday SS, so I don’t necessarily consider him an option.  While the thought of moving Cespedes to SS is intriguing, I think the team would have made that announcement already if it was legitimately on the table.  Right?  I hope Beane has something up his sleeve because this could really come back to hurt this team’s chances of building off of this past season’s successes. 

In other news around the clubhouse, congrats to Josh Reddick for winning his first gold glove!  Josh is the first A’s outfielder to win the award since 1985, when Dwayne Murphy took home the award.  While I don’t say this too often anymore, I’m too young to really remember the player that Murphy was, as he was with the club from 1978-1987 and that is right around the time I started following the team while playing Little League. 

So, I’ll ask one last time, who do you think is going to play shortstop for the A’s in 2013?!  Let’s go Oakland!

A’s Acquire OF Chris Young from Diamondbacks

The A’s offseason got off to a fast start this weekend, when the team sent Cliff Pennington to, surprise surprise, the Arizona Diamondbacks for OF Chris Young.  The deal also included the A’s prospect Yordy Cabrera going to Miami through Arizona as the A’s also took cash back ($500,000). 

Let’s start with the departure of Cliff Pennington and what that means for the A’s moving forward.  I liked Cliff’s glove at SS and 2B, but his bat had become a tremendous hole in the lineup.  With several other weak bats throughout, there needed to be a change somewhere and I think we found our answer.  Cliff’s departure likely/hopefully means that there is a deal in place with Stephen Drew, whether that is the option in his contract or a new deal for a few additional seasons.  The FA list for the SS position is incredibly weak, so I hope this doesn’t come back to bite the team.  At 2B, it looks like there will be an open competition between Sizemore and Weeks (and Grant Green). 

Bringing in Chris Young adds more depth to the A’s outfield, who lost plenty of games (75) between the injuries to Coco Crisp and Yoenis Cespedes.  In the CSN article linked to above, Billy Beane provides a nice 10 minute overview of what the deal means to the team and says that this does not spell the end to the Coco era.  I think it is a good idea to keep these three guys + Reddick on the roster, allowing for days off and rotations without losing too much in the lineup day in and day out.  Young brings a little bit more pop with his bat, along with some speed on the bases.  He had back to back 20-20 years in ’10 and ’11, before injuring his shoulder this past season.  Young says he is now fine / healthy and is looking forward to joining the Oakland clubhouse. 

However, this will impact the rest of the roster, most specifically who the team keeps around to DH and play 1B.  I can’t imagine Chris Carter and Brandon Moss are going anywhere, particularly Moss given the need another left-handed power bat.  This leaves Jonny Gomes and Seth Smith in question.  I would prefer to see Gomes back on the squad versus Smith, but from a rotational standpoint, and again, a need for another left-handed bat, I imagine Seth Smith would be the priority and that Gomes will be looking for a new team.  The only argument I see against this logic is that retaining Coco and Drew, while playing Weeks at 2B gives you three LHB’s available for the lineup, with Reddick.  In fact, I hope that is the logic and Beane decides to keep Jonny around over Seth.  Someone please pass this logic along. 

Perhaps the biggest news from this weekend’s trade and interviews is that Beane confirmed that the team will be adding payroll for the 2013 season.  Yes!  If you give this FO $75 million or so to work with, I think they can do the necessary patchwork to improve this team and allow it to continue to contend moving forward. 

What did you think of the move and the ramifications it may have on the rest of the roster? 

Let’s go Oakland!

Happy Halloween, from the Oakland A’s

While still working through an offseason priority list for the A’s (vote in the poll on the right hand side of the page) I thought it would be nice to show some holiday cheer, Athletics-style.  The A’s put 10 pumpkin stencils on their site for download in time for Halloween. 

My favorite is probably the “Balfour Rage” stencil and if I had any artistic ability (and patience) to carve a pumpkin, I would go in this direction.  What’s your favorite? 

Happy Halloween from the 2012 AL West Champions, Oakland Athletics!  

The A’s Season Comes to an End

My silence and lack of writing over the past week during the ALDS against the Tigers was more or less due to a whirlwind personal schedule and a desire to not sound like a whining homer.  Overall, while ignoring the final outcome, I thought the series was filled with good baseball and a ton of exciting moments.  No one ran the gamut of emotional ups and downs more than Coco Crisp of course. 

Game 1 started off with a bang, literally, as Coco led off the game with a HR.  Parker pitched good enough to win, but the A’s could not do anything after the HR against Verlander – who I’ve grown to hate in one calendar week. 

Game 2 was the crushing defeat that the A’s couldn’t stand to make.  While Coco became the goat of the game, I don’t think that is necessarily fair.  The rest of the lineup left way too many runners on base and each of our “big three” from the bullpen had a rocky inning of relief work to give up runs.  This game was for the taking and it should have been won.

After game 2, my thoughts were already on the feasibility of beating Verlander in game 5.  However, I didn’t realize how much excitement would be coming over the next few days.  In game 3, Brett Anderson returned to the mound to pitch an absolute gem, with the A’s taking it 2-0 to force a game 4.  Game 4 was absolutely amazing.  In the words of Glen Kuiper, this was “un-be-lievable!!”  I was traveling for work and believe I woke up half the floor at the hotel when this game ended.  It was the perfect personification of the A’s season, walking off in the 9^th inning after doing virtually nothing for 3+ hours. 

Going into game 5, I could only think of one thing – how were the A’s bats going to come to life against Verlander.  In two words, they didn’t.  There were so many bad at bats and strike outs, that it isn’t even worth calling one or two players out on it (not to mention a wildly exaggerated strike zone).  However, when you lose 6-0, you can’t blame the strike zone.  Oddly enough, I actually prefer losing in this manner vs. a game that comes down to the end.  By the bottom of the 9^th inning, I was already in a positive-angle frame of mind and thinking about what a great season it was. 

To that end, let’s not forget what the A’s accomplished this season and the amount of fun that it was, for both the players and the fans.  We had the “Bernie Lean”, the pie celebrations, a collection of rookie pitchers playing their hearts out, and a lineup that had a flair for the dramatic.  It was a great run for the team who wildly overachieved vs. expectations. 

Beane has already stated that he wants to keep this roster together.  There are a few small decisions to make based on this past season’s roster (Gomes, Drew, etc.).  I’ll be putting together some thoughts on the offseason this coming week, but take a look at the new poll on the right hand side and let me know what you think the priority should be for this team.  

For now, let’s remember what a great year it was for the 2012 AL West Champions, Oakland A’s!!  Let’s go Oakland!   

The Oakland A’s Win the AL West!

(Photo credit to @newballpark)

Unless you live under a rock you are already well aware that the Oakland A’s pulled out the miracle comeback to sweep the Rangers, win the AL West, and avoid the one game play-in tomorrow (Friday).  Look at that cover photo and the crowd from Tuesday night?  Awesome!  The reward for all of this is a trip to Detroit to play the first two games on the road as a 2 seed.  Would someone in MLB please impeach Bud Selig?  

The sweep was completed yesterday in typical, relaxing fashion.  By relaxing, I mean going down 5-1, playing terrible defense, and then scoring 11 unanswered runs.  By relaxing, I also mean having the end of the A’s bullpen – Doolittle, Cook, and Balfour – pitching in their 4^th, 4^th, and 5^th games in a row respectively.  Needless to say, the day was filled with a lot of anxiety and a lot of celebrating.  It was also nice to see a packed house at the Coliseum.  There have been plenty of articles written about the A’s, their comeback, the success, and everything with it.  I found this article to be one of the better ones if you are interested in more material for your bathroom break. 

The A’s are now on their way to Detroit for a best of 5 series and have yet to release their playoff roster or pitching rotation.  As others have suggested, I would be surprised if it wasn’t Parker.  From there, I would love to see Anderson return but the A’s aren’t leaking anything.  The schedule for this series couldn’t be worse for me personally.  Saturday and Sunday games aside, the remaining games are Tuesday through Thursday and during a business trip.  The weekday games are in Oakland and better be late starts.  Do you hear me Selig?!

Game	Matchup	Day	Date	Time ET
Gm 1	OAK @ DET	Sat	Oct. 6	6:00 PM
Gm 2	OAK @ DET	Sun	Oct. 7	TBD
Gm 3	DET @ OAK	Tue	Oct. 9	TBD
Gm 4*	DET @ OAK	Wed	Oct. 10	TBD
Gm 5*	DET @ OAK	Thu	Oct. 11	TBD

The A’s and Tigers met in mid-September with the Tigers taking two of three.  To be honest, I hope the locker room forgets that series because it was a pretty abysmal showing in the two losses.  Over the course of the season, the Tigers won four of seven total head to head match-ups, so this is a pretty even series heading in.  The A’s bullpen will have a few days of much needed rest and we’ll see who the team decides to put on the playoff roster and who they omit.  Putting the lack of playoff experience aside, this has been too good of a run to end anytime soon; Prediction time: A’s in 4! 

Unfortunately, with all of the good comes some sad news from the A’s clubhouse.  Early this morning I saw the news that Pat Neshek and his wife lost their baby less than 24 hours after birth.  I can’t even imagine what the family is dealing with.  My condolences to the entire Neshek family and hope for the best in the days and weeks to come. 

Let’s go Oakland!   

The Oakland A’s are going to the playoffs!

How awesome is that .gif file?  No, really, how awesome is that .gif and how awesome are the 2012 Oakland A’s?  (Thanks for creating this!)

When is $50 million worth more than $150 million?  Take a look at the MLB playoffs standings right now and see where the A’s sit relative to where the Angels sit.  If I didn’t see it with my own eyes last night, I’m not sure I would believe it, but the Oakland Athletics are heading to the (insert enthusiastic curse words here) playoffs!  At the very least, they have clinched the right to play in Friday’s wild card play-in game.  Depending on how things go tonight and subsequently tomorrow perhaps, the A’s could be looking at a division title and avoiding the one game elimination altogether.  Rather than getting ahead of ourselves, let’s take a quick step back. 

The A’s have the second lowest payroll in baseball, a mere $100K more than the SD Padres for the lowest spot in baseball.  The team’s stadium situation remains in chaos thanks to Bud Selig and a handful of other issues.  Billy Beane spent last offseason gutting the pitching staff for more prospects and younger, cheaper talent.  The season started off with some pretty bad baseball in April and May.  The team started to turn things around, playing just over .500 ball in June and then July hit, where the team went 19-5.  They have the best record in baseball since the All-Star break.  At that time, I had already given up on this season ten times.  Yet, here we are, going to the playoffs and control of our own destiny to the division title! 

Read that entire paragraph again.  It still doesn’t make any sense to me either.  I can’t wait for tonight’s game.  Obviously, I hope the team can pull this one off and then go into tomorrow afternoon’s game with the chance to really deflate the Rangers locker room, while at the same time, avoid Friday’s one game playoff.  Tonight’s game is going to be tough, with Blackley starting on the mound for the A’s and facing Harrison, an 18 game winner this season already.  One game at a time, let’s do this! 

Let’s go Oakland! 

Game Day Diary – Mariners @ Athletics, 9/28/12

Straight from the “it was a long week” department, I now have the distinct pleasure (or the complete opposite) of providing a summary paragraph of the A’s four game series that just past with the Rangers as we go into tonight’s game vs. the Mariners.  By now, you are well aware that the A’s and Rangers split the series at two wins apiece, signaling that the team made no ground in the divisional race.  However, the glass half full approach would say that the team didn’t lose ground either.  While this series was going on, the Angels won two out of three against our opponent tonight and they are now two games behind us for the last wild card spot (with Tampa). 

The best one word descriptor I can come up with for the series against the Rangers is “uncomfortable” because that’s how I felt throughout most of it.  Game 1 was infuriating and felt like a game that the A’s gave away.  Milone and Parker pitched great in games 2 and 3 respectively (both wins) and it felt like momentum was on our side.  Then yesterday’s afternoon game took place.  When the A’s score 7 runs and lose, you know it was a difficult game to watch.  They fought back a few times, only to see the pitching staff give it right back in the next inning (or two).  Let’s just move on before I start whining. 

In the good news department, Coco is apparently going to be back in the lineup tonight.  Would you like some more good news?  The Mariners are in town and we are avoiding King Felix.  The A’s must sweep this series in my opinion.  Not to make the playoffs per se, but from a confidence perspective.  We need to beat up the M’s this weekend and carry over some of that when Texas comes to visit Oakland to close out the season.  According to this article, the A’s own the tiebreaker against the Angels and that isn’t going to change.  The A’s and Rangers are tied head-to-head at 8 wins apiece right now.  So … if the Angels take a few from the Rangers while the A’s sweep … you know what, forget it.  I won’t go any further.  Let’s enjoy tonight’s game and just take care of our own business.  Please and thank you. 

10:01pm EST: We’re (not really) live as MLB.TV has yet to turn on the broadcast.  Someone flip the switch!  In the meantime, I made a terrible mistake – just click here and know that I’m kicking myself for even peaking. 

10:02 – We’re live and I have to admit that I was expecting more from Glen for the introduction.  Where’s the conviction?!  

10:03 – The Orioles are still amazing / baffling to me.  Unrelated, Coco’s back and it is time to go back to the Bernie Lean!  By the way, my nerves are shot and I have the Angels/Rangers game going on my tablet (Google Nexus 7 – go get one!) at the same time. 

10:10 – Griffin K’s the Mariners leadoff hitter!  How many times can or will I type “Let’s go Oakland!!” tonight?

10:12 – Moss catches a foul ball pop up and we have two down.  I’m a little surprised at how quiet the Coliseum is right now.  Hopefully the offense can get things going early. 

10:13 – Griffin’s no hitter is gone thanks to Seager.  The Angels go up 6-1 against the Rangers around the same time (just noticed out of the corner of my eye).

10:15 – Griffin walks Montero and we have 1^st and 2^nd.  Let’s end this.  Now!

10:17 – Jaso flies out and we’re going to the bottom of the 1^st.  Well done.

10:19 – The Angels are blowing open the game in Texas.  7-1 Angels … and I can never figure out who to root for when these teams play. 

10:20 – There we go, the Bernie Lean gets things going with Coco coming up to the plate.  As an added bonus, CSN shows it from the get-go. 

10:21 – Here comes the crowd!  Cowbells, drums, 3-1 … and now 3-2 count to Coco.

10:22 – Coco!!!!  Crisp!!!!  Home … run!!!  Let’s go Oakland!

10:24 – Stephen Drew drives the ball to the wall and it’s caught.  So close!

10:25 – Cespedes drives the ball right at the right fielder.  Two outs but everyone is making good contact. 

10:30 – Seager makes a nice play to catch Redick’s foul ball and that ends the inning.  By the way, I failed to mention in the opening paragraphs that Redick broke his 0-for slump yesterday in Texas with two HR’s.  Hopefully that bat stays alive over the course of the next week. 

10:33 – Phew, Smoak just misses a HR as the ball carries foul.  That ball was crushed.  Come with the curveball. 

10:34 – Smoak flies out on the next pitch. 

10:37 – Another opportunity for a shutdown inning and the A’s fail at it.  HR by Robinson ties the game at 1. 

10:39 – Groundout to end the inning but the damage is done. 

10:41 – MLB.TV just went down on both feeds and came back on one source with grainy video from Oakland.  Oh boy, I really have enjoyed the service this year.  They couldn’t come up with a worse time to really strike a nerve. 

10:46 – The A’s go down in order and my connection on MLB.TV is less than superb right now. 

10:50 – I only know that the A’s got through the inning because I have switched over to the radio broadcast.  #Firstworldproblems … and really, really annoyed.

10:54 – Pennington leads off the inning with a hit.  The TV portion of MLB.TV is about 2 minutes behind the radio broadcast right now.  Annoying, but I’m going with the TV version and staying off Twitter.

10:57 – Stephen Drew gets that one over the wall, 3-1 A’s!

11:01 – Moss grounds out to end the inning.  Scoreboard alert – Beltre hit another HR to bring the Rangers to within three, 7-4 in the 8^th. 

11:06 – Moss makes a nice play at 1^st to turn a double play to end the inning!  We’re on to the bottom of the 4^th. 

11:09 – Redick smacks a ball to RF but Wells makes a nice play/catch.  1 out 

11:15 – Smith strikes out to end the inning, with the A’s still on top 3-1. 

11:22 – It’s a final from Texas, Angels win 7-4.  Three words: Let’s go Oakland!

11:23 – With a little help from the home plate umpire, Griffin strikes out two more and we go to the bottom of the 5^th. 

11:31 – Coco with another hit, this one with 2 outs.  The bad news, I just saw a reported attendance of 16,376.  Hopefully everyone in the area is prepping for a weekend at the stadium?!

11:36 – After a Drew walk, Cespedes hits a rocket to SS and we have bases loaded.  Seriously, what percentage of the time does the ball fly off of Cespedes’ bat?  He’s going to become one of the most exciting players in the game to watch over the next couple of years. 

11:39 – Coco scores on a wild pitch from Oliver Perez, who was “adored” by the local media here during his time with the Mets.  Nice to see things haven’t changed much. 

11:40 – Moss shatters his bat but winds up grounding out.  4-1 A’s as we go to the 6^th. 

11:45 – Griffin’s given up a hit, a wild pitch, and now a walk to start off the 6^th.  Let’s fix this immediately and get someone up in the bullpen just in case.

11:47 – Seager strikes out on three pitches, all of which were out of the strike zone.  Thanks

11:51 – Jaso gets hit on the hand and barely reacts to it.  How is that possible?  In any case, with two outs and the bases now loaded, Doolittle is replacing Griffin.  Nice outing from Griffin, but he’s going to need a large helping hand right now. 

11:55 – Doolittle gets Smoak to fly out to end the inning.  4-1 A’s still.  Phew. 

11:59 – Redick leads off the inning with a hit.  He’s out of his slump, right?

12:07 – A’s go down quickly and quietly after Redick’s leadoff hit.  We’re going to the 7^th, 4-1 A’s.

12:10 – Saunders takes the first pitch deep against Doolittle, 4-2 A’s.  Doolittle seems to be coming back to earth a little over the past few weeks.  He needs to be the reliable left arm in the bullpen. 

12:16 – After the leadoff HR, Doolittle puts the Mariners down quickly.  7^th inning stretch time

12:22 – A’s are looking to pad the score here a bit.  Pennington walks, gets to second on a wild pitch, and is followed by Coco’s infield single. 

12:26 – Drew walks to bring up Cespedes with the bases loaded and no outs.  Before that happens, we have another pitching change. 

12:33 – Cespedes walks after a number of pitches and the A’s force in a run.  5-2

12:36 – A’s get a gift run on a terrible throw home from the M’s second baseman.  6-2 A’s. 

12:37 – Donaldson shoots one right up the middle and the A’s score two more!  Game over?  8-2 A’s

12:49 – Cespedes lays out to make the catch in an 8-2 game?  Yes.  That should inspire the entire dugout. 

12:57 – A’s go down quickly and quietly in the bottom of the 8^th.  We go to the 9^th …

1:01 – Jim Miller is in to pitch the top of the 9^th.  This may make or break Miller’s time with the A’s and whether or not Melvin goes to him anymore.  Smoak gets a leadoff single.

1:03 – Cook is up in the bullpen again, as Miller goes 3-0 to the second straight batter.  Miller walks him two pitches later. 

1:06 – Robinson strikes out again and probably should have been tossed for arguing again.  1 out

1:07 – Moss makes a nice play on a foul ball.  2 outs

1:08 – Another foul out and the A’s win!  3 back of Texas and they remain 2 ahead of the Angels.  Let’s go Oakland!

I’m going with the returning Coco Crisp as the player of the game! 

Game Day Diary – Athletics @ Yankees, 9/21/12

We’re live to start off the birthday weekend from the couch instead of Yankees Stadium.  I’ve grown incredibly lazy in my old age and had no interest in rushing to the Bronx for a Friday night game.  This was the only game that there was any chance to get to and we passed.  Tonight, we have the distinct displeasure of not listening to Glen and Ray and will be subjected to either Michael Kay or John Sterling.  I’m assuming it is Kay since it is a Yankees home game.  I don’t have a preference on either, as they are both torture.  Someone should actually create a Twitter parody account for both of them.  I would do this but I have absolutely no interest in listening to either of them beyond the handful of games a year when the Yankees play the A’s. 

Updated standings from last night’s games have the A’s and O’s tied for the first wild card spot, one game behind the Yankees.  The A’s are four games behind the Rangers for the division lead, but have a 4.5 game lead on the Angels.  I’m not saying anything about how this relates to the A’s chances of making the playoffs, given the amount of bad karma coming this week – postseason tickets went on sale and the national media finally picked up on the team.  Stop! 

Coco remains out of the lineup tonight, with Cowgill leading off and playing CF.  Rosales is at 2B tonight, but I have a feeling we’ll see Weeks in the lineup this weekend.  No, really, please make this happen.  Let’s get him back in the lineup please.  It’s Parker vs. Sabathia on the mound tonight and I’m on record from last night (see below) predicting a win.  (Gulp)

7:02pm US EST – We’re live two minutes late because I forgot to change the channel.  We’re off to a good start here.  In the booth tonight on My9 (don’t ask) is apparently going to be Michael Kay, Ken Singleton, and Paul O’Neill.  Oh boy.  Before even finishing those thoughts, they go to commercial.  The Yankees broadcast personified and we’re only in our first time-stamped entry.  (Shaking head)

7:05 – You can’t make this up – we’re going to our second commercial break.  They were in the booth “dissecting” this game for approximately 45 seconds.  Good grief.

7:09 – Cowgill strikes out but had a decent at bat, seeing a few pitches.  Sorry, I took my own commercial break while the announce booth talked throughout the entire at bat.  This is going to be a long, sarcastic diary.  There’s your warning. 

7:12 – Gomes draws a walk after our first pink eye joke from the booth. 

7:13 – The booth is now talking facial hair and haircuts.  Reddick drives one that is just foul and misses a HR.  Ugh!

7:16 – Reddick strikes out after a decent at bat as well, as Sabathia is already at 20 pitches. 

7:18 – Cespedes strikes out as well and I think we have a theme for the evening. 

7:21 – Jeter swings at the first pitch and we have one out.  Nice pace for Parker …

7:21 – It is still 7:21 and we have two pitches and two outs.  That joke was a lot funnier 25 seconds ago before Kay said something similar. 

7:24 – Parker is dealing in the first and Cano goes down on strikes!  Note that I’m restraining myself from touching my phone and passing along any text messages.  For now …

7:28 – I had no idea the Yankees had Ichiro in left field.  He just caught a nice pop off of Donaldson’s bat. 

7:29 – Derek Norris swings at the first pitch and pops out to Ichiro.  We’re going to the bottom of the 2^nd. 

7:34 – A-Rod strikes out and I immediately give Parker a three clap salute.  Thankfully, the wife is out. 

7:35 – Granderson goes down on strikes too.  (Remain silent, stay off your phone)

7:37 – Martin grounds out and we’re going to the third inning.

7:40 – Drew smacks the ball 55 feet and into Sabathia’s glove.  No emphasis on the word “smack”.

7:43 – Rosales strikes out on a clear ball.  We’re back to the top of the lineup. 

7:44 – Eric Chavez, playing first base, beats Cowgill to first on a slow grounder.  Let’s think about that as we go to the bottom of the 3^rd. 

7:47 – Chavez dribbles out to Norris - I still can’t root against Eric (he was my favorite Athletic during his tenure).

7:48 – Parker gives up his first hit to Ichiro and it’s a ball that gets stuck in his jersey.  Naturally, this had to happen against Ichiro, who I still don’t like from his Mariner days. 

7:53 – Ichiro steals second and I feel like the Yankees booth is stealing signs and relaying quick signals.  At the same time, the pitch is called a ball and that was another terrible call. 

7:55 – The umpire makes up for it and calls Jeter out on strikes.  Thanks

8:00 – Reddick strikes out on a pitch that hit the dirt.  That feels like another missed call.  Seconds later, Cespedes pops up to quickly end the inning.  Ugh. 

8:07 – Swisher gets the first ‘real’ hit of the game.  Why does it feel like Swisher punishes the A’s? 

8:09 – A-rod hits a blooper to CF and the Yankees have 1^st and 3^rd with 1 out.  Sudden illness is coming over me. 

8:14 – Granderson gets a sac-fly to Cespedes.  Yankees take the lead 1-0. 

8:16 – Martin grounds out to end the inning and we’re on to the 5^th.  The A’s desperately need to get a few base runners, at the very least, in this inning. 

8:24 – Michael Kay stresses the “Al” in Alzheimer’s and I immediately hate him more.  He does mention that he was touched by it too and that makes me feel a bit bad about the joke.  Let’s move on. 

8:25 – In the spirit of the Yankees, I’m taking a commercial break as well to point out that Casey Pratt pointed out that a guest appearance in the game day diary a few weeks ago (vs. Cleveland) had a Twitter account.  Follow “The Mauler” here on Twitter. 

8:29 – A beautiful play from Cespedes on an Ichiro blooper and they get him caught between 1^st and 2^nd.  Two outs in the inning.  That was the worst effort at a rundown I’ve seen in quite some time.  Thanks Ichiro!

8:30 – Nunez grounds out to end the inning and we go to the 6^th.  Hey Oakland, let’s get some base-runners please.

8:34 – Drew breaks up the no hitter from Sabathia, thankfully!

8:35 – Rosales flies out to right field.  In Yankee Stadium there’s always some potential for that carrying out. 

8:36 – I’m calling it now before it happens.  Gomes goes long. 

8:39 – So much for that, Gomes strikes out looking.  I even time-stamped a text message just in case for future proof.  I’m losing my touch. 

8:45 – Parker gets Cano to ground into a double play to end the inning.  Let’s go Oakland!!

8:50 – Reddick strikes out again.  Please move him to anywhere else in the roster.  Try him in the two hole or the five hole.  Please!

8:53 – Cespedes strikes out on ball four.  At the same time, I realize that CC threw about 20 pitches in the first inning and is only at pitch 90 through 6.2 innings. 

8:56 – Carter walks and that brings up Donaldson.  Let’s go Oakland!

8:57 – Singleton throws out a bizarre stat that has Donaldson hitting over .400 on Friday nights and just above .200 the rest of the week.  It’s time to put that theory to the test.

8:58 – Well, so much for that, as Nunez robs Donaldson.  Ugh.  Seventh inning stretch

9:05 – Would the A’s bats please help Parker out?!  He’s through 7 with virtually no damage.  Give this guy some run support please!

9:07 – The wife is back and handed me a birthday present – A’s pajama pants.  I’d put a picture up of them, but I am also wearing a throwback Reggie Jackson jersey and this combination is downright scary and I have a legitimate concern of this going viral.  Let’s move on and score some (blank) runs please!

9:09 – Cano has Norris played perfectly and we have one out in the top of the 8^th. 

9:10 – Stephen Drew with another hit.  Come on!!

9:12 – Rosales has made some nice contact but it continues to land in the glove of Yankees. 

9:15 – Cowgill beats out a slow grounder and I think I see an A’s runner at 2^nd base!  Let’s go Oakland!

9:16 – Gomes gets HBP and here comes Reddick with 3 K’s on the night.  Please, please, please is about all I can come up with. 

9:18 – Reddick flies out to LF.  !@#$%^&*(  … I don’t know what else needs to happen to move him out of the 3 hole in the lineup. 

9:26 – One pitch to Jeter is a strike and the next in the exact same location is a ball because Jeter stretches out further over the plate.  I hate the Yankees by the way.  By the way, there are two outs in this inning already. 

9:28 – Parker strikes out Jeter to end the inning.  We’re going to the top of the 9^th.  Cespedes and Carter need to go deep.  Please?!

9:31 – Cespedes just (bleep) misses a HR and we have one out in the 9^th. 

9:32 – Brandon Moss is PH’ing for Carter? 

9:34 – Like I said, Moss is PH’ing for Carter and hits a HR!!!!!

9:36 – Martin makes a nice play as A-rod wanted nothing to do with running towards the A’s dugout.  Yes, I might be taking that opportunity to make fun of A-rod.  Two outs. 

9:39 – Norris walks and we have a Coco sighting, as he will pinch run.  Nice!

9:42 – Coco steals second base and here we go!

9:43 – Drew walks and here comes Seth Smith.  Let’s go Oakland!! 

9:47 – Smith strikes out and the A’s will have to deal with the heart of the Yankees lineup. 

9:52 – I think I hear a faint, little “Let’s go Oakland” chant from one person in the crowd.  Well done. 

9:54 – A-rod gets a hit to keep the inning alive.  Of course he does.  By the way, Doolittle is in and got the first two hitters out.

9:56 – Yes!  Extra innings live from the Bronx.  Thank god I’m not at this game.

9:59 – Pennington leads off the 10^th because he came in to play defense in the ninth.  I only know this because Kay just announced his entry into the game when he came to the plate. 

10:00 – Pennington continues to swing at high fast balls and flies out.  If he could hit home runs this would be acceptable. 

10:06 – Here’s a summary of my thoughts:

john flesta ‏@jflesta

I love Reddick and what he has brought to this team. But for the love of god, get him out of the 3 hole in the lineup! #Athletics

 10:09 – Martin with a walk-off HR off Doolittle.  Thanks Reddick!

Player of the game goes to Parker, despite the walk-off HR because I can’t stand the Yankees.  If he had any help whatsoever, this should have been a W.