Oakland A's Days

So Sad

We can't believe the news about Joe Kennedy. We just can't believe it. It would be beyond disingenuous for us to say that Joe Kennedy was one of our favorite A's. But that might be part of the reason we are so sad about his death. We are just so sad.

Bye Marco

We are sad that Marco Scutaro is going to the Blue Jays. Really sad. We don't know what this means as to whether the A's are rebuilding, or refiguring, or what. But we know that it means that Scoot's magical moments will now take place in Canada, far away from the Oakland Coliseum. And we know that this is just one more reason why the A's feel so foreign to us now. We loved Marco's seemingly clutch hitting. And the crazy Scutaro cheers. And the fact that he was always going to the mound to translate directions into Spanish for the pitchers. We understand that Scoot may have had his limitations as a player, but he had a real A's-iness that is in short supply these days. Plus, we ate breakfast next to him at spring training like five years ago and we can't say that about any of the other A's. But while this feels like bad news right now, we are just going to hope that this off season is full of A's moves that result in an awesome team in 2008. We are just going to hope.

The Lost Season

Well, the World Series is over.  It is actually kind of a relief.  In some ways, there should be so much to say about this season for the A's. The terrible injuries. The departures of Jason Kendall and Milton Bradley. The rise of the rookies. Jack Cust's incredible May. The endless losing. The terrible injuries.

And yet, when we look back, it is hard to remember a lot of the details. The fact that the A's were out of contention almost from the start, and certainly after the All-Star break, makes all the memories sort of fade together. And the constant Geren optimism made it hard to figure out what was really going on. We remember our frustration with the chronically injured A's and the same old offensive apathy that has plagued the A's for years, but it is hard to remember the specifics. Of course, we remember the Scutaro walk-off that bounced off the foul pole and there are probably a few other events that we could relay as highlights. But for us, this was a largely disappointing season in a very nebulous and non-descript way.

One great thing did happen though on the last day of the season. First, the A's played like they really wanted to win. They didn't give up. They hustled. They looked really into it. And while they may have been playing against the scrubbiest of the Angels, the win meant that we won the season series and preserved a good amount of dignity. But the best thing that happened was at the end of the game, after the A's had celebrated Suzuki's hit by running out of the dugout, they played Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" over the loud speakers and Geren said something to the team and then all the A's walked toward the dugout together waving to the fans and throwing their hats and batting gloves into the crowd. Nick Swisher even passed out bats to some of the fans sitting along the third base side. It was poignant and awesome. It felt like the A's were saying, "Sure, this season sucked. But next year is going to be better. We promise. Hang in there."

So we will. Although, it is isn't going to be easy. They fired all the coaches, which makes us very nervous and sad. We can't even predict who will be the starting lineup next year.  And Fremont hangs over us like a raincloud.  But an ad is up on the A's website for a new Stomper (please let it be someone who loves breakdancing rather than dopey antics) and we take that as a reason to have hope. 

Go A's!