Oakland A's Days

The A's Are Going to Make a Brand New Start of It, in New, New York

The weekend series gave us a strong feeling of deja vu.  Very solid pitching, very little offense.  And, of course, some additions to the Maco Scutaro highlight reel.  Happily, this should all end in the series against the Yankees in their new ballpark.  First, Marco Scutaro isn't on the Yankees so we won't have to deal with the unpleasantness of rooting for someone who is doing everything possible to beat the A's.  Second, the new Yankee Stadium is apparently a homerun launching pad which sounds like just the thing to perk up the A's offense.  We hope the bats really come to life!  Some Matt Holliday homers would be much appreciated (and not just because they would help our fantasy team).  

 

Go Oakland! 

Off-Day Gratitude

We are grateful that the A's were not no-hit by the Red Sox yesterday.  We are grateful that baseball season is back and are thoroughly enjoying the season so far. We can't wait until tomorrow's game.  Go A's.

Walk Off Chopper

We may have been too quick to mention the decline of Red Sox Nation.  From the look of things on TV, there were an awful lot of red shirts at the Coliseum last night.  And many of them stayed until the bitter end (emphasis on bitter).  So we give them some credit for that.  But we can't say enough about how satisfying it is to beat that team on our field in front of their fans.  It feels great.  So let's hope that the A's can do it again today.

 Go A's!

Tuesday Potpourri

• There were fewer Red Sox fans at the Coliseum last night than usual.  Not winning the World Series seems to have exacted some needed population control on "the Nation."  We definitely don't miss all those sparkling Sox jersies and dopey Big Papi cheers. 
• Dallas Braden's moustache tattoo on his right pointer finger made an appearance during his post game interview.  We love it!
• The tv coverage on Comcast SportsNet this season is a big improvement.  We have never been big F.P. Santangelo fans, but the pregame and postgame have been really good.  It feels like the A's are finally getting some of the legit coverage they deserve. 
• Nick Swisher pitching for the Yankees and being the only Yankee pitcher who didn't give up a run is beyond awesome.  It made us really miss him.
• Our fantasy team got a huge boost from Braden's W, Holliday's RBIs, Jermaine Dye's HR, and Jairo's 2 Ks.  Thanks guys!
• Most importantly, we thoroughly enjoyed the A's beating the Red Sox.  What a great game!  Here's hoping for another win!

Go Oakland!   

Synergy Time

Pretty embarassing getting swept by the Mariners.  But the pitching, offense, and defense all had moments this weekend when they looked really good (they also had moments that looked not so good -- but it is too early in the season for naysaying).  We think the Red Sox series is just the right time for all three to come together in a glorious display of baseball winningness.   

We also think that this A's ad playing on sfgate right now is adorable.  SPOILER ALERT: The elephant lands on the Red Sox logo and squashes it. 

 

Go A's!     

p.s. Please please please let the Alamedeum not be overrun with Boston bandwagoners.  Please.

Hereos, Heros, Heroes

As we said, we loved the pregame ceremonies honoring the OPD on Friday night.  They were thoughtful and A's-ey and good.  And they were made all the more charming by the fact that the scoreboard repeatedly struggled to spell Heroes correctly.

 

 

10 Random Things About the A's Home Opener*

It's too bad the A's lost, but we had a great time at the Coliseum on Friday night.  Here are our 10 favorite things about the Home Opener:

10. These beautiful new Collector Cups.
9. Kara Tsuboi's fan interviews between innings.  She seems like a real pro and adds a welcome touch of class to the Coliseum.  Buan could learn a few things from her.
8.   The guys behind us busting out a "Marco - - Scutaro" chant in the 7th inning.  So random and so funny.
7.   The loaded bases, hundreds of times.  Of course, it was ridiculously frustrating that the A's stranded so many runners.  But after 2008, we forgot what loaded bases feel like, so at this point we're finding all the opportunities to score quite refreshing.
6.   Further to #7, even though the A's were down by 4 runs early in the game, the game was still interesting.
5. The spontaneous OPD chant during the pregame ceremonies.
4.   Pitch Count Jones.
3.   Magnetic schedules.
2.   All the awesome A's fans in their crazy green and gold flair.
1.   The incredibly moving pre-game ceremonial first pitch without the pitch.  Well done, A's.

Go Oakland!

*Thank you Facebook.

Hooray for the Home Opener

 

Welcome back Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum (hereafter "the Oakland Alamedeum"), good riddance McAfee.  We are counting the seconds until first pitch. 

Go A's!  Go Oakland!   

Ugh

The new stadium issue is so irritating that we find things like this really hard to read.  But let us just go on the record and say that we are against the A's in San Jose.  It may rhyme, but that doesn't mean it is a good idea. 

So Sad

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4055343