Oakland A's Days

Good Riddance

Today's loss was very frustrating.  Borderline heartbreaking.  It's hard not to be mad at Jack Cust for being so terrible in the outfield.  And super sad for Jairo for having become so terrible in general.  Not to mention that we are irritated at Geren for playing both of them, especially considering Cust has been in a slump lately and Jairo should only pitch with a huge lead or when a game is out of reach.  But with that said, we are still really proud of how the A's have been playing lately.  They look pretty good!  Plus, we can think of several other legitimate brightsides right now.  For one, we really are so happy that we don't have to watch Kevin Youkilis take another at bat for the rest of the season.  (And that we no longer have to look at his disgusting goatee, although we do enjoy his silly overreactions when he strikes out.)  We are also happy that we no longer have to suffer through Papelbon's 45 minute pursed-lip set-up and zero-in routine that takes place before every pitch.  And nevermind the depressing and completely painful David Ortiz steroids business.  In short, we are over the Red Sox and all their quirks and we are grateful that we don't have to watch them play the A's again until next season.

Go A's!

New Favorite A Candidate: Tommy Everidge

Dallas Braden on Everidge:  "He's a house. A one-story house, maybe, but a house."

Last night's win was amazing!  Let's go Oakland!

Banjo Man is Everywhere

Go Oakland!

photos via flickr

Brightsiding It

In our ongoing effort to enjoy the A's, we're going to focus on several positives from the series at Yankee Stadium.  Sure, it's not fun to lose 3 of 4.  But there were some things we really enjoyed about the series. 

For one, we loved listening to Ray Fosse call people out.  After the 5th inning of Friday's game when Joba Chamberlain totally overreacted to a couple of strikeouts, Ray said "that is not how you act."  Particularly because he had created the jam himself with a couple of walks.  (Glen told him to act like he's been there before.)  Later in Friday's game, he even told the Yankees to "swing the bat like a man" which is a great thing to say to the Yankees.  He also called out NY Post writer Peter King for
calling the A's pathetic.  On Saturday, the home plate umpire was driving Ray crazy by giving Andy Pettitte the outside part of the plate but not doing Gio the same favor.  You could tell, Ray just wanted to go after that ump.  We love hearing him stick up for the A's that he loves so much.  Especially since defending the A's can be so hard sometimes.  And it was great to be reminded that the A's are going win lots of games at Yankee Stadium in the coming years. 

For two, we were really nervous about Gio's start.  We didn't have any confidence in him after that awful start at the Coliseum versus the Twins.  But we hadn't realized that he hadn't pitched in like 2 weeks.  And much to our surprise, he was by far the best A to start a game in the whole series.  Great job, Gio!

For three, we love the A's Rootbeer Float Day Commercials.  Rajai continues to amuse us to no end.  We are glad he is an A.

For four, Rickey's speech was glorious.  From beginning to end, it was hilarious and sweet and humble and great.  More than we ever could have asked for or expected.   

So that was the weekend from the brightside.  We are going to use our positive attitude to will the A's to win some games in Boston this week.

Go Oakland!

p.s. One thing we can't put a happy spin on from last weekend is G-Force.  It is God awful.  Secret agent guinea pigs seemed like a sure thing to us, but avoid it if you can.   

Embracing the Inevitable

Well, we all knew this day would come.  Farewell, Matt Holliday.  It was short and it wasn't as exciting as we had wanted it to be.  We hope the same isn't true for G-Force.  Anyway, Matt Holiday, it was nice having you and your big hairless arms in Oakland while it lasted.       

 

Go A's!

16 Great Things About Yesterday's Game

1.  16 runs!
2.  Scoring 5 runs in the first inning
3.  Not stopping there
4.  A new season high
5.  Hairston's 3-run homer
6.  .500 w/ RISP (unbelievable for this team!)
7.  Rajai's amazing A's flair socks
8.  Rajai's amazing offense
9.  Matt Holliday going 3 for 3 in (maybe) his last home game as an A
10. Trevor Cahill getting back on track
11. Edgar Gonzalez preserving the 15 run lead, despite walking too many dudes
12. Another edition of Live Dot Racing
13. A pretty big, spirited crowd
14. Bert Be Home Blyleven in the booth with Fosse and Kuiper
15. OAD not even caring that we went to the one dud game of the series
16. Bring on the Yankees!

No Big Whoomp! (There It Is)

Although we knew it wasn't likely, we had hoped that last night's game would have some of the magic of Monday.  It didn't really.  There were 12,028 people there.  Braden pitched pretty well.  The offense didn't really do too much.  Joe Nathan mowed down the A's in the 10th.  And some dope brought a professionally printed sign that said, "Cuddyer was Safe."  Despite this, we had a really nice time.  We got to sit in Row 21 which is our favorite.  There was a cute dance off on Diamond Vision between a kid in section 122 and a guy way out in the bleachers.  Daric Barton looked really good.  And the fans around us were A's-ey and positive especially when we almost got decapitated by a Ryan Sweeney foul ball during the last at bat.  As we walked to BART we realized that it may have been the last game we will see in person where Matt Holliday is an A.  We don't feel great about that, but we just aren't as sad as we would have thought we would be.  This ambivalence is probably how the rest of this season is going to feel -- we want the A's to win and try hard, but really, we are just going to do what we can to enjoy whatever happens.  

Go A's!  

Hanging Our Heads

Dear Loyal OAD Readers,

 

We can't even pretend.  We were not watching last night's game.  Sure, we have seen the highlights and read the recaps.  But instead of watching what was probably one of the best A's games ever, we were watching The Bachelorette: The Men Tell All.  There is no excuse.  There is no explanation.  It was a pretty good episode, but Wes didn't even show up.  Chris Harrison spent way too much time talking about "Man Code."  And we don't even know if Jillian ends up getting engaged.  

 

We are sorry.

 

Regards, 

OAD

 

p.s. Go Oakland!  We are going to the game tonight and hope last night's tremendous win gives the A's some momentum! 

Let the Rickey Love Flow

This weekend had high points (Anderson on Sunday) and low points (error buffet on Saturday).  This article about Rickey was a definite high point for us.  We love all the Rickey retrospectives.  And for some reason, this quote from the A's current third base coach might be our fave:

Mike Gallego on Henderson's "threat" to play like Gallego if he were paid like Gallego: "I took it as a compliment. That's what I told the reporters, and a couple of them asked, 'How could you take it as a compliment?' I said, 'How many of you can say Rickey knows your name?' "

Go Oakland!

For the Captain

This shout out (wow! does that term feel dated) to Ken Korach couldn't be more well-deserved.  The Captain is a comfort even in these trying times.    

BEST REASON TO KEEP AN AM RADIO
Ken Korach
KTRB 860 AM

For fans who believe that baseball is the soundtrack of summer, it's essential that the voices they hear wear well over a 162-game season. A's fans are blessed with a broadcaster who gets it. Ken Korach took over as lead announcer for the locals in 2006, and he tells you what you're not seeing. "A routine fly ball ... playable" means you can exhale safely. "That's hit to right center field ... and nobody's going to get it" means you should turn the volume up. If you tune in in mid-August and the score is 10-2, you can tell from Korach's tone without him once mentioning the tally. He delivers the proper proportion on the game and the season. In baseball, like in life, not every moment is a 3-2 count in the bottom of the 9th. But when it is, and Korach's on the mic, you don't want to miss a pitch.

Go Oakland!