Talking You Down

it's very late where I am and I have a big work day later today, but I got so upset that I've been staying up listening to Buan (the mlb.com audio feed is fine for him, just screws up during the game).

Everybody let's remember it's April 20. And we need our sleep.

I'm glad you're all there to vent with.

Although I seriously doubt Anaheim is missing Glaus and his .220 average.

(Blez, hope it's ok to repost this--you put up this new thread seconds after I posted the following on the game thread...)

*    First off, I am firmly in the camp of people who believe Chavy's last AB was unacceptable for the situation. The 3-2 pitch was not only a clear strike, but it was the only pitch one would expect in that situation--fastball away. Down 2, where a walk leaves it up to the next guy, you have to be swinging at any strike and anything borderline. I really believe Macha should give him tomorrow off to clear his head.

{Personal note to vacaville: I'm not a "homer"; I call 'em as I see 'em. What I never do is "trash" players; if you interpret that as being "always backing all the players," well...do what you want, I suppose.}

*    What bothers me most are inconsistencies, and there were two tonight:

 1. Byrnes was in LF for the ill-fated play, rather than a defensive replacement (e.g., Thomas), presumably to keep his bat in the lineup. Yet Byrnes was lifted for a pinch hitter in the 8th (ironically for Kielty to bat from his weaker side). Either Byrnes should have been out of the game by the bottom of the 7th or he should have hit in the 8th.

 2. Rincon was up, but was not called in to face any of 3 lefties. Surely, he wasn't up for Ichiro, because by the time Ichiro came up, the M's would have to have at least a 2-run lead already. I'm guessing Macha was worried about a pinch-hitter for the pinch-hitter, and that Rincon would wind up facing a righty (only thing I can think of), but then don't bother to have him up.

 IMO, poorly managed game (by a decent manager), "key players" (Zito, Chavy) not there when needed; not good enough to pitch well once the damage is done, or to stand, passively, for a decisive AB that needs a game-tying hit.

although this was the most frustrating game so far this season, there were tons of positives. kotsay, swisher, ellis and scoot were awesome. durazo finally hit his first homerun after ten years. ichiro struck out twice against our pitchers!

strapped to the back of a golden retriever.

Thanks :-)

When Mark Ellis is hitting 6th in the lineup, you've got problems.

HE is reallh handcuffed with the injuries to Calero, and to a lesser extent Cruz.  Street would not have been in if not for the injuries.  And the way you guys b**ch about Rincon, it was him or Street.  HE didn't bring Duke in at that time sice they were tied, and we were looking at possible extra innings

In the learning process, Street needs to focus on two things:

1. It's fantastic that he throws so many strikes, but he does need to make his 0-2 pitches less hitable. The one to Beltre was a "good pitch" but was also too hitable for the count.
2. Street will (as Fosse perceptively noted) need to focus more on the inner half of the plate than the outer half vs. lefties. Like Bradford's greatest success to lefties has come running the frisbee slider in on the hands, Street needs to find the down and in spot. The outer half will not be his friend vs. lefties.

Seems like a quick learner; I'm sure he'll figure both these things out sooner rather than later.

to some of these AB's?  Must drive him freaking nuts.....

We should temper our expectations. Even though we're showing promising signs with so many young guys, we're basically over achieving.

But in the meantime, I reserve the right to scream and curse at the TV whenever Chavie ks with the bases loaded, or Byrnes makes such an utterly bone-headed play.

to find these marvelous straight-from-the-subconscious-to-your-door threads about the game.  When I checked out the box score, my main question was how much Street blew it.

The funny thing about baseball is when your team loses, it feels like they'll never win a game, and when they win, it feels like they can't lose.  In reality, we're going to lose at least 60 more games, and probably 70-80 more.

I'm taking the long view on this. I want Street to mature and find his feet, I want Haren to get Hudson-like, I want BoCro to come back and be solid. I want Calero to be healthy and come back nasty. I want Cruz to find his head and be average.

I want Zito to pitch somewhat above league-average, so he can be traded for something good.

And just maybe, if we're hanging around in contention in August, we can make a good run at this thing.

Oh yeah, i want Barton to start pummeling the ball in the minors and become and excellent 1B.  And a pony. And to have Beane, Forst, and Huston Street to bring us all Garlic Fries on AN Day 2.0 either on the terrace or in the lot.

Having said, that, Chavy has looked terrible. He needs a day off and maybe to go into the 5 spot.

Is it just me or were Duchscherer and Street twins separated at birth?:)

That's all I want to say about last night.

while it is obvious that number 3 will start a crazy streak in the near future, organizations don't spend 10's of millions for "streaks". he has to get more confidence. i don't want him to become milton bradley, but man, wouldn't it be nice to see chavvy get in someones face once in a while, or at least show some passion?

nice guys finish last, especially in competition. he needs to find the thrash.

last night in the eighth it seemed as though he was hoping/looking for a walk.

byrnes should not have been in the field that late in the game. his defense is a liability in close games. what the hell is chucky t doing on the bench in that inning?

this loss rests at the feet of macha.

greendatitiz

(and I'm not defending Chavy who had, IMO, an unacceptable AB yesterday), but those pining "we should have kept Miggy instead" seem to have forgotten how bad a start to the season he had a couple years ago, pressing and trying too hard--his numbers were just as bad as Chavy's current ones, he looked just as bad, and it lasted more than 2 weeks (and he wound up having an excellent season overall).

Also, to those who, in ST, wanted Dotel traded and Street closing, please note that this stage of Street's career he is less effective vs. lefties than Bradford and far less than Dotel. Street will be great someday; not just yet, though. The A's know what they're doing.

Except with Byrnesy. One reason CT and Kielty can't get going is that no one is getting every day ABs. Byrnes has never hit righties all that well, he's especially struggling this year--if you want to get Thomas untracked, and if you want his far superlative defense and judgement, you have to play him regularly, which "against all righties" would accomplish. Time to make the adjustment, Mach.

under the bed during the Boston and New York series.

Is it just me, or have we taken some brutal losses at Safeco Field?  

• Duke's Balk
• Bucky Jacobsen's Walk-Off Homerun
• Last Nights Game

It's seems like we've had some bad luck in Seattle.  

Who should we put in the outfield instead? Kielty? Thomas? We need an offensive AND defensive stud out there -- no one we have is going to do it...

I'm all for cloning Kotsay...  ;)

and the t shirts Blez sells?  Youre just being a dick now.

Byrnes is also battling those mental demons now.  

On any other team he would have come into this season as the starting leftfielder.  But from the start he was told that he had to compete with a rookie, a guy who's ony played half a season in a different league and a guy who was so bad that all normal people are still wondering why he's still in baseball.  Wow,  that must have done wonders for his self-confidence.

Then there were all of the trade rumors.  Does this team want him, is this team shopping him around.  Again, great for the self-confidence.

And then once the season starts, Beane's puppet decides, for the first time ever, that this is little league and four of the five outfielders should just share the outfield, all getting their fair number of at bats.  So, after all of his hard work left field still isn't his.  To compound the problem, if he goes just one night without a hit, he gets benched.  Golly, that's got to feel good, don't you think?  Have you noticed that no one else is getting treated the same way; that people are being allowed to struggle?

So what does our intrepid outfielder do?  He starts to press.  Even though he knows this is the worst thing he could possibly do, even though he has public stated that this is the wrong approach, he tries too hard.  And it shows.

But there you are, making light of the whole situation and leading your AN ditto-heads into the daily bash.  That's too bad of you.

Anyway, it is my hope now that Byrnes gets traded to a team that will treat him with respect, because that is never going to happen on a team led by Billy Beane.

 he was ok, when we had more thunder.

Dan Johnson... a trade... something...

THE WORST OFFENSIVE 1B in the ENTIRE LEAGUE!

the criticism of Chavez has little or nothing to do with his stat line at the end of the season.  Will he have "good" numbers at the end of the season? Probably. Decent, no doubt. Probably 25-30 home runs and a 100 or so RBI.
But the team did not sign him to a lucrative long-term deal for a "nice" stat line.  He was signed to the deal because it was assumed he might become the leader this team needs -- the kind of guy that will put a team on his shoulder and lead it to victory.
You don't always have to be a "vocal" guy to accomplish this -- but you certainly have to be the guy that craves, demands, and yearns for big at-bats like last night's.
Chavez is supposed to be the star -- this is what he "agreed" to when he signed his name on the dotted line.
In essence, he said, "I want to be THE guy. I want to be the one counted on more than any other to produce when the team needs it. I want to be the one guy in the lineup that the opposing pitcher absolutely dreads seeing.  I want to be the guy who strikes fear into the other team ala Manny, or Bonds, or Pujols, or Guerrero, or Tejada. I'm being paid the most to contribute the most. I am the A's marquee player and I will play like it."
It isn't so much that he struck out last night -- it was how he did it. He just stood there -- I still can't believe it. If you don't think he was praying for a walk -- just begging to himself, "please let this be a ball,"-- then you are unbelievably naive.
Chavez has never been this type of player -- he clearly performs better NOT being the guy -- when the pressure is off, and the game is out of reach, this is when he gets the majority of his hits and RBI
Ohad, I still believe that if you could somehow determine when his RBI and HR come, you would see that the vast majority are when one team or the other is up 2 or three or more runs.
He is a "deer in the headlights" when the pressure is on -- but I betcha he's got no such hesitation when he goes to the bank to cash that fat check!
I bet his dream is to be the first guy ever to walk with the bases loaded to win the World Series. What a sad, sad joke.

plz slapnuts "but there is no reason he couldn't have just gone for the out and helped his rookie pitcher" He had only one play, 1st.

He's not the guy to carry the team. Would you not sign the contract if they backed the Brink's truck up to your door? What do you want him to do, give the money back? Do you want him traded? For who?

Thank goodness it's only 10 more hours until we get to read again what's wrong with everbody on this team and what they should've done.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains. But not at Safeco Field.

i have been a massive A's fan for something like 18 years, all of them living in Southeastern Ontario. i think my love stemmed from the fact that they always kicked the ***t out of the Bluejays, and i loved being the only kid wearing a green hat at Jays games.
But i'm much older now, soon to be married and become a father, and now i discover AN.
God Bless you A's fans every one cuz it's been a long and lonely existance up here. Reading your insight and passion for my favorite franchise is like E.T. meeting up with all his alien buddies.
(or something)
Don't stop dreaming about tomorrow. It will soon be here. There's a lot to love about an underdog, rookie team that can't win but will soon. It's fun to watch.
Kudos AN

what do I want him to do??!!

Heaven forbid, but I want him to play like a guy who just signed a fat, multi-year contract!!!

What kind of question is that??

No, I don't want him to give the money back -- No, I don't want to trade him.

I want him to perform. I want him to do his job.  I want him to play like a guy who signed the largest Athletics contract in team history. I want him to play and contribute like the highest paid player on a team should.

I guess that's asking too much.

"What do I want him to do." Unbelievable.

Pitchers excluded because they play 1 out of every 5 games:

2000 - Jason Giambi (Playoffs)
2001 - Jason Giambi (Playoffs)
2002 - Jason Giambi (Playoffs)
2003 - Miguel Tejada (Playoffs)
2004 - ????????????? (Missed the Playoffs)
2005 - Mark Kotsay (Playoffs?)

This is Chavvy's 7th season with the A's...Why hasn't Chavez made it HIS team?  I think I know the answer, but I want to hear other thoughts...

that baseball is a game based on failure?

Players going into hitting slumps is a natural part of the game.  It's going to happen.  Yes, even to the players that have huge salaries.  Remember Jeter last season earning the cover of SI with his slump?  What was Manny Ramirez hitting before he recently broke out?

What bothers me even more than the hitting slumps are the mental lapses on the defensive side of the ball.  This is supposed to be an excellent defensive team.  But Hatteberg dropping that foul ball yesterday.  Chavy not making a play that he's made 1,001 times before.  And then Byrnes' repeated mistakes in left field.

I can accept that Byrnes, Chavy, Ruby and Thomas aren't swinging the bats well, but the defense is absolutely needed.  That bothers me more than the lack of hitting.  The A's are in a tie ball game if Chavy makes the play to first and/or Byrnes doesn't dive for a ball three feet out of his reach.

The defense, outside of the game against Anaheim when Scoot, Kendall, Byrnes and Street all had remarkable plays, has been subpar.  Even Thomas, who Bobby Cox called the best defensive outfielder he'd ever coached (this from a guy who currently has Andruw Jones on his roster), has made a mistake.

The defense needs to shape up.

how chavez's throw to 1st was a fundamental error. thanks.

...that eric is hurt in some way...possibly lower back problems or something. i've suggested numerous times in the past on this site (only to get crapped on-thats OK) much that has already been pointed out by many: eric's lack of leadership qualities, passiveness, never will be a good 4 hole hitter, etc, etc.

nevertheless, i like eric as a player and i'm glad he is an A. but whether he likes it or not eric is the stud bull on this team. a team pays huge for that type of player...and the a's did- 66 mil times over. BUT i must believe eric is injured in some way. in all years i watched eric play-since he was 19 yrs old-he has NEVER played this bad offensively and on defense.

i think he is injured somehow.

No harm, no foul.

I'm not stressed yet. If the AL West trend continues, the teams that won yesterday will lose today, and the division will continue to be stacked w/.500 teams.

In defense of Zito, he was clearly frustrated in the 1st inning last night. I was watching from the CF bleachers and he was really busting the righthanders inside with what looked like a pretty good pitch. He wasn't getting that call, and at one point had to walk off the mound to control his disgust with the homeplate ump.

You have to give him credit for regrouping after his original plan of attack was nullified by, in my estimation, poor officiating.

Three year totals--2002-2005:

Let's seperate the 2 and put players in order from best to worst:

1) Men on base, 2 outs:

Kendall .311
Tejada .309
Scutaro .288
Kotsay .273
Durazo .270
Hatteberg .268
Byrnes .241
Chavez .235

2) RISP, 2 outs:

Tejada .329
Kendall .301
Kotsay .273
Byrnes .258
Durazo .255
Hatteberg .240
Scutaro .239
Chavez .227

Sample size:

Tejada had 353 AB with MOB 2 out and 231 AB RISP, 2 out- total 584 AB.

Chavez had 298 AB with MOB 2 out and 176 AB RISP, 2 out- total 474 AB.  

Big enough?
-------------------------------------

Bottom Line:  Chavez is not Clutch

of first place, right?

and that it's only 15 games into a 162 game season?

the "every game counts the same in the standings" logic? Numerically, of course it does. But there is a flow to a season, same as there is to a novel or play.

In April, you let Haren pitch out of a jam, learn from it, maybe at the expense of a game; in Sept, you might not. In April, you assess, come together as a unit, adjust; in Sept, you overcome fatigue on adrenaline for the "stretch drive."

You wouldn't want a writer to make every chapter dramatic and conclusive like the last chapter will be; you don't approach a speech with an "every word counts the same" mentality.

Baseball is a marathon of ebbs, flows, adjustments, and endurance. It's not about today, and it is NEVER about yesterday.

which sort of means I agree with myself, I suppose. But I like your elaboration.

I also greatly appreciate the labeled "rants diaries" because ranting doesn't bother me if it's qualified as such; then it's nicely therapeutic. A win-win situation (kind of like having a Seattle outfielder cloned.)