* With good coaching, players can learn and get better, and exceed their previous career means.

 * With a suitable environment, players can play at the top of their capabilities, rather than in the middle or at the bottom.  I think, for example, that if Jermaine Dye weren't getting the "you must be patient and walk" message drilled into his head, he'd have been a much better player his final year in Oakland.

 * I think that with more playing time, Antonio Perez would be a much better hitter.  Not true of Ginter.

 * A-Rod has not been as clutch as Jeter in his career.  I think there's a difference between a home run when your team's up 6-1 in the 8th vs. down 3-2 in the 9th.  The situation is different, the crowd is acting differently, the adrenaline is flowing -- can a player transcend all that and perform anyway?  Jeter has shown he can.  The Hurt has shown that he can.  A few players are naturals at this (I can't even think of any) but most have to learn how.  This is where the "veteran presence" matters.  Anyway....I do believe that most players freak out when a big hit is needed, and that reduces their ability to produce said big hit.  And I think A-Rod will learn how but hasn't yet.

As an aside, I think Street is going to be REALLY good next year.  He's a kid, he's willing to learn, he's got great stuff and a great attitude.  

1. I like Dan Johnson, and I think he can still be a productive player.
   
2. Where the A's play their home games means little to me.
   
3. I like Darin Erstad, even if he is an Angel.
   
4. I don't have a problem with Macha's laid back style.
   
5. I'm not a big fan of Adam Melhuse.
   
6. I don't believe there is such a thing as trolling.
   
7. I don't have blind faith in Billy Beane.
   
8. I'm not going to miss Zito that much. I still miss Hudson.
   
9. I think Lew Wollf has been a good owner so far.
   
10. I never liked Jose Canseco.
    
11. I respect comprehensive statistics and metrics more than scouts.
    
12. I think Joe Buck is a decent broadcaster.
    
13. I rarely read Nico's game summaries. Sorry Nico, I don't mean you any harm, it's just that I'm not often interested in them. They're often too cutesy.
    
14. No offense, but I was never that impressed with Bill King. He was good, but not fantastic.
    
15. I'm hungry. Wait, no, that's not an unpopular opinion, I'm just hungry...

I hope this won't be remembered as the diary where they killed Nebraska...

1. I'm not a Yankees fan, but they have some of the classiest coaches and players the game has ever seen. I root for them to beat the Red Sox, because everything you can say about NY's dignity and class goes out the window when you talk about Boston.
2. I think Barry Zito is WAY over-rated.  Solid pitcher -- great career here -- played "every day,"-- too laid back for my taste, won't miss him when he's gone.
3. I think T. Long gets a bad rap -- always played hard (wherever they moved him,) and made some great plays for us.  Yeah, he spoke his mind a couple times (just like Payton, Bradley, Byrnes, etc.) but all in all, I thought he played his ass off for Oakland and received very little credit for it.

WARM FUZZIES, PEOPLE!

I also like Macha far more often than not... not only do I think he's a good manager, I think he's really funny.

I won't cheer for Esteban Loaiza.  I don't applaud his introduction, or his departure after a good start, or any strike he throws unless the batter swung at it & missed/fouled.  He gets enough loud love from the rest of the crowd, I'm sure he doesn't miss having it from me.

I prefer Ginter to Perez.

I have no idea what any current player's current stat on anything is (except "Street's 35th save" managed to stick to my brain last night).

Anyways...

1. I kinda like the Wave. I've never been to a game when I thought the timing was inappropriate considering the on-field situation.
2. I think Ken Macha has done more to cost the A's ballgames than the Wave.
3. Crosby is Fool's Gold. Time to move on.
   

4. I wish Beane had managed to bring Jason Giambi back when the Yankees were looking to send him down to the minors a couple years ago.
5. More team speed please. The A's haven't won a playoff series since Rickey was the lead-off hitter. Just saying.
6. I don't really hate the Yankees. Or the Angels. But I do hate the lack of A's coverage on TV.
7. Buying a Colesium Dog used to be one of the highlights of my game experience... not so much anymore.

1. I don't think Barry Zito is an ace. He sure as hell isn't my ace.
   
2. I don't like Marco Scutaro. At. All.
   
3. I like Ken Macha. He's f'in hilarious. We could do so much worse than Ken.
   
4. I like A-Rod. Screw you, Yankee fans.
   
5. I miss Huddy. Mulder, eh.
   
6. I like Chad Gaudin.
   
7. jrbh didn't bother me.
   
8. Neither does Rev.
   
9. I like the tarps.
   
10. Huston Street- eh, not so hot.
    
11. "Celebration", or whatever the song is they play after wins, if horrible. This is 2006, folks. Can't we get a new song?
    
12. I really don't want Rich Harden pitching today.
    
13. I hate the magic number posted on the AN front page.
    
14. I like KenKo more than I like Bill King.

1. I think Macha is a good manager, and about 10 times smarter than most of the people who call him dumb.
   
2. I don't care much about the batting order, because I know it hardly matters at all.
   
3. I still don't like Jason Kendall, and previous point notwithstanding, think he should bat 8th or 9th.
   
4. I think Ginter and Perez would both still suck no matter how much playing time they got.
   
5. I think Tejada choked in the playoffs worse than Chavez, and, though he was a very good player, I don't miss his supposed leadership at all. (More brains and less "heart" and we get past the Red Sox. Ditto Byrnes.)
   
6. I see no reason to believe that Larry Davis or the rest of the medical staff is incompetent.
   
7. I still think Crosby will be good.
   
8. I have some opinions on some other AN members that are best left unsaid.

• I love Jeter and Giambi.  I think the booing and hatred of Giambi by A's fans is ridiculous
  
• I despise the white shoes, worst thing about the franchise.
  
• I hate the high socks
  
• I like the WS home field being decided by the ASG.
  
• I loved the WBC and wish it was more often than every 3 years.
  
• I think the most important player on the whoel team right now is.....Justin Duchsherer
  
• While I love this site and hate when the A's are playing badly, I think the site is a lot better when the A's are playing poorly.  You can tell a lot about people in tough times.  I really enjoy and appreciate the site when the A's are not playing well.  

• I like Loaiza better after his DUI and "rebirth" than I ever did before.
• I wish some of our guys were on roids still. We look like a little league team compared to some others. I just don't want to know.
• I bet Wash would be a shitty manager.
• People that don't know anything about baseball, and post things reflecting that....I think I'm a better person than they are.
• I believe I've "earned" an A's championship more than people who became fans after 2000. we're talking a lot of painful seasons, here.
• It makes me sick that we play in a 1/3 full stadium every night during a pennant race, and while the A's inevitable move one day will hurt me like I lost a loved one....it'll be tough to blame the owner that finally pulls the trigger.
• I believe all my exes made the biggest mistake of their lives A) getting involved w/ me and B) ever wanting it to end.
• There are a lot of people at A's games that I wouldn't want near my kids, if I had kids or knew the names of the ones I probably do have.
• The most fun I've ever had at A's games are being nearly blacked out and mercilessly heckling fans wearing opposing teams' shirts. I save this for special occasions.

-I like listening to Rex Hudler.  He makes me laugh and i like his passion for his team and the game of baseball.

-I am stoked about the A's possible moving to Fremont.

And I'm a guy.

1. The Red Sox are far and away my favorite team in the AL East.
2. I have no strong feelings -- positive or negative -- about the S.F. Giants.
3. Steve Physioc and Rex Hudler are the finest broadcast team in baseball, nay, in all sport's broadcasting history.
4. The green tops are teh suck, as are most colored tops in baseball. Give me white at home, grey on the road any day!
5. Although I've gone back and forth on this one over the years, I sometimes think there's a good case to be made that baseball is better without the DH (though with Frank around this year, that case seems substantially weaker...)
6. The wildcard stinks.  Teams should have to win a division to make the playoffs. Though I was perfectly happy with two divisions per league and one round of playoffs, I'd prefer four divisions per league and no wild card to the system we have now.  
7. While we're on the subject of playoffs, teams should not be eliminated on the basis of five-game series.  Give me seven games in each round (however many rounds there are....see #6).
8. Interleague play is terrible for baseball.
9. Okay, I don't really believe #3.  At all.

1. Tim McCarver
   
2. Krukow & Kuiper (especially Krukow)
   
3. the Giants
   
4. Barry Bonds
   
5. A-Rod
   
6. Spying-on-American-citizens-without-warrants-phone-company Park (though the eponym is definitely on the dislikes list)
   
7. Vince Cotroneo
   
8. Ray Fosse

1. Marco Scutaro
   
2. Mark Kotsay
   
3. Nick Swisher
   
4. On-field fights and beanball wars
   
5. Rich Harden
   
6. Jason Kendall

1. Performance-enhancing drugs
   
2. The DH/no-DH question
   

Anyway, to get people fired up again, here's my two really unpopular opinions:

1. I like Mike Scioscia, and I think he's a good manager, too.
2. Nine times out of ten, I'd rather watch the game on TV than at the stadium.

3. I like Joe Morgan. Yes, he's clueless on some analytical details, but I don't care. For a TV announcer, he's fun to listen to. (But his partner is even better.)
4. I too prefer KenKo to Bill King (though I liked King, too).
5. I always root for the AL West team in the playoffs, which means I was rooting for the Angels the past two years.
6. I don't like Jason Kendall.  I think he's a good, smart player, but that whole old-school tough-guy thing is a big turn-off for me.
7. I think the A's should have brought up Hiram Bocachica mid-season (as soon as he was healthy) and given him plenty of starts.

Why shouldn't you pad your stats if the other team can't get it's act together?

Why not bunt to beat out a no-hitter?

Why not bust a double into a triple in a blow-out ninth?

Don't talk to me about 'poor sportsmanship' - the game isn't over until it's over (as the Dodgers showed a few nights ago), so it should be played full bore until that 54th out is registered.

Oh, and I would have walked the Little League stud to get to the cancer kid too. It's baseball - play the game, or stay at home.

• I love Marco Scutaro (everyone here seems to hate on him). I know he's not Miguel Tejada, but he's a guy other teams would love to have on the bench. While I recognize he is not the optimal everyday shortstop... he's not absolutely horrible.
• I'm growing tired of Crosby (not related to my first point). Let's give him one more year and then start shopping for a shortstop that will play more than 50 games.
• I think George Steinbrenner is a good owner. He does his job, putting money into the team first, and his pocket second.
• I kind of like AT&T Park.
• I have an eery feeling Duke is gone next year.
• I hate the DH, and I love watching "NL baseball."

• I don't think the A's will miss Zito that much
• I think Duchscherer would make a successful and valuable member of the rotation
• I don't care that much whether the A's win the World Series as long as they are contenders every year
• I don't think oaktoon's presence or absence warrants all the meta-discussion about it

1. I prefer smallball and NL baseball. But I follow the A's too closely to watch NL baseball at all.
   
2. I want the Giants to do well (but not at the A's expense).
   
3.  I don't trust Zito.
   
4. Part of me feels like baseball before Jackie Robinson doesn't count. All baseball before the split-finger should have an asterisk by it.
   
5. I don't care what the A's did in Philadelphia or KC.
   
6. TV is the best way to actually watch the baseball in a baseball game. Watching live is good for sheer energy and joy and bonding with other fans, but you miss 95% of the game without a closeup of the strike zone and instant replay.
   
7. I would probably dislike a significant number of the A's if I knew them personally. I try to compartmentalize that away from affecting my fanhood.

1.  It didn't bother me one bit when Macha pinch hit for Dye.
2.  I like the tarps.

I like the Giants.  
and I like the Mariners.

Oh and I still hate the tarps.

and I don't think that Mark Kotsay is a dependable enough player(health-wise) to give so much praise to.

• 
  
• I really dislike Ken Macha as a manager, yet I think I'd love him in real life. He's funny, and seems like a really good guy.
  
• Every time Rich Harden takes the mound, I feel like it's a dream. I think he's that good.
  
• I love Mark Teixeira.
  
• I feel incredibly sorry for A-rod.
  
• I can't stand Chad Gaudin pitching. Give me Saarloos any day.
  
• I'm not one bit sorry we traded for Milton Bradley. I love him, and think he was more than worth it.
  
• I want our second round to be against the Yankees, because I feel we owe them one.
  

Baseball is a business and should be looked at as such...even before viewing it (the game) as a fan.

There's more, for sure, but isn't that provocative enough for one entry.