Dan Meyer Continuing To Make Strides at Sacto

Oakland vs. Seattle, August 4, 2006.

Vince announced the lineups, and stated that the A's were in their alternative green jerseys, and the Mariners were in their alternative navy blue jerseys.

Korach made a reference to the difficulty in telling the two dark colors apart on their monitors, or from the distance of the press box (one or the other - I forget which), then made the statement in my quote.

For some reason, it just really struck me as both funny and poignant, because it was almost as if he was channeling Bill King for a moment, since Bill was such a traditionalist and tended to see those kinds of things as an abomination.

Been a few days, so this probably won't get read, but it's important to me, so here it is.

I need to apologize for two things. 1) To fadedash for telling him to go to hell. That wasn't right. It's not me or what I'm about. I haven't been myself lately and have been snapping as everyone, but that doesn't excuse it. So I apologize for that. 2) For my original response to fadedash. He called it "snippy". It wasn't meant that way (tone is so hard to convey in text), but after re-reading it a few days later, it definitely read that way.

Others here did a far better job then I did later in the thread of conveying my thoughts. I don't imagine Meyer would be a world-beater if he was called up late in the year. But if the choice is between Komine or Windsor (who look like AAAA guys to me), or Meyer, I give Meyer a shot based purely on the upside he may still yet bring.

I also agree that his velocity needs to be above 85-87 (although the same thing was said about Duke, and he's at least made an 86-88 mph fastball work in a setup role).

I should also point out that I wasn't looking at just one start. I was looking at the fact that he'd made 9 consecutive starts, was reportedly pain-free, and had topped 100 pitches in each of the last 4 (now 5) starts. His WHIP is way too high still. But after the horror of his past 2 seasons, the overall picture, while not completely there yet, is encouraging and on an upward curve.

Last, I'll admit to having difficulty with being criticized, but that wasn't what set me off here. I guess I have a different view of being a fan then most. I tend toward the optimistic - eagerly looking forward to each new game no matter what the current win-loss record is (the first A's season I really remember was the 1979 club that went 54-108). I can't imagine what this place would look like if this team was that bad. The attendance at one of the games I went to that season was 762!!

It just doesn't get any worse then that club, so to me, it's mostly good most of the time. :-)

I just don't get the venom that is spewed here by so many "fans" towards so many players of the team that they supposedly love. Yes, I get frustrated with Chavez too, but I don't rant on about how he "sucks", how he's "worthless" and so forth. I just can't believe that the people who write these things would ever have the courage to say these things to a players face, and if they do....well, then the world's in a whole lot more trouble then I thought. :)

Sooner or later, maybe I'll finally begin to realize that even though I'm only 37, my mind functions in a completely different era - one where common courtesy, decency, and respect reigned supreme. I write as if the person I'm talking about will absolutely read what I'm saying, so I'm mindful to try and be as balanced as I can be, and still respectful even when I'm critical.

Yes, I didn't show much of any of those things toward fadedash in the Meyer diary, so that's why I'm writing this now, to remind myself of what I'm all about, and what I believe in - even if I'm the only man on earth standing on that platform in 2007.

Thanks for listening....
~Mike