Wow

that the bitch slap was not needed.  It wasn't A-Rod bad, but still it was a little dick-ish.

bathroom, posting in bed.   still all worked up over this great game.

I think even my typing must be hoarse, after a night of at least three hundred "Let's go Oakland!"s.

Kudos to Chavvy, Ellis, Cassilla, and Haren!

Hey, I was at the Coliseum for Chavvy's Cycle way back when, too!

I had been at the Come-n-see-'um to shove it in the face of all those Sawks fans.

...but I am so happy for Ellis and Chavy!

(And Santiago too! He's been great!)

here.

but Embree is just awful as a closer.  He is the left-handed Billy Koch.

Can someone please tell him he is allowed to throw something other than fastballs over and over and over again . . .

Anyone who has hit 90 mph at the batting cages can hit off Embree because you don't need to worry about any other pitches.  Yes he will get some fly outs, but other times he will get what he got tonight.  He needs to really start mixing up the pitches.

... and Cy = inability to extend Haren cheaply into infinity ... I'll take Haren missing out on a few Ws.

I was at this one

but, we all knew the A's were in trouble when Haren gave up the 2nd HR.  With this pen, we were lucky to pull it out.

It goes in the "W" column, though, and that's all that matters.  (Until tomorrow.)

Is Chavvy's walk-off.

I would have rather seen that out at the plate.

and Chavy's walk-off is #1.

Yes, messy game, heart-attack baseball, but a good night.

I must say, as Chavez came up to the plate in the bottom of the eleventh to his theme "it's your birthday"...I yelled at him, No it's MY birthday (it is)...and he hits the GAME ENDING HOMER!!!!

People were chanting and clapping all the way back on BART...it was nice!!

Bobby "GIDP" Crosby, without whom Unicorn Papi would not have ben able to right the wrong of that horrible previous call. If the fielder chooses the chance at 2nd and doesn't make it, is it not fair to assume the batter/runner would have made 1st ?

On the other hand, a broken bat double is a rare feat, even when assisted by a comedy 3rd 'n' left duo of Youk and Manny. And  what's the team record for the most broken bat hits in a game anyhow ?

Props to Snyder for taking the charge on an uncovered first and still coming up with the ball.

Finally, with 1st and 2nd open and two outs in the 9th, do you really leave our Embree in to face Varitek - the one Red Sox hitter who really knows our closer-by-happenstance's stuff  inside out ?

in the left field bleachers, where we observed early on that Manny Ramirez was having some difficulty with his underpants riding up.  He kept trying to effect discreet little twitches from the sides, but when you have a few hundred people who hate your guts staring at you from behind, you're not going to escape the chants of MANNY'S GOT A WEDGIE no matter how hard you try.   More surprising is that Manny seems to have an invisible friend - -he kept looking to his left and gesturing as if there were someone there he was talking to,  but there wasn't.

Take that, AP!

This team has me on an emotional roller coaster. I loved seeing Chavy come through, I was glad for Ellis (he was awesome, even though I'm a freak and don't find hitting for the cycle all that exciting), and Dan Freakin' Haren... But (as someone said in another thread) this game was the epitome of everything that's wrong with the A's, and it makes me kind of sad that I can't completely enjoy the win (maybe some of that Philly sports pessimism followed me when I moved).

I don't think I'm ever going to be able to fall asleep.

Harden could start out in the bullpen when he returns.

Somehow, this does not make me feel better:

Harden played catch in the outfield in the outfield during batting practice Monday, under the watchful eye of trainer Larry Davis.

let's do it again.

Fuck teams that wear Red!

Man it was exciting! I was surprised to learn later that they were playing w/out several of their starters. They're def a playoff team the way they came back to tie it in the 9th. Let's hope DiNardo can get motivated against his former team to give us another 5 scoreless again and make it 4 in a row.

Go A's!

There is truly, actually no way I can watch the game tonight since I am working until at least 9:00, hopefully getting home soon after that. Cheer extra hard for me.

Or you know, have a couple extra shots for me. Whatever works.

Nice way to wake up this morning! Out of town and missed being there. Hope one of my friends recorded it! Let's go Oakland!

Very fun, though at times frustrating, game to watch. I'll admit that I thought the A's were done for when they didn't score in the 9th with the bases loaded.

I'm in Minnesota, so the game ended pretty late for me. But it's one of those games when it's worth it to stay up and watch it, even if it means dragging the next morning at work.

I'm not sure I agree with Blez's statement that Chavez is "often the target of way too much ire of A's fans." I'm actually not sure is the target of enough ire. The guy is basically a defensive specialist at this point, and can be completely neutralized by a left handed pitcher. What's the difference between Chavez and Ellis, other than position and $10+ million a year? Not much. Eric Chavez is a decent player, nothing more. I'm a huge fan of his, but the guy is NOT a star. I wish he was, because he seems like the type of guy you really want to succeed (like a lot of the A's players, thankfully).

what a "HOLY TOLEDO!" game it was!

Well-matched teams, sustained high drama, clutch hitting, pathos (read: no-so-clutch missing), ebbs-n-flows, comeback after comeback, a titanic homer, good defense, constant pressure from our heroes, The Cycle, close calls, sound managing and ultimate redemption.  I think it worthy of verse ("Oh Whatta Night"?  Thanks, Blez) but that pesky making-a-living thing may intercede today.      

Even the fights were useful.  The two I saw had the whole Sox Nation transfixed -- prairie dogging for a better view all down the first baseline, instead of cheering at critical junctures.      

On the one hand, you want to wring hands about all our LoBs, but the flip side is that we just kept coming at 'em, inning after inning.  It's almost ironic that Chavie launched his bomb in the one frame where we'd done S, F-A N.  

Gawd, I love this team!

that since Ellis has returned from his knee owie and son's birth he's no longer rocking the high socks?

...at around 12:30 a.m. Eastern Time this morning, so while I was up, I thought I'd check in on the A's.  Saw the bottom of the 9th and switched it off, irked at Chavez and Crosby.

Woke up this morning, and saw the Chavez game-winner.  Had to mute my "YEAH CHAVY!"s so as not to wake my wife and my son.  Made my Crispix with raisins taste oh so good. :)