byrnes, wash, kendall, thomas, bradley, hatteberg, zito, bradley, dye, payton, miggy...

by notah8er on Jul 18, 2007 3:08 PM PDT

if only we could afford the lineup of recently FORMER A's

what a bummer - my team plays for 8 different teams now. where did they go? sure, the a's look like geniuses in terms of the starters they have dealt - or do they? i know blanton and danny h are quality, but that's about it for game-winners, with the possible exception of swish once in a while. put recently-former a's against current-a's and my money would be on the formers - sure, it's a fantasy, byrnes never came close to being on the same team as big frank, so it isn't like the team in my mind ever really existed...

Poll

sappy theme for a's decline

"dust in the wind"

15 votes

"the way we were"

4 votes

"don't fall in love with a dreamer"

10 votes

"that's life"

22 votes

"the best of times"

2 votes

"those were the days"

28 votes

81 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Is Bradley there twice cuz you miss him ...

... or so one can be on the DL whilst the other one plays? I wish he'da been twins, too.

Anyway, for 2007 methinks we're heading for the

The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus

by The Dogfather on Jul 18, 2007 3:17 PM PDT reply actions

from that list...

Byrnes - sucked for a year after we dealt him, then started to hit very well. It is not a coincidence that this happened in a) the NL and b) in a good hitters park.

Ron Washington - Managing the last place Rangers. Granted, I'd love to have him back.

Kendall - Sucking for the Cubs instead of the A's.

Thomas - hitting .258/.375/.445 with 14 HR as a pure DH in Toronto, a hitters park. He's being paid about 15 times as much as he got from the A's in the 1 year we had him, and netted us a draft pick. At least Cust can play the outfield.

Bradley - Playing for the Padres. I really did not like the move. I think we'd have been better off playing him and then trading him at the deadline after he was healthy for a couple weeks.

Hatteberg - Went as a FA to the NL and in an extreme hitters park.

Dye - Finally got healthy when he left Oakland, put up some good years. This year, he's injured and struggling.

Payton - Sucking for the Orioles.

Zito - Sucking for the Giants while being paid $135 million over 8 years.

So if we go with your chosen lineup, and kept all those guys, this is what our team would look like:

CF Byrnes
1B Hatteberg
RF Bradley
DH Thomas
SS Dye (he did play a couple innings there ;)
LF Payton
3B - ...
2B - ...
SP Zito
C1 Kendall

by Zonis on Jul 18, 2007 3:22 PM PDT reply actions

Well he did also mention Miggy

So he'd play SS and we'd love to have him back. So move Dye to 2b, and have, um, Giambi go to third. That team would actually be pretty good (especially with Harang, Lilly and Bonderman). Still, spilled milk.

"Loyal? I'm the most loyal player money can buy." - Don Sutton

by vignette17 on Jul 18, 2007 3:52 PM PDT up reply actions

Also...

.. Are you putting Z in the batting order over Kendall?

"Loyal? I'm the most loyal player money can buy." - Don Sutton

by vignette17 on Jul 18, 2007 3:54 PM PDT up reply actions

in my fantasy vision

kendall is stubbornly getting about a hit a game like last spring...

but in the current reality, the a's had a choice between byrnes and crosby, a few years later, it's obvious that billy b got played on at least one player.

maybe billy has a blind spot with california-grown rookies - let's also not forget how much money we paid for chavy and how many days of a .260 average he's given us since.

by notah8er on Jul 18, 2007 4:19 PM PDT up reply actions

I can think of a

former A's lineup too

LF Brynes
CF Damon
RF Guillen
1st Hinske
2nd Durham
SS Tejada
3rd Tehan
C Hernadez
DH Thomas
SP Bonderman

In England all A's fans are "Athletic Supporters"

by Athletics Fan In London on Jul 18, 2007 7:43 PM PDT up reply actions

can we stretch the rules

and sub ethier in for damon?

by notah8er on Jul 19, 2007 3:22 PM PDT up reply actions

Byrnes

Ol' bird brain has actually hit better on the Road than at Home since joining the D'Backs. +60 OPS in both 2006 and 2007 when hitting on the road.

Yep. Warm and fuzzy... that's me.

by grover on Jul 19, 2007 10:13 AM PDT up reply actions

This is not a diary...

This is spam. It's like the messages I get at the office full of keywords but no message. Confusing.

More than just ANtics: http://www.louisgray.com/live/

by louismg on Jul 18, 2007 3:28 PM PDT reply actions

M8K UR PEN!S L@RGER!

"Woo hoo!" - mikeA

by McFood on Jul 18, 2007 4:34 PM PDT up reply actions

haha...

I replied to that one. It worked.

These friggin' unclutch losers will never, ever win another game! Ever!

by FoolshGame22 on Jul 18, 2007 11:29 PM PDT up reply actions

i vote for

"Forever Young" by Alphaville for the A's theme.

the problem is not "too many left handed hitters" but "too many suck handed hitters"-Zonis

by ohad on Jul 18, 2007 5:37 PM PDT reply actions

Practicing my embedding skills

by Soaker on Jul 18, 2007 6:46 PM PDT up reply actions

was that big in japan?

Okay, ASB come and gone...time to make the run...or not.

by ak_A on Jul 18, 2007 9:16 PM PDT up reply actions

only 3 mistakes

chavez over miggy. not keeping payton and guillen.

me and marco down by the ballyard.

by oakath on Jul 18, 2007 7:11 PM PDT reply actions

Could argue: Never should have had Guillen

The guy Beane traded for him, Aaron Harang, has turned into a pretty good pitcher, for a lousy team in a hitter's paradise at that. Thanks, Rick Peterson.

Just as I type this comment, Payton takes Jarrod Washburn into the left field bullpen at Safeco.

by Soaker on Jul 18, 2007 7:35 PM PDT up reply actions

Sending his OPS skyrocketing to .707

I can't believe anyone misses a player being outhit my Mark Ellis.

by MrIncognito on Jul 19, 2007 11:18 AM PDT up reply actions

The point isn't to be perfect

Building a winning team isn't about being perfect, it's about being right more often than everyone else.

Any time there's any discussion of the A's and Beane, people bring up the same litany of questionable moves. Management isn't about always being right, it's about being right more often than you're wrong. There are always players we could have drafted, trades we should have made, trades we shouldn't have made, etc.

I feel this whole discussion is really silly from this perspective. We've enjoyed watching one of the best teams in the game for the last 10 years with a payroll in the bottom third of the league. That's not coincidence.

It is difficult to sustain success the way the A's have. The Yankees are having trouble doing it with four times the payroll. We are bound to go through a rebuilding year from time to time: that's just part of the game.

by MrIncognito on Jul 19, 2007 11:23 AM PDT reply actions

was just in a local pub

drinking lunch and watching Cubs/Gnats. Chicago's battery was Lilly and Kendall. JK seemed to be calling a pretty good game; SF wasn't getting much against Ted.

"San Jose A's of Fremont" is pretty bad; "Silicon Valley A's of Fremont" is worse

by ArakSOT on Jul 19, 2007 11:50 AM PDT reply actions