BREAKING NEWS: THE A’S WIN A BASEBALL GAME!!!!
by baseballgirl on Jul 18, 2007 3:14 PM PDT
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PrintI don’t know about the rest of you, but pretty much for the whole month of July, I kept waiting for a winning streak. I thought if the A’s could just win a couple of games in a row, then we might have something to build on. Of course, it became inexorably frustrating the more games in a row that they lost, and of course, consistently losing ugly just made it worse.
Somehow, someway--perhaps by playing the baseball that I sometimes think they are capable of (great pitching, great defense, scoring at least four runs)--the A’s managed to stop the insanity and halt their losing streak. Frankly I don’t care if they were on the receiving end of a blatant missed call by the umpire, who probably felt sorry for them; the A’s finally scored with the bases loaded, even via a hit, produced by Marco Scutaro. Scutaro is no Chavez, but he had a stellar game on defense today. Plus, a hit with the bases loaded? I’ll bet he’s one of only a few Athletics to do that.
What a different game it is when they score early. Staking Lenny DiNardo to a four-run lead was more than enough; as he pitched a gem of a game for seven innings, turning it over to the awesome Santiago Casilla for the shutout. How long has it been since we even had a lead to protect?
But the offense didn’t stop at four. The A’s added on, with some late hitting by their offense (good sign), and a homerun by Crosby (not such a good sign).
Call me crazy, but I wasn’t at all excited about Bobby Crosby’s homerun. I mean, we already had a 4-0 lead; why couldn’t he have hit it in a game when it was needed?
I’M KIDDING.
However, in all seriousness, my pet peeve is when Bobby Crosby hits a homerun and the A’s talk about him ‘breaking out of it’. Breaking out of what exactly? Unless you consider him in a career-long slump, Bobby Crosby is not a good hitter. Taking one out of the park every once in a while doesn’t change that; in fact, it may make it worse, because it makes him less likely to change anything about his at-bats. Our announcers can talk about Crosby’s ‘potential’ all they want. I call it ‘wasted talent’.
That being said, I sure like watching Travis Buck, Shannon Stewart and Santiago Casilla. That’s something anyway. I have a tough time analyzing Suzuki yet. He's had a tough time at the plate, but as he’s getting used to major league pitching, I think the jury’s still has to be out.
Injury updates:
The A’s have put Estaban Loaiza on a rehab plan. He will throw a simulated game on the 23rd, will have a side session on the 25th, throw another simulated game on the 27th, and if all goes well, will rehab in the minors on the 30th or 31st. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Eric Chavez had an MRI on his back, and it has shown nothing. Expect him back in the lineup this weekend.
Well, every great journey starts with a single step, and every great comeback starts with a single win. The trick is to get the second.
The A’s try for their second win in a row on Friday against the Tejada-less Orioles. See you back here for all the action.
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Dinardo ...
breaking the losing streak ...just seems like a good omen. It was so unlikely...what a great surprise!
Yeah baby
No torso or chest either.
No wonder he has no heart or guts - no place to store 'em!
It figures
he's the invisible man on offense.
by oaklandSMASH on Jul 18, 2007 3:26 PM PDT up reply actions
we always knew he was spineless
Even when Chavy comes back
definitely need to keep Scoot in the line up. How bout the four infielders alternate every game
by Haren I mean Harden on Jul 18, 2007 11:05 PM PDT up reply actions
and You are right
Baseballgirl..we do have some things to be happy about...Casilla, and Buck will be with us next year. Plus, Stewart is fun to watch this year and I just added him to my fantasy team, too.
eh
The A's always seem to play well when the games aren't on TV.
Death to FSN!
Yes! My boy hit a Home Run!
But lets not forget, he got 2 Walks! One came with the bases loaded! Which honestly, I feel is the more important development where Bobby is concerned.
Amazing how a WIN can change a person's mood so dramatically. I feel like the little black cloud over my head has started to clear a bit!
by BobbyCrosbysGirl on Jul 18, 2007 3:17 PM PDT reply actions
It really is!
BAH! :'(
by BobbyCrosbysGirl on Jul 18, 2007 3:27 PM PDT up reply actions
Every time he hits a HR
it screws up his swing, he swings even harder and pulls the ball even more. I wish it were not true.
by china bob on Jul 18, 2007 3:29 PM PDT up reply actions
Did I say it wasn't true?
Cause I know it is. But the fact that he walked AFTER the home run and didn't strike out swinging is a good sign.
by BobbyCrosbysGirl on Jul 18, 2007 3:39 PM PDT up reply actions
I love Bobby Crosby :-)
by ohtobe21likehuston on Jul 18, 2007 3:44 PM PDT up reply actions
Hey. I'm happy for him today.
by ohtobe21likehuston on Jul 18, 2007 4:04 PM PDT up reply actions
by The Dogfather on Jul 18, 2007 4:40 PM PDT up reply actions
Oh! So Pretty!!
Thank you!
by BobbyCrosbysGirl on Jul 18, 2007 5:06 PM PDT up reply actions
There is plenty to be happy about
the glass is half full. The A's pitching is awesome. Buck is going to a stud. Rooting for the A's now is a game to game thing. Be happy for everyone we win. Screw the standings they can take away from the joy of the game and single game victories. Todays win was so sweet!
by Athletics Fan In London on Jul 18, 2007 3:18 PM PDT reply actions
A's Pitching
It's pathetic to think that our Team ERA is the BEST in the AMERICAN LEAGUE, and we're 5 games under .500
by Colorado Fan on Jul 18, 2007 4:22 PM PDT up reply actions
Yep Pathetic
But it is good, when the A's have sucked for a long period of time it was because of pitching. The offence is much easier to fix than if we had no pitching.
by Athletics Fan In London on Jul 18, 2007 4:28 PM PDT up reply actions
Well...
I wouldn't mind trading some pitching for a legitimate OF bat. The Indians seem to be loaded with good hitting. Any bats they'd be willing to throw our way when they lose C.C.? Gaudin for F. Gutierrez?
by Colorado Fan on Jul 18, 2007 5:24 PM PDT up reply actions
Gaudin and Crosby
for J. Peralta?
hitting problems persist
just 6 hits today versus a mediocre rangers pitching staff. Millwood gave it up today in the second inning and the pitching and defense held up for the a's.
by oak1 on Jul 18, 2007 3:21 PM PDT reply actions
Don't forget the five walks
or Poland
DiNardo talking about "staying mean" out there
I told you he'd regress and be mean!
Except he's being SO nice
complimenting everyone for their play today.
Booooo! Trade DiNardo!
Surely
that must've been an accident. Only Kendall knows the right signals to throw down for our pitchers to pitch great.
by Tyler Bleszinski on Jul 18, 2007 3:25 PM PDT up reply actions
Suzuki
probably had one of those quarterback helmet radios tuned into a mysterious Wrigley Field voice.
by oaklandSMASH on Jul 18, 2007 3:29 PM PDT up reply actions
Harry Caray's ghost?
Channeled through Will Ferrell
by oaklandSMASH on Jul 18, 2007 4:10 PM PDT up reply actions
So good to have an A's win today!
Thanks to Lenny for having The Nards.
Let's make it a streak!
great job by dinardo
great pickup by billy. dinardo fits well on this team particularly when he decides to thrown strikes.
by oak1 on Jul 18, 2007 3:29 PM PDT reply actions
A WIN!!!
SWEET!
Oh, and I agree with the comment I saw in the game thread. Time to SELL HIGH (oh so very high) on Bobby Crosby...lol.
I say stick with Crosby
he had good at bats today. Maybe he'll be a late bloomer.
by A'sfansince1970 on Jul 18, 2007 3:39 PM PDT up reply actions
why didnt DiNardo go 8 or 9 innings today?
he threw just 84 pitches. and Casilla throws 30 pitches in 2 innings -- i hate this overuse of the best relief pitcher by Geren. it reminds me about Street going on the DL and his workload in games like this one where you could surely trust the rest of the bullpen to get 3 outs up by 6 runs.
by oak1 on Jul 18, 2007 3:34 PM PDT reply actions
Why waste his arm
No need to over work his arm
by Athletics Fan In London on Jul 18, 2007 3:38 PM PDT up reply actions
Bit oak has a point too.
Why overwork Casilla's arm? But i think the bottom line is...we HAD to have this win for moral.
what about Casilla's arm?
Lenny isnt a max effort type pitcher and just like Zito he would have been OK throwing 90-95 pitches over 8 innings.
by oak1 on Jul 18, 2007 3:43 PM PDT up reply actions
He'd only thrown 32 pitches since the ASB
over 2 1/3 innings.
we've not had that many games since the ASB!
4 1/3 innings over 7 games translates to over 100 innings through the course of a 162 game season -- a high workload for a reliever in his first full MLB season!
My point is -- Casilla is one our bright spots this year and hopefully a big part of our future, why waste him when the job could have been done by somebody else.
its just symptomatic of the managing by Geren.
by oak1 on Jul 18, 2007 3:49 PM PDT up reply actions
To Avoid a 10-Game Losing Streak
+ a Day Off tomorrow.
Casilla threw 9 pitches in the 8th inning. Were you telling Geren to put in another pitcher after the 8th?
I had no problem with it.
by Colorado Fan on Jul 18, 2007 4:26 PM PDT up reply actions
Why not look at the positive side of it?
Instead of burning both good pitchers by throwing Casilla and Embree, Geren let one guy handle both innings while the other rested completely. Plus, with the off day tomorrow it's pretty much a non-issue anyway as both will be ready, and rested, regardless. Not worth the upset IMO, oak1.
My point was...
Wednesday was only the 3rd time Casilla was used in 7 games. Wednesday was a little too soon to be freaking out about him being "overused". If he's used for 2 innings again Friday... worry. Then again Saturday... go for it.
Who else was available?
Dinardo may have been sagging a bit and tomorrow is an off day, so Casilla can go two innings. It was a MUST WIN! You have to have your best bull pen pitcher out there. Also a confidence rebuilder for Casilla.
by A'sfansince1970 on Jul 18, 2007 3:38 PM PDT reply actions
tomorrow is an off day
and yes we dont want to hit a double digit losing streak. but if you cant trust anybody else in the bullpen with a 6-0 lead then we're really in bad shape. and that too versus the rangers who arent a good team. why not build confidence for some of the other guys in the bullpen?
by oak1 on Jul 18, 2007 3:41 PM PDT up reply actions
What other guys in the bullpen?
And the Rangers don't stink, only their pitching stinks. They have an Unbelievable lineup, no?
by A'sfansince1970 on Jul 18, 2007 3:42 PM PDT up reply actions
dont agree about Rangers offense
their offense isnt great this year. and Sosa and Lofton had the day off with Kinsler and Blalock still on the DL. the Rangers suck and we just lost 2 out of 3 to a team that we should have swept.
by oak1 on Jul 18, 2007 3:45 PM PDT up reply actions
9 shutouts on the season and an under .500 record
That is truly unfortunate but I'm sure happy with the win today. Party!
by ohtobe21likehuston on Jul 18, 2007 3:51 PM PDT reply actions
Beautiful afternoon at the Coliseum
Bases loaded, no outs, 3-0 count on Crosby...I thought sure he was going to find a way to mess that up, especially after the swing and miss on 3-1. Two RBIs in one game...WOW!!
This was sort of a typical late-season game between two non-contenders. I'm sure the Rangers came to Oakland with a goal of winning the series, and once they accomplished that, they just threw their gloves out on the field today and let them sit there for two and a half hours. No life at all on the Texas side after the Millwood 2nd inning. But for us A's fans, it was a fine day to be at the ballpark. What I would give to be able to enjoy a game like this in January or February.
I'm going away from computers and televisions for a while. Will sometimes be able to follow the A's on XM. Have a good next few weeks!!
Crosby
Instead of Crosby being "wasted talent" or a player with "potential", why can't we all assume that this is the best player that Bobby Crosby can be. I think he's playing at his maximum potential - this is as good as he can possibly be.
What's beyond me is why Beane will stick with a guy who hit .230 and "struggle" all season like Crosby but won't stick with other players when they slump. I think Beane has a man-crush on Crosby.
The reason no one thinks that
is for one, he stands so far away from the plate by moving a bit closer it should really help him deal with those outside pitches. Second he swings as hard as he can, most people who follow baseball or who have played baseball at any level know if he just backed off a little and swung at 80% he would make contact much more and hit with control much more than he does now. I could easily raise his average 30-40 points and actually hit more homeruns by squaring up with the sweet spot more. Just looking at Crosby one can figure out there is a lot of room for improvement.
by Athletics Fan In London on Jul 18, 2007 4:26 PM PDT up reply actions
Crosby
I'm starting to think that the Crosby needs to be told that in the offseason, he needs to work on playing 3B and 2B, as well. The A's are paying him, so they might as well get some value out of him. If that means becoming a utility-type player, perhaps it should be done. Chavez misses enough time that you know he'll get a chance to play some there. And didn't Crosby play 3B in the past anyways? Time to try out another full-time SS, and start plugging in Crosby around the infield as a bench player.
He played 2B for a year in high school
by alamedagirl on Jul 19, 2007 11:54 AM PDT up reply actions
What I'd Like to See the Rest of 07....
- The A's play .600 ball, meaning 40 wins over the last 67 games. This gets the A's to 85 wins for the season. Not playoff worthy, but certainly good momentum to close the season.
- The young guys getting game experience. There will be pain points but the game experince for Suzuki, Braden, Casilla (perhaps as closer), Komine and other minor league prospects will be invaluable going into 08.
- Chavy stepping up and becoming a clutch hitter.
- Swisher finding his swing again.
- Disposal of the deadwood; Kennedy, Crosby and Kielty with the net result being an upgrade (or potential upgrade) at shortstop.
- A gurantee from the A's that if they don't play .600 ball the rest of the way that they will refund and apply 50% of the cost of tickets purchased for the remaining home games to 2008 season ticket packages. And so that the players have "skin in the game" that they agree that 5% of their salaries are contributed to this refund. (I can dream can't I?)
Is this too much to ask as a fan?
I Forgot One...I'd Like to See in 07...
- fire the hitting coach.
Thank God, finally a win
I was running out of chickens to sacrifice.
Chickens at second and third
with only one out!
You have to try to make things happen when you have such a poultry offense.
Yeah, but at least they can battle
and fowl off a bunch of pitches...
Good point--
and that's true up and down the entire rooster.
I don't know about you
but that really ruffles my feathers!
A sacrifice is eggzactly what they need to do...
when the offense is not performing at beak efficiency.
To try and scratch out a few runs...
but you've got peck the right time to try it.
That's true
Oops
In the Game Notes section of the AP recap:
Grieve was the AL Rookie of the Year in 1998 and spent four seasons with Oakland before signing with Tampa Bay as a free agent in 2001.
I'm sure it will be fixed soon
Big (and slow) Ben
He was up for 24 games with the A's in '97, before his official rookie year, so perhaps the AP writer got confused - they should have written "... and spent part of four seasons ...", and they needed to add somewhere that he "showed moderate power, no speed, struck out too much, and hit into too many double-plays" in order to make the description more accurate.
Billy finally lands his MLS soccer team for 08...
Look out AL West, with the San Jose soccer deal finalized, Billy might start caring about baseball again and finally dump Dan Johnson (a good theory which I cannot take credit for).
by Sashulia on Jul 18, 2007 4:59 PM PDT reply actions
I almost wrecked my truck
when I heard that the A's won on the radio. I was sure they meant some other A's team.
Well, that's nice. I still hope BB is stalking them in the clubhouse. All 220 hitters should know fear.
Nice win, bitches.
It sounds better when Tony posts it. :(
That's because
you're missing the exclamation points.
I'm not sure how to feel:
Both Bradley and Ethier HRed today. Glorp.
yeah, but according to Zonis...
that's the NL. Those stats don't really count. I wonder how Zito managed to screw that one up?
by FoolshGame22 on Jul 19, 2007 1:01 AM PDT up reply actions
The real question is:
How does the A's 2018 roster project today?
Game summary is on the mark....Crosby must go!
Beane needs to trade or dump Croz to turn this team around. Crosby is the symbol of what is wrong with this team. He has been over rated and over coddled from the beginning. Now he is not only a pathetic offensive player, he is a less than reliable defensive player...in short... a major liability for this team. Ironically, he is exactly the kind of player that Beane became in the majors and the kind of mistake Beane's MoneyBall seeks to avoid. Croz looks like a baseball player and was overhyped by the scouts. Getting the Rookie of the Year award was the kiss of death. He actually became convinced he was a Star. Now he looks totally lost and fearful both in the field and at the plate. To conclude that one home run here and there shows he is finally turning things around is absurd. Macha kept playing the guy too high in the order and now even Geren does. He needs to be traded or seek another career....perhaps a stunt man for Brad Pitt would work better for him.
In conclusion, until Beane finally bites the bullet and replaces him with someone who can hit consistently and at least play adequate defense, this team will continue to flounder. Scutaro would be an upgrade. Trade or dump him.
Why, "bright copper kettles" ...
... that they brew beer in them is a variation on the theme thought to be important, lest anyone wonder about affinity orientation issues.
And for your next 10-point toss-up: 
by The Dogfather on Jul 19, 2007 7:54 AM PDT up reply actions
I guess the pipes in NY couldn't deal with it
and when they saw the A's were about to win they blasted steam
Unrelated mlb.com NY Yank note
MLB.com gave Alex Rodriguez the most questionable nickname that was bestowed by the league:
Clutch-Rod
Evokes many images
none good
pipes bursting
From Rotoworld
Manager Bob Geren said Wednesday that Mike Piazza (shoulder) could come off the disabled list this weekend.
"He's getting pretty close," Geren said. Piazza is 9-for-23 in five minor league rehab games.
I guess 9-23 with a HR is "pretty close" with our offense on fire scoring 6 runs yesterday.
Crosby...can they do like they did in Rocky?
make him chase after chickens or tie his hand to his side or something to ALWAYS hit toward right field and NOT try and do too much with every at bat? It worked in the movies.
by A'sfansince1970 on Jul 19, 2007 1:08 PM PDT reply actions
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