Final Spring Results: The A's Won and Lost

by baseballgirl on Mar 19, 2008 3:43 PM PDT Comment 22 comments

After a terribly traumatic morning, when the opening day trip to Japan was in very real jeopardy for a few moments (finally solved by the Red Sox threatening to boycott Japan unless their coaches were paid for the trip; a nice guesture, I thought), the A's took the field against the Angels and the Cubs, with Harden making one start, and Blanton the other.

Harden was assigned the loss, but pitched very well on his 90 pitch limit; throwing 6 innings, 8 hits, 2 ER, 1BB, 4K.

Keith Foulke 'relieved' him to the tune of a Vlad grand slam. Let's keep all of THOSE out in Arizona, please. Street and Braden (who looked much better in today's outing) mopped, up, but the damage was done.

The A's scratched out a run in the bottom of the ninth, and lost 6-1.

In the other game, the offense was just as dismal until the eight inning, where the A's turned a 2-0 deficit into a 5-2 victory.

Blanton had a great line; 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Andrew Brown gave up the only runs, but picked up the win, and DiNardo and Hernandez cleaned up the eighth and ninth.

Gone are the torrid offensive fires of the first few games, and as zero upon zero started to pile up for the green and gold, in both games, I got a familiar feeling...

But the good news is that Harden made it through, even (for now!) surviving a comebacker. Cross your fingers.

Well, the Dodgers take over now (did you know that?!) and the A's are set to fly out to Japan. The trip is a go! Baseball is on the way!!

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I wonder

Of course it is just speculation at this point but I wonder what would have happened if the Japan trip was a last minute no go. With the Dodgers and A's sharing a facility it could have been a real mess.

I imagine something could have been worked out with the minor league complex.....

Rickey Henderson: 35, 24, hall of fame!

by Athletics fan and runner on Mar 19, 2008 3:57 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

The Sox weren't fighting for the coaches to get paid,

they were fighting for the coaches to be double what they were going to be paid. I wonder what would have happened if it was the A's not the Red Sox boycotting. Come to think of why didn't the A's complain. I guess our coaches believe $20,000 is enough to go to Japan, when everyhing else is paid for.

by theblackpearl on Mar 19, 2008 4:01 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I will tell you why

Because to the A's players and coaches $20k IS a lot of money! lol

"Doesn't play well with the other children." Ms. Darias, principal, Broad Ave School

by since72 on Mar 19, 2008 4:55 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't see how it's a nice gesture.

First, the Red Sox complained that they were only being paid 25,000 each to go on their all expenses paid, first class, five star hotels, celebrity tour of one of the coolest places in the world.

Keep in mind that this is their job. They are paid to play baseball, and they complained that on top of being paid to play baseball they weren't being paid enough EXTRA to go on a free trip to Japan.

I know I don't get paid any extra if I have to travel for work. Weird.

by mikev on Mar 19, 2008 4:13 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

If you're traveling for work, you should be getting paid for it

and if you and your coworkers stood up to your boss and insisted on being treated fairly, it would be pretty petty and shitty for me or anyone else to say, "I don't get that -- why should mikev get that?"

MLB makes ungodly amounts of money -- they won't even notice if they pay the players and coaches what they promised.

"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s

by Nick on Mar 19, 2008 4:38 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

IF

you were being paid for a job that doesn't require travel, then yes, you should be paid a little something extra for the trouble. The very nature of these people's jobs IS to travel. They're already being paid for the fact that they have to travel, so it's a little farther then than norm, but it's still within the scope of what they're being paid for. Add on that it's all expenses, pure luxury travel, they have nothing to complain about.

In search of a new signature. Say something funny and you may see your comment here!

by DMOAS on Mar 19, 2008 8:56 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Players get a per diem on the road already

so their salary isn't designed to cover travel all by itself; but requiring players to fly 12 hours or whatever each way is not the same as requiring them to fly across the country, so it seems perfectly reasonable for MLB -- which, after all, is making lots of money from this trip -- to pay them extra for literally "going the extra mile".

If the players are "getting paid enough" then MLB itself is "making enough profit" and you can just as well say that the players should be getting $100,000 for the trip. I can't for the life of me understand why fans would side with the MLB owners on any dispute like this with the players.

"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s

by Nick on Mar 20, 2008 5:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The players were fighting for the coaches not themselves...nice gesture indeed

"For those guys to take that stance -- they're veterans. They feel strongly about it, and they brought it to the attention of higher-ups," Embree said. "We have to fix it one way or the other. ... Coaches deserved compensation. They're going over there, too, and every little bit counts."

Lowell said $20,000 payments for the coaches would not have been acceptable given that the players were making $40,000.

"We didn't think that was correct," he said. "Giving them half of that is not equal."

"Doesn't play well with the other children." Ms. Darias, principal, Broad Ave School

by since72 on Mar 19, 2008 4:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

But the initial agreement said everybody would get $25,000

That included coaches and staff.

After Boston pissed and moaned about that not being enough money, they were given $40,000 each at the expense of the coaches and staff

Why does everybody ignore that?

by mikev on Mar 19, 2008 10:10 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Because they corrected that little oversight.

It was a truly classic bargaining ploy for them to wait until the last moment. They literally had Bud by his dangling sack. Don't get me wrong, I really freaking hate it when the Yankee's or Sox do something truly classy, but they did in this case. The extracted more money for the coaches, not themselves. Very nice.

"You may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in love with a team in defeat."--The Boys of Summer

by alox on Mar 20, 2008 3:31 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree basballgirl

It was a nice gesture by the RedSox to fight for their coaches to get more. And the A's Embree was also on record as supporting the move.

Great spring overall, in that we looked good and everyone for the most part made it out alive and in one piece.

"Doesn't play well with the other children." Ms. Darias, principal, Broad Ave School

by since72 on Mar 19, 2008 4:21 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Question?

Will the A's coaches and players be compensated the same as the Red Sox players and coaches?

by Rev Halofan on Mar 19, 2008 4:23 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

According to the wire reports...

...the A's players would get the same amount ($40,000) as the Red Sox players. MLB is covering $20,000 for the coaches, managers, etc. The Red Sox are kicking in the other $20,000 for members of their staff, but no word on whether the A's will be doing the same. Source: AP

"[Moneyball] is huge [in Japan], I guess, so I'm like a David Hasselhoff type or something..." -- Billy Beane

by FormerHuntsvilleStar on Mar 19, 2008 5:41 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

well, once again it looks as if pitching will again be our strong suit and we'll again be struggling to grind out runs. Am I alone in this thinking?

by sf drift king on Mar 19, 2008 4:35 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Not since about 2004

I think all us fans are resigned to this sort of thing by now...

by Joey C. on Mar 19, 2008 5:13 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

and yet the team has usually scored an average amount of runs.

"It's like déjà vu all over again." -yogi berra

by Cheezombie on Mar 19, 2008 5:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Perception is reality

Even when, apparently, it isn't.

by Joey C. on Mar 19, 2008 8:17 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Foulke has had a horrible spring in my opinion...

I have read reports that his velocity is down. Also he has not been overly effective during spring training. I kinda felt that he might be designated to go down to the minors. Guess that is still an option in the near future.

Charlie Brown GO A'S WIN

by Charlie Brown on Mar 19, 2008 4:50 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs