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Frank Thomas Hit a TRIPLE! Oh and the A's Also Win Big

Oakland_tiny by Blez on

For all the close games the A's and Angels have played over the last few years, tonight was the rare exception.  The A's blasted the hated Angels 14-2 with Emil Brown and Daric Barton leading the way with home runs and three RBIs a piece.  Frank Thomas also was a home run short of the cycle.  Chad Gaudin pitched through a rough strike zone and held the Angels to only two runs.

Let me get this out of the way right off the bat.  Yes, Frank Thomas hit a triple in the first inning and Jack Cust had an infield hit.  If that doesn't tell you that things have been breaking the A's way of late then nothing will.  Thomas might've had a shot at the cycle had Bob Geren not put a pinch runner in at the bottom of the seventh when he led off with a double.  The thing is, the game was actually still a game at that point because it was still 6-2 and despite Thomas' new found wheels that earned him a triple earlier in the game, I would want the extra insurance run if we can get it. 

Emil Brown decided to eliminate that by starting the pain train on Chris Bootcheck, who got the check booted out of him.  The A's started the Bugs Bunny style conga line going around the bases with Bootcheck.  But the game was probably decided earlier.  Home plate umpire Charlie Reliford had one of the most baffling strike zones I've seen in a while.  And apparently Angels pitching coach Mike Butcher agreed as he got thrown out after Frank Thomas walked in the third inning.  The funny thing is that Gaudin had to deal with the same weird strike zone and he worked through it.  Is there ever a game when Mike Scioscia doesn't complain about something?  The Angels announcers were blaming the loss on the Angels tough travel schedule about having to come home from Detroit last night late and play the A's today.  Of course, no credit given to these anonymous A's.  That's fine.  Keep dissing this team.  They love it that way.

I'm hoping Frank Thomas is now coming out of it with three hits tonight.  That's his first triple since 2002 and Mulder, Hudson and Zito were still Athletics.  That seems so long ago.  Also, Daric Barton hits his first home run of the season and I thought the reason he did was because he was patient with the baffling strike zone.  He essentially forced Garland to come in with an easy pitch right down the middle.

And finally, props to Vacafan who called Emil Brown's home run.  Dude, are you getting an Emil tat or what? 

This was one sweet night.

 

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Yeah

He actually almost hit another one later too. It’d be really good to get him going. I wonder how much not being in cold weather any more is helping the guys feel comfortable.

by Blez on Apr 28, 2008 10:22 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

It's just hard to hit when it's cold,

no matter whether you’re playing wiffleball, softball, or at the highest level.

"You have to have a catcher or you'll have all passed balls."- Casey Stengel

by Gaijin_Suketto on Apr 28, 2008 11:22 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

I like this team's anonymity

Let the media (national and bay area) ignore us, or favor the Gnats, etc. As long as the A’s keep winning, eventually they will have to pay attention.

"Evidently, a large number of people said, 'We really need more vermin at the ballpark, Artie.'" - Nick (AN), 10/7/07

by doctorK on Apr 28, 2008 10:22 PM PDT reply reply   0 recs

Best record in the AL, baby

And who would’ve thought the team would actually have a damn good April for once? When is the last time that happened? I can’t remember.

by Blez on Apr 28, 2008 10:23 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

Been awhile

17-10 in ‘03

I'm here to talk about the past.

by 67MARQUEZ on Apr 28, 2008 10:35 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

Solid

We were ready. They weren’t. I doubt Garland was in Detroit last night.

by Colorado Fan on Apr 28, 2008 10:23 PM PDT reply reply   0 recs

anyone know what happened to carlos gonzalez tonight?

i was at the rivercats game, he left after going first to third and possibly hitting the base awkwardly. i didn’t think it was a big deal, but they took him away on a cart. any updates?

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Apr 28, 2008 10:23 PM PDT reply reply   0 recs

Well...

...we already had the tickets, so…

- Mary Todd Lincoln

"Well, I've wrestled with reality for 35 years, doctor, and I'm happy to state that I've finally won out over it." -- Elwood P. Dowd (Jimmy Stewart), "Harvey"

by Derwood13 on Apr 28, 2008 10:29 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

yikes that doesn’t sound good. Hope he’s OK.

by drmmerchk on Apr 28, 2008 10:25 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

yikes

The A's colors are green and gold.

by mikeA on Apr 28, 2008 10:30 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

On a cart?

Holy…

"We were s--, pathetic," Guillen growled early in spring training. "We hit too many home runs."

by lenscrafters on Apr 28, 2008 10:32 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

oh nooooo!

not CarGon!

""These guys are a different breed of ballclub." - Twins manager Ron Gardenhire on the A's

by gotgreen on Apr 28, 2008 10:34 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

cargon really botched a line drive quite badly and let it get by him in CF. then he didn’t exactly go full speed on a routine ground ball in his first at bat. but later he made a sweet diving catch on a line drive to his right, completely horizontal eric byrnes style. after walking with the bases loaded, he went first to third on a single after the LF fumbled the ball. unfortunately i was looking at the ball so i didn’t pay attention to him running. there was no play at third, but they took him out. the cart came for him a bit later, and took him out through the LF wall. i don’t think they gave an update afterwards. perhaps something happened on one of the defensive plays, he looked quite awkward on the error.

other than that, petit and melillo hit well (of course it was against zito’s 0-6 buddy mike maroth), petit screwed up a routine grounder early on but made some nice defensive plays later. powell struck out twice, but there were some questionable calls including a really high strike three looking. blevins finished things off effortlessly…

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Apr 28, 2008 10:51 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

the headline at

oaklandclubhouse.com says that he rolled his ankle.
dont have a subscription so i don’t know any more…

by oakinboston on Apr 29, 2008 6:30 AM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

Its amazing what a win like this

does for my sometimes tenuous-lived-in-alaska-too-long-with-irritating-job mental health.

alaska A

by ak_A on Apr 28, 2008 10:23 PM PDT reply reply   0 recs

this smile says it all!

big hurt’s post-game interview with fosse & kuiper!

""These guys are a different breed of ballclub." - Twins manager Ron Gardenhire on the A's

by gotgreen on Apr 28, 2008 10:26 PM PDT reply reply   1 recs

Awww!!! Love him!

by drmmerchk on Apr 28, 2008 10:27 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

looks good in green

Things could be worse. Suppose your errors were counted and published every day, like those of a baseball player.

by 149 on Apr 28, 2008 10:29 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

Ho ho ho...

...Green Giant!

"You have to have a catcher or you'll have all passed balls."- Casey Stengel

by Gaijin_Suketto on Apr 28, 2008 11:24 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

Ho ho ho...

...Green Giant!

"You have to have a catcher or you'll have all passed balls."- Casey Stengel

by Gaijin_Suketto on Apr 28, 2008 11:25 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

...crappy server!

"You have to have a catcher or you'll have all passed balls."- Casey Stengel

by Gaijin_Suketto on Apr 28, 2008 11:25 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

His winning smile

is as good as a cycle-clinching homer!

Thanks, Frank!

Green Hulk Fists

by oaklandSMASH on Apr 29, 2008 12:12 AM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

Hey Blez

What happened to the thing in the sidebar that shows when the next game is? I liked that, but it’s gone now.

This afternoon I was wondering if the series started tonight or if it was an off-day and the series start tomorrow, so I looked for it on AN, but that feature is gone now.

Policy decision, or technical difficulty?

formerly known as mdl

by iglew on Apr 28, 2008 10:26 PM PDT reply reply   0 recs

Technical difficulty

Since our servers crashed last week, we’re slowly adding elements back in. We need to make sure we’re on rock solid ground as much as humanly possible so we don’t have a ridiculous outage like we did.

by Blez on Apr 28, 2008 10:29 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

Cool

I’m all for taking as long as necessary to get it right. Just wanted to make sure you knew it’s a desired feature.

thanks

formerly known as mdl

by iglew on Apr 28, 2008 10:38 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

FWIW

The server (or, “swerver”) didn’t handle the rapid inputs very well tonight. I got stuck if I hit “POST” without hitting preview. It just hung. I had to turn the browser (IE) off. If I went “PREVIEW”, waited, then “POST”, it worked okay. But direct to “POST” it could not handle. Just hung.

Not enough testing on the rapid inputs. Server is not handling it well, whatever topography they chose for this app.

"I never predict anything, and I never will." Paul Gascoigne, English footballer

by One won lost won on Apr 28, 2008 10:51 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

Weird

I didn’t have a single issue tonight. Worked flawlessly for me. Maybe cause I’m using firefox.

by Blez on Apr 28, 2008 11:48 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

not me

I’m using the latest version of Firefox (albeit on an old, slow processor), and any thread >200 comments starts to hiccup like Stomper after a particularly noxious batch of trough-urinal pruno.

And what did we do once we discovered a rift in the fourth dimension? We launched a monkey into it. @('.')@

by monkeyball on Apr 29, 2008 9:46 AM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

Blez, I prefer Firefox

but I’ve found it coming up “short” on some links while linked to www.athleticsnation.com. I just figured SBNation, like a lot of sites, bow to the popular majority and code to favor Internet Explorer. So, I’ve been using IE instead of Firefox.

I’ll give it a try tonight with Firefox, when the action gets 4-5 posts every ten seconds, like last night.

"I never predict anything, and I never will." Paul Gascoigne, English footballer

by One won lost won on Apr 29, 2008 12:52 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

I Could Feel This One Coming

Even the final score—I actually thought 13-2 or 14-2 earlier today—they were due to go deep—and Garland was a convenient foil.

Thing is, if we lose tomorrow I could easily see the Angels winning three straight. Santana is a beast against us and that final game of Blanton-Moseley looks like one of those trap games where the supposedlyweaker starter comes up big.

that said—it is the pitching depth that makes this team. No one else in the sport can match it.

by madmongoose on Apr 28, 2008 10:26 PM PDT reply reply   0 recs

Enjoy this One.

And, Blanton isn’t pitching until Friday.

by Colorado Fan on Apr 28, 2008 10:27 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

Thursday is Duke for us -

and now it appears not Moseley for them. Adenhart?

I’m with you – I’ll believe a split when we win one more. I’ve seen too many 4-game series lately where we won the first and the Angels won the next three. Gotta keep rolling.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Apr 28, 2008 10:28 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

Agreed

I can’t believe how good our pitching has been this year. Just night in and night out, steady and solid pitching.

by Blez on Apr 28, 2008 10:31 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

sorry about that-- gotone day ahead of myself

But I do think Moseley still goes—this would be his normal night to throw anyway.

by madmongoose on Apr 28, 2008 10:34 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

That's what they said on the Angels broadcast

Is that Moseley was only in because this was his normal day to throw.

by Blez on Apr 28, 2008 10:35 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

Adenhart pitched yesterday

Even if they are bringing him up, doesn’t make sense to start him on Thursday.

Bees’ 13-game winning streak ended today, by the way.

formerly known as mdl

by iglew on Apr 28, 2008 10:41 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

Crosby

Anyone else notice that he’s standing further from the plate lately? Someone needs to tell him to move closer to the dish, again.

by Colorado Fan on Apr 28, 2008 10:26 PM PDT reply reply   0 recs

I did, in the Seattle game

and, his orientation to the mound looked uncomfortable.

I thought, “Uh Oh!!” as soon as i saw it. Tonight, no hits.

"I never predict anything, and I never will." Paul Gascoigne, English footballer

by One won lost won on Apr 28, 2008 10:54 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

Yup.

K, swinging at a slider low & away.

by MobiusKlein on Apr 29, 2008 8:58 AM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

WOO! This game was a ton of fun to watch! I’m hoping the bats stay hot the rest of the series. LOOOOVE this team!!! Thanks to everyone in the game threads for helping make the game even more amazing!

by drmmerchk on Apr 28, 2008 10:27 PM PDT reply reply   0 recs

A's run differential is 10 times better than Angels

LOL

Ours is 40 and theirs is 4.

Considering all the errors, the fact that we have given up the least runs is quire amazing.

by Trainman on Apr 28, 2008 10:31 PM PDT reply reply   0 recs

Considering errors are totally useless as a stat,

the fact that anyone pays any attention to them is quite amazing.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Apr 28, 2008 11:01 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

Yeah

Kinda like grammatical errors on a sports blog.

I'm here to talk about the past.

by 67MARQUEZ on Apr 28, 2008 11:03 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

but what if errors are totally your worst pet peeve?

"You have to have a catcher or you'll have all passed balls."- Casey Stengel

by Gaijin_Suketto on Apr 28, 2008 11:27 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

I don't think he was using them "as a stat"

Errors happen. They exist. Often runs score because of them.

by dscel on Apr 29, 2008 8:39 AM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

They aren't completely useless

as long as you understand what they’re measuring, and what they’re not measuring.

ZIPS: Milledge: 466 HR, 485 2B, 2282 hits, 278-379-524

by rfloh on Apr 29, 2008 9:07 AM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

I guess

They’re OK as a “tools” stat to tell you how good someone is at fielding balls in their immediate vicinity. It’s like one minor component of defense, as if you measured teams’ offense purely by how many doubles they hit.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Apr 29, 2008 10:14 AM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

Let's see I'm pretty sure an error led to run last night

So they do in fact have an effect on a teams run differential.

by methodrampage on Apr 29, 2008 9:13 AM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

"Errors" may be useless, esp. as determined by our scorer * -- but I think defensive blunders are important.
  • who is s/he, anyway?

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

by The Dogfather on Apr 29, 2008 10:10 AM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

Thanks A's!

This game totally made up for the non-TV games I missed last week. Awesome fun!
Let’s do it again tomorrow!

by streetfan on Apr 28, 2008 10:31 PM PDT reply reply   0 recs

Thanks Blez

Just thought Brown caught a lot of grief in the Spring … for basically nothing more than signing a contract with us. So yeah, he’s my favorite this year … I hope he keeps it up.
I root for guys like that … just kind of floats around and earns a living ... he deserves some props.

VacaAsFan

by Vacafan on Apr 28, 2008 10:35 PM PDT reply reply   0 recs

I know, I got greedy LOL

I needed at least one strike though—4 straight out of the strike zone … ala Bonds!!!!

VacaAsFan

by Vacafan on Apr 29, 2008 12:44 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

A's get two TDs

and only allow a safety on the bad snap out of the end zone… :)

Great to see the hit parade and loved Gaudin tonight. Keep up the good work, A’s. The media can ignore us. I’d hope that the Richard Dreyfuss line from Jaws comes to fruition at the end of the season:

“Uh, I think that I am familiar with the fact that you are going to ignore this particular problem until it swims up and bites you in the @$$!”

Go Green and Gold! :)

"Well, I've wrestled with reality for 35 years, doctor, and I'm happy to state that I've finally won out over it." -- Elwood P. Dowd (Jimmy Stewart), "Harvey"

by Derwood13 on Apr 28, 2008 10:35 PM PDT reply reply   0 recs

San Jose A's at Fremont

I don’t know how many people cought it, but Lew Wolf came as close as I’m sure he is able in confirming that the new name of the A’s will be the San Jose A’s when he gave his speech about Art Moreno saving him some money and paying for all the legal work when they changed their name to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Sometimes life will strike you out on a curve ball and the only choice you have is to flip off the umpire and walk to first base anyway.

by Threepwood XX on Apr 28, 2008 10:35 PM PDT reply reply   0 recs

I caught it.

Better than Portland A’s, or Las Vegas A’s.

by mikev on Apr 28, 2008 11:21 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

but i live in portland now :-P

Some of the most violent things I’ve ever seen were at Raiders games. And I’ve been to jail. - leopold bloom

by designatedforassignment on Apr 29, 2008 12:04 PM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

I'll still cheer "Let's go, Oak-Land!!"

“Let’s go San-Jo” doesn’t seem to cut it.

Green Hulk Fists

by oaklandSMASH on Apr 29, 2008 1:15 AM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

He's said that before

But I think he means the precedent to call them the Oakland A’s of Fremont. He’s said that Fremont will definitely be in the name.

by indigo on Apr 29, 2008 8:18 AM PDT to parent up reply reply   0 recs

That wouldn't make sense.

The A’s wouldn’t be sued for adding “at Fremont” to their name after moving to Fremont, especially since Fremont knows they will not get top billing. Now what they would be sued for is adding a name currently part of Giant’s territory (like San Jose) to their name like the Angels did to the Dodgers.

Sometimes life will strike you out on a curve ball and the only choice you have is to flip off the umpire and walk to first base anyway.

by Threepwood XX on