Wrap: Game 56 - Rangers 8, A's 4

by Taj Adib on May 31, 2008 7:52 PM PDT Comment 45 comments

Honestly, this is the type of game I expected to see a lot more of in the course of this so-called "rebuilding" year. It was the type of game where some nice things happened, but you never expected the A's to actually win. And with Joe Blanton leaving some very hittable stuff up-in-the-zone while the A's offense was taking a siesta for the first 4 innings, there was no real threat of the A's actually winning this game...

And yet, some very nice things DID happen tonight...enough of them for me to chalk this one up to the rebuilding gods as a net positive for the team going forward. First off:

AN's OWN INTERNET SUPERSTAR BRAD ZEIGLER MADE HIS MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT TONITE!

For a 20th-round, previously released, former-starter-turned-submarine-reliever who suffered several major life-altering injuries, we all knew the odds of Ziggy making it to the big leagues were steep...and yet, for those of us on this blog that were privy to Ziggy's work ethic and passion for his craft that he's shared with us time and again, there was no doubt that this day would come! Congratulations Ziggy and your pick-off move was freakin' awesome, so don't even worry about giving up that flukey hit!

Two other good things that happened tonight? Buck, Chavez and Suzuki seemed to have gotten their grooves back as they combined to go 7-for-12 with a double, 2 RBI's and 2 runs scored.

As for the actual team performance...it was uneven and, like I said above, reminiscent of how a rebuilding team would usually play. Blanton collected another loss tonight, but he did the save the bullpen by lasting 6 innings...if "lasting" is even the right word, after allowing runs in half of those innings, for a final line of 6 runs allowed, on 10 hits and 1 walk with zero K's. The offense did wake up a bit, stringing hits together in two separate innings (the 5th and the 7th) to push over what is a virtual Oakland bonanza of 4 total runs!

So, let's just all revel in the good things that come with watching a rebuilding team (Brad Ziegler), and let Geren, Beane and the coaching staff figure out a way to neutralize Brandon "Placido (hat tip mikeA)" Boggs and the rest of the Texas offense.

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I think I speak for everyone on Athlete's Nation when I say,

“YAY, BERT!!!!!!!!”

-Cindi

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 May 31, 2008 7:55 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

TUCK FEXAS!

We’ll get ‘em tomorrow.

by baseballnut020 on May 31, 2008 7:57 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Of course we will - it's June!!!

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 May 31, 2008 7:59 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

All I can say about today is...

I’m glad tomorrow is the first day of “The Next 10 Days.”

Foolsh, the most insane regular poster on AN since oaktoon left - salb

by FoolshGame22 on May 31, 2008 8:00 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

We're going to have a bit of a problem

when we face Kenny Rogers Monday. Besides the fact that he never loses at the Coliseum, it will be hard not to put a lefty-heavy lineup up against him.

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 May 31, 2008 8:03 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Are righties really all that much better off against Rogers?

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

by Nick on May 31, 2008 8:22 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The pitcher or the security guard?

I think so, but I’ll look it up…

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 May 31, 2008 8:26 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Pretty normal platoon splits for his career,

but huge splits for the last three years… Lesson seems to be, that LHHs have stayed about the same, but RHHs have started to crush him.

The A's colors are green and gold.

by mikeA on May 31, 2008 8:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Right - the last three years

lefties have hit .197, .200, and .201. So it should feel pretty normal to us.

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 May 31, 2008 8:39 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Check him for pine tar?

"Not in your wildest alcoholic nightmare would you ever imagines such events unfolding!" Bill King

by Buck Turgidson on May 31, 2008 10:10 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

also...

I think we should ReAc Jermaine Dye, Aaron Harang, Marco Scutaro and Ken Macha. Swish and Byrnes, not so much.

Foolsh, the most insane regular poster on AN since oaktoon left - salb

by FoolshGame22 on May 31, 2008 8:05 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think you mean "Ziegler" ;-)

Last of the Ninth - Photography Site
jamesvenes.com - Blog

by Flashfire on May 31, 2008 8:03 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Ziggy

I mentioned this in the game thread: Ziggy’s motion really reminds me of Dan Quisenberry’s, much more so than any submariner I’ve seen since Quiz retired. In addition to the arm angle, the really distinctive thing I saw was his little hop to his right after he releases the ball—it’s exactly what Quiz used to do.

I’ve been looking for Quisenberry videos on the internet, which I thought wouldn’t be so hard to track down given that he was one of the best pitchers of the 1980s. MLB, in its infinite wisdom, however, seems to have a policy of scrubbing all video of anyone wearing an MLB uniform from any and all sites in the web—except for their own.

I don’t know if you need to be an MLBTV subscriber to see this, but I found the archived video of Game 6 of the 1985 World Series (when the Royals overcame a 1-0, 9th inning deficit thanks to Don Denkinger completely blowing a call at 1B)—Quiz pitched the top of the 9th. So go to this page and click on the top of the 9th in the line score, and see what Quiz looked like when he was the best reliever in baseball.

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

by Nick on May 31, 2008 8:04 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

The main difference, IIRC, is that Quiz

was more Bradford knuckle-scrape-the-ground when he released the ball and Ziggy is more halfway between sidearm and submarine. I LOVED watching Quiz pitch and was so sad at his demise. I remember shortly before he died, he was honored at the ballpark in KC and looked kind of haggard and bewildered – he was very close to death at that point. Very sad ending to a great career/life.

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 May 31, 2008 8:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, Ziggy seems to have a higher release

...and is still alive…

The A's colors are green and gold.

by mikeA on May 31, 2008 8:14 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's a little eerie seeing video of that game

with him and Dick Houser, and knowing that they both died of brain cancer just a few years later.

Bill James, who was a huge Quiz fan, wrote that he heard (or maybe it was read) an interview with Quiz after his diagnosis, in which the interviewer asked him, “Do you ever wonder, ‘Why me?’” and Quiz said, “Why not me?”

I’d have to see Ziggy more to get a better sense of how low his arm angle is—I hope he gets a chance soon to get his first batter out!

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

by Nick on May 31, 2008 8:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

It wasn't as low as I expected

More Steve Olin (aren’t we grim tonight?) than Chad Bradford. Again, though, with the key difference that Ziggy appears to still be very much alive.

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 May 31, 2008 8:17 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ask and ye shall receive

Last of the Ninth - Photography Site
jamesvenes.com - Blog

by Flashfire on May 31, 2008 8:26 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ziggy's also 6'4"

Last of the Ninth - Photography Site
jamesvenes.com - Blog

by Flashfire on May 31, 2008 8:28 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I am extremely confident that Ziggy will have mlb success.

He won’t be star, because he’ll struggle somewhat against LHHs, but he’ll dominate RHHs and be extremely stingy with the long ball. 0 HRs in 100+ innings since he went submarine. He has low upside, but is as close to “can’t miss” as you can get to being a very good bullpen arm if used properly.

The A's colors are green and gold.

by mikeA on May 31, 2008 8:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ultimately, it depends on location

He left a pitch up to Kinsler and won’t get away with too many mistakes against big league hitters. If he has command, he should be a fine ROOGY. In other words, he will be Jeff Tam – which one, remains to be seen.

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 May 31, 2008 8:16 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's the thing, though

He’ll get away with a lot of mistakes because his mistakes are singles. That was a bad pitch to Kinsler, and he hit it into the ground. Which means he is definitely not the guy you want to bring in with risp, as he’ll give up a lot of singles. But he is a great bet if you need to avoid a catastrophic HR.

I’ll say it again. 0 HRs in 100+ innings. Bradford also has an extremely low career HR rate.

The A's colors are green and gold.

by mikeA on May 31, 2008 8:33 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

We should bring him in to face Jack Cust!

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 May 31, 2008 8:38 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Pretty much all submarine guys do, as far as I can tell

for the pretty simple physical reason that it’s a lot easier to “keep the ball down” if it’s never “up” to begin with.

Oddly, I looked up Pat Neshek’s stats… and he’s actually not been that great at preventing HR. He throws at a very odd angle, though—his release point is very low but his arm plane is more sidearm than submarine. Still curious.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on May 31, 2008 11:22 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

gotta close the 5-hole

by SwisherThresher on May 31, 2008 8:13 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Needs thicker socks

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

by Nick on May 31, 2008 8:16 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Or a longer--

Oh never mind.

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 May 31, 2008 8:20 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Glove

by MobiusKlein on May 31, 2008 8:51 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, I'll admit the sleeveless Sacto jersey doesn't really do him justice ;-)

Last of the Ninth - Photography Site
jamesvenes.com - Blog

by Flashfire on May 31, 2008 8:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

2 on, 2 out for the Angels

Bottom of the 9th and the Jays bring in Benitez to face Vlad…

by SwisherThresher on May 31, 2008 8:46 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Now the Jays need to score a few just to rub it in

after that call that went against them.

Don’t think I have ever seen Sciosica so animated

by Trainman on May 31, 2008 8:50 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Well, the Angels are good at bunting...

It would be nice if our shitty-but-fast hitters could bunt.

The A's colors are green and gold.

by mikeA on May 31, 2008 9:02 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

but until then, for the love of Geren, they should stop trying

by drink409 on May 31, 2008 9:04 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Welcome to 3.5 games out

Enjoy your stay.

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 May 31, 2008 9:07 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Good tidings:

Brett Anderson off the DL:
4 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 6 K, 0 BB.
Back to his old tricks, it appears.

The A's colors are green and gold.

by mikeA on May 31, 2008 9:57 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

There's a reason the opposable thumb is so important to human development

The monster at the end of this blog.

by grover on May 31, 2008 10:31 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

What, you don't think throwing all changeups is a viable pitching strategy?

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on May 31, 2008 11:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Only if your name is Trevor Hoffman

The monster at the end of this blog.

by grover on May 31, 2008 11:52 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Here's a macabre question

This is a picture of Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown holding a baseball:

See here for more angles and a better view. He’s a Hall of Famer, who was one of the greatest pitchers of the dead ball era, and put up a career ERA+ of 138.

So here’s the question: would anyone be crazy/desperate enough to mangle their pitching hand deliberately in order to throw an unhittable sinker?

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

by Nick on Jun 1, 2008 6:56 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Give it a shot

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 Jun 1, 2008 9:01 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

And if not to gain baseball fame, then perhaps to gain enlightenment

Or at least that’s the vision Katherina Dunn posits in her novel Geek Love, wherein a cult devoted to a circus freak seeks transcendence through the amputation of their limbs.

Don't blame me, I voted for oaktoon.

by FreeSeatUpgrade on Jun 1, 2008 9:11 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

"I'm part of that cult,"

he typed with his nose.

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 Jun 1, 2008 9:17 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Gary Radnich, KNBR and KRON

apparently has a couple of fingers missing. Not that I saw, just that I heard.

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

by One won lost won on Jun 1, 2008 11:39 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Been known to help on the guitar

Don't blame me, I voted for oaktoon.

by FreeSeatUpgrade on Jun 1, 2008 11:42 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Radio pre-game

Vince is off today; does that mean we’ll get a couple innings of the play-by-play stylings of Ray Fosse?

Slusser interview: Wishes the A’s had thought of the writersw before they made 4 transactions at once…that could’ve been like a week’s worth of stories!