2001 At the BOB-- Dejavu all over again??
by madmongoose on Jun 17, 2008 7:48 AM PDT
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PrintIt does seem like yesterday. 20 games out of first place and sporting a humdrum 41-43 record, the 2001 Oakland A's travelled to the Arizona desert to face a DIamondback team led by two of the greatest pitchers of this era, Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. We would miss the Unit in that weekend series, and little did anyone know that this team was destined to stop the Yankee streak of 3 straight WS titles, sending them on a journey to postseason oblivion that has yet to end.
But don't you remember??
Mulder flirting with a no-hitter on Friday night and the A's winning 3-0.
Hudson throwing another gem as the A's won 5-1 on Saturday.
Zito besting Schilling 2-1 (and remember this was the Zito who had a horrendous first half that year) on Sunday afternoon, completing the sweep and propelling the A's to what i believe is the best 2nd half of baseball in the post WWII era-- including that Arizona series they would go 61-17 in their last 78 games, an incredible winning percentage of .782.
Haren and Webb ain't Johnson and Schilling.
Blanton-Duke and Smith ain't the Big Three.
But neither are we 20 games behind the Angels as we were the Mariners then. In our heyday in the Beane era it was always the interleague stretch that set up the great runs-- could we be in the middle of another one??
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I have been wondering
if this team is going to go on a 2nd half run of some sort like the A’s have in years past. Any thoughts?
as Korach pointed out last weekend,
The A’s have one day off in August.
The A’s have only 20 games at home after the All-Star break.
It’s going to be a tough 2nd half this year, but if the A’s can be road warriors (i.e. un-injured and “gritty”), we could be a contender!
I think the A’s schedule this year, starting with the ‘no home game on Memorial Day’, plus this long home stretch with lots of days off, and particularly the month of August, is just a crime. Someone in the front office should have filed a grievance with MLB; I bet the Yanks and BoSox don’t have those scheduling anomalies
Bob Geren, on 8/2/07, on the success of Alan Embree as new interim closer: "What can I say,... he's been our Steady Tremendous Bullpen Man"
by popcornjames on Jun 17, 2008 9:03 AM PDT up reply actions
Only 20 games?
I count 26 on my wallet calendar…and can confirm that on MLB.com.
Still, his point is well-taken, as there are 41 road games in that same time period! (It did seem like there were more home games than usual in the early months…)
by PositionPlayerProd on Jun 18, 2008 5:55 PM PDT up reply actions
This schedule is retarded
in so many ways.
Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.
a no hitter?
i remember a perfect game taken into the 8th and broken up by a reggie sanders line drive over the SS (must have been tejada).
He ended up being the only baserunner of the game for the d-backs.
That’s the way i remember it,is my memory betraying me?
I think you're right
It was a one-hitter. Not sure if it was perfect until then or not—baseballreference.com would have the play by play I think
That Mulder game was the most dominant start
by an A’s pitcher I can remember. After that start I was certain-100% certain-that Mulder had a no-hitter and quite possibly a perfecto yet to come in his career. He looked so smooth that night, almost literally unhittable.
I’d rank that game slightly above the Harden near no-no of ‘05.
How do the angels get to sleep when the devil leaves the porchlight on?
by FreeSeatUpgrade on Jun 17, 2008 9:24 AM PDT up reply actions
20 home games after the all-start break?
that doesn’t seem like that much. I haven’t even been to a game yet, how depressing!
You have to include smiley faces - Poppy
;- ) :- ) :-O : -> : -] : -}
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