I knew the A’s had the sweep in the bag when I saw the last game of the series was on Wednesday. Well managed.

opening the new thread. I think we owe the win to you.

Also – I will be at the game on Friday for sure, and possibly Sunday. Drop me a line if you want to meet up!

Thank you, I missed the game.

I love your game wraps. You do a great job of describing what went on in the game. It sounds like the game was a good one…too bad I had to work. I’m sorry I missed it.

being gainfully employed and all.

Very glad to see Suzuki finally got a day off.

At least it was the Seattle broadcast on mlb.tv.

FRod got the save.

According to the radio broadcast today (can’t remember who said it), Duke loves the black unis, and wanted to wear them today. He wants to wear the black unis for EVERYone of his home starts. JOY!

Going to the game on Friday, for my first excursion into bobblehead-giveaway-dom. What’s a good time to get to the park to make sure we get our mini-Suzukis?

...while I was getting my car’s AC recharged. Considering it’s already reaching close to 100 here in N.C., it’s still worth it.

Thanks for the nice write-up, bbg!

Why…won’t…they…lose!

For starters, how do you explain the fact that I had no sooner stepped into line to buy a ticket, that I found myself handed a ticket printed from home? I had never seen the man who handed me the ticket in my life, but he gave it over all the same. (He didn’t stop with me, passing out a half-dozen more tickets before he disappeared onto the BART bridge.) The fact that he was passing out the tickets after it already had been announced that the $2 seats were sold-out only added to the pleasantness of the surprise.

Then there was the fact that Planet Green decided to hand out Trumpet puppets today. I’ll be the first to concede that I’m not exactly the target audience for a stuffed puppet of Stomper’s son, but hey, a giveaway is a giveaway and I was more than happy to accept it. If nothing else, it brought a wide smile to my face to see the numerous kids in attendance waving their puppets around in the air whenever the A’s put a runner on.

And whoo boy, how about those runners we put on? (And brought in….and put on….and brought in). It’s true that I was both baffled by and rather perturbed to see Duke struggle to get through the sixth (prior to then, I was fantasizing about a complete game shutout), but by the time T-Buck slammed his homer to the bottom of the sixth, I was feeling pretty confident that we would hold on for the victory. By the time that C-Gon cleared the bases with his double in the seventh, any anxiety from Duke’s struggles had blissfully drifted away.

Now if only I hadn’t been sitting right behind an entire row of hipsters. (What, you were expecting today to be perfect? Come on!)

The A’s are obviously gaining a little more trust in him. I love seeing guys who everyone else doubts get a chance. Especially members of AN ;-)

and see the RedSox on ESPN….my goodness, get me some popcorn. crimony.

What’s the Major League record for most consecutive doubles for hits to start a career? He’s at 5. Somebody look this up. Somebody other than me.

WOW!!!!!

The Mojo was on from the first pitch…I had to take a break from the drums in the 4th and join some friends in 107 and it turned out to be a blessing.

There was a 3 year old behind me and after Buck’s home run bounced back on the field I told his mom that Brandon Inge would probably give it to him IF they went down there. His mom was to shy and wouldn’t you know it, I walked him down and go him the ball. You should have seen the kid’s eyes!!! AN actual HOME RUN BALL!!! I mean, I don’t even have a HOME RUN Ball and now he does…It was Magic!!! Truly magic…I made my way back to my drums, I brought three congas, in the 7th inning and wouldn’t you know it…WE SCORED 6 RUNS!!!! Magic BABY!!!

I am going to miss the small crowd feeling when the team moves, but for the next 4 years, I will soak it in as I do the sun on every Wednesday day game…
Go A’s!!!

Crosby is among the league leaders in doubles, yet compared to the other guys at the top of that list, he has a very, VERY low SLG%. Obviously, this is because he hasn’t hit very many homers, where typically, guys who hit a lot of doubles also hit a lot of homers.

What can we make of this? Will the doubles turn into homers eventually, or will he just have a strange doubles heavy year without very many homers?

Detroit fans about to receive a nice pick-me-up, however, in about 10 minutes. The Red Wings are on the verge of winning the Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh.

just to see if there were the usual bunch of “Geren, you idiot, you’re staying with the starter too long!” rants in the 6th. Yup. Then Duke gets four more outs that Braden or Calero would have had to get had Duke been yanked after 5.1 IP. Hello – we were down Street, Foulke, Casilla, Brown, and Devine today, folks!

at the last minute…
I parked out on the frontage road (like so many) so I had an excuse to “jog in” and get some exercise. A scalper wanted $20 for a ticket, and I said, “No, gonna get a cheap bleacher ticket.” The game already was in the second inning, so this guy was desperate. He said, “Don’t leeave, don’t leave! You want cheap?!! Here, I got a luxury box ticket for $10. You get a free meal too!”

Done deal.

So, I got in box 37 for $10, and hobnobbed with the folks from the Port of Oakland. I think I was not the only one with tickets from the scalper. Two brats, a Dr. Pepper, some Euro-water, a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale… not bad for $10, and a real decent seat.

I got some pictures, if I can figure out how to insert….

We are beating teams in decent. The key is that the Oakland team is acending. We have upside over a long season. We are not faling apart after losing a series aor two,

We have great prospects coming up.

The Angels are amazing, but lack depth and Vlads knees are aching.

The thing that struck me in the Detroit serieswas our solid defense. Runs that DIDN’T score for THEM. People you have come to expect it from,—Ellis, Crosby, Chaavy, maybe zuke, but let me add Gonzalez and even Deric Barton to my surprise and delight. It isn’t much fun for the fans in row 28 Section 106, but it WINS GAMES and makes our pitchers testerone levels fly high after a big play.