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Losing Faith in Billy Ball

Punch_tiny by bajablue on

I have as much green and gold running through my veins as anyone.  I won't go through the number of years I've been a diehard fan or for how long or what section my season tickets were in (I let them go this year).  I wish to simply throw out there that for me, for now, I am starting to lose faith in these things.

  • The new Stadium. It would be great but until they are building I don't trust it will ever happen.
  • The rebuilding of the team.  This time the cut may be too deep.  Swisher, Haren, Hardin, Blanton after losing Mulder, Hudson and Zito feels like way to much to soon. We got complimentary position players back in those deals.  I don't buy into the Gonzalez as a future star talking points.
  • Health of Chavez.  I love the guy.  I wear his jersey but for godness sake if he comes back he is a 1B now at best.  We need a 3B to build around.
  • Ellis.  The heart of the team and epipitomy of what the A's are all about and he is already partially out the door.  No way they pull in those other 2B if he wasn't.
  • Crosby.  He has had his chance with a full healthy season and has done poorly.  I cannot see running him out for 150 games again next year but they will.

I admire all of you who continue to see the glass (of coolaid?) as half full, I really do.  I am just not buying into it again.  This has not been a rebuilding year.  Calling it that is about as good as putting lipstick on a pig.  This is a disgraceful year.  And for me - well I only represent one of those empty seats but I'm losing faith in the entire package.

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WHY THE HELL CAN'T PEOPLE SPELL HARDEN CORRECTLY!!!!!

I stopped reading after that, but Billy doesn’t have much to do with the stadium.

by theblackpearl on Aug 21, 2008 1:10 PM PDT   0 recs

WHY THE HECK CAN'T PEOPLE SPELL "GOODNESS" CORRECTLY?

I stopped reading after that. (See Health of Chavez line)…… Godness sake?

by HRH on Aug 21, 2008 1:25 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

WHY ARE PEOPLE SO NEGATIVE ABOUT PUTTING LIPSTICK ON A PIG???

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 Aug 21, 2008 1:39 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Which end?

That usually determines my level of negativity.

by mikev on Aug 21, 2008 1:41 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Why pick one or the other?

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 Aug 21, 2008 1:45 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Well looks like we lost Bajablue as an A's fan

Oh darn, he doesn’t like the Kool Aid flavor.

by HRH on Aug 21, 2008 1:48 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

WHY THE HEAVENS CAN'T RESIST UNDERMINING THEIR OWN SARCASM WITH SNARKY PARENTHETICALS?

Last paragraph: “I admire all of you who continue to see the glass (of coolaid?) as half full, I really do.”

I’m kind of embarassed to have read that far. In my defense, I skimmed.

Brainless Automaton #439

by rubin sierra on Aug 21, 2008 3:14 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Snarky parenthetical complete with misspelling

"Sad songs are my favorite songs." - Lenny DiNardo

by cagrrrl on Aug 21, 2008 3:49 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Isn't it kinda creepy how the big pitcher of kool-aid is about to pour a little pitcher of kool-aid?

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

by Nick on Aug 21, 2008 6:43 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Why can't...

people spell Ruben Sierra correctly?

by Eggman on Aug 21, 2008 4:03 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Kerrect speling...

is teh hobgolbin of small mnds

by joshers on Aug 22, 2008 3:45 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I still insist that people shouldn't even say "Kool-Aid," but ...

Flavor Aid

There were a lot of stupid, long confusing words that I’m sure normal people don’t use. @('.')@

by monkeyball on Aug 21, 2008 1:18 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Do you remember Funny Face?

When I was a kid … a looooong time ago … we used to drink this Kool-Aid type stuff called Funny Face. Choo-Choo Cherry is the only flavor I remember, but there were others. How bout Hawaiin Punch – they still make that? Hi-C?

I needed a team so I wouldn’t turn into one of the eighty million pink hat-wearing Bud Light-drinking mulleted idiots at Fenway.

by Vacafan on Aug 21, 2008 1:37 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Funny Face?

Any relation to “O” Face?

The monster at the end of this blog.

by grover on Aug 21, 2008 1:43 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Lefty Lemon

Enjoy the game

by DCinWC on Aug 21, 2008 2:00 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

isn't that who Sabean signed?

There were a lot of stupid, long confusing words that I’m sure normal people don’t use. @('.')@

by monkeyball on Aug 21, 2008 2:01 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Chet's older brother

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

by Nick on Aug 21, 2008 6:44 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Goofy Grape

Enjoy the game

by DCinWC on Aug 21, 2008 2:01 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

oh YEAH!!!

"Camelot sure fell apart, didn't it?"-Steve McCatty

by 5Aces on Aug 21, 2008 1:42 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I liked that pic I had to use it above as well

Is there now enough Kool-Aid to go around?

"Sad songs are my favorite songs." - Lenny DiNardo

by cagrrrl on Aug 21, 2008 3:50 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

There's never enough!

It’s like jello-there’s always room for more.

"Camelot sure fell apart, didn't it?"-Steve McCatty

by 5Aces on Aug 23, 2008 12:53 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

They have some great young arms.

Jeremy (NY): Alderson/Bumgarner or Anderson/Cahill?

SportsNation Keith Law: Can I have them all? I’ll take the SF kids.

"With 16-year-old Dominican righty Michel Inoa in tow, Gio Gonzalez improving at Triple-A and lefty Brett Anderson carving up Double-Abatters along with Simmons and Trevor Cahill, Oakland’s pitching depthis officially the envy of baseball." - BaseballAmerica.com

by Syphon on Aug 21, 2008 1:47 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Wow

Keith Law is crazy.

"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want" -Bill Watterson

by nevermoor on Aug 21, 2008 1:49 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Why is he crazy?

Bumgarner has some sick upside and all 4 are healthy and pitching well.

The monster at the end of this blog.

by grover on Aug 21, 2008 1:51 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Because Anderson came into the season as a better prospect than either of them

And both SF guys are in A ball (Alderson in rookie/A+) our guys are in AA.

And our guys have better looking stats in AA than their guys do in the lower levels.

Other than that, no reason.

"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want" -Bill Watterson

by nevermoor on Aug 21, 2008 2:00 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I'm not dismissing our guys

Alderson/Bumgarner have higher ceilings then their A’s counterparts, they all have been pitching well (although Cahill’s control had slipped a bit in AA) and IMO it’s a matter of personal taste. Law isn’t saying Cahill and Anderson suck, just that he’d chase after the higher potential pay-off of the Giants’ duo.

I’d pick the A’s duo for the reasons you’ve stated, but I wouldn’t call someone who chose the other pair “crazy”.

The monster at the end of this blog.

by grover on Aug 21, 2008 2:19 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Maybe

But Sickels, for one, graded Anderson higher than either of the SF guys going into the season. I’m not sure it’s a given that they have higher upside than he does.

"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want" -Bill Watterson

by nevermoor on Aug 21, 2008 7:40 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

For all that is holy

Just fucking admit you over-reacted in calling Keith Law crazy and move on with your life.

The monster at the end of this blog.

by grover on Aug 21, 2008 8:07 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

If you don't like crazy

I’ll downgrade to “wrong”

"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want" -Bill Watterson

by nevermoor on Aug 22, 2008 8:27 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

You are so judgemental of people

The monster at the end of this blog.

by grover on Aug 22, 2008 9:12 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Better looking stats?

I dare you to find me any line from Cahill/Anderson better than this one:

130.1 IP, 145 K/20 BB, 1.52 ERA, 0.94 WHIP

"Do you know that the guy really doesn't like baseball all that much?" - J.P. Riccardi

by black beane on Aug 21, 2008 3:12 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Whose line is that?

It isn’t Alderson or Bumgarner.

But I’ll take Cahill’s 5.84 H9 0.49 HR9 4.62 BB9 8.03 K9 1.16 WHIP in AA (with better A+ stats earlier in the season)

"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want" -Bill Watterson

by nevermoor on Aug 21, 2008 7:39 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

It is Bumgarner's

http://minors.baseball-reference.com/players.cgi?pid=18

It’s not a question of which one will you take. You said “our guys have better looking stats in AA than their guys do in the lower levels” and that is simply untrue.

"Do you know that the guy really doesn't like baseball all that much?" - J.P. Riccardi

by black beane on Aug 22, 2008 8:56 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

You're right

I don’t actually know what I was thinking there (I think I just saw Cahill’s H/9 with a low HR/9 and my brain farted).

Bumgarner is controlling HR / BB / Ks better than Cahill is, so you’re absolutely right.

"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want" -Bill Watterson

by nevermoor on Aug 22, 2008 9:20 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Alderson/Bumgarner

Are only in A ball while Anderson/Cahill are beating AA hitters. But I think Bumgarner has higher upside than anyone.

"With 16-year-old Dominican righty Michel Inoa in tow, Gio Gonzalez improving at Triple-A and lefty Brett Anderson carving up Double-Abatters along with Simmons and Trevor Cahill, Oakland’s pitching depthis officially the envy of baseball." - BaseballAmerica.com

by Syphon on Aug 21, 2008 1:57 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Anderson and Cahill are going to arrive sooner, but that doesn't mean they're better

"Do you know that the guy really doesn't like baseball all that much?" - J.P. Riccardi

by black beane on Aug 21, 2008 3:13 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

True, but...

Being more advanced does mean that Cahill & Anderson have a greater chance at pitching in the Show. They’ve simply developed further then the Giants’ duo and that is certainly a plus in the A’s favor.

The monster at the end of this blog.

by grover on Aug 21, 2008 3:33 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

It's one plus in the A's favor

but IMO, I’d rather have the G’s duo.

"Do you know that the guy really doesn't like baseball all that much?" - J.P. Riccardi

by black beane on Aug 21, 2008 4:44 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Fair enough

But is anyone crazy for picking one or the other?

The monster at the end of this blog.

by grover on Aug 21, 2008 4:54 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

not at all, and that's all i was disagreeing with

Keith Law isn’t “crazy” for picking the Giants’ duo.

"Do you know that the guy really doesn't like baseball all that much?" - J.P. Riccardi

by black beane on Aug 21, 2008 4:57 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Exactly

Wait a sec…

WTF am I doing agreeing with people!?!?!

The monster at the end of this blog.

by grover on Aug 21, 2008 5:29 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Hasnt anything to do with them arriving sooner.

AA hitters are better than A ball hitters was my point.

"With 16-year-old Dominican righty Michel Inoa in tow, Gio Gonzalez improving at Triple-A and lefty Brett Anderson carving up Double-Abatters along with Simmons and Trevor Cahill, Oakland’s pitching depthis officially the envy of baseball." - BaseballAmerica.com

by Syphon on Aug 21, 2008 3:34 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

and you can argue that with

Bum/Ald had better performances against A ball hitters than Cahill/Anderson did

"Do you know that the guy really doesn't like baseball all that much?" - J.P. Riccardi

by black beane on Aug 21, 2008 4:44 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Cahill's A ball numbers

are right there in line with the Giants guys. Anderson is only slightly worse. Overall they are very comparable.

"With 16-year-old Dominican righty Michel Inoa in tow, Gio Gonzalez improving at Triple-A and lefty Brett Anderson carving up Double-Abatters along with Simmons and Trevor Cahill, Oakland’s pitching depthis officially the envy of baseball." - BaseballAmerica.com

by Syphon on Aug 21, 2008 5:00 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

With very few exceptions,

guys who have mastered AA are better prospects than guys who haven’t. Every level has a certain probability of failure, and anecdotally, I understand that the rate of failure is highest when guys move from A to AA.

I’m making these numbers up completely, but a 50% chance of saving you 100 runs is a lot more valuable than a 20% chance of saving you 150.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Aug 25, 2008 4:00 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

It isn't just Law

Goldstein in his recent chat also picked Bumgarner over Anderson. He was conflicted on Anderson and Cahill, he had them about the same.

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

by rfloh on Aug 22, 2008 12:58 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I can accept that

The monster at the end of this blog.

by grover on Aug 21, 2008 1:50 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

What are you talking about...

they’re still in contention…only 11 games back with 72 losses…right?

by mattman on Aug 21, 2008 1:18 PM PDT   0 recs

yeah...

all these haters that talk smack about beane all day on AN should jump across the bay for a little tour into giants land…not a great place to be…besides tim lincecum.

by mattman on Aug 21, 2008 1:32 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

The problem is, every poster on AN, Blez, and the front page guys, have all criticized

things Beane has done. I don’t know anyone on AN, who won’t admit Billy has made mistakes, but we choose to lean on the good things, and hope his moves pay off.

by theblackpearl on Aug 21, 2008 1:35 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

That's why I laugh every time someone brings out the "Drinking the Kool-Aid" stuff.

If anyone bothered to actually pay attention here – and someone with 5 posts and 8 comments since registering probably hasn’t a whole lot – they’d see that yes, a lot of people do question Beane about some things. That doesn’t mean they suddenly think he sucks. I’m pretty sure they never thought he was perfect, either.

He’s still got a better track record than most of the GMs out there.

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

by Flashfire on Aug 21, 2008 1:39 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Definitely agree...

In my mind there is a huge difference between “criticizing” which some of the front pagers do, and others posting and simply just “hating” or “venting”

by mattman on Aug 21, 2008 1:40 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

The worse the team has played since the ASB, the higher the number of haters/venters we've seen.

They come out of the woodwork and it’s almost as if their crusade is to show everyone that “Hey, look – Beane actually sucks!”

Offensively, this team is TERRIBLE. No question. That doesn’t mean that’s how they’re going to be for the next few years. The A’s have a ton of excellent pitching prospects in the system and that is going to be a position of strength for them to deal from. There won’t be enough room to keep them all here so Beane’s going to be able to use some of them to improve the club in other places. They also have a few position prospects to appear to be pretty solid.

People complain that the team isn’t filling a hole with some proven hitter right now but what’s the point? How much is that really going to improve the team short term? Not enough to be worth it, I don’t think. I would’ve liked to see them get Jason Bay but maybe it’s not the right time to go after a player like that.

Within a couple years I expect many of the things people complain about today to be taken care of, but some people have trouble seeing past the end of their noses. Right now the team’s terrible and this runs the risk of losing more fans, but I don’t know what else the team can really do right this minute but weather the storm. I sure don’t expect to see them become the Pirates of the AL.

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

by Flashfire on Aug 21, 2008 1:48 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I stopped reading when

you wrote Ellis is the heart and soul of the team. If he is then we have more problems than I realized. By the way, Billie Ball refers to the ‘81 team, not the 2008 team. The only position player BB traded was Swisher, and he wouldn’t help this team of Ellis,Hannahan, Brown, and Barton. The A’s are not losing because of the pitchers, they are losing because they don’t have a major league hitter in the lineup with the possible exception of Suzuki.

by Laoren on Aug 21, 2008 1:19 PM PDT   0 recs

It's

Billy Ball.

Stomp,em, stomp the piss out of em.Then pound the budweiser after the game. Joe Schultz Seattle Piolts Mgr 1969

by billyball1981 on Aug 21, 2008 1:26 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

How about

Billi Ball (with a heart on the "i")

Enjoy the game

by DCinWC on Aug 21, 2008 2:13 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

He's referring to Ms. Holiday's forgettable run as GM back in '57

Tactics included getting liquored up before the game, “freeform fielding,” and being “swingers” at the plate.

Ryan Sweeney: I probably irrationally embraced him before you did.

by Joey C. on Aug 21, 2008 2:17 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Billie Ball

is actually a revolutionary rounders strategy pioneered by award-winning British actress Billie Whitelaw.

But you probably already knew that.

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

by Nick on Aug 21, 2008 6:49 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

All of the players Beane traded this year were position players — unless he traded Frank Thomas and I missed it.

Root for the Giants? Not even if they're playing al-Qaeda!

by Monday Fan on Aug 22, 2008 12:52 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

-1

About as worthy of debate as the whole “Cust is a good offensive producer but NOT a good hitter” semantic argument.

"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want" -Bill Watterson

by nevermoor on Aug 22, 2008 1:47 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

wait. are you saying that Ellis had an ...

… episiotomy?

There were a lot of stupid, long confusing words that I’m sure normal people don’t use. @('.')@

by monkeyball on Aug 21, 2008 1:19 PM PDT   0 recs

"However, at Elias, I think they keep track of the amount of sunflower seeds spit in a dugout each night." - Brad Ziegler, 8/7/08

by doctorK on Aug 21, 2008 1:19 PM PDT   0 recs

Good Lord

how many of these do people really feel the need to post?

by Blez on Aug 21, 2008 1:21 PM PDT   0 recs

Apparently we haven't reached that magic number yet...

…and it’s not enough for people to just say the same things over and over again in one post.

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

by Flashfire on Aug 21, 2008 1:22 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

is there a prize or an award when that number is reached

or do we all just get to feel a little better(wosre?) about ourselves?

by A'sfaninNC on Aug 21, 2008 1:24 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

+1000000000000000000000000000

Anyway to put an end to this? I suggested limiting one’s ability to fanpost until they have made a requisite number of comments. I was quickly shouted down, but something’s gotta be done, no?

Looking forward to your interview with Lew! Keep up the great work Blez. If it weren’t for AN I’d have to read the chron/east bay rags/etc and here the same tired garbage (see above) about how Billy stinks, the A’s stink, etc.

by 33SwisherSweet on Aug 21, 2008 1:23 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I'm on your side

Something like 50…

At the very least, 5 posts 8 comments seems like a bad balance.

"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want" -Bill Watterson

by nevermoor on Aug 21, 2008 1:28 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs