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Wrap: Game 137 - Twins 12, A's 4

Note to A's pitchers: don't put ANYBODY on base before Justin Morneau comes to bat.

Morneau struck early and often against another A's starter ( this one being Greg Smith) as he provided an RBI single in the top of the 1st after a double by Nick Punto. He would then put the game out of reach with a 3-run shot to right field off of Smith after another Punto hit and a walk to Joe Mauer. After that point, with the A's trailing 6-1 in the top of the 6th, Smith lost his composure and the A's effectively lost the game. Foulke, in his first action back off the DL, came in and hemorrhaged a few more runs, so that by the time the A's wound up stringing some hits and walks together to put a dent in the lead (the bottom of the 8th) it was way too little too late.

Early in the game, after the blip to Morneau and a belt-high BP fastball to Alexi Casilla in the 2nd that left the yard for a 2-run homer, Smith seemed to have settled. He was consistently finding the strike zone, wasn't walking anybody and had a few K's for the effort. He cruised through the 3rd, 4th and 5th, but just couldn't keep the focus going into the 6th. That loss of a focus was a killer, but I'm just gonna take the positive away from Smith's outing: he actually struck-out more batters than he walked (4 to 3) and managed to work into the 6th. Ehh, not much, but what can you do?

A few hours after I raved about how solid the A's defense has been the last few series, a few likely culprits spoiled the party this afternoon. Barton pulled a Buckner and let a grounder roll right through his legs while the bags were loaded with Twinkies in allowing two more runs to score in the 8th, while Pennington's bobbled ball and errant throw tacked on an unearned run to Ziggy's sloppy 9th inning "getting the work in" appearance.

And now, a few hours after my call for this team to seize the momentum for a new month and a new era in this team's development, they just reverted back to the ugliness that has permeated "100% Baseball" since mid-July. At least the month of August is mercifully over and...

Aaron Cunningham (2 for 4 with a double, single and 2 RBIs) is up with the team to stay and giving us something to cheer for! After a rough first two at-bats (striking out twice on a total of 8 pitches) the young Tom Sawyer-lookalike came alive and topped off his debut night with a well-struck ground rule double to right-center and a two-RBI, line drive single to center in the A's first significant rally of the game in the game on the 8th. Congrats Cunningham...we've needed you for awhile now!

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When I watch A's games now I feel like Charlie Brown,

because in the end all I usually have to say is, “Oh good grief.”

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 31, 2008 5:02 PM PDT   0 recs

Bad game - I gave up watching in the 8th inning

Exception: The butt-crack man. I was laughing so hard I was crying, especially will Kuiper and Fosse trying their best to keep from busting up themselves.

"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 31, 2008 5:03 PM PDT   0 recs

I liked the woman behind him gently pulling the back of his shirt down.

Not sure if that was for his sake because he was on camera, or if it was for her sake just because.

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 31, 2008 5:05 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I thought it was more of a frantic act of self-preservation

"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 31, 2008 5:11 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Definitely not my favorite as "grand openings" go

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 31, 2008 5:27 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

When it comes to butt crack theater

I want the curtain to close soon as possible.

by lynnzgal on Aug 31, 2008 6:37 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Act #1 is fine. Intermission is fine.

Act #2 I do not care to see.

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 31, 2008 8:37 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Nice to know this was caught on camera...

…we saw it all the way from Section 118, Row 26! Shockingly, my “say no to crack” quip didn’t resonate with my fellow downtrodden fans.

by Technotofu on Aug 31, 2008 8:16 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Looking forward to watching the game and seeing this Cunningham character

From how he’s been described here on AN, he’s got the bat of 47 Mickey Mantles, the looks of a young Clark Gable, and more brains than Marie Curie. Plus, I understand he cured cancer. That is a gentleman I want to watch play baseball.

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

by Joey C. on Aug 31, 2008 5:39 PM PDT   0 recs

wise Bill King once cautioned fans

not to fall in love with players in March or September. (OK today is August 31.)

by OaklandSi on Aug 31, 2008 5:48 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Loophole!

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Aug 31, 2008 7:08 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Dallas Braden..

even though most everyone is not a fan… is the only good pitcher we have. sorry.

by Sbo12 on Aug 31, 2008 7:06 PM PDT   0 recs

This is... this is supposed to be funny, right?

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

by Joey C. on Aug 31, 2008 7:54 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

It's quite true if you zoom in to "right now"

Smith and Gio have been ungood, and Meyer has been most unnotawful.

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 31, 2008 8:38 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Why, Meyer, why?

All I’m saying is: Tod Van Poppel.

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

by Joey C. on Aug 31, 2008 10:36 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Meyer

is coming back too

by Sbo12 on Aug 31, 2008 10:37 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Eveland's actually looked good lately

I think both sides of this “debate” are kind of missing the point, which is that right now none of them are particularly good (although I think Gio will be, eventually).

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Aug 31, 2008 9:42 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

The statement was "Braden is the only good pitcher we have."

Not, “Braden is the only pitcher we have who is playing well right now.” I don’t judge overall quality based on recent outings. I can name you several pitchers who have pitched well in the short term and have not turned out to be Sandy Koufax after all.

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

by Joey C. on Aug 31, 2008 9:57 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

i meant right now

just giving credit where credit is due…. right now…obviously didn’t mean the season.

by Sbo12 on Aug 31, 2008 10:40 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

My bad

Re-reading my comments, I came off as more of an asshole than I intended.

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

by Joey C. on Aug 31, 2008 10:56 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

i had a great time

i was in attendance for my friend’s wedding in section 235. great times. the bride tossing the bouquet got onto baseball tonight.

"If you hit .440 with 20 bombs, you don't have to do s---. You don't have to bring a glove to practice, just hit and leave whenever you want. You can bring a 40 and smoke a cigarette and call me from the parking lot asking me what time the game is, and I'll tell you. You can even say 'F--- you, Steve!' Actually, don't say that, that wouldn't be very nice." -Steve Friend, Head Coach, Chabot College Gladiators Baseball

by flipgatey3 on Aug 31, 2008 7:10 PM PDT   1 recs

and

congrats to mike and erin.

"If you hit .440 with 20 bombs, you don't have to do s---. You don't have to bring a glove to practice, just hit and leave whenever you want. You can bring a 40 and smoke a cigarette and call me from the parking lot asking me what time the game is, and I'll tell you. You can even say 'F--- you, Steve!' Actually, don't say that, that wouldn't be very nice." -Steve Friend, Head Coach, Chabot College Gladiators Baseball

by flipgatey3 on Aug 31, 2008 7:11 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

it was more like

she had more beers than jack hannahan on a day in college ending in “y”

"If you hit .440 with 20 bombs, you don't have to do s---. You don't have to bring a glove to practice, just hit and leave whenever you want. You can bring a 40 and smoke a cigarette and call me from the parking lot asking me what time the game is, and I'll tell you. You can even say 'F--- you, Steve!' Actually, don't say that, that wouldn't be very nice." -Steve Friend, Head Coach, Chabot College Gladiators Baseball

by flipgatey3 on Aug 31, 2008 8:07 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

We completed our 3rd consecutive non-losing series!

We’re pretty much awesome, there’s no other way to put it.

by whiteshoes40 on Aug 31, 2008 7:32 PM PDT   0 recs

Cunningham:

1. I was pleased with what I saw in that he’s in the “good stats, less good scouting reports category” occupied by the likes of Denorfia, Murton, and Patterson, where, when I saw the latter three, I understood the scouting reports… I sort of thought Cunningham would look small, but he doesn’t, and I liked his swing a lot. He’s been a bit heavy on the singles in the minors, but you can tell from his approach (and from the high Ks in the minors) that he’s not a Kendall (or Murton or Denorfia) type slap hitter getting those singles. He’ll hit the ball hard when he makes contact, although he probably isn’t strong enough to every be a plus HR hitter.

2. The two Ks. Not great to seem him get blown away by good but not great fastballs. To the extent that that is typically how his Ks happen, I wonder whether it’s better to have trouble against fastballs or to have trouble with breaking balls out of the zone. Hard to say…

3. He didn’t look especially good in the OF today.

The A's colors are green and gold.

by mikeA on Aug 31, 2008 8:53 PM PDT   0 recs

I think a lot can probably be attributed to

major league debut + 22 years old = nerves. No getting around that. My expectation is that as he settles in, he’ll make more contact but won’t hit .500. He did have 17 HRs in AA/AAA combined, so he’s far from a singles hitter – I actually think he could out HR Sweeney in the bigs – but he’s never going to be a 25-30 HR guy. I do think he’s probably been underrated by scouts as a “4th OF type” – I just have a feeling he’s going to be a solid everyday starter before too long.

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 31, 2008 9:12 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

He had 57 XBH in 127 games last year

45 this year in 105 games, which is basically the same rate. He’s nobody’s idea of a slap hitter.

For reference, Ryan Sweeney had 33 in 120 games last year and 22 in 99 games this year.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Aug 31, 2008 9:48 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

He's described as a guy who stays within his skill set well

I envision him being a cross between Eric Byrnes and Mark Ellis – combining Byrnes’ energetic style and Ellis’ headiness, and just generally being extremely white.

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 31, 2008 9:54 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I also saw the Byrnesy connection

Despite being only cautiously optimistic about Cunningham, he looked pretty good out there. And by pretty good, I mean why aren’t the female fans (and some of the male fans) flooding this thread with various ribald fantasy scenarios?

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

by Joey C. on Aug 31, 2008 10:04 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Ahem

Along these lines?

http://deadspin.com/5040525/michael-phelps-slash-fiction-is-here-its-too-late-to-run"

Warning, NSFW… at least assuming your boss has no sense of humor, which seems like a safe bet.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Aug 31, 2008 10:12 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I think that outdoes "ribald" by a country mile

Jon Lovitz is disappointed.

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

by Joey C. on Aug 31, 2008 10:28 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I initially misread "ribald" as "rabid,"

and yet the sentence made sense to me.

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 Sep 1, 2008 8:12 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Point was:

He didn’t look like an overly slappy hitter from the stats, but I thought it was possible that he was since the scouts seem to like him a bit less than the stats. His power numbers don’t raise any red flags, but he’s succeeded largely on BA, not power, and his Ks have been high, which is cause for concern. His minor league numbers have been boosted at every level by an excellent BA, but a guy with that type of K-rate is not going to sustain a high BA in the majors.

Obviously he’s hit for a lot more power than Sweeney… I think he’s more promising than Sweeney. I loved his swing today. I also think Sweeney will have a better obp the next few years. They’ll walk at about the same rate, but I think Sweeney has a real capability to put up a good ML batting average and that Cunningham may not. Hopefully, he does…

The A's colors are green and gold.

by mikeA on Aug 31, 2008 10:18 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

His BA this year

is the result of a 25% line drive rate.

Maybe that’s unsustainable too, but the guy knows how to hit a baseball.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Aug 31, 2008 10:49 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

yeah, he does

he had a great year. He’s a very promising hitter.

But he won’t approach a 25% LD% in the majors, so he’ll need to cut down on the Ks to keep up his average or hit for more than “moderate” power to be a good corner OFer. If not, he is nothing to get excited about, unless a “pretty good” player is something to be excited about.

That said, I loved his swing, and I am excited. But he will have to improve justify that, not just keep up what he has been doing.

The A's colors are green and gold.

by mikeA on Aug 31, 2008 11:02 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Very Classy Twins

I thought it was very cool when Cunningham came up in the bottom of the 7th. He had struck out the first two times in his debut, so Mauer walked out to the mound to talk to Reyes. On TV it looked like he was telling the pitcher, “Let’s give this kid something to hit—we’re up 8 to 1.” The first pitch to Cunningham was a fastball catching the outside of the plate for a strike. Mauer turned and looked at Cunningham, sort of as if to say, “I told you it would be a fastball.” Then Cunningham hit the ground-rule double.

by Flamethrower on Aug 31, 2008 9:13 PM PDT   0 recs

Hmmm...

the Twins in the playoff hunt… an 8-1 lead in the 7th is good, but not completely insurmountable (well, okay, against the A’s it probably is). But, if Cunningham is the firestarter and the Twins lose, there’d be some hell to pay for that conversation. I doubt it happened.

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

by FoolshGame22 on Aug 31, 2008 10:30 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Emil not happy!
Brown, 33, was signed to a one-year, $1.45 million deal last offseason but often has been the odd man out in the outfield rotation, not surprising considering the team’s commitment to developing young players. Ryan Sweeney is hitting .289 and has earned an everyday role in right field. Carlos Gonzalez, the team’s top prospect, started in center field until he was sent down Thursday. Now Rajai Davis is playing there.

When Frank Thomas has been healthy enough to DH, Jack Cust often has played left field. The A’s also have used left to get a look at players such as Eric Patterson, Matt Murton and now Aaron Cunningham, who started there in Sunday’s 12-4 loss to Minnesota.

“These guys probably wish they never even signed me. That makes two of us,” Brown said before the game.

Despite the inflammatory words, Brown by all accounts has been a good teammate this season. He hasn’t visibly sulked around the clubhouse.
“I’m playing him mostly against left-handers,” A’s manager Bob Geren said. “He’s doing a nice job. He’s kind of had different roles. He’s done a heck of a job against left-handers.”

Said Brown, “It doesn’t seem like I’m getting real opportunities. … I don’t have a lot of margin for error. It’s tough playing like that.”

link

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

by gotgreen on Sep 1, 2008 12:20 AM PDT   0 recs

PT said it better, but I'll just add...
"These guys probably wish they never even signed me. That makes two of us," Brown said before the game.

Makes more than two of you.

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

by FoolshGame22 on Sep 1, 2008 3:04 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

QOTM

Caramel Swirl

by Ice Cream on Sep 1, 2008 7:42 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Dear Emil Brown,

Try not sucking against right-handed pitching. Then try not sucking in the outfield. Then try the occasional walk – Earl Holloway says it’s good for you. Then shut up.

Sincerely,

Me.

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 Sep 1, 2008 8:15 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

neither is Street

link:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/01/SP6412M1L7.DTL

(I’m having some computer issues so until they’re resolved I’m not using the link tool)

It’s not unusual for players to gripe about not getting more playing time. I don’t fault Emil or Huston for doing so. However, it’s not their call…and it’s never a good strategy to gripe to the press

by OaklandSi on Sep 1, 2008 10:25 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

the link came up half-active

not of my doing…it’s simple enough to find this article on the SF Chron A’s page

sorry for the inconvenience

by OaklandSi on Sep 1, 2008 10:26 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

That doesn't strike me as anything, really

Slusser talked to him, and he said he’d like to be the closer (of course), but it doesn’t come off as angry or whiny at all.

The A's colors are green and gold.

by mikeA on Sep 1, 2008 11:25 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

If everyone else saw this coming...

… why didn’t Emil or the A’s?

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

by Joey C. on Sep 1, 2008 12:02 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

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