The season is coming to an end and, after yet another sweep at the hands of the Mariners, it just can't come soon enough.

But, before we move on to prospect rankings, hot stoves, or (gasp) subjects other than baseball, there are two small matters left. First, our record against LAAAAAA sits currently at 7-9. They may have the division all wrapped up, but they haven't clinched the season series yet. Now is the time where the Athletics will stand up against their hated rivals, send forth their champions, and fight their way by victory. Of course, when I say champions, I mean Dana Eveland and Edgar Gonzalez, so this might not be as epic as I am hoping for.

The second small matter? Oh yeah, that's the GOG!

Links

• Probable pitchers
• Angels stats
• Based on the poll results in GOG #51, this is going to be the last GOG of 2009. Of course, I'm a bit behind on my grading and the GOG #00 results are still to be tallied, so the race is still wide open (remember that GOG #00 questions count double, so there is a potential for 75 points right there). Anyway, keep your eyes open for a special GOG #00 results fANpost, complete with pretty plots, plus the end of the season recap and final standings!

GOG #52 :: The Very Last One (32 points possible)

Three game series vs Los Angeles Angels -- October 2-4

UPDATE -- answers added below in bold

1. Series outcome [3 points] 3-0 Angels
2. This series marks the first time when Scott Kazmir will face the A's as a hated Angel, rather than a lovable Ray. Predict his IP/ER/K [2 points each] 5 IP, 0 ER, 3 K
3. Dana Eveland's lifetime ERA against the Angels currently sits at a hellish 6.66 (19 ER in 25 and two-thirds). Does he improve that mark in his Saturday start, or does he decline further into pitching purgatory? [+1 if right, -1 if wrong] Dana allowed 4 ER in 4.2 innings, so he actually managed to increase his ERA vs the Angels to 6.82
4. In (hopefully) his last series as an Athletics, predict Bobby Crosby's AB/H/RBI [2 points each] 5 AB, 2 H, 0 RBI
5. Chone Figgins has been leading the way for the Angels this season, and leading his own way to a big fat free agent contract, with a spectacular 6.1 Wins Above Replacement. He has been good at everything (well, except for hitting for power), with a .300 batting average, league leading 101 walks, 42 stolen bases, and excellent defense at third base. How many times will Chone reach base against Oakland? [3 points] Figgins reached base only twice
6. Making a final RoY push, does Andrew Bailey earn a save in the series? Does he allow any earned runs? [+1 for each right answer, -1 for each wrong] no save, no earned runs (in 2 innings)
7. For the 2009 season, the A's and Angels have very similar team UZR, both slightly better than average. However, the two teams save their runs in very different ways. The A's have a pretty nice range score, thanks mostly to Rajai Davis, Ryan Sweeney, and Matt Holliday. The Angels outfield of Rivera, Hunter, and Abreu just doesn't have those kind of legs. On the other hand, the A's UZR is cut down by errors and missing double plays, thanks to an infield that has had a heavy dose of Adam Kennedy (often playing out of position at third), Bobby Crosby (ditto), and an uncharacteristicly bad half-season with the glove from Orlando Cabrera. For the series, which team commits more errors? Which team turns more double plays? Which team records more outfield putouts? [+1 for each right answer, -1 for each wrong] Both teams tied, with 1 error apiece. LAAAA turned 7 double plays to Oakland's 3. Oakland outfielders made more putouts, 19 to 15.
8. In 2008, the three Oakland relievers with the most innings pitched were Street, Embree, and Ziegler, who combined for 191.1 total. With three games left to play, this year's top three (Bailey, Wuertz, and Ziegler) have thrown a whopping 230.1 innings! How many IP for that ace trio in this series? [3 points] 5 innings total (2 for Bailey, 1 for Wuertz, 2 for Ziggy)
9. Perhaps it is appropriate that the last game of the 2009 season starts with Edgar Gonzalez on the mound. Will he manage to post a game score of at least 50 (which roughly corresponds to a quality start)? [+1 if right, -1 if wrong] Dropped this question, since Edgar didn't start
10. Taking a small detour to the one bit of pennant race excitement -- If the Twins win all three of their remaining games (against the Royals) *and* the Tigers lose their three games (against the White Sox), then Minnesota wins the AL Central outright. If the Twins lose one game *or* the Tigers win one, then they will finish in a tie, leading to a one game playoff on Tuesday. Do either of these two scenarios occur? [+1 if right, -1 if wrong] yes
11. Who wins GOG #52, before this question is taken into account? [3 points] zaniac75

The series kicks off with my man Gio on the mound, at 7:05 pm. Don't miss your last chance to GOG!

Results

Well, this was a nice hard one to finish off the season. Don't feel bad if your score was low.

Overall scoring statistics

• mean = 1.61538 points
• standard deviation = 3.12353 points
• mode = 2 points

via cfcp.uchicago.edu

Your Scores

Congratulations to zaniac75 for winning GOG #52. However, nevermoor turned in the next best score, so he's still got a strong grip on first place. Of course, there are a lot of points up for grabs with GOG #00 still to be graded. The suspense is killing me! (but not enough to make me actually, you know, go and grade those results)