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DLD 4.29.11 - The Big O?

Happy birthday, wacchampions!

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via w4.campusexplorer.com

The Oakland Coliseum will now be the Overstock.com Coliseum. (BANG)

Five members of the eight-person Coliseum Authority Board of Commissioners approved the deal with a 5-0 vote. The three commissioners who did not vote -- Nate Miley, Chris Dobbins and Yui Hay Lee -- were absent, according to Chairman and Oakland Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente. "It was a straight-up deal," said De La Fuente, whose council district borders the Coliseum complex. He said the agreement is effective immediately.

The Coliseum Authority also agreed to work with BART and Caltrans to ensure signs indicating the location of the Coliseum be marked with the Overstock.com name.Overstock.com agreed to pay any costs associated with changing signs.

But don't get used to the Overstock.com label. The Salt Lake City-based firm is in the process of re-branding itself as O.co in an effort to gain customers around the world and the company has the right to change the Coliseum's name to the O.co Coliseum at any time.

And apparently, the offense still isn't that good. (BANG)

After the A's added designated hitter Hideki Matsui and outfielders Josh Willingham and David DeJesus over the winter, it was assumed the revamped offense would complement their excellent pitching with better run support.

To this point, it hasn't happened.

The A's entered Thursday ranked 13th out of 14 A.L. teams in runs (85), 13th in batting average (.236), 11th in on-base percentage (.305) and 13th in home runs (11).

Now would be a good time for the A's to find their hitting stroke, with the A.L. West-leading Texas Rangers arriving for a four-game series that starts Friday.

"It's definitely time," second baseman Mark Ellis said. "You've got to continue to do your work, and sooner or later, you know you're going to come out of it. But you'd like to do it sooner rather than later if you want to help your team win ballgames."

In contrast, last night CSN showed the August 11, 2003 Oakland 4-0 win over Boston. Even these modest batting averages seem like murderer's row compared to this year. (Baseball Reference)

Brandon McCarthy (aka @B__McCarthy) tweaked his mechanics in the offseason. Driveline Mechanics (which used to be a SB Nation blog, right?) approves. (Driveline Mechanics)

In my opinion, McCarthy's new delivery is a huge upgrade on many levels. He's obviously getting much better results with it, but the new delivery promotes rotation significantly better by doing a superior job of finishing rotated to the target while his trunk is "stacked" more efficiently. He is "loading" his scapula in a better pattern, which may help to limit injury given his history of scapular stress fractures without any loss of velocity.

And McCarthy's latest tweet:

I really want to be asleep soon so as to avoid any confusion that I may have stayed awake to watch the royal wedding.
about 10 hours ago via web

He's starting to sound like Ron Swanson.

Other news:

The 49ers hope this year's draft pick does better than the last A. Smith they drafted in the first round. (SF Chron)

Imagine how Aldon Smith felt when the 49ers chose him, and not Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert, with the No. 7 overall pick Thursday.

"I had no idea," Smith said in a conference call. "Amazing, amazing, amazing. I visited them ... went to dinner with them. It was a good visit.

"When I left, I didn't know they had that much interest in me."

He was wrong, as was every mock drafter who tried to guess who the 49ers would take. Most thought they would go with Gabbert, or trade back for a quarterback. Others pegged them with a cornerback to help their weak secondary.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Keith Smart. (SF Chron)

Team sources said more movement among the Warriors' staff is expected as soon as today, and general manager Larry Riley reiterated that a head coaching move alone won't be enough to turn the franchise into a playoff contender.

The other immediate moves are expected to be among the team's support staff, possibly player development, strength and conditioning and/or training. Sources weren't ready to name names because some of the staff had not yet been informed.

The rest of the moves will deal with the roster itself, which Riley admitted wasn't good enough to reach the playoffs this season. He said he had a glimmer of hope when the Warriors headed into the All-Star break with an impressive win at Utah to get to three games under .500.

Derek Lowe: still a douche. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Braves starting pitcher Derek Lowe was allegedly racing another driver down Peachtree Road in Buckhead when he was stopped and charged with driving under the influence, a Georgia State Patrol spokesman told the AJC late Friday morning.

Lowe, who was driving a 2011 Porsche Panamera, was also charged with reckless driving along with driving under the influence and making an improper lane change.