Lillibridge Steals Game That A's Work Hard To Give Away
by Nico on Jun 11, 2011 7:29 PM PDT
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PrintThe A's worked so hard to give this one away that it would have been downright rude of Brent Lillibridge not to reach his glove high over the LF wall to bring back what might have otherwise been a game-winning 2-run HR in the 8th by Coco Crisp.
This is an easy recap to do in that it needs no embellishment -- just the facts will suffice to tell you how much the A's gave away the runs that would be the difference.
Gio Gonzalez surrendered his first run in the 3rd inning, courtesy of a walk, a balk, and eventually a run-scoring wild pitch. The walk was one of 7 Gio issued in 5.1 IP, a new career high.
Oakland tied it in the 4th on a Willingham RBI single, then fell behind again 2-1 on a solo HR by backup catcher Ramon Castro -- which was, notably, the only ordinary run the A's allowed.
After tying it again, this time 2-2, on a Matsui sac fly in the 6th, Gio was trotted out to start the bottom of the 6th despite being at 107 pitches, 7 walks, a balk, a wild pitch, three french hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. How did it get to be runners at first and third with one out? Try a walk, a stolen base, a throw into CF by Kurt Suzuki, and then another walk.
And here's where you just wonder what the heck this team is doing. Brad Ziegler induced exactly the one-hopper back to the mound from Carlos Quentin he was seeking. Quentin is not fast and it was the most routine DP chance you could hope for. Inexplicably, without setting himself or waiting for his middle infielder to get near the bag, Ziegler immediately chucked the ball in the vague vicinity of 2B, before Cliff Pennington could even get near the bag, forcing Pennington to dive across 2B just to catch the ball and keep it on the infield. That made it 3-2, and thanks to Lillibridge 3-2 was the final score. I have no explanation for why Ziegler made such a hurried and awkward throw, but it is just the latest in a seemingly endless string of plays the A's have made this season that make you wonder what they worked on in spring training -- or little league.
Yet it might all have gone towards an improbable victory had it not been for the heroics of Lillibridge. It's just that kind of year. Again.
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No wonder we lost!
You can’t run your starter out there for 51 innings and expect to win.
Decimal points are harrrrrd.
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
"It's just that kind of year. Again."
This prettty much sums up everything. Could be the write-up for every game.
Silver lining update:
Chris Carter HRed in his first AB tonight. Granted, for single-A Stockton but still. HRs r gud.
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
second HR in 3 games for Carter
The A's are a fairly quiet team, and then there's Ben Sheets. Sheets, as a kid, must have been thrown out of every library in Baton Rouge. ~ Scott Ostler
Ziggy's boner
The A’s were handed another gift when Ziegler induced that ground ball back to the mound in the 6th. He rushed and made a terrible throw… that’s on him. But, I disagree with Nico… there’s nothing routine about a double play that invloves the pitcher. Something about having to spin and thow to a moving target often mess guys up. Sometimes they get confused as to who they’re throwing to…. sometimes they throw high, low, or behind the runner just enough to mess up the infieder’s momentum. The easiest double play is probably a grounder right at the second baseman.
Of course, if Ziggy had been able to start the inning he probably would have never been in that panic situation. Was Melvin worried about a lefty pinch hitter for the first batter?
I think pitchers make it harder than it actually is
With a runner of Quentin’s speed, no need to throw to a moving target. Just take the time to square up, tap the glove as you turn, and toss an easy throw over the bag and by that time the MIF is there to take the throw. It really should have been the most routine of DPs.
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
If I were the manager...
I would spend tons of times on teaching the pitchers how to field and throw to bases that are not home plate. They really suck at it. I am scarred by missed throws to first, second, third… anything that’s not 60 feet 6 inches messes with their head. You can practically expect failure.
More than just ANtics: http://www.louisgray.com/live/
I just want to let you know
It is really a lot harder than you think for a pitcher to make these throws. I used to sail them over my first basemen’s head all the time, because you are just so used to throwing a certain way that you have to defy sense memory. That said, Zigs hardly even tried to square up, there is no excuse for rushing it as much as he did.
Most pitchers played field positions at competitive levels (HS, college)
It’s not that hard to turn, square up, and make a normal throw over the bag. And it’s practiced endlessly (or should be) as part of PFP.
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
They Do
Quite a lot of pitchers were successful position players and hitters in high school and college. Tim Hudson comes to mind after reading “Aces”.
The fallacy is that you're throwing to a moving target
You’re not throwing to a person, you’re throwing to a time and place. You take the time to square yourself, because you will not field the ball in position to throw to 2B. That time allows the MIF to get where he needs to get. You then turn and throw over the bag. It’s the job of the MIF to be there.
It’s a simple play made hard by pitchers making two mistakes: Not squaring up, and throwing to a person instead of to a place.
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
Pitcher's Throwing Errors
It seems like we’ve had more than our share of pitcher’s throwing errors this year.
I guess I should go look it up…
Give me a break
Major league player can’t throw the ball 60 ft? Excuses aren’t appropriate when we continue to give games away. The average high school pitcher makes that play or gets an out somewhere with out a run scoring
The truth hurts
Ziegler himself said that he shouldn't have rushed the throw
he had plenty of time and should have waited for Pennington to get into position.
its a totally different arm angel for him
and throwing from flat ground with speed and accuracy for all pitchers.
Its not quantum physics, but its not easy.
Put a bird on it
agree 100%
Ziegler has to throw to an empty base, timing his throw to coincide with Pennington’s arrival. this is an order of magnitude more difficult than fielding a bunt and throwing to a stationary target.
I like the comment about the team practicing this for a while, as if major league teams practice during the season (B.P. does not count as team practice). Where do you think you’re living, Japan?
Time for me to go watch the best anti-war film of all time
Thats right…..starship troopers.
Instead of the Oakland A's call them the Oakland Lames
What is more painful to watch, the 2009 A’s or the 2011 A’s. This team makes me want to kill myself wilst having a colonoscopy. Absolute trash.
Pitcher Errors
It doesn’t matter how difficult the throw is to the second baseman, the fact is, that there
has been far too many bad throws from the mound that have been costly this year. These errors , in my opinion, are correctable. There should be practice sessions on just that detail next week before the home schedule. What coach is responsible for
working with the pitchers fielding?
{sniffs finger}
Wha?
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
Gio Gonzalez was so horrible with his control tonight
Bob Gerevin or is it Bob Meleren allowed him to come back out so he could walk lucky number 7.
That was a bonehead decision.
Coco got screwed by the wind and the fielder.
Tomorrow is another day
Coco Crisp
This is at the end of Slusser’s wrap-up.
Crisp recorded career hit 999 on a double in the sixth, but when approached by reporters for comment after the game, he rolled his eyes and walked away.
Coco takes a more upbeat approach to twitter;
Coco_Crisp Covelli Crisp
Wow!!! what a catch, saved the game, took a HR n my 1000th hit away. Sucks big time! Tomorrow is a big game 2 even up the series. Sleep fast
Fact: Andy Laroche has a better OBP than Coco.
Why is Crisp not hitting 8th or 9th? He kind of sucks at hitting this year.
It's because he's fast.
"You're all like big, fat failure turtles." - Edge
by Rated-R Superstar on Jun 12, 2011 9:59 AM PDT up reply actions
I don't fault Melvin for starting the inning with Gio. He gave him a batter to batter leash, he waited one pitch
too long. If Kurt doesn’t screw up the throw, the runner isn’t at 3rd base.
yeah, I didn't think Gio was going to come out for another inning, but I think it's a defensible choice
His last start Gio began awful and then settled into a groove and just dominated. I think it was fine to let him pitch as long as he could even though he wasn’t at his sharpest.
This one falls to Geren
After four years, the lack of preparation in spring training continues to come home to roost. There have been a lot of bonehead plays over the last couple of months. Spring training is a time for learning and teaching. There’s no way this kind of stuff would have happened had Ron Washington still been around.
What the hell did Geren DO during spring training?
agreed, lets move on
The A's are a fairly quiet team, and then there's Ben Sheets. Sheets, as a kid, must have been thrown out of every library in Baton Rouge. ~ Scott Ostler
Agreed, it's just a cop out now.
The only thing that matters is wins and losses. We need more of the former and less of the latter… sigh
If I had to blame someone/thing it would be the Giants. At this point I’m convinced they sold the franchise to the Devil. Monsieur Lucifer wants no part of a two team market. The Giants/Satan are actively trying to damage the A’s in every way possible. It’s fact. Trust me. I know.
by DaymanCometh on Jun 12, 2011 12:43 AM PDT up reply actions
Uhh no, its really not.
This A’s team fell off a fuckin cliff in terms of basic fundamentals. It is the worst A’s team in terms of fundamentals Ive seen since the mid-90s. Bobo really screwed this team up, and we have every right to blame him for anything and everything that goes wrong this year. Rob Bowen’s twitter doesn’t lie. He is responsible for screwing up our rotation and bullpen, which are our strengths. Its going to take a while to get this team back on track.
The lack of hatred and even worse, the apologists I’m reading online (not here) is sickening to me. That guy had every chance to succeed but had no idea what he was doing. Injuries screwed him up? He was responsible for those. BLAME GEREN.
Okay but he's gone now
And we can’t go back to ST.
"Once you go Bed....everything else is dead." - Bed
"So you're saying we should skin the Rangers and wear them as uniforms? I’m down." - Kyli
by cuppingmaster on Jun 12, 2011 9:38 AM PDT up reply actions
"Hitler was a guy with a lot of good ideas, who just took them too far."
-Marge Schott, RIP (Rot In Pieces)
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
Rapists > pedophiles > singular persons who ruin my fave team's entire season by their utter stupidity
All are deserving of hatred on varying levels.
Bowen's twitter actually does lie, or at least exaggerate.
Geren did not mess up 12 pitchers. The ones I could name as even possibilities would be: Wuertz, Breslow, and Anderson (and only for letting him pitch as he did these last 3 starts when his velocity was down). That’s pretty much it.
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
That's OK, so does PL78
but then he’ll just say “OHLOL IT’S JUST THE INTERNET DON’T TAKE IT SRSLY I CAN SAY WHATEVER”
Official Athletics Nation Rotating Tagline Editor - Pam liked my old sig better.
My thoughtful watermelon is easily mistook for an early American catapult.
Thanks for the helpful comment.
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
I'm here to help.
Official Athletics Nation Rotating Tagline Editor - Pam liked my old sig better.
My thoughtful watermelon is easily mistook for an early American catapult.
{sends co-payment}
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
Had to flag it
How is this not a personal attack? It is. Keep it on the A’s, and away from directly talking about singular posters on AN. The game is massively bigger than anyone who posts here, and it sucks to focus on the lowly troglodytes who bemoan their frustrations on here.
KTHXBAI <3, THE INTERWEBZ.
Yeah, I'm totally going to side with an internet commenter over a guy who was there in the trenches, witnessing it as it all went down.
Sorry dude, can’t really support your claim there. I think Bobo’s motto to his pitchers was “DUH THROW THE BALL AS HARD AS YOU CAN AT ALL TIMES BECAUSE YOU ARE BETTER WHEN THAT HAPPENS” (I picture bobo’s caps lock to be always on because he doesn’t know how to turn it off).
Off topic...but just a reminder
of what the Coliseum looks like with people inside
http://www.u2.com/gigapixelfancam/110607/
put giants hats on everyone and thats what itll look like for the bay bridge series
wow, that's weird. I feel like I'm in a bad movie.
“Pan left. Zoom in. Enhance. Enhance. Enhance.”
No 3d deck tarp either
I saw U2 at the Coliseum in 1987.
"You know, a long time ago being crazy meant something. Nowadays everybody's crazy."
-Charles Manson
by kaweahkaweah on Jun 12, 2011 7:03 AM PDT up reply actions
I saw it that full as recently as 2005
And without the tarps
by OaklandSi on Jun 12, 2011 8:17 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
And yes, it was an A's game
With mostly A’s fans…
by OaklandSi on Jun 12, 2011 8:18 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
i saw them in 2011
last tuesday night in fact
by heartstopper on Jun 12, 2011 8:43 AM PDT up reply actions
For Christ's Sake
Really? Gio issues 7 walks, two wild pitches, a hit batter and balk? Errors? And then Brent Lillibridge robs Coco of a game-winning homer? This just sucks. We can not win.
he balked but he didn't
bad call by the ump. gio stopped his hands
by heartstopper on Jun 12, 2011 8:44 AM PDT up reply actions
Really?
I didn’t see the game or the play, so I don’t know much.
I didn’t WANT to see Lillibridge’s catch. so I didn’t watch it.
its kind of interesting how many guys
the a’s pitchers have hit on the foot this year (gio did it yesterday)
by heartstopper on Jun 12, 2011 9:26 AM PDT up reply actions
I hate losing to the White Sux
Christmas came early for them thanks to Santa A’s.
I just hate losing
It’s amazing I haven’t cut myself this year
"Once you go Bed....everything else is dead." - Bed
"So you're saying we should skin the Rangers and wear them as uniforms? I’m down." - Kyli
by cuppingmaster on Jun 12, 2011 9:15 AM PDT up reply actions
just looking at the transactions...
what does “called up from minors- not to report” mean? is this some kinda of limbo for kouz?
The mystery continues.
I think it may be a technical effect of the last move. When a guy has a major-league contract but is playing in the minors, he is technically a major-league player who is “on optional assignment”. That’s what Kouz was after he was optioned. Maybe as a result of being removed from the 40-man he is technically not on assignment any more, so maybe that results in him technically being called up, even though he won’t join them team? I don’t know. I’m just guessing here.
Sweet is the lore which Nature brings; / Our meddling intellect
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things:— / We murder to dissect.
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