Gio Bounces Back, Allen & Willingham Provide The Thunder
by Nico on Aug 20, 2011 8:55 PM PDT
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Two nights in a row, early in the top of the 1st the game had the look of a potential Blue Jays route. Unlike Harden, who loaded up the bases and then struck out the side, Gio Gonzalez didn't escape the 1st unscathed -- but he limited the damage to one run, left the bases loaded, and then proceeded to mow down the Jays the rest of the evening. Gonzalez struck out 9 in 8 innings and combined with Andrew Bailey on a 4-hitter.
Meanwhile, the A's scored in a variety of ways. Oakland tied it in the bottom of the 1st on three consecutive hits: a double by Cliff Pennington, infield single by Coco Crisp, and RBI single by Hideki Matsui. The A's took the lead 2-1 on a DP ground ball, following a 1st & 3rd nobody out opportunity created on an error by the normally reliable John McDonald. Run #3 came in the 8th courtesy of a long double to left-center by Brandon Allen, his second hit of the night, and an RBI single from Ryan Sweeney. That easy swing, generating off-field power, is one of the reasons I'm so excited about Allen's potential. In Allen and Willingham, the A's have two hitters whose power actually play fine at the Coliseum. Speaking of which, the last two runs? A pinch-hit 2-run bomb by Josh Willingham, his by-far-team-leading 22nd of the season. A nice introduction to the fireworks that Elvis is serenading on this AN Day.
All in all, a 10-hit day for the A's offense, with two each from Coco Crisp, Matsui and Allen, a gem from Gio to snap his 5-game losing streak, a SB by Weeks, an efficient 10-pitch 1-2-3 9th from Bailey, and pristine defense. And fireworks. And Elvis. Not bad, eh?
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KK made a good, albeit unintentional point about Willingham's power
He’s a dead pull hitter with power. When you hit at the Coli, that’s pretty much what you have to do to still hit HRs; guys with power towards CF will be far less successful.
Gonna be hard for Beane not to re-sign him.
"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 Aug 20, 2011 9:04 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
Is that a joke?
At one point in my life I liked Dave Kingman more than Rickey Henderson. I was stupid.
by the_rozeboom on Aug 20, 2011 9:11 PM PDT up reply actions
How is that a joke?
Matsui has seemed the better outfielder this year imo.
Nope. Matsui's looked good in the field. But I can live without his bat next year.
Willingham needs to stay.
by player20 on Aug 20, 2011 10:06 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
not sure if you are in the camp
of getting a pick if matsui maintains type b status BUT in order to get a pic for a B then arbitration MUST be offered. if that is the case then matsui could accept arbitration and we are stuck with him.
i think we should let him walk with out a pick actually but we need to sign the hammer beforehand.
for the longterm benefit of the club taylor needs to see if he can make and stick in the bigs. we need a fixture with power for several years NOT just a year or too with matsui or JW
by heartstopper on Aug 21, 2011 10:40 AM PDT up reply actions
Willingham hopefully will be type A.
If the CBA remains the same and he is a type A, I really really hope he goes. too expensive to resign long term. He will look good as a Philly anyway
We yet enjoy little to be envied, but endure much to be pitied.-Thomas Dudley
The other part of it is that he hits "no doubters" when he hits them.
You’d be hard pressed to name very many of his HRs that have just cleared the wall. So he doesn’t get suppressed by a bad HR park nearly as much as a lot of hitters do.
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
relatedly, have you seen Carl Crawford's wRC+ lately
79. Yikes.
If he doesn’t pick it up next year, that’s going to make Jayson Werth’s contract look good.
"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 Aug 21, 2011 12:05 AM PDT up reply actions
yeah.
that homerun tonight was a “no doubter” around a second after he hit it, the ball was sailing deep over the outfield, still high in the air. Got out in a rush.
By Grabthar's hammer and the hands of Zeus, I shall avenge thee.
did you see the pictures reaction... looked up in wonder and disbelief then
quickly hung his head
by heartstopper on Aug 21, 2011 10:41 AM PDT up reply actions
no doubter
a dribbler to the pitcher could be accurately described as a tape measure
We yet enjoy little to be envied, but endure much to be pitied.-Thomas Dudley
Although the last time I ran on the field with the tape measure
in the middle of the play, neither the pitcher nor the catcher seemed especially appreciative.
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 would say the same
Although I’m pretty sure colloquially it’s the exact opposte.
A no doubter is anything that is certainly going to clear the fences. But the longest home runs (alleged 500 foot blasts) are called tape measure homeruns.
you are probably right
We yet enjoy little to be envied, but endure much to be pitied.-Thomas Dudley
429 ft, according to Hit Tracker Online.
Second longest HR by the A’s this season. Second to that ridiculous LF second decker by Willingham last month.
I actually think the better he does,
The less likely it is that he returns. He is going to be a Type A. The way he has been hitting since the break should mean he gets multi year contract offers. So Beane offers arbitration, which is almost certainly declined, and we get 2 picks.
he has said he likes it here and would like to play
so who knows. Mrs Hammer probably has the final word
by heartstopper on Aug 21, 2011 10:42 AM PDT up reply actions
compliant oork made the postgame!
I made that one up. At least his wife liked they said. AN Day rules!
A Kouzmanoff for the rest of us!
by OptimistPrime on Aug 20, 2011 9:06 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
pork
A Kouzmanoff for the rest of us!
by OptimistPrime on Aug 20, 2011 9:08 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
She was initially confused about it on Twitter
gjwillingham Ginger WIllingham
@CSNAthletics @tamlovesspam What does compliant pork mean? With the marlins he had a fan section with t-shirts called “Hammer’s Slammers”
CSNAthletics
@gjwillingham Well, Willing = Compliant, Ham = Pork. Some people on athleticsnation.com made it up. Pretty funny. In good spirit certainly.
@gjwillingham Ginger WIllingham
@CSNAthletics good spirit, of course but can’t think of anyone getting pumped up by the name pork. Ha ha!
Leslie: It's got a lot of heart.
April: That's what people always say when something sucks.
- Parks & Rec
by svetlanamonsoon on Aug 20, 2011 9:20 PM PDT up reply actions
and the willing-hams
that supported him with signs the other night, lol.
By Grabthar's hammer and the hands of Zeus, I shall avenge thee.
I thought I had taken too many Percocets by mistake,
but it turns out this is just how Rick Tittle always talks.
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 thought i had 2 few many drinks tonight
and thought you referenced how Rich Little always talks. heh, another one from my era. but alas, the blur faded and saw you were referencing the announcer for the game.
by rollierollieOxenfree on Aug 20, 2011 10:51 PM PDT up reply actions
LOL Rodney gives it up
to 1st batter
What a pen they have LOL
In Advance
Kevin Gregg is a horrible pitcher
2 on and no outs.
What a pathetic play
bunt down the guy throws the ball away at 1st and a run scores and runners on 1st and 3rd and no outs.
Baltimore is one shitty ass team.
Luckily, Gregg came up big by walking in the tying run with nobody out.
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
Now Gregg walks in tying run and bases loaded still no outs
Now Showalter takes him out.
Bit late there dumbass.
I watched it
and Rodney just made the most terrible play to give up the lead. If any outing was totally undeserving of a win this was it for Rodney. He literally stood in front of the mound and watched the ball by Conger, then watched it go to the backstop, then like ten minutes later was like “oh shit, I should get it”. What a tool Rodney is – easily one of my least favorite players to watch – granted I love to face him because he is terrible.
Visit my blog the Todd Van Poppel Rookie Card Retirement Plan!!
the tacos de carne asada at the AN tailgate were awesome!
the game was terrific!
the fireworks from outside where we had the tailgate were CLOSE!
All in all, a very satisfying night at the coliseum.
Has anyone else noticed how bad the scorekeepers are now at the Colliseum?
Today – they had #8 in at the eighth hole for catcher until Powell came to bat. Counts often wrong, runs updated slowly…. seems really poor in comparison to a few years ago…
Yeah. The other day they had ConorJackson up when it was Sizemore.
Someone’s getting into the A’s brand wine up there or SOMETHING.
"This must be heaven," he says.
"No. It's Oakland."
Q: who comes up with the photo captions?
The image gives ref to Getty images, but the remark “John McDonald had an E (I-E-I-O).” sounds sorta Nico-ish. Gotta give props to the wit on that one.
by rollierollieOxenfree on Aug 20, 2011 10:54 PM PDT reply actions
on the other side...
Brandon Allen’s first AB was bad. I think it was mentioned he never swung at anything that crossed the plate, but he went out swinging on a pitch that wasn’t particularly close.
I only mention it because it’s the opposite of what we’ve seen from him before. It shows he’s human. But he did get over it, he didn’t repeat his mistakes.
Additionally, Bailey just isn’t quite the a shutdown pitcher lately. He has trouble making that 1-2-3 inning. Today he went to 3-2 on the final batter (Rasmus), and when he did get him out, it was on a pop that didn’t really seem all that induced. It’d be great if he could lock it down a bit more out there.
Still, there is of course plenty of good news. And it’s great to see Willingham come through like that.
Yes... but...
The home run was off Dana Eveland.
More than just ANtics: http://www.louisgray.com/live/
which means they should deduct 2 from his total
Hitting a HR off Eveland gets you a demotion not a promotion. J/K LOL
Awesome night
Some really terrible umpiring though, I was sooooo happy when Willingham smacked it out after being ROBBED of a Double.
Nice to see another series sweep and the return of ‘Good Gio’!
series sweep???
they lost the first game
by heartstopper on Aug 21, 2011 10:46 AM PDT up reply actions
Yeah, but they've totally swept every game since.
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
Not being a "stat guy", it sure looks like Willingham is having a comparable year to Beltre
His average and SLG % are a little lower than Beltre, but he has 2 more HR than Beltre (who plays in a band box) and only 3 RBI less, and his OBP and OPS are higher than Beltre.
Considering we might have committed lots of money over 5 years for Beltre, looks like Beane and the A’s won out (at least for now). We are not stuck with that contract and Beltre would not have projected any better in Oakland. Yes, he would have stabilized 3rd base, but can someone at AN confirm that am I right to assume it was better to have Willingham than Beltre?
Dude, does it matter when we are 12 games below .500?
Even if you are right, so with Beltre, we would be 20 games below .500. Big whoopie doo, Willingham, for that 8 games improvement.
by EstadosUnidos on Aug 20, 2011 11:59 PM PDT up reply actions
Its responses like these why I rarely comment here.
Yeah..i see your point…who cares?! Well maybe there is not much difference since we are out of it,,,but I for one care that the organization is not stuck with a ton of money locked up, So maybe there isnt much in the win column to be excited about but at least we are not forking out $15 million to Beltre for comparable production.
Thanks for making me feel so welcome here and reminding me why I just read everyone elses posts instead of posting myself.
I apologize for my tone
It sounded less harsh in my head. But I’m really sick of all the talk about Willingham and how great he is. Where was he during our 10 game losing streak that sunk our season beofre the all star break? To me, he has half a season of greatness and if Beane offers him anything more than a one year contract, I’ll rip my remaining hair out.
by EstadosUnidos on Aug 21, 2011 12:59 AM PDT up reply actions
Thanks, I can appreciate that. Printed words sometimes dont always come out right.
I can totally agree with you on this. I was hoping for more average out of Willingham and power earlier in year. I only wonder if it would be a mistake not keeping him. Is it possible it took a National league player half a season to get used to the AL? We have seen many guys who come from the NL have trouble. Some guys never figure it out. Maybe Willingham is getting it now. He saw many new pitchers he never saw before. Who knows….wish I could see into the future.
fewer stike outs early would have been nce too
they seem to have tapered considerable but i haven’t followed the numbers closely. it seems he had over 80 before half the season was out… now he (only) has 113
by heartstopper on Aug 21, 2011 11:04 AM PDT up reply actions
sure, I think it matters
I remember when the tone on this site was very bleak after the long losing streak. The tone is much more upbeat than that, now. 20 games under .500 might feel more like that other time, because there would necessarily be more losing streaks needed to arrive at that lower number.
By Grabthar's hammer and the hands of Zeus, I shall avenge thee.
Beltre has also been on the DL twice, with hamstring issues
Those can linger, especially as you get older. That’d be a shame.
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 Know
Terrible, isn’s it? Those rangers need all the offense they want.
Oh, and if Beltre will fall apart, then please let him take Wilson with him.
Offensively, yeah, they're pretty comparable.
Except that Willingham has been playing in Oakland, so his numbers are a decent amount better than Beltre’s, since Beltre plays in Arlington.
But, GG defense at 3B is so, so much more valuable than bad defense in LF.
Willingham?
I wanted Beltre to take CJ Wilson with him.
But anyway, on a lineup that good, I think the rangers will miss Beltre’s glove more then his bat. Plus, Texas is in a hitter-friendly park, so everyone’s hitting. In Oakland, Josh is the only guy who can consistently drive the ball out of the park.
by Jason James on Aug 21, 2011 10:38 AM PDT up reply actions
why couldn't we have gotten both
beltre and JW… oother than beltre never really wanting to play here in the first place
by heartstopper on Aug 21, 2011 10:48 AM PDT up reply actions
should have gotten both
We yet enjoy little to be envied, but endure much to be pitied.-Thomas Dudley
I do believe that was the plan.
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
Great Game Pitched By Gio
Got into a jam into the first, gave up a run, but then bounced back to completely dominate the Toronto offense for 8 innings.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: resign Willingham. He’s hitting homers, he driving in runs, he’s doing everything the A’s want. From what I’ve heard, he would actually like to come back to Oakland. It would be a mistake NOT to sign him again.
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