And So It Ends

There's going to be a million diaries a day over where Zito is going and what we're going to get for him and what we're going to give up for Miguel Cabrera or Mike Sweeney or Konerko or some other free agent that we aren't going to get. There's going to be several thread hijackings and Open Threads galore. There's going to be a unveiling of my brand new baseball statistic analyzing MLB player's asses and there's going to be people (mostly me) counting down every single damn day until Fan Fest, Spring Training and Opening Day.

Truly, I can't wait. :)

Shouldn't this be a front-page poll?

And what about Kielty's 14th inning jack?

Thanks for maintaining the site Blez, especially as it's grown - I'm pretty sure that the site's population has doubled since I first arrived in May.

It's been a great year. Not quite the end we wished for, but who thought we would be in contention the last week of the season in May?

Doesn't make it hurt any less, though.

How about the "impossible ninth inning comeback"?

Here's to looking forward to FanFest and seeing Carlos Lee sitting in the chairs next to Chavvy, Crosby, Kotsay, Zito, Harden and Kendall. Then the legends; Fosse, Eck, Henderson (his retirement ceremony), Stewart, Steiny. Then the kids time; Street, DJ, Swish, Cupcakes, Haren and (drumroll please) Daric Barton.

I loved Crosby's first game back after the rib injury. Kotsay gets the winning hit and Crosby runs out of the dugout to give Kotsay a GIANT hug. It was beautiful.

None "game" moment. Some things you don't see on television. In KC, Kotsay lets two little girls rub his bat (no, perv) for good luck while he waits on deck. He's talking to them, then suddenly he runs to home to tell Swish to slide. Next AB he finishes the conversation. <sigh>

Ze Goggles! Ze do nothing!

is the Kendall game.  Anyone willing to go face first into a pair of pointy metal objects for a win is cool with me.

His single off KRod in April was the most exciting for me....there's nothing I love more than beating the Angeles, and Hatte driving in the winning run was perfect...  I love Hatteberg...

Swisher walking in the winning run against Seattle was pretty cool though...  and The Tag.  Kielty's walkoff HR.  Street nailing down save after save.  I guess they are all exciting wins...

I'm just thankful that we have a team that's such a pleasure to watch...  and thanks to Blez and Nico for their hard work keeping AN up and running!

mitigating against the Kendall tag (which has to be in top consideration) for me is that it was on the road, and there is something extra electrifying about moments that occur with the roar of the crowd.

For that electricity, I have to bring up Zito's strikeout of Frank Thomas behind a spontaneous chant of "Zi-to! Zi-to!" Chavy's HR off of Donnelly, too, for its importance and its unexpectedness (who dared to think...).

Finally, for me, a huge moment was Street retiring the final hitter thanks to Chavy's diving stop, to give the A's a sweep of the White Sox going into the All-Star Break. That game, like the "Kendall tag" game, was such a marathon roller coaster of emotions right down to the final nanosecond.

So many great moments.

I missed the Kendall game winners because I was camping both times- ack!  But my favorite win was at AN day, watching Street bring it home from the superstructure of the USS AthleticsNation, far beyond the bleachers in left field.  It was great to meet so many like-minded crazies.  Plus: the A's were in first place!  

the spikes to the face, was because I was actually present for the sulk off.

I voted for Kendall's spike sandwhich play, e.g. the spikes to the face yet he was able to tag the runner out play.  That was such a wonderful moment.  It had all the feelings of a game that was about to be blown because odd things tend to happen when we play down in texas but alone came super kendall to save the day.  That was the highlight moment of the year for me.  

Chavy's homer was huge and I went nuts while watching the sulk off.  My wife and her cousin were in the room at the time and even my wife, he doesn't really follow baseball, was excited.  That was a wonderful game.

I also think that Swisher scoring from first on the bunt by scutaro that was thrown away was a great moment.  It was on the first home saturday of the season, if you remember, and harden pitched a gem that day.  Swisher's joy as he slide head first into the play was evident even from the stands (I was there!  One of only 8 A's games this year but there will be many more next year!).  That moment was a joy also.

Has to be for Hatteberg's base hit off goggle pen.  I was lucky to be at that game and watch all the angels fans cry.  With the game on the line, nothing more glorious than seeing your team come through.

As far as importance I think it showed the angels that the A's could compete with them and that this might set the tone for the rest of the season.  Hatteberg will be gone next year, I hope, so I want to have this image in my head, not the offensive blunder that ensued the rest of the season.

I just hope that 2006 has a healthy Oakland Athletics.  This Hatteberg pick couldve easily been replaced by a Rich Harden CG shutout to clinch the division title.  

...for this season is coming out... :)

we were innocent.

I'm not usually one for playing a webgem over and over, and truth to be told I'm not really a big fan of Kendall either, but that play was so awesome I had to download the clip from online and send it to all my friends.

It wasn't just the cleats; it was the way he had to chase down the wildly bouncing ball in a hurry and still dive back to the plate with enough force to shove Michael Young back.  Awesome.

I can't remember any A's play I've enjoyed more since Randy Velarde's unassisted triple play.

     It wasn't a game winner; it wasn't even against the Angels ... but for me, the most memorable moment of the season might be the last out of the Rangers' seventh inning on July 14th.  Tex at the plate, Harden perfect through 6 2/3, falls behind two balls and no strikes -- maybe the first time he's done that all evening -- and the umpire calls ball three before he can throw another pitch!  His fingers went too close to his mouth while he was up on the mound, and it's an automatic ball, and he's down 3-0 to one of the most dangerous hitters in the game ... and it doesn't faze him.  He comes right back and gets a ground ball to the right.  Ellis makes the sort of play we've learned to expect from Ellis.  Tex is gone.  Seven innings, no runs, no hits, no walks, no nothing.  Even though Soriano broke up the no-hitter with one out in the next inning, I think, for me, that might have been the greatest moment.

It was awesome! Sat in the 24th row up from third base. Got right down to the dugout before the game and got a head nod from Freddy Bynum and a smile from Danny Haren. It was awesome during the big 5 run rally to see all of the players hanging on the dugout willing a victory. I feel so great about this team more than any other I can think of. Maybe since Stew, Rickey, etc. This time next year playoffs, ALCS, WS Champs! Bring it home, Oakland! Celebrate in LAAAAAAAAAAAA home field! Pop the Corks! Go A's! Go AN!

...(or does someone already know?) we can find out what radio station will be carrying the A's next year?

I was on vacation up near Pinecrest Lake when the Angels and A's played that incredible series. The first night we drove down into Strawberry to watch the game in the only bar around those parts.

The Chavez bomb stands out because we were driving around Sonora on our way to Columbia, the historic mining town. The logn and short of ti is that we reached the parking lot for the Columbia State Park and my three cousins, my brother, my wife, my 5 year old daughter and mys sister all were milling about. We didn't want to go into the park until Chavez had his at bat but we all got out of our cars and started in anyway. I said hold on and got back int eh car and flipped on the radio... I get chills thinking about it...

Flippin amazing... three run jack... high fives all over the parking lot. We still went in to the park not knowing what would happen next... the A's had stormed back with Chavez's exclamation point.

Later I faked a bathroom break just in time to hear Bill King freak out when K Rod pouted and Kendall scored. It was priceless. Trying to explain what happened to my brother was pretty interesting... K Rod missed a ball thorwn back to him by the catcher I think... ot something.

The Angels series in August, I was at that game on Wedsnday and that felt like the playoffs and I was holding my breath when Ellis hit that single that and the memorial day game, classic A's comeback.

I don't remember that. :( Was the game on television?

It appears there are as many comments favoring the Kendall play as there are favoring the sulk-off. And the poll numbers show it so far: As of noon ET/9 a.m. PT Monday, 46% Kendall, 46% sulk-off (126 votes).

Maybe we need a one-poll playoff. ;)

against Tampa that started our winning ways at the end of May? Remember the return of Bobby Crosby and all that jazz? Kendall ties it after Millhouse pinch hits in the bottom of the ninth and then Kotsay wins it with a base hit???????

That to me was the most memorable moment beacause at that point I started to believe again and baseball season in Oakland was saved!

It's interesting that he is mentioned in two of the season's most memorable moments.

Yeah, this is off-topic, but it definitely doesn't deserve its own diary...

Now that the season is over and I won't be taking myself out to any ball games for another six months... should I change my "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" ringtone?  The withdrawal is still tolerable as of right now, hasn't really kicked in yet... but by January I might just start shaking and crying every time I get a call.

Oh, they already did:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=athleticshudgens&prov=st&type=lgns

Hatteberg as the hitting coach!