DLD 2/1: 14 Days 'till pitchers and catchers report
Yeah, I'm finally doing a DLD.
Oakland Ballet disbanding (SF Chronicle)
So what does this have to do with the A's?
Simple, remember this? (I don't do those fancy blockquotes)
Also gone with the closure is the All-Star Nutcracker, the one-night gala that kicked off the holiday season from 1986 to 2003 and featured such sports celebrities as Tony La Russa and Dave Stewart.
The esteemed reporters over at the Chronicle forgot Barry Zito. Yes it's that ballet that Zito danced in as mentioned in this link from ESPN Page2 column. Here's some photographic proof:

They also forgot the late, great Bill King. And I know somebody has a photo of him in the ballet. After his passing I saw a picture of him rehearsing the ballet with Tony LaRussa as one of the soldiers.
So let's take this time to mourn the passing of a Bay Area cultural institution.
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Something interesting
wow
(you know, maybe i'm too cynical about flash movies online anymore... i expected that. oh well.)
by Ryan Armbrust on Feb 1, 2006 1:12 AM PST up reply actions
thanks alot
by secret ASian man on Feb 1, 2006 1:15 AM PST up reply actions
Heh heh heh...
AN Census
by FormerHuntsvilleStar on Feb 1, 2006 8:11 AM PST up reply actions
Hey Zonis...
Thanks.
maze
That's NOT funny
Hey Zonis!
Oh um... baseball stuff...
Ruben Sierra signs a minor-league deal with the Twins.
I signed a what?
Dude ... where's my car?
(http://www.foxhome.com/dude/)
You can't spell your name either.
by OaktownPower on Feb 1, 2006 10:09 AM PST up reply actions
Also...
Did you see him in
No...
<shrugs>
no!
That's
LOL
<shakes umbrella off>
Meanwhile...
AN Census
by FormerHuntsvilleStar on Feb 1, 2006 3:15 PM PST up reply actions
He bought it to avoid steerage
when he looks down his nose at a commoner ...
props for figuring out how to ...
"Roddy Maude-Roxby"?
"Hermione Baddeley"?
And, yes, "Pat Buttram"?
Those are/were definitely pseudonyms.
(Alternate response: "Senator, I knew Pat Buttram; I was friends with Pat Buttram. And you, sir, are no Pat Buttram!")
I absolutely LOVE stand-up comedy
seems to be...
('tis in my queue, too)
Yea, it is, got it on Netflix last week....
Sarah Silverman kicks ass too.
who knew the day would come
(Actually, I thought his first joke, which people booed, was even better than the Aristocrats joke he told...)
Yea, that one certainly took balls...
by OaktownPower on Feb 1, 2006 10:10 AM PST up reply actions
To be perfectly honest,
Saget used to do HBO standup
"When I was a little boy, I hated being in the locker room getting undressed in front of other boys. But now I kind of like it."
I missed the whole Full House thing.
I saw the A'crats at a film fest...
The man is genuinely and entertainingly sick. But then, you'd have to be to do Full House AND America's Funniest Home Videos.
Oh, and after the screening, I went to the home of the guy who voices Dale from King of the Hill and we all got nasty stoned. Emmys are heavy.
The last time I seen Bob Saget was on Entourage
by theblackpearl on Feb 1, 2006 2:48 PM PST up reply actions
I heard
by TempletonPeck on Feb 1, 2006 5:43 PM PST up reply actions
Rob hearts Oakland
Brett (Minto, ND): Do you see the A's winning the AL West? How much help will the Big Hurt provide to a lineup that needs more power?
rob neyer: (11:20 AM ET ) Yes, I do. Though I'm not convinced that Thomas will make a big contribution to the effort. I think the Thomas signing was a good one, because the A's are risking much. But between his injury problems and his relatively poor numbers away from home in recent years, I just don't see him making a real difference.
His answer confuses me. It seems to me he meant either to say he doesn't think the Thomas signing was a good one, or that the A's aren't risking much.
I vote for...
Yeah me too
AB: 253
HR: 16 (tied with Fenway for most HR for a road stadium)
BA: .304
OBP: .433
SLG: .553
I heart Neyer.
Best comment today...
"SportsNation rob neyer: (11:00 AM ET ) Unleash the hounds."
he HAS been reading AN!
Cubs fans hate Neyer.
my idiotic question
It's one of the links
AHA!
hmm... dead giveaway...
{checks A's promo schedule... when to get tickets for carrion...}
After this comment
rob neyer: (11:49 AM ET ) Hadn't heard that one. But I think he should buy Cuba. Better players.
How's the shot of Zito

And the quote beneath:
"Barry Zito keeps a close eye on Leeann Tweeden's choreography."
thats some serious
well.....it WAS the Nutcracker....
by djcoreyferren on Feb 1, 2006 10:32 AM PST up reply actions
"choreography"
That is just an amazing picture
I think that should be ...
Jeff Weaver to Cleveland?
Here's a whacky idea: how about if Beane signs Weaver to a heavily backloaded (say, $4M/$11M) two-year deal, with the specific intent of flipping Weaver at the trade deadline. It'd be risky (yes, I know, and Cleveland's Crisp trade was "riske") -- because Weaver could still y'know, suck -- but could net us a good haul in trade.
Here's my reasopning for the two years, as opposed to the one that is allegedly on the table: it'd be a "sweetener" to entice him to take our deal over the one-year deals being offered, it'd lower our actual cost this year vs a one-year $8M-$10M deal, and it could potentially increase Weaver's tradeability this year by essentially making him a 3-month rental for the next acquiring team to plan on moving him next off-season.
Two problems
- Who gets bumped from the roatation?
- Is the potential payoff really worth the risk?
as with Sal ...
- 6-man rotation (see below)
- Probably not. Probably not even close. We could be saddled with a really expensive, really sucky guy for '07.
EDIT
I wouldn't be in favor of such a deal, mostly due to roster-crowding problems. Our 25-man roster likely looks like this:
Position players: Chavez, Crosby, Ellis, DJ, Perez, Scoot, Hurt, Bradley, Kielty, Kotsay, Payton, Swisher, Kendall, Melhuse. (14)
Pitchers: Blanton, Calero, Duke, Harden, Haren, Kennedy, Loaiza, Saars, Street, 'Sick, Z (11)
That's 25 right there. Maybe we can option Scoot and call up Cruz, but we're more or less set. When Hurt hits the DL, we have both Cruz and Scoot up. I don't see how Weaver fits in.
Even if Weaver does fit in, that pushes Blanton out of a starting role and into the 'pen. Then, if we flip Weaver, we push Blanton back into a starting role for the stretch run. Unless we're willing option Big Joe to keep him stretched out as a starter, I don't see how Weaver fits in.
But kudos to the monkeyman for pooping outside of the chair.
You are correct, sir
Yes, the logistics of the rotation and the roster would present difficulties.
The way I would make it work for the roster would be to either send Scoot to Sacto (and bring him up whenever Crosby detaches his ass or Chavez sprains his self-confidence), or trade Kielty or Payton.
As for the starting pitchers, I'd just go with a 6-man rotation for the first third/half of the season. Reduces workload on our horses and keeps everyone fresh for the second half.
Yeah, overall, probably not worth the hassle and risk, but an intriguing idea if I do say so myself.
re:
Well, you do say so yourself.
if, then!
"It...would present difficulties"
I have previously
Even if you assume that Weaver will work out and that there will be a market for his services, there's a decent chance that the return we'd get in trade wouldn't be worth the $2m we'd have to shell out to keep Weaver for half a season leading up to it.
There's also the fact that Weaver for $11m in '07 would be a huge hangup for any team looking to acquire him and would add significantly to the risk such a deal would entail.
That said, I love the 6-man rotation idea.
Here's a question...
I say no.
And let's say if we just look at the $4m for one season - is a Jeff Weaver, in his best form of the last three seasons, worth that?
I say no.
Though I'd be interested to hear the thoughts of others.
6-man rotation
Isn't "too much time between starts" as counterproductive as not enough? I think Saarloos did okay last year when rotation-planning dictated that he have extra time off (although I'm sure there are some easily-accessible numbers that might show me he actually sucked), but would we want our entire staff having too much time off on a regular basis? Or would the pitchers be able to adjust if it was an ongoing routine?
Chicken Jennifer?
Jennifer, you didn't tell us you were heading to DC.
Bullfeathers!
Why can't we do this?
tsk
Beria is cracking down on it ...
genre
... while Russia, for its part, is said to favor pro-Film Noir policies ...
(In Soviet Union, movies go to you! Wait, that describes Netflix, doesn't it?)
ochen xhorosho!
You're welcome!
politics-baseball simile
*censored*
the second blank is ...
and, from Tim Goodman ...
"The dark secret of television criticism is that one person can't watch everything. Not even with three TiVo machines working frantically through the night. So as Bill Buckner can tell you, sometimes one gets through."
(Wait. Is that in fact a simile? It uses an "as," so I think it is. But Tim's snarkstructure is such that I can't quite tell. Help me, Englishmajor, you're my only hope!)
courtesy of EpiCurious
1 Chicken
6-1/2 oz rosin
2# infield dirt
1/2# freshly ground chalk
14 oz fresh Kentucky bluegrass (or 3 oz dried)
1# monkey poo
1 Snickers bar
5# rainbow glitter
8 oz strawberry-flavored body paint
1# fresh snozzberries (or 2T essence of snozzberries)
1/2 Keiichi Yabu, boned and quartered
1 doz cupcakes
5# assorted porn
5# grit
1 fresh heart
1 cured spleen
1 oblique, strained
Whipped cream
Assorted fireworks
1 chair
DIRECTIONS
- Detach the chicken's ass; pat gently
- Whip the chicken with a riding crop
- Lock the chicken in a case in a cool, damp place, such as a basement; neglect for 6 months during baseball season
- Mix all ingredients in a cement mixer
- <throw chair>
right
what's even more difficult ...
I think you can use smurfberries...
AN Census
by FormerHuntsvilleStar on Feb 1, 2006 3:22 PM PST up reply actions
but where can you find ...
(Wild smurf meat is not, in fact, deep blue, but ecru with a hint of cerulean.)
Key question ...
That depends entirely ...
well golly
Whee, it's Middle Infielder Day on A's site!
as opposed to the Giants' ...
(Note also that we have a middle-infielder-truncated-nickname disparity: "BoCro" is acceptable, while "MaEl" is most assuredly not.)
that's his name on Krypton
I really hate
as opposed to the Giants ...
Or the Hobbiton Clubswingers
Whatever, Sal.
Sal = MaEl H8r!
If our 2B and
all right, that's just creepy...
Garfleck!
Combine a shortstop with a prospect...
Okay. Stretch.
combine our own middle infielders
<annika sorenstam venereal disease>
Come to think of it
"SotU"?
I take it from this argument that you consider Art Modell inhuman?
I would have figured
Is that where ...
Oh yeah?!?
(I, of course, went to clown college.)
Zonis
Can you go and request the Jim Callis and Rob Neyer chats from ESPN? Thanks.
ok, I'll try
i will soon
Now for something even more fearful
or is it?
Did ya simulate the season yet Neb?
Zonis, were you in THE ARISTOCRATS?
Blueman Group
working on it
I'll try and get on that tonight or tomorrow, but i'll get it done soon. thanks again.
by Ryan Armbrust on Feb 1, 2006 2:26 PM PST up reply actions
The best part is ...
Love for DePo
Well, here's one stathead who wants a DePodesta, or at least a Krivsky, for the Reds. I don't want the produce man to hand us a lemon.
Huston hearts Billy.
I keep seeing that
Anyway, I know Huston was an English Major and he wrote a bunch of Articles last year about being a rookie and what the Majors were like. It was really cool. I can't seem to find the link right now though.
Also, he closed Wall Street on Monday. He was wearing a suit in those pics too! Yum! <3
by BobbyCrosbysGirl on Feb 1, 2006 4:04 PM PST up reply actions
I remember reading those articles
Mmmm, I'll have to look for those pics of him closing Wall Street. Yay. :)
Just go to the A's website
by BobbyCrosbysGirl on Feb 1, 2006 4:10 PM PST up reply actions
Aha, thanks.
i remember those articles, too
</grudge>
Oh well.
by Ryan Armbrust on Feb 1, 2006 7:24 PM PST up reply actions
Gardenhire still plagued by Thetans?
As a ballet dancer myself...
Same here
For dancers like me who do Nutcracker, you start dancing to Christmas music in September. By the time it's finished you've had enough of the holidays and you want to see how baseball season is coming along. But then you realize it's been over for two months and isn't coming for another four.
I'm actually not dancing anymore...
no, I've moved on to circus performing. But the dance helps. A whole bunch.
And the idea of teaching an A's ballet class gets me in hysterics. Can you imagine??!! Barry'd be fun to teach though, if he'd had some previous training...:D

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