It's Over

some kielty recognition would also have been nice, blez.

Give Thomas and Kielty the platoon in left for a while, Mach. It sends a message that you have to play the game properly to play for the A's. Byrnes' fundamental lapses wouldn't fly with the Yankees, the Cardinals, the Braves...you get the point. Good teams don't put up with a repeated lack of fundamentals. Let's make a statement to our team, and to the rest of the league, that the A's are a good team.

The only thing I'd argue in your summary, Blezzo, is that I'm just not all that impressed with Yabu from what I've seen. His numbers are a bit inflated by allowing more inherited runners than his own, and by a statistically good mop-up job in Tampa Bay. But I think he's suited to long relief, and would be stretching to handle middle relief or 5th starter responsibility.

You think the WhiteSox will put this one in the "squandered" category? Yikes!

For SHAME Rob Dibble.

i know byrnes fans want him to have the starting LF job locked up, but this makes a lot more sense as it takes advantage of his strengths, and he would still get into many games.

I'm not convinced about the bullpen. Yabu let in Rincon's runs tonight, and that should have finished us off. Duke does have the killer curve, but he can't shut people down. Dotel has been looking a lot sharper, but he's not called Heart Attack Dotel for nothing. Cruz shows brilliance and then rolls dungballs. Rincon has lost his edge. Street will be great someday, but he's still up and down.

Basically Calero was the only really solid guy (and I believe he was meant to be the 'real' closer) and his injury has really messed things up.  I'm hoping the bullpen can do league average until either Cruz finds his head or Calero comes back on fire. At least until Meyer comes up supercharged in July.  :)

Ripping on Oakland fans in the middle of an interview w/ Mark Mulder just to get the obligatory "oooohhhhh" from the audience was lame, transparent and predictable. Why don't you guys surprise me and actually have some intelligent, fact-based discussion on your show?

I'm done with your amateur, high sbhool production. OOOOOOHHHHHHH.

Peace out.

I signed off AN and went to our Tuesday night church group. I went into the service and didn't take in my phone (online A's updates) or my MyFi XM radio (screen updates on the A's) for maybe the first time ever. I swear it was 3-0 when I tossed all electronic junk in my car and left without them.

We had a speaker tonight from Haiti who had been down there for three months building houses for both orphans and volunteers and it was so interesting that I almost forgot that the A's had moved from no RISP hitting to clearing men off the bases with DPs.

I came out to my car and turned XM back on JUST IN TIME to hear the announcer sign off with, "Final Score: Oakland 9, White Sox 7". After hitting the radio against the side of my car because I thought it was broken, it started to sink in that we actually (a) scored a run (times 9!) and (b) won a game. Then I started thinking more complicated, like did Chavvy hit and did we just beat the best team in baseball?

Then I got home and read the most hilarious 1200+ comments ever about the game and I felt like I was there.

Thanks AN...and I guess God is not as mad at the A's as previously assumed! Perhaps he did not want 10,000 simultaneous heart-attacks from A's fans tonight.

Good win. Well, ugly, ugly win, but we had a beautiful loss on Sunday, and I'll take the "W" anytime.

Oops, my bad...maybe not. My wife was just talking to me about taking a job in NY City...ugh. I don't know if I could deal with all the knuckleheaded pinstripers.

Oh yeah, keeping pace w/ the Anals and building some morale are important too.

Fuck Chris Rose.

  Chris, you know nothing about Bay Area baseball, do you?  The Oakland A's have one of the most dedicated fan bases in all of sports.  The crowds may be not be as big as others, but we are far more loyal and knowledgable than say fans of the S.F Giants or the The Angels Angels of Anaheim.  We aren't bandwagoners.  And, we respect all our players, even the ex-Athletics (except Giambi) through thick and thin.  Have you seen our huge banners that we even hold for players that were only on our team for half the season (Carlos Pena)?  In fact, I'd be willing to bet that the average I.Q of an A's fan eclipses those of most of the other teams.  We have to be smart in order to understand the moves that Billy Beane continuously makes.
  Next time you decide to take a cheap shot at the Oakland A's fans, go to a game first and talk to some of us.  You'll find that we're not left overs from Raider Nation.  You'll see that we are only interested in our team and the game we love, not some fancy stadium (although one would be nice).  We don't care about the view of the Bay.  The only view we care about is that of home plate.
 And if you want a real cheap shot, why don't you ask John Kruk how he feels broadcasting in front of a REAL national audience with ESPN now that he's ditched FOX Sports.

Despite this, the Oakland A's, over the last 5 years, have posted an extremely high winning percentage, even competing directly with markets such as Los Angeles, Boston and New York. Their fans love the team, and most of us can name the entire 25 man roster, 40 man roster, and the next 50 of their AAA, AA, A, and draft pick players for the next five years.

The question to Mulder on your show today was unfair, and quite frankly, untrue. Huge amounts of people who come to the ballparks just to wave monkeys, or to see Barry Bonds hit a ball in the water do not equate a good fan base. The Oakland A's have some of the best fans in any professional sport.

Don't believe me? Visit Athletics Nation at www.athleticsnation.com to meet at least 10,000 of us, from all over the world. Read interviews with Billy Beane, Mychael Urban, Nick Swisher, and Huston Street. In fact, why don't you invite the site's creator to be on your show? His blog has become extremely popular with MLB and he'd love to take on anyone in a baseball debate.

Just had to write in. Thanks for reading. Go A's!

We told you so.

Oh yeah, I was at the game tonight.  Byrnes' fielding was atrocious, not just the error, but the throw that missed the cutoff, and the throw to who knows where.  I was so relieved to see Thomas take the field in the 9th.

Oh, and I sent an e-mail to BDSSP talking about how badass the A's fans are.  Hopefully the number of responses they get will show them we are not a group to be triffled with!

Yet another reason to love Kendall.

• Nice Fans you have in LA - Arrive an hour late, leave 1/2 hour early
• One more thing...Nice Football Team!!!