Another One-Night Stand

by monkeyball on Apr 21, 2007 9:20 PM PDT in News

He was so self-confident when we locked eyes. I could tell by the way that he took pitch after pitch that he was the guy for me. His seductive plate discipline, his confident stroke, his discerning eye, his power ... for a night, he was the one.

And then, the next day -- he didn't even show up. I called, and called, and called -- to no avail. My friends all told me to forget him, that he was the kind of guy that would perform great for one night, but that he was no good for a long-term (say, 6-month) relationship.

Still I believed. I believed that if I could just keep the other girls from scoring, he might be there for me, in some small way. A card, flowers, candy -- maybe even just an IM or two?

Maybe, I thought, if I "loaded the bases" for him -- but no, he struck out. Twice.

Again, my friends all told me it was "game over" with this guy. But I persevered. It was too early to give up on him. He'd show up, I thought. I lingered, casting seductive glances at him. But he didn't even notice.

Eventually, I got tired of waiting for him. Sad to say, I let someone score on me. Someone -- sniff -- other than him.

Maybe he'll call again. Someday. But I'm not counting on it.

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Keep yer chin up monkeyball

Tomorrow's another day! ;-)

.. the Athletics may be small-market but they have BIG-heart! ..

by Randy Bell on Apr 21, 2007 9:20 PM PDT 0 recs

That wrap-up

was as brilliant as the A's offense tonight was dismal. Outstanding!

"Nothing says romance like a pile of rocks."

by FreeSeatUpgrade on Apr 21, 2007 9:26 PM PDT 0 recs

Very Unique

an original post game thread. You gave me a smile. thanks.

by IM4Oakgal on Apr 21, 2007 9:38 PM PDT 0 recs

Agreed about the excellent writing

Kudos to monkeyball and, indeed, all the "beat writers" {monkey, bbg, nico etc} here at AN do well .. {grin} ..

.. the Athletics may be small-market but they have BIG-heart! ..

by Randy Bell on Apr 21, 2007 10:09 PM PDT 0 recs

As long as we win series'...

its all good! I can't beleive how good Kennedy has the potential to be. I mean he struggled through tonite but he only gave up one run through 5 innings!!! Too bad for Jay Marshall, this will prolly force Gaudin back to the bullpen one Loaiza comes back.

With the Oakland A's, the intravenous drip is always half full!

by Oaktownmagical07 on Apr 21, 2007 10:23 PM PDT 0 recs

Never

If Gaudin continues to pitch like he has shown, he will be a permanent starter. Put Loiaza in the pen. The only advantage Loiaza has is he is being paid a lot of money.

Jim

by jarforcefatherofforce on Apr 22, 2007 1:24 AM PDT up 0 recs

I think Susan Slusser is taking...

the lack of info from the A's trainers too personally. She is writing up daily articles questioning Harden's condition just to raise the sense of doom and gloom on the club and for the fans. Why make the situation any worse than it already is? This team will prevail!!!

With the Oakland A's, the intravenous drip is always half full!

by Oaktownmagical07 on Apr 21, 2007 10:46 PM PDT 0 recs

SuSlu could write candy unicorn stories every day

and we'd all still have a sense of doom about Harden. And rightfully so...the guy has never had a doubting word cross his lips about his condition, he throws mid-90s the inning after injuring his elbow, he bristles with indignation when asked if his penchant for a weight-built hot mirror bod might put his pitching health at risk. And now that the basic agreement says trainers can't tell the media anything about an injury unless a player green lights it, the only thing to write is what little Harden grunts out. And that now consists of doubtful non-commitments, contrasted with his earlier see no owie/hear no owie/speak no owie view.

So Slusser's left to correctly base her stories on the fact that the usual Canuck Pollyanna has turned non-committal, and to wonder what that means. So do I...and my gut says it don't mean good.

"Nothing says romance like a pile of rocks."

by FreeSeatUpgrade on Apr 21, 2007 11:37 PM PDT up 0 recs

If Rich turns out to be OK, one thing I hope is..

.. he quit trying to barehand hard smashes up the middle! I can't believe he did that again, it caused him to pull something last year in Texas. His arm is much too important and he is fragile enough without doing stupid things - let the infield take care of those balls, just get out of the way, Richie! :)

.. the Athletics may be small-market but they have BIG-heart! ..

by Randy Bell on Apr 21, 2007 11:46 PM PDT up 0 recs

stories about this?

"...but we're also always open to hearing about other sandwiches if it can make our lunch better." -- Nico, channeling Billy Beane

by iglew on Apr 22, 2007 1:57 AM PDT up 0 recs

Awesome!

And yet my concern about Harden remains. The curative powers of candy unicorns have limits.

"Nothing says romance like a pile of rocks."

by FreeSeatUpgrade on Apr 22, 2007 9:44 AM PDT up 0 recs

I don't think we should jump to conclusions ..

.. one way or the other. What does encourage me is the clean MRI. I know there are exceptions but usually the serious problems will show up in an MRI, so .. I'm thinking positive thoughts until shown otherwise .. I also hope King Felix is OK, it would be sad to see a pitcher of his caliber go down ..

.. the Athletics may be small-market but they have BIG-heart! ..

by Randy Bell on Apr 21, 2007 11:43 PM PDT up 0 recs

Randy?

You are right. We probably shouldn't jump to conclusions. But one of the comforts of AN is having other fanatic A's fans to fret with. Think about it ok?

by IM4Oakgal on Apr 22, 2007 7:24 AM PDT up 0 recs

nobody on the A's said the MRI was clean

they said "nothing major" was found. You can interpret that as "clean" if you want, but it was not exactly a ringing endorsement for a pitcher who hasn't shown he can get through a season.

by OaklandSi on Apr 22, 2007 9:21 AM PDT up 0 recs

How is she

making the situation worse by trying to tell us what is going on? Maybe I am just too obsessed with this team, but I've been visiting the Chronicle Web site every day specifically to find out what is going on with Harden, and I appreciate the updates (vagueness and all).

"We are a complete freak show." -- Billy Beane

by day-to-day on Apr 21, 2007 11:47 PM PDT up 0 recs

I can't beleive the only thing positive about..

tonite was Kennedy's outing. I'm this close to heading to the book depository and assassinating this guy over the grassy knoll. Why can't he throw strikes for once!!!?? Also, Jay Marshall?!? In a two run game?! Why save Duke, for god's sakes? He's a major leaguer! Start treating him like one, Geren! Like Gaudin is gonna beat Cy Tejeda tomorrow anyways!!! FRAK!!!

With the Oakland A's, the intravenous drip is always half full!

by Oaktownmagical07 on Apr 21, 2007 10:53 PM PDT 0 recs

Relax Oaktown tomorrow is another day

.. We'll hopefully get'em tomorrow! ... we were just "off" today - no offense, left the bases loaded once, Jay Marshall had problems, and even the usually great Alan Embree was a little "off" in his location .. days like this happen, thankfully it's a 162-game schedule! ...

.. the Athletics may be small-market but they have BIG-heart! ..

by Randy Bell on Apr 21, 2007 11:33 PM PDT up 0 recs

I might add ..

.. even the Tigers had a bad day .. Rodney coughed it up .. their pen has been struggling a bit .. and we all know they are good .. it happens to even the best teams! Can't be unbeatable in all 162 games! :) We'll be fine guys & gals ...

.. the Athletics may be small-market but they have BIG-heart! ..

by Randy Bell on Apr 21, 2007 11:36 PM PDT up 0 recs

It's still early

Garen has to know what Marshall will do as well as get him into pressure situations. Next time out, Marshall will be more relaxed.

Jim

by jarforcefatherofforce on Apr 22, 2007 1:30 AM PDT up 0 recs

OT - if Scot Shields were playing for the A's ..

.. there would probably be alarm bells ringing in the diaries here at AN .. {grin} ..

Did anyone notice that Shields gave up a Slam to Broussard last night? It could have cost them the game but it didn't - Seattle fell one run short. But it forced Scoscia to use K-Rod yet again so maybe that will have some cumulative effect, as he was forced to use K-Rod in the first game also due to a late-inning Seattle surge. Let's hope the M's get over the hump and win the third and final game of that series.

Getting back to Shields: he has given up a Slam to Broussard {which could have cost his team the game when they had a very comfortable lead}; and in Milwaukee he gave up a 3-run homer to Travis Hafner which did cost the Angels the game ..

.. So I'm suggesting, even the best players experience tough times, and this is an example where AN'ers can take some comfort in our guys - we will hopefully bounce back in Sunday's game and be OK ..

.. the Athletics may be small-market but they have BIG-heart! ..

by Randy Bell on Apr 22, 2007 6:43 AM PDT 0 recs

Little to analyze when the

failure is on all cylanders. Other than Monkeyball's excellent novella, nothing went well. Kennedy was wobbly, yet was the brightest component because the offense was utterly shut down, the defense (led by Kennedy) was not good--not just the two errors but also Chavy's double-clutch that cost a DP and eventually 4 runs--and the bullpen was unable to keep the game close. A forgettable, and thus hardly devastating, loss.

One note in defense of yesterday's performance: for the first 6 innings, the A's hitting failures were primarily the result of Loe's outstanding pitching. He had it going, simple as that.

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

by Nico on Apr 22, 2007 8:32 AM PDT 0 recs

I've seen Loe pitch before

and thought he was capable of being very good...which he was last night.

But the A's did have chances to at least tie this one, at least until the late innings. Kennedy gave up only one run, which should be considered a good start, except that he only went 5 innings.

by OaklandSi on Apr 22, 2007 9:17 AM PDT up 0 recs

Excellent write up Monkeyball.

I didn't realize you were simian of the Bonobo variety. Ah well, in that case another love will arrive shortly, more likely four already have.

Randy's unbridled enthusiasm can only mean one thing...he hasn't drank deeply enough of the AN Koolaid. <casts cynical furtive look in his direction>. He's correct that it is a long season, so I will be expecting bitter cynyicism in the next couple of months.

Really though, who would have guessed Kennedy would have held his own while our vaunted pen gave it up? Like the song says, "Two out of three ain't bad"...right MB?

"You may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in love with a team in defeat."--The Boys of Summer

by alox on Apr 22, 2007 9:24 AM PDT 0 recs

TeeHee there be enough cynics on AN alox ..

Changing Subject: I noticed here this little blurb:

Forgotten no more? Jay Witasick went two weeks without pitching, but A's manager Bob Geren said that was partly because halfway into the stretch, Witasick had some soreness. After Witasick's 1-2-3 inning Friday, Geren said, "He threw the ball well, hit 95 (mph) twice. He's right back in the mix now. He really looks good.''
Witasick said he'd heard from a friend after his outing who said, '"You probably knocked out a lot of cobwebs.'' Witasick said he replied, "Cobwebs? It's more like a whole damn haunted house.''
Witasick made a second straight appearance on Saturday night. He threw another 1-2-3 inning, and he struck out two.

So I am wondering if the A's plan to keep Witasick longterm, and what do y'all think about that?

.. the Athletics may be small-market but they have BIG-heart! ..

by Randy Bell on Apr 22, 2007 10:24 AM PDT up 0 recs