but he has to make the routine plays...no excuses.

So I'm not going to say anythnig bad, but Crosby makes me want to fucking puke all over.

Anyone else hoping Crosby gets injured, for once?

I kid of course, but that was an easy play. I am hoping it is just cobwebs from Crosby not playing very often last year, and I think it is, but it still sucks today. Haren still could have limited the damage, however.

And you can't win games without scoring runs. As good as Felix is, there were plenty of times where it looked like the A's should have swung at close pitches, or shouldn't have swung at stuff out of the zone. Then again, I am not a major league hitter, and have never been close, so maybe Felix was just that good.

Anyway, it's just one game guys! If this happens again tomorrow, then I'd be worried.

Even if the A's can get through the Loaizalessness and find a 5th starter solution, they're still gonna struggle without better hitting.  It may be easier to blame Crosby for today instead of blaming nine hitters, or crediting King Felix...but easy doesn't mean correct.

These kind of games happen. I think it would be wise to let a few games go by before starting the  talk about  benching a player.

Folks, physical errors happen.  It's not like Crosby grabbed a grounder with one out and runners at the corners, stepped on the bag, and rolled the ball to the mound because he thought there were two outs.

He screwed up, and he played a really lousy game overall.  But no one's ever accused Crosby of not caring, or of not working hard.  Physical errors that result from laziness or lack of preparation are a serious, serious problem.  Mental errors that result from the same, or from not paying attention, are also very bad.  Missing an easy grounder and an easy throw -- sometimes that just happens.

There's no reason to blow one game out of proportion and decide that we need to start Scutaro.  The M's outplayed the A's by a pretty wide margin tonight, and absolutely deserved to win.  Wear it.

I just saw WonderBuck crushing one for a lead-off double.

But if losing the first game is a prerequisite for getting into the playoffs, I'll take the 4-0 shutout instead of a nationally-televised 15-2 pounding by the Yankees.

I am feeling optimistic about the pitching. I guess I am elated to have baseball back. A little loopy even. The loss doesn't even phase me.

he tries so hard that he can't get it done.  crosby is going to get pounded with sliders on the outside corner time and again.  it's up to him to figure it out.

not to bring down chavez also, but he gets pounded on the outside corner as well.  either he's going to go the other way or he's doomed to ground out to second repeatedly.

best pitcher by far

rushing to blame the wrong the player (as if this were HH and blame need be assigned).  Crosby may have flubbed the routine play that led to four runs, but it was Dan Haren - not Crosby - that threw a bad pitch to Richie Sexson.  Whether the official bookkeeping counts the runs as "earned" or "unearned" is immaterial.  There's no excuse for giving up a two-out bomb like that, not even "Haren's concentration was hurt because he couldn't have confidence in his defenders."  That's post-rationalization.

Of course, why actually discuss the key play of the game?  Blaming Bobby Crosby for everything from global warming to ants in the backyard is apparently in vogue.

-Felix was filthy. No team is going to hit that. I'm a bit worried about Chavez, Piazza, and Crosby all of whom I think might be overmatched by good pitching.

-Haren looked great, which is a good sign. His curve looked much better than it did last year.

-The error: eh, short spring training or just a concentration lapse, those things happen. He's a great fielder.

Her Flax Denizen
Hazel Fern Index
Her Daze Flex Inn
Ex-Fern Hind Zeal

And, anyone see Kendall strike out thrice today? I thought he was one of the tougher guys in the league to strike out...

and single-handedly built Mt. Davis.  In that order.

Regarding our discussion about the radio delays:  I "kept score" during today's game.  I was listening to the TV broadcast, but at the end of each half-inning on TV, I would mute the TV sound, listen to Ken and Vince call the last couple of pitches on radio, then listen to the radio commercials and make a note of who the advertisers were.  I thought they had about 8 or 10 radio sponsors but the list is way, way longer than I thought.

Yesterday we mentioned:
Coors Light
AAAAA Rent A Space
Shed Shop
Round Table Pizza

Now add all of these to the list:
BART
Ford
Supercuts
AM-PM
Corona
Chevrolet
US Bank
Speedee Oil Change
Kragen Auto Parts
Aloha Airlines
Comcast
Valero
Chevron
Bay Alarm
Cache Creek Casino
Granger (construction equipment? dunno)
Motel 6
Pepsi
John Muir Health
Alta Bates/Summit Medical Center
GoKart Racer
Men's Wearhouse
Kelly-Moore Paints
American Airlines

I asked this in the game thread, which in retrospect was kinda silly of me.  But thanks anyway, Nick, for your "helpful" reply.

When using IE I get the new feature where the "One New message by Nick" message will appear in the bottom right corner of the browser.  But I do not get this when using Firefox, which I prefer.  So, question 1:  what is that feature called, anyway; and 2: how can I make it work in Firefox?

I'd ask this in the DLD, except when reading that at work I (am forced to) use IE, so thus hard to enact any solution one might propose.

Many thanks for any suggestions...actual, helpful suggestions.

against the angels.  he's the leader among active players.  you know where i'm going with this: bring back rickey!!!

the Florida Gators.

under your belt going into the season. All the other regulars saw about 3x as much game action as Crosby. Not that he shouldn't make the routine play (like he does 99/100 times), but I do think it's only fair to see these first few weeks as the tail end of Crosby's accelerated rehab. I'm sure it took everything going right for him just to be physically ready for the season, let alone get his baseball work in. Just look at his footwork on the first error – terrible. He didn't center himself and get in front of the ball at all, even though he had time. That's not normal for Crosby, and it won't continue. I'd be extremely surprised if these bad habits continue into May.

bring em back !

Bobby Crosby is now 0-1 on the young season, and Dan Haren has his first no-decision.

Now that we have that out of the way, I think it's worth noting that if this game by Crosby happened in July, and was sandwiched around a very productive offensive season, we'd be a lot more forgiving of it.  It's a little early to write him off.

I'm glad Rich Harden didn't start tonight.  He could have thrown a complete game shutout, and we probably would have lost (or would still be playing).

Sounds like Loaiza is going to be out for at least a couple weeks (2 Starts Min.)  That usually turns into 1 months for the A's.  So, I think we're going to see a competition between Gaudin & Kennedy for the #5 Starter (Until Loaiza returns).  Competition is a good thing, and if Gaudin pitches better than Kennedy, (and I think he will), our rotation will set for the next 3 seasons (Including this one).

but I'm still thinking about it right now, so here it is right now.  Because Crosby could go errorless for the next 161 games and it won't mean doodley shit if we lose another starting pitcher.

"My plant leg gave out and I came down on my right leg," Haren said. "I thought my hip flexor tweaked and I kind of overreacted, got a little nervous that I'd hurt something. But I got it iced and it's OK."

The A's certainly hope so. First baseman Dan Johnson said he had tweaked his hip flexor one week earlier -- and he now might miss three months with torn hip cartilage.

link

{THINKS HAPPY THOUGHTS, HAPPY THOUGHTS, HAPPY THOUGHTS}

...but let me say that I don't think the A's would have won tonight's game even without The. Error. That being said, I was as frustrated at Crosby as anyone, mostly for the sole reason of 'if you can't hit, you better be able to field'. That's why Chavez got a pass all last year. His defense truly did make up for his lack of offensive production.

All Crosby has is his defense. Sad, but true. I don't expect him to hit; I am pleasantly surprised when he does, but when he muffs a perfectly awesome DP chance to help send our new ace to a loss, I am less than thrilled. Sure, everyone has bad games. Really great fielders make two errors in a game sometimes. But this is not the first time Crosby's defense has broken down in a pressure situation. If there were ever two outs, and the bases loaded, and we needed the game, I would want the ball to go to Chavez or Ellis, and stay far away from Crosby.

Yes, it's one game. Most likely, Crosby will not make another error in weeks. But he has to expect that he will feel the heat when he fails to do the one thing he is on the team for. It's not just this game that people are frustrated with Crosby about; it's the seeming inability to adjust to major league pitching, the refusal to try his swing a different way, and mostly (at least for me) the confusion of looking at a ballplayer who should be SO good, yet somehow...isn't.

Like it or not, Crosby is our shortstop. I don't have another suggestion. But I don't have to like it. But I want him to prove me wrong. I badly want that. I want this whole thread to seem ridiculous at the end of the season because of Crosby's year.

Ahem.

However, I love me some Travis Buck, and what a huge deal for him to say that his first major league hit came when no one else could manage to make solid contact! (Well, I guess I love Shannon Stewart's debut too :))

I want nothing but the best for Buck, and I hope he finds a permanent home in RF for us.

And for the love of all things baseball and holy... good thoughts, warm fuzzies, prayers, and a very heartfelt PLEASE BE OKAY, DANNY HAREN to Seattle tonight.

I'm sorry that happened to you guys and not to a team more deserving of being annihilated. As a Mariners fan, that was quite easily the most dominant pitching performance I've ever seen.

But hey, Cupcakes will get us tomorrow, never fear, and then you'll win like 15 in a row against us.

Hah! This was a somewhat better opener then last year, no? Crosby was obviously a little rusty and it will never happen again. The boys will come back and return to beat the M's business as usual tonight. Go A's!