I know this won't be popular here on AN.  But, that is the least of my worries, obviously.

Anyway, I'm for keeping Bobby Crosby as our shortstop.  "Why?," you may ask?  Because I think he has the most upside and the least downside of all shortstops who are available.

Furcal is a Kotsay-waiting-to-happen.  Sign him to a 4 -year deal and live to regret the last three years.

Sign Edgar Renteria...  bad idea from the start, but let's just say you're a fan...  his 2008 OPS was .699.  Crosby's was .645.  Crosby is younger and, perhaps, better.  If you want Renteria, why didn't we just keep Marco...  he had an OPS of .697 last year.

Miguel Tejada you say?  Ummm...  maybe, if the price is cheap enough.  But, he was #13 versus Crosby's #18 in OPS in 2008, so he better come cheap.

Let's face it, if you can't get Escobar, it's almost not worth the price.  Besides, none of those other guys have the potential of power, save Tejada, and Crosby does...

I'd keep Crosby.

There is a slight disagreement among us.  I think there is zero chance that Beane signs Holliday to an extension.  Grover (and, I use the capital "g" only becasue it begins a sentence) believes there is a 100% chance Beane will sign him to an extension.

Grover is a smart guy...  I think he's right about most things he posts on AN.  (Example:  The Case for Trading Kotsay)  But, he's just stubborn about this.

So, who is right?  Is grover right when he says there is a 100% chance the A's sign Holliday to an extension?  Or, am I right when I say there is zero chance?

Your votes will be tallied.

so, I'm here to lend some support.

I was a fan at nearly 5 years old when the Raiders were born.  They are pretty much close to my first conscious memory.  I have a 3 year old son, right now...  and, I know that he won't remember a damn thing about sporting events he attends at this stage of his life.  Nevertheless, he's been to A's games every year since before he was born.  He has yet to experience his first Raider game (live), but that's only because I want him to remember his first Raider experience, like I did.  I may have to take him and his (as yet unborn) younger brother down to Los Angeles to see them, but what the hell...

Oh wait... this was supposed to be a positive mojo thread.  Well, here is the ultimate mojo:  The Autumn Wind.  Watch out, Bills...  the Autumn Wind is coming for you.

F**k the Whiners!

Who among us is a second son?  How do father's feel about them?  I have no idea...  I'm a first-born.  Will I treat him differently than I do Galt?  Will Galt grow up jealous and resentful of his little brorther?  It won't really matter to me cuz I'll be dead by the time they both hit puberty, so all their teenage angst will be mommy's problem, but... 

Let's get to the point...  what should I name the second son?  Because, she told me I could name the boys and she could name the girls.

Well, at least, that's the way I remember it...  but, I was probably drunk...  So, to be fair to her, she says she only gave me the "first boy" naming rights.   Now that she knows the 2nd one's a boy, she's, apparently, feeling a bit of buyer's remorse.  God (or whomever) love her, but, in my eyes, she's now reneging on my "boy naming" rights.

Nevertheless, me, being the fair and just person that I am...  I thought I'd put it to you AN, once again...  what should be the baby's name?  And, by "putting it to AN," I mean giving you, the folks of AN, the same amount of influence I gave you in the naming of my first child:  Name The Baby (2005).

He will be born on October 16, 2008, if that matters to you.

Okay, this is a truncated version of what I intended to post.  AN 3.0 ate my original post.   So, it's not as stat-laden as originally intended.  I was going to post the individual stats of A's players in July (especially, the hitters).  Sorry to the stat-inclined, they would have been amused, but I'm too lazy to dig them out ,again.  Anyway, here goes...  Pourin' half a forty on the ground for my ol' homey, Oaktoon...

We've all heard of the June Swoon...  I think another Bay Area team made that phrase famous.  But, we got past June in pretty good shape.  July has been a bitch, though.  As most of you suspected, without even knowing for sure...   the A's are last in runs scored for July with 63.  Is July an indicator of crappy teams?   You be the judge:

25.  Tampa Bay  69

26.  Houston  68

27.  San Diego 68

28.  San Franciso  68

29.  Seattle  64

30.  Oakland  63

Now, the Rays are pretty bad in July, too...  But, they're still 1 whole game in front in the East.   Will they stay there?   Prolly not, despite my pre-season projection that they'd win the East, they probably won't...  The fuckin' Yanks probably will.  Nevertheless, I'm stickin' with that prediction on the off chance the Rays are as good as I thought they'd be.

Damn, 63 runs...  numero 30...  we suck!  Okay, it's late, I'm gonna have to edit this when I wake up to include all the lousy July individual stats, but...  I'll just hit post instead of draft for now.

No, seriously...  I do.  They are crap!  Always losing the close games.  Run differential should put us in 1st place.  Pythagoras lies.  Let's face it, we need more hitters.  Do we have any on the horizon in the next 3 years?

Who is batting cleanup today, Bob?  Emil Brown?  Well, no...  hopefully, after this year, it'll be Jack Cust for us.  But, maybe that's only if Billy doesn't decide to re-sign the RBI Machine to a long term extension after he leads us in RBI this year.

I taught my kid to love the A's....  he's 2 1/2 years old.  "Let's go to a ballgame, daddy!"  I don't take him to watch them anymore.  It's too depressing.  (And, I don't want him to watch batters strike out looking...  I actually want him to swing when he gets to T-Ball.)

I was kinda excited when Brooks Conrad got the callup...  what's he now?  0 for everything?  What a fool was I?  I'm still rootin' for ya, Brooks.  But, seriously, would Brooks or  Wes or Jack or Huston be on any other major league roster?

Nevertheless, I want to see all all the vets gone...  every last one.

Huston Street as a closer, for christ sake!  The guy can barely throw a fastball over 82 MPH.  He should be the first to go...  Ellis next.  And, finally, when some team is totally desperate...  Duke, because we'll get the most for him at the very last minute.  Put us out of our misery by July 31st.

I know this isn't worthy of a fAnPoSt...  but, I no longer care.

I use "we" and 'us" quite liberally throughout this fAnPoSt...  did you notice that?

Edit:  Get some hitters, Billy, or see attendance down around the 7,000 per game level.

I know Blez isn't.  He predicts the Angels will win the West.  He doesn't think the A's will sniff an AL West title this year.  That's okay... none of the pundits did, either.

I suspect Nico isn't...  I haven't seen him commit, but I've seen enough to know he leans toward the Angels, as well.

Monkeyball...  I'm not sure.  I couldn't access the Official Prediction Thread.  But, as I recall, he didn't post there.  So, in my hypothetical world, he picked the Angels, too.

So, now that the A's are in 1st place.... where are you AN?  Yes, Harden's on the DL...  yes, Duke is on the DL.  Nevertheless, we dominate the AL in pitching stats.  Not so much in hitting stats (yet).

So, anyone want to change their minds?  You only get credit if you post, PaulThomas.  Where'd you have the A's finishing in the AL West?  Last?  3rd?  Or, no where near the top?

Here's the depressing part:

 Mark Kotsay is pretty good this year.  Okay, he's no Ryan Sweeney, but he's pretty good.

Jason Kendall is really good this year.

Aaron Harang is excellent this year.

Eric Byrnes is a star on a team of young, bright supernovas!

And, Marco Scutaro almost beat us today.  I wouldn't have liked that, even though I like Marco.

Remember any of these guys from A's 1998 (since I am unable to edit the title)?

Or should we just ignore Spring Training stats?  Or should we just ignore OBP stats?

Because, if we believe them, the Oakland A's and the Tampa Bay Rays will be the best teams in baseball this year.  Well, only if you believe OBP is the "end-all-and be-all" stat...  OBP Leaders.  I'm actually okay with that, but do I believe it?  No, because the A's won't pick the best guys to play.  I'm pretty confident in that.  However, the Rays might, so they could surprise a lot of people.  Don't get me wrong, I think both of those teams will be good teams, but maybe not great teams.  Does OBP lie?

I want the stat nerds of AN to tell me why, in the face of all the evidence to the contrary in Spring Training, that the A's and Rays won't compete for the whole enchilada down the stretch.  They lead in OBP.

Does Spring Training predict nothing?  Or, is there some pitching element in the equation I'm not accounting for?

I lost my draft diary (fanpost) with the new AN format.  That was my fault.  I drafted it soon after I threw out the first pitch at the end of last season.  And, obviously, I waited way too long to publish it.  Politics and baseball are my favorite pastimes and politics won out this offseason.  After learning that my edited draft wouldn't accept comments and, at the request of other members, I am re-posting this as a new FanPost.  Apologies to those who previously voted in the poll.

 Anyway, to make a long story short, Justine, Galt and I arrived at the park early that day in late September 2007.  We had been given the tickets by fellow season ticket holders who sit right behind our seats.  Shortly after we arrived, two young men wandered down the aisle.  They turned toward us and asked if we were season ticket holders?  We hesitated briefly, then, answered "yes," adding that we weren't sitting in our seats this day as they were the ones directly in front of us.

 The two young men walked a few steps down the aisle, huddled for a moment and conversed over their two-way radio with some unseen A's officialdom.  As they walked back up the stairs, they said:  "Would you like to throw out the first pitch?"  Surprise, suspicion, shock, followed by fear, all crossed my mind in an instant.  But, they looked official, so I responded succinctly:  "Ummm...  sure."  "Okay," one of them said, "we'll come and get you about 45 minutes before gametime and bring you back to the offices and, then, down to the field."

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I think everyone on AN, including myself, owes Mychael Urban an apology.  At least, for his Milton Bradley "tired act" article.  I liked Bradley.  I think most ANer's did.  But, Urban told it like it was and was raked over the coals here at Athletics Nation.

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