Eight in a row now. The A's have had two eight game losing streaks in May. The A's have only five wins in May. Five. If they lose the next two games to Tampa Bay, they will have just escaped the fewest wins in the month of May in franchise history. The Philadelphia Athletics won only four games in May of 1919.
They've already set an Oakland Athletics record for fewest victories in the month of May. 1994 the team went 8-19 in May.
So my point is that you can understand where the overwhelming negativity has come from. Five wins in a month will do that to you. Especially since under Billy Beane's watch, this team hasn't struggled like this. Ever.
But the good news, if there is any, is that we should soon see the team that Billy was trying to put together on the field. Bobby Crosby is close to returning. Kiko Calero is close to returning (let's hope he can throw his slider this time otherwise he's 2004 Jim Mecir all over again).
Of course, the news on Octavio Dotel is a little more troubling. And who knows when our young ace, Rich Harden will return?
By the way, for those of you that are looking for a great read on why hitting has gone down so much this year, check out Tom Verducci's cover story in this week's Sports Illustrated. It's excellent and might reinforce the idea that a running game could be an essential shift in the future. Even Beane is quoted as telling Macha to do what he can to jumpstart the offense, including bunting and stealing. It's a great piece based on the assumption that hitting is down because of the new drug testing policy.
