The A's and Barry Zito with a 14-12 record and a 3.74 ERA take on the Angels and Shrek with a 20-8 record and a 3.51 ERA.
It's too bad that this game doesn't mean anything in terms of the playoff chase because this would've been an awesome matchup if there were big consequences involved.
For those of you who hate Macha, I've got bad news. The A's are talking a longer deal with the A's skipper. Any chance we can get more passion written into a new contract? Seriously, I just want to see the guy get thrown out by kicking some dirt on an ump or something.
The A's lineup for Barry Zito's final start of 2005 looks this way:
Ellis
Kendall
Kotsay
Johnson
Payton
Hatteberg
Swisher
Bocachica
Scutaro
Chavez gets the day off and expect Kotsay to get a game or two off over these final four games.
The Angels counter with this lineup:
Figgins
Cabrera
Rivera
B Molina
Quinlan
Kotchman
J Molina
DaVanon
Kennedy
Zito gets a lineup that's a little closer to the regular Angels squad minus Vlad the Impaler, which is a huge minus.
This will be my last day handling game threads for 2005. Nico takes over tomorrow and Saturday and Louis will handle Sunday (a HUGE thanks to both resident funnymen Nico and Louis for their help this year!!!).
Game threads are fun, folks, if nothing more than to see the emotional reactions take over. It's been a pleasure doing this this season. Bring on 06!!!
LET'S GO A'S!!!!!!!
