Does anyone want to discuss the game? I don't. Predictable; everyone did what they were supposed to. Even with the borderline-ridiculous strike zone, Loaiza got water-tortured to death by the Angels, as he does, and the A's only have a third of their team hitting, as they do. And so it goes. Is April over yet? And can we pull a groundhog move and hide until the calendar officially says something like...um...June?
Oh fine. I'll say something about the game.
1) Nick Swisher and Eric Chavez's amazing starts tend to get lost in the general crappiness of the rest of the team, but Swish is playing as well as anyone in baseball right now, and Eric Chavez is playing like a top-tier franchise player. You can see it even in his strikeouts; last year he would take strike three, looking for a walk, and this year, when he strikes out, it is usually swinging. He wants to be the one to get the big hit, a marked contrast to last year; heck, the last few years. Whatever it is, I like it!
2) Saarloos was amazing; kept the A's in the game the whole way, and Kennedy's `K' of Anderson was sexy.
3) Milton Bradley is fitting in just fine.
4) The A's defense looked great. Too bad I would have traded two errors for two runs today.
5) Was that the weirdest strike zone you've ever seen, or what?
In the meantime, I would like to explore something I saw on the broadcast this weekend. According to the Angels' announcers (and yes, of course, I double-checked the numbers, you don't think I'd take Rex and Steve's advice on anything except on how to create the most irritating player nickname possible, do you?), last season the Angels stole 161 bases, 130 more than Oakland. I knew that. What didn't know was that they also hit into 23 less double plays than the A's, which I guess I should have known too. That phenomenon can be explained by seven simple words: 'Jason Kendall is not on the Angels'. So, by my calculations, the Angels gained a lot more bases than the A's over the course of the season, so by extension and traditional baseball logic, that means they must have scored a lot more runs, right? Right?
2005 Athletics - 772 runs scored
2005 Angels - 761 runs scored
And let's be honest; by all accounts, the 2005 A's offense sucked. So this "Angel-ball" that everyone's talking about? It may work less well than advertised.
Take that, smallball! Discuss.
In other news, AN DAY 3 is coming to a coliseum near you (not near me, I have to drive a while). What Blez may not have told you was that I am coming! I know I know, you can all take a moment to let it sink in. Tickets are now on sale, and let me tell you, as an attendee of AN Day 1 and 2, there is no better time to be had. There is something very fun about meeting people whom you only know by their usernames and witty comments. Don't worry, we all pass notes during the game, just to make it feel like AN. Please come! I want to meet everyone so I can feel popular! That is all.
baseballgirl out.
