Lowell Cohn's "Interview" With Billy Beane

Hi everyone, and welcome to FRIDAY! In case you haven't noticed (and judging by the attendance, you haven't), the A's have managed to win a few here and there, and are threatening to climb out of the cellar. Everyone put some positive vibes out there today, as the A's are looking to start off the Bay Bridge Series with a win against the Giants, which would be their third win in a row. I know!

Last week, Cohn wrote an article published in Santa Rosa's Press Democrat which was wildly critical of Billy Beane. Titled "Geren earned firing; Beane deserves blame", it contains such gems as this (one I'll admit I haven't heard before):

When Ken Macha was A's manager, he developed a serious bloody nose and had to leave a game. It was his job to appoint someone to manage. Geren was Macha's bench coach but Macha appointed Rene Lachemann because he saw early what Geren was or was not. Geren has been outed all over the major leagues as a substandard manager and now he has been outed by his own team.

Cohn also pointed out the obvious (at least to all of us on AN):

Players did not trust Geren to do what managers do. He lost the team and could not get it back, and Beane had to fire him. It is unusual to fire a manager in early June. But no one defended Geren. Not one A's player defended him. No one from other organizations defended him. No one.

Cohn then goes one step further, directly blaming Billy Beane for the disaster that was manager Bob Geren. And this week, his editor asked him to find Billy Beane for a follow-up interview. The title of the interview? Why fans should continue to follow the A's this season.

So directly from Billy Beane; why we should continue to watch the A's this season:

Major-league baseball, some good young players. If you've seen our attendance they haven't been that interested the last 10 years. So tell Bill he could have asked that question 10 years ago. We went to the ALCS in 2006. Did you know the next year our season-ticket base went down? See, those are things you should know. (Beane laughs.)

The interview is here, and it's really interesting to read without any commentary from Cohn; yet you can tell where he is going with his interview questions.

What do you think? And the million dollar question: Why are YOU continuing to watch the A's this season? What is keeping you interested? Is the "help" on the way, really help? For more on Rich Harden, see Rob Neyer's "Is Rich Harden the Cavalry, Or A Dead Horse?" How do you see the rest of the season shaping up?

And can we please win the Giants series and keep this train rolling? LET'S GO OAK-LAND! We'll see you at 6:30 with the game thread.