Two months into last season, the A's suddenly discovered complete ineptitude, led by an inexplicably underperforming offense, and lost 10 in a row to plummet from .500-hood to cellar-hood. Good thing that would never happen again, eh?
The A's will try to avoid losing their 10th in a row. "Double digit losing streak" is a serious condition that often leads to firing a manager named Bob -- although this time around it's unlikely Brian Fuentes can have much influence, since he was pretty directly responsible for #7.
Luke Hochevar, whose main goal seems to be to match Francisco Liriano's astronomical ERA before somehow dominating the A's lineup, opposes Brandon McCarthy, fresh off the disabled list where he actually enjoyed better run support.
Here's the A's basic starting lineup to post on your wall:
Someone who can't hit
Someone who shouldn't be in a major league lineup
Josh Reddick
Someone who could hit until they joined the A's
Someone who should be in a major league lineup but sure as heck shouldn't be hitting batting higher than #8
Someone who can hit but isn't hitting this year
Someone who could hit 8 years ago
Someone at a "defense first" position where anything you get from them at the plate should be considered a gift
Someone who shouldn't, frankly, even be in a minor league lineup
Or if you prefer, here are today's actual lineups:
