We all expected a regression, right? But like many of you, I dared to dream of relevance. I thought back to 2012, when the prevailing wisdom had the A's, in the wake of the Gio, Bailey, and Cahill trades, staring a 100-loss season in the face. On the night that the Tigers eliminated them, I drunkenly held court in my kitchen, reading aloud several dire forecasts from the Season Preview rags as I chugged from a bottle of cheap champagne. My roomies were an indulgent if somewhat captive audience. So as March 2015 turned to April, and I gazed lovingly upon Kendall Graveman's 0.36 ERA, Butler's 900+ OPS, and all other manner of meaningless numbers, a sickening plunge into the sub-basement of the AL West was the last thing on my mind.
And I was a fool. I've been following Oakland A's Baseball, and baseball in general for, like, 40+ years. Certainly, a cynical middle-aged man such as myself should have known better. I have slogged through the wilderness with this team before, and I am totally prepared to do it again. I rooted as hard for Dave Revering as I did for Brandon Moss; as I do for Mark Canha or Max Muncy. I have the same irrational expectations for Drew Pomeranz as I did for Willie Adams or Alan Wirth. The A's will be back in the mix soon enough, and I look forward to watching that play out. It's gonna get a wee bit rough in the meantime. Keep the Faith.
THE QUESTIONS (80 points possible)
1. SERIES OUTCOME (3 points) A's 2-1
2. THE CURTAIN FALLS Sunday is the last day of the Regular Season, and all 15 games are scheduled to start at pretty much the same time (Noon-ish on the West Coast). Hurricane Andujar might disrupt the East Coast games, however. Pick the winner of up to 10 of Sunday's games. 2 points for each correct answer, -1 point for each incorrect answer. Zero points is the floor for this, per usual. (20 points possible) Cancelled or postponed games do not count for points. Winners: TEX, PIT, DET, CHC, KC, LAD, NYM Losers: NYY, MIA, SF, BOS, MIN, HOU, TOR, StL
3. THE HUMAN DRAMA OF ATHLETIC COMPETITION The A's are 6-10 in Extra Inning Games this year. Do any of these Games go into Extra Innings? Are any of these Games tied through Seven Innings? Through Five? Are any of these Games scoreless through Three? (1 point each, 4 total) YES, EXTRAS/YES, TIED THROUGH 7/YES, TIED THROUGH 5/NO SCORELESS THROUGH 3
4. PITCHER, OR BELLY-ITCHER? As of 1 pm Thursday, the A's haven't named a Starting Pitcher for Sunday. I fear Doubront. Pick one SP from each team, and predict IP/H/ER/BB/K (2 points each, 20 total) If any Pitcher is scratched, your guesses apply to whoever slots in for him. Feel free to revise before game time.
BROOKS: 7/6/2/2/1 IWAKUMA: 7/9/1/0/8 NOLIN: 5/6/3/1/2 BASSITT: 6/5/2/5/3 NUNO: 6/6/2/1/4
5. HIS FRIENDS ALL CALL HIM BILLY, BUT YOU CAN CALL HIM MR. BURNS Granted, a Batting Average of .300 is a somewhat arbitrary yardstick, but it's pretty cool that Billy Burns has been flirting with .300 all season long. Predict Burns' final BA. (4 points for hitting it on the nose, 2 points for +/- 1 point) Does Billy get at least one Stolen Base in this Series? (1 point, 5 total) .294/NO
6. COUNTRY BREAKFAST WITH A SIDE OF IRONY I referenced Billy Butler's Spring Training OPS awhile back. His September numbers were pretty damn good, too. It's amusing to see him finally get into a groove, now that we're at the very ass-end of the season. He certainly had a better September than his Mariner counterpart, Nelson Cruz. Predict AB/H/XBH/K for Butler and Cruz. (2 points each, 16 total) BUTLER: 12/2/0/3 CRUZ: 9/3/0/3
7. TIME MOSHES ON It's nice to once again hear Metallica's For Whom The Bell Tolls without reflexively bumming out about Sean Doolittle. I love that guy, and it embiggens my heart to see him on the mound again. Predict IP/H/K for Sean. (2 points each) Does he record a Save in this Series? (1 point, 7 total) 1/0/2/YES
8. SLIDING-SCALE LONG BALL: Who hits the first HR for each team in this Series? You can guess up to 3 players from each team. A correct answer based on 3 guesses is worth 1 point. A correct answer based on 2 guesses is worth 3 points. A correct answer based on 1 guess is worth 5 points. You can guess "Nobody" for either team. A correct "Nobody" is worth 3 points. (10 points possible, in theory) VALENCIA/MILLER
Answers due by 7:10 pm PT Friday. Good Luck, and Let's Go A's!
