Spring Game #2: Oakland A's at San Francisco Giants

Let's see. Baseball, check. MLB audio. Check; listen live here. Follow GameDay. Check, watch the cartoon players here. Side note; has anyone been here long enough to remember when someone on AN had to guess the correct URL to Spring Training GameDay each day in order to get the game? Memories...

Taking the mound for your 2015 Oakland Athletics is Jesse Chavez, who is indeed trying to earn a spot in the rotation out of Spring camp. He'll need each of his starts to count toward his bid, so his pitching is important even in today's early appearance. He's put on some weight, he wants this, and it should be fun to watch. This is no tune-up; this is a competition. In other A's news, Coco Crisp will be playing left field this year.

Full disclosure: I'll be honest. It took nearly the entire off-season for me to want to see, feel, hear or touch anything green and gold. I'm leaving for Mesa on Friday morning and I had to really dig for A's paraphernalia. I broke the flag pole outside our house in October last year, sending the A's flag flying; it's now buried in a box and the new flag pole proudly displaying the Golden State flag (how could rooting for the Warriors in the playoffs possibly ever go wrong, am I right?)  isn't quite the same. The nightmare of baseball from August to October nearly ended my baseball fandom and I've wanted nothing to do with baseball for longer than I ever imagined.

But if 2014 was the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, all playing out within the same season, maybe 2015 won't be flashy and dramatic, but rather steady success and fun. That's the best part about Spring Training, and Spring in general. When all hope is lost; when the season for all came to an end--some with a bang, some with a whimper, and some with hearts being ripped out of our chests--Spring pops back up with a sprig of grass, the first flower peeking out of the ground and reminds us that 2014 is gone for good and the A's have another chance in 2015.

The player purge of the off-season took nearly all reminders of 2014 with it, and maybe, just maybe, that's not a bad thing. Gone are remnants of failures past, leaving a new group of players to succeed. There are new storylines to follow, new players to love, nicknames to be coined, heroes to shine, and above all, A's baseball games to watch. And also, I think I have some serious studying to do.

Here are your lineups as the A's take on Jake Peavy.

Lineups

The A's and Jesse Chavez  take the field in an hour. We'll have all your action right here.