Elephant Rumblings: Three A’s celebrate firsts on Father’s Day

Happy Monday, Athletics Nation!

I hope all of the dads out there had a fine Father’s Day. I’m sad to say that none of my four little ones presented me with a gift or even wished me a happy Father’s Day. Perhaps it’s because they are cats.

One dad that was surely delighted yesterday was Jared Koenig’s father Greg, who was at the Coliseum to see his son’s first MLB win yesterday in the A’s 4-0 victory against the Royals. Koenig’s performance wasn’t picture perfect: he walked four and hit one batter, and per Fangraphs his FIP and xFIP for the game were 5.79 and 7.84, respectively. He didn’t strike out a single hitter.

But the bottom line is what counts: Koenig held Royals batters hitless through four innings and left his opponents scoreless through 5⅔ frames. As Matt Kawahara at The San Francisco Chronicle noted, Royals batters averaged a mere 86.2 mph off the bat against Koenig. Perhaps this successful outing will imbue the recently called up starter with increased confidence and command going forward.

Kawahara also reported in The Chronicle that yesterday marked a first of another sort for two of Koenig’s teammates: infielder Tony Kemp and reliever Sam Moll both played their first Father’s Day games as dads. Moll and his wife, Carolina, welcomed their son Malcolm into the world last September. The family calls Memphis, Tennessee home.

Kemp and his wife Michelle live in the Bay Area with their baby girl McKenna, who was born last December. Kemp suggested that fatherhood gives him perspective that helps him deal with the ups and downs of professional sports.

“That’s the thing is good or bad (on the field), that little girl’s always bright-eyed and just wanting to see you and see your face and hug on you,” Kemp told Kawahara.

It was a happy Sunday all around as the A’s avoided a sweep at the hands of one of baseball’s worst teams and broke an eight game losing streak at home. Let’s see if they can carry this momentum into the next series of the current homestand against the Mariners, which begins Tuesday.

A’s Coverage:

• Ashford: Game #68: Father’s Day win! A’s beat Royals 4-0
• Hall: Game #67: A’s get shut out, again
• Nico: Hats Off To Kubinski - There’s More To Baseball Than Just Baseball
• Kawahara: A’s Tony Kemp, Sam Moll mark their first Father’s Day as dads ($)
• Shea: Add A’s to the list of MLB teams tanking, but thank John Fisher for that ($)
• Cano: Oakland A’s Jonah Bride makes splash through first week in big leagues
• Shea: Have mustache, will travel; former A’s pitcher Mengden back in Oakland with Royals ($)
• Abraham: Jed Lowrie debuted with the Red Sox in 2008, and he’s still going
• Martin: Vogt’s veteran wisdom helping A’s rookies learn ‘to be pros’

MLB News & Interest:

• Zencka: Brewers Designate Lorenzo Cain For Assignment
• McDonald: Dodgers To Place Mookie Betts On IL With Cracked Rib
• Heyman and Sanchez: Max Scherzer could make Mets return next week if rehab start goes to plan
• McDonald: Manny Machado Diagnosed With Ankle Sprain
• Footer: Power Rankings: NY, SoCal clubs hold strong
• Adler, Feinsand, Footer, and Simon: Experts predict MLB’s next great superstar
• Today in Baseball History

Best of Twitter:

The A’s celebrate Juneteenth.

Kotsay and son.

Not the preferred way to beat the Yankees.

I guess Campy is like me—incapable of growing a proper mustache.

While we’re talking ‘staches...

Now that’s a bomb!

This is kind of like a little companion Tweet to oenig...I mean, Koenig’s win on Sunday.