A group weblog for Oakland A's fans
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Crazy finish
Has anybody ever seen a baseball game end like that? Wow. Everything is bouncing the A's way, and there they are, all alone in first place for the first time in 2005. It's a great, great time to be an Oakland fan. Not that you necessarily need to go out and buy up playoff tickets, but these guys are on a serious roll and it doesn't look like anything can stop them. What a series--two straight comeback wins against the nastiest bullpen in the majors (except, perhaps, for Oakland's own pen). The Angels have to be feeling shell-shocked. And now they, too, are looking up at the A's in the standings.
Has anybody ever seen a baseball game end like that? Wow. Everything is bouncing the A's way, and there they are, all alone in first place for the first time in 2005. It's a great, great time to be an Oakland fan. Not that you necessarily need to go out and buy up playoff tickets, but these guys are on a serious roll and it doesn't look like anything can stop them. What a series--two straight comeback wins against the nastiest bullpen in the majors (except, perhaps, for Oakland's own pen). The Angels have to be feeling shell-shocked. And now they, too, are looking up at the A's in the standings.
Evening the Series and Starting my Own Radio Station
As Adam Melhuse correctly pointed out in the post-game show, this wasn't going to be a do-or-die series. There are still 49 games to play. Both teams are currently in playoff spots, there are many more chances to make up ground or lose ground. Still it was great to watch the A's win the game last night to even the series at 1-1. The game reminded us that Tuesday was just Tuesday, not the end of the A's great season. It was cool that there were 45 thousand people there last night, which makes 85K for 2 games.
I was thinking it would be cool to have an am radio station. My station would have sports most of the time, maybe bbc news, maybe classic rock some of the time. I'd have the A's games broadcast on my station, maybe even see if I could get Robert Baun to do a morning show. Then maybe I'd hire Larry Kruger, and I'd tell him to rant to his heart's content. He even said a few weeks ago that although he was a diehard Giants fan, he was thinking of teaching his son to be an A's fan. It is a little scary to think we may have lost our fredom of speech when it comes to a baseball team's performance. If sensorship exists there, it could be anywhere.
As Adam Melhuse correctly pointed out in the post-game show, this wasn't going to be a do-or-die series. There are still 49 games to play. Both teams are currently in playoff spots, there are many more chances to make up ground or lose ground. Still it was great to watch the A's win the game last night to even the series at 1-1. The game reminded us that Tuesday was just Tuesday, not the end of the A's great season. It was cool that there were 45 thousand people there last night, which makes 85K for 2 games.
I was thinking it would be cool to have an am radio station. My station would have sports most of the time, maybe bbc news, maybe classic rock some of the time. I'd have the A's games broadcast on my station, maybe even see if I could get Robert Baun to do a morning show. Then maybe I'd hire Larry Kruger, and I'd tell him to rant to his heart's content. He even said a few weeks ago that although he was a diehard Giants fan, he was thinking of teaching his son to be an A's fan. It is a little scary to think we may have lost our fredom of speech when it comes to a baseball team's performance. If sensorship exists there, it could be anywhere.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
You Can't Win them All
I went to the game last night. Forty thousand fans on a Tuesday with no promotions, it felt like the playoffs. By the time we found our seats it was 2-0 Angels. I noticed immediately that Vlad swung at EVERY PITCH all night. With the bases loaded and Vlad up in the second, Harden immediately got him to 0-2. Then a foul back, then I was yelling to bounce one off the plate. Well, he didn't and Vlad hit a Grand Salami. I didn't see his first AB, I was trying to get from Gate D to section 107, but from then on he never took a pitch. Someone ought to have noticed that.
So the Angels strike the first blow, and they strike quickly and decisively. I thought the A's were way better than the Angels. I think Harden thought so too, and he thought his 99 mph stuff would overmatch these guys, but it didn't. He then made adjustments though. These guys are hackers and it looked like Harden started throwing a lot more breaking stuff, and got 6 innings in, he allowed no runs for 4 straight innings. Harden was able to rack up 9 strikeouts in 6 innings. There is a silver lining there. Luckily it is only one game. Now the battle is really on.
I went to the game last night. Forty thousand fans on a Tuesday with no promotions, it felt like the playoffs. By the time we found our seats it was 2-0 Angels. I noticed immediately that Vlad swung at EVERY PITCH all night. With the bases loaded and Vlad up in the second, Harden immediately got him to 0-2. Then a foul back, then I was yelling to bounce one off the plate. Well, he didn't and Vlad hit a Grand Salami. I didn't see his first AB, I was trying to get from Gate D to section 107, but from then on he never took a pitch. Someone ought to have noticed that.
So the Angels strike the first blow, and they strike quickly and decisively. I thought the A's were way better than the Angels. I think Harden thought so too, and he thought his 99 mph stuff would overmatch these guys, but it didn't. He then made adjustments though. These guys are hackers and it looked like Harden started throwing a lot more breaking stuff, and got 6 innings in, he allowed no runs for 4 straight innings. Harden was able to rack up 9 strikeouts in 6 innings. There is a silver lining there. Luckily it is only one game. Now the battle is really on.
Monday, August 08, 2005
The Future Looks Bright
The A's just finished a road trip where they went 6-1. The Twins had to win in the bottom of the 9th to stop the A's from sweeping the road trip. Now they have a 12 game homestand. I fully expect them to go 8-4 or better on this homestand. Lately it seems like they only lose once a week. I can remember every loss since the All Star Break. One to Texas, One to Anaheim, one where Westbrook shut them out, and one to the Twins. Four weeks, four losses. There MUST some bumps in the road down the stretch. I don't know when, but can we really expect the A's to play .800 the rest of the way? I look ahead on the schedule and only see 7 tough games against the Red Sox and Yankees. It seems like they could win most of the rest.
The A's just finished a road trip where they went 6-1. The Twins had to win in the bottom of the 9th to stop the A's from sweeping the road trip. Now they have a 12 game homestand. I fully expect them to go 8-4 or better on this homestand. Lately it seems like they only lose once a week. I can remember every loss since the All Star Break. One to Texas, One to Anaheim, one where Westbrook shut them out, and one to the Twins. Four weeks, four losses. There MUST some bumps in the road down the stretch. I don't know when, but can we really expect the A's to play .800 the rest of the way? I look ahead on the schedule and only see 7 tough games against the Red Sox and Yankees. It seems like they could win most of the rest.
