16th Series Rays in Oakland

Frank Thomas hit 2 home runs. Game goes extra innings. Evan Langoria got the dramatic home up onto the LF steps in the 13th inning. With two outs in the 13th Emil Brown gets on, Daric Barton hits a triple. Kurt Suzuki can't get it done. A's lose 8-7.
Game 2: This one killed me. Let's just say Emil Brown commited an error late in the game to allow 3 runs and the A's lose 3-2. Sucks!

15th Series Interleague in Atlanta

Game one: Mark Kotsay of all people ends up driving in the game winning run late in the game to beat the A's
Game two: Harden vs. Hudson. Harden was Awesome Hudson kinda sucked. A's win.
Game three: A's lose and I do believe fall 1 1/2 games behind the Angels.

14th Series at Cleveland Indians

The Indians made a lot of good defensive plays and had good pitching to beat the A's 4-0 in the first game.
C.C. Sabathia, like all the Indians pitching lately, looked good in the second game. A's lose.
Indians pitching wipes out A's in final game, and we are swept.

Kurt Suzuki

You can get this on eBay.
These are not prints. They are 1/1 hand drawn and painted original works of art. The Sketch cards are normal sportscard size. All Sketch cards are signed and dated by the artist Jonathan D. Gordon. Jonathan's

13th Series at Texas Rangers

A's lose the first 2 and win the final. I thought they should be beating Texas but all of a sudden they have good pitching. Rich Harden pitched the final game and he wasn't so sharp in his first game back from the DL. Chad Gaudin was sent to the bullpen earlier this week to make room in the rotation for Hardin. Dallas Braden was sent back to AAA. Travis Buck came off the DL and went to AAA as well. So he could get his swing together.
With the A's win and the Angels loss today the A's move into first place all by themselves.

Sweep!

Rory and I arrived minutes before the game started today. We find our two dollar seats in left field, sit down, and I say, "The foul pole is directly between me and home plate". It didn't matter, this second level left field section was three quarters empty. We just slid over a few seats.
Around the third inning, they showed on the big screen, the game ending walk off home run that Marco Scutaro hit off of Mariono Riveria last year. "Hey", I said, "That was this foul pole right here", as I motioned towards the foul pole that was in front of us, but now my view had it inbetween the pitchers mound and home plate.
Zoom ahead. Bottom of the tenth 2 outs tied 5-5. Mark Ellis up. I watched the pitch out of the pitchers hand, off of Ellis' bat and watched as it got larger and larger and headed right for us. For a second I thought no way can Ellis hit that thing up here to the second deck, but it sure seemed like it was on it's way. Just then the ball hit the foul pole and plunked down into the seats behind the A's bullpen. Game Over.

Jack Cust AL Player of the Week

Cust hit .500 (10-20) last week with three home runs, a double and four RBI. The 29-year-old designated hitter posted a 1.000 slugging percentage along with a .600 on-base percentage. During a road series against the Angels, Cust went 6-for-10 with a home run, which was hit during his 4-for-4, three-run, two-walk game on May 1st. In a weekend home set against Texas, Cust went 4-for-10 with two home runs and three RBI, including Sunday's go-ahead, seventh inning two-run shot in Oakland's 3-1 win. This marks Jack's second career weekly award, having also won in May last year (week ending 5/14/2007). Last year he won after hitting .348 with 1 double and 5 home runs along with 13 RBIs. He had only been with the A's 9 days. It's worth mentioning he hit 6 home runs in those first 7 games.

Michael Zagaris

This photo of Emil Brown playing with Rich Hardens' Samari sword is especially cool knowing that Emil, while playing with a BB gun in the Royals clubhouse last year, shot a beat writer in the eye.
Michael Zagaris was a big time SF bay area photographer in the 60's and 70's. He took lots of killer photos of all the big rock bands back in the day. In the 80's he was the team photographer for the 49er's back when they we're kings. So now a days he's the A's team photographer. not only that but he has a blog.

11th Series Texas Rangers

Damn! A's lose the first two. This wasn't supposed to happen, but then they trew on thier 1968 Jerseys and they could not be stopped! Greg Smith was doing all the stoppin' from the pitchers mound. Then Jack Cust put a stop to the Rangers thoughts of winning with a 2 run home run. His 3rd in the last 4 games.
Update: Jack Cust was named AL player of the week, as the A's slip down to second place. One game behind the Angels.

Tenth Series Angels

A's split the 4 games series with the Angels which is pretty awesome. So they stay tied for first headined into May.

Ninth Series Mariners

A's take 2 of 3 against the Mariners. They are now 16-10 and tied for first place with the Angels, who they start a 4 game series tonight.

Eighth Series Twins

A's take two of three, and Frank Thomas returns to the Oakland line up!
The A's starting pitching is #1 in the AL as far as ERA goes, just like this time last year. They are also #1 in batting average with runners in scoring position. They are also tied for first place.

Boof Bonser

The Twins are coming to town tuesday and Boof is lined up to pitch wednesday. Coincidently he's pitching against Chad Gaudin another guy who was nice enough to sign a card I sent through the mail.
Boof came up through the Giants organization. On November 14, 2003, Bonser was traded to the Minnesota Twins along with pitchers Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano for catcher A.J. Pierzynski, and cash. One of many moves in recent years that turned out to be monumentaly bad decisions by the Giants.

Topps Card Photos

It's like Topps just quit trying, not that there hasn't been some pretty bad ones in the past (Tony Gwynns' rookie card comes to mind). A lot of the photos on the base set are pretty weak. Daric Bartons' card above is a pretty good example of how bad things are. Most of the photos on the A's cards in this years base set look like they were taken in the same inning from the same position. You know, like they spent a half hour taking photos, and printed them up. How are the cards supposed to encapsulate the excitement and fun of baseball when they put so little effort into it? They should bring back Topps Stadium Club cards. The whole selling point of those cards was the excellent photography. Click here and find out how maybe you can help bring 'em back.
Upper Deck has real good photos, and I used to collect Fleer Ultra just because I liked the photography.

Did You Know...

The A's first 10 wins have gone to 10 different pitchers.
Not only that but the A's streak of 12 games with at least one error ended yesterday.

Lenny DiNardo

Lenny signed this card for me I sent to the A's spring training. As a red sock he
made his major league debut April 23 2004 at Yankee Stadium, working a 1-2-3 9th with one strikeout to close out an 11-2 Red Sox win. He played in 22 games that year and got himself a world series ring.
In 2005 he was up and down from triple A and with the Red Sox, he went 0-1 with a 1.84 ERA in 8 games, all but one in relief...in 14.2 inning.
He was hampered by injuries most of 2006, and in 2007 he came to the A's.
He Began the season in the A's bullpen but moved into the starting rotation at the end of May and finished the season with an 8-10 record and a 4.11 ERA in 35 games, 20 starts...his first 11 appearances came in relief and he then started in 20 of his 21 appearances before finishing the season with three appearances out of the bullpen...was 7-8 with a 4.93 ERA and .293 opponents batting average in his 20 starting assignments and 1-2 with a 1.82 ERA in his 15 relief appearances...allowed just one home run in 34.2 relief innings.
He averaged 1.85 grounded into double plays per nine innings, which was the best ratio in the AL and the best in Oakland history, based on a minimum of 100 innings pitched...it was the best by an AL pitcher since Bill Swift had a mark of 1.85 for Seattle in 1988...using the 100 innings pitched minimum, he had the third lowest strikeout to walk ratio (1.18).
Lenny has had a bit of a rough start this year, but I believe.
Lenny also plays guitar so he can't be all bad. A Red Sock fan also made a Lenny blog right here.

Seventh Series Royals in Oakland

Game 1: A's get 15 hits and win 13-2. Chad Gaudin did a good job pitching.
Game 2: A's were getting beat up early then came back to take charge. Bullpen looked good. a's win 6-5.
Game 3: A's win. You can call this one a sweep! The Royals had the best pitching staff in the AL coming into Oakland. Well, the A's had 42 hits in the series.

Sixth series Seattle Mariners

Rory and I are gonna went up for the first game. Blanton vs. King Felix. Blanton pitched 8 innings, Felix pitched 9. A's lost 4-2. Here's a few photos.
Game 2: A's lose and give a pretty lackluster performance.

Fifth Series White Sox

A's win one and lose one. Back to Oakland for the Mariners tomorrow.

Fourth Series Indians

First Game - A's bats came out on fire to win the first game. They go on to take 2 of 3.

Zito

At the home opener for the San Francisco Giants, the fans booed Barry Zito as they did the team introductions before the game.

Third Series Blue Jays - A's SWEEP

A's beat the Blue Jays in a high scoring game. Chad Gaudin is back. Harden is Hurt (again!!).
Ryan Sweeney has had a good couple games.
Travis Buck finaly got a hit and an RBI.
The line up for the second game against the Blue Jays.

1. Buck (RF)
2. Ellis (2B)
3. Barton (1B)
4. Cust (DH)
5. Brown (LF)
6. Crosby (SS)
7. Hannahan (3B)
8. Suzuki (C)
9. R. Sweeney (CF)

After starting the season 0-22 Travis Buck went a bit nuts and had 6 doubles in the series. The A's bats really came alive in the first two games. Then the third was a 1-1 tie that went 12 innings.
Rich Harden was put on the 15 day DL which is a big bummer, but not a surprise to anyone. Justin Ducshcherer is also on the DL.

Second Series Indians

A's beat Indians 2 of 3. Giving us hope that the A's are going to have a good year.

First Series Red Sox

A's played the Red Sox tuff. Giving us hope but a 1 and 3 record.
Game 1: 3:05 am pacific start time. Mark Ellis first inning HR off of Dice-K. Jack Hannahan HR in the 6th. 9th Inning ahead 2-1 Street comes in for the save, gives up a home run. Red Sox tie it. 10th inning Emil Brown makes a big time base running mistake that probably cost them the game. red Sox go on to win 6-5. Huston Street gets the lose.
Game 2: Rich Harden 95 pitches 3 hits 1 run 3 walks 9 strike outs. A's 5 Boston 1.

Opening Day 3 am

Yep, A's start the season in Japan against the Red Sox. I couldn't stay up for the first game. I guess Huston Street blew it in the 9th and the A's lost in the 10th.
I managed to get up at 3am to record the second game on my XM radio. I listened to it at 9am and the A's won!
Now the A's come back and play a couple meaningless exhibition games in San Francisco, then on tuesday I'll be in Oakland for second opening day (night).

...and Rich harden kicked all kinds of ass...9 strikeouts in 6 innings...

Bobby Crosby

Sent this at the beginning of the 2007 season, got it back around the time of the 2007 world series. Bobby Crosby is sorta loved and hated by A's fans. He was rookie of the year you know...he's been injured a lot since then and he's stuck out a lot since then. I'm gonna be pullin' for him this year since he was cool enough to sign my card.

Jeff Kent

I sent Jeff Kent a card at the beginning of the season and got it back at the end. He was pretty awesome offensevly for a second baseman when he was on the Giants. That was the last time the Giants were and good. I think half the crowd boos and the other half cheers when he comes back. Maybe a bit more booing but that's because he's on the Dodgers now. He broke his wrist once, just before spring training because he fell off his truck when he was washing it. The media said he crashed his motorcycle while he was doing wheelies, and that was the real reason he broke his wrist.
He won the NL MVP in 2000 when he was on the Giants, even though Barry Bonds stats were better in almost every catagory. People hated Bonds as much back then as they do now.
Another time during a game, Kent and Bonds got into an argument, they were screaming and yelling at each other. Bonds ended up grabing Kent around the throat before they were broken up by teammates.
In 2005, his first year with the Dodgers, Milton Bradley called Kent a racist.
Lance Berkman, in response to this controversy, stated, “Jeff Kent is not a racist. He hates white people, black people, and Latinos equally.”
Milton Bradley called Billy Beane a racist last year...or implied it or something.
Pretty often during the baseball season when the Dodger are coming to town. The local radio station has a collection of sound bites from Kent saying things like "The people in the Bay Area are crazy". Because of what they pay for real estate.
So I'm pretty stoked to get this card back from Jeff Kent!!!

Opening Day

I just got tickets for opening day against the Red Sox. I've moved farther away from Oakland and don't know how many games I'll make it to this year so I'm getting XM Radio...we'll see how that works out.

Cleaning House

No more Mark Kotsay. That's OK he was hurt all the time anyway. Lots of young prospects on the A's now.
In December I got a card back in the mail from Jeff Kent. Just recently I got a card back in the mail from none other than former rookie of the year Bobby Crosby! I sent both these guys card last march at spring training.
I'll try to send some cards to A's spring training this year, problem is half these guys don't even have cards yet!

No More Nick Swisher

BUMMER. Nick heads out to be a White Sock, and the A's get a few of thier top prospects. This trade combined with the Dan Haren trade should load up Oakland with lots of young talent. Might be a while before it pays off (if ever).
Bummer.

Off season moves

No more Marco Scutaro which is a bummer because he seemed like a likeable fellow.
No more Dan Haren which is a bummer because he was a pretty awesome pitcher not to mention he started the All-Star game last season. The A's got a bunch of top prospects for him so hopefully it will pay off the next few seasons.

Joe Blanton

During the World Series I got this card back from Kentucky Joe Blanton. It was a pretty big surprise considering I sent it to him at the beginning of march during spring training.
Blanton was selected by the A's with the New York Yankees first round pick (24th overall) in the in the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft as compensation for the loss of free agent Jason Giambi.
In 2005, Blanton joined a rotation that had lost pitchers Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson to trades. In his first full season as a big leaguer, he went 12-12 with a 3.53 ERA in 33 starts. His 33 starts set an Oakland rookie record for most games started.
After the departure of the last pitcher (Barry Zito) of the first 'Big Three' (other two were Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder), Blanton, Dan Haren, and Chad Gaudin have formed a new 'Big Three' in 2007. I guess up until the All Star break that is.
I like Blanton.

Oakland A's 2007 Stats Leaders

RECORD: 76-86 Third in the AL West. Finishing under 500 for the first time since 1998.

OFFENSE
Average : Shannon Stewart .290
Doubles : Nick Swisher 36
Triples : Travis Buck 5
Home Runs : Jack Cust 26
Runs : Swisher, Mark Ellis 84
RBIs : Cust 82
Stolen Bases : Stewart 11

PITCHING
Wins : Dan Haren 15
Loses : Chad Gaudin 13
ERA (starter)Haren 3.07
ERA (reliever)Huston Street 2.88
Saves : Alan Embree 17

BIG PROBLEM
Injuries : A lot
Total players used : 54
It looked like they would overcome until, about the All-Star break.

NEXT YEAR?
1B : Daric Barton
2B : Mark Ellis
SS : Bobby Crosby
3B : Eric Chavez
OF : Travis Buck
OF : Mark Kotsay
OF : Nick Swisher
C : Kurt Suzuki
DH : Jack Cust

P : Dan Haren
P : Rich Harden
P : Joe Blanton
P : Chad Gaudin
P : Lenny DiNardo?

C : Street
B : Embree
B : Duchscherer
B : Calero
B : Meyer, Braden, Blevins, a bunch of other dudes.

Sunday September 30 2007

Chad Gaudin

So You're Telling Me

The A's have lost 8 of their last 9 and are tied for last place with 3 games to go!?!!

Jim Thome 500

Jim Thome blasted his 500th career home run yesterday. It just happened to be a game winning walk off. I sent him a card earlier this year. He signed it and sent it back real quick. He's the 23rd player to reach 500 home runs.

A's Don't Quit

Seems like the A's have had their fair share of come from behind wins over the last couple months of the season. There's been a few time when they've gone pretty far behind early in the game. When I have been disappointed and thought that's the way it goes when your 13 games out of first with a month to go. Then they come back and win. I'm reminded I shouldn't give up on them. Because a quitter never wins and a winner never quits, or something like that.

One Game Two Grand Slams

Suzuki
Johnson

Tied For Last

Swisher hit a home run from each side of the plate. 5 1/2 hour game with rain delays. A's make a comeback, but Embree gives it all up in the 7th. A's lose against the Rangers that puts the two teams in a virtual tie for third, (or last if you prefer).

Street Blown Save Pt 2

With a 4-2 lead going into the 9th Houston Street once again, for the second game in a row, lets the other team tie it up. This time it was the Tigers, and once again the A's manage to win in extra innings.

There were fireworks after the game, and the A's were nice enough to let anybody who wanted, down on the field to watch.

It was also Roy Steels' (the A's PA announcer) birthday. He's the man! I do believe he's been doing it since 1968!

Street Blown Save

Houston Street blew the save and let the Blue Jays score to runs to tie the game in the ninth, but the A's managed to win in the 11th. Rory and I went to the game, and bought ticket for the Tigers and A's this friday+fireworks.

500

In the last week or so, the A's finally made it back to 500. Then one game over. Then back even. Then one below. Now 2 below and 12 games out of 1st place. Estaban Loiaza will pitch his second game of the year tonight if he's not too drunk. Travis Buck is back on the DL. A's come home to start a series with the Blue Jays.

59-62

A's win third in a row.

Rob Bowen

Rob Bowen, a guy I think they got from the cubs in the Kendall trade, hit one home run from each side of the plate last night. Nick Swishers done that at least two times...and that's cool.

Barry Bonds #756

Bonds hit 756 last night. In the post game news conference a reporter asked Barry, "If Greg Anderson could be watching the game tonight, what do you think he would be saying"?

Tigers Vs. A's

I went to the last two games and headed out for the final game of the series this afternoon.

edit- Yep, I went to all three games of this series. A first for me.

A's Beat Seattle

OK the A's are sorta lookin' respectable, like there's a chance...

These Darn A's

I'm gettin' a bit depressed by the A's. That little losing streak before the All-Star break. Then that little losing streak after the All-Star break. I wasn't giving up yet, especially since it was only half way through the season and it seemed like theres still time. Last week, on there first home stand after the break, 2 of the games against Texas I could have easily attended...but didn't. This is a bad sign. I just didn't feel like it. I missed a game or two in the last week also. Forgot what time it was on, or for whatever reason I didn't catch them on the radio or TV.
Still, in the back of my mind I knew even if they are 10 out or whatever, they still had plenty of head to head games with the Angels and they could make up ground fast. Low and behold Piazza is back, and hittin' home runs. Angels lose game 1. Dinardi pitches, King Buzzo goes to the game, Travis Buck lots of hits and a game saving catch. Angels lose game 2. Interest is renewed! We can do it!!! I'm looking forward to the game tonight, and find out it already happened today and the A's lose 6 to 7, or something like that. They made it all dramatic and Piazza did well again. But they still lost, and the A's are almost back to where they started before the series. 10 games out or so. Future looks frustrating. We have tickets for the Tigers Aug 1st. Not giving up by any means. Need some confidence though.

Bye Bye Kendall

A's trade Jason Kendall to the Cubs. Got a pitcher and a catcher in return.

A's have been losing quite a bit.

Walked In For Free!

Hey! I went to the Home Run Derby.

Kentucky Joe Blanton!

Madman Kentucky Joe Blanton! A's lose the last three games headed into the All-Star break, but not before Blanton shoves Ichiro, and beats beats his chest, lookin' to take on all comers.

A's Beat Mariners

Chad Gaudin pitched well, Nick Swisher and Bobby Crosby both hit home runs. A's 3 Mariners 2.

4th of July

This was our big chance to put a whooping on a bunch Canadiens. Insted, our starting pitcher Joe Kennedy couldn't even get out of the first inning.

A's Lose Blue Jays Win

A's scored 7 times and had a bunch of base runners but couldn't get enough of them in.

-

Milton Bradley was traded to the Padres a couple days ago for a relief pitcher.

A's 11 Yankees 5

All nine A's starters had at least one hit. Suzuki was DH hit a home run. Jack Cust hit another home run. A's knocked out Andy Pettite, I think in the second inning. A's win 2 of 3 against the Yankees. Lost the first game 2-1.

A's come home now, and Dan Haren was named to the All-Star team today.

A's 7 Yankees 0

Chad Gaudin made the Yankees look like a bunch of little girls today.

A's 3 Indians 4

A's lose. This is just gettin' to be a regular thing. They're gonna turn it around against the Yankees starting tomorrow.