Come and listen to a story 'bout a man named Jed

OK, show of hands who thought the Red Sox were going to get 3 homers out of Jed Lowrie ALL YEAR!I sure as hell didn't!I don't know how long this will last but having Lowrie hitting means that Marco Scutaro will be giving the Red Sox... wait for it... DEPTH!Of course today started off pretty badly with a leadoff homer by old friend Coco Crisp. And when the A's loaded the bases in the 6th, I

Hey! Where are our bats?

Oh great.The Red Sox take a 3 game winning streak into Oakland, get a solid start from John Lackey... and the left their bats in Boston.Fannnntastic! Look, it is encouraging that Lackey had a good solid start right after Dice-K's start. But should the Sox really be WASTING them?And Okajima didn't exactly look great.I gave him a tearful good bye last December. That would be a more fitting ending

Coco Crisp always rocks

This picture is special.The awesome yellow uniforms.The amazing hair.The cool nickname.It's feeling like the 1970s in Oakland again.Now let's see if it is the "Winning World Series" 1970s or "Losing in an empty stadium" 1970s.

I am loving the yellow A's uniforms

NOW they are starting to look like the Oakland A's again!I always liked the solid yellow jerseys that said "A's."And frankly I just like the name "A's" better than "Athletics." There's something goofy about a team named after a letter and Athletic is such a vague term that I find myself siding with goofiness.I like that it is a button down jersey with the piping and not the pull over shirt from

King Felix is confused... What are these "Runs" you speak of?

The Mariners scored 6 runs for Felix Hernandez tonight in Oakland. Did they score 6 runs for Hernandez ALL YEAR last year? I can't remember.It's a nice start for a Cy Young defense. He also has 1 complete game which might lead the league at the end of the year. Seriously, he's a young kid throwing a complete game and nobody is worrying that his arm might fall off.Keep scoring these runs for your

Rest in peace Chuck Tanner

The Fam-A-Lee lost one of its great figures.Notice I couldn't say its father figure. The 1979 Pirates had only one daddy... that would be Pops Stargell.But Chuck Tanner was the manager of those 1979 Pirates and it was his enthusiasm and positivity that gave them a steady hand as they beat a powerful Orioles squad after trailing 3 games to 1.He managed contenders for the White Sox and the end of

Are the A's teasing me again?

Two seasons ago, I stuck my neck out in my 2009 Divisional picks by going with the Oakland A's to win the West. We had just come off seasons where teams like the Angels, the Marlins, the Tigers, the struggling Cardinals, the Rockies and Rays had won pennants that confounded the experts.So I thought "Why not go against the grain? If I am right with my pick, then I look like a genius."Then again,

The Montreal Rays or the Montreal A's? Why not?

In my last piece for The Hardball Times, I wrote about how Tampa Bay used to be an ideal spot for THREATENING to move your team. There was a baseball stadium just sitting there and the good folks of Minnesota, Texas, Chicago, Seattle and San Francisco all built new ball parks to keep their teams from the Sun Coast.Now that the Rays are playing in Tampa Bay, they can't wait to get out of the very

There's at least ONE family in the Bay Area not excited about tonight

The Giants are on the verge of clinching the National League pennant in what would have to be considered one of the greatest upsets in the Wild Card era.The Bay Area is going nuts and is partially in shock as Tim Lincecum will take the mound with a chance to not only win the Pennant, but set up the rotation while the Rangers and Yankees will battle deep into the weekend.You would think that the

#1 on the Oakland A's

Flipping through pictures in Yahoo Sports tonight I stumbled across this one.A's second baseman Aki Iwamura signing autographs in an empty Oakland Colliseum (I have no clue what its official name is any more.)Do you know what struck me as odd? That #1 was available to a player who was cut by the Pirates earlier this year.Iwamura didn't have a year good enough to stick around on the worst team in

Anticlimax at the clincher

The Minnesota Twins clinched the American League Central Division tonight. The moment it happened the crowd was... indifferent.And the players on the field... shook hands and quietly walked off the field.Because the Twins weren't playing when they clinched the Division. They had already come from behind against Cleveland to win their came and cut the magic number to 1.And the A's were beating up

It's a big series! (Or is it?)

On the surface, the Rays vs. the Yankees looks like a clash of Titans. The two best teams in baseball going head to head... whoever wins tonight will be in first place by themselves with the best record in the bigs.Each team is throwing their Cy Young candidate. Sabathia vs. Price. Each team is coming off of recent losses where their bullpen coughed it up and will be looking to right the

Just keep winning and hope the Rays and Yankees keep losing

Yeah I know the odds are against the Red Sox. In fact they are damn near impossible. They are 8 games back in the loss column with only 19 games left to play.You don't have to be a math whiz (and I am not one) to see that their chances are not THAT much better than the Pirates chances. And the Pirates were eliminated around Cinco de Mayo.The only remote way the Red Sox can ever get anything done

A good effort comes up short... a microcosm for the season

When Ryan Kalish made a diving attempt for Rajai Davis' drive to center field, I couldn't help but admire the effort.He wanted to keep that run off the board and he was willing to give up his body in a mid September game with the Sox season making funeral arrangements.No questioning his heart.In fact I don't question the heart of this Red Sox team. They've tried their best... and have had 19

Burnt to a Coco Crisp

Our old friend Coco Crisp did us in tonight.Going 3 for 3 and stealing a homer?How could you Coco?Don't you have any sentimentality?The Sox were done early tonight and the people of Alderaan put up more of a fight than my boys did.And Trevor Cahill moved closer to 20 wins as Clay Buchholz stays stuck on 15.Cahill will probably start 4 more times in the A's final 22 games this year. If he goes 4-0

What the hell kind of season is Dallas Braden having?

It is a strange season for him, no doubt about it.He has had surreal controversy regarding A-Rod walking on his mound.He had the heart warming Mother's Day perfect game and his grandmother telling A-Rod to stick it.He did a good job delivering a Top Ten list on Letterman.He's got 5 complete games plus 2 shutouts (which lead the AL).So he has the aura of being a good pitcher.But he has a losing

Glass Half Full for the A's

The A's are a sub .500 team and are 7 games out of first place... a whole week behind with only 25 games to play. And they aren't exactly playing barn burning baseball, going 5-7 in their last 12 games.Their disabled list is filled with people who you might have heard of (Eric Chavez, Ben Sheets, Justin Duchscherer) and when Daric Barton and Kevin Kouzmanoff are your top offensive threats after

A. L. West... you blew it

Back in late June, I pointed out that the history of the Texas Rangers contain one gigantic summer swoon after another as the team melts in the heat.I said that I wasn't buying them until they make it through the summer.And guess what?They had a bad August.With today's loss (and Cliff Lee's latest meltdown... he had better turn it on in October or else he is costing himself millions of dollars!)

Really, A's?

Seriously... you put a 3 spot in the first inning on the Yankees with your best pitcher, Trevor Cahill on the hill, and you can't even hold the lead for ONE INNING?You make a 10 game winner out of Javier Freaking Vazquez?You call this being a spoiler and making a run at a winning season?Seriously, A's... don't you know you serve at the pleasure of Red Sox fans?

Kirk Gibson's homer as recreated by RBI Baseball

I have no idea how long it takes to recreate these games with RBI baseball... but I think it was worth every nanosecond.This kind of insanity makes me so happy.