2007 Oakland A's - No way Jose

I have a been a fan of baseball mogul since it was first developed and loved the ability to be able to control my own franchise. I have always been a baseball fan and an avid Red Sox fan my whole life, born and raised in Boston. With that said the small budget baseball world has always fascinated me as well. It is very easy to go out and buy players and win championships. I want to take a team and struggle with the financial side. Who knows maybe I can win over the people of Oakland and they will support my team financially to the point where I might be able to grow into a big budget team. There will also be no move to San Jose because Oakland is the home of the Athletics. I am still running on Mogul '08. I will only trade through the trading block or from trade offers from other GMs. I will simulate about a week per post. I hope I can build a strong and competitive team in the tough AL West.

Dan Coleman
General Manager
Oakland Athletics

Here are some of the basics about my team:

Starting Lineup

1. Shannon Stewart LF
2. Milton Bradley CF
3. Mike Piazza C
4. Nick Swisher DH
5. Eric Chavez 3B
6. Erubial Durazo 1B
7. Bobby Crosby SS
8. Mark Kotsay RF
9. Mark Ellis 2B

Bench

• Marco Scutaro IF
• Bobby Kielty OF
• Jason Kendall C
• Lou Merloni IF
• Charles Thomas OF

Pitching Rotation

1. Danny Haren R
2. Rich Harden R
3. Joe Kennedy L
4. Joe Blanton R
5. Esteban Loaiza R

Bullpen

• CP Houston Street R
• SU Kiko Calero R
• SR Justin Duchsherer R
• SR Chad Gaudin R
• MR Alan Embree L
• LR Jason Windsor R

Top 3 Positional Prospects

1. CF Matt Sultenic - A
2. RF Danny Putnam - A
3. 2B Kevin Melillo - AA

Top 3 Pitching Prospects

1. SP Marcus Mcbeth R - A
2. SP David Shafer R - A
3. RP Brad Halsey L - AA

Unfortunately within the first week of the season I am going to have to make a few tough decisions. The team is looking to cut costs and I desperately need to get under budget. Thus one of my higher priced players will be shopped on the trading block. The candidates in my view are:

Eric Chavez $10.8M
Jason Kendall $9.5M
Esteban Loaiza $7.25M

I regret having to start this way but it will hopefully be better for the franchise in the long run. I am going to shop around for some prospects and may need to settle for some marginal players.

I shopped around a few offers and finally settled on my first trade as GM.

The Oakland Athletics send:

Eric Chavez 3B
Jay Witasick RP

The Boston Red Sox send:

RP Manny Delcarmen

I was a little hard pressed to find a team willing to take on the big salary. I also think the Red Sox will be satisfied with a decent reliever and Eric Chavez in his prime.

I will be happy if Delcarmen can provide my team with some quality innings in relief down the road. He will still need some time in the minors but his plus fastball was the main selling point from my end. With that move I will be calling up Deangelo Jimenez to replace Chavez.

My expectation for the season are pretty low. If we could finish 3rd I would be very happy. This is going to be a trade heavy and intense rebuilding effort. I hope everyone enjoys. So here goes.

Go Red Sox lol. Great start.

April 1st - April 10th

April 4th 2007
Chicago White Sox(0-0) @ Oakland Athletics(0-0)
White Sox 5 - A's 1
WP:Mark Buehrle(1-0)
LP: Danny Haren(0-1)

Mark Buerlhe tossed a gem. 8.0IP, 6H, 1B, 1ER on a solo HR. My ace Danny Haren was beat up in his debut. He gave up 3HR in 7.1 IP. Otherwise he had good control only allowing 6H and 1BB. My only offense came from Piazza who blasted a solo shot in the 4th inning. The Home runs for the White Sox came from Crede, Mackowiak and Thome.

In a bit of league news, Boston stuns everyone and signs Roger Clemens to a 1-year $9.5M contract. They are really throwing that money around.

April 5th 2007
Chicago White Sox(1-0) @ Oakland Athletics(0-1)
White Sox 3 - A's 7
WP:Rich Harden(1-0)
LP:Jon Garland(0-1)
S:Huston Street(1)

The A's won for the first time this year. Rich Harden pitched well in 6IP for the win. Control was a concern though as he gave up 4BB. The Bullpen came in and shut down the White Sox allowing 2H in 3IP. Huston Street picked up his first SV. Powering the A's offense with HR's were Milton Bradley, Mark Ellis and Bobby Crosby. Shannon Stewart also went 3-4 in the win.

April 6th 2007
Chicago White Sox(1-1) @ Oakland Athletics(1-1)
White Sox 3 - A's 5
WP:Joe Kennedy(1-0)
LP:Javier Vasquez(0-1)
S:Huston Street

The A's win their second straight with a solid start from Joe Kennedy and a dominant bullpen. Home runs from Nick Swisher and Milton Bradley powered the A's offense. Erubial Durazo also contributed with a 4-4 performance.

April 8th 2007
Seattle Mariners(2-1) @ Oakland Athletics(2-1)
Mariners 2 - A's 6
WP:Joe Blanton(1-0)
LP:Jeff Weaver(0-1)

Joe Blanton tosses a complete game allowing only 1ER. He gave up 6H and 1BB. It was a solid overall efoort from the team with 4 batters gathering 2 hits a piece and 4 different batters driving in a run. Unfotunately for the A's Blanton strained his knee during the game and will be placed on the 15 day DL. Connor Robertson is being called up to take his roster spot.

In league news, there was both bad and good. On the good side, Todd Helton batted in his 1000th RBI of his career. The Phillies however lost slugger Ryan Howard for three months to a broken hip.

April 9th 2007
Seattle Mariners(2-2) @ Oakland Athletics(3-1)
Mariners 6 - A's 1
WP:Horacio Ramirez(1-0)
LP: Danny Haren(0-2)

Horacio Ramirez was great in his first start of the season. He allowed 1ER in in 8IP. He fooled the A's hitters all night and gave up only 6H. Mark Ellis put up a good effort for the A's going 3-4 on the night.

April 10th 2007
Seattle Mariners(3-2) @ Oakland Athletics(3-2)
Mariners 5 - A's 8
WP:Rich Harden(2-0)
LP:Cha Seung Baek(0-1)
S:Huston Street(3)

Rich Harden threw a good game. He allowed 3ER in 6.2IP while striking out 9. He was supported by Milton Bradley, Bobby Crosby and Nick Swisher who all hit homers. Huston Street pitched a perfect ninth for his 3rd save of the season.

All in all I think this was a good first two series of the season. Coming out 4-2 was nice because we played at home. Hopefully we can carry some of the momentum onto the road for the next few series.

April 11th - April 19th

We have our first road trip of the season visiting AL central teams Detroit and Minnesota and taking a two game swing down to see division foe Texas.

April 11th 2007
Oakland Athletics(4-2) @ Detroit Tigers(2-4)
A's 4 - Tigers 3
WP:Alan Embree(1-0)
LP:Wilfredo Ledezma(0-1)
S:Kiko Calero(1)

We won our first extra innings affair. I'd say it was a very solid effort by our team that was highlighted by our dominant bullpen. Street, Duchsherer, Embree and Calero combined for 6.1IP while giving up only 2H. I'm really liking how our bullpen has been stepping it up early. Bobby Crosby was the hero on offense driving in the go ahead run in the top of the 13th inning.

April 12th 2007
Off Day

The team had a light workout in the morning and most of the guys went out to lunch together. I told them all to be careful as we don't need any of those freak BM off day injuries.

April 13th 2007
Oakland AThletics(5-2) @ Detroit Tigers(2-5)
A's 8 - Tigers 1
WP:Connor Robertson(1-0)
LP:Justin Verlander(0-2)

This was a surprise because we had to scratch Joe Blanton from his start. He felt some tighness in his left hamstring while warming up. He should only miss one start but we hope it won't be a nagging injury. However, the rookie stepped in and threw a gem. He pitched 7 shutout innings allowing 7 hits and striking out 4. On offense, Erubial Durazo and Mak Ellis both went deep. Corsby continues to hit in the clutch driving in two runs in the game.

In trade news:

San Francisco Giants Send:

Eliezer Alfonzo C

Kansas City Royals send:

David Dejesus CF

The trade seems to favor the Giants who got Dejesus who has been on a tear in the early season batting .378. KC does get a fairly good defensive backup catcher and they shed nearly $2.5M off their payroll.

April 14th 2007
Oakland Athletics(6-2) @ Detroit Tigers(2-6)
A's 7 - Tigers 8
WP:Todd Jones(1-0)
LP:Kiko Calero(0-1)

This was a tough battle the whole game through. We were down by one going into the 9th and the boys delivered. Bobby Kielty drove in the game tying run only to see it erased in the bottom half when Kiko Calero gave up a 2-out homer to Gary Sheffield. Calero had struck out the first two batters of the inning and also had Sheffield in an 0-2 hole. Tough luck but taking two out of three on the road is always nice. I must say I am not at all impressed with my "Ace" Danny Haren. In his three starts on the season he has given up 14ER in 18IP and is sporting a hefty 7.00 ERA. Hopefully he can turn things around.

April 15th 2007
Oakland Athletics(6-3) @ Minnesota Twins(7-2)
A's 2 - Twins 9
WP:Ramon Ortiz(2-0)
LP:Rich Harden(2-1)
S:Carlos Silva(2)

A disappointing loss to say the least. Harden didn't seem to have the control he showed in his first two starts. We really need to him to be in control every game to have a shot. He gave up 5ER in only 4IP. He walked 5 and struck out 0 in the game. Our only offense came from the 9 spot with Marco Scutaro going 3-4 and driving in 2.

By the way, I know it is early and it will probably change but:

Eric Chavez 5-20 .250 average 6 RBI
Marco Scutaro 11-26 .423 average 4RBI

I like the production from a guy who is making 10M less. Hopefully Scutaro can keep it up while I find a more long term solution at 3B.

April 16th 2007
Oakland Athletics(6-4) @ Minnesota Twins(8-2)
A's 2 - Twins 3
WP: Boof Bonser (2-0)
LP: Jason Windsor (0-1)
SV: Joe Nathan (2)

Double the bad news today. Not only did the team lose but I have lost my SS Bobby Crosby for around three months. Crosby was going out on a ball in the top of the 6th inning when he collided with LF Shannon Stewart. He ruptured a disc in his back. Hopefully there will be no long term effects but the doctors cannot be certain yet. In the game Windsor pitched well going the distance. He gave up 3ER and struck out 9 but was the tough luck loser because of our offense. Milton Bradley coninues to show some pop as he hit his 4th HR of the season. Justin Morneau of the Twins went 2-3 with a HR and all three RBI.

As a result of the injury to Crosby I will be calling up Antonio Perez, a utility infielder. Bench man Deangelo Jimenez is ecpected to receive the bulk of playing time at SS.

April 17th 2007
Oakland Athletics(6-5) @ Minnesota Twins(9-2)
A's 9 - Twins 7
WP: Joe Blanton (2-0)
LP: Kevin Slowey (0-1)
SV: Huston Street (4)

It feels good to salvage at least on win from this series. Blanton pitched OK for the win. He gave up 4ER in 6IP. Milton Bradley continues to tear the cover off the ball hitting his 5th HR of the early season. The team put in a very solid offensive effort with 7 guys getting at least 2H. Nick Swisher also put out his 3rd HR of the season for the A's. Huston Street has looked great this season with 4SV in 4 chances.

April 18th 2007
Oakland Athletics(7-5) @ Texas Rangers(7-5)
A's 5 - Rangers 6
WP: Rick Bauer (1-0)
LP: Huston Street (0-1)

Another extra innings game. Loaiza was pitching well through 7 innings when he gave up 3 in the 8th to let the lead slip. Then with the game tied in the 9th Huston Street gave up the winning run in his second inning of work. Leading the offense and going deep for us were Nick Swisher and pinch hitter Loooooou Merloni. I am thinking about my rotation when Kennedy come back off the DL in a few days. I hope Loaiza can put out another solid effort and I can explore some trades.

April 19th 2007
Oakland Athletics(7-6) @ Texas Rangers(8-5)
A's 5 - Rangers 2
WP: Danny Haren (1-2)
LP: Omar Poveda (0-1)
SV: Huston Street (5)

Danny Haren returns to form with his first quality start of the season. He went 7 inning giving up 2ER. Huston Street also bounced back getting his 5th Save of the season. Milton Bradley has been all over the ball this year and nothing changed here as he went 2-5 with a HR, #6 of the year.

Injury note:

Zach Duke of the Pirates broke his left forearm when he tripped and fell on the dugout steps. It was unfortunate because he was 2-0 with a 2.74 ERA in three starts. He is expected to be sidelined for about 2 months.

All in all I think it was a solid first road trip. To go .500 on any road is good. Hopefully we can improve in those 1 run games and win a few more. We went 1-3 in games decided by a run or less. If we could have pulled out just one of those games the road trip would have been a real success. Regardless the team returns to Oakland for a short homestand.

April 20th - April 25th 2007

The week consists of a 5 game homestand with two games against the Angels and 3 against the Indians. Hopefully we can come out of this week with 3-4 wins.

April 20th 2007

To start the week I shopped around Esteban Loaiza. The offers were weak but I need to move on from Loaiza. He is eating up salary and I have few prospects that are ready to step in or arlready perfroming at the Major League level. Joe Kennedy is also coming back from the DL. I decided upon a package deal that went like this:

Oakland Athletics send:

Esteban Loaiza SP
Shane Komine SP

Philadelphia Phillies send:

Fabio Castro RP

I would have liked a straight up deal for Loaiza but it would have cost me some money because of his salary. Komine is a marginal 26 year old prospect who may have a shot at the majors if he improves. Fabio Castro is a 22 year old prospect who looks to have a many good years ahead of him if he develops properly.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(5-9) @ Oakland Athletics(8-6)
Angels 7 - A's 9
WP: Rich Harden (3-1)
LP: John Lackey (1-2)
SV: Huston Street (6)

Rich Harden pitched well giving up only 3ER in 6.1IP. The bullpen has struggled a bit lately and Chad Gaudin is no exception. He gave up three runs in the 9th to allow the Angels to get within 2 runs. Huston Street came in and shut down any chance of a comeback and earned his 6th save. Nick Swisher and Erubial Durazo both went deep. Another solid overall effort from the offense as 7 players had at least two hits.

April 21st 2007
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(5-9) @ Oakland Athletics(8-6)
Angels 5 - A's 6
WP: Chad Gaudin (1-0)
LP: Dustin Moseley (0-2)
SV: Huston Street (7)

Jason Windsor had a tough outing giving up 5ER in only 4IP. Chad Gaudin came in for 3 shutout innings giving up only one hit. Huston Street came in and got his 7th save in perfect 9th. Nick Swisher continues his hot streak and blasts a 7th inning home run to put the A's ahead for good.

April 22nd 2007
Cleveland Indians(5-9) @ Oakland Athletics(8-6)
Indians 12 - A's 5
WP: Jeremy Sowers (1-0)
LP: Joe Blanton (2-1)

The A's were slapped around pretty bad in this game. Joe Blanton gave up 8ER in only 1.2IP. Not exactly what we are looking for from our starters. The only bright spot on the day was Milton Bradley hitting his 7th and 8th home runs while driving in 3 runs.

April 23rd 2007
Cleveland Indians(5-9) @ Oakland Athletics(8-6)
Indians 4 - A's 3
WP: Scott Lewis (1-0)
LP: Danny Haren (1-3)
SV: Joe Borowski (3)

Danny Haren continues to struggle early in the season. He gave up 4ER over 6.2 innings. He has been improving over his last few starts but the Oakland offense didn't cooperate. Erubial Durazo hit a HR and that was about it for the A's.

Joe Kennedy came off the DL today and I sent Mark Watson down to AAA. Watson was in the lon relief role. Kennedy will return to the rotation and Joe Blanton will be placed into the long relief role. Blantons performance has been subpar to this point so I thought I might let him try and regain his spot working from the pen.

Some trade news. A little bit of a weird one:

Kansas City Royals send:
Jorge de la Rosa SP
Scott Elarton SP
Reggie Sanders LF
Todd Wellenmeyer RP
Ryan Braun RP
Joe Nelson RP
Todd Phillips C
Jason Taylor 3B

Florida Marlins send:

Dan Uggla 2B

In an overall sense when you get that many players and prospects you would seem to win the trade. Dan Uggla however is a teriffic second baseman. This trade favors KC because they were able to dump some older players and their contracts while receiving a potential all star.

April 24th 2007
Cleveland Indians(5-9) @ Oakland Athletics(8-6)
Indians 5 - A's 7
WP: Kiko Calero (1-1)
LP: Aaron Fultz (0-2)
SV: Huston Street (8)

Rich Harden pitched fairly well though 5 innings giving up 3ER and striking out 8. He threw too many pitched though. He had to be pulled because of the sheer amount of pitches. The bullpen did a good job and Calero picked up the win. Huston Street picked up his 8th save in as many chances. An overall good performance from the offense with everyone chipping in. Marco Scutaro hit his 1st Home run of the season.

Injury news:

Ryan Garko of the Indians tore a ligament in his ankle and will be sidelined for about a year. Garko was rounding the bag at second and awkwardly landed on the corner. He went down in a heap and had to removed on a cart. The doctors are unsure of whether this will affect his ability to play baseball.

April 25th 2007

Off day before the team heads out to Seattle to start a road trip for 6 games. Light practice and some R&R for some of the guys with some bumps and bruises.

Overall a decent week. The team went 3-2. Not too good for a homestand but I can live with it because the team is still in 1st by 1 game.

Editors note:
So I am a little bored today. Have the day off from work and I had to watch my Red Sox lose to the Rays. Beckett throws a good game and K's 13...grrrr! Here goes.

April 26th - May 1 2007

On tap for my A's is a road trip with 3 against the Mariners and then on to LA to square off against the Angels. Coming out of this one at .500 would be satisfactory for me but an above .500 mark would be great.

April 26th 2007
Oakland Athletics(11-8) @ Seattle Mariners(7-12)
A's 7 - Mariners 2
WP: Jason Windsor (1-1)
LP: Jarrod Washburn (2-2)

A very solid showing in the first game of the roadtrip. Jason Windsor went 8 strong innings. He may have given up 10 hits but he allowed no walks. Control is one of my most coveted attributes a pitcher can posess. The offense was led by Shannon Stewart who hit his first homer and drove in 3.

I know I shouldn't be letting this out in the public view but I can't wait for Mike Piazzas contract to expire at the end of the year. He is old and I don't know what Billy Beane was thinking when he signed him. Maybe he will get hurt and I can toss him on the DL. Seriously $8.5M? Oh well only 5 months 'til he is gone.

I did get a bit of bad news. Milton Bradley was experiencing some mild pain in his arm. He had it checked out and the doctors found a blood clot. They removed the clot on our day off on the 25th. The doctors say he shouldn't miss much time maybe a day or two. It was scary since he is leading my team with 8HR, .379 AVG, 19R, 20RBI. Definintely someone I can't afford to lose for an extended period of time.

April 27th 2007
Oakland Athletics(12-8) @ Seattle Mariners(7-13)
A's 5 - Mariners 8
WP: Felix Hernandez (2-3)
LP: Joe Kennedy (1-1)
SV: J.J. Putz (4)

The Mariners came back and took a shot at my depleted lineup and Joe Kennedy who just returned from the DL. Kennedy gave up 5R-4ER in only 4IP. Hopefully it is just the rust from his DL trip. I had to sit Shannon Stewart today and maybe for a few more days due to the flu. Even without him or Bradley the team still grinded out 4ER on "King" Felix.

Interesting note: Deangelo Jimenez has walked in an amazing 7 straight at bats. That is a very good eye for the strike zone. Way to go DJ.

April 28th 2007
Oakland Athletics(12-9) @ Seattle Mariners(8-13)
A's 3 - Mariners 9
WP: Miguel Batista (2-2)
LP: Danny Haren (1-4)

Not exactly how this GM wanted to spend his Birthday. I had to sit there and watch my team get drubbed for the second straight game. My "Ace" Danny Haren struggled again. He gave up 4ER over 6 innings of work. The offense was still down a couple of key players and couldn't find a way to get it working. Good news for my team. The doctors have cleared Milton Bradley to play. I'll be placing him right back in the heart of my lineup.

April 29th 2007
Oakland Athletics(12-10) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(8-14)
A's 3 - Angels 14
WP: Scot Shields (1-0)
LP: Rich Harden (3-2)

The pitching just has not got the job done as of late. Harden gave up 6ER, Embree 1ER, Duchsherer 4ER and Blanton 3ER. Not impressive at all. However Bobby Kielty has impressed me by being ready at all times to play. Filling in for Stewart ,'til he feels better, he went 3-4 and is 5-9 in those two games. Bradley came back and went 1-4 on the night.

Injury News:

Aaron Harang of the Cincinatti Reds suffered a ruptured cervical disc. He was on the mound for the Red against the Cubs when he felt the pain. He pitched through the pain but had trouble standing up in the dugout between innings. He will be out for several months at least. A hard blow for the woeful Reds who sit at 6-16, the worst record in the league.

April 30th 2007
Oakland Athletics(12-11) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(9-14)
A's 4 - Angels 2
WP: Jason Windsor (2-1)
LP: Ervin Santana (1-2)
SV: Huston Street (9)

Jason Windsor continues to impress in his rookie campaign. I must admit I had my doubts about giving him a rotation spot but he is really proving my decision to be a good one. His control was impecable walking 1 in 7.2 IP. Over the season so far he has only 8 walks in 35.2 IP. Bobby Kielty has another solid game going 3-5 and scoring 3 times. Jason Kendall, who bats right behind Kielty, drove him in each time after he got on base. Huston Street picks up Save #9 in 9 chances. He is a very solid closer and his hard work is much appreciated.

April Team Leaders

Batting

Home Runs

1. Milton Bradley - 8
2. Nick Swisher - 6

RBI

1. Milton Bradley - 20
2. Nick Swisher - 19

Runs

1. Milton Bradley - 19
2. Nick Swisher, Erubial Durazo - 13
3. Mark Ellis, Marco Scutaro - 12

Batting Average

1. Milton Bradley - .368
2. Jason Kendall - .324
3. Marco Scutaro - .297

Pitching

Wins

1. Rich Harden - 3
2. Jason Windsor - 2
3. Joe Blanton - 2

ERA

1. Huston Street - 0.93
2. Jason Windsor - 3.79

Strikeouts

1. Danny Haren - 32
2. Jason Windsor - 31
3. Rich Harden - 25

Some league leaders for April:

http://forum.sportsmogul.com/attachm...1&d=1209334216

May 1st 2007
Oakland Athletics(13-11) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(8-15)
A's 1 - Angels 6
WP: John Lackey (2-2)
LP: Joe Kennedy (1-2)

Kennedy tosses another lackluster performance. That trip to the DL must have really set him back. He gave up 5ER in oly 4IP. The offense sputtered out today as well. Nick Swisher provided the only run on a solo shot in the 2nd.

I decided to make a roster move today as well. I am calling up Erasmo Ramirez to take Kiko Caleros spot in the bullpen. Erasmo has been dominant at AAA witha 1.45 ERA in 32 IP. Calero has been struggling as of late and I want to give him some time to work it out in the minors.

2-4 isn't exactly the road trip I was looking for but with all the injuries and struggles I guess we are lucky to get those two wins. Maybe some home cooking and a series against the Rangers, who are tied with us atop the AL West, will get this ball rolling again.

May 2nd - May 8th 2007

This week is going to be somewhat important for my team. They face the Rangers, who we are tied with in the Divison, at home and a streaking Orioles squad. Hopefully we can take advantage of this week and separate ourselves a bit in the division.

May 2nd 2007
Texas Rangers(13-11) @ Oakland Athletics(13-12)
Rangers 5 - A's 4
WP: Vicente Padilla (2-2)
LP: Connor Robertson (1-1)
SV: Eric Gagne (5)

This was one of those games I had hoped we could win. Our young pitcher Robertson had looked impressiver in first start and appearances of the season. Unfortunately we lost this tight game. Robertson looked impressive through 4 innings only surrenduring 1 ER. He imploded in the 5th giving up 4ER in that inning alone. The offense came back and scored 2 in the bottom to cut the lead to one but both bullpens locked down neither gave up a hit the rest of the way. Bobby Kielty continues to sparkle as he goes 3-5 on the day to raise his batting average to .500.

Some league news to discuss:

After 18 years in the big leagues CP Jose Mesa retires. He was a great closer in the mid 90's playing for a total of 7 teams. He amassed 320 career saves and was selected to 2 all-star games. His best season came in 1995 when he took the mound 62 times, saved 46 games and had a 1.13 ERA.

A trade also took place today as...

Kansas City sends:
Blake Wood P
Adam Greenberg 2B
Joakim Soria P
Ken Ray P
Wayne Franklin P

Seattle sends:
Horacio Ramirez P
Geroge Sherrill P

This trade seems to be pretty even except in the number of players dealt. It is strictly a need and salary based trade. Nothing too exciting.


May 3rd 2007
Texas Rangers(14-11) @ Oakland Athletics(13-13)
Rangers 1 - A's 2
WP: Danny Haren (2-4)
LP: Eric Gagne (1-1)

This was a very interesting game from my perspective. I have been very low on Danny Haren most of the season because of his poor perfromances. He has now won my respect for what he did in this game. In a day where ptichers don't even make it to the 8th inning let alone go for complete games, Danny Haren did something great. With the game tied at one going into the 10th innning my Ace trotted back onto the field. Taking his spot on the mound to comolete what he had started. He tossed a perfect tenth and in the bottom half Jason Kendall singled in Shannon Stewart to win the game. A very exciting game indeed and I can only hope that Haren can build on his 10 inning, 5H and 9K performance.

The Major leagues had lost one of its great stories today as Julio Franco decided to hang up his cleats for the final time. It appears as though age has finally caught up with the 48 year old. Julio had a great career playing in 22 major league seasons and reaching the 2500 hit plateua. Congrats Julio and enjoy your retirement.

May 4th 2007
Texas Rangers(14-12) @ Oakland Athletics(14-13)
Rangers 5 - A's 6
WP: Huston Street (1-1)
LP: Rick Bauer (1-1)

Rich Harden continues to struggle as he only completes 5 inning while allowing 10H and 5ER. I really need to Rich to get back on track and be the Ace I see him being. The offense helped out the struggling starter by tying the game in the 8th with a Nick Swisher solo shot, his eight of the year. The team then won the game in the bottom of the tenth with a Bobby Kielty single that scored Marco Scutaro from second base. Kielty has been unbelievable since taking the leadoff spot from Shannon Stewart. He is batting .528 after going a cool 4-6 in this game.

May 5th 2007

The team had an off/travel day to get all the way across the country to Baltimore. I didn't travel with the team because I was scouting some prospects for the upcoming draft. We have a mid round selection this year and I am going to try and pick wisely. I need these picks to be the foundation for the future of my franchise. The team did well against the Rangers going 2-1 and taking a 1 game lead in the division. Hopefully they can cool off a hot Orioles squad who have won 7 of their last 8 games.

May 6th 2007
Oakland Athletics(15-13) @ Baltimore Orioles(14-15)
A's 8 - Orioles 7
WP: Alan Embree (2-0)
LP: Chris Ray (1-1)
SV: Justin Duchscherer (1)

A game that could have been lost by my club but luckily we came out with a win. Baltimore scored 3 runs in the 8th off Erasmo Ramirez to tie the game. The in the ninth, the teams swapped runs again to send the game into extra frames. My bullpen was just a tad bit better as Dangelo Jimenez pushed a run across in the top of the 13th off the O's pen. Duchsherer came in in the bottom half for a perfect inning, also his first save of the year. I must also add that Kielty continues to swing an excellent bat going 3-6 in the game. A very solid win on the road.

In an unfortunate story, Ryan Klesko of the Giants tore ligaments in his knee today. He was running hard to first and made awkward contact with the bag. He hobbled a few steps past the bag and then immediately went down grasping his knee. The doctors think this injury may have serious consequences with regards to Kleskos future in baseball.

May 7th 2007
Oakland Athletics(16-13) @ Baltimore Orioles(14-15)
A's 5 - Orioles 12
WP: Daniel Cabrera (2-1)
LP: Joe Kennedy (1-3)
SV: Rob Bell (1)

This is a bit more of what I expected when I saw what the orioles were doing prior to our trip to Camden Yards. They outplayed us in all aspects of the game. Joe Kennedy seems to have lost any poise he may have had and is stuggling mightily. He gave yp 8ER in in 3IP. Joe Blanton didn't fare much better as he gave up 3ER in 2IP. I really need to address my pitching woes but a solution is going to be hard to find. The offense was led by a 3R homer by Shannon Stewart.

May 7th 2007
Oakland Athletics(16-14) @ Baltimore Orioles(15-15)
A's 3 - Orioles 4
WP: Jamie Walker (1-1)
LP: Erasmo Ramirez (0-1)
SV: Chris Ray (5)

Danny Haren pitches well for a second straight game. No 10 inning performance here but solid. He went 7 innings giving up 3ER. The game was tied after the 7th but the pen couldn't keep it knotted up and Orioles took the lead for good in the 8th off Erasmo Ramirez. Erubial Durazo provided the power for the A's today belting a 2R homer.

Another weird trade involving the KC Royals. I'm not really sure what they are trying to accomlish, take a look:

Tampa Bay sends:
Al Reyes P
Tim Corcoran P

Kansas City sends:
Joel Peralta P
Dan Uggla 2B

Kansas City seemed to have stolen Uggla from the sell happy Marlins and then they spin him off for an over the hill reliever and a minor leaguer. Weird. I wish they had offered a deal up to me first but alas my phone never rang.

A decent week where the team went 3-3. They keep losing those close 1 run games and that could be the difference between a division crown and golf at the end of the year. Hopefully they can bounce back from back to back losses at the hands of the Orioles. We have a few games up in Boston and then back home for a few series.

Kansases GM inspires...stupidity lol

Wow that 2nd uggla trade was sad.

RedsoxRockies - Yeah just like in real life...**cough** Gil Meche **cough**

Red Sox Fan 734 - Yeah No Idea what the Royals were thinking. Low salary plus talent and and upside. Seemed like a keeper to me.

******************************************************************************** *************

May 9 - May 15th 2007

This week the team will be staying on the East Coast to visit one of my favorite places, Fenway Park. I will be heading over because I was in Ohio scouting a few prospects. Can't miss my teams first series in my hometown. After the series the team has a day to get back to Oakland for a series with the Orioles. We are seeing a lot of the AL East right now and it's going to be tough to keep our heads above water. Winning those three at home is going to be key.

May 9th 2007
Oakland Athletics(16-15) @ Boston Red Sox(20-12)
A's 0 - Red Sox 11
WP: Daisuke Matsuzaka (4-1)
LP: Rich Harden (3-3)

I really hope the next two games in Boston don't go the same way. Rich Harden didn't look goodin his 3 innings of work. He gave up 5ER but on the bright side he didn't walk antone. The Bullpen obviously didn't fare much better as Blanton(4ER,2IP) and Ramirez(2ER,1IP) got hit hard. The offense came to a grinding halt as Matsuzaka continues to dazzle for a strong Boston club.

May 10th 2007
Oakland Athletics(16-16) @ Boston Red Sox(21-12)
A's 8 - Red Sox 10
WP: Matt Clement (1-1)
LP: Justin Duchscherer (0-1)
SV: Jonathan Papelbon (10)

The offense came to play today but the pitching just wasn't there again. Jason Windsor, who has looked impressive so far, started the game and only went 3 inning while giving up 6ER. I'll say it again it is tough to win when your starters only go 3 inning and especially in consecutive games. This bullpen is going to need some reinforcements soon. Mark Ellis had a great game with the stick going 3-5, missing the cycle by a single. He also drove in 4 of our runs.

Bostons Coco Crisp came up lame while rounding third base today, he still managed to score though, and will miss a couple weeks. The initial report was a strained achilles. He was on fire so far batting at .326.

May 11th 2007
Oakland Athletics(16-17) @ Boston Red Sox(22-12)
A's 1 - Red Sox 3
WP: Daniel Bard (1-0)
LP: Joe Kennedy (1-4)
SV: Jonathan Papelbon (11)

Not surprising that we got swept out of Boston. What was surprising was the performance by Joe Kennedy. He hopefully shook off that funk that has been following him lately. He went 6 inning and gave up just 2ER on 7H and 0BB. He was outdueled by a young Daniel Bard who made his first career major league start. Bard went a very strong 8IP giving up just 4H and 1 ER. Eric Chavez also came back to bite me in the backside hitting a solo shot in the 5th to put the sox ahead for good. **** Eric Chavez.

Derek Lee of the Cubs will be out until his finger is better. The finger was fractured when he was hit by a pitch. The cubbies lineup is going to struggle because of this setback. They are sitting at 20-14 good for 2nd inthe NL central.

May 12th 2007
A very somber flight back out to Oakland. There really was no reason to laugh or have fun because the team had just had their asses handed to them. I would prefer it that way. Gave me a little time to study up on some of the prospects in the draft. I also got word that Dan Johnson, who started the season on the DL, will be finishing rehab and should be playing in games as soon as the 15th. We have decided to send him to AAA Sacramento for a week or so and up to Oakland depending on performance in those games. He has been out for while so better be safe than sorry. We need the pop in our lineup.

May 13th 2007
Baltimore Orioles(17-18) @ Oakland Athletics(16-18)
Orioles 5 - A's 1
WP: Daniel Cabrera (3-1)
LP: Danny Haren (2-5)

Not exactly the homecoming I wanted. Danny Haren once again falters and only goes 4.2 innings. This is becoming too much of a habit for him and my bullpen is suffering because of it. The bullpen stays strong and goes the other 4.1 innings allowing no runs. The only offense of the day came on a 3-4 performance for Nick Swisher. He had a solo shot in the 4th, his team leading 9th.

A couple quick injusry notes. Daisuke Matsuzaka took a liner off his pitching hand and will miss a couple starts with a bone bruise. Carlos Delgado lands on the shelf as he sprains his left knee. No one is certain when it happened but he was complaining about his knee after the game. He will be out 3-4 weeks.

May 13th 2007
Baltimore Orioles(18-18) @ Oakland Athletics(16-19)
Orioles 5 - A's 3
WP: John Parrish (1-2)
LP: Joe Blanton (2-2)
SV: Chris Ray (7)

Losing is becoming too much of a habit on this team. Rich Harden pitched well in 7 innings allowing just 2ER. He left with the lead but Erasmo Ramirez allowed a RBI double to Kevin Millar to tie the game in the 8th. The game went to extras and the Orioles pushed across 2 in the tenth. My team couldn't respond. Kielty and Swisher stay hot as both collected 3 hits on the day, Kielty blasting a 3R homer as well. Losing 7 in a row isn't what I was looking for but it may be what this season has in store for us.

No luck for Mr. Met as he has to watch another star player go down. Carlos Beltran fractured his wrist today diving for a ball in the outfield. He may miss up to two months or just a couple of weeks. The test are being done to see how severe the fracture.

May 13th 2007
Baltimore Orioles(19-18) @ Oakland Athletics(16-20)
Orioles 2 - A's 3
WP: Jason Windsor (3-1)
LP: Steve Trachsel (4-3)
SV: Huston Street (10)

The losing streak is snapped at 7. It's a good thing because I was getting worried. Jason Windsor plays the role of stopper and puts out a quality start. He went 7 innings, gave up 2ER and allowed only 5 baserunners. Bobby Kielty stays hot and homers for the second straight game. Huston Street finally sees some action, after an 11 day layoff, and picks up his 10th save. Thanks goodness we won at least one.

Atlanta has a little problem at the top of their rotation. Tim Hudson is going to be out for most of the season. He broke his leg yesterday. Details of the accident are not available. I can only imagine.

On a happier note, Johnny Damon of the Yankees collected his 2000th career hit yesterday. Congrats Johnny!

This week was a disaster. We may have played a real good team on the road and go the expected results but I ecpected a little more against the O's. A 1-5 record is not good against anyone. It doesn't get any easier for us any time soon as the Red Sox are coming to town next. Wish us luck!

May 16th - May 22nd 2007

We continue and conclude our 9 game homestand with 3 against the Red Sox and some interleague against the Giants. Hopefully we can give the Red Sox back some of what we got at Fenway last week. The Giants are doing well at 21-17 and Barry Bonds will be coming back within the week. Hope none of my pitchers serve any moonshots to him.

May 16th 2007
Boston Red Sox(24-14) @ Oakland Athletics(17-20)
Red Sox 5 - A's 3
WP: J.C. Romero (2-0)
LP: Joe Kennedy (1-5)
SV: Jonathan Papelbon (13)

We took the lead early in the game on solo shots in the 3rd and 5th by Scutaro and Durazo, respectively. We held the lead until the 8th when Joe Kennedy gave up 5ER. After 7 innings Kennedy hadn't allowed a run and only 3H. In the 8th, he let up 2H and 3BB to let up the lead. I am furious. I understand Bob Geren is the manager and I am the general manager but even I knew that Kennedy should have been out of that game. After the game I went down to the clubhouse and had a meeting with Bob. I explained that he needs to rethink his on field strategies a bit. Leaving Kennedy in that long with our bullpen, who are performing exceptionally, and Kennedys recent performance was a questionable decision. Geren explained that he believed Kennedy had control of the situation and admitted that in hindsight the bullpen was a better choice. We agreed that only certain guys have the ability to pitch that deep in the games. I feel the meeting did clear up some issues I have had with his managerial styles. Bob and I have had a very good relationship since I took over the team and I really hope it stays that way. I think he has a good handle of the guys in the clubhouse. I just hope he will be able to do the same if we continue to lose.

Kansas City is at it again!

Kansas City sends:
John Bale P
Mark Grudzielanek 2B
Al Reyes P

Colorado sends:
Jamey Carroll 2B
Seth Smith RF
Omar Quintilliana SS

The major pieces in this trade are Quintilliana and Reyes. Quintilliana figures to be the future shortstop for the Royals as he is young and still has some development ahead of him. Reyes is old, at 36 years, but he has been outstanding this year with a 0.97 era in relief between the Rays and KC. The Rockies are hoping to compete in their division and have really needed the help in the pen. Smith will also be a good bench player for the Royals in the future.

May 17th 2007
Boston Red Sox(25-14) @ Oakland Athletics(17-21)
Red Sox 7 - A's 0
WP: Daniel Bard (2-0)
LP: Connor Robertson (1-2)

Daniel Bard is now 2-0 in two starts in the majors for the Red Sox. Unfortunately both of those starts were against us. He went a very strong 7 innings allowing no earned runs and striking out eight. This kid has looked impressive and on the flip side my offense and starter have not. I'm kind of wondering if I should just have my bullpen pitch the whole game because they are great. Robertson only went 3.1 innings and let up 5ER. This is not fun to watch but hopefully this experience will lead some where good.

May 18th 2007
Boston Red Sox(26-14) @ Oakland Athletics(17-22)
Red Sox 2 - A's 6
WP: Justin Duchscherer (1-1)
LP: Josh Beckett (4-2)
SV: Joe Blanton (1)

Danny Haren had to be scratched from his start today. He had a bit of tightness in the forearm on his pitching arm. Geren decided that because it was such short notice that Justin Duchsherer would get the start. Duchsherer had last pitched two days ago but only 12 pitches. His last appearance before that was the 16th. I was just talking about the bullpen pitching a whole game and voila look how they did. Duchsherer went 5 shutout inning allowing 5 hits and striking out 5. The bullpen let up a couple runs but the offense had already sealed the deal by then. Nick Swisher(10) and Mark Ellis(4) both went deep. It feels good that the team pulled out one against the Red Sox.

May 19th 2007

An off day at home for the boys. We had some light fielding and some BP but we let them get home and spend some time with their families because of the travel and schedule ahead of us. Hopefully they all got some R&R because we need to get back on track.

A tough loss for the Detroit tigers as two players hit the DL. The first was Marcus Thames who broke a finger while making a play at the wall in the outfield. He will miss about a month. The second is a bit more serious. Young Jeremy Bonderman will be out for at least the year and probably more. He tore his rotator cuff in his pitching shoulder. He was pitching well on the season and Detroit will really miss him. No one really knows how this will affect his career when he is healty enough to begin throwing.

Erasmo Ramirez has been the only one struggling out of the bullpen. I have decided to send him to AAA and call up Scott Dunn. He has been impressive with a 2.54ERA in 39 relief innings.

May 20th 2007
San Francisco Giants(22-19) @ Oakland Athletics(18-22)
Giants 2 - A's 3
WP: Scott Dunn (1-0)
LP: Billy Sadler (1-3)

Barry Bonds came back after a fews days sidelined with some knee pain. He started quick and took Harden deep for a two run home run in the first, his 739th of his career. After that Harden shut down the Giants and allowed only 3 hits in the next 5 innings. The A's started their comeback with a run in the third and on in the 8th to tie the game. Scott Dunn, the recent call-up, struck out 2 in the top of the ninth to keep it tied. Milton Bradley came up to lead off the 9th and homered for a walk of win. An exciting game and a good win for the team.

May 21st 2007
San Francisco Giants(22-20) @ Oakland Athletics(19-22)
Giants 2 - A's 6
WP: Jason Windsor (4-1)
LP: Matt Morris (1-4)

Jason Windsor continues to impress in his rookies season. He goes 7 shutout innings then gives up a run in the 8th to chase him from the game. He also stuck out 9 in the game. Scott Dunn came into the game and allowed a solo home run but the game was already in hand for us. The offense was paced by Mark Ellis who went 3-5 and drove in two.

May 22nd 2007
San Francisco Giants(22-21) @ Oakland Athletics(20-22)
Giants 7 - A's 4
WP: Matt Cain (2-2)
LP: Joe Kennedy (1-6)

Joe Kennedy continues to struggle as he allows 4ER in only 3 innings. The bullpen was good but an again Alan Embree struggled a bit giving up 2ER. The offense was led by Shannon Stewart who went 3-4. I was hoping for a fourth straight win but I can't get too greedy.

The Met's take another blow to their lineup. Rookie Lasting Milledge was struggling at the plate to start the season and it appears as though it was because of injury. He has sever tendonitis in his right elbow and will miss up to three months. He has been placed on the 60 day DL.

This homestand wasn't that bad considering the competition. 3-3 is good for a team that has been struggling and 4-2 was fully within our reach but I am satisfied. I will be heading off to Mexico City for a little scouting as the team takes off for New York to meet the Yankees.

May 23rd - May 29th 2007

The team has a travel day to start to get over to New York for a three game tilt with the Bombers. Then we head up North of the border to visit the Blue Jays. Both teams have started off very well and are in 2nd and 3rd in the AL East, respectively. Hopefully the team can pull out a couple wins on this trip.

May 23rd 2007
I called Bob and told him to remember what we had talked about earlier in the week. I don't want to see any of our pitchers overused. If they pitch well for 6 or 7 innings that should be all we need. The team spent the night in New York enjoying themselves while I dined on some fine authentic food in Mexico City. This young kid down here looks pretty good. He's a starter and he throws in the mid 90's. Looks like he is slotted to fall to us in the draft but there are others I am keeping my eyes on.

May 24th 2007
Oakland Athletics(20-23) @ New York Yankees(26-18)
A's 1 - Yankees 8
WP: Carl Pavano (3-2)
LP: Danny Haren (2-6)

Although Danny Haren pitched much better than usual he still fared the same. 5 innings and 3ER later he gets another loss. It looks like he is destined for a 20 loss season. I hope I'm wrong. Scott Dunn struggled against the potent Yankee lineup going a third of an inning giving up 5ER. I'm not going to jerk him around and send him down. I'll let him pitch a few more times to see if it becomes a trend. If he continues to struggle I have Calero waiting in the minors. He has improved since I sent him down a few weeks ago. As you can see by the score our offense was non-existant. Nick Swisher drove in the lone run on a sac fly.

Congrats to Andruw Jones of the Braves on scoring his 1000th run.

May 25th 2007
Oakland Athletics(20-24) @ New York Yankees(27-18)
A's 10 - Yankees 9
WP: Joe Kennedy (2-6)
LP: Scott Proctor (3-2)

This was an exciting one. A 12 inning affair that had 13 pitchers appear. Rich Harden started for us and only lasted an inning giving up 6ER. I think Geren was disgusted with Harden and didn't want to see anymore. He went to our pen and they were outstanding as usual. 11 innings pitched while giving up only 3 runs, all of which were charged to Joe Blanton. Nick Swisher hit his team leading 11th homer of the season. Kilety had two hits and three RBI on the day. A solid performance for the offense and the pen. We just need to get these starters on track.

A tough break for the Cubs as Alphonso Soriano will be missing the rest of the season. Soriano was experiencing some back pain this week and the doctors revealed he had fractured a vertebrae in his back. He will require surgery and the recovery and rehab time will take him past september.

May 26th 2007
Oakland Athletics(21-24) @ New York Yankees(27-19)
A's 2 - Yankees 8
WP: Chris Britton (1-0)
LP: Jason Windsor (4-2)

The score doesn't indicate how Jason Windsor pitched for the A's. He went 6.1 innings and let up 4ER but he has been putting out the most solid starts of any of my rotation. It must be tough when you aren't sure if the offense will be able to support you. Speaking of the offense, D'angelo Jimenez hit a 2R shot and that was all folks. Scott Dunn struggled again and with Calero in AAA holding down a 1.69 ERA it is only a matter of time before they get swapped. I'll probably wait 'til we get home in 4 days so the logistics of the swap are better.

May 27th 2007
Oakland Athletics(21-25) @ Toronto Blue Jays(28-20)
A's 4 - Blue Jays 7
WP: Jason Frasor (2-0)
LP: Joe Kennedy (2-7)
SV: B.J. Ryan (20)

Another Day - Another loss. That appears to be the story of my team this year. The starting pitching is horrible and will be item #1 on my to do list this year. Joe Kennedy gives up another 5ER in just 5 innings. The offense was led by Nick Swisher and his team leading 12th homer. The offense racked up 10 hits but left a whopping 8 men on base. We have to push a few more of those guys across.

May 28th 2007
Oakland Athletics(21-26) @ Toronto Blue Jays(29-20)
A's 4 - Blue Jays 3
WP: Erasmo Ramirez (1-1)
LP: Brandon League (2-1)
SV: Huston Street (11)

A Quality start from Danny Haren that included 6 innings and 3ER. He has been hot and cold all year, although mostly cold. The pen did their job and held the score where it was and allowed the offense to come through and pick up the win. A D'angelo Jimenez double in the ninth that scored Mark Ellis put us ahead for good. Huston Street was his reliable self and pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth for his 11th save.

In a freakish accident Gerald Laird of the Rangers took a foul ball off his forearm and fractured the bone. He will be out for a couple months while the bone heals and he rehabs.

May 29th 2007
Oakland Athletics(22-26) @ Toronto Blue Jays(29-21)
A's 6 - Blue Jays 7
WP: Matt Roney (1-1)
LP: Scott Dunn (1-1)

I must admit this was a game we could have won. Although Rich Harden didn't pitch extraordinary(4ER,5IP) we had the lead late in the game. Scott Dunn, the soon to be minor leaguer, gave up three late runs and sealed his fate for the time being. Bobby Kielty hit his 4th homer and the rest of the offense had at least on hit for us.

I must admit that I am disappointed that we went 2-4 and not 3-3 on this trip. That last game was a definite let down. As I mentioned before I told Bob to let Scott Dunn know he is headed back to Sacramento and I called Calero up. Hopefully some time in AAA can help Dunn like it did for Calero.

May 30th - June 5th 2007

We contnue against the strong AL East with 3 games each against Rays and Jays. The Rays come into this series having won 8 in a row. We saw the Jays last week and had a few close games. Maybe we can turn a few of those around in our favor.

May 30th 2007
Tampa Bay Rays(27-23) @ Oakland Athletics(22-27)
Rays 15 - A's 1
WP: Scott Kazmir (5-4)
LP: Joe Blanton (2-3)

Everyone struggles in this game. On the pitching side, Joe Blanton only went 3.1 letting up a huge 8ER. The bullpen fared no better giving up 6ER in the next 5.2 innings. The offense did no better getting only 4 hits off a hot Kazmir who struck out 9 in 7 innings.

May 31st 2007
Tampa Bay Rays(28-23) @ Oakland Athletics(22-28)
Rays 5 - A's 6
WP: Huston Street (2-1)
LP: Ruddy Lugo (1-1)

It looked like we were going to lose again but the offense came through late. In the 9th inning Milton Bradley led off with a solo shot to bring us within two. Then back-back-back doubles by Swisher, Ellis and Scutaro tied up the game. In the 10th, Swisher and Ellis did it again. Swisher doubled with two down and then Ellis singled in the winning run. Huston Street picked up his 2nd win by pitching a perfect tenth frame.

Bad news for the Yankees backstop. Jorge Posada will be out a minimun two months. He injured a disc in his back in a collision at home plate against the Baltimore Orioles.

A little end of the month business:

American League Standings
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...15/BB2K8-2.jpg

National League Standings
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...15/BB2K8-3.jpg

Overall League Leaders
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...15/BB2K8-4.jpg

Oakland Batting

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2007 Batting             Team    G   AVG    AB    H  2B  3B  HR   BB    K   SB  CS    R  RBI   SLG   OBP
Bradley, Milton           OAK   50  .298   205   61   5   2  10   24   42    3   1   31   28  .488  .375
Crosby, Bobby             OAK   11  .171    41    7   2   0   2    4    9    0   0    4    7  .366  .244
Durazo, Erubiel           OAK   51  .236   195   46   6   1   6   25   41    0   0   22   19  .369  .323
Ellis, Mark               OAK   50  .239   197   47  10   2   4   14   40    0   0   24   21  .371  .292
Jimenez, D'Angelo         OAK   41  .250   128   32   8   1   2   27   26    0   0   16   17  .375  .396
Kendall, Jason            OAK   48  .291   182   53   5   1   0    8   21    3   3   17   12  .330  .340
Kielty, Bobby             OAK   35  .301   136   41   6   4   4    7   28    1   0   20   19  .493  .347
Kotsay, Mark              OAK   36  .274    95   26   6   0   0   12   10    1   1    7   10  .337  .367
Merloni, Lou              OAK   23  .385    26   10   3   0   1    1    3    0   1    4    2  .615  .429
Perez, Antonio            OAK    1  .750     4    3   0   0   0    0    1    0   0    1    3  .750  .600
Piazza, Mike              OAK   20  .277    47   13   5   0   1    0    9    0   0    5    9  .447  .277
Scutaro, Marco            OAK   48  .288   160   46   9   3   2   19   30    3   1   22   17  .419  .363
Stewart, Shannon          OAK   46  .326   172   56   4   2   2   10   21    5   0   19   15  .407  .360
Swisher, Nick             OAK   51  .254   193   49   9   0  12   32   48    0   0   28   31  .487  .368
Thomas, Charles           OAK    3  .250     8    2   1   0   0    1    0    2   0    3    0  .375  .333 


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Oakland Pitching

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2007 Pitching            Team     IP   ERA    G  GS   W   L  SV    K   BB   R/9
Street, Huston            OAK   15.0  0.60   17   0   2   1  11   13    3 10.80
Embree, Alan              OAK   24.0  1.88   21   0   2   0   0   20    7  9.00
Gaudin, Chad              OAK   31.0  3.48   19   0   1   0   0   16   15 12.19
Duchscherer, Justin       OAK   32.1  3.62   21   1   1   1   1   30    5 11.41
Windsor, Jason            OAK   66.1  4.21   11  10   4   2   0   55   21 12.89
Haren, Danny              OAK   70.1  4.86   11  11   2   6   0   60    9 10.75
Ramirez, Erasmo           OAK   19.0  5.21   17   0   1   1   0   12    1 12.32
Robertson, Connor         OAK   19.2  5.95    5   3   1   2   0    9   17 16.02
Calero, Kiko              OAK   16.2  7.02   17   0   1   1   1   22   10 17.82
Harden, Rich              OAK   60.0  7.05   12  12   3   3   0   44   39 17.10
Kennedy, Joe              OAK   46.2  7.71   11   9   2   7   0   25   14 16.59
Blanton, Joe              OAK   40.1  8.48   13   4   2   3   1   13   15 16.29
Dunn, Scott               OAK   11.1  8.74    7   0   1   1   0   14    9 17.47 


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10-17 for the month of may. We had a couple injuries so that wasn't so bad. Our bullpen was teriffic for the workload they had to shoulder. Our offense was middle of the road and sort of veering into oncoming traffic near the end of the month. Our Starting pitching was absolutely horriffic. No other way to put it. The draft is in about a week and I have keyed in on a few players for our team. Hopefully I can land a couple of them.

June 1st 2007
Tampa Bay Rays(28-24) @ Oakland Athletics(23-28)
Rays 6 - A's 2
WP: Wade Townsend (2-1)
LP: Connor Robertson (1-3)

This is getting really frustrating. Connor Robertson struggled through 4.1 innings while giving 6ER. We NEED better starts. The bullpen came in and let nothing up as usual. The offense consisted of a solo shot by Nick Swisher(13) and an RBI single by Bobby Kielty.

Josh Beckett of the Red Sox was hit by a line drive today. He fractured a bone in his hip and will be out for at least a month.

June 2nd 2007
A nice off day at home for the players. I am shuttling around and checking out a few more players for the draft in a couple of days. I really have to get this one right. These will be the building blocks for the future of my team. The Blue Jays are in town and have lost 2 in row. Hopefully we can continue that streak for them.

June 3rd 2007
Toronto Blue Jays(31-23) @ Oakland Athletics(23-29)
Blue Jays 7 - A's 2
WP: Scott Downs (3-1)
LP: Danny Haren (2-7)

A somewhat good performance from Danny Haren. 4ER in 7.1 innings pitched. He held the Jays to 1 run over the first 7 innings but struggled to start off the 8th. I can take that but the offense certainly didn't help. Erubial Durazo was the only player with more than one hit and the only player with an RBI as he hit a 2 run double in the 8th. Too little, too late!

Omar Vizquel was probably headed to hall anyways but his 2500th hit will certainly help. He sit a single in the 7th inning yesterday to reach this milestone in a great career. Congrats Omar!

A trade:

Boston sends:
Justin Masterson P
Michael Bowden P

Pittsburgh sends:
Jason Bay OF

Boston certainly gets a great offensive threat here in Jason Bay. He has 12 Homeruns on the season and is batting at .280. At what cost though. They give up two very impressive young prospects in the deal. Pittsburgh has set up its pitching for the future. Hopefully they can hadle these prospects well. In the short term Boston seems to have gotten the best as their offense is now almost unstoppable. Only time will tell though.

June 3rd 2007
Toronto Blue Jays(32-23) @ Oakland Athletics(23-30)
Blue Jays 7 - A's 9
WP: Rich Harden (4-3)
LP: Roy Halladay (2-5)
SV: Huston Street (12)

The Jays score 7 again but we get 9 to beat them. The offense started early and often. They started with 3 in the first with a 2 run shot by Milton Bradley. Then they scored 2 runs each in the 4th and 5th. Urubial Durazo was the leader of those two innings going deep in one and drving in a run in the other. He was overall 4-5 on the night. Rich Harden started and held the Jays to 1ER over 5.1 innings. He simply throws too many pitches and will have to work on that to be a more effective pitcher. The pen almost gave up the game in the 9th as Alan Embree allowed 5ER in the innings while getting no one out. That is where it ended as Huston Street came in to shutdown the comeback, while earning his 12th save.

June 3rd 2007
Toronto Blue Jays(32-24) @ Oakland Athletics(24-30)
Blue Jays 3 - A's 4
WP: Alan Embree (3-0)
LP: Jason Frasor (2-1)
SV: Huston Street (13)

A rare quality start from Joe Blanton. He went 7 innings and allowed 2ER. He only walked one which has been a strong suit of his all year. Huston Street struggled a bit in the ninth giving up a run on 2 hits and a walk. He pulled it out and got his 13th save on the year. Leading the offense again was Bobby Kielty. He has been a real surprise since I put him at the top of the lineup. His line was 1-3,2BB,2R,1HR,2RBI. Very impressive for someone who figured to be a bench guy this year.

A 3-3 record has become pretty standard for this team. Not exactly how I would like it but hopefully I can make some improvement over the next month, via trade, and still compete. We are only 4 games out in what seems to be a very weak West division this year. Who knows if we get hot we could do some damage. The draft is up next. I will be giving the top ten picks with a little info and all my picks 1-6 with a bit reasoning.

June 7 2007

2007 Amateur Draft

Tampa Bay Rays
1.Steve Starbuck(RP) - This kid had a great senior year of High School. 1.36 ERA and 69K's in only 33 innings pitched. Throws a high 90's fastball. Looks as though he could be an immediate contributor for the Rays.

Kansas City Royals
2.Brion Walgrove(RP) - This kid had good stuff. A little older at 19 than most high school prospects. Throws in the mid 90's. His senior year was good as he had a 1.30 ERA and 41K's in 32.1 IP.

Chicago Cubs
3.Kevin Muldoon(SP) - The first college prospect taken. Comes out of Auburn where in his So. year he put up a 9-3 record with a 1.95ERA. If he develops right the Cubs could have a staff Ace.

Pittsburgh Pirates
4.Tom Burruss(RP) - Another High Scool Reliever taken. Throws in the low 90's and could develop nicely given some time.

Baltimore Orioles
5.Forrest Pride(SP) - The youngest of the early selections. At 16 now, he will be 17 during his first pro season. Throws in the mid 90's. Looked good with a 5-1 record and 2.27 ERA in his senior year.

Washington Nationals
6.Pat Pinson(1B) - The first positional player taken in the draft. A solid firstbaseman defensively. Has some good pop batting 10 homers and a sported a solid .317 average in his senior year.

Milwaukee Brewers
7.Lance Putnam(1B) - A solid first baseman who was selected after a very impressive 19 homer season at Cal. He also had a .344 average in his first collegiate season.

Arizona Diamondbacks
8.Juan Tavira(C) - Appears to be a very solid defensive catcher. His offense blossomed in his senior year when he batted .375. Not much for the power bud led his high school team to the state championship.

Colorado Rockies
9.Shayne Harris(SP) - A very solid pitcher who throws in the mid to high 90's. Strikes out a bunch of batters with his excellent fastball and curve combo.

San Francisco Giants
10.Justin Walley(C) - Second catcher taken in the top 10. Solid defense and a good bat. Batted .328 in his senior year.

Oakland Picks

Round(Overall)

1(25). Cristian Peruz(SP) - This is why I went down to Mexico a few weeks ago. A very solid senior season that featured a 5-2 record with a 1.36ERA in 79.2 innings. He also struck out 93 batters. A low 90's fastball to go with a plus cutter(best pitch), changeup and slider. By the way, he's a lefty and only 17 years old. All that mixed with no major health concerns, good control and high endurance will hopefully make him a cornerstone of my pitching staff for the future.

2(55). Chuck Grenville(SP) - Couldn't pass up another young pitcher with good control and endurance. I need lots of that in my system. He had a 2.38ERA in 53 innings to go along with 71K's. Could project to a 3rd or 4th starter. My only concerns are health and fastball velocity. Hopefully his work ethic will counter those concerns.

3(85). Nathan Dismuke(1B) - A solid lefty first baseman. Had good power that he displayed with his 11 Homers and 32RBI in his senior season. Has the average to go with as shown by his .310 senior season. Will hopefully be my starter at 1B someday.

4(115). Graham Corr(3B) - Has decent fielding ability. Not much power but displayed ability to hit for average with a .377 senior season. Has a good eye with 24BB's in his senior year which boosted him to a .497 OBP. Borderline major leaguer with some work ahead of him.

5(145). Jeff Kellerman(2B) - Average fielder with a decent eye for the ball. Had a .324 averge and 8 homers in the season. Talent is too raw to judge. May be better with some development time.

6(175). Angelo Merales(SS) - A project player who has the ability to be a utility infielder at best. If he can make the majors I would be ecstatic.

I took all High Schoolers as they were the best available at the time and have the most time to develop. The only player older than 18 was Merales and he doesn't figure to be a factor on my major league club. Peruz and Dismuke were two of my targeted players and I was very happy to get them. Hopefully they can develop like I want them to.

June 7th - June 12th 2007

We have an east coast interleague roadtrip this week. We start the week in the Philly for three and then head to D.C. for three more. This week I decided to call up Dan Johnson after his time in the minors. It took a bit longer than I had hoped but he played in 19 games and had 4HR and 13RBI with a .246 average. I need a a little pop off the bench and backup outfielder Charles Thomas isn't producing when given the chance. I also think Mark Kotsay can handle the outfield if I need him to.

June 7th 2007
Oakland Athletics(25-30) @ Philadelphia Phillies(28-28)
A's 6 - Phillies 11
WP: Freddy Garcia (5-5)
LP: Joe Kennedy (2-8)
SV: Scott Mathieson (2)

While I was drafting the future of my organization, the present was getting beat. Joe Kennedy struggles again allowing 8R, 5ER, in merely 3 innings. Milton Bradley continues to be hot going 2-4 with a HR and 2 RBI. Mike Piazza also put his 4th homer into the stands. It looks like this is going to be a tough roadtrip.

Congratulations to Bobby Abreu who scored his 1000th run of his career. Way to go Bobby!

June 8th 2007
Oakland Athletics(25-31) @ Philadelphia Phillies(29-28)
A's 0 - Phillies 6
WP: Adam Eaton (4-4)
LP: Danny Haren (2-8)

Danny Haren does his usual. He gives up 5ER in 4 innings and doesn't look like the ace I projected him to be. The offense has nothing either as they get shutout while collecting only two hits. I can only look at it one way, at least it can't get worse. The only two A's to get a hit on the day were Loooou Merloni and Jason Kendall. Way to go guys!

June 9th 2007
Oakland Athletics(25-32) @ Philadelphia Phillies(30-28)
A's 0 - Phillies 4
WP: Esteban Loaiza (3-1)
LP: Rich Harden (4-4)

Did I say it couldn't get any worse? Well Esteban Loaiza, who I traded away, just threw a CG-4H shoutout. Wow. At least they doubled the producion in the hits category. The runs stayed the same though. Rich Harden pitched okay. He went 5 innings and gave up 3ER while striking out 7. If we could ge some run support it would be nice. Philly is now riding a 7 game WIN streak after they swept us out of town. At least it's not a long trip to D.C.

June 10th 2007
Oakland Athletics(25-33) @ Washington Nationals(24-36)
A's 0 - Nationals 10
WP: Joel Hanrahan (2-6)
LP: Jason Windsor (4-3)

Jason Windsor had been the only bright spot in the starting rotation. That is before he got hurt. He makes his return and promptly gives up 7ER in 2.2 innings. My starters are abysmal and I am unfortunately stuck with them for a little while longer. The offense does nothing again and gets another CG-5H shutout pitched against them. They have to shake this funk soon.

It seems that the Red Sox must have a crystal ball. Coco Crisp sprained his knee in yesterdays game and there appears to be some ligament damage as well. The doctors say he will be out for a few weeks but may be up to a month. That Jason Bay trade is looking mighty good right now. Losing Coco will hurt though because he was hitting at a .354 clip so far this year.

June 11th 2007
Oakland Athletics(25-34) @ Washington Nationals(25-36)
A's 7 - Nationals 3
WP: Joe Kennedy (3-8)
LP: Mike O'Connor (2-7)

It is nice to see the team win but I am not going to get too excited. The rotation is just not consistent enough. Joe Kennedy tosses a quality start going 7 innings and allowing just 1ER. He looked pretty good but I want a few good starts before I get too high on him. Kielty, Stewart and Ellis all had good games driving in 2 a piece. Ellis also put his 5th longball into the bleachers. I was getting worried when we got shutout 3 games in a row but they finally got back on track.

Longtime Lefty starter Aaron Sele decided to hang up the cleats today. He played for 4 major league teams over a 14 year major league career. He won 145 games and registered a career 4.59 ERA.

June 12th 2007
Oakland Athletics(26-34) @ Washington Nationals(25-37)
A's 7 - Nationals 3
WP: Connor Robertson (2-3)
LP: Ryan Drese (2-6)

Back-to-Back good starts makes me happy. Especially when one of the guys is someone I consider to be part of the future of the franchise. Conor Robertson went 7.2 innings and gave up 3ER. Thats two quality starts in row. The offense was led by a HR for Milton Bradley(13) and a pich hit shot by Erubial Durazo(8). Shannon Stewart also had a good day going 3-5 with 2 RBI.

A tough road trip to start but 2-4 is alright when we are going across country and playing under NL rules. Taking the last two games was key because hopefully we can carry some MOmentum into our upcoming homestand. The team is still only 5 games behind LA and you never know when a team can heat up. I'm going to be looking for some deals in the next few weeks to get the rotation in a little better shape for the second half. Maybe there are some better days ahead.

June 13th - June 19th 2007

The 13th is an off day to get back to Oakland. After that we play 13 straight days against the Braves, Marlins, Angels and Giants. Hopefully we can win a few of these. If we keep going the way we have it is going to be a long end to this season.

June 13th 2007

While the team was just getting back from D.C. I was busy hammering a deal out with the Orioles. I've been looking to dump Joe Kennedy because of his performance and figured since he was a lefty someone would want him. I decided to package him up with some one else to get some more value. The deal looks like this:

Oakland sends:
Joe Kennedy SP
Donnie Murphy 2B
Cash - 2,000,000

Baltimore sends:
Kieron Pope LF
Billy Rowell 3B
Sam Bracetty RP

I really like Popes power at the plate. My outfield lacks power and hopefully a few years down the road he can help us out. The same goes for Rowell but his fielding is above average as well. I have been looking for that future replacement for Chavez as well. Bracetty has a great fastball in the mid 90's and good control. Overall I think I got good value for and underachieving Kennedy and prospect Murphy. To accomdate this trade Joe Blanton has been moved back into the rotation and I called up Santiago Casilla.

June 14th 2007
Atlanta Braves(36-28) @ Oakland Athletics(27-34)
Braves 6 - A's 7
WP: Chad Gaudin (2-0)
LP: Bob Wickman (0-3)

Danny Haren puts in a good performance through 6 innings. In the seventh he gave up 2 runs and in the 8th he gave up 3 to let the Braves back in the game at 6-5. He gave way to Huston Street who uncharacteristically blew a save. The offense was paced by Bradley and Swisher who both hit their 14th homers of the season. The hero in the 10th inning was Erubial Durazo who singled home Mark Kotsay from third with two down. A solid win but could have been a bit easier. Congratulations to Chipper Jones who got his 2000th hit in this game! Congrats Chipper!

Another milestone to celebrate as Scott Rolen drove in his 1000th run today.

June 15th 2007
Atlanta Braves(36-29) @ Oakland Athletics(28-34)
Braves 6 - A's 3
WP: Lance Cormier (5-3)
LP: Rich Harden (4-5)
SV: Bob Wickman (19)

I think giving up 5ER for my starters is a requirement. Rich Harden was no exception here as he gave up 5ER in just 5 innings. The bullpen was good again as they only gave up 1 unearned run in the last 4 innings of the game with recent call up Casilla going two scoreless frames. The offense was led by the leadoff man(Kielty) and the bottom two(Ellis and Jimezez) who all had 1 RBI.

June 16th 2007
Atlanta Braves(36-29) @ Oakland Athletics(28-35)
Braves 6 - A's 3
WP: Beau Jones (3-1)
LP: Jason Windsor (4-4)
SV: Bob Wickman (20)

Another poor performance from my rotation. Jason Windsor gives up all 6ER in this game. He only went 3.2 innings and gave up 9 hits. The offeense was once again led by Bobby Kielty. He was 1-3 with 2BB and scored all three times he reached base. Milton Bradley also had a good day driving in 2 runs.

June 17th 2007
Florida Marlins(32-34) @ Oakland Athletics(28-36)
Marlins 6 - A's 5
WP: Dustin Hermanson (2-3)
LP: Santiago Casilla (0-1)

An 10 inning affair taken by the visitors. Joe Blanton gives up the 5ER he is supposed to and the game is tied going into the 10th. Casilla has been pitching well but had a tough tenth where he gave up back to back doubles to untie the game. A Piazza double and a Mark Ellis home run both drove in two runs on the day. Kielty stays hot at the top of the order going 2-5.

June 18th 2007
Florida Marlins(33-34) @ Oakland Athletics(28-37)
Marlins 8 - A's 6
WP: Ricky Nolasco (2-1)
LP: Connor Robertson (2-4)
SV: Jorge Julio (19)

God my starters are horrible. Robertson gives up 7ER in 4 innings of work. I think they are trying to get me fired in my first year. None of my starters have looked impressive in the slightest. Had some offense again but not enough. Scutaro, Ellis and Stewart all went deep and accounted for all the RBI's on the day.

The washington Nationals released RP Brandon Puffer today. I decided to sign him to a 1yr/$750,000 contract minor league contract. He will be assigned to AAA and hopefully be able to contribute in the Majors later this year.

June 19th 2007
Florida Marlins(34-34) @ Oakland Athletics(28-38)
Marlins 4 - A's 7
WP: Danny Haren (3-8)
LP: Dontrelle Willis (3-5)
SV: Huston Street (14)

A nice quality start from Danny Haren. Someone on this team has to make a good start some time. I know we can't lose every game. Haren went 8 innings giving up 2ER and striking out 8. A very solid performance that finally took his ERA down under 5.00 on the season. The offense was led by Erubial Durazo who went 3-3 with walk, run scored and 5RBI. A very nice day from Erubial. Since we brought Dan Johnson back Erubial has really stepped up his game.

2-4 seems to be the norm around for wins and losses in week. Not to happy about that but I am building for the future. I am acquiring the pieces now so that we can be successful for a long time down the road. The team has a long week ahead of them after this week and hopefully we can show some more improvement.

Nice job so far! Just thought I should throw in my 2 cents about this:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BichetteMan

A trade:

Boston sends:
Justin Masterson P
Michael Bowden P

Pittsburgh sends:
Jason Bay OF

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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Thanks Potato, I was thinking the same myself but Boston is loaded after all. Jason Bay is coming in handy right now with Coco out. If I'm not going to make the playoffs I'd like to see the hometown team win it. I did toss them another Gold Glover at third earlier in the season. ;)
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June 20th - June 26th 2007

We comeplete this 13 game stretch with four at home against the Angels and don't have to go very far for three at the Giants. I'd like for my team to compete a bit with the Angels. Bonds is 15 away from tying Hank for the all time home run record. Good thing we won't be giving that up.

June 20th 2007
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(35-33) @ Oakland Athletics(29-38)
Angels 6 - A's 7
WP: Rich Harden (5-5)
LP: Bartolo Colon (3-6)
SV: Huston Street (15)

A nice win for the ballclub. Rich Harden come out and tosses a nice game. He went 6 innings giving up 4 runs, 2ER. Marco Scutaro had a costly error in the 6th that let the Angels tie the game up. In the bottom half of the sixth my sluggers Bradley and Swisher went back-to-back, home run #15 for each, to take a three run lead that we never gave up. Casilla struggled a bit giving up two more runs but Street tossed a perfect ninth for his 15th save.

Some league transactions to discuss:

Arizona sees something they like in Alberto Callaspo and signed the 24 year old to a two year 2,050,000 extension.

Also a trade:

Milwaukee sends:
Darren Ford CF
Angel Salome C

Cincinatti sends:
Dave Ross C

A solid deal on both ends. Milwaukee gets the solid defensive catcher they are looking for. Cincinatti gets a young and speedy CF in Ford and a potential catcher of the future in Salome. But two potential starters for one 30-year old gives the nod to Cincinatti.

Also the garbage man Jose Lima decided to retire today. I think it was just about time for him.

June 21st 2007
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(35-34) @ Oakland Athletics(30-38)
Angels 2 - A's 3
WP: Jason Windsor (5-4)
LP: Hector Carrasco (1-3)
SV: Huston Street (16)

Jason Windsor bounces back from a couple tough starts after his injury. He went a very strong 8 innings and although he gave up 10 hits he didn't walka single batter. This allowed him to give up just 2ER and his 6K's helped as well. The spark plug tat makes my offense go has been Bobby Kielty. He hits a home run out of the leadoff spot in the 7th inning to give us the lead for good. Milton Bradley also chipped in two doubles and the other RBI in the game. Huston Street continues to dominate getting his 16th save.

Ken Griffey Jr. scored the 1500th run of his career today. Congrats to you Griffey!

A trade as well:

Pittsburgh sends:
Chris Resop RP

Los Angeles of Anaheim sends:
Jason Grabow RP

Pittsburgh gets the youth and potential and LAA gets the reliever who can do the job now. I guess they don't like losing to me--lol. Seems pretty even to me.

June 22nd 2007
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(35-35) @ Oakland Athletics(31-38)
Angels 2 - A's 3
WP: Justin Duchscherer (2-1)
LP: Scot Shields (4-2)

It looked as though our three game win streak was at an end entering the bottom of the ninth. That would not be the case though. The inning started with a fielding error by Kendrick at second followed by a Milton Bradley double to set men up at second and third with no outs. Scot Shields came into the game and promptly let up the game tying single for two RBI's to Nick Swisher. Unofortunately Nick Swisher was gunned out at second after an attempt to take an extra base on the throw home. That didn't matter because Jason Kendall singled and an Erubial Durazo sacrifice put him into scoring position. Looooou Merloni, who was subbing for a sore Marco Scutaro, took advantage of his time and doubled the winning run across. A very exciting win.

June 23rd 2007
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(35-35) @ Oakland Athletics(31-38)
Angels 9 - A's 5
WP: Kelvim Escobar (5-5)
LP: Connor Robertson (2-5)

Can't say I am very happy about this loss but to go 3-1 in the series against the Angles was teriffic. Robertson got smashed in this game giving up 8ER in just 3 innings. The other part of the game I was a bit disappointed about was the fact that we got 15 hits to their 13 and couldn't capitalize more. Bobby Kielty did it again going 4-6 on the day. I'm really liking the offense and solid defense I am getting from him. A solid series regardless of this game.

I got a call from Kansas City to inquire about a minor leaguer I have and with their trades this season I had to listen. We were on the phone for about five minutes and the deal was done.

Kansas City sends:
Esteban German IF

Oakland sends:
Ron Flores RP

I like German for my team. Another solid defender and very good speed and contact. Flores seemed like he was going to be stuck at AAA for a while and I have Delcarmen and a few others coming up behind him. I win--lol.

To make room for German I sent Antonio Perez to AAA. German will probably see a lot of time at SS with Jimenez struggling in the 9 spot.

Just to note:

Florida sends:
Kevin Gregg RP

Washington sends:
Micah Bowie P
Dmitri Young 1B
Chrisitan Guzman SS
Barrett Britt RP
Zach Berry LF

The keys in this trade are Berry and Britt. They were Washingtons 3&4 picks in the draft this year. If they pan out to anything it is a slam dunk for Florida.

June 24th 2007
Oakland Athletics(32-39) @ San Francisco Giants(34-39)
A's 2 - Giants 10
WP: Matt Morris (3-6)
LP: Danny Haren (3-9)

Back to Back terrible starts. Haren gives up 8ER in 3.2 innings. The offense hit the ball around a bit getting 11 hits but couldn't push them across the plate. Not a very good performance overall.

June 25th 2007
Oakland Athletics(32-40) @ San Francisco Giants(35-39)
A's 2 - Giants 4
WP: Matt Cain (4-4)
LP: Rich Harden (5-6)
SV: Armando Benitez (15)

Simply put Rich Haren needs to be in the game longer. He may have given up the 3ER in 5 innings to lose the game but we need him to go a bit further to be successful. The offense did the usual lots of hits and not many runs. Stewart and Kielty drove in the two we got.

June 25th 2007
Oakland Athletics(32-41) @ San Francisco Giants(36-39)
A's 1 - Giants 13
WP: Noah Lowry (5-5)
LP: Jason Windsor (5-5)

The Giants seemed to be a bit much in this series. Windsor gives up 8ER in just 2 innings. The bullpen had to do a bit too much work and suffered because of this. The offense didn't show up and gave us no chance here. Nick Swisher drove in the only run and Looooou went 2-4.

This week started off nicely with the three wins against the Angels but went downhill and quickly after that. The rotation always seems to take two steps forward and then five steps back. I guess it is going to be our fatal flaw this year. I know what I need to improve and I'll be looking to improve it.

June 27th - July 3rd 2007

With a much needed off day to start the week I hope the team can get enough rest to break this 4 game skid. We have 3 in Anaheim and 3 at home with the Mariners.

June 27th 2007
A much needed off-day. The team took the trip down to Anaheim to get ready for a three games series. I'm not going because I have a lot of work to do back here in Oakland. I've got some trades on the table and some minor league development issues to deal with.

June 28th 2007
Oakland Athletics(32-42) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(36-39)
A's 13 - Angels 5
WP: Joe Blanton (3-3)
LP: Hector Carrasco (1-4)

A nice offensive explosion for the team. Swisher, Bradley and Kielty all smashed home runs in the game. The rest of the team each had a least one hit. New addition Esteban German went 2-4 with 3RBI. Blanton put in a good start going 6 innings and giving up just 3ER. A very nice effort on the road.

A big crosstown trade in the Windy city:

ChicagoN sends:

Josh Kroeger LF
Josh Lansford 3B

ChicagoA sends:

Mark Buehrle SP

Looks like the White Sox couldn't work out a long term deal with Buehrle and had to send him away. A nice move for him as well because he goes from a 4th place team to the best team in the league with the Cubs, who hold a 9 game lead in the NL central. Some youth comes to the White Sox which may or may pan out. The Cubbies definitely got the best of this deal.

June 29th 2007
Oakland Athletics(33-42) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(36-40)
A's 3 - Angels 7
WP: Jeremy Haynes (1-2)
LP: Danny Haren (3-10)

Haren puts out the usual 5 innings and 4ER. He might just lose 20 game this year. At least then it can only get better for him. Durazo provided all the offense on a three run homer.

I worked out one of those trades that was on the table:

Oakland sends:

Mark Kotsay CF
Erasmo Ramirez RP

Los AngelesN sends:

Tony Abreu 2B
Steven Johnson SP

Kotsay is a good CF but he is making a ton of money for the next few years and I have a youngster ready at AAA to some in and play so he was expendable. Ramirez is a decent reliever who was sitting in AAA and not very happy about it. Abreu and Johnson are both young and have the potential to be good players for my team. I needed a future second baseman because I don't feel Ellis is my future 2B.

Also:

Tampa Bay sends:

Andy Sonnastine P
Seth McClung P

Cincinatti sends:

Bronson Arroyo P

The Rays pick up a quality starter to help them in the AL East race that is tight from 1st-4th. They send away a couple young pitcher that can have very bright futures with the Reds. Time will only tell with this trade.

Congratulations to Frank Thomas as he hit his 500th home run of his career. Nice Job Frank!

June 30th 2007
Oakland Athletics(33-43) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(37-40)
A's 7 - Angels 15
WP: Jered Weaver (6-3)
LP: Rich Harden (5-7)

The pitching staff got absolutely shelled. No need to go into detail except that anyone that pitched gave up a run except Gaudin who went 2 innings and gave up no runs. The offense was there as all but one person got a hit. Bradley(17) and Stewart(4) put the ball out of the park.

I made another one of those deals:

Oakland sends:

Adam Melheuse C
Lou Merloni 3B

Texas sends:

John Koronka P
Matt Kata 2B
Wes Shibanuma SS

Texas is in first by a lot and they needed some depth at C and 3B. I took some young talent and Kata will immediately come to majors to be on my bench. Lou and Adam probably were not going to be here next year anyways.

Some League Business

American League Standings
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...15/BB2K8-5.jpg

National League Standings
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...15/BB2K8-6.jpg

League Leaders
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...15/BB2K8-7.jpg

Oakland Batting Stats

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2007 Batting             Team    G   AVG    AB    H  2B  3B  HR   BB    K   SB  CS    R  RBI   SLG   OBP
Calero, Kiko              OAK   32 1.000     1    1   0   0   0    0    0    0   0    0    0 1.000 1.000
Perez, Antonio            OAK    5  .417    12    5   1   0   0    0    2    0   0    2    4  .500  .400
Kendall, Jason            OAK   73  .309   275   85   8   1   0   16   30    3   3   23   21  .345  .360
Kielty, Bobby             OAK   61  .305   249   76  14   6   7   17   53    1   0   43   33  .494  .356
Bradley, Milton           OAK   76  .304   312   95  11   3  17   33   65    5   1   52   47  .522  .374
Stewart, Shannon          OAK   68  .297   263   78   9   2   4   14   31    6   0   28   26  .392  .331
Scutaro, Marco            OAK   68  .293   225   66  10   5   3   26   42    3   1   30   20  .422  .367
Durazo, Erubiel           OAK   74  .272   261   71  11   1  10   33   53    0   0   33   35  .437  .354
Piazza, Mike              OAK   28  .254    59   15   5   0   2    1   11    0   0    6   14  .441  .267
Thomas, Charles           OAK    3  .250     8    2   1   0   0    1    0    2   0    3    0  .375  .333
Swisher, Nick             OAK   77  .234   290   68  11   0  16   45   76    0   0   38   41  .438  .344
Ellis, Mark               OAK   75  .234   286   67  16   2   7   24   64    2   0   34   35  .378  .299
German, Esteban           OAK   34  .224   107   24   7   1   1    5   19    1   3   14   10  .336  .272
Jimenez, D'Angelo         OAK   55  .215   172   37   8   1   2   34   31    0   0   19   21  .308  .357
Crosby, Bobby             OAK   11  .171    41    7   2   0   2    4    9    0   0    4    7  .366  .244
Johnson, Dan              OAK    6  .111     9    1   0   0   0    0    1    0   0    0    1  .111  .111
Kata, Matt                OAK    3  .000     3    0   0   0   0    0    1    0   0    0    0  .000  .000
Haren, Danny              OAK    2  .000     2    0   0   0   0    0    0    0   0    0    0  .000  .000
Harden, Rich              OAK    2  .000     4    0   0   0   0    0    3    0   0    0    0  .000  .000
Windsor, Jason            OAK    3  .000     1    0   0   0   0    0    1    0   0    0    0  .000  .000
Blanton, Joe              OAK   10  .000     1    0   0   0   0    0    0    0   0    0    0  .000  .000 


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Oakland Pitching Stats

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2007 Pitching            Team     IP   ERA    G  GS   W   L  SV    K   BB   R/9
Street, Huston            OAK   20.1  1.33   24   0   2   1  16   21    5 13.72
Gaudin, Chad              OAK   47.1  2.66   30   0   2   0   0   28   22 11.22
Embree, Alan              OAK   38.2  3.49   35   0   3   0   0   33   16 11.64
Duchscherer, Justin       OAK   42.2  4.22   33   1   2   1   1   38    8 12.66
Casilla, Santiago         OAK   17.2  4.58   10   0   0   1   0   21    6 14.26
Calero, Kiko              OAK   34.1  5.50   32   0   1   1   1   44   20 15.99
Haren, Danny              OAK  105.1  5.64   17  17   3  10   0   88   13 11.79
Windsor, Jason            OAK   82.2  5.88   15  14   5   5   0   67   28 14.59
Blanton, Joe              OAK   70.1  6.65   18   8   3   3   1   30   26 14.72
Harden, Rich              OAK   88.1  7.03   18  18   5   7   0   67   60 17.42
Robertson, Connor         OAK   38.2  8.61    9   7   2   5   0   19   38 19.09
Dunn, Scott               OAK   11.1  8.74    7   0   1   1   0   14    9 17.47 


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July 1st 2007
Seattle Mariners(35-43) @ Oakland Athletics(33-44)
Mariners 8 - A's 7
WP: Jon Huber (3-2)
LP: Huston Street (2-2)

Lots of early scoring in this game. 14 runs total in the first 4 innings. Then the scoring stopped and the game went to extras where Huston Street gave up and unearned run and took the loss. Erubial Durazo had home run and German continues to impress going 4-4 with RBI.

July 2nd 2007
Seattle Mariners(36-43) @ Oakland Athletics(33-45)
Mariners 9 - A's 8
WP: Arthur Rhodes (2-0)
LP: Santiago Casilla (0-2)
SV: J.J. Putz (15)

Another slugfest where if you played in the game you got a hit. The pitching staffs both stuggled but we couldn't come out on top losing by 1 run again. Another good day from German who went 2-4 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI on the day.

A trade.

Cincinatti sends:

Brandon Phillips 2B

Cleveland sends:

Asdrubal Cabrera 2B
Vinny Alvarado CF

Cincinatti gets youth with Asdrubal and Cleveland #2 pick in the draft this year with Alvarado. Cleveland gets the established player in Phillips. Another one that will take time.

July 3rd 2007
Seattle Mariners(37-43) @ Oakland Athletics(33-46)
Mariners 4 - A's 8
WP: Connor Robertson (3-5)
LP: Justin Thomas (1-1)
SV: Huston Street (17)

Erubial Durazo and Milton Bradley both went deep. Bradley went 4-4 with 4RBI as well. Robertson made a good start giving up 4 runs, 2ER, in 6.2 innings. Street came into a jam in the ninth and shut the M's down for his 17th save.

A tough week at 2-4 but it seems like this team won't be jelling this year and I have already started planning for next year and the future. I have month to make some more trades to set us up.

July 4th -July 10th 2007

Another tough week before we get to the All Star Break. We have 3 at the Tigers and then 4 at the division leading Rangers who have really heated up lately. A couple wins would be nice.

July 4th 2007
Oakland Athletics(34-46) @ Detroit Tigers(30-50)
A's 4 - Tigers 5
WP: Joel Zumaya (3-5)
LP: Alan Embree (3-1)
SV: Todd Jones (17)

Danny Haren had to be scratched because of a sore back. The bullpeb did a good job in the game but gave up one too many runs. The offense was decent but needed to push across a few more hits and runs. Shannon Stewart led the offense with a home run and two RBI.

Jason Windsor strained his back today and is expected to be out for a couple starts. We decided to play it safe and put him on the 15 day DL. I called up
Jay Marshall from AA to make a couple starts until Windsor comes back. The 24 year old Marshall is 9-2 with a 3.27 ERA in 113 innings pitched this year. He will be making his first major league appearance and start in two days.

A little trade today:

New YorkN sends:

Bobby Parnell P

Cincinatti sends:

Javier Valentin C

New York were looking for a veteran catcher. Cincinatti has been trading a lot of veterans for youth and nothing changes here. Cincinatti gets the youth and edge.

July 5th 2007
Oakland Athletics(34-47) @ Detroit Tigers(31-50)
A's 3 - Tigers 1
WP: Rich Harden (6-7)
LP: Nate Robertson (4-7)
SV: Huston Street (18)

Rich Harden looks like the Ace we need him to be. He goes a very strong 7 innings allowing 1ER on a solo shot by Magglio Ordonez. Huston Street shuts the door in the ninth for his 18th save. The offense was paced by Nick Swisher who hit two home runs on the day and had all three RBIs for us. A nice road win.

It doesn't appear as though Craig Biggio will getting his 3000th hit this year as he suffered a major shoulder separation and will be out for the remainder of the the season.

Bernie Williams will be making his comeback but not for the Yankees. He signs a 1yr/$2.45M deal with the St. Louis Cardinals.

July 6th 2007
Oakland Athletics(35-47) @ Detroit Tigers(31-51)
A's 1 - Tigers 9
WP: Justin Verlander (4-5)
LP: Jay Marshall (0-1)

Jay Marshall steps in and tosses a decent game in his first major league start. He goes 6 innings and gives up 4ER. Would have liked a little better but not bad for a rookie just being called up. The offense did nothing. Jason Kendall had most of the hits going 3-4.

Some trade news:

Detroit sends:

Marcus Thames RF

Toronto sends:

Jeremy Accardo P

Toronto gets a little offesnse to help them make the push in the AL East. Detroit shores up their poor bullpen for the future. I'd say advantage Toronto because they need more offense than pitching and Accardo isn't going to help in Detroit as of now.

July 7th 2007
Oakland Athletics(35-48) @ Texas Rangers(47-37)
A's 7 - Rangers 2
WP: Santiago Casilla (1-2)
LP: Joaquin Benoit (4-3)

A very solid effort by Joe Blanton who went 8 innings and gave up only 1ER. He left the game with a run one lead and passed the baton to Street. Unfortunately our shut down closer gave up a run to blow a save. The game continued scoreless until the 13th inning when we blew up for 5 runs in the top to take the game. Mark Ellis hit his 8th homer and Dan Johnson hit a pinch hit homer for his first of the season. A very nice win against the division leaders.

July 8th 2007
Oakland Athletics(36-48) @ Texas Rangers(47-38)
A's 5 - Rangers 1
WP: Connor Robertson (4-5)
LP: Jamey Wright (5-3)

Back to Back solid starts from the rotation. Conor Robertson went a great 8 innings and gave up the 1ER that Texas scored. The offense was sparked by Bradley who went 2-4 with 2 RBI on the day. Very exciting to beat the division leaders two games in a row. Gives some hope for the future.

July 9th 2007
Oakland Athletics(37-48) @ Texas Rangers(47-39)
A's 5 - Rangers 12
WP: Edinson Volquez (1-0)
LP: Danny Haren (3-11)

Another bad start from Danny Haren. Another 8ER in just 2.1 innings pitched. He is not doing the job. Nick Swisher has been hitting for a lot of power this year and has his 19th homer of the year. The only bright spot today.

Another White Sox deal:

ChicagoA sends:

Rob Mackowiak IF

Minnesota sends:

Kevin West CF
Erik Lis 1B
Denard Span CF

Mackowiak is a solid infielder defensively who will help the Twins in their hunt for the AL central title. The White Sox get some potential for the future with a couple quick CF and powerful young 1B. Give it time to develop.

July 10th 2007
Oakland Athletics(37-49) @ Texas Rangers(48-39)
A's 4 - Rangers 3
WP: Rich Harden (7-7)
LP: Kevin Millwood (6-7)
SV: Huston Street (19)

Another nice start from Rich Harden. He goes 7 innings and gives up only 1ER. He struck out 6 batters as well. These are the kinds of streaks we need Rich Harden to go on. Erubial Durazo powered the offesnse going 3-4 with his 13th home run and two RBI. Street picks up his 19th save with a perfect ninth.

To take 3 out of 4 against the Rangers is very nice. To take 3 out of 4 on the road against the Rangers is excellent. I am very happy with the team before the all star break. Overall a 4-3 road trip is nice no matter who you play or what your record is. On that note, we may not have a great record and we may not make the playoffs. That is fine because I feel like the team is starting to take the shape I want.

http://content.answers.com/main/cont...eague_Logo.gif
2007 AL vs. NL Allstar Game
@ AT&T Park San Francisco, CA
Home of the San Francisco Giants
http://www.phantom9.us/uclasportsbus...ATT%20Park.jpg


American League Allstars

Starters

1. C - Kenji Johjima - Seattle Mariners
2. 1B - Travis Hafner - Cleveland Indians
3. 2B - Tadahito Iguchi - Chicago White Sox
4. 3B - Alex Rodriguez - New York Yankees
5. SS - Carlos Guillen - Detroit Tigers
6. LF - Jason Bay - Boston Red Sox
7. CF - Milton Bradley - Oakland Athletics
8. RF - Bobby Abreu - New York Yankees
9. SP - Kyle Farnsworth - New York Yankees

Positional Reserves
David Ortiz - BOS, Miguel Tejada - BAL, Jamey Carroll - KCR, Vladimir Guerrero - LAA, Justin Morneau MIN, Rocco Baldelli - TBD, Troy Glaus TOR, Mark Texeira - TEX

Pitcher Reserves
Roger Clemens - BOS, Johan Santana - MIN, Mike Mussina - NYY, B.J. Ryan - TOR, Jake Westbrook - CLE, Curt Schilling - BOS, Eric Gagne - TEX, Mariano Rivera - NYY, Fernando Cabrera - CLE, Jesse Crain - MIN

National League Allstars

Starters

1. C - Josh Bard - San Diego Padres
2. 1B - Lance Berkman - Houston Astros
3. 2B - Ray Durham - San Francisco Giants
4. 3B - Scott Rolen - St Louis Cardinals
5. SS - Stephen Drew - Arizona Diamondbacks
6. LF - Barry Bonds - San Francisco Giants
7. CF - Carlos Beltran - New York Mets
8. RF - Bill Hall - Milwaukee Brewers
9. SP - Carlos Zambrano - Chicago Cubs

Positional Reserves
David Wright - NYM, Aramis Ramirez - CHC, Andruw Jones - ATL, Ken Griffey Jr. - CIN, Todd Helton - COL, Miguel Cabrera - FLA, Jeff Kent - LAD, Aaron Rowand - PHI, Jose Bautista - PIT, Nick Johnson - WSN

Pitcher Reserves
Randy Johnson - ARI, Ben Sheets - MIL, Jake Peavy - SDP, Jason Schmidt - SFG, Ryan Dempster - CHC, Dan Wheeler - HOU, Blaine Boyer - ATL, Jorge Julio - FLA

The American League came out on top 11-7 to continue their dominance in the All Star Game. Kenji Johjima of the Mariners was named the games Most Valuable Player. He went 3-5 with a home run and 2 RBI in the game. Here is the boxscore for the game:

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American League All Stars at National League All Stars
July 12, 2007

                     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 +  R  H  E
      All Stars (AL) 4 4 0 0 0 0 3 0 0   11 13  0
      All Stars (NL) 0 2 0 0 0 3 1 1 0    7 14  0

AMERICAN LEAGUE      ab  h bb  r hr bi  k sb     avg
B. Abreu (RF)         5  2  1  2  1  2  0  0    .320
C. Guillen (SS)       6  3  0  2  0  0  1  0    .301
A. Rodriguez (3B)     5  1  1  0  0  0  2  0    .281
T. Hafner (1B)        4  0  1  0  0  0  3  0    .322
J. Bay (LF)           2  0  3  2  0  0  0  0    .302
K. Johjima (C)        5  3  0  1  1  2  0  0    .315
M. Bradley (CF)       2  1  3  1  0  1  0  0    .298
T. Iguchi (2B)        4  1  1  1  0  1  0  0    .318
K. Farnsworth (P)     0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .000
 D. Ortiz (P)         2  1  0  1  1  1  1  0    .315
 M. Mussina (P)       0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .000
 J. Santana (P)       0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .143
 J. Morneau (P)       1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .378
 B. Ryan (P)          0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .000
 M. Mussina (P)       0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .000
 V. Guerrero (P)      1  1  0  1  0  1  0  0    .308
 J. Crain (P)         0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .000
 R. Baldelli (P)      1  0  0  0  0  0  1  0    .282
 F. Cabrera (P)       0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .000
 E. Gagne (P)         0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .000
TOTALS               38 13 10 11  3  8  8  0

   2B:  V. Guerrero
   HR:  K. Johjima, B. Abreu, D. Ortiz
   GIDP:  T. Hafner, M. Bradley

                   ip  h bb hr  r er  k pit    ERA
   K. Farnsworth  1.0  0  1  0  0  0  2  22   3.91
      M. Mussina  3.0  7  3  2  5  5  1  74   3.91
      J. Santana  1.0  0  0  0  0  0  1  13   3.55
         B. Ryan  1.0  1  0  0  0  0  1  19   0.89
        J. Crain  1.0  3  0  0  1  1  2  29   2.17
      F. Cabrera  1.0  2  1  0  1  1  2  41   2.51
        E. Gagne  1.0  1  0  0  0  0  2  20   2.21
          TOTALS  9.0 14  5  2  7  7 11 218

NATIONAL LEAGUE      ab  h bb  r hr bi  k sb     avg
C. Beltran (CF)       4  0  2  1  0  0  2  0    .242
S. Rolen (3B)         2  0  1  0  0  0  0  1    .326
 A. Jones (P)         2  1  0  0  0  0  1  0    .270
L. Berkman (1B)       4  2  1  2  0  0  1  0    .331
B. Bonds (LF)         5  2  0  1  0  1  2  0    .313
S. Drew (SS)          5  2  0  1  1  3  2  0    .321
R. Durham (2B)        5  1  0  1  0  0  1  0    .308
B. Hall (RF)          3  2  0  1  1  2  0  0    .273
 K. Griffey (P)       2  1  0  0  0  1  1  0    .253
J. Bard (C)           2  1  0  0  0  0  0  0    .282
 A. Ramirez (P)       2  1  0  0  0  0  0  0    .279
C. Zambrano (P)       0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .163
 R. Johnson (P)       0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .207
 M. Cabrera (P)       0  0  1  0  0  0  0  0    .338
 J. Peavy (P)         0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .231
 D. Wright (P)        1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .316
 R. Johnson (P)       0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .207
 T. Helton (P)        1  1  0  0  0  0  0  0    .309
 R. Dempster (P)      0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .000
 B. Boyer (P)         1  0  0  0  0  0  1  0    .000
 D. Wheeler (P)       1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .000
TOTALS               40 14  5  7  2  7 11  1

   2B:  B. Hall, A. Ramirez
   HR:  S. Drew, B. Hall
   HBP:  A. Ramirez
   GIDP:  B. Bonds

                   ip  h bb hr  r er  k pit    ERA
     C. Zambrano  1.0  3  3  1  4  4  0  42   3.26
      R. Johnson  2.0  6  2  2  4  4  4  71   4.95
        J. Peavy  3.0  1  1  0  0  0  0  46   3.80
     R. Dempster  0.2  3  2  0  3  3  0  42   1.39
        B. Boyer  1.1  0  2  0  0  0  2  26   1.74
      D. Wheeler  1.0  0  0  0  0  0  2  16   2.39
          TOTALS  9.0 13 10  3 11 11  8 243

     WP: K. Farnsworth
     LP: C. Zambrano

     Temperature: 78F
     Wind: 4 MPH (in from left)
     Attendance: 41,503
     Time: 4:59 


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It was exciting to see all of Milton Bradleys hard work pay off and result in an All Star Game appearance. On top of that to be named a starter in CF and go 1-2 with 3 walks and an RBI was incredible. Congratulation to Milton on his accomlishment!

In a bit of funny news the White Sox took advantage of the break and one of their players making the All Star Game:

ChicagoA sends:

Tadahito Iguchi 2B

Cleveland sends:

Andy Pratt P
Rafael Perez P
Manuel Agellegos P

Cleveland picks up an All Star 2B who is having a great season and should be productive for a few more years. Chicago picks up a couple decent arms with Pratt and Perez and Clevelands 3rd round pick in this years draft. I'm giving it to Cleveland who got the better player and he will make an immediate impact.

Another boring sunday. I'm trying to get through the first season very quickly so I can start my team on the path I want.
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July 13th - July 17th 2007

We have a four game series after the break at home with the Yankees to close out the week. The Yankees are hot and tied atop the AL East with the Red Sox. Should be a tough matchup.

July 13th 2007
An off day for the players to get back to Oakland for our series with New York. Maybe we can take a game or two and help out the Red Sox in the AL East race.

In order to make room for young speedster Ryan Goleski in the Lineup I traded Shannon Stewart to the Nationals. It looked like this:

Oakland sends:

Shannon Stewart LF
John Koronka P

Washington sends:

Esmailyn Gonzalez SS
Jhonny Nunez P

Stewart was only making 1M so it was a bargain for the Nats and Koronka wasn't going to be in my plans. I got two real young prospects who can etiher hit or miss. I'm pretty happy with this deal. With the move I will be calling up Hiram Bocachia to fill in from the bench.

July 14th 2007
New York Yankees(52-36) @Oakland Athletics(38-49)
Yankees 6 - A's 2
WP: Chien-Ming Wang (8-5)
LP: Danny Haren (3-12)

I don't expect much from the team in this series. Haren could have done a bit better as he gave up all 6ER in just 4.2 innings pitched. The bullpen is rested after the break and doesn't let up a run for their time in the game. The lone bit of offense came from Durazo who hit his 14th home run and drove in the teams 2 runs.

July 15th 2007
New York Yankees(53-36) @Oakland Athletics(38-50)
Yankees 1 - A's 7
WP: Rich Harden (8-7)
LP: Andy Pettitte (5-6)

Looks like Rich Harden is finally starting to get it going. He shuts down the Yankees for 6 innings allowing 1ER on 5 hits with 8 strikeouts. A very nice job against a tough Yankees squad. On offense we had a very good day from most of our guys. New leadoff man Goleski went 2-5 with 3 RBI on the day. Two fo those hits were doubles. I hope he can keep on doing this for my squad. Kilety, Bradley and Kendall also had good days chipping in two hits a piece.

July 16th 2007
New York Yankees(53-37) @Oakland Athletics(39-50)
Yankees 2 - A's 3
WP: Justin Duchscherer (3-1)
LP: Mariano Rivera (3-4)

Rookie Jay Marshall was in line for his first major league win going into the ninth. Marshall had let up 1ER in 7 innings pitched while striking out 6 Yankees batters. That was all lost when Huston Street blew another save and the game went to extra innings. The team didn't give up and in the 11th inning Marco Scutaro got the Mo Rivera and singled in Jason Kendall to win the game. Another very nice win!

July 16th 2007
New York Yankees(53-38) @Oakland Athletics(40-50)
Yankees 15 - A's 13
WP: Kyle Farnsworth (8-0)
LP: Santiago Casilla (1-3)
SV: Mariano Rivera (26)

A traditional slugfest at the Colliseum in Oakland. Unfortunately the Yankees came out on top. There were 9 home runs put into the stands in the game. For the A's it was Ellis, Johnson, Scutaro and Goleski. Goleski hit his first career home run. It was an inside the park job and a grand slam to boot. What an exciting play. Johnson also hit his second pinch hit home run of the season That is what I was hoping he could do until I can clear up that spot at 1B for him. Joe Blanton looked horrible again letting up 9ER. To be fair no pitcher looked good in this game.

I can't ask for more than a 2-2 series against the Yankees. They are a tough club and could have probably taken all four if they were clicking. My team has the heart now we just need a little more talent and starting pitching. Up next is a road trip to Tampa and Cleveland.

I'm bored and getting borderline obsessive with posting.
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July 18th - July 24th 2007

A tough road trip not that there is such a thing as an easy one. We have 3 against the Rays and 3 against the Indians. Maybe grab a few from these two tough teams.

July 18th 2007

Big Trade for me today. Pittsburgh called today and had a very good trade offer for me. I took some time and looked over the players involved. I called back and offered a slightly different trade where I received an additional player and I'll explain why after this:

Oakland sends:

Mark Ellis 2B
Charles Thomas LF
Mike Piazza C
Alan Embree P

Pittsburgh sends:

Jack Wilson SS
Jose Castillo 2B

I wanted a replacement 2B for Ellis who will be leaving in the deal so I asked for Castillo and he had no problem. Wilson in my opinion is a plus-plus defender. He has the range and arm to play any infield position. He can also hit for contact decently and has a bit of pop in his bat. I really wanted his defense and that essentially made the deal for me. He is also only 29, very durable and making about 5.5M for the next 5 years which is a good deal for me. I've wanted to dump Piazza for a while as many of you know and the others are all older veterans who I can do without. I'm not really sure what the Pirates were thinking except that most of their contracts are about to expire. I'll have to figure something out when Crosby comes back in few weeks.

Another Allstar player was traded to today:

Detroit sends:

Carlos Guillen SS

Toronto sends:

John Ford-Griffin 1B
Spence Nemerovski CF

Carlos Guillen will help the Jays at the one position they seem to be lacking at. He will start for them and maybe help them make the push in that very competitive division. Griffin is a 27 year old 1B who has appeared to reach his ceiling. Nemerovski is what the tigers were after. He was the Jays 1 round pick(20th overall) in this years draft. His ceiling is very high and may be a star for the Tigers in the future.

Also Miguel Tejada drove in his 1000th career run today. Congrats Miggy!

July 19th 2007
Oakland Athletics(40-51) @ Tampa Bay Rays(49-43)
A's 4 - Rays 2
WP: Danny Haren (4-12)
LP: Jon Switzer (0-1)
SV: Huston Street (20)

I see glimpses of ability from Danny Haren but nothing too consistent. Today was one of those glimpses. He went a very strong 7.2 innings and gave up 2ER while striking out 8. A rare nice start. Huston Street cleaned up in the 9th for his 20th save. New addition Jack Wilson had a great day at the plate going 4-4 with an RBI. The rest of the offense was in sync as well getting 14 hits on the day. Nice job today!

July 20th 2007
Oakland Athletics(41-51) @ Tampa Bay Rays(49-44)
A's 3 - Rays 4
WP: Bronson Arroyo (3-13)
LP: Rich Harden (8-8)
SV: Juan Salas (22)

A tough day for Harden as he didn't have his control. He gave up 7 hits and 6 walks in 4.2 innings pitched. He couldn't go much further because he had to throw so many pitches so early. I'd say as long as he can work out some of his control issues he will be very effective. It is usually his pitch count that gets him. The offense had a god amount of hits but couldn't push enough of them across. Kendall was the star on offense today going 2-3 with 2RBI.

July 21st 2007
Oakland Athletics(41-52) @ Tampa Bay Rays(50-44)
A's 3 - Rays 4
WP: Jason Hammel (1-0)
LP: Santiago Casilla (1-4)
SV: Juan Salas (23)

Another slugfest we fall just short in. Jay Marshall got roughed up and will be sent back to the minors only because Jason Windsor is ready to come back from the DL. He went 3 innings and gave up 8ER. We hope this won't hurt his confidence because I'm sure he can be a very effective pitcher for us in the future. The offense looked real good again but like I said fell just short. Jack Wilson continues to rip the ball for us going 3-4 with 3 RBI. Durazo put in an excellent effort going 4-4 with a walk and scoring 4 times on the day. Backup catcher Jeremy Brown also hit his first homer of the year in a pinch hit situation.

Another Allstar on the move:

Washington sends:

Nick Johnson 1B

Cleveland sends:

Franklin Gutierrez CF

Cleveland gets a veteran power 1B that they need because of an injury to Ryan Garko that ended his season a couple months back. Travis Hafner has also been fighting nagging injuries so Johnson will help out. The Nats get a future CF who can play now but will continue to develop for the future.

July 22nd 2007
Oakland Athletics(41-53) @ Cleveland Indians(51-45)
A's 1 - Indians 5
WP: Jake Westbrook (11-3)
LP: Joe Blanton (3-4)
SV: Joe Borowski (20)

Blanton struggles again and lets up all 5ER in just 4.2 innings. The bullpen does nicely not letting the Indians pull away further. Jake Westbrook shut down my team and only let up a home run to Milton Bradley, his 19th of the year.

Bobby Crosby came off the DL today and was sent to AAA Sacramento. He will probably spend a week or so there and we will re-evalute based on his performance.

July 23rd 2007
Oakland Athletics(41-54) @ Cleveland Indians(52-45)
A's 6 - Indians 8
WP: Fernando Cabrera (4-0)
LP: Santiago Casilla (1-5)

Robertson didn't perform well but the offense supported him. Robertson went 6 innings giving up 5ER and was in position to win but Huston Street struggled in the 9th again. He gave up the game tying home run to send the game to extra frames. In the 11th, the Indians pushed across two run s on a home run given up by Casilla to take the win. Bradley went 4-5 on the day and Kendall went 3-4 to help the offense. Scutaro and German also got two hits a piece.

July 24th 2007
Oakland Athletics(41-55) @ Cleveland Indians(53-45)
A's 6 - Indians 8
WP: Paul Byrd (8-11)
LP: Danny Haren (4-13)

After a good start in his last outing Haren reverts back to the usual. He goes 4.1 giving up 8ER. Not very impressive at all. These last couple of poor starts have started to take a toll on the pen and it shows as they struggled giving up 7ER in the game. The offense still performed as Swisher put out two home runs and Durazo put one out as well. They got 15 hits on the day and just couldn't take advantage of the baserunners.

The White Sox continue to unload their players as they sit in last place:

ChicagoA sends:

Juan Uribe SS

San Diego sends:

Kevin Kouzmanoff 3B
Cedric Hunter
Matt Bush

Uribe is a solid shortstop who can help the Padres compete in the NL West. The three players the Sox received can all develop and play a big role in the White Sox future. Mutually benefical but the Sox may have gotten the better end of this deal.

The week started off nice but didn't stay on that trend. 1-5 is not good but now we are just positioning for a great draft pick next year. I also am going to be seeing what some of the young guys can do. I'm thinking a few trades will be coming before the deadline next week as well.

July 25th - July 31st 2007

This should be a pretty active week as teams look to load up for playoff run and others look to dump and build for the future. I should definitely be making a few moves. On tap for games are 3 at home with the Royals and 4 with the Indians. A couple wins would be nice especially against the Royals.

July 25th 2007
Kansas City Royals(42-56) @ Oakland Athletics(41-56)
Royals 3 - A's 1
WP: Brian Bannister (2-6)
LP: Brad Halsey (0-1)
SV: George Sherrill (20)

Rich Harden looked good going 7 innings and letting up 1ER. He also struck out a season high 12 batters in the game. Brian Bannister pitched a little better and let up 1ER in 8 innings. Durazo went deep for his 16th home run. Jack Wilson continues to be hot going 2-4 on the day.

A trade:

Washington sends:

Ron Belliard 2B

Florida sends:

Bradley McCann 1B

Not really sure what florida is doing. A young 1B prospect for an old 2B. Oh well!

July 26th 2007
Kansas City Royals(43-56) @ Oakland Athletics(41-57)
Royals 12 - A's 3
WP: Luke Hudson (6-6)
LP: Jason Windsor (5-6)

Jason Windsor struggles and gives up 8ER in 4.1 innings. I've stopped having expectations for these guys. They aren't going to give me anything and if they do I hope it can carry over to the future. Wilson and Swisher drove in the only earned runs on the day.

July 27th 2007
Kansas City Royals(44-56) @ Oakland Athletics(41-58)
Royals 2 - A's 12
WP: Joe Blanton (4-4)
LP: Odalis Perez (4-9)

Joe Blanton pitches well and the offense hit on all cylinders. Blanton went 7 innings and gave up just 2ER. On O, Goleski went 4-5 from the leadoff spot hitting a home run,scoring three times and driving in three as well. Erubial Durazo had a great day too going 3-5 with a homer and 4 RBI. A nice win to end the series with the Royals.

A couple of trades to share:

Minnesota sends:

Garrett Jones 1B
David Winfree 3B
Trevor Plouffe SS

Washington sends:

Chris Michalak P

An effective old pitcher to the Twins to gelp wrap up the division. Nats get some youth but nothing to exciting.

Los AngelesN sends:

Scott Elbert P

Kansas City sends:

Eliezer Alfonzo C

Kansas City completes a nice little flip on Alfonzo who they got from the Giants earlier this year. In return for the solid catcher they get a young pitcher who can have a big impact in the future.

ChicagoN sends:

Brian Dopirak 1B

ChicagoA sends:

Luis Terrero CF

Another Windy city deal as the Cubs get a speedy and good hitting CF who hasn't been performing like the Sox wanted. The White Sox get a young contact hitting 1B who can field well.

July 28th 2007
Cleveland Indians(55-47) @ Oakland Athletics(42-58)
Indians 8 - A's 2
WP: Cliff Lee (4-6)
LP: Connor Robertson (4-6)

Robertson put in the norm giving up 8R, 6ER, in 4.2 innings pitched. The offense was decent getting 7 hits on the day. Nick Swisher led the way with a solo shot.

Edgar Renteria scored the 1000th run of his career today. Congrats Error...umm Edgar!

I was on the phone for a bit shopping Bobby Crosby. St Louis was interested because of Ecksteins lack of production. I added in a player and came out with this deal:

Oakland sends:

Bobby Crosby SS
Kazuhito Tadano P

St Louis sends:

Blake Hawksworth P

Crosby no longer had a spot on my team with the addition of Wilson. Tadano also was not going to have much impact here. Hawksworth is a solid minor leaguer with a bright future ahead of him, IMO.

July 29th 2007
Cleveland Indians(56-47) @ Oakland Athletics(42-59)
Indians 4 - A's 8
WP: Danny Haren (5-13)
LP: Paul Byrd (8-12)

Danny Haren pitches decently and gets the benefit of a nice offensive game. Haren went 6 innings and gave up all 4 of Clevelands runs. Milton Bradley and Nick Swisher drove in two a piece for the A's. Although Goleski went 0-2 he was still productive walking 3 times and scoring each of those times.

A little big:

Cincinatti sends:

B.J. Syzmanski CF
Matt Belisle P
Brian Shackelford P
Phil Dumatrait P
Jeff Conine LF
Wil Witherden 1B
Drew Anderson 2B

Arizona sends:

Jose Valverde P
Livan Hernandez P

Lots of salaries and talent switching here. Arizona restocks a bit. Cincinatti gets a good reliever and some money off their budget at the end of the season.

July 30th 2007
Cleveland Indians(56-48) @ Oakland Athletics(43-59)
Indians 10 - A's 2
WP: C.C. Sabathia (8-8)
LP: Rich Harden (8-9)

Harden pitches decently in his 6 innings giving up 4ER. He did not get the support from the offense though. The only bright spot on the day was Ryan Goleski. He went 3-3 with a walk and an RBI on the day.

A trade:

Baltimore sends:

Aubrey Huff 3B

Florida sends:

Sergio Mitre P

Not really sure what Florida is doing yet. Although Mitre is not anything special Huff is not exceptionally good and make much more money. Maybe they are preparing for Miguel Cabrera to leave.

July 31st 2007
Cleveland Indians(57-48) @ Oakland Athletics(43-60)
Indians 5 - A's 8
WP: Chad Gaudin (3-0)
LP: Matt Miller (5-3)
SV: Huston Street (21)

Windsor pitched well in 6 innings giving up 3R, 1ER. The offense kicked into gear late in the game pushing 3 across in the 7th to take the lead for good. Ryan Goleski continues to hit hot and goes 2-5 with 2 runs scored. Nick Swisher smashes his 23rd homer of the season to go along with 3 RBI.


I had been holding out on the Blue Jays all week. J.P. called and called and called. He wanted Danny Haren badly. I kept refusing until he upped the ante at the deadline. It worked:

Oakland sends:

Danny Haren P
Juan Dominguez P

Toronto sends:

Josh Banks P
Ty Taubenheim P
Graham Godfrey P
Ricky Romero P

J.P. needed another starter to round out his rotation and Haren is short money for the next few years. Haren is still only 26 years old and J.P. wasn't discouraged by his performance here in Oakland. Haren will probably be successful and I hope he is but I was ready to move on. I got 2 high level prospects and 2 mid level prospects. They are all starters and if even one develops to where I hope this trade will be great for my team.

The week for the team wasn't very successful. I was concentrating more on making moves to provide a brighter future for the club. I got some very solid prospects and a great player in Wilson. Now the stretch run to the end of the season.

August 1st - August 7th 2007

The week starts with an off day and then we have a road trip to KC and to Minnesota. Not too much expected on the trip but a win or two would be nice.

Some league business:

American League Standings
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...15/BB2K8-8.jpg

National League Standings
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...15/BB2K8-9.jpg

League Leaders
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...5/BB2K8-10.jpg

Oakland Batting Stats:

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2007 Batting             Team    G   AVG    AB    H  2B  3B  HR   BB    K   SB  CS    R  RBI   SLG   OBP
Bradley, Milton           OAK  103  .290   431  125  12   3  19   42   91    9   1   61   61  .464  .355
Wilson, Jack              OAK  106  .306   421  129  25   3   7   34   46    1   1   55   31  .430  .361
Swisher, Nick             OAK  104  .240   400   96  20   0  23   58   94    0   1   58   59  .463  .343
Kendall, Jason            OAK  100  .301   382  115  13   1   0   21   39    3   4   39   32  .340  .345
Kielty, Bobby             OAK   86  .285   362  103  24   6   7   24   73    2   0   53   44  .442  .334
Durazo, Erubiel           OAK  101  .288   354  102  16   1  17   54   78    0   0   57   55  .483  .380
Scutaro, Marco            OAK   94  .306   314   96  16   7   4   37   56    4   1   48   31  .439  .381
Castillo, Jose            OAK   90  .205   302   62  10   1   4   27   69    2   1   26   24  .285  .278
German, Esteban           OAK   61  .276   199   55  15   2   1   15   35    4   5   28   19  .387  .336
Jimenez, D'Angelo         OAK   56  .227   176   40   8   1   2   34   31    0   0   20   21  .318  .364
Goleski, Ryan             OAK   22  .325    83   27   8   1   2    8   12    1   0   12   18  .518  .385
Johnson, Dan              OAK   14  .200    15    3   0   0   2    1    3    0   0    3    5  .600  .250
Perez, Antonio            OAK    6  .429    14    6   1   0   0    0    2    1   0    2    4  .500  .412
Kata, Matt                OAK    6  .000     5    0   0   0   0    0    2    0   0    0    0  .000  .000 


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Oakland Pitching stats:

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2007 Pitching            Team     IP   ERA    G  GS   W   L  SV    K   BB   R/9
Street, Huston            OAK   29.0  1.86   33   0   2   2  21   26    6 12.72
Gaudin, Chad              OAK   60.2  2.67   41   1   3   0   0   32   29 11.42
Halsey, Brad              OAK   10.1  4.35    6   0   0   1   0    7    9 13.94
Duchscherer, Justin       OAK   56.2  4.45   47   1   3   1   1   59   11 12.55
Calero, Kiko              OAK   52.1  4.82   45   0   1   1   1   66   27 14.62
Harden, Rich              OAK  124.2  5.85   24  24   8   9   0  109   78 16.24
Marshall, Jay             OAK   17.0  6.35    3   3   0   1   0    8    8 14.29
Windsor, Jason            OAK   97.0  6.40   18  17   5   6   0   77   37 15.31
Blanton, Joe              OAK   98.2  6.66   23  13   4   4   1   40   31 14.50
Casilla, Santiago         OAK   42.0  6.86   25   0   1   5   0   43   16 15.86
Robertson, Connor         OAK   64.0  7.17   13  11   4   6   0   33   57 17.02
Dunn, Scott               OAK   11.1  8.74    7   0   1   1   0   14    9 17.47
Puffer, Brandon           OAK    3.2  9.82    4   0   0   0   0    1    3 24.55 


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August 1st 2007

The team headed to KC for the next series. I've been looking over the Minors and have been trying to decide who I am going to give a look in September. It is only the beginning of August but I want to have a list of players who will get a look in the last month.

There were also a couple last minute trades to report last night:

Boston sends:

Jed Lowrie SS

Pittsburgh sends:

Damaso Marte P

Boston needs some help in their bullpen to stay on top of the AL East. Lowrie looks like he will be a quality shortstop in the future. Remember Jack Wilson was traded my way ealier this year.

Pittsburgh sends:

Paul Maholm P

San Diego sends:

Kevin Cameron P
Mike Thompson P

Not too sure why the Padres gave up such a good young player in Thompson but Maholm is decent.

Los AngelesA sends:

Jeff Mathis C

ChicagoA sends:

Joe Crede 3B

A trade of two very good defensive players. Chicago has been dumping salary this year and are in need of a new younger catcher.

Baltimore sends:

Erik Bedard P

St Louis sends:

Anthony Reyes P

Baltimore is in last place and dumps some salary and a quality pitcher. They get back a younger pitcher who may develop into something decent. St Louis needed another starter to stay in the thick of the Wild card race.

Cincinatti sends:

Ken Griffey Jr. CF
Tyler Pelland P
Dave Weathers P
Angel Salome C
James Avery P
Ray Olmedo 2B

Florida sends:

Dustin Hermanson P
Phil Nevin 3B
Matt Treanor C

Florida has to eat some big salaries to get some decent prospects. Cincinatti gets some guys who are expiring at the end of the year. Not too sure what they are doing!

Tampa Bay sends:

Micah Hernaiz CF
Elliot Johnson 2B
Fernando Perez CF
Thomas Jones P

Pittsburgh sends:

Adam Laroche 1B

Tampa Bay gets a very good power hitting 1B. Pittsburgh gets a big package of prospects including Tampas 3rd and 4th rounders in this years draft.

August 2nd 2007
Oakland Athletics(44-60) @ Kansas City Royals(44-60)
A's 5 - Royals 4
WP: Chad Gaudin (4-0)
LP: George Sherrill (2-4)

Game goes ten innings. Jack Wilson was the hero in the 10th as he puched across the go ahead run. He had a good day going 1-3 with a walk and two RBI. Blanton pitched ok with 6.2 innings and 4ER allowed.

August 3rd 2007
Oakland Athletics(45-60) @ Kansas City Royals(44-61)
A's 3 - Royals 14
WP: Tim Corcoran (3-5)
LP: Jay Marshall (0-2)

The Royals roughed up the pitching staff. The offense had a bunch of hits(11) but couldn't push many of them across. Ryan Goleski continues to impress since his call up. He went 2-3 on the day and is batting .330 for the year.

August 4th 2007
Oakland Athletics(45-61) @ Kansas City Royals(45-61)
A's 7 - Royals 8
WP: David Riske (2-1)
LP: Brad Halsey (0-2)

Rich Harden pitched fairly well with 3ER in 6 innings. The bullpen got beat up a bit and let the game go. Bobby Kielty was the star on offense going 2-4 with 4 RBI.

St. Louis makes some moves today. The sign Erik Bedard to a 2yr/4.7M deal. Also Scott Rolen hits the DL with a strained quad.

August 5th 2007
Oakland Athletics(45-62) @ Minnesota Twins(65-43)
A's 7 - Twins 2
WP: Jason Windsor (6-6)
LP: Jesse Crain (2-1)
SV: Huston Street (22)

Jason Windsor pitched very well over 6 innings. He gave up 2ER and struck out 6. The offense had a good day collecting 14 hits with the most important coming from Dan Johnson with a pinch hit 3RBI double. This is exactly what I wanted to see from him when I brought him up to hit off the bench.

August 6th 2007
Oakland Athletics(46-62) @ Minnesota Twins(65-44)
A's 0 - Twins 9
WP: Johan Santana (13-7)
LP: Joe Blanton (4-5)

Nothing much to report except that Johan Santana is very dominant as usual. Blanton wasn't so much as he allowed 7ER in 5 innings.

August 7th 2007
Oakland Athletics(46-63) @ Minnesota Twins(66-44)
A's 3 - Twins 8
WP: Boof Bonser (9-5)
LP: Connor Robertson (4-7)

Robertson struggles giving up 7ER in his 4.1 innings. The only bright spot on offense was Jack Wilson who went 1-4 with 2RBI.

Pretty much what I expected from the week.

August 8th - August 14th 2007

We have a homestand this week. Three games against the White Sox and then three against the Rangers. Hopefully the pitchers can start to get some consistency and confidence to lead into the last month and to look forward with for the next season.

August 8th 2007
Chicago White Sox(42-69) @ Oakland Athletics(46-64)
White Sox 3 - A's 2
WP: Bobby Jenks (2-1)
LP: Brad Halsey (0-3)

Jay Marshall pitched really well going 6.2 innings and letting up just 2ER. That was enough to get the game into extras where in the 12th inning the White Sox pushed across the game winner. The offense couldn't do very much with only Swisher and Wilson getting RBI on the day.

August 9th 2007
Chicago White Sox(43-69) @ Oakland Athletics(46-65)
White Sox 2 - A's 3
WP: Huston Street (3-2)
LP: Bobby Jenks (2-2)

Another extra innings affair. This one goes 11 innings and was won when German singled in Jeremy Brown from second base. Milton Bradley played well and collected 3 hits on the day. Rich Harden pitched well enough to win but didn't get enough support. He went 7 innings and gave up just 1ER.

August 10th 2007
Chicago White Sox(43-70) @ Oakland Athletics(47-65)
White Sox 3 - A's 4
WP: Brad Halsey (1-3)
LP: Javier Vazquez (11-12)
SV: Huston Street (23)

Jason Windsor tossed a quality start with 7 innings and 3ER. He also struck out 8 but had no run support when he left in the 7th. That changed in the 8th when we drove in all 4 runs to win the game. Both Dan Johnson and Bobby Kielty drove in 2 runs. Huston Street gets his 23rd save getting 2 outs in the 9th.

August 11th 2007

A nice offday for the team at home. We can bury the Rangers this week who have been on a freefall. They have lost 9 games in a row and now sit three games back from the Angels for first. If we can take 2 or sweep we can hurt the Rangers chances a little more. Let's go team!

August 12th 2007
Texas Rangers(57-57) @ Oakland Athletics(48-65)
Rangers 5 - A's 7
WP: Brad Halsey (2-3)
LP: Rick Bauer (2-4)

Another nice win for the team. Joe Blanton goes 6 innings and gives up 4R, 3ER. The offensive stars on the day were Castillo and Scutaro. Castillo went 2-4 with a home run. Scutaro went 4-5 with a home run and 3RBI. We keep the streak going and Texas hits 10 losses in a row.

A major milestone in a career. Detroit Tigers outfielder Gary Sheffield gets his 2500th hit of his career. Congrats Gary--We'll see you in the hall!

August 13th 2007
Texas Rangers(57-58) @ Oakland Athletics(49-65)
Rangers 7 - A's 4
WP: Omar Poveda (6-5)
LP: Jay Marshall (0-3)
SV: Eric Gagne (31)

Jay Marshall goes back to struggling. He gives up 7ER in just 4 innings pitched. Both Castillo and Wilson collected 3 hits on the day. Swisher had the production driving in 2 runs on the day. Not enough though as the Rangers break their 10 game skid.

The Blue Jays decided to lock up one of their starters today as Victor Zambrano signs a 3yr/3.15M deal. He has been pitching well and the Blue Jays are very competitive in the AL East.

August 14th 2007
Texas Rangers(58-58) @ Oakland Athletics(49-66)
Rangers 4 - A's 5
WP: Kiko Calero (2-1)
LP: Kevin Walker (0-2)

The team is going to be tired after this week. Another extra innings game that goes 14 this time. In the top of the inning, the Rangers puched across the go ahead run to take the lead at 4-3. That didn't do the job as we came back in the bottom. Jack Wilson led off with a triple and was driven in on a groundout by Milton Bradley. Nick Swisher followed with a double and after a line out by Durazo, Kielty singled in Swisher to win the game. Rich Harden pitched well again and appear to have hit a groove. He went 7 innings and only gave up 1ER. Milton Bradley was the offensive star going 2-5 with 3RBI.

A very nice week at 4-2. I like beating division rivals expecially when it hurts their playoff hopes. It has been a while since the team has been over .500 for the week and it bodes well for the future.

You mind if i use this format for my new dynasty?

Red Sox Fan 734 - Go ahead! Maybe you can make it even better. I'll definitely be reading. Any ideas on who you are going to do?
******************************************************************************** ********************

August 15th - August 21st 2007

An action packed week with 3 at home against the Tigers and then to Chicago for 4 at the White Sox. I think we can take a couple against the Tigers and 2 wins at the White Sox is very feasable. This could be another good week record wise.

August 15th 2007
Detroit Tigers(53-64) @ Oakland Athletics(50-66)
Tigers 4 - A's 5
WP: Jason Windsor (7-6)
LP: Andrew Miller (2-7)
SV: Huston Street (24)

We take the first game on a solid performance by Jason Windsor. He went 6 innings and gave up 4ER. The offense showed up just enough to pull out the one run victory. Marco Scutaro carried the load going 2-4 with a homer and 2RBI. Jack Wilson also kept hitting hot and goes 2-4 with a RBI. Huston Street pitches a perfect 9th for his 24th save.

Joe Blanton is going to be out for about a month and we may just shut him down. He separated his shoulder today after taking a hard fall in the bullpen while in a pitching session. I will be calling up Jason Ray from AAA Sacramento to take his place for the time being.

August 16th 2007
Detroit Tigers(53-65) @ Oakland Athletics(51-66)
Tigers 6 - A's 5
WP: Mike Maroth (6-8)
LP: Jason Ray (0-1)
SV: Joel Zumaya (8)

Jason Ray struggles in his first start in the majors. He gives up 6ER in 5.2 innings. Not too terrible for a guy who was just called up the day before. Hopefully we will see some better things in the near future. Bradley carried the offense with a 3 run homer. Bobby Kielty went 2-4 with 2RBI as well.

Erubial Durazo pulled his groin today in warmups and will be placed on the 15-day DL. I have called up D'angelo Jimenez. Dan Johnson will see the bulk of playing time while Durazo is out.

August 17th 2007
Detroit Tigers(54-65) @ Oakland Athletics(51-67)
Tigers 2 - A's 5
WP: Connor Robertson (5-7)
LP: Chad Durbin (0-7)
SV: Huston Street (25)

Connor Robertson pitched very well over his 8 innings in this game. He gave up 2ER on 2 solo homer runs while allowing 5 hits and 2 walks. Ryan Goleski sparked the offense from the leadoff spot going 2-3 with a homer, 2RBI and 2 runs scored. Esteban German had a good day going 2-3 with an RBI. Huston street picks up his 25th save in another perfect ninth.

The team performed very consistently, getting 5 runs in each game on offense and the pitching was there for two of the games. These are the types of series we need to have to be successful in the future. Now we head out to Chicago for four with the White Sox.

Also congratulations to Arizona rookie Chris Young who hit for the cycle tonight. He had an amazing game going 5-6 with 2 runs scored and 4 RBI. Congrats Chris on this rare feat, especially for a Rookie!

August 18th 2007
Oakland Athletics(52-67) @ Chicago White Sox(46-74)
A's 3 - White Sox 7
WP: Jose Contreras (10-8)
LP: Jay Marshall (0-4)
SV: Bobby Jenks (25)

Jay Marshall struggles again and lets up 5ER in just 4.2 innings of work. He gave up a lot of hits(11) but continues to be around the plate only walking 1. Ryan Goleski continues to shine at the plate going 3-4 with a homer. Esteban German has been performing out of the 9 hole and went 3-4 on the day.

August 19th 2007
Oakland Athletics(52-68) @ Chicago White Sox(47-74)
A's 6 - White Sox 0
WP: Rich Harden (9-9)
LP: Ray Liotta (2-9)

Rich Harden dominates the White Sox in this game. He goes 8 shutout innings while giving up 5 hits and a walk. He also struck out 12 in the game. What a brilliant performance. I have definintely been impressed with Richs poise even though we are having a losing season. The offense did the job as well. Marco Scutaro hit another homer and not just a plain homer a grand slam. Solid contributions from everyone on the team.

Bad News for the Indians who lead the American league wild card race. Jake Westbrook took a liner off his glove hand wrist and was the victim of a hairline fracture. He will be sidelined most of the last month of the season. If the Indians make the playoffs he may be able to return.

August 20th 2007
Oakland Athletics(53-68) @ Chicago White Sox(47-75)
A's 0 - White Sox 7
WP: Javier Vazquez (12-12)
LP: Jason Windsor (7-7)

Not much to report here. Javier Vazquez shut us down an only let up 4 hits all game. Jason Windsor let up 5ER in 5.1 innings for the loss. Ryan Goleski chipped in a hit and walk from the top of the order.

August 20th 2007
Oakland Athletics(53-69) @ Chicago White Sox(48-75)
A's 3 - White Sox 4
WP: Justin Edwards (2-5)
LP: Jason Ray (0-2)
SV: Bobby Jenks (26)

Jason Ray pitched better than in his first Major league start but it still isn't enough. He went 6 innings and gave up 4ER. Our runs were driven in by Goleski, Swisher and Scutaro.

Somthing you don't see twice in a week too often. Jonny Gomes hit for the cycle in Tampa Bays game today. To make it even better the home run came in the bottom of the ninth to win the game for the Rays. Congrats Jonny.

Not exactly how I saw the week going but still did decently at 3-4. Would have liked to have won one more in Chicago but the game Harden pitched was good enough for me. I need Rich to be my staff Ace and carry his solid performance at the end of this year into next year.

August 22nd - August 28th 2007

The week starts with a travel day to get to Seattle for three game and then back home for 3 against the Twins. We should compete with the M's but the Twins are a very tough squad this year and I don't know how we will fare against them.

August 22nd 2007

Not too much going on today. Some of the guys got some much needed rest. I'm just reviewing the September call up list. I also may bring a young starter up soon to give a look in the rotation. Some sad news. Danny Haren was hit in the eye with a ball last night. He fractured the bone in his eye socket and should miss the rest of the year. Too bad for Danny.

August 23rd 2007
Oakland Athletics(53-70) @ Seattle Mariners(58-66)
A's 10 - Mariners 8
WP: Jay Marshall (1-4)
LP: Jarrod Washburn (8-12)
SV: Huston Street (26)

A bit of a slugfest today. Jay Marshall didn't pitch too badly going into the 7th inning with a 9-2 lead. He struggled in the 7th and his was taken out but went 6.2 innings and gave up 4ER. Casilla struggle from the pen and gave up 4ER of his own but the offense was too much today. The top two men in the order had great days. Goleski went 3-6 with 3RBI and Bobby Kielty went 2-4 with a homer and 3RBI. Nick Swisher also added a homer for his 24th of the season. Huston Street pitches another perfect ninth for his 26th save.

August 24th 2007
Oakland Athletics(54-70) @ Seattle Mariners(58-67)
A's 3 - Mariners 4
WP: Arthur Rhodes (4-1)
LP: Chad Gaudin (4-1)

Rich Harden pitches well enough to win again but the offense doesn't support enough. Harden went 7 innings and gave up 3ER. He gave up only 5 hits and walked no one. Another great effort. At the plate, Goleski goes 1-3 with 2RBI. He has been really productive since being called up.

I have decided to call up Vin Mazzaro from AA today. He has been an amazing 15-0 in between A and AA this year. I think this sinkerballer deserves a shot at my rotation. Jay Marshall has been sent back down.

Former Rookie of the Year Hideo Nomo has decided to retire. He is going to return to Japan and enjoy the rest of his life after major league baseball.

August 25th 2007
Oakland Athletics(54-71) @ Seattle Mariners(59-67)
A's 3 - Mariners 2
WP: Jason Windsor (8-7)
LP: Mark Lowe (2-4)
SV: Huston Street (27)

Jason Windsor pitches very well. He goes 8 innings and gives up just 2ER. He gave way to Huston Street who has gets his 27th save of the year. Ryan Goleski continues to show his skill at the plate going 4-5 with 2 RBI on the day. I hope this kid will be a fixture at the top of our lineup for some time.

August 26th 2007
Minnesota Twins(77-49) @ Oakland Athletics(55-71)
Twins 5 - A's 3
WP: Kevin Slowey (8-4)
LP: Jason Ray (0-3)
SV: Joe Nathan (29)

Jason Ray continues to struggle at the major league level. He goes 5 innings giving up 5ER. That was enough for a strong twins club who held us to three runs. Those runs were driven in by Goleski, Swisher and Kendall. Wilson, Kielty and Scutaro all got two hits in the loss.

August 27th 2007
Minnesota Twins(78-49) @ Oakland Athletics(55-72)
Twins 5 - A's 1
WP: Boof Bonser (12-5)
LP: Connor Robertson (5-8)

Connor Robertson goes 8 innings and gives up 4ER but against the Twins that won't be enough. This Twins club is the real deal. The offense didn't do much but Milton Bradley hit a solo home run. Ryan Goleski also went 2-4 on the day.

August 28th 2007
Minnesota Twins(79-49) @ Oakland Athletics(55-73)
Twins 10 - A's 3
WP: Ramon Ortiz (10-10)
LP: Rich Harden (9-10)

Rich Harden lost his form in this game. We also started him on short rest so I won't think too much of it. He went 4 innings and gave up 6ER. He had a real tough first inning which is never a good start. Goleski, Swisher and Kendall all had the RBIs today.

A blow to the Yankees lineup as Derek Jeter pulls his groin. He was going for a ball in the hole at short and felt some tightness between innings. The Yankees are getting in trouble as they have fallen 3 behind the Red Sox in the AL East.

A tough week because of the Twins but taking 2 of 3 from the M's was nice. The A's continue to play hard and some of that is showing.

August 29th - September 4th 2007

Another tough team comes to town as the Red Sox visit us for 4 games. After that we head right out for 3 with the Rangers. I 'd like to see us compete with the Sox and steal a couple from the Rangers.

August 29th 2007
Boston Red Sox(74-56) @ Oakland Athletics(55-74)
Red Sox 4 - A's 5
WP: Chad Gaudin (5-1)
LP: Joel Pineiro (5-5)
SV: Huston Street (28)

Vin Mazzaro doesn't start his major league career off too badly. The only blemish was a grand slam by Eric Chavez. The bullpen was tough and kept us in the game pitching 4 shutout innings. The offense was led by German who went 2-3 with a homer and 3 RBI. A very nice and surprising win.

August 30th 2007
Boston Red Sox(74-57) @ Oakland Athletics(56-74)
Red Sox 2 - A's 3
WP: Chad Gaudin (6-1)
LP: Damaso Marte (1-5)

Jason Windsor pitched very well in this game. He went 7 innings giving up 2R, 1ER. If the offense could have taken advantage of Curt Schilling a bit more he would have got the win. Regardless the team won against a quality opponent.

August 31st 2007
Boston Red Sox(74-58) @ Oakland Athletics(57-74)
Red Sox 7 - A's 0
WP: Daniel Bard (7-2)
LP: Jason Ray (0-4)

Daniel Bard has had our number this year. The rookie gets a complete game shutout allowing just 1 hit. Thats pretty much all I have to say about this game. Bard looks like he is going to be a great pitcher in his career.

Some League Business:

American League Standings
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...5/BB2K8-11.jpg

National League Standings
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...5/BB2K8-12.jpg

Wild Card Standings
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...5/BB2K8-13.jpg

League Leaders
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...5/BB2K8-14.jpg

Oakland Batting Stats

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2007 Batting             Team    G   AVG    AB    H  2B  3B  HR   BB    K   SB  CS    R  RBI   SLG   OBP
Bradley, Milton           OAK  131  .269   546  147  13   3  22   53  118    9   1   71   73  .425  .336
Wilson, Jack              OAK  134  .298   533  159  29   4   7   40   67    2   1   65   44  .407  .352
Swisher, Nick             OAK  131  .220   501  110  25   0  24   74  113    0   1   67   68  .413  .328
Kendall, Jason            OAK  128  .293   482  141  15   1   0   31   47    6   6   50   42  .328  .342
Kielty, Bobby             OAK  114  .269   472  127  30   6   8   32   94    2   0   60   57  .409  .320
Scutaro, Marco            OAK  122  .299   412  123  19   7   7   49   71    5   1   60   45  .430  .375
Durazo, Erubiel           OAK  115  .276   409  113  20   1  17   65   94    0   0   64   59  .455  .374
Castillo, Jose            OAK   97  .217   323   70  11   1   5   30   72    2   1   31   25  .303  .291
German, Esteban           OAK   89  .270   285   77  17   3   2   29   53    4   5   41   27  .372  .349
Jimenez, D'Angelo         OAK   60  .219   187   41   8   1   2   38   34    0   0   25   21  .305  .365
Goleski, Ryan             OAK   46  .318   173   55  14   2   4   16   30    2   1   25   33  .491  .366
Johnson, Dan              OAK   29  .203    59   12   3   0   3    3    8    0   0    8   12  .407  .242
Perez, Antonio            OAK    6  .429    14    6   1   0   0    0    2    1   0    2    4  .500  .412
Kata, Matt                OAK    6  .000     5    0   0   0   0    0    2    0   0    0    0  .000  .000
Bocachica, Hiram          OAK    1  .000     5    0   0   0   0    0    1    0   0    0    0  .000  .000 


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Oakland Pitching Stats

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2007 Pitching            Team     IP   ERA    G  GS   W   L  SV    K   BB   R/9
Street, Huston            OAK   39.2  1.36   44   0   3   2  28   35    6  9.98
Gaudin, Chad              OAK   75.2  2.62   51   1   6   1   0   44   34 10.82
Halsey, Brad              OAK   33.1  2.70   18   0   2   3   0   27   11  8.91
Duchscherer, Justin       OAK   71.2  4.27   60   1   3   1   1   75   15 12.68
Calero, Kiko              OAK   63.1  4.83   54   0   2   1   1   76   31 14.07
Harden, Rich              OAK  163.1  5.29   30  30   9  10   0  144   83 14.71
Windsor, Jason            OAK  136.1  5.74   24  23   8   7   0  109   50 14.19
Blanton, Joe              OAK  115.0  6.81   26  16   4   5   1   45   36 14.87
Robertson, Connor         OAK   84.1  6.83   16  14   5   8   0   43   68 16.11
Casilla, Santiago         OAK   56.2  6.83   33   0   1   5   0   55   27 15.56
Mazzaro, Vin              OAK    5.0  7.20    1   1   0   0   0    3    4 18.00
Ray, Jason                OAK   23.1  7.71    4   4   0   4   0   10   21 18.90
Marshall, Jay             OAK   42.0  8.14    8   8   1   4   0   25   26 18.00
Dunn, Scott               OAK   11.1  8.74    7   0   1   1   0   14    9 17.47
Puffer, Brandon           OAK    3.2  9.82    4   0   0   0   0    1    3 24.55 


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September 1st 2007
Boston Red Sox(75-58) @ Oakland Athletics(57-75)
Red Sox 7 - A's 0
WP: Josh Beckett (8-6)
LP: Brad Halsey (2-4)

Back to Back shutout losses. The Red Sox are tough. Unfortunately Connor Robertson pulled a muscle in is torso and couldn't go today. We went with a bullpen effort and they pitched well but Josh Beckett was just too good. Ryan Goleski went 3-5 on the day. Kendall and Johnson also chipped in two hits each.

September 2nd 2007
Oakland Athletics(57-76) @ Texas Rangers(68-65)
A's 2 - Rangers 3
WP: Akinori Otsuka (4-3)
LP: Huston Street (3-3)

Rich Harden pitched very well in this game. He went 7 innings and gave up just 1ER. Unfortunately Huston Street couldn't hold the lead and gave up a 2R walk off homer in the ninth to Mark Texeira. It's too bad when the pen can't get it done. They have looked good all year. Ryan Goleski continues to impress going 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI.

September 3rd 2007
Oakland Athletics(57-77) @ Texas Rangers(69-65)
A's 10 - Rangers 1
WP: Vin Mazzaro (1-0)
LP: Omar Poveda (6-6)

This is what I expected from Vin Mazzaro. He went 7 innings and gave up 1ER. He scattered 8 hits, 1 walk and struck out 6 on the day. I really like Mazzro and hope he can make the rotation next year. The offense had a great day. Goleski, Kendall, Scutaro, Kielty and German all had two hits. Goleski drove in 4 and Kielty drove in 3 to really lead the offense. A very solid performance.

September 4th 2007
Oakland Athletics(58-77) @ Texas Rangers(69-66)
A's 5- Rangers 6
WP: Akinori Otsuka (5-3)
LP: Chad Gaudin (6-2)

Had a chance to win this game. Windsor pitched decently over six innings while allowing 4ER. WE had the game tied in the bottom of the ninth but Gaudin let up the game winner on back-to-back doubles by Kinsler and Texeira. Nick Swisher was the star on offense with his 25th homer and 2RBI.

A decent week. Splitting the 4 at home with Boston was nice and Mazzaro's performance this week were the highlights. I'm very excited about some of these youngs guys future with this team.

September 5th - September 11th 2007

We continue with a three game series at the Angels and then back home for three with the Yankees. With the expanded rosters I am going to trying out some young guys. Marco Scutaro has been complaining about a sore calf for a week or so so the first guy to get a shot will be Tony Abreu. He batted .354 with 12 homers and 106RBI at A ball this year. He is going to see some time at 2B.

September 5th 2007
Oakland Athletics(58-78) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(72-64)
A's 4 - Angels 8
WP: Jered Weaver (11-5)
LP: Connor Robertson (5-9)

Connor Robertson hasn't been getting it done lately and today was no different. He gave up 7ER in just 4.2 innings. The offense had a good day. Goleski went 2-5 with an RBI. In his first major league start, Tony Abreu went 2-4 with 2RBI. A great start to his career.

The Rays rewarded 3B Ty Wigginton with a 4yr/5.3M extension today. Wigginton has performed very well for the Rays over the last two year averaging 30HRs and 90RBI.

September 6th 2007
Oakland Athletics(58-79) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(73-64)
A's 3 - Angels 2
WP: Jason Ray (1-4)
LP: John Lackey (8-10)
SV: Huston Street (29)

Jason Ray pitches well and picks up his first major league win. He went 8 innings and gave up just 2ER. Dan Johnson went deep with a solo shot. Milton Bradley got two keys hits to drive in 2 runs. Huston Street pitches a perfect ninth frame for his 29th save. With this loss Texas moves to within 1GB of the Angels. I hope we can play spoiler for someone.

September 7th 2007
Oakland Athletics(59-79) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(73-65)
A's 4 - Angels 5
WP: Dustin Moseley (4-3)
LP: Justin Duchscherer (3-2)
SV: Francisco Rodriguez (34)

Another tough loss. Rich Harden pitched well through his 6 innnings giving up 3ER and left with the lead. Duchsherer couldn't hold it and took the loss giving up 2ER. Dan Johnson went deep for the second game in row. Tony Abreu goes 1-4 with an RBI.

September 8th 2007
A nice off day to review some players and performances. The Yankees are coming and I would like to take a game from them to help out the Red Sox. Can't take the Sox fan out of me unless we are playing them.

A couple notes:

Cubs pitcher Rich Hill will be out the remainder of the regular season with a stress fracture in his ankle. It comes at a bad time because the Cubs just got pushed out of first by the Brewers.

Scott Kazmir went down this week too. He injured his hip covering first on a ground ball. Since Tampa has fallen out of the playoff race they are being cautious with their young ace and shutting him down.

San Diego pitcher Chris Young will be out for the rest of the 2007 campaign with a wrist injury. Not good for the Padres who sit just 1.5GB in the NL West.

Also congratulations to Kenny Lofton who scored his 1500th career run yesterday. Congrats Kenny!

September 9th 2007
New York Yankees(75-65) @ Oakland Athletics(59-80)
Yankees 10 - A's 6
WP: Mike Mussina (8-8)
LP: Vin Mazzaro (1-1)
SV: Mariano Rivera (38)

Mazzaro gets roughed up a bit in this game. He went 4 innings and let up 4ER. This is a tough Yankees lineup and I think the experience will help out Mazzaro. Dan Johnson stays hot and goes 2-4 with a homer and 2RBI. That is his third straight game with a HR. Tony Abreu keeps producing and drives in another run.

September 10th 2007
New York Yankees(76-65) @ Oakland Athletics(59-81)
Yankees 1 - A's 2
WP: Justin Duchscherer (4-2)
LP: Mariano Rivera (4-5)

Jason Windsor threw an excellent game today. He went 7.2 shutout innings and struck out 8. He left with the lead but Chad Gaudin struggled and let up the lead. In extra innings Tony Abreu was the hero. With two out in the 10th and Kielty at second, Abreu drove a single up the middle to win the game. Very exciting and great win for the team.

September 11th 2007
New York Yankees(76-66) @ Oakland Athletics(60-81)
Yankees 0 - A's 3
WP: Connor Robertson (6-9)
LP: Andy Pettitte (9-12)
SV: Huston Street (30)

Just what I was looking for against the Yankees. Connor Robertson didn't pitch all that well but managed to get out of all the jams he was in. He went 7 shutout innings while letting up 4 hits and 7 walks. Like I said he didn't pitch well but it shows some abilty to get out of jams against a good team. Goleski had a good day going 2-4 with an RBI.

Ken Griffey Jr. hit a big milestone again this year. He managed to get his 2500th hit today. Way to go Ken!

Shawn Green also hit a milestone with his 2000th career hit. Very nice Shawn!

3-3 is pretty standard but my expectations were pretty low considering our opponents this week. I am very happy about how the team is performing. If I add a few pieces and let go of the pieces that aren't working I think we will be able to compete with anyone.

September 12th - September 18th 2007

We stay at home for 3 against the Rangers and then hit the road for 4 at the Mariners. I'd like the team to finish strong and develop a little chemisry together. This is a good week to start that with some division games. We can also spoil the Rangers season a bit.

September 12th 2007
Texas Rangers(74-68) @ Oakland Athletics(61-81)
Rangers 5 - A's 3
WP: Omar Poveda (8-6)
LP: Jason Ray (1-5)
SV: Eric Gagne (37)

Jason Ray has a decent game. He goes 6 innings and gives up 5ER. Kilety hit his 9th homer of the season and Jason Kendall goes 3-3 on the day. Texas ties the Angels with this win today.

September 13th 2007
Texas Rangers(75-68) @ Oakland Athletics(61-82)
Rangers 2 - A's 3
WP: Justin Duchscherer (5-2)
LP: Kevin Millwood (8-8)
SV: Huston Street (31)

Rich Harden pitches very well again and doesn't get a win. He allowed 1ER over 7 innings. The offense didn't wake up until the 8th when we took the lead with 3 runs. Bobby Kielty got a sac fly with the bases loaded. Matt Kata came off the bench and hit a 2run double to take a 3 run lead. Street came into the top of the ninth and dominated for his 31st save.

September 14th 2007
Texas Rangers(75-69) @ Oakland Athletics(62-82)
Rangers 3 - A's 1
WP: Vicente Padilla (10-5)
LP: Vin Mazzaro (1-2)
SV: Eric Gagne (38)

Vin Mazzaro put in a quality start. He went 7.1 innings and gave up 3ER. I think he is going to be a very effective pitcher. The offense didn't show up. Our only run came on a solo home run by Erubial Durazo.


AL WEST
Los Angeles 76-69
Texas 76-69

This should be an interesting race. All of the other divisions are a bit more spread out.

A lot of Milestones lately. Ray Durham hits the 2000 hit mark. Congrats Ray!

September 15th 2007
Oakland Athletics(62-83) @ Seattle Mariners(65-81)
A's 6 - Mariners 5
WP: Chad Gaudin (7-2)
LP: Jake Woods (4-5)
SV: Huston Street (32)

Jason Windsor didn't pitch too well going 5 innings and giving up 5R, 4ER. The bullpen kept us in the game until the offense could come through. The bullpen went 5 innings and didn't allow a single baserunner. Ryan Goleski sparked the offense with a 2-3 and 3RBI performance. Matt Kata has been solid off the bench. He had a game winning pinch hit RBI in the tenth. Huston Street picks up his 32nd save.

September 16th 2007
Oakland Athletics(63-83) @ Seattle Mariners(65-82)
A's 2 - Mariners 10
WP: Felix Hernandez (6-13)
LP: Connor Robertson (6-10)

Robertson struggles a lot. He gives up 8ER over 4.1 innings pitched. I don't know if he is going to be making a return to our rotation next year. He hasn't shown any consistency. The offense didn't do too well either. Scutaro was the productive guy going 1-3 with 2RBI.

September 17th 2007
Oakland Athletics(62-84) @ Seattle Mariners(66-81)
A's 2 - Mariners 0
WP: Jason Ray (2-5)
LP: Miguel Batista (7-13)
SV: Huston Street (33)

Jason Ray has one of his best starts of the year. He went 8 shutout innings and let up just 6 hits and 2 walks. A very nice start. Goleski, Wilson and Swisher all had two hits on the day. Wilson and Scutaro drove in the runs. Huston Street picks up save number 33.

Boston decided to give Curt Schillings shoulder a bit of rest and will sit him 'til the postseason. Curt has been feeling some fatigue in the arm and will be rested for the playoffs.

The Angels weren't so lucky and Ervin Santana will be out for a few weeks with a mild strain in his shoulder. They really need him for the race in the tight AL West.

September 18th 2007
Oakland Athletics(63-84) @ Seattle Mariners(66-82)
A's 7 - Mariners 6
WP: Rich Harden (10-10)
LP: Jarrod Washburn (8-14)
SV: Huston Street (34)

Rich Harden had a down game. He went 5 innings and gave up 4ER. He was saved by the offense who showed up early in the game. Wilson and Kendall both drove in 2 runs. Bocachica, Swisher and German all picked up 2 hits to help the cause.

4-3 is a nice week. Taking 3 of 4 from the M's on the road was impressive for me. I think it shows the team starting to gel and play well together. Hopefully we get some carry over for the next few weeks and next season.

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On a completelt unrelated note:


GO CELTICS!

Game 7 time

September 19th - September 25th 2007

We have to go to Tampa for 4 games and then up to Kansas City for three more. Consistency is all I want -- win or lose. Right now a little update on playoff races.

AL EAST
Boston 86-63 --
New York 80-69 6GB

AL CENTRAL
Minnesota 97-51 --
Cleveland 88-61 9.5GB

AL WEST
Los Angeles 79-70 --
Texas 78-71 1GB

AL WILD CARD
Cleveland 88-61 --
New York 80-69 8GB

NL EAST
Atlanta 77-73 --
New York 75-75 2GB
Florida 74-75 2.5GB

NL CENTRAL
Chicago 88-62 --
Milwaukee 87-62 .5GB
Houston 83-66 4.5GB

NL WEST
Arizona 82-67 --
San Diego 79-69 2.5GB
Los Angeles 78-71 4GB

NL WILD CARD
Milwaukee 87-62 --
Houston 83-66 4GB
St. Louis 81-70 7GB

September 19th 2007
Oakland Athletics(65-84) @ Tampa Bay Rays(76-72)
A's 4 - Rays 3
WP: Vin Mazzaro (2-2)
LP: Shinji Mori (1-3)
SV: Huston Street (35)

Mazzaro pitches well over 6 innings. He gave up 3ER with 5 strikeouts and just 1 walk. Very nice start. Ryan Goleski has a good game going 2-5 with a homer and 3 RBI. Huston Street gets his 35th save of the year.

September 20th 2007
Oakland Athletics(66-84) @ Tampa Bay Rays(76-73)
A's 7 - Rays 2
WP: Jason Windsor (9-7)
LP: Edwin Jackson (4-3)

Windsor tosses an excellent game. He goes 7 innings and gives up just 1ER. He also sent down ten Rays hitters on strikes. Another very nice start. Jack Wilson goes 4-4 and scores twice. Nick Swisher get a hit and 3RBI to lead the offense. A nice solid team effort.

Congratulations to Cha Seung Baek on throwing a No Hitter against the Texas Rangers! It looked like we were going to get through a season without one.

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Seattle Mariners at Texas Rangers
September 20, 2007

                     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 +  R  H  E
      Mariners (SEA) 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0    3  7  0
       Rangers (TEX) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0    0  0  0

SEATTLE              ab  h bb  r hr bi  k sb     avg
I. Suzuki (RF)        4  1  0  0  0  1  0  0    .307
W. Bloomquist (3B)    4  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .184
B. Broussard (DH)     4  0  0  0  0  0  3  0    .220
R. Sexson (1B)        4  1  0  0  0  0  2  0    .267
R. Ibanez (LF)        3  2  1  1  0  0  0  0    .261
T. Dawkins (SS)       3  0  0  0  0  0  1  0    .226
K. Johjima (C)        4  1  0  1  0  0  1  0    .299
J. Vidro (2B)         3  1  0  1  0  1  1  0    .273
J. Reed (CF)          2  1  1  0  0  1  1  0    .302
TOTALS               31  7  2  3  0  3  9  0

   2B:  I. Suzuki (39)
   GIDP:  T. Dawkins

         SEATTLE   ip  h bb hr  r er  k pit    ERA
         C. Baek  9.0  0  3  0  0  0  7 104   3.48
          TOTALS  9.0  0  3  0  0  0  7 104

TEXAS                ab  h bb  r hr bi  k sb     avg
F. Guzman (CF)        3  0  1  0  0  0  0  0    .291
I. Kinsler (2B)       4  0  0  0  0  0  2  0    .265
M. Young (SS)         4  0  0  0  0  0  1  0    .287
M. Teixeira (1B)      2  0  1  0  0  0  0  0    .326
G. Laird (C)          3  0  0  0  0  0  0  0    .274
J. Botts (DH)         2  0  1  0  0  0  0  0    .250
N. Cruz (RF)          3  0  0  0  0  0  2  0    .228
B. Wilkerson (LF)     3  0  0  0  0  0  1  0    .236
H. Blalock (3B)       3  0  0  0  0  0  1  0    .253
TOTALS               27  0  3  0  0  0  7  0


           TEXAS   ip  h bb hr  r er  k pit    ERA
      V. Padilla  6.2  6  2  0  3  3  7 101   3.47
       J. Benoit  2.1  1  0  0  0  0  2  35   2.46
          TOTALS  9.0  7  2  0  3  3  9 136

     WP: C. Baek (11-8)
     LP: V. Padilla (10-6)

     Temperature: 67F
     Wind: Calm
     Attendance: 40,579
     Time: 2:37 


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September 21st 2007
Oakland Athletics(67-84) @ Tampa Bay Rays(76-74)
A's 4 - Rays 2
WP: Connor Robertson (7-10)
LP: Wade Townsend (10-9)
SV: Chad Gaudin (1)

Robertson pitches very well. He goes 7.2 innning and gives up just 2ER. The pitching staff has been stepping it up lately. The offense was led by a pair of solo shots by Swisher and Goleski. German also chipped in an RBI ti help us win. Gaudin shuts down the Rays to get his first save of the year. Our fisrt 5 game win streak of the year. They are also showing the consistency I was talking about.

September 22nd 2007
Oakland Athletics(68-84) @ Tampa Bay Rays(76-75)
A's 5 - Rays 9
WP: Jon Switzer (3-4)
LP: Justin Duchscherer (5-3)

A tough loss because Ray pitched decently. He gave up 3ER over 6 innings. The bullpen had a tough day giving up 6ER combined in the 7th and 8th innings. I will take 3 out of 4 on the road. Goleski has a good day getting a 3 RBI double. Tony Abreu went 3-3 on the day with 2 runs scored and an RBI.

September 23rd 2007
Oakland Athletics(68-84) @ Kansas City Royals(62-90)
A's 5 - Royals 3
WP: Justin Duchscherer (6-3)
LP: Ron Flores (0-3)
SV: Huston Street (36)

Harden pitched well again but the offense didn't show up until the 9th. Harden went 6.2 innings and gave up 2ER. He deserved to get a win but it was an exciting game instead. We came up with two in the top of the 9th. Kielty double and German singled him in. Then Ryan Goleski hit a double to stretch the lead to two. Huston Street pitched a perfect 9th for his 36th save to seal the win.

September 24th 2007
Oakland Athletics(69-84) @ Kansas City Royals(62-91)
A's 4 - Royals 8
WP: Tim Corcoran (6-11)
LP: Vin Mazzaro (2-3)

Mazzaro struggles a bit and gives up 5ER in 5.1 innings pitched. German excels from the 9 spot and goes 3-4 with 2RBI. Durazo and Scutaro go 2-4 with an RBI each.

September 25th 2007
Oakland Athletics(69-85) @ Kansas City Royals(63-91)
A's 2 - Royals 6
WP: Octavio Dotel (3-5)
LP: Jason Windsor (9-8)

Windsor pitches well giving up 3ER in 7.2 innings pitched. He could have won if the offense showed up but no such luck. Gaudin struggled giving up 3ER in relief. Six guys got a hit each and that was all. The runs cam ein on errors by the Royals defense.

Can't complain with a 4-3 record on the road again. Showed come good consistency. Now we need to close the season out strong get ready for the offseason.

I just caught up on this, Bichette. Sorry the team's not doing well, but the writing is great and I like your format!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BichetteMan

GO CELTICS!

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All I have to say is:

The Truth has set us free!

#34 for 41! Goodbye, LeBron!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CatKnight

but the writing is great and I like your format!

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I agree. I really like the format, if its ok by you, Bichette Man, I might borrow it and start up another dynasty of my own since this format doesn't appear to take a ton of time to write up.

CatKnight - Thanks. I've read through a couple of your dynasties. Very nice. I appreciate the feedback.

Potato - No doubt. Paul Pierce is the Truth. Can't wait for game 1 ECF tomorrow. I got so tired of watching LeBron cry every time he got touched. No doubt he is talented but he needs to stop complaining so much.

YEAH DAAAAWG - Thanks. Yeah go for it. I'd like to get into a newer dynasty and see it develop. It only takes about 15-30 mintues depending on what part of the month etc.

Just to clarify. I have been plowing through this season to get my team set to the roster I want. I will start developing characters and situations next season. This first year is just a bit of an informational on how I got to where I am. I'd like to show the team strugggle and how I build it. Thanks to everyone for reading!