Cool, thanks. I think I'm gonna do it on the Rays, Cubs, Angels, Reds, or making an expansion team. I'm leaning towards the Rays though.
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Cool, thanks. I think I'm gonna do it on the Rays, Cubs, Angels, Reds, or making an expansion team. I'm leaning towards the Rays though.
September 26th - October 2nd 2007
We wind the season down with 6 at home. We have 3 against the Mariners and then 3 to close out the year with the Angels. Those 3 with the Angels could be big for the Angels. They hold only a 1 game lead on the Rangers. Should be intersting. I'm also fighting for 3rd with the Mariners, both of us are currently 69-87.
As for the playoff Races:
AL EAST
Boston clinched division.
AL CENTRAL
Minnesota clinched division.
AL WEST
Los Angeles 82-73 --
Texas 81-74 1GB
AL WILD CARD
Cleveland clinched wild card.
NL EAST
New York 80-76 --
Florida 77-78 2.5GB
Atlanta 77-79 3GB
NL CENTRAL
Milwaukee 91-64 --
Chicago 91-65 .5GB
NL WEST
Arizona 87-68 --
San Diego 83-72 4GB
NL WILD CARD
Milwaukee/Chicago clinched.
September 26th 2007
Nothing much to do today. Talked to a few guys on the team. I reviewed some of the guys who have contracts expiring. Getting all my offseason business in order to make some moves.
September 27th 2007
Seattle Mariners(69-87) @ Oakland Athletics(69-87)
Mariners 5 - A's 6
WP: Chad Gaudin (8-2)
LP: J.J. Putz (3-4)
Connor Robertson pitched well in this game. He went 8 innings and gave up 4R, 3ER. A nice way to close out his season. Maybe he can get some confidence and make the rotation in the spring next year. On offense Nick Swisher and Erubial Durazo hit solo shots. Ryan Goleski went 2-5 with 2RBI.
September 28th 2007
Seattle Mariners(69-88) @ Oakland Athletics(70-87)
Mariners 3 - A's 5
WP: Rich Harden (11-10)
LP: Miguel Batista (7-15)
SV: Huston Street (37)
Another nice solid start from Rich Harden. He ends his season well by going 7 innings and giving up 2ER. I was very impressed with Rich this year as he made all 36 of his starts. His injury problems didn't flare up this year and he had a good year. Hopefully he can carry it over and be our ace next year. Huston Street gets his 37th save of the year. Ryan Goleski continues to impress me by going 2-4 with a walk, a run scored and two RBI.
September 29th 2007
Seattle Mariners(69-89) @ Oakland Athletics(71-87)
Mariners 3 - A's 6
WP: Vin Mazzaro (3-3)
LP: Jarrod Washburn (8-16)
SV: Huston Street (38)
Vin Mazzaro pitched well in his last start of the year. He went 7.1 innings and gave up 3ER. I think he is making a case for the starting rotation next year. If he works on a couple things and impresses in Spring then I'm sure he will be there. The offense was solid today as Goleski, Bradley, Kielty, Wilson and German all had two hits. Kielty had the big bat with a homer and 3 RBI on the day.
Los Angeles sits just one game ahead of Texas. If we do our part and Texas does theirs we can spoil the Angels season. I hope that will be a little motivation for the team.
September 30th 2007
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(84-75) @ Oakland Athletics(72-87)
Angels 3 - A's 2
WP: John Grabow (5-2)
LP: Justin Duchscherer (6-4)
SV: Dustin Moseley (1)
We were only two outs away from taking this game from the Angels but Chad Gaudin let up the tying run to send it into extras. We eventually lost in the 12th inning. Jason Windsor finished his season strong going 7.2 innings and giving up just 1ER. Nick Swisher put out his 28th homer of the year and that was the offense. Goleski also went 2-6 on the day.
Texas keeps pace beating the Mariners 7-4. I think that is we can take one from the Angels they will at least be having a playoff game to decide to WEST.
October 1st 2007
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(85-76) @ Oakland Athletics(73-87)
Angels 3 - A's 2
WP: Steven Johnson (1-0)
LP: Jered Weaver (11-8)
SV: Chad Gaudin (2)
19 year old Steven Johnson, who was acquired from the Dodgers earlier this year, makes a terrific major league debut. He goes a stellar 7.2 innings giving up just 2ER. He allows four hits and two walks whiel striking out 5. Nice debut kid! Bobby Kielty provided the pop on a three run homer. A very nice win for the team.
Texas won today and the race for the AL WEST is tied going into the last day of the season. A very exciting finish expecially with all the division team playing each other.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I went down to the clubhouse today to talk a little bit about the end of the year with my manager, Bob.
Me: So Bob how about some of these young guys? They are really looking good and developing well.
Bob: Yeah. I'm really excited about having Goleski at the top of the order next year.
Me: How about Mazzaro? I think he has been looking good getting that sinker low and getting the groundballs.
Bob: No doubt about it. I think he will be...
There is a knock at the door. The door opens slightly and it is Rich Harden.
Bob: Hey Rich, whats going on?
Rich: Can I come in and talk to you guys? I have something on my mind.
Me: No problem Rich, What is on your mind?
Rich: Well I didn't know how you guys would react but I want the ball tomorrow. I know it's Rays turn in the Rotation but I want to take down the Angels. I feel like this is the biggest game of the year for the team and I want the ball.
Bob: Well Rich you know you only pitched 4 days ago and we don't want to hurt your shoulder.
Me: Yeah. You are going to be a very important part of this staff next year and we can't afford to have you hurt yourself.
Rich: I understand all of that but I want the ball. I haven't pitched in a really meaningful game this year. I want to show all the guys on this team that I am a leader...that they can look up to me.
Me: Okay Rich we understand how you feel. Why don't you let Bob and me talk it over. We will let you know what we think.
Rich: Alright Boss, Skip. I'll be waiting.
With that Rich gets up and leaves the office. I look at Bob and he has the same huge grin that I see myself having at that very moment.
Me: Hey, I think we should let him go. We really need him to feel like our ace. I think this could go along way for his success in the future.
Bob: I agree with you. Let's just sit back and watch how he does.
Me: Well let him know Bob. I'm taking off. I'll see you back here tomorrow.
As I leave I hope we are making the right choice. I have wanted Rich Harden to assume the role of ace for our team. It appears as though he is going to slide right into it. I feel a little giddy as I walk through the clubhouse to the parking lot. I can't wait to see what he does tomorrow.
October 2nd 2007
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(86-75) @ Oakland Athletics(73-88)
Joe Saunders(2-5) @ Rich Harden(11-10)
Oh my what a performance. Rich Harden backed up everything he said yesterday. Harden throws a complete game shutout on four days rest. This guy has the guts and grit to match any ace in this league. In addition to his CG SO, he let up 8 hits and 1 walk while fanning 11 Angels. What a truly remarkable performance for Rich Harden. I was jumping up and down with every out and strikeout he pitched. I haven't seen performances like that since I was working in scouting for the Red Sox during Pedro's golden years. I hope Rich can carry this over and utilize his talents next year and for years to come.
Angels 0 - A's 3
WP: Rich Harden (12-10)
LP: Joe Saunders (2-6)
Final Record - 74-88
Up next:
Season Recap
Playoff Recap
Offseason
Dawg - Yeah I was thinking about going back and starting from scratch with the expansion Rays. Takes a bit of time though. Do the Rays right and take over the AL EAST.
2007 Seasom Review
General Managers thoughts:
Well we finished the season with more wins than I expected which is great. I was able to shed the players at the Major League level who were not in my plans. I acquired plenty of young pitching. I feel like I had an above average draft from top to bottom. I feel the defense was above average. The bullpen was the strongest part of my team which is encouraging.
The offense needs to be improved with some more players who can hit for average and maybe one more power guy. My starting rotation needs help. I will most likely assess that internally. I need some depth in the outfield. I have no fill-in type players at AAA. My postitional prospects need to addressed as a whole.
Oakland Team Leaders
Batting Average: Marco Scutaro - .291
Home Runs: Nick Swisher - 28
RBI: Nick Swisher - 82
Runs: Nick Swisher - 82
OBP: Erubial Durazo - .376
Offensive MVP: Nick Swisher
He had the best productions numbers despite his low(.217) BA. Definitely won some games for us with his bat.
ERA: Rich Harden - 4.71
Wins: Rich Harden - 11
Saves: Huston Street - 38
Strikeouts: Rich Harden - 190
IP: Rich Harden - 210.1
Pitching MVP: Huston Street
It would have been easy to give it to Harden because he led the team in so many categories. He did struggle a bit though. Huston Street posted a career low 1.69 ERA in 53.1 innings. He had 38 saves, good for 11th in the league, on a 74 win team. He only blew 5 so you knew if he came in it was almost a sure save.
Rookie of the Year: Ryan Goleski
He put up some very good numbers after his medseason call up. He batted .289 with 6 homers and 54 RBI. He scored 41 times, stole 8 bases and collected 31 walks. All of that in just 78 games. I look forward to watcing him in his sophomore season.
Minor League MVP: Kevin Melillo 3B/Nathan Dismuke 1B
Melillo - .332, 7HR, 49RBI, 48R, 58GP(A)
Dismuke - .328, 8HR, 41RBI, 37R, 56GP(R/A)
Minor League P(itcher)OY: Vin Mazzaro
Mazzaro - 15-0, 2.75ERA, 156IP, .226BAA, 96K(A/AA)
Final Season Stats(ML)
Batting Stats:
Pitching Stats:PHP Code:2007 Batting Team G AVG AB H 2B 3B HR BB K SB CS R RBI SLG OBP
Wilson, Jack OAK 164 .287 654 188 33 5 7 48 88 2 2 73 54 .385 .340
Swisher, Nick OAK 161 .217 612 133 28 1 28 87 137 1 1 82 82 .404 .323
Bradley, Milton OAK 143 .265 593 157 16 3 22 61 126 9 1 77 79 .413 .335
Kielty, Bobby OAK 144 .262 588 154 38 6 11 40 124 2 0 73 70 .403 .313
Kendall, Jason OAK 158 .284 582 165 19 1 1 39 65 7 6 61 47 .325 .335
Scutaro, Marco OAK 147 .291 502 146 23 9 8 55 93 6 1 70 57 .420 .363
Durazo, Erubiel OAK 138 .275 472 130 21 2 19 77 114 1 0 72 67 .449 .376
German, Esteban OAK 119 .265 388 103 23 3 2 37 74 8 5 52 33 .356 .341
Castillo, Jose OAK 97 .217 323 70 11 1 5 30 72 2 1 31 25 .303 .291
Goleski, Ryan OAK 76 .289 298 86 23 5 6 31 53 8 1 41 54 .460 .352
Jimenez, D'Angelo OAK 60 .219 187 41 8 1 2 38 34 0 0 25 21 .305 .365
Johnson, Dan OAK 54 .223 130 29 4 0 7 16 24 0 0 19 20 .415 .308
Abreu, Tony OAK 9 .273 33 9 1 1 0 0 11 0 0 6 6 .364 .273
Bocachica, Hiram OAK 4 .200 15 3 0 0 1 1 6 0 0 3 2 .400 .250
Perez, Antonio OAK 6 .429 14 6 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 2 4 .500 .412
Barton, Daric OAK 10 .200 10 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 .200 .200
Putnam, Danny OAK 11 .250 8 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 .250 .400
Kata, Matt OAK 8 .286 7 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 3 .286 .286
Brown, Jeremy OAK 8 .250 4 1 0 0 1 3 1 0 0 2 2 1.000 .571
Harden, Rich OAK 2 .000 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 .000 .000
Robertson, Connor OAK 3 .000 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000
Melillo, Kevin OAK 1 .000 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000
Pennington, Cliff OAK 1 .000 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000
Windsor, Jason OAK 3 .000 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000
Calero, Kiko OAK 60 1.000 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000
Blanton, Joe OAK 10 .000 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000
League LeadersPHP Code:2007 Pitching Team IP ERA G GS W L SV K BB R/9
Street, Huston OAK 53.1 1.69 58 0 3 3 38 41 8 9.62
Johnson, Steven OAK 7.1 2.45 1 1 1 0 0 5 2 7.36
Halsey, Brad OAK 47.1 2.85 26 1 2 4 0 34 13 8.75
Gaudin, Chad OAK 92.1 3.31 70 1 8 2 2 56 41 11.40
Duchscherer, Justin OAK 88.2 4.06 72 1 6 4 1 93 16 11.67
Harden, Rich OAK 210.1 4.71 37 37 12 10 0 190 99 14.03
Calero, Kiko OAK 69.1 5.06 60 0 2 1 1 85 36 14.67
Mazzaro, Vin OAK 42.0 5.14 7 7 3 3 0 27 17 16.50
Windsor, Jason OAK 176.2 5.15 30 29 9 8 0 148 67 13.70
Ray, Jason OAK 51.0 5.47 8 8 2 5 0 26 33 16.06
Delcarmen, Manny OAK 4.1 6.23 3 0 0 0 0 6 1 8.31
Robertson, Connor OAK 116.1 6.50 21 19 7 10 0 54 90 15.70
Casilla, Santiago OAK 61.0 6.64 35 0 1 5 0 56 27 15.05
Blanton, Joe OAK 115.0 6.81 26 16 4 5 1 45 36 14.87
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
Offensive
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...5/BB2K8-15.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...5/BB2K8-16.jpg
Pitching
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...5/BB2K8-17.jpg
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...5/BB2K8-18.jpg
Up next:
Playoff Review
Free Agency
Season Awards
Texas ended up winning the playoff game for the AL WEST title. They beat Los Angeles 9-5. A little smile from me for putting the Angels in that spot.
2007 MLB Playoffs
Division Series
American League
Boston Red Sox(95-67) Vs. Cleveland Indians(95-67)
@ Boston
Red Sox 6 - Indians 2
@ Boston
Indians 6 - Red Sox 2
@Cleveland
Indians 5 - Red Sox 2
@Cleveland
Indians 6 - Red Sox 5 (11)
Cleveland wins series 3-1.
Minnesota Twins(105-57) Vs. Texas Rangers(85-77)
@ Minnesota
Twins 4 - Rangers 3 (10)
@ Minnesota
Rangers 4 - Twins 2
@Texas
Rangers 6 - Twins 5
@Texas
Rangers 15 - Twins 8
Texas wins series 3-1.
National League
Arizona Diamondbacks(93-69) Vs. Chicago Cubs(93-69)
@Arizona
D'backs 6 - Cubs 2
@Arizona
D'backs 8 - Cubs 4
@Chicago
Cubs 9 - D'backs 4
@Chicago
D'backs 14 - Cubs 5
Arizona wins series 3-1.
Milwaukee Brewers(95-67) Vs. New York Mets(83-79)
@Milwaukee
Mets 6 - Brewers 4
@Milwaukee
Brewers 3 - Mets 2
@New York
Mets 10 - Brewers 5
@New York
Mets 10 - Brewers 8
New York wins series 3-1.
League Championship Series
American League Championship
Texas Rangers(85-77) Vs. Cleveland Indians(95-67)
@Texas
Rangers 7 - Indians 5
@Texas
Rangers 4 - Indians 2
@Cleveland
Rangers 4 - Indians 1
@Cleveland
Indians 18 - Rangers 9
@Cleveland
Indians 10 - Rangers 2
@Texas
Rangers 8 - Indians 4
Texas wins series 4-2.
ALCS MVP:Ian Kinsler
National League Championship
Arizona Diamondbacks(93-67) Vs. New York Mets(83-79)
@Arizona
D'backs 4 - Mets 0
@Arizona
Mets 5 - D'backs 4
@New York
Mets 10 - D'backs 5
@New York
Mets 5 - D'backs 4
@New York
D'backs 8 - Mets 1
@Arizona
Mets 6 - D'backs 3
New York wins series 4-2.
NLCS MVP: Carlos Delgado
2007 World Series
Texas Rangers(85-77) Vs. New York Mets(83-79)
These two teams are the best ones left. It seems like a surprise that the two teams with the worst records in the playoffs are in the World Series. It isn't. They both had to scratch and claw through the last month of the season to get here. Texas won their division in a playoff game at the end of the year. The Mets fought into the last week with 3 teams on their heels and still won their division. This is Texas first appearance in the World Series in their franchises history. The Mets are in their sixth world series and are trying to win their third title. Good Luck to both teams!
@New York
Rangers 11 - Mets 6
WP: Robinson Tejeda
LP: Mike Pelfrey
Texas wasted no time in this game and laid into the Mets pitching. The Rangers were up 7-0 after two innings and then extended it to 11-0 in the sixth. Rangers take home-field away from the Mets as well. Texas leads 1-0.
@New York
Rangers 8 - Mets 4
WP: Omar Poveda
LP: Pedro Martinez
The Rangers have been too strong for the Mets so far. They put up a couple more crooked numbers early in the game. They score 2 in the second and 6 in the third. The Mets tried to make a comeback scoring 4 in the 4th but the Rangers pen takes over and lets up just 3 baserunners the rest of the way. This world series looks to be over quickly as Texas goes home with a 2-0 lead. Texas leads 2-0.
@Texas
Rangers 9 - Mets 1
WP: Kevin Millwood
LP: John Maine
The Rangers take a stranglehold on the world series and go up 3-0 on the Mets. They strike early again with two in the second and two in the fourth. The Mets had a rally going in the 7th and scored 1 off Millwood but the Rangers pen shut them down. Then the offense exploded in the botttom half for 5 more runs to put the game away. Texas leads 3-0.
@Texas
Rangers 5 - Mets 1
WP: Vicente Padilla
LP: Oliver Perez
The Mets looked like they had some fight left in them as they score in the top of the first. That would be it though as the Rangers go ahead 3-1 in the 2nd inning and never look back. The Rangers dominated this world series. Congratulations on the World Series win. The first in team history! Texas wins series 4-0.
World Series MVP:Gerald Laird - .313, 2HR, 4RBI
TEXAS RANGERS 2007 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
Very interesting playoffs to see the two worst teams, record-wise, match up in the series. I must say I like that my team had something to do with Texas getting to the playoffs. It was good that they brought a title back to the AL West. I'll have to check it out on our first road trip there nxt year.
Up Next:
Re-sign players
Free Agency
Re-signings
There aren't too many tough decisions this year. I have a lot of budget space to work with and not many expiring contracts. I hope to re-sign on of my guys and get a key free agent or two.
First up is Erubial Durazo. He was looking for 3yrs/4M per. He is a solid backup and fill in typ guy who hit .275, 19HR, 77RBI last year. I offered 2yrs/3.2M per and he accepted. A nice short term deal for a 33-year old veteran who can still hit a bit.
Next up is my key re-sign. Milton Bradley was seeking 5.4M per year over 5 years. I started with an offer of 4 years and 4.25M per. He rejected and I offered 4 years at 4.8 per. He refused that offer and I thought I was going to lose him but he came back with 4 years at 5M per year and I accepted his deal. I really needed to sign Milton. He was a very solid defender who excelled at the plate last year and was my only all-star.
Hiram Bocachica was up next. He wanted 850,000 for one year. I really didn't want him on my team. We parted ways.
Last expiring contract belonged to mid-season signee Brandon Puffer. I offered 650,000 against his 800,000 and he accepted. Can't have too much pitching depth.
Free Agency
Not too many big fish this year. Good news is I have lots of money to spend and there is only one fish I want to catch. He is the number 1 free agent and it has been on my radar all year. I was just waiting to see if he re-signed and he didn't.
Miguel Cabrera was the #1 guy on the market this offseason. I am nearly 20M under my budget and I decided to make a splash. Miguel has a few friends on my team and I went hard and quick with him. I was hearing rumors that the Twins were trying to land him and I couln't let that happen. He was looking for about 13M per year for 4 years. I upped the years to 5 and offered 10.25. He immediately rejected but countered with a 5 year deal at 11.75M. I countered his offer with 11.3M over 5 years and he accepted. A very quick negotiation. I am very happy about this signing. My offense needed some pop and average, he has both, and the defense he brings at third and in the outfield is excellent. I can't wait to see him on opening day. A definite cornerstone for my franchise for years to come.
I also added a new starter to my rotation with the signing of Mark Prior. He has had a few tough injury seasons the last few year but I think he could be a solid #3 or #4 guy for my club. He cost me 3.3M per year for 3 years. Not too much risk there for the upside he has at only 27 years old.
I added a new bullpen guy to the mix. I signed Chris Reitsma to a 3yr/950,000 deal. He has excellent control but not much velocity. I think he can help out a bit.
I made a late signing this year and went after a reserve outfielder. Richard Hidalgo has excellent power and is a decent fielder. He got little to no interest for two weeks on the market and I decided to give him a 2yr/$1.8M contract. I think he can be a useful player off my bench or starter if an injury come my way.
Thats all I wanted to do. I landed 2 pitchers and 2 position players. Landing the youngest and best free agent was nice. Now I hope it can translate onto the field next year.
I'd like to send a few league notes out:
At age 38, Sammy Sosa has decided to leave the game. Sammy had a hall of fame career with 598 HR and 1607 RBI. You will be missed Sammy!
Craig Biggio decided to call it a career as well. Biggio had one of those Hall of Fame careers and fell just short of a major milestone walking away with 2947 hits. Bye Bye Craig!
Some Free Agent destinations:
Minnesota makes a lot of moves and signs
Curt Schilling P
Mike Maroth P
Livan Hernandez P
Mark Buehrle P
Adam Dunn P
Roger Clemens P
All in all it was about 25-30 million in payroll spent.
Bartolo Colon went from Los AngelesA to Texas. Jumped ship from the second place team to the division winner and got 4M per.
Other than that there weren't too many big money signings. Adam Dunn was second to the 11.3M I gave to Cabrera. Dunn got 9.2M.
The Season Award ballots are in and the Winners are:
AMERICAN LEAGUE (2007)
Cy Young Johan Santana (MIN)
Player of the Year: Justin Morneau (MIN)
Rookie Of The Year: Alex Gordon (KCR)
Gold Glove (P): Chien-Ming Wang (NYY)
Gold Glove (C): Ramon Hernandez (BAL)
Gold Glove (1B): Mark Teixeira (TEX)
Gold Glove (2B): Placido Polanco (DET)
Gold Glove (3B): Alex Gordon (KCR)
Gold Glove (SS): Michael Young (TEX)
Gold Glove (LF): Frank Catalanotto (TEX)
Gold Glove (CF): Alexis Rios (TOR)
Gold Glove (RF): Ichiro Suzuki (SEA)
NATIONAL LEAGUE (2007)
Cy Young Ben Sheets (MIL)
Player of the Year: David Wright (NYM)
Rookie Of The Year: Dan Ortmeier (SFG)
Gold Glove (P): David Bush (MIL)
Gold Glove (C): Josh Bard (SDP)
Gold Glove (1B): Todd Helton (COL)
Gold Glove (2B): Aaron Miles (STL)
Gold Glove (3B): Scott Rolen (STL)
Gold Glove (SS): David Eckstein (STL)
Gold Glove (LF): Aaron Rowand (PHI)
Gold Glove (CF): Andruw Jones (ATL)
Gold Glove (RF): Ryan Church (WSN)
Nothing for any players on my team. We'll change that this year!
Thats it for the offseason. See you in the spring.
2008 Oakland Athletics
Team Overview
Starting Lineup
- Ryan Goleski - CF
- Milton Bradley - RF
- Nick Swisher - 1B
- Miguel Cabrera - 3B
- Erubial Durazo - DH
- Bobby Kielty - LF
- Marco Scutaro - 2B
- Jack Wilson - SS
- Jason Kendall
Bench
- Esteban German - IF
- Antonio Perez - IF
- Dan Johnson - 1B
- Jeremy Brown - C
- Richard Hidalgo - OF
Starting Rotation
- Rich Harden
- Jason Windsor
- Mark Prior
- Joe Blanton
- Steven Johnson
Bullpen
- CP - Huston Street
- SU - Chad Gaudin
- Short - Justin Duchsherer
- Short - Kiko Calero
- Middle - Chris Reitsma
- Long - Brad Halsey
I hope this team can perform a bit better than last year. It will only take a little turnaround both offensively and on the pitching side to compete in the AL WEST.
******************************************************************************** *******************************
I was walking around at BP and feilding practice at the Colisseum and I ran into Rich Harden. We started chatting about the season ahead.
RH: Hey Dan whats going on?
DC: Nothing much Rich. Just checking out the guys. I think we have a chance to be pretty good this year.
RH: Me too. I really want to get back to the top of the division. I feel like I can lead us there.
DC: That makes me feel good Rich. I'm really hoping you can step it up this year and win a bunch of game for us. We have a lot of young guys who are going to be looking to you for some guidance. You have been on this pitching staff the longest.
RH: I understand. I want this team to be great and I love the guys. I'm going to give my all every game.
DC: Good Rich I can't wait to see you take the mound. If we get the offense I expect you could win 20 this year.
RH: I'm just going to take it one game at a time. Try to stay healthy.
DC: Thats all I want Rich. We'll get to where we want if you do that. I've got to run Rich I have some calls to make but I'll be there to see you pitch agsinst the Rangers. Good Luck Rich.
RH: Thanks Dan. I'll see you later.
I can't help but feel that Harden is going to have an excellent season. That perfomance at the end of last year gives me a lot of hope.
April 4th - April 10th 2008
We start the season at home. We face off against the defending World champs, the Texas Rangers, for three games. Then the Tigers come into town for three. I hope we can start the season off well and get into a groove. Taking down Texas would be a nice start.
April 4th 2008
The field is ready and Texas is in town. Opening day is tomorrow and the excitement is building. The local papers are projecting us for 2nd place behind Texas who has the same team plus Bartolo Colon. I hope we can surprise some people. Rich Harden will go tomorrow and we need him to set the tone for the season ahead of us.
April 5th 2008
Texas Rangers(0-0) @ Oakland Athletics(0-0)
Rangers 0 - A's 2
WP: Rich Harden (1-0)
LP: Brandon McCarthy (0-1)
SV: Huston Street (1)
Rich Harden starts off the season with a great game. He goes 7 shutout innings and gives up just 1 hit. He gave up 5 walks but was never in danger of giving up a run. He also struck out 9 batters including the side in the first. Huston Street picks up his first save pitching a perfect ninth. On offense, Kendall and Scutaro drove in the runs from the bottom of the lineup. Just what we need, great pitching and timely hitting.
An early season trade:
Cincinatti sends:
Ramon Martinez SS
Ron Belliard 2B
Matt Treanor C
Luis Terrero CF
ChicagoA sends:
Brian N. Anderson LF
Erik Lis 1B
Erik MacSporran 2B
Not too sure why some of these trades happen. Cincinatti gets the bext player in Anderson. Luis Terrero is a decent outfielder and should be on the big club for the White Sox. Cincinatti get the best here.
April 6th 2008
Texas Rangers(0-1) @ Oakland Athletics(1-0)
Rangers 2 - A's 4
WP: Jason Windsor (1-0)
LP: Kevin Millwood (0-1)
SV: Huston Street (2)
Jason Windsor pitches really well in his season debut. He goes 7.2 innings and gives up just 2ER. A nice way to start is season. Huston Street gives up a hit in the ninth but still picks up his second save. The offense was led by Nick Swishers two run homer and Marco Scutaros solo shot. Milton Bradley also went 3-4 with and RBI.
April 7th 2008
Texas Rangers(0-2) @ Oakland Athletics(2-0)
Rangers 1 - A's 9
WP: Mark Prior (1-0)
LP: Vicente Padilla (0-1)
This is exactly how I need the starting pitching on my team to perform. New guy Mark Prior mirrors the two prior starters and goes 7.1 innings and gives up just 1ER. He let up the run on a solo shot and struck out 5 in the game. The other new pitcher on my staff Chris Reitsma goes a perfect 1.2 innings to close out the sweep of the Rangers. Nick Swisher powered the offense going 2-4 with a homer and 4 RBI. Miguel Cabrera got his first hit in an Oakland uniform with a 2 run double. Milton Bradley also went 3-3 with an RBI on the day.
April 8th 2008
Detroit Tigers(1-2)@ Oakland Athletics(3-0)
Tigers 4 - A's 7
WP: Joe Blanton (1-0)
LP: Chad Durbin (0-1)
The starters continue to perform very well. He goes 7.1 innings and gives up 4ER. The 7 inning mark is what I hope all my starter can do and they all have been doing it so far. My bullpen has been spotless so far. Gaudin and Street are perfect in the 8th and 9th to close out the game. Nick Swisher has been absolutely on fire to start the season. He went 3-4 with 2 home runs and 3 RBI. What a start. Milton Bradley also went deep with a solo shot. Goleski set the table nicely and ate the dinner going 2-4 with 2RBI and 2 runs. Another nice win.
April 9th 2008
Detroit Tigers(1-3)@ Oakland Athletics(4-0)
Tigers 8 - A's 10
WP: Chad Gaudin (1-0)
LP: Jeremy Accardo (0-2)
SV: Huston Street (3)
My #5 starter rookie Steven Johnson doesn't perform as well as the rest of my rotation. But because of the offense he left after 5.1 innings with an 8-6 lead. Kiko Calero struggled in his first appearance. He gave up 2ER in his 1.2 innings. Gaudin held the game where it was in his perfect innings and we took the lead in the bottom of the eight. Huston Street pitches a perfect ninth inning for his 3rd save. Durazo led the offense with a 2 run homer. Nick Swisher keeps producing going 2-4 with 2 RBI. Another very solid win for the team.
Something of a big trade:
Cincinatti sends:
Aaron Harang P
Alex Gonzalez SS
Jon Knott LF
Daryle Ward 1B
Pittsburgh sends:
Blaine Neal P
Ronny Paulino P
Cincinatti send away their ace. Harang wasn't happy and was making a lot of money. Paulino is a very good and relatively young catcher who will help the Reds pitching staff. I think the Pirates got the better player but the Reds definitely made out in the deal.
April 10th 2008
Detroit Tigers(1-4)@ Oakland Athletics(5-0)
Tigers 7 - A's 8
WP: Brad Halsey (1-0)
LP: Zach Miner (0-1)
SV: Huston Street (4)
Rich Harden pitched very well again but got robbed of a win. He went just 6 innings and gave up 4R, only 1ER. An error by Marco Scutaro allowed a big inning to happen in the 4th where the Tigers scored 4. Harden was excellent in every other inning. The offense was led by Kielty who went 1-3 with a 3RBI double. Milton Bradley went deep and had 2 RBI on the day. The story of the game was in the 8th when we were leading 6-4 and Brad Halsey came into the game. He allowed the first two batter to reach base. He then go two outs but Magglio Ordonez took him dee and took the lead 7-6. That was short lived however because Dan Johnson pinch hit in bottom half with a man on. He blasted a homer over the left field fence to take the lead 8-7. Huston Street came in and pitched a perfect frame to pick up his 4th save.
WOW. 6-0 is better than I could have hoped for. This is a very solid start to the season. The offense looks explosive and the pitching has been very solid. I'm very happy with the team right now.
April 11th - April 17th 2008
We take this travelling circus on the road to Texas for three games and then off to Anaheim for three with the Angels. To start the season 6-0 is amazing. We just have to keep it up. If we can have a really good April I think it would do a lot of good for the confidence on this team. As long as the starters go 6-7 innings per start I don't see why not.
April 11th 2008
Oakland Athletics(6-0) @ Texas Rangers(1-5)
A's 3 - Rangers 2
WP: Jason Windsor (2-0)
LP: Kevin Millwood (0-2)
SV: Huston Street (5)
Can you believe it? 7-0. Jason Windsor tosses a great game and goes the magic 7 innings that I have been talking about. In those 7, he gives up 2ER and 6 hits. Nice Job. Gaudin has been lights out early in the season and gives up 1 hit in 1 inning pitched. Huston Street shuts the door with a perfect ninth for his 5th save. Street has given up just 1 hit in 6 innings of work this year. On offense Bradley and Wilson drove the runs in. Miguel Cabrera has been hitting better going 2-3 with a walk in the game.
A couple trades today:
Cincinatti sends:
Kevin Millar 1B
Eli Marrero C
Blaine Neal P
San Francisco sends:
Kevin Frandsen 2B
Brian Bowles P
Steve Kline P
Dusty Bergman P
San Francisco gets a decent reliever in Blaine Neal. Cincinatti gets a potential 2B of the future in Frandsen. They also get the edge.
Kansas City sends:
Mike Sweeney 1B
Horacio Ramirez P
Dewon Brazleton P
San Diego sends:
Bobby Hill 3B
Heath Bell P
San Diego gets a decent hitter in Sweeney and two average pitchers. Kansas City gets an above average reliever in Bell. I'll give it to KC because of Bell.
April 12th 2008
Oakland Athletics(7-0) @ Texas Rangers(1-6)
A's 8 - Rangers 6 (12)
WP: Huston Street (1-0)
LP: Kevin Walker (0-1)
This is getting crazy. 8-0. Mark Prior doesn't pitch very well but the team still pulls it out. Prior goes 5 innings and gives up 5ER. The bullpen holds tight and gives up just 1ER the rest of the way. That is 7 innings of 1 run ball. I like the effort. Huston Street picks up the win pitching in a perfect 12th inning. Erubial Durazo was the hero at the plate with a 2 run homer in the 12th. He went 2-4 with a homer 3 RBI and 2 runs scored overall. Dan Johnson continues to impress off the bench. Today he cleared the loaded bases with a double. He is 2-2 on the season with a homer and 5RBI.
The game says goodbye to one of the best today. John Smoltz, who spent nineteen season with the Atlanta Braves, retired today. He won 200 games in his career and had a nice 3.37 career ERA. Smoltz was very versatile and had 157 Saves in his career as well. See you in the Hall John!
April 13th 2008
Oakland Athletics(8-0) @ Texas Rangers(1-7)
A's 5 - Rangers 4
WP: Joe Blanton (2-0)
LP: Rick Bauer (0-1)
SV: Huston Street (6)
Absolutely ridiculous. 9-0. Joe Blanton goes 8 innings and gives up 4ER. Not an exceptional start but good enough to win. If you leave the eight with a lead it is an almost guaranteed win. Street came in for a perfect ninth and his sixth save. Dan Johnson has a good day going 2-4 with a homer and RBI. Nick Swisher stays hot going 3-5 with an RBI. This is getting crazy. Undefeated through 9 games.
April 14th 2008
It almost seems like a bad thing to get a day off. This team is too hot for time off. I hope we can take all the games we play in Anaheim this weekend. This team has been performing well above expectations and I am thrilled. Mazzar will be meeting up with the team to take Steven Johnsons place for a couple starts. Johnson tweaked a quad and will be out for a week or so. Vin has the major league experience from the end of last year and has been abusing minor league batters this year.
Congrats to Troy Glaus on hitting his 300th Home Run!
April 15th 2008
Oakland Athletics(9-0) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(6-3)
A's 6 - Angels 0
WP: Rich Harden (2-0)
LP: John Lackey (0-3)
We decided to allow Rich Harden to go because he had 5 days rest. He was dominant. He went 8 shuout innings giving up just 4 hits and 1 walk. He also struck out 9 batters. An ace like performance. Dan Johnson continues to tear up the opposing pitcher. He goes 1-2 with 2 more RBI. Ryan Goleski went deep for the first time this season. 10-0. Again WOW.
April 16th 2008
Oakland Athletics(10-0) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(6-4)
A's 5 - Angels 3 (12)
WP: Huston Street (2-0)
LP: Justin Speier (0-1)
Totally unreal. I really don't know how this team is doing it. Maybe solid starting pitching like Jason Windsor going 7 innings and giving up just 1ER. He looked to be headed for a win but Chad Gaudin struggled for the first time this season and let the Angels tie the game at 3. It stayed that way til the top of the 13th when we scored two to take the lead. Huston Street gets the win after going the 11th and 12th and giving up just 1 hit. Milton Bradley was the hero in the 12th knocking out a 2 run shot. He was 3-5 on the day with that homer and 3 RBI. Goleski also hit a homer and went 2-4 with an RBI. 11-0 WOW.
Congrats to Ian Kinsler of the Rangers who hit for the cycle tonight. He went 5-5 with 3RBI as well.
Also to Barry Bonds. He drove in his 2000th run of his career! Congrats Barry!
April 17th 2008
Oakland Athletics(11-0) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(6-5)
A's 4 - Angels 3
WP: Mark Prior (2-0)
LP: Kelvim Escobar (1-1)
SV: Justin Duchscherer (1)
I've been saying this for a couple games now but WOW. Mark Prior goes 7 innings and gives up 2ER and fans 7 Angels. A very solid performance after he struggled his last time out. Bobby Kielty provided the offense on a 1-4 day with 2 RBI. The bullpen scuffled a bit in the ninth but Duchsherer came in and shut it down. 12-0. Can't beleive it!
This team has been unreal these first two weeks. Close games, Blowouts, Extra innings...It doesn't matter they are winning. I love this team. My pitching has really been stepping up and when they don't the offense pulls it out. JUST WOW!
Side Bar:I have been playing this game for a long time and have never had a team do this. I am really excited. Every time I sim the games, or watch Hardens starts, they win. Maybe they can go 162-0 lol.
I've had 12-game winning streaks in the past, but I've never started the season off this hot.
Outstanding start. I know their's been some talk about a perfect season in the General Discussion forum, perhaps it'll happen sooner than we think... :D
I'm pulling for you! Let's go A's!
Potato - Yeah I have had winnings streaks but to start the season was incredible. I was expecting a .500 team this year. I couldn't be happier. An undefeated season would be ridiculous lol
April 18th - April 24th 2007
We have a few short two game series against the Mariners and Indians at home. After that the Angels come in for 3 to end the week. We have won 12 games to start the season. This is amazing. I hope we can run the table this week. If not, we can set ourselves up for an awesome April.
April 18th 2008
Seattle Mariners(8-5) @ Oakland Athletics(12-0)
Mariners 3 - A's 5
WP: Joe Blanton (3-0)
LP: Jarrod Washburn (1-2)
SV: Brad Halsey (1)
We keep the streak going and get #13. Joe Blanton pitches very well over 7 innings and gives up 3ER. Another quality start leads to another win for the team. The top four in the lineup do the damage again. Goleski, Bradley and Cabrera all drive in 1 run. Swisher drives in 2. The team has tied the major league record for most consecutive wins to start a Major League season. They are tied with the '82 Braves and '87 Brewers. Let's do it one more time boys!
April 19th 2008
Seattle Mariners(8-6) @ Oakland Athletics(13-0)
Mariners 2 - A's 9
WP: Vin Mazzaro (1-0)
LP: Miguel Batista (1-2)
Vin Mazzaro dazzles going 8 innings and allowing just 2ER. This game was never in question as the team scored 3 in the second and 4 in the third. The bottom of the lineup did the damage. Jack Wilson went 3-5 with 2 RBI and Jason Kendall went 2-5 with 2RBI. A new MAJOR LEAGUE RECORD. The Oakland A's have won their first 14 games of the season, the first time this has ever been done. Now I just hope it can carry on and translate into a late October appearance. It is a nice record but I hope they are playing this hot when the playoffs roll around.
Today Ivan Rodriguez padded his hall of fame resume collecting his 2500th hit. Congrats Ivan!
Also today Scott Rolen scored his 1000th run of his career. Way to go Scott!
April 20th 2008
Cleveland Indians(9-5) @ Oakland Athletics(14-0)
Indians 2 - A's 5
WP: Rich Harden (3-0)
LP: C.C. Sabathia (1-2)
SV: Huston Street (7)
Had to figure the streak was going to continue. Rich Harden pitched decently. He went 5.2 innings and struggled a bit but worked out of most of the jams. He allowed only 1 ER and fanned 8 Indians. Miguel Cabrera had a good day going 3-4 with his first homer in an A's uniform and 2RBI. Milton Bradley also went deep in the game. Nick Swisher keeps producing and gets another 2 hits and 2RBI. Huston Street gives up just his third hit of the year but still picks up his 7th save. 15-0. This has to end soon. Hopefully not but I'll be realistic.
April 21st 2008
Cleveland Indians(9-6) @ Oakland Athletics(15-0)
Indians 7 - A's 6
WP: Fausto Carmona (2-1)
LP: Kiko Calero (0-1)
SV: Fernando Cabrera (3)
And it comes to an end. What a great start to the season. Jason Windsor becomes human and gives up 4ER in just 5.2 innings. That was enough to keep us in the game and we had a lead going into the ninth, 6-5. In the ninth, Calero was trusted to bring the game home but he faltered. He allowed a hit and then a two run homer to let the Indians take the lead. Johnny Peralta put up a herculian effort in hitting for the cycle with two home runs. He had 5 RBI and led the Indians to victory over my undefeated team. Richard Hidalgo had the hit to put us up 6-5 with a 2 run double. Bradley and Cabrera both collected 3 hits in the game.
Congratulations to Vladimir Guerrero who collected his 2000th hit today. Congrats Vladdy!
A big player moved his residence today:
Tampa Bay sends:
Carl Crawford LF
ChicagoA sends:
Olmedo Saenz 3B
Mike Macdougal P
Hans Macneil RF
Lucas Harrell P
Chicago gets the best player here and unless Harrell and Macneil develop they make out like bandits. Crawford is one of the best young LF in the game. He has power, average, speed and fielding ability.
April 22nd 2008
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(8-8) @ Oakland Athletics(15-1)
Angels 3 - A's 2 (10)
WP: Scot Shields (2-0)
LP: Chad Gaudin (1-1)
SV: Francisco Rodriguez (4)
A pitchers duel here. Mark Prior goes 8 innings and gives up just 2ER. He has been performing very well this year and I just hope he can stay healthy. Cabrera and Swisher drove in the runs for the A's. We lose our second in a row after winning the first 15. I hope we can rebound in the next game.
April 23rd 2008
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(9-8) @ Oakland Athletics(15-2)
Angels 2 - A's 4
WP: Joe Blanton (4-0)
LP: Jered Weaver (2-1)
SV: Kiko Calero (1)
Another very good start from Joe Blanton. He goes 8 innings and gives up 2ER. I like how Blanton has rebounded from his poor 2007 season. To think he was on the block at the deadline last year and I just didn't get enough quality offers for him. I'm happy about that now. Erubial Durazo leads the offense with a pinch hit two run home run. Goleski drives in the winning run on a double in the 6th.
A trade today:
Kansas City sends:
Tyler Lumsden P
Jimmy Gobble P
Colorado sends:
Willy Taveras CF
Kansas City gets a nice speedy CF. Colorado gets an established reliever and a reliever who could develop into a very nice player. Time will tell on this trade.
April 24th 2008
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim(9-9) @ Oakland Athletics(16-2)
Angels 2 - A's 5
WP: Vin Mazzaro (2-0)
LP: Joe Saunders (1-2)
I thought Vin Mazzaro might be headed back to the minors after his few starts but I think I will keep him here. He puts in a quality start going 7 innings and giving up 2ER. Bobby Kielty and Dan Johnson go deep for the A's to lead the offense. Bradley and Swisher stay hot and collect two hits each. A nice way to finish off the week.
To this point in the season the only losses on my team have been credited to the bullpen. My starters have been as solid as they can be. The offense has been hitting in a timely manner. This all adds up to 17-2 record to start the season. I imagined this year would have been similar to last year but I hope the team can keep it up. I want to bring the A's back to World Series contenders. They may have been making the playoffs every year before I got here but they weren't really October contenders.
16-2! Great job
Joey Gathright and Willy Tavares in the same outfield? How can you get doubles against KC now!?
15 wins to start the season: simply amazing. Who'd have thought that Miggy Cabrera and Mark Prior could make such a difference for a .500 ballclub from a year ago?
About time that Harden pitch to his potential, huh...
16-2 is quite the start! Do you think you can keep it up, or do you think its just an early season anomaly?
Red Sox Fan - Thanks I'm going to try an keep it going!
Potato - Yeah gonna be tough to get those doubles but KC still stinks lol...I wanted Miguel and since I got rid of Chavez last year it made lots of sense. Prior has stepped it up--keeping my fingers crossed for injuries. Yeah 0.68ERA through 4 starts for Harden--he gave me 37 starts last year which was surprising for his ijnury history.
Dawg - Yeah, very surprising. We will probably come back down to earth, hopefully not though. I just couldn't believe they kept winning every time I simmed the games!
I wouldn't expect you to continue a pace quite this insane, I guess what I meant was do you think you can play at a high level all season and win the west or wild card?
April 25th - May 1st 2008
What a start to the season. 17-2 is amazing! I think we will come back down soon, maybe as soon as this week. We have to go to New York and that is always a tough place to play especially against a talented Yankees lineup. Hopefully the pitchers can keep it up. Off day and then New York for three and Chicago for three.
April 25th 2008
Oakland Tribune staff writer Joe Stiglich approached me yesterday after the game for an interview. I asked him if today would be a good day and he agreed. He said he wanted to do the interview in a Q&A style. This is how it went:
Joe Stiglich: Today I will be talking to second year Oakland Athletics GM Dan Coleman. The A's have started this season off very hot winning 15 in a row to start the season and currently sit at 17-2. Dan, did you expect this team to win this many games so soon?
Dan Coleman: Well I believe this team can win every game it plays. To be realistic you don't ever think you're team can win 15 in a row and especially to start off a season. This has been an amazing ride. I came into the season expecting to compete for the division but not pull away so quickly. I must say I am quite proud of the squad so far.
JS: We all know about your signing of star free agent Miguel Cabrera. He has been struggling to start the season batting only .220 with one home run and just 10 RBI in 19 games. Many people are criticizing the move, expecially since you spent 11.3 million per year. Obviously the rest of the team has been performing with the quick start record wise. Do you think you made the correct move?
DC: Obviously I believe I made the right decision. Cabrera is a great young talent who will contribute to this teams success for many years to come. He is just a part of the whole. It takes a whole team to win in this league. One man cannot do the job all by himself. I beleive I have put the pieces in place to compete in our division and in the league as a whole.
JS: Rich Harden has been excellent from the last month last year and all the way though the first three weeks of April. What changes have you seen in Rich? Also how has that affected how he is performing on the field?
DC: To begin, Rich is a born leader. His only problem was that his body wouldn't allow him to be on the field to lead the way. It is very difficult to lead a team when you are on the DL. We have worked with Rich and we believe he is going to be healthy long term. I have had many conversations with Rich and have assured him that he is this teams ace and will be for as long as I am running this organization. Rich has all the tools to be the anchor of this pitching staff for many years. I think he has the confidence to be the leader of the A's for the rest of his career.
JS: How about some of the young talent on this team? Can you give us a rundown of some of the guys you plan on using? We have already seen Ryan Goleski and Vin Mazzaro at the major League level, who else can we expect?
DC: For the time being I think our roster is essentially locked. Goleski has been struggling a bit with his contact but we are working on that. His production has been exceptional from the top spot. Vin Mazzaro is a very effective groundball pitcher. I have sought out an excellent defensive infield to help my pitchers and Mazzaro has benefited a lot from this. As far as call ups we have second baseman Kevin Mellilo at AAA who is developing very nicely. He is batting a hefty .457 through about 16 games with some solid power and good defense. With no offense to Marco Scutaro, who is a natural third baseman, I believe we need to upgrade offensively at second. Marco has been struggling at the plate but since we have been so hot to begin the season we have the time to let him straighten it out.
JS: Do you truly think your team can continue on this type of pace the rest of the year? What do you think the rest of this season holds for the A's?
DC: Well obviously we are not going undefeated, we lost our first game already. I do think we can win the division. I feel strongly that we can compete with any team in this league. My lineup is strong and my pitching staff is strong. My coaches have a common goal and seem to be heading in the right direction. As long as everyone keeps giving one-hundred percent effort everyday I think we can win a lot. Obviously we need to avoid the injury bug as well.
JS: Well thank you Dan and good luck the rest of the way. I hope to talk to you again soon.
DC: Thank you Joe. I will see you later.
April 26th 2008
Oakland Athletics(17-2) @ New York Yankees(11-8)
A's 3 - Yankees 2
WP: Brad Halsey (2-0)
LP: Luis Vizcaino (1-1)
SV: Chad Gaudin (1)
Rich Harden continues pitching well. He goes 6 innings and gives up 2ER while striking out 6. Harden put himself in a good position to win but ran into Chien-Ming Wang who went 8 shutout innings. Too bad for him that Luis Vizcaino had a tough time in the ninth giving up 3 runs and the lead to the us. Durazo did the job with a 2 RBI pinch hit double to tie the game. He was then knocked in by a Jack Wilson single. Chad Gaudin shuts the Yankees down in the ninth for his first save.
April 27th 2008
Oakland Athletics(18-2) @ New York Yankees(11-9)
A's 11 - Yankees 9 (10)
WP: Brad Halsey (3-0)
LP: Luis Vizcaino (1-2)
A slugfest in the bronx. The Yankees did the job early scoring all their runs within the first 5 innings. Jason Windsor struggled through 3.2 innings and gave up 7ER. The offense did the job in the game. Nick Swisher and Miguel Cabrera both hit home runs. Goleski went 2-3 with 3 walks and 3 runs scored to spark the offense at the top of the order. Durazo and Hidalgo both had pinch hits and an RBI on the game. Hidalgo had the go ahead RBI double in the 10th to take the lead.
April 28th 2008
Oakland Athletics(19-2) @ New York Yankees(11-10)
A's 3 - Yankees 2
WP: Mark Prior (3-0)
LP: Scott Proctor (2-2)
SV: Huston Street (8)
Another squeaker, another win. Mark Prior has been great so far this year. Today he goes 6.2 innings and gives up just 1ER. He gave up just 4 hits and fanned 9 batters. Nice start for Mark. The offense was all Nick Swisher who went 3-4 with 2 home runs and all 3 RBI. Swisher has been key for us so far this year. We swept the Yankees at Yankee stadium. This season just seems to get better and better every game.
April 29th 2008
Oakland Athletics(20-2) @ Chicago White Sox(7-15)
A's 5 - White Sox 4
WP: Joe Blanton (5-0)
LP: Justin Edwards (0-2)
SV: Huston Street (9)
We win another close one. Joe Blanton was crusing through 7 innings giving up just 2ER. He struggled in his next 1/3 of an inning and gave up 2ER, total 4ER, and the bullpen came in to do the job. Street shut down the White Sox and got his ninth save but was shaky giving up a hit and walk. Durazo did the job on offense going 3-4 with a homer 2RBI and 2 runs scored. German also went 3-4 on the day with an RBI.
April 30th 2008
Oakland Athletics(21-2) @ Chicago White Sox(7-16) (10)
A's 5 - White Sox 6
WP: Andrew Sisco (1-1)
LP: Chad Gaudin (1-2)
The bullpen gave away this game. Vin Mazzaro ptiched well through 6.2 innings giving up 3ER. The bullpen gave up 3 more ER over the next 3.1 innings with Gaudin giving up the game winner in the 10th. Bradley and Cabrera had good days at the plate. Bradley went 2-4 with a homer and 2RBI. Cabrera went 3-5 with a homer and 2RBI. Esteban German also had a solo shot on the day.
Chris Young of Arizona is a special hitter. He proved it the other night as he hit for the cycle. This is the second time he did this, the last time being last August. Congrats Chris!
Boston takes a hit to the lineup. Dustin Pedroia was injured when he was spiked in the knee on a pivot for a double play. He will be out for about 2-3 weeks.
May 1st 2008
Oakland Athletics(21-3) @ Chicago White Sox(8-16)
A's 5 - White Sox 6
WP: Javier Vazquez (2-3)
LP: Rich Harden (3-1)
SV: Bobby Jenks (4)
Rich Harden struggles for the first time this season. He gives up 5ER in just 4 innings. I'm not too worried. The White Sox have been hot and they only got to him in 1 inning for all 5 runs. I'm sure he will bounce back in his next start. Dan Johnson led the offense with his 4th home run. German stays hot and goes 2-4 with an RBI.
Another two game losing streak but I can't complain with the teams record at 21-4. Still a very good week at 4-2 on the road for the week. This team is real solid and I hope they can keep it up for a while to pull away in the division.
League Review April
American League Standings
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...5/BB2K8-19.jpg
National League Standings
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...5/BB2K8-20.jpg
League Batting Leaders
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...5/BB2K8-21.jpg
League Pitching Leaders
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...5/BB2K8-22.jpg
Team Review - April
Oakland Batting Statistics
Oakland Pitching StatisticsPHP Code:2008 Batting Team G AVG AB H 2B 3B HR BB K SB CS R RBI SLG OBP
Goleski, Ryan OAK 25 .230 100 23 5 0 2 16 21 1 0 20 11 .340 .342
Cabrera, Miguel OAK 25 .232 99 23 7 0 3 10 28 0 0 12 14 .394 .313
Bradley, Milton OAK 25 .323 99 32 8 0 5 14 17 2 0 19 18 .556 .405
Swisher, Nick OAK 25 .351 97 34 7 0 7 16 23 0 0 19 26 .639 .439
Kielty, Bobby OAK 24 .219 96 21 4 1 2 4 19 0 0 12 12 .344 .257
Kendall, Jason OAK 25 .295 88 26 4 0 0 5 9 0 2 11 8 .341 .333
Scutaro, Marco OAK 23 .200 80 16 3 2 0 12 17 0 0 6 4 .288 .312
Wilson, Jack OAK 21 .271 70 19 5 0 0 7 8 2 1 15 7 .343 .333
Johnson, Dan OAK 18 .274 62 17 6 1 4 10 8 0 0 11 11 .597 .365
Durazo, Erubiel OAK 14 .342 38 13 4 0 4 7 4 0 0 10 13 .763 .444
German, Esteban OAK 8 .471 17 8 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 2 3 .824 .471
Hidalgo, Richard OAK 6 .375 8 3 3 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 3 .750 .444
Perez, Antonio OAK 3 .143 7 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .143 .143
Brown, Jeremy OAK 3 .000 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000
The team has obviously looked real good. Mark Prior has been the key free agent addition. He has pitched better than I could have expected and has been one of the major reasons for the teams success. Nick Swisher has really stepped up at the plate. He usually has a very low batting average but at .351 he doing exceptional. That goes along with his 7 HR and 26 RBI which makes him the offensive MVP of April for the A's.PHP Code:2008 Pitching Team IP ERA G GS W L SV K BB R/9
Street, Huston OAK 13.1 0.00 13 0 2 0 9 8 2 5.40
Duchscherer, Justin OAK 15.0 0.60 12 0 0 0 1 14 2 5.40
Harden, Rich OAK 36.2 2.21 6 6 3 1 0 41 16 10.80
Gaudin, Chad OAK 13.2 2.63 13 0 1 2 1 7 3 7.90
Prior, Mark OAK 34.0 2.91 5 5 3 0 0 35 13 10.06
Mazzaro, Vin OAK 21.2 2.91 3 3 2 0 0 16 10 10.80
Blanton, Joe OAK 37.2 4.06 5 5 5 0 0 16 7 13.62
Windsor, Jason OAK 30.2 4.70 5 5 2 0 0 21 16 14.97
Calero, Kiko OAK 9.0 5.00 11 0 0 1 1 14 2 11.00
Halsey, Brad OAK 12.1 5.11 10 0 3 0 1 7 4 12.41
Reitsma, Chris OAK 3.1 5.40 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 13.50
Johnson, Steven OAK 5.1 10.13 1 1 0 0 0 4 3 16.88
May 2nd - May 8th 2008
We have the Mariners on the road and then we come back hom for three with the Twins. Two teams that have been performing well this season. Let's keep the success going boys!
May 2nd 2008
Oakland Athletics(21-4) @ Seattle Mariners(14-11)
A's 14 - Mariners 7
WP: Jason Windsor (3-0)
LP: Jarrod Washburn (2-3)
Jason Windsor struggle a bit in the game. He did manage to go 5.1 innings but gave up 6ER. The offense took him off the hook scoring 7 early runs off Washburn and then beating up the M's pen for 7 more. Ryan Goleski went 4-6 with 3RBI. Erubial Durazo went 2-5 with a homer and 3RBI. German also had a big day going 2-5 with 3RBI as well. A very solid effort by the offense.
Manny Ramirez joined an elite club today. Manny blasted his 500th home run of his career. See you in the Hall Manny!
May 3rd 2008
Oakland Athletics(22-4) @ Seattle Mariners(14-12)
A's 8 - Mariners 0
WP: Mark Prior (4-0)
LP: Miguel Batista (1-3)
Mark Prior continues to pound the strike zone and dominate batters. He goes 8 shutout innings and strikes out 10 Mariners. A very nice performance! The offense does its job again. Dan Johnson crushes a Grand Slam in the 3rd. Esteban German has another good game 2-4 with a homer. Bradley also picks up 2 hits and 2RBI on the day.
May 4th 2008
Oakland Athletics(23-4) @ Seattle Mariners(14-13)
A's 2 - Mariners 4
WP: Cha Seung Baek (5-0)
LP: Joe Blanton (5-1)
SV: J.J. Putz (9)
Joe Blanton suffers his first loss of the year. He ran into a very hot Baek whos is absolutely dominating this year. Blanton went 6.2 innings and gave up 4ER. Joe has been very solid so far this year. Bradley and Johnson drove in the only runs for the A's.
May 5th 2008
An off day for the team. Not too much going on. The team can use a little rest because the Twins are coming in tomorrow. They have a very good lineup and pitching staff. It should be a very good series.
May 6th 2008
Minnesota Twins(20-9) @ Oakland Athletics(23-5)
Twins 7 - A's 5
WP: Pat Neshek (1-0)
LP: Brad Halsey (3-1)
SV: Joe Nathan (7)
Rich Harden has another tough start. He allows 5ER in the first inning. He only went 3 innings because he threw too many pitches. Rich has been looking very good but has had a couple bad innings. The offense came back and had a chance to win the game but the Twins showed why they are one of the best teams. Erubial Durazo hits another bomb, his 6th of the year. At the top of the order, Goleski goes 3-5. Nick Swisher reached based in all 4 plate appearances with 2 hits, 2 walks and 2RBI.
May 7th 2008
Minnesota Twins(21-9) @ Oakland Athletics(23-6)
Twins 4 - A's 11
WP: Jason Windsor (4-0)
LP: Mark Buehrle (5-2)
Jason Windsor has been having a bit of a rough time lately. He gives up 4ER in just 5 innings but the offense helps him out. Goleski starts the offense from the top going 2-2 with 3 walks. Durazo continues crushing the ball and hit his 7th homer of the year, a two run shot. Esteban German has another solid game going 4-5 with 4RBI. Swisher continues producing and drives in 2 on the day.
Edgar Renteria picked up his 2000th hit today. He is definitely on his way. Congrats Edgar!
May 8th 2008
Minnesota Twins(21-10) @ Oakland Athletics(24-6)
Twins 2 - A's 3
WP: Mark Prior (5-0)
LP: Livan Hernandez (4-2)
SV: Huston Street (10)
Mark Prior continues to pitch exceptionally. He goes 6.2 innings and gives up 2ER. Both of the runs came in the first and then he shut the Twins down and pitched no hit ball until he left the game. Prior struck out a bunch again fanning 8 more today. Goleski goes 2-4 with an RBI. Bradley and Kielty collect the other RBI's. Jason Kendall has a good day going 3-3.
4-2 is all I can ask for. If we can consistently have weeks like this we will have no problem accomplishing our goals this year. The next two weeks are going to be tough so the team needs to keep it going. Also, Joe Blanton has been feeling ill. So with the off day this week Vin Mazzaro will pitch tomorrow on a full five days rest and Blanton will skip this turn in the rotation.
No specific comments, as I'm just catching up again....but well done! You're really running away with things here!
THX CAT
May 9th - May 15th 2008
This week we have three at home agsinst the Indians and then three at the Metrodome with the Twins. 4-2 would be a good mark to reach. The Twins are a tough team and could be a problem though.
May 9th 2008
Cleveland Indians(17-14) @ Oakland Athletics(25-6)
Indians 0 - A's 5
WP: Vin Mazzaro (3-0)
LP: Fausto Carmona (2-2)
Mazzaro continues to pitch well and this game is no different. He went 7 shutout innings and struck out 7. He only allowed 4 hits and 1 walk. A great performance and very encouraging to see him continue his early season success. Nick Swisher went deep for his 8th of the year. Miguel Cabrera went 2-4 with 2RBI. Nice to see him start to produce a bit more.
The Angels made a move today to try to stay close in the division. They get a former A's starter:
Los AngelesA send:
Kendry Morales 1B
Ryan Mount 2B
Erick Aybar SS
St. Louis sends:
Mark Mulder P
Mulder has been struggling early this year but is still a very solid pitcher. If the change of scenery does anything then he could help the Angels. St. Louis get a trio of young infield prospects. If one develops they made a decent deal. If two or all three then it is a steal. Edge for LA for the time being.
May 10th 2008
Cleveland Indians(17-15) @ Oakland Athletics(26-6)
Indians 1 - A's 4
WP: Rich Harden (4-1)
LP: David Huff (0-1)
SV: Huston Street (11)
Harden gets back on track and pitches very well. He only goes 6 innings but shuts out the Indians. He struck out 6 in the game as well. Milton Bradley shined for the offense and went 3-4 with a homer run and 2 RBI. German had a good game with a 3-4 performance while driving in a run. Huston Street has been near untouchable and pitches another perfect ninth, picking up his 11th save.
May 11th 2008
Cleveland Indians(17-16) @ Oakland Athletics(27-6)
Indians 10 - A's 4
WP: C.C. Sabathia (3-3)
LP: Brad Halsey (3-2)
Halsey had to step in for a apot start and got lit up. He gave up 6ER in just 2 innings. The offense couldn't keep up and the top two, Goleski and Bradley, were the only productive bats. Goleski went 3-5 with 2 triples, 3 runs scored and an RBI. Bradley went 2-4 with a pair of RBI. I think we would have had a better chance if Windsor had made his start.
May 12th 2008
A day off to get to the Land O' Lakes for a three game set with the Twins. The twins are looking just as strong as they did last year when they had the best record in the majors. If we win one it is a good series and if we take two it will be excellent.
May 13th 2008
Oakland Athletics(27-7) @ Minnesota Twins(22-13)
A's 4 - Twins 1
WP: Kiko Calero (1-1)
LP: Mark Buehrle (5-3)
SV: Huston Street (12)
A nice way to start this series. It was a matchup of the top two pitchers from last years free agent pool. Mark Prior pitched very well through 6.2 innings and gave up just 1 ER while striking out 6. Buehrle pitched well until the 8th when he gave up 3ER and the game. Milton Bradley got to him with a 2 run shot in the 8th. Goleski and Swisher both had 2 hits and an RBI on the day. Street pitched another perfect ninth and gets his 12th save.
May 14th 2008
Oakland Athletics(28-7) @ Minnesota Twins(22-14)
A's 0 - Twins 3
WP: Livan Hernandez (5-2)
LP: Joe Blanton (5-2)
Blanton has a quality start going 7 innings and giving up the 3ER. Hernandez was better and shutout the offense over his 7 innings. The only one who saw the ball was Bradley who went 2-4 on the day. German had a decent day with a 1-2 and 2 walk performance.
Another 500 homer guy this year. Jim Thome accomplished the feat tonight. Congrats on 500 Jim!
May 15th 2008
Oakland Athletics(28-8) @ Minnesota Twins(23-14)
A's 3 - Twins 2
WP: Rich Harden (5-1)
LP: Johan Santana (3-3)
SV: Huston Street (13)
A great game. Two ace pitchers facing off on the top two teams in the majors. Harden pitched very well giving up just 1ER in 7 innings. He struck out 6 and gave up just 6 hits all game. Ryan Goleski was the hero on the offense. He smashed a 2 run homer in the 8th off Santana to take a 2-1 lead. Durazo then led off the 9th with a double and was driven in by Jack Wilson to take a 3-1 lead. That run was important as Huston Street gave up his first run of the year on a solo shot by Cuddyer in the 9th. He then pulled out his 13th save by retiring the final two batters. These are the type of games that I like to see the team pull out. Very intense throughout.
Just what I thought the team would do at 4-2. We could have probably take 5 wins but Windsor was unable to take his turn in the roatation. It was a good week overall.
May 16th - May 22nd 2008
I couldn't have imagines this team being 29-8 to start this season and holding an 8 game lead in the division. I am very happy about all of this. This week we are on the road for three with the Indians and then back to the bay area for three interleague games at San Francisco. I'm hoping for 4-2 but 3-3 would be acceptable at this point.
May 16th 2008
Oakland Athletics(29-8) @ Cleveland Indians(20-17)
A's 5 - Indians 3
WP: Jason Windsor (5-0)
LP: Cliff Lee (3-4)
SV: Huston Street (14)
The train kept a rollin' on into Cleveland. Windsor comes back after missing a start and pitches very well over 6.1 innings. He gave up just 1ER and 4 hits during his outing. Richard Hidalgo had a good day going 2-4 with a 2 run triple in the 7th. Bradley, Swisher and Wilson drove in the other runs. Huston Street bounces back and pitches a perfect ninth for his 14th save.
May 17th 2008
Oakland Athletics(30-8) @ Cleveland Indians(20-18)
A's 4 - Indians 8
WP: Matt Miller (1-0)
LP: Brad Halsey (3-3)
Joe Blanton was moved up to make his start because Mark Prior has been feeling ill for a few days. He pitched fairly well giving up 3ER over 6.1 innings. We were in position to win but Brad Halsey got roughed up for 4R in his time during the game. Nick Swisher went deep for the 9th time this year. German and Goleski both had two hits and an RBI on the day.
Aaron "F'ing" Boone retired today. He was released by the Reds after not playing the previous two year. He will always be remembered, especially by Red Sox fans, for his game winning home run in game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. Good riddance Aaron!
May 18th 2008
Oakland Athletics(30-9) @ Cleveland Indians(21-18)
A's 8 - Indians 2
WP: Vin Mazzaro (4-0)
LP: C.C. Sabathia (3-4)
Mazzaro struggled a bit in this game with his location but worked out of a lot of jams. He gave up 6 hits and 7 walks over just 5.1 innings, but yielded only 2ER on the day. The offense had a solid effort from every player. All 8 runs were driven in by different players with Swisher being the only one not to get an RBI. A very solid win against the Indians ace C.C. who sruggled through just 2.2 innings.
May 19th 2008
An off day to get to San Francisco to take on the Giants. Just like being home. I talked to Bob today and he told me he was going to push Windsor back a day and slide Prior into the two spot right behind Harden. I agreed an thought it was a good move. They are a very nice one two punch. Prior has been phenomenal and I think it has a bit to do with the two being friends.
Theo Epstein from the Red Sox had been calling me a bit this week to ask about Scott Dunn, a reliever in AAA. He has been doing fairly well this year at AAA and it doesn't seem like there would be much space here on the Major league club. I refused a few offers that involved low level prospects and finally Theo offered this deal:
Oakland sends:
Scott Dunn RP
Boston sends:
George Kottaras C
I really need a catcher who projects for the future and I think I may have him now. He has been backing up Varitek in Boston but he will be going to AAA to get some playing time because I have Kendall right now. Kendall is a solid player but makes 9.5M and his contract expires at the end of the year. Re-signing Kendall is not out of the equation but if the price is too high I have Kottaras now.
Today we also had the first no hitter of the year. Kip Wells of the Cardinals tossed the no-no against the Diamondbacks. Congrats Kip!
Heres the box:
May 20th 2008PHP Code:Arizona Diamondbacks at St. Louis Cardinals
May 20, 2008
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Diamondbacks (ARI) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Cardinals (STL) 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 x 4 8 0
ARIZONA ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
C. Young (CF) 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .245
O. Hudson (2B) 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .280
C. Jackson (1B) 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .321
S. Drew (SS) 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 .274
S. Hairston (LF) 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .333
C. Tracy (3B) 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .303
M. Montero (C) 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .240
J. Davanon (RF) 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .154
E. Gonzalez (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .263
J. Cruz (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
M. Reynolds (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .118
TOTALS 26 0 1 0 0 0 6 0
GIDP: C. Tracy
ARIZONA ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
E. Gonzalez 4.2 7 3 0 4 4 6 81 4.44
J. Cruz 3.1 1 3 0 0 0 1 46 3.09
TOTALS 8.0 8 6 0 4 4 7 127
ST. LOUIS ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
A. Kennedy (2B) 4 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 .297
J. Rodriguez (LF) 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .299
S. Rolen (3B) 2 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 .233
A. Pujols (1B) 3 2 1 0 0 2 0 0 .293
J. Dye (RF) 4 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 .182
J. Edmonds (CF) 2 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 .197
I. Rodriguez (C) 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250
C. Duncan (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .317
Y. Molina (P) 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .313
D. Eckstein (SS) 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .179
K. Wells (P) 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .000
TOTALS 30 8 6 4 0 3 7 0
2B: A. Pujols (5)
GIDP: A. Pujols, D. Eckstein
ST. LOUIS ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
K. Wells 9.0 0 1 0 0 0 6 96 4.03
TOTALS 9.0 0 1 0 0 0 6 96
WP: K. Wells (2-3)
LP: E. Gonzalez (3-2)
Temperature: 60F
Wind: 2 MPH (out to right)
Attendance: 46,500
Time: 2:14
Oakland Athletics(31-9) @ San Francisco Giants(17-23)
A's 2 - Giants 5
WP: Matt Morris (2-4)
LP: Rich Harden (5-2)
SV: Armando Benitez (10)
Rich Harden had a no-hitter though 5 innings. He then gave up 4R, 2ER, after an error by Richard Hidalgo in left. His final line was 6 innings, 4R, 3 hits and 7 K's. Enough to win most days but not today. Richard Hidalgo also supplied the offense with a 2-run shot. Tough loss after Harden looked so good in the first 5 innings.
May 21st 2008
Oakland Athletics(31-10) @ San Francisco Giants(18-23)
A's 1 - Giants 0
WP: Chad Gaudin (2-2)
LP: Brian Wilson (1-2)
SV: Huston Street (15)
Another very fine performance from Mark Prior. Who would have thought Prior would do this? I was hoping for 30+ starts and that was all but to sport a 1.88 ERA in 62.1 innings is incredible. Anyway, he went 7 shutout innings and gave up just 1 hit while striking out 6. This game only had 5 hits total and Jason Kendall had the most important with a go ahead double in the top of the ninth. Huston Street gets his 15th save with a perfect ninth.
May 22nd 2008
Oakland Athletics(32-10) @ San Francisco Giants(18-24)
A's 6 - Giants 7
WP: Barry Zito (3-2)
LP: Jason Windsor (5-1)
SV: Armando Benitez (11)
Windsor struggles in his 4.2 innings while giving up 7 ER. This is starting to look like one of last years performances. Hopefully it doesn't continue this way. The bullpen was strong shutting out the Giants the rest of the way. The offense tried to get back into the game but fell a run short. Miguel Cabrera carried the offense with a 2-5 game including a homer and 4 RBI. Not too much else though.
3-3 is alright for six games on the road. We extended our lead in the division to 9 games. Obviuosly the team couldn't keep up that pace it was on in April but we need to be a little better than 11-8. I don't think we can ride that awesome April all the way nor do I want the team to.
: puzzled: Has Kip been with STL for your entire game? I thought they dumped him in the off season?
Thanks for this man! This dynasty has inspired me to do my own!
Also wandering what difficulty you are playing on, and which you think I should start on.
I suppose it's normal for a team that starts off that hot to normalize toward the mean a little bit, just don't let it become a habit!
As for Boone, why couldn't he do that earlier, like say, August 2003? :D
Cat - He was there last year. He was actually an All-Star! They signed him after he left Texas in '06.
howardryan - Thanks, go for it. I like to read how everyone develops their teams. Any Idea on who you might try? I play on Mogul. I haven't really read up too much on the difference between the different difficulties but I do know it changes the starting budget. Good luck!
Potato - I don't see it becoming one. My pitching has been too good and Cabrera hasn't even heated up yet. Yeah that was a heartbreaking October but at least we can chant 2000 - 2000 - 2000 lol.
By the way did you guys see that Sox-Rays brawl. Brings me back to Pedro near no-hitter against the Rays a few years back!
Congrats to Kip Wells! Keep up the good work Bichette, you have a good team there in Oakland!
Yeah, I am doing the Rays from 08 and on.
Another question, do you play a game and then come and post, or play out a number of games and then come and post.
And, do you do Manger mode or General Manager mode?
Thanks man, answers would be helpful.
May 23rd - June 1st 2008
This week we have a 7 game homestand with the Royals and Tigers. Both teams are not doing too well so I hope we can take most of these games. I am going to post an extra three days so I can do my recap for May. The extra three games are at the Royals. A solid 7-8 win week and a half would be nice.
May 23rd 2008
Kansas City Royals(17-27) @ Oakland Athletics(32-11)
Royals 4 - A's 5
WP: Joe Blanton (6-2)
LP: Zack Greinke (3-5)
SV: Huston Street (16)
Joe Blanton sets the tone at home. He goes 8 strong innings and gives up just 2ER while striking out 6. Huston Street struggled a bit giving up 2 runs in the ninth but picks up his 16th save. Jack Wilson went 2-4 including a 2 run shot, his 1st of the year. Goleski, Bradley and Swisher each drove in a run on the day.
Zach Greinke took a line drive off the eye today. He suffered a broken cheek bone in a very gruesome scene. It's not certain how long he will be out. Everyone in the A's organization wish Zach well and a speedy recovery.
The Phillies rotation took a hit today as Freddy Garcia suffered a stress fracture in his wrist. He is expected to miss roughly a month. That is a hard loss to take for the front running Phills.
May 24th 2008
Kansas City Royals(17-28) @ Oakland Athletics(33-11)
Royals 3 - A's 12
WP: Vin Mazzaro (5-0)
LP: Scott Elbert (0-1)
Offensive Explosion! Swisher goes 2-4 with a homer. Durazo goes 2-4 with a homer and 3RBI. Hidalgo also goes deep and drives in 2 on the day. Scutaro knocks in a pair from the 9 hole. Vin Mazzaro keeps impressing and goes 7 innings on the day. He gives up just 3ER and 6 hits while striking out 6.
May 25th 2008
Kansas City Royals(17-29) @ Oakland Athletics(34-11)
Royals 0 - A's 8
WP: Rich Harden (6-2)
LP: Gil Meche (3-6)
Rich Harden had a perfect game entering the 8th inning. Mark Teahen broke it up with a single that went just past Cabrera at 3rd base. Harden was dominant in the game regardless finishing with a 3 hitter through 8 shutout innings. He also struck out 8 batters in the game. Nick Swisher went 2-4 with a homer and 2 RBI. Richard Hidalgo also went deep in the game. Kielty drove in 2 from the bottom of the order.
Looks as though Jon Garland was making too much for the cellar-dwelling White Sox:
ChicagoA sends:
Jon Garland P
Pittsburgh sends:
Mike Thompson P
Brian Rogers P
Not too sure why the Pirates took on the 11M that Garland makes but they definitely got the better player. Chicago gets two mid 20's pitcher who could help out down the road. This one goes to the Pirates.
May 26th 2008
Kansas City Royals(17-30) @ Oakland Athletics(35-11)
Royals 1 - A's 6
WP: Mark Prior (6-0)
LP: Tim Corcoran (3-6)
If it was at all possible to out perform what Harden did in the last game I think Mark Prior just barely did. He went 8 shutout innings and gave up 5 hits but struck out a dominating 12 batters. I like my 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation. Hidalgo keeps on producing while he gets some playing time. He went 1-3 with a bases clearing double for 3RBI. German went 3-3 and Cabrera also had a 3 hit day going 3-5.
Jason Kendall was injured in a collison at the plate. His jaw was broken and it looks as though he will be out at least a month. A tough loss for our lineup as he was really hitting well at the bottom of the lineup. The George Kottaras trade looks good now as he will be called up to take charge behind the plate.
May 27th 2008
Detroit Tigers(19-28) @ Oakland Athletics(36-11)
Tigers 1 - A's 6
WP: Chad Gaudin (3-2)
LP: Joel Zumaya (0-1)
A nice ninth inning comeback. We score 3 runs in the ninth to win the game. This is how it went down:
Kottaras who was just called played the role of hero. Windsor pitched well over 6.2 innings and let up just 2ER. A very nice comeback win.PHP Code:Outs Count Pitch (MPH) Joel Zumaya came in to pitch for the Tigers. Runners DET OAK
Michael Hollimon came in to play First Base.
0 1-2 Slider (88) Nick Swisher singled to center. 2 0
Nick Swisher took second on defensive indifference. 2 0
0 0-0 Fastball (98) Miguel Cabrera singled to center. 2 0
0 2-2 Slider (88) Dan Johnson singled down the right field line, scoring a run. 2 1
0 2-2 Fastball (98) Esteban German laid down a sacrifice bunt to third - a run scored. 2 2
1 1-2 Fastball (98) Jack Wilson reached first on a fielding error by the left fielder. 2 2
Fernando Rodney came in to pitch for the Tigers.
Jack Wilson took second on defensive indifference. 2 2
The Tigers brought the infield in.
1 3-0 Fastball (91) George Kottaras singled to right, scoring a run.
May 28th 2008
Detroit Tigers(19-29) @ Oakland Athletics(37-11)
Tigers 10 - A's 9
WP: Chad Durbin (3-4)
LP: Joe Blanton (6-3)
SV: Kenny Rogers (1)
A slugfest to be blunt. Blanton struggled through his 3 innings giving up 5ER. It was bound to happen at some point. Dan Johnson was the offensive force for the A's. He went 4-5 with 2 home runs and 5 RBI. A terrific day that only could have been better if we had won.
May 29th 2008
Detroit Tigers(20-29) @ Oakland Athletics(37-12)
Tigers 10 - A's 9
WP: Andrew Miller (6-3)
LP: Justin Duchscherer (0-1)
SV: Zach Miner (2)
Vin Mazzaro wasn't feeling well today and we had to use Brad Halsey in his place. He did a great job going 4 innings and giving up just 1 ER. The bullpen faltered today giving up 6ER in the other 5 innings. Kottara went 1-3 with and RBI. Hidalgo added a 2-4 day.
The injury bug has been striking fast and furious for the team lately. The latest happened when Esteban German was sliding into second today. He dislocated his shoulder coming over the bag and will be out for a few weeks. That is a tough one to swallow because German
A couple Yankees teammates hit some milestones today. First Bobby Abreu drove in his 1000th run of his career. Then later in the same game Alex Rodriguez hit his 500th career home run. Congrats to Bobby and Alex!
May 30th 2008
Oakland Athletics(37-13) @ Kansas City Royals(17-34)
A's 4 - Royals 5
WP: Octavio Dotel (3-1)
LP: Chad Gaudin (3-3)
SV: George Sherrill (9)
Rich Harden pitched well through 7.1 innings giving up 3 ER and left in a position to win. Chad Gaudin let up 2ER in relief and takes the loss. Dan Johnson has a good day hitting a 2 run homer. Kielty and Goleski had the other RBI's on the day.
May 31st 2008
Oakland Athletics(37-14) @ Kansas City Royals(18-34)
A's 4 - Royals 6
WP: Tim Corcoran (4-6)
LP: Mark Prior (6-1)
SV: George Sherrill (10)
I guess we had to have a losing streak at some point. Mark Prior struggled for pretty much the first time. He only went 5 innings and gave up 5ER. I thought he might repeat his performance last week but maybe he will rebound next time out. Not much offense here. All the runs came in the 8th and 9th. Too little too late.
June 1st 2008
Oakland Athletics(37-15) @ Kansas City Royals(19-34)
A's 4 - Royals 13
WP: Luke Hochever (1-1)
LP: Jason Windsor (5-2)
Not too much to report. I'm kinda disgusted. A couple errors led to a lot of runs. Milton Bradley was the lone bright spot hitting a 2 run shot. Thats all folks!
5 wins to start the week. 5 in a row to lose the week. Disappointed? YES Can I live with it? YES. Hopefully they pick it up next week.
Monthly recap next.
MAY 2008 REVIEW
Well I knew we weren't going to match out April record. I don't mind 16-12 because of our hot start but I hope the team doesn't become complacent because of the 8 game lead. Another solid 18 win month would be nice. Mark Prior has been ridiculous this year. So has Harden for the bulk of his innings. The bullpen has been very solid as well. Milton Bradley had a good May and I hope the rest of the guys can pick it up again. A couple tough losses with Kendall and German both going down. The two were hitting the ball for a very good average and I hope they can come back and pick it right back up.
American League Standings
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...5/BB2K8-23.jpg
National League Standings
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...5/BB2K8-24.jpg
League Leaders Batting
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...5/BB2K8-25.jpg
League Leaders Pitching
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...5/BB2K8-26.jpg
Oakland Batting Stats
Oakland Pitching StatsPHP Code:2008 Batting Team G AVG AB H 2B 3B HR BB K SB CS R RBI SLG OBP
Goleski, Ryan OAK 53 .286 210 60 12 4 3 36 44 6 4 46 24 .424 .393
Cabrera, Miguel OAK 53 .279 208 58 14 0 4 23 56 2 0 26 26 .404 .360
Swisher, Nick OAK 53 .302 205 62 11 1 11 34 53 1 0 34 41 .527 .401
Bradley, Milton OAK 48 .313 195 61 16 1 8 22 32 5 0 31 35 .528 .382
Kendall, Jason OAK 46 .280 164 46 8 0 0 11 17 0 3 18 15 .329 .326
Kielty, Bobby OAK 41 .242 149 36 8 1 2 7 30 0 0 15 18 .349 .280
Wilson, Jack OAK 42 .254 138 35 7 0 1 12 19 2 2 25 13 .326 .309
Scutaro, Marco OAK 40 .221 131 29 6 6 0 23 27 0 0 19 10 .359 .342
Johnson, Dan OAK 32 .257 113 29 8 1 8 15 11 0 0 18 24 .558 .338
German, Esteban OAK 29 .362 94 34 10 0 3 6 13 3 1 13 15 .564 .400
Durazo, Erubiel OAK 31 .314 86 27 5 0 8 17 11 1 0 20 25 .651 .427
Hidalgo, Richard OAK 26 .259 81 21 7 2 3 5 27 1 1 13 16 .506 .326
Kottaras, George OAK 19 .231 65 15 7 0 1 9 11 0 0 12 8 .385 .324
Abreu, Tony OAK 3 .300 10 3 1 0 0 2 1 0 1 2 0 .400 .417
Perez, Antonio OAK 4 .143 7 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .143 .143
Brown, Jeremy OAK 6 .167 6 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 .167 .167
Harden, Rich OAK 1 .500 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500
Windsor, Jason OAK 1 .500 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .500 .500
Prior, Mark OAK 1 .000 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000
PHP Code:2008 Pitching Team IP ERA G GS W L SV K BB R/9
Street, Huston OAK 20.1 1.33 21 0 2 0 16 13 3 5.75
Reitsma, Chris OAK 20.0 2.25 14 0 0 0 0 9 1 10.80
Prior, Mark OAK 75.1 2.27 11 11 6 1 0 81 22 8.36
Duchscherer, Justin OAK 29.2 2.43 23 0 0 1 1 23 5 7.89
Harden, Rich OAK 74.0 2.55 12 12 6 2 0 77 30 10.09
Mazzaro, Vin OAK 41.1 2.61 6 6 5 0 0 32 24 12.19
Gaudin, Chad OAK 27.0 3.00 26 0 3 3 1 15 8 9.33
Calero, Kiko OAK 24.2 3.65 24 0 1 1 1 30 8 12.04
Blanton, Joe OAK 70.2 4.33 11 10 6 3 0 36 21 13.75
Halsey, Brad OAK 26.0 5.54 17 2 3 3 1 17 6 12.46
Windsor, Jason OAK 62.1 5.92 11 11 5 2 0 40 27 14.73
Johnson, Steven OAK 5.1 10.13 1 1 0 0 0 4 3 16.88
Oakland Tribune
June 2nd 2007by Joe Stiglich
When the season started the expectations for the Athletics were not that high. The team looked too similar to the third place team everyone saw last year. They signed Miguel Cabrera to a mega deal. That would help on offense but that isn't where the A's struggled in the past year. Pitching was a major concern. The only players they signed were Chris Reitsma, a solid reliever, to add to an already solid bullpen. Word then came that they signed Mark Prior to 3 year deal. I was one of the first to criticize the team for not getting more aggressive and finding a top of the roation type pitcher. I couldn't have been more dead wrong. Rich Harden agrees with me.
"Mark has been a great pitcher for a long time", Harden said. "He has been pitching at a high level since he was 20 years old. I never thought he would have a problem pitching in Oakland. I was looking forward to having him as a teammate and he hasn't disappointed."
Mark Prior has exceeded all expectations that anyone could have set. He started the season with 6 wins without a loss, he received his first loss two days ago. He leads the league in ERA at 2.27 and is second in the league with 81 strikeouts in 75 innings pitched. I have no explanation why this pitcher, who has been average the last three seasons, has blown away his competition this year. Prior has some insight though.
"I just like pitching here" Prior said, "there isn't really that much pressure. Everyone is really laid back and they just let you go out there and do your job. I'm not going to say I don't like the pressure but it is easier when it hasn't been 100 years since the last championship."
Can that be it? Is it that the pressure has been taken off this young mans back? Who knows but lets enjoy the ride while it lasts. Hopefully it ends with a trophy being hoisted above his head and a parade in the streets of Oakland.
Very cool.
While I was having a hard time with seeing Chavez go (longtime A's fan!), I'd do it in a heartbeat if the real A's were like this.
This is a very good read and looking forward to the rest of the season (and the playoffs).
Thanks Jeep. It's nice to have an A's fan on board. I hope you enjoy.
June 3rd - June 12th 2008
We have a 9 game road trip this week. We start off in Boston with three with the Red Sox and then we head off for some interleague action. WE take on Philadelphia afor three and then head to the big apple to see the Mets for three. A solid week would be nice to start of June. Also I have to draft this week. We have been working hard. I will give my report on the draft and how we do at the end of the week after we play the Mets. I have a few guys on my list and we have a good pick at 10 overall.
June 3rd 2008
Oakland Athletics(37-16) @ Boston Red Sox(28-25)
A's 10 - Red Sox 2
WP: Joe Blanton (7-3)
LP: Josh Beckett (7-2)
We start the week off with a bang. My power guys lead the way as Bradley(9) and Swisher(12) both go deep. Bradley went 3-5 with 2 RBI and 3 runs scored. Swisher went 2-5 with 3RBI and 2 runs scored. Rookie Tony Abreu went 1-5 but had a 2 RBI triple on the day. Kottaras continues to impress in his major league tryout going 3-4 with an RBI. Joe Blanton pitched very well over 8 innings and gave up just 2ER on 4 hits.
The Indians lost their starting shortstop. Jhonny Perralta was hit on the hand by a pitch and fractured his finger. It will be in a splint for a few weeks and he will have to rehab it after the immobilization. Figure about a month.
June 4th 2008
Oakland Athletics(38-16) @ Boston Red Sox(28-26)
A's 5 - Red Sox 11
WP: Daniel Bard (4-2)
LP: Rich Harden (6-3)
The Red Sox come back and put up a couple crooked numbers. Rich Harden goes just 5 innings and gives up 4 ER. He struggled a bit against a very tough lineup. Bradley went 2-4 with an RBI. Nick Swisher hit a three run shot. Kottaras continues to perform with another 3-4 day including an RBI. On a side note I would never like to see Daniel Bard ever again. He has had our number since he dominated us in his first two major league starts last year.
June 5th 2008
Oakland Athletics(38-17) @ Boston Red Sox(29-26)
A's 4 - Red Sox 3 (10)
WP: Huston Street (3-0)
LP: Joel Pineiro (0-5)
SV: Chris Reitsma (1)
Mark Prior throws another gem. He goes 6 shutout innings gives up just 2 hits and strikes out 7 on the day. Unfortunately the bullpen couldn't hold it. A costly error at third by Cabrera led to two unearned runs off Chad Gaudin in the 8th and made the game 3-2. Then in the ninth Street allowed a leadoff double. He then struck out the next two batters but a single brought in the tying run and he blew the save. We didn't waste any time and took the lead in the 10th on Nick Swisher lead off homer. Thats how it stayed and Reitsma picked up his first save. Tony Abreu is a production machine at the plate and went 2-5 with a pair of RBI.
June 6th 2008
Oakland Athletics(39-17) @ Philadelphia Phillies(33-23)
A's 1 - Phillies 2
WP: Geoff Geary (2-3)
LP: Brad Halsey (3-4)
A nice pitchers duel here. Jason Windsor goes 6 innings and gives up 1 ER. The bullpen goes 3 innings and doesn't give up a run until Ryan Howard leads off the bottom of the tenth with a walk off homer. Nick Swisher has his power swing working as he goes deep for the 4th game in a row. Not enough though as we lose by a run.
The draft was today and we selected North Carolina Junior pitcher Brett McKie with the 10th overall pick. More details to come later in the week.
June 7th 2008
Oakland Athletics(38-18) @ Philadelphia Phillies(34-23)
A's 1 - Phillies 2
WP: John Stephens (3-0)
LP: Kiko Calero (1-2)
SV: Geoff Geary (9)
Not much here. Definintely was not a pitchers duel. The two starters combined to give up 13ER in just 5 innings. Joe Blanton had his share with 6ER in just 2 innings. Milton Bradley played superhero in the first two innings getting all 5 of his RBI on a pair of doubles. The only other RBI came from Kottaras who went 3-4.
St. Louis inks their ace Chris Carpenter to a deal today. They deal is reportedly worth 34 million over 4 years.
June 8th 2008
Oakland Athletics(39-19) @ Philadelphia Phillies(35-23)
A's 2 - Phillies 3
WP: Cole Hamels (6-2)
LP: Vin Mazzaro (5-1)
SV: Geoff Geary (10)
Vin Mazzaro puts in another solid start. He goes 6.1 innings and gives up just 3ER. He had his season high for strikeouts with 8 on the day. It wasn't enough though as the offense mustered just 2 runs. Those runs both came on solo shots and both by Milton Bradley.
Boston solidifies their lineup and backstop:
Boston sends:
Abe Alvarez P
Kris Johnson P
Scott Halliwell P
Felix Doubront P
Cincinatti sends:
Ronny Paulino C
Varitek has been struggling a lot this year and Paulino is a great player at only 27 years old. Boston gives up some young pitchers in the deal but I think they got a really good deal for Paulino.
June 9th 2008
An off day in New York. The guys had a little down time and took in the sights. We have a few young guys who haven't been to New York before so it was fun for them. Hopefully the rest will get them back on track and ready to beat the Mets.
June 10th 2008
Oakland Athletics(39-20) @ New York Mets(35-25)
A's 4 - Mets 3
WP: Rich Harden (7-3)
LP: Mike Pelfrey (4-4)
SV: Huston Street (17)
Rich Harden pitched well through 6 innings and let up just 3ER. He struck out 6 and the bullpen didn't allow a hit the rest of the way. Richard Hidalgo went 2-3 with 2RBI. Cabrera chipped in with a 2-3 day and scored 2 runs. Tony Abreu had a hit and RBI. Huston Street keeps rolling and picks up save #17.
June 11th 2008
Oakland Athletics(40-20) @ New York Mets(35-26)
A's 4 - Mets 3
WP: Mark Prior (7-1)
LP: Adam Bostick (3-4)
SV: Huston Street (18)
Mark Prior keep on riding his hot start. In this game he goes 6 innings and gives up 2ER. He only allows 2 hits and strikes out 5. Milton Bradley goes deep with a 2 run shot. Jack Wilson was hot in the game going 4-4 with an RBI. Hidalgo goes 2-4 with an RBI as well. Street keeps on dominating and gets his 18th save.
June 12th 2008
Oakland Athletics(41-20) @ New York Mets(35-27)
A's 2 - Mets 7
WP: Pedro Martinez (6-4)
LP: Jason Windsor (5-3)
Jason Windsor struggles again and gives up 6ER in just 4 innings. Milton Bradley has another good day going 2-4 with an RBI. Tony Abreu got the rest of the offense with a terrific 3-4 day and an RBI. Had to figure the Mets would get it going.
4-5 isn't what I am looking for but for a 9 game roadtrip I can live with it. WE come back home now and hopefully we can win more in Oakland. Milton Bradley has really stepped it up at the plate. Over the trip he went deep 5 times with a .475 average and 14 RBI.
2008 Amateur Draft
1. Chicago White Sox - Tracy Lovering(SP) Mid to high 90's fastball to go along with curve and circle change. Great movement on pitches but poor control. Velocity will make up for lack of control in the short term. Doesn't have much endurance and will need to be stretched out a bit. Also a lefty which is always a plus.
2. Cincinatti Reds - Kevin Williams(RP) Projects as a reliever as a pro. Some say he was best pitcher in draft. Plus cutter and plus fastball, mid 90's, and slider that needs work. Gets the ball over the plate and has great movement and power on his pitchers.
3. Pittsburgh Pirates - Joe Mercer(SP) Another great pitching prospect. Has a high 90's fastball to go with a good splitter and curve that needs work. Has to work on his control but can pitch all day if needed. Strikeout to innings were nearly 2:1 during his high school career.
4. Washington Nationals - Roger Calagiovani(SP) Another flamethrower with a high 90's fastball. Relies on fastball but has a curve and change to mix in but both need lots of work. Decent endurance but will give good innings per outing. Control is good as he had a 7:1 strikeout to walk ratio.
5. Baltimore Orioles - Peter Wickham(SP) This has been a draft full of hard throwers and Wickham is no different. Has a high 90's fastball to go with 3 sub par pitchers(slow curve, splittter and 2-seamer). Control is decent and will need to be worked on. Can pitch a lot if needed.
6. Kansas City Royals - Keith Moore(SP) Another hard thrower. High 90's on the fastball but like most other prospects no other pitches to boast. He does mix in some interesting pitches with a sidearm curve, foshball and palmball. Good endurance and decent control.
7. Seattle Mariners - Paul Chesry(LF) First positional player selected in draft. Great contact to go with above average power. Has good speed and above average fielding ability. Probably only true five tool player in draft. Interesting note, was high school teammate of #1 overall pick Tracy Lovering.
8. Detroit Tigers - Sean Dasher(SP) Teams are certainly taking the hard throwers early and often. Dasher has the mid 90's fastball and three other pitches that need work. Decent endurance and control as well. None of these pitchers really have much difference between each other.
9. Colorado Rockies - Donovan Crank(2B) Best second base prospect by far. Has great speed and fielding. Contact is above average and power is not too big of a part of his game. High School coach said that he has never been hurt since he has known the kid. Look for him to make his move to the majors quickly because of the 2B situation on the Rockies.
10. Oakland Athletics - Brett McKie(RP) I decided to take the first dive of any team into the college ranks. A very good relief pitcher. Lefty who has great control and movement on his pitches. Throws a low to mid 90's fast and an average slider. Attended North Carolina where his ERA over 3 years was a low 1.82. Very hopeful that he will make a quick progression to the majors.
Oakland Picks
1(10). Brett McKie(RP) - See Above
2(40). Salvatore Torena(CF) - Another college kid, from central florida. Has great speed and almost perfect fielding ability. Only made 1 error in three years at central florida. Excellent contact and eye as proved by his .380/.502 line in junior year. Hits the ball with some pop which is shown by his 14 homers last year.
3(70). Jaime Bolea(RF) - High School prospect. Has decent contact and power to go with great fielding and speed. Projects to be a backup or starter at very best. Has the time to develop as he is only 18 years old.
4(100). Allen Williams(LF) - Two reason I selected Williams. First his power because he has the strength to go deep. The second was his eye at the plate. Only batted .294 in senior season but had a .486 OBP. This included 44 walks and only 15 K's in 44 games. I'd like to see him develop over time and be able to take over one of my corner outfield spots.
5(130). Rob Palacios(2B) - Average at all apects of the game. Has above average contact skills and fielding ability. I took him mosty for his versatility int he infield and at best he can be a utility infielder.
6(160). Dustin Tom(RP) - I was suprised to see him still up there in the 6th round. I had him pegged for 5th round. Has a high 90's fastball(the reason I selected him) but struggles to get the ball over the plate. That may have scared some away but I think out development guys can help him. Don't be surprised to see Tom make it to the majors as a sixth round pick.
I feel like I came out of the draft with some very good players. If they develop they could all potentially play roles with our team or as important chips in trade. I'm very happy with what I got.
BichetteMan, I think you did a good job with your draft. Good luck with it
Uh oh, looks like you're starting to slide a little bit.
Nice draft, btw.
Potato - Yeah it was inevitable. Pitching has leveled off a bit. Mayeb they can heat up again when it counts.
Thanks Walter I hope they all can develop. This year was more for the immediate future but last year was to develop 3-5 years down the road.
June 13th - June 19th 2008
After a tough time on the road we return home. We start with 3 against the Marlins and then 3 agsint the Nationals. This week should yield more a lot of wins if the team performs.
Kiko Calero has been struggling lately. I decided that Manny Delcarmen deserves a chance to show what he has on the big club. I sent Calero down to AAA and brought up Manny to take over Kiko's short relief role.
June 13th 2008
Florida Marlins(31-32) @ Oakland Athletics(41-21)
Marlins 6 - A's 7
WP: Manny Delcarmen (1-0)
LP: Micah Bowie (1-4)
SV: Huston Street (19)
Joe Blanton pitched poorly over his 5 innings. He gave up 5 runs, 4ER, and just didn't look like he was going to find it today. Luckily the bullpen was very good. Delcarmen goes 2 perfect innings to pick up the win because the offense came through late. Nick Swisher blasted a 3 run shot. Cabrera added a 3 run double as well. Goleski set the table well with 3-4 day including a walk and three runs scored. Street picks up save #19.
June 14th 2008
Florida Marlins(31-33) @ Oakland Athletics(42-21)
Marlins 1 - A's 4
WP: Vin Mazzaro (6-1)
LP: Anibal Sanchez (5-7)
A gem by Vin Mazzaro. He went the distance and gave up just 1ER. That included just 4 hits and only 1 walk to go with his 3 strikeouts. Mazzaro has been a very nice surprise this year. He is a groundball pitcher and I designed the infield to help him succeed and it is doing him a lot of good. Three home runs got the offense going. Cabrera and Kottaras both had solo shots. Bradley went 3-4 with a 2 run shot on the day. I spoke to Bob today and he decided to rearrange the roation. He will pitch Harden today because he is rested and will skip Windsor to make him the #5 guy. He has been struggling and we both want to see Mazzaro pitch more often.
The Red Sox offense took a hit today as David Ortiz injured his shoulder while sliding home. Ortiz will be out for a few weeks while the shoulder heals.
June 15th 2008
Florida Marlins(31-34) @ Oakland Athletics(43-21)
Marlins 2 - A's 4
WP: Rich Harden (7-3)
LP: Ricky Nolasco (6-3)
SV: Huston Street (20)
Rich Harden does his part and does it well. He goes 8 innings and gives up 2ER while striking out 7. A nice rebound from a few tough starts in a rwo from Harden. Dan Johnson got all the offense on a bases loaded double that brought all three men in. Miguel Cabrera added an RBI single to help out Harden. Street gives up a hit in the 9th but shuts the rest of the batters down for save #20.
After acquiring Ken Griffey Jr. last year in a trade the Marlins decided to release him today. He was batting .305 with 4 homers in 43 games this year. I think he was released because of his defensive liability. I saw Griffey as he was leaving the stadium and took the time to talk a bit with him. He said he still wants to play and that he knows he can still hit the ball. I personally have no doubt about that and told him to give me a call if he was looking for an opportunity. We shook hands and he went off on his way.
June 16th 2008
A nice off day at home to relax. I have been reviewing the minors and deciding on the reassingment of some of our prospects. We have some real good talent brewing in the minors and the future of the A's is looking real bright. The Nats come into to town today to start our series tomorrow.
Also today, Gary Sheffield keeps on hitting milestones and he passed 1500 runs scored today. Congrats Gary!
June 17th 2008
Washington Nationals(29-36) @ Oakland Athletics(44-21)
Nationals 3 - A's 7
WP: Mark Prior (8-1)
LP: John Patterson (4-5)
Mark Prior keeps rolling along. He goes 6.1 innings and gives up 3ER. He also strikes out 6 on the day. Prior is soooooo good! The offense did a great job too. Miguel Cabrera(6) and Nick Swisher(17) went deep in the game. Cabrera has been heating up and had a 2-3 day with 2 RBI in addition to his homer. Kottaras, Goleski, Johnson and Bradley all drove in a run as well.
June 18th 2008
Washington Nationals(29-37) @ Oakland Athletics(45-21)
Nationals 3 - A's 1
WP: Joel Hanrahan (5-8)
LP: Joe Blanton (7-4)
SV: Chad Cordero (13)
Joe Blanton pitched very well in this game. He went 8 innings and gave up just 3ER. He deserved to win but the offense just didn't show up. Jack Wilson was the only productive player with a 1-3 day to drive in the only A's run.
June 19th 2008
Washington Nationals(30-37) @ Oakland Athletics(45-22)
Nationals 4 - A's 5
WP: Brad Halsey (5-4)
LP: Jon Rauch (4-3)
Vin Mazzaro pitched well through his 7 innings. He gave up 4ER and struck out 7. The offense just caught up in the ninth to save Mazzaro from the loss. Johnson started the bottom of the ninth with a double and was singled in by Jack Wilson to tie the game. The in the bottom of the tenth Ryan Goleski walked and was sacrificed over to second by Bradley. Swisher then came up and singled him in for the game winning run. A very solid win.
Something interesting happened today when my phone rang. I picked up and it was Ken Griffey Jr.and as you could guess I was quite surprised to hear him call me. He told me that he liked how the team was comprised and thought he could help us. I had no doubt that Griffey could help us as a DH against righties. I told him I would be in contact with his agent. We took a bit to negotiate then signed him to a 1 yr deal for 4 million. I think he is going to help us with our power problem.
5-1 is exactly what the doctor ordered for the team. The pitching picked up the pace again led us to a very nice week. The offense needs to get bashing again as the power seems to have run out. Maybe we need to pay the electric bill!!!