2007 Oakland A's - No way Jose

[CatKnight]

No specific comments, as I'm just catching up again....but well done! You're really running away with things here!

[BichetteMan]

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.

[BichetteMan]

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:

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 

May 20th 2008
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.

[CatKnight]

: puzzled: Has Kip been with STL for your entire game? I thought they dumped him in the off season?

[howardryan6]

Thanks for this man! This dynasty has inspired me to do my own!

[howardryan6]

Also wandering what difficulty you are playing on, and which you think I should start on.

[PotatoOfCouch13]

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?

[BichetteMan]

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!

[KidCavalier23]

Congrats to Kip Wells! Keep up the good work Bichette, you have a good team there in Oakland!

[howardryan6]

Yeah, I am doing the Rays from 08 and on.

[howardryan6]

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.

[BichetteMan]

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:

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. 

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.

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.

[BichetteMan]

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


National League Standings


League Leaders Batting


League Leaders Pitching


Oakland Batting Stats

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 

Oakland Pitching Stats

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 

[BichetteMan]

Oakland Tribune
June 2nd 2007

by 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.

[JeepGuy63]

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).