Posts from — July 2004
Bad Karma in Fenway
Tonight’s game was a tough loss for the A’s.The Oaktown boys were down by a score of 7 to 1 when I
caught up with the game. Looked like Schilling was in control and then,bam, its 7 to 3 in the 6th. The
guys in green and gray made it 7 to 4. Then the fateful 8th inning. Timlin gives up 4 hits and now the score is 7 to 5. Enter Foulke. The former A’s closer gives up a hit to Hatteberg that hits the chalk
and now its 7 to 6. Jermaine Dye hits a ball off the Monster at the 379 foot marker that Johnny Damon
can’t reach and now it’s 7-7.The score remains
that way until the bottom of the 10th.Damon singles
and Bill Mueller slices a ball into the gap and Damon
scores all the way from first base witha head first slide
as the relay from Crosby almost nails him-game over and the A’s are swept at Fenway. Although it was a heartbreaker there are positives. The A’s never quit and battled back from a huge deficit.
The bullpen did its job by holding the Sox from expanding its lead and letting the A’s offense put some runs on the board. The A’s now go to Cleveland and Eric Chavez will be joining the club.
The Indians should not be taken lightly. They are
a young club and are flirting with the .500 mark.
If the A’s take 2 out 3 it will be a big plus as the season reaches the halfway point. Jerry F [Read more →]
July 9, 2004 No Comments
It's tough being a lefty in Boston by Jerry Feitelberg
The last 2 nights the A’s have been pummeled by the Red Sox. Zito and Redman were pitching in a park that has been, is and will always be difficult
for a left handed pitcher, Sorry about that Marty, as you are a southpaw, too. Lefties must keep the ball down and away from the right hand hitters in order to survive. Otherwise the hitters will tattoo the Green Monster. The Red Sox will come at you in Boston. Too bad they can’t play better on the road. As for Zito, he doesn’t look like the same guy that won the Cy Young in 2002. He still has the 12
to 6 curveball and he does come inside with his fastball but it seems to me that his pitches seem to be waist high and he gets clobbered should he hang a curve. I just wonder if he misses Rick Peterson as the pitching coach. Not a knock on Curt Young but Peterson was kind of mystical in his approach to pitching and he has made believers in New York as the Mets pitching is vastly improved this year. Thursday night Curt Schilling against Rich Harden.The conventional wisdom would favor the Bosox but in baseball one never knows the outcome before the game is played.
Jerry F [Read more →]
July 8, 2004 No Comments
75th All Star Game – ¡ Se Habla Español !
Look at the starting lineup for the
American League All Star team
and you will see two RodrÃguez,
one MartÃnez one RamÃrez and
one Guerrero and on the National
League Pujols, RenterÃa and
company, plus the second
string. This is “béisbol”and
here: Se Habla Español…
Not only quantity, but an
argument could be made
that of the top 10 players
in Major League Baseball
over half are Latinos.
By Amaury Pi-González
San Francisco [Read more →]
July 8, 2004 No Comments
A Look at the Giants' Past Fifteen Games by Ed Stern
Marty, This is being written before the Giants’ Sunday game with the A’s. When we looked in mid-June at the Giants’ upcoming schedule, with games to be played against the Red Sox, the Dodgers and the A’s, the thought expressed was that if they broke even against these clubs it could be considered a successful trip. They have done much better than that.
Note: Since Ed wrote this analysis of the Giants they have lost two games, one to the A’s and one to the Rockies.
[Read more →]
July 5, 2004 No Comments
retaliation
Sunday’s game between the A’s and Giants was
a showcase for the old baseball adage that your pitchers have to protect the hitters if one of your guys gets plunked. The 1st batter to get hit was
all world super star Barry Bonds. Mulder’s pitch
came in on Bonds’ hand as he turned to swing but couldn’t pull back fast enough. The park got very quiet as the thought that Bonds may have a broken hand went through the gathered throng. Bonds lucked out and was not hurt. Mulder later hit Ray Durham on the thigh as a pitch intended to be in got
away from Mulder and hit Durham on the thigh.
The A’s were leading by a scor of 5-3 when Mulder
came uo to hit and was promptly hit by Tyler Walker who was tossed from the game. He hit Mulder on the backside and the message was sent.
Felipe Alou was angry that his guy was tossed but
the umpires kept the game under contol.Eric Byrnes
then hit a 3 run homer that gave the A’s an 8-3
lead at that time. Byrnes was on fire. he had 2
home runs that drove in 6 runs and had scored a run earlier. When he came to bat against Felix
Rodriguez later, he was nailed. Not uncommon in baseball for a hitter to either take a pitch close to the chin or be hit for hitting a home run . However,
this was intentional and Rodriguez and Alou were chased. The dugouts did not empty but the point was made. Protect the hitters. Jerry F [Read more →]
July 5, 2004 No Comments
Bonds says No, to Boston
Isn’t it ironic that in Boston,
Massachussetts(New England)
a real bastion of Liberalism,
racism still much more
prevalent than in most
other places in the country ?
By Amaury Pi-González
San Francisco [Read more →]
July 5, 2004 No Comments
Batter Up July 3rd
It has long been considered a good baseball omen to be leading your league or division on July 4th. This season things are different. Other than the Yankees in the East, every division is still up for grabs.
The late Hall of Famer, Leonard Koppett, my all time favorite baseball writer, maintained and it holds true today, that since the addition of the wild card no matter what record you have in July or August, if you are playing .500 ball on September 1st, you have a shot at the playoffs.
In addition, if you are in a tight race for the division crown, whoever plays the best over the last 35 games wins it all. Pitching down the stretch has always been the key.
Both the A’s and Giants took 5 of 7 from their SoCal rivals over the past ten days. Are the Dodgers and Angels dead? Absolutely not. With 85 games to go, teams should be pointing for September and not gloating about five game winning streaks in June or July.
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July 3, 2004 No Comments