Rick Kaplan
Staff Writer

OAKLAND (July 8) – “I finally got my man,” Moneyball maven Billy Beane told ESPN late Saturday night.

“We’ve had our eye on Andre Ethier since last winter. He fits our profile perfectly. A multi-tool kid at the bottom of the salary scale who can step in and fill a role at the major league level right now.”

Beane continued enthusiastically, ” I can’t believe Ned Coletti (the Dodger GM) let Ethier go! He is the kind of blue chip prospect that organizations don’t normally sacrifice to their short-term goals.. They gave us a kid who is going to be a star for years to come. And for Bradley and Perez! Everyone likes Bradley, but the kid isn’t able to stay in the line-up. And Perez, another nice kid, is a marginal player, at least in the AL.”

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Batter Up July 9th, 2006

With the all star break looming after today’s games let’s take a look at the top performers in the major leagues this season.

If their first half performances stay on course for the rest of the season these players should garner their league’s postseason awards.

AL MVP: The White Sox are the best team in the AL notwithstanding the distractions of their manager Ozzie Guillen. The best player on the Sox is firstbaseman Jim Thome with former Athletic Jermaine Dye a close second.

If the Red Sox hold on in the AL East David Ortiz will be the reason the BoSox send the Yankees home in October.

Pudge Rodriguez is the MVP of the Tigers. Manager Jim Leyland has done wonders with the moody Rodriguez.

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By the way just got home from the all star game. Excellent baseball. PNC Park is a pleasure. The Roberto Clemente tributes were very moving. Interviewed Chuck Tanner and the original Frank Thomas, a power hitter from the 50’s….. Marty [Read more →]

Jul 12, 2006

IF THERE’S postseason baseball in the Bay Area this year, it will be in Oakland, not San Francisco.

The Giants improved their team with offseason moves, but their hopes for the postseason basically rested on Barry Bonds playing 120 games and being the hitter he was in 2004 and the division remaining as weak as it was the previous season, when the Padres won the title with just 82 wins.

Neither hope has been realized. The division is actually the only one in the National League with more wins than losses. Arizona seems to be dropping back – the Jason Grimsley case knocked the wind out of the Diamondbacks – but the Padres, Dodgers and Rockies all seem to be improved. That’s significant because the Giants play almost half their 162-game schedule within the division.

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Pitch Count: Good Or Bad?
by Glenn Dickey
Jul 05, 2006

FEW THINGS seem to rile long-time baseball fans more than the pitch count fetish in baseball. Many of us recall episodes from the past, such as Juan Marichal throwing in excess of 200 pitches in the epic 16-inning, 1-0 win over Warren Spahn. So, what’s happened since then? I see a couple of things:

1) Expectations have changed. In Marichal’s day, good pitchers were expected to throw complete games. Marichal actually had one more complete game than victories in his career, throwing as many as 30 in a season. That was because he knew how to pitch, conserving his energy as he went through the lineup, going for ground ball outs rather than strikeouts, saving his best fastball for the times when he needed it most.

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Here in Seattle, Edgar Martinez used to be the most popular Mariner, that was until Ichiro Susuki arrived
six seasons ago and today there is no better guy
in the lead off position and nobody more popular.

By Amaury Pi-Gonzalez
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Rick Kaplan
Staff Writer

OAKLAND (July 2) –

1. “BILLY BEANE CAN SPOT A BARGAIN”

Like giving up Jeremy Bonderman for Ted Lilly? Actually, there was nothing wrong with Lilly. It looked like a good deal. Ted was easily the A’s best pitcher in the 2003 stretch drive and in that memorable ALDS against Boston. But Beane inexplicably let him walk away and sign for a bargain $5M for two years with the Blue Jays, where he is currently a very effective third starter behind Roy Halladay and A.J. Burnett. Beane filled his spot with the utterly forgettable Mark Redman for the same $2M that Lilly got from the Jays in 2004. Moneyball net to the Athletics: nothing, with Bonderman and Lilly helping to lead the Tigers and Jays forward to possible post-seasons, while the A’s continue to flounder and dissapoint with Beane gems like Esteban Loaiza. Each day we watch Andre Ethier get two more hits with that sweet stroke, we wonder about Beane’s scouting competence and if we will ever see Milton Bradley fulfill the “potential” that has characterized his entire injury-dominated career. We were all excited when Milton first put on the Green and Gold and showed off his exceptional hustle and energy (See my effusive early-season columns). But someone in a well-managed organization also had to pay attention to his evident brittleness. Maybe way back when Beane mentor Sandy Alderson sent Jose Rijo packing to the Reds in exchange for Dave Parker, where Jose would thrive and totally dominate the A’s in the 1990 Series sweep, after Alderson said Rijo lacked a “work ethic,” we should have had some sense of Beane’s ability to evaluate players and “bargains.”

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Inside Baseball with Marty Lurie – Week in Review: Oakland’s cold bats, Twins: Is Minnesota the “Cleveland Indians” of 2005?, Interleague games: American League still Dominating, Sean Casey: Would he be a good pick up for the A’s?, All-Star Prospects: Who’s in, who’s out?
Segment one : Marty
Segment two : Marty, Rick Hurd, & Robert Buan.
Segment three: Marty, USA Today’s Paul White & Robert Buan.
Segment four : Marty, Paul & Robert Buan.
Segment five : Marty & Robert Buan.

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July has always been a key month during the baseball season. Throughout the years, the division leaders on July 4th are regarded as the favorites to win it all come October.

July 4th is also known for hot dogs, apple pie, fireworks and baseball. Also, this year Fox Sports has designated the A’s – Tigers game on Monday July 3rd as a special broadcast to the troops in Iraq.

In 2006 the entire month of July will be the acid test for the teams in the West. If the A’s are going to open up any ground on their pursuers they will have to do it against some of the top teams in the American League.

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