marty

I was looking at the Brooklyn Dodgers-Boys of Summer site and a link said that the first baseball movie was “right off the Bat” in 1915. This was on a link and unfortunately did not show more details. As we have discussed our boyhodd heroes before, I thought you would like this piece of trivia.

Joe [Read more →]

The last 24 hours have been rough ones for the A’s.
On Wednesday night, they blew a 2 run lead in the 9th
and lost on a walk-off home run by A-Rod. It is no disgrace to have Sheffield and A-Rod beat you, These 2 guys are marvelous players. The concern that I have is that the A’s closer has blown 3 saves out of 8 save
chances. Not a recipe for success. They A’s,however, are a better team with Dotel. He must not let this
game ruin his confidence. A closer must believe that
he is invincible on the mound and must believe that
what happened is in the past and not let the loss
affect him.

Today, Barry Zito continued his erratic ways. It must
be of great concern to the club that he is not
performing as he did in the past.Tim Hudson returns and that should be a big lift to the club. The A’s
now head to the Metrodome, the house of horrors,
for a big 4 game set with the Twins. These 2 teams
always play each other hard and let’s hope that the A’s earn at least a split.

Jerry Feitelberg [Read more →]

Today is August 4th, and I know it is still early for people to get anticipated about the playoff picture,
but the teams that are a lock for the divsions are:.
AL East
New York Yankees
Wild Card-Boston

AL Central-Twins
(The reason I say this is because the White Sox don’t have Frank Thomas or Paul Konerko because they’re out for the rest of the season, so they are going to slip out of the playoff picture).

AL West-Oakland A’s

NL East-Atlanta Braves

NL Central-Cardinals(For sure)

NL West- San Francisco Giants(L.A. is going to slip out like they do every time September rolls around, especially trading Mota ,and LaDuca away to the Marlins.

NL Wild Card- Chicago Cubs

Projected Playoffs:
ALDS- Yankees @ Twins- Yanks win series in 5
ALDS-Boston @ Oakland(just like last year) Boston in 4
ALCS- BOston @ Yankees- Boston still can’t win against them, Yankees in 7 again.

NLDS- Braves @ Cubs- Cubs in 5 again
NLDS- Giants @ Cardinals- Cardinals in 4
NLCS-Cubs @ Cardinals- Cardinals in 6

World Series- Cardinals @ New York Yankees-
Cardinals beat Yankees in 6 games- (Yankees still can’t win a world series they’re just like the braves,
all division titles and no world series title to show for it,and this would be a 4 year driught of now winning the World Series) [Read more →]

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 →]

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 →]

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 →]

Carly Simon’s great song “anticipation” is ringing through my brain as spring training is about to conclude and the 2004 season starts soon. I am eagerly awaiting the 1st pitch and I hope that there will be success for
My teams that I pull for, especially the A’s, Giants, and Red Sox. Failure for the evil ones from NYC and success
for Art Howe and Rick Peterson with the Mets. Lots of
players have changed teams and it will be interesting to see what happens as play starts. Will there be a cinderella team this year? Will Tampa and Detroit show improvement? Will Seattle, Oakland, and Anaheim go down to the wire in a 3 way race for the West? Will the Cubs
win it all ? Will the Braves fade ?
Soon we will hear the national anthem played and the umpires yell”play ball”

Jerry F [Read more →]

Two and half years, a stint in jail, and the threat of a “tell all” book that would damage the game that he once was king of, Jose Canseco, 40, still hasn’t gotten baseball out of his system.

According to circulated reports, Canseco will attend the Los Angeles Dodgers open try out on March 1st. Jose tried to convince Dodger scouts to watch him work out at a private location, but they said they had no interest, so Jose will once again eat some “humble pie” and attend the tryout.

Is Jose in a fantasy land? Is he listening to his ego and pride instead of his realstic abilities to produce in the big leagues?

Or, is Jose Broken-man , humbled and has finally decided to return to his first love with a new attitude? Is he willing to go through the humility process and prove to everyone he’s a new man?

If I’m a general manager of a Major league team, I might want to take and extra look at this possible wise investment.

Any team that may consider signing Canseco may have finally found the perfect time. He’s served some time in jail, in which I’m sure he did some deep self-evaluation. From recent photos, Jose seems very thinner, which was his physical condition when he had the most success in the mid-eightees. The more bulkier he was, the more it effected his once-devasting swing.

Of Course, he is an admitted steroid user, but that jacket is light with the latest news of rampage use of performing enhancing drugs in the big leagues.

Canseco will not use steroids not only because of the policy of random testing in the majors, but because he loves his freedom way too much.

With all the success of Canseco in the past, and even his somewhat successful stints with Chicago and Tampa Bay, why haven’t the front office people given him a chance? He has proven he can hit .250 with 25-30 dingers. Will a guy like Eric Karross be that much of an upgrade for the A’s then Canseco?

Or is there another motivation that only front office people have for not giving Jose another shot?

Canseco’s only 32 home runs away from the milestone 500. Why not allow Jose to reach 500 with your team? The Devil Rays are giving Mcgriff that opportunity. Jose has constantly stated that he will play for the bare minimum, just like his fellow former Oakland star Rickey Henderson. Yet both former MVP’s are without a spring training facility to go to.

Timing is everything. Jose may be just the right and wise investment right now.

[Read more →]

My goodness! And we shouldnt’ forget that the Yanks beefed up their bullpen too. Wow! What of their starting pitching though? It’s a huge question mark and they certainly can’t compete with the A’s starters. The A’s staff should be able to contain the Yanks offense. The A’s offense will have to do a better job at contributing to beat the Yanks and in order to compete for a playoff spot though.
As far as what it means for baseball economics, I don’t feel bad for the “small market” owners at all. Pony up some dough and be clever with your marketing, if you want to compete. A new stadium is not the answer. A’s need to sign Chavez before the season starts to show some good faith in their players and fans and to keep the distraction from the team.
-Mike E. [Read more →]

Bobby Crosby is the heir apparent to Miguel Tejada. Everyone and their fungo bats know that, but the question is how secure is his job? According to Billy Beane at the question and answer session at Fan Fest, Crosby has all the time he needs to adjust to the big leagues. Beane said that Crosby may suffer the occasional slump, but the shortstop will be given the time and at-bats to fight through it. Expectations are certainly high after Tejada’s constant production of 30 home runs and 100 RBI’s every year, but rookie phenoms (position players, anyway) haven’t faired too well in Oakland in recent history.

Click below for an excellent discussion of “what is a prospect” from one of our fans.
Thanks, Marty
[Read more →]