White Sox Take Boston, Big Week Ahead For All
The flu bug hit the Boston Red Sox Sunday as all star shortstop Nomar Garciaparra became the latest victim of the malady (I’m sure his 5-73 slump had nothing to do with his absence) that had already taken Pedro Martinez and Manny Ramirez from Boston’s line up earlier this month.
Maybe these guys don’t eat properly or get enough rest, but this team seems to suffer more “flu outs” than any other team in baseball.
Mark Buehrle didn’t help the Red Sox either as he dominated the home team for seven innings. John Burkett got tagged early by Carlos Lee, the unknown outfielder for Chicago who is hitting .294 with 30 homers and 104 RBI’s. Amazing, but Chicago tried to trade this guy all winter without success.
The Angels got an excellent performance from former A’s farmhand Kevin Gregg and edged Seattle 2-1 with the winning hit coming on a single by Scott Spiezio off a 95 MPH fastball from Rafael Soriano. Ichiro, Brett Boone, and Edger went 0-11 and that’s all she wrote as the Mariners are now 3 1/2 behind the A’s in the West.
Click below for more!The A’s excelled in Texas. Oakland’s bullpen, the best in the league, once again did its thing and secured the victory. When Texas needed outs from its pen, Aaron Fultz threw 11 balls in a row none of which came close to the plate, forcing in the winning run. The A’s pen went 5 2/3 of four hit ball with one walk and you ask why Texas is going nowhere this season.
Joe Morgan has this annoying train of thought going whenever he broadcasts an A’s game. The Hall of Famer continuosly denigrates the A’s blue collar approach to hitting (working the count) and characterizes their resultant success as lucky. Branch Rickey, the smartest executive baseball has ever seen said it best with his famous quote, “Luck is the residue of design”, if Morgan would watch more A’s baseball he would see that this team does have a plan, executes it well, and is on course to win 100 games again for the third consecutive season.
Is Morgan upset the A’s have never sought his counsel, even though he is an Oakland resident? It must be something because he sang this song while Art Howe brought the team to three straight playoffs and is now doing it again while Ken Macha guides the team to the playoffs in 2003.
Just thought I would mention it.
Tonight Ted Lilly tries to show he is playoff worthy facing Ramon Ortiz who is back from bereavement leave. Lilly still doesn’t have the confidence of all who follow the A’s, but a good game today and one next weekend may solve that problem.
Key tonight: Don’t let the Angels bullpen decide the game.
How about the season KC shortstop Angel Berroa is having? Now up to .290 and leading off, he is fielding well and has driven in 69 runs.
Minnesota plays Chicago next, so KC just has to keep winning. Brian Anderson faces the Tigers today.
Seattle goes to Texas. They may have a tougher time winning there than the A’s did. Texas can score, they can’t pitch, but you have to have SOME offense to beat them at home. This could be the series that secures the West for Oakland.
Jorge Sosa brings his 96 MPH heat into Fenway today along with his Tampa Bay mates. The Sox won’t win the East, but they would like to win the wild card. They cannot afford any losses to this team. The good news is the A’s should take care of Seattle, while Boston does get the low end teams in the league at the same time.
A’s versus Boston, now that is a series, if the Sox don’t have the flu. If Boston gets the wild card, that is exactly the matchup you will get.
Pedro – Hudson, Zito – Lowe, Lilly- Burkett, then it gets interesting. By the way, the bullpens will decide this series, so watch it cautiously if you are a Red Sox fan.
The Dodgers are still here. I say it every few days or so, just to remind myself that if the Phils and Marlins split their games, LA can sneak in if they win 90 games, which would take a 10-4 finish. The Dodgers are tied with the Phils in the loss column, so it is time to take them seriously.
Eric Gagne should win something, but probably won’t. Where would the Dodgers be without him and his 51 saves?
Randy Johnson, a one hit shut out yesterday against the Rockies with 12 K’s and 1 walk. Here, I thought he was done as a big time pitcher.
Braden Looper couldn’t close the game for the Fish against the Braves Sunday. It was obvious he didn’t have it early in the ninth inning, but Jack McKeon stubbornly left him in there until he blew the game wide open.
Carlos Zambrano pitched a beauty against the Reds, but let it get away in the ninth. You just have to wonder if Dusty Baker had a bullpen he trusted would he have pulled Zambrano after he wild pitched the lead run to third base in the ninth?
Even with all that, not scoring against the Reds is what cost them the game.
Houston said their three most wonderful words yesterday “Lidge to Dotel to Wagner”. End of game, end of Cardinals for 2003. Tony LaRussa is now all over the umpires after being all over the Cubs last week. Tense times for the tightly wound skipper.
Eric Milton acquitted himself very well yesterday in his first appearance of 2003 for the Twins. Minnesota just has to hang on while KC and Chicago go at over the last two weekends of the year. Good series this week between Twins and ChiSox, if Minnesota avoids a sweep in the three game set, I think the schedule really does work in their favor and will put them in, no matter how much I like Loiaza, Colon, and Buehrle. Three games coming up with the Yankees are huge for Chicago who has tough game everyday from here on out.
So many scenarios, one or two will play out dramatically, they always do the last two weeks of the year.
It’s just figuring out which ones they will be that is tough to do.
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Marty: You have been touting the Dodgers for the wild card race. Their main obstacle will be the 7 games at the end of the season, facing the Giants, who won’t be rolling over. They have their own interests, namely, beating out Atlanta for the home field advantage. By the way, now that both the Cubs and LA are fighting for the wild card, how do you think Baker and Gagne feel about not taking the All Star game seriously. They may have blown the home field advantage for one or the other in the World Series, assuming the unlikelihood of getting that far. As for the Giants, they are undoubtedly pulling for some one other than LA to face in the playoffs. Nomo and Brown give them trouble. Looking far ahead, I am sure they would prefer anyone other than the A’s in the World Series. The A’s give them a hard time whenever they face them, going back many years.
Marty
How about those A’s!!
I’m still cautious, of course, as baseball lore is full of 3 game leads being blown with 10 left to play and it was the lowly Rangers that we looked good against.
But I still like what I see especially on defense where even the maligned Scott Hatteberg made two great scoops at first base last nite.
With Guillan out for a few days, maybe one of the recent callups gets a righthanded at bat or two against Washburn as it looks like Macha’s season long schizophrenic use of Singleton has turned into a permanent benching.
I expect the ever-disappointing T. Long or Billy Mac to get the start against righthanders in Guillan’s absence.
By the way, I’ve had it with Joe Morgan. I’m glad you addressed his biased slant on the A’s.
What is it with the Jacksons, Morgans, etal that got a job with the A’s in the twilight of their careers when no one wanted them, coming back to dog their former benefactor?
Next it will be Rickey and Canseco.
Reno Bill
Dusty took the game seriously, I can’t speak for Gagne however. If the Marlins and Phillies split their games, watch out.
Anyway, the last six games between the A’s and the Mariners, and the Giants and the Dodgers now have some added meaning.
Marty
Marty,
So, what’s your take on the Long/Macha words that are being reported? I like T Long, but his performance has been less than stellar this year. He is clutch off the bench, though. The current lineup is working well, so if it’s not broke don’t fix it.
Joe Morgan is insufferable when it comes to the A’s. Don’t understand it really. Is it because of the failed sale to his group? That’s silly since the players had nothing to do with that.
Hoping for good things from Ted tonight. I am a huge fan of his.
Also, did you see the meeting on the mound between Zito and Ramon on Friday night when the bases were loaded and the count was 3 and 2? Looked like Ramon was being really strong with Zito to get him to go after the hitter. It worked, too. We need to make sure those bad innings don’t really explode on Zito. Ramon needs to continue his motivational meetings on the mound if necessary.
great column and great comments.
The A’s are going to win the whole enchilada
Jerry F
T Long has had an inflated value of his game ever since his first season in the majors. Macha is different in his approach to the players than the way Art was…Macha doesn’t mince words with players who aren’t performing, he will even criticize them publically.. Long doesn’t like it, but “The players write the lineup” per Ken Macha… same goes for Singleton who has clashed with the manager. Byrnes seems to get the picture better than most.
In 1935 NY Giants manager Bill Terry asked the famous question “Are the Dodgers still in the league,” when asked if the Dodgers would bother the Giants that season. Needless to say the Dodgers knocked the Giants out of the race that September with some late season wins against the New Yorkers. Giant fans seem to be saying the same thing this go around. The Dodgers ain’t dead yet and the last six games between these two rivals may be something to watch.
Marty
I don’t know about other Giants fans but this one isn’t knocking the Dodgers. I think the Giants are concerned about facing Brown and Nomo in the playoffs and would just as soon not see any part of LA after this season ends. If we can eliminate them from the playoffs, well and good.
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