Marty Lurie Talks San Francisco Giants Baseball
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And Then There Were None, Jeremy (The Last) Giambi Traded

Jeremy Giambi scored 173 runs in his big league career including one in the playoffs. If he would have scored one more run in last year’s ALDS, he probably still would be an Oakland A today.

By not sliding in that rendezvous with fate in game three of the series against New York, Giambi sealed his eventual departure from the A’s.

It was just a matter of time.

Considering all the circumstances, was it a good deal, Jeremy Giambi for John Mabry?On a major league scale, Jeremy Giambi couldn’t field, run or throw to big league standards, but he could hit.

Giambi can hit better than Adam Piatt ever will.
Giambi can hit better than Eric Byrnes ever will. Giambi can hit better than Larry Sutton ever will.

But that’s all he could do, on a team that is loaded with DH’s.

The A’s finally realized they needed more from Jason’s little brother.

Plus he is a Giambi and Jason is heating it up in New York right now.

He became a constant, sore reminder about what could have been, if big brother had stayed in Oakland.

The A’s got tired of seeing Jeremy Giambi.

The name was a double edged sword.

Jason brought his little brother to Oakland. The name gave Jeremy more slack, hiding the deficiencies of his overall major league game.

The name gave Jeremy a chance to play in the big leagues.

The name also drove him to Philadelphia.

John Mabry can hit some coming off the bench. He is a professional major league hitter. He told me recently playing behind Mark McGwire in 1998 was a thrill and a curse.

You see, whenever Big Mac got a rest during his record breaking season, Mabry played first base. The fans who drove hours to see McGwire play were disappointed.

The crowd booed every move Mabry made during the game, when they realized he was in the lineup instead of McGwire.

Nice legacy.

Billy Beane’s moves have not touched the nucleus of the team. If what he says is to be believed, more changes are on the way, then the next moves will be much more interesting than yesterday’s trade of a limited DH for a 31 year old, aging bench player.

I can’t wait to see what happens next.

The GM has gotten my attention now.

Today’s games:

Can Mark Mulder reach 90 MPH for six innings in his comeback?

The Orioles have won four straight against lefthanded starters, Mulder is a lefty.

The A’s won’t have much of a bull pen today with Jim Mecir and Billy Koch undoubtedly unavailable after working the last two days.

If the A’s win this game today, Mike Magnante and Chad Bradford will play a big part in the outcome.

James Baldwin has dominated the Devil Rays in his career. Can Seattle lose again to Tampa Bay? Joe Kennedy and Ryan Rupe have pitched well for the Devil Rays, tonight’s starter Tanyon Sturtze has not.

The Yankees usually find a way to beat Pedro Martinez. The Red Sox are completely helpless against lefthanded pitching right now. Ted Lilly is a lefty, the Yankee pen is rested, the Yankees will test the Sox faithful this weekend. They just might beat Pedro today.

Great series.

Kansas City throws a lefty at Texas and Dave Burba today. For some reason, Texas just has not beaten lefthanders this year. One would think A Rod could do it himself, it just hasn’t happened.

Matt Morris has beaten Houston whenever Tony LaRussa has given him the ball. Houston still isn’t clicking, the Cardinals are. Shane Reynolds has won some big games for the Astros, they can use a win today.

Ishii goes against the Brewers in Milwaukee. The Brewers are such undisciplined hitters, they will probably start swinging at the tricky lefty when he picks up the resin bag on the mound.

Mark down May 22, 2002 as the day things turned around for the Cubs. Rookie Mark Prior won his first major league game in dominating fashion. Now, if they could just hit.

By the way, what are the Phillies going to do with Jeremy Giambi?

Why did they trade for him?

No DH in the National league, he can’t play anywhere in the field on a regular basis.

You tell me.

Baseabll is a funny game.

0 comments

1 Anonymous { 05.28.02 at 3:26 pm }

While I can’t get overly excited about coming to the park to see John Mabry play, he’s a player that can help the A’s in a lot of ways.

And clearly, he’s a pro. A guy who will represent the franchise well, who will provide help at several positions, and save them a few bucks at the same time.

2 Anonymous { 06.21.10 at 5:57 am }

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3 Anonymous { 07.06.10 at 12:52 am }

There

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