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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Inside Baseball with Marty Lurie & Bruce Magowan – American League: Winning the Interleague battle, Albert Pujols: 70 HRs?, Ozzie: Out of Control?, Smoltz: headed to the Tigers?
Segment one : Marty & Bruce.
Segment two : Marty & Bruce.
Segment three: Marty, Bruce & Robert Buan.
Segment four : Marty, Bruce & Robert Buan.
Segment five : Marty, Bruce & Robert Buan.

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With the season quickly approaching the mid point of the 2006 season, it’s time to see which teams are at the head of the class in major league baseball.

In New York, the Mets have stolen the front, back, and middle pages of the tabloids from the vaunted Yankees. The Amazins’ can rake with the best. This season’s NL MVP is coming from New York. Pick Carlos Beltran, David Wright, or Jose Reyes, you can’t go wrong. For me, Wright has been the most consistent even though Reyes may be the most exciting player in the game today.

Even with the boring and offensive Ozzie Guillen running amok, the White Sox still are the top team in the American League. The Sox throw the best pitchers at the opposition day after day. Jim Thome is the AL MVP, you can give him the trophy today.

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Rick Kaplan
Staff Writer

OAKLAND (June 22) – “A.J. Pierzynski is such a jerk.” “Ozzie Guillen is one of the ‘class acts’ in baseball.” “Barry Bonds is a low-life.” “Tori Hunter is really cool.”

Sounds right.

How do you know?

Why is one player a “good guy” and another a “bad guy?”

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Jun 21, 2006

CLOSING OFF the upper deck has had one desired effect for the A’s: Season ticket sales have increased about 11 per cent, according to club president Mike Crowley.

That was one goal for the A’s. The other was to give fans an incentive to buy individual game tickets in advance, to even out the crowds. In recent seasons, there had been relatively few tickets sold in advance, which led to huge walkups for some games. That made it difficult for the A’s to know how many ticket sellers and concession workers to have for individual games.

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