Mike Mussina ran his record to 7-0 with another dominating performance Wednesday night in Seattle. Moose struck out 12 and kept his team in the game until they could get loose against Joel Pineiro.

Mussina is throwing a lot of pitches. Last night, he threw 114 in eight innings. At his age, he must be watched carefully because he will be expected to go to the post 34 times before October.

Mussina will open up any playoff series the Yankees are in. I don’t trust David Wells, Roger Clemens, Jeff Weaver, or Andy Pettitte in the big game. Mussina is the one that must lead this staff, scary for a team that MUST win.

How do the A’s stack up against NY?

Click below and I’ll match them up. [Read more →]

On August 12, 1979, the A’s Rick Langford hooked up against the Twins Jerry Koosman in the Metrodome. Minnesota won the game behind Koosman’s ten hit shut out one to nothing.

The game was played in one hour and forty three minutes. Last night the A’s and White Sox finished their game in one hour and forty nine minutes, the A’s fastest game since that getaway day in Minneapolis in 1979.

Mark Mulder and Mark Buehrle had a lot to do with last night’s game, getting the ball and thowing it back towards the hitter with accuracy, walking few, few three ball counts, and generally a well pitched game on both sides.

Tonight it’s Ted Lilly versus Esteban Loiaza, two pitchers who take their time on the mound and get deeper into the count.

Lilly needs to be aware of his pitch count and Loiaza has to be aware of the fact that he is known as an April pitcher and the calendar now shows May on its front page.

The Sox aren’t hitting, but they are definite contenders in the mediocre AL Central, thus there is no need to panic and threaten to fire the manager.

Just let them get away from Oakland and Seattle and things will be fine on the Southside of Chicago.

Click below for today’s games. [Read more →]

Seattle, May 6, 2003.

The Mariners just swept the Chicago

White Sox in Chicago, Seattle’s

first over Chicago since May 17, 2001

and ended their road trip

with a 4-2 record.

Tonight a 3-game series against

the New York Yankees is the

‘talk of the town here in the

Emerald City.

By Amaury Pi-Gonzalez [Read more →]

With the first month of the season history, the story of 2003 now begins to become more significant in May.

The Diamondbacks in a strange way may be in better shape than people think. When your team is built around two aging starters, it may be a blessing in disguise when Randy Johnson will not pitch until the end of the month, thereby saving his arm for the tough summer months ahead. Same for Curt Schilling who normally would have 50 or more innings by now, as he works his arm strength back to starting form.

These two just may lead Arizona on a summer charge because they didn’t wear themselves out early in the year.

It seems that the Royals are in wierd bull pen games every night. That isn’t good as the pen with Jason Grimsley leading the way, will never make it through the summer. The Royals need to have some bull pen reserves ready for the games in August and September if they hope to stay close.

Same reasoning applies to the Red Sox especially because Derek Lowe is not looking like the 20 game winner of one year ago. When the Royals and Red Sox meet, you don’t have to start watching the game until the seventh inning, that’s when all the action begins.

Is Nomar Garciaparra going to turn his miserable start around? He makes errors nightly, goes in batting funks, and is not looking happy in Boston. Is it crazy to think Billy Beane would consider a trade of Miguel Tejada for Garciaparra? Stay tuned on this one, it may not be as absurd as you think.

Click Read More for more baseball. [Read more →]

As I wrote last week, the A’s had a great chance of sweeping the weeknd series with the Yankees or at least taking the series.

After taking two of three from NY, the A’s now come home to face the reeling White Sox for three before entertaing the Yankees this coming weekend.

By the way, Scott Hatteberg stole Oriole Mike Flanagan’s line about Cy Young and Cy Old. In 1981, Flanagan described himself and Jim Palmer as the young and old Cys, and even included Steve Stone when he faltered later in his career, by calling Stone (the CY Young winner in 1980), Sayonara. So, take it easy on Hatteberg, he stole the line from Flanagan.

Click below for my thoughts on the Yankees and the A’s. [Read more →]

The Giants finished their six-game

homestand improving their

best start since 1973 with

Rich Aurilia and Edgardo Alfonzo looking

good at the plate.

By Amaury Pi-González [Read more →]

A’s and Yankees meet again Sunday in NY.

Some quick observations on the first two games of the series.

These two teams are the deepest teams in the AL.

If they meet in the postseason the matchups of Zito, Hudson, and Mulder versus Clemens, Wells, Pettitte, and Mussina will be outstanding.

Tim Hudson has a great sinker working right now. His ratio of ground ball outs to fly outs is almost 3:1, amazing. He pitched one of the best games of his career Saturday although he didn’t receive the win.

Keith Foulke shouldn’t have pitched the ninth inning with Johnson, Giambi, and Williams due up. All either hit lefthanded or need to be turned around to the right side, Ricardo Rincon should face the Yankees in the ninth if the lefties are coming up. The A’s let the Yankees off the mat Saturday and were fortunate to win the game.

George Steinbrenner could care less about Miguel Tejada. He wants Eric Chavez, Barry Zito, and Mark Mulder. Seeing Chavez homer in the tenth only made The Boss realize Chavez is his next super star free agent in waiting.

Wait until he sees Zito Sunday.

Click read more for more! [Read more →]

George Devine, Sr., one of the Bay Area’s finest journalists gives a wonderful perspective on a classic battle between the A’s and the Yankees and then weaves in the A’s current predicament resigning Miguel Tejada.

George goes by the title “Devine Writes”

Thanks George for this well thought out contribution to the site.

Marty Lurie [Read more →]

The baseball season is filled with plots and subplots. Should a team make a trade? Move a player in the order? Change positions on the field?

The Athletics reacted to Miguel Tejada’s slow start with a flourish Thursday, moving the reigning MVP from his coveted third spot in the batting order to fifth behind Erubiel Durazo and Eric Chavez.

By contrast Yankee Jason Giambi hitting under .200 for the season still holds his spot (third) in the NY order.

So, is it a good move to Miguel now?

Click Read More and I’ll give you my opinion [Read more →]

This seems like one of the those seasons for Arizona when whatever can go wrong, does go wrong. Not only did Curt Schilling have an unexpected appendectomy, but now Randy Johnson is gone for three to five weeks due to knee surgery.

Bob Brenly has already blown up in NY, the team isn’t hitting, and rookie after rookie pitcher is getting a shot in the majors. Not a good formula to win the pennant.

So, can starter/reliever Miguel Batista hold the fort? Byung Hyun Kim is hurt too after twisting an anke and might not make his next start. Mike Myers, lefty relief specialist gets hit hard virtually every time out, and Matt Williams has seen his best day.

Baseball tells a story every day and right now even with 135 games to go, the Arizona story is very murky.

The man in the center of the diamond controls the game. Mark Mulder showed how important the pitcher is with his second complete game in a row. Who does he think he is, Catfish Hunter? Complete games are such a rarity that it is nice to see a young pitcher finish what he starts. This type of pitching bodes well for October success.

Other than the Mariners, the West continued to thrash the rest of the league Wednesday night.

Click read more for today’s thoughts

[Read more →]