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There has been much speculation about Mark McGwire’s possible entry into Baseball’s Hall of Fame.
McGwire was Rookie of the Year in 1987 and set a rookie record for most home runs in a season by
a rookie. He played with the A’s until mid 1997 when he was traded to the St. louis Cardinals.
When he left in 1997, McGwire had hit over 300 homers and had been sidelined by a foot injury
that cost him parts of 2 seasons. In addition,the strike in 1994 cost all the players the last 2 months of that season.

McGwire went to St.Louis and went on a tear. He hit over 50 homers in 1997 and then shattered
Roger Maris’ record by hitting 70 homers in 1998. Who could forget the remarkable race for the home run crown by Sammy Sosa and Mark Mcgwire. Those 2 men brought the fans back into the game. After the strike in 1994,many fans swore off baseball completely.McGwire retired 5 years ago
when a cranky knee would no longer allow him to play the game and he ended his career with 583
home runs. Normally, a player with those numbers would be a lock for Cooperstown. However, McGwire may not make it to the hall on the 1st ballott and may not make it all. Why?
His former teammate,Jose Canseco, has made allegations that McGwire used steroids to bulk up.
Steroids were not illegal substances at the time. Rather than put these allegations to rest before a congressional committee, Mcgwire refused to testify and looked like a guilty man doing so.
What was illegal was obtaining prescription drugs without a proper prescription. No team doctor would ever order such substances. Also the trainers would not be silent. They could tell if a player
was getting injections.

No one will ever know the truth. All I can say is that the stalls in the bathroom are too small to
hold two huge men giving each other shots. McGwire has put his baseball life behind him and has
moved on. There is no proof that he ever used steroids other than Canseco’s word. I have not
heard any other teammate come forward and say that they saw such behavior.

It is clear that McGwire used nutritional substances that may have cointained a precursor of an anabolic steroid. However,it was not illegal. McGwire als o worked out in the weight room and
had biceps like Popeye. McGwire is 6’5" tall and relatively thin for a man that size. He had
back problems over the years due to the tremeendous torque placed on his back when he would swing at a pitch.

I do not have a vote for the Hall of Fame,but if I did I would vote for his entry into that august body. I believe that a person is innocent till proven guilty and that the individual has a right
not to testify. Using the 5th ammendment,which he didn’t do, does not presume guilt. The only finger pointing at him is the one belonging to Jose Canseco. I do not believe that there is there
there and that the sportswriters should elect him to the hall.

Jerry Feitelberg
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Thanks to Alma for rescuing the site once again from the hackers. I cannot for the life of me understand why someone would take the time to hack into the site and effectively disrupt the flow of information. But this is the world we live in today and the lack of respect is disappointing. So we can’t post any audio and the stories look funny. We are in the process of changing things around so please bear with us. When these disruptions occur the server has no choice but to take us off line. In the meantime the A’s have a new manager. No big surprise here. More importantly the team needs a new DH. Frank Thomas was going to test the market. That was obvious once he didn’t accept the two year offer extended in October. Names bandied about: Moises Alou, Preston Wilson, Barry Bonds. No way Bonds comes to Oakland. The Giants can’t let it happen and Bonds will get his money from SF. Don’t expect to see Willie Mays hanging around the A’s clubhouse. More than likely the A’s will send Nick Swisher back to the outfield and give Dan Johnson a shot at first base. I still think Kotsay and Loaiza should be shopped for a younger hitter. Tony DeFrancesco should be promoted from Sacramento to the A’s coaching staff. Minor league hitting instructor Greg Sparks should get the job as hitting coach. The Red Sox will sign Matsuzaka and have an excellent rotation if Jonathan Papaelbon is healthy. The Arizona Fall League should be on your travel calendar. Great weather good baseball and small crowds. Phoenix won the title again today beating some Ranger, Oriole, Pirate, and Rockie farmhands 6-2. Zito will end up in NY with Rick Peterson. Jason Schmidt most likely in Seattle. Ted Lilly could sign with the Yankees. The Cubs made good moves with Ramirez and DeRosa. Padilla has a market and will get a good contract. Angels are desperate for a hitter and more than likely will have to make a trade because Soriano looks like a good bet to go somewhere else. White Sox want to trade Freddy Garcia. Yanks are interested and don’t need Melky Cabrera. Big disappointment with the website. It’s even hard to write this article because the spacing isn’t working at all while I type. So enjoy the day and I’ll write more once we figure out how to proceed. By the way if you know a web programmer who really knows his or her stuff I’m interested because we need someone to help us figure out how to get the site back to full speed.Thanks,Marty [Read more →]

A deal that involved the Oakland Athletics
moving to Fremont was made in
San José, by the Commissioner of
baseball, Cisco representatives and
the owners of the Oakland A’s.

By Amaury Pi-González [Read more →]

We’ll find out as early as tomorrow. Each candidate has marched into Beane’s office, pulled out their resume, and stated their case.

This gut-wrenching reality competition began with seven, with three having been or will be hired by other clubs, and now the final four, Bob Geren, Bob Geren, Bob Geren, and Bob Geren, wait patiently, hoping for that knee-buckling call from Mr. Moneyball.

Send your text vote, friends.

With all due respect for the other qualified candidates, Jamie Quirk, Orel Hershiser, and Trey Hillman, apparently they have a shot, too.

But interviewing for the managerial spot in Oakland negates years of conventional wisdom. Perhaps it’s not what trove of leadership skills you can bring, but your selfless ability not to botch a proven system already in place, that impresses Beane.

Click below for more! [Read more →]

If you live in San Francisco or even Oakland
you might want to consider moving to the
South Bay. The San Jose Sharks play in the
beautiful HP Arena in downtown San Jose and now the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco 49ers are
planning a move south. All-of-a-sudden Silicon Valley is rapidly becoming Sports Central.

By Amaury Pi-Gonzalez [Read more →]

While everyone has been wondering about a replacement for the soon-to-be-very-wealthy Barry Zito, I’m concerned about another critical role on the A’s: the closer.

Toward the last few months of the season, many fans were seduced by the A’s dominance, and overlooked the struggles of Huston Street. Sorry, pupils, it looks like opposing batters, especially left-handed ones, have figured out the former rookie of the year. And I’m not ignoring his strained right pectoral muscle injury, which may be the cause for his decline.

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Rick Kaplan
Staff Writer

OAKLAND (November 7) – "We have spent more than two years scouring the city for a suitable location for a new ballpark. The latest NSA and NASA spy satellite imagery–not even Google’s maps–failed to turn up a single new site within Oakland on which we could plan our new park."

When asked why the potentially picturesqe Oak-to-Ninth site along the Estuary, or the empty, enormous former Oakland Army Base, did not receive consideration, Wolff replied that "We never saw them on the satellite pictures."

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