Straight A's - An Oakland Athletics Fan Blog

Blog Closed

2006-09-09T15:51:00.000-07:00

Not sure if I will start it back up... I barely have time to watch the A's at this point let alone spend time on the Blog unfortunately. I just started working for an Investment Banking Firm and working 6am-7pm'ish daily doesn't leave me with much free time! It's unfortunate because in the past 10 years I've probably missed about 100 A's games total, but now I'm ready to take the next step in the Journey of life and that means using the time I used to spend on sports in other, more "productive" areas.

My goal is to make $10m in the next 10 years - if you're going to have goals why not aim high? Thing is, it's not even about $$, it's just about being the best you can be.. I'm tired of being one of those "players" that are career .275 hitters, I want to not only be an All Star but a Hall of Famer. To be the best you have to outwork everyone and obviously work smart.

So that's it for now, I'm still a die hard A's fan but at this point it's time for me to concentrate on being the best I can be.

Many blessings, good wishes, success and health to all that read this!

Don't settle for 2nd place!

Btw here are some books I'm currently reading or I plan to read in the near future these come highly recommended by one of the most powerful people in the business world :

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards : A MUST READ and do Book! If you ever doubted your capabilities, if you want to understand, by proving to yourself, how powerful and capable you and your brain are, buy this book and do exactly what she says. There is no greater book that will increase your self-confidence and show you how far you can really go.

Collaborative Selling and Communicating at Work by Tony Alessandra : Some of the best work on the different personality styles, how to relate to them, and how to adjust your actions and words in order to better communicate with your customers.

Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz : Shows the power of visualization and how to use it to get what you want

The Mind Map Book by Tony Buzan : The creator of the Mind-Mapping concept

And for those of you who are more advanced, this one is not for the light reader :

Reframing, Frogs into Princess, using Your Brain for a Change by John Grinder and Richard Bandler : The creators of NLP, who Tony Robbins studied under and based much of his material on.

And a book I'd recommend to those of you who are breaking into the business world :

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki : If you don't know how to read a P & L statement and don't know the difference between income statements and balance sheets, liability from assets this is a GREAT book Every business owner and sales manager should make this required reading for their sales staff. It's easy, fun, and exciting to read.

IF Postseason Started Today.......

2006-09-04T02:09:00.000-07:00

Here is my Starting Pitching Schedule, Lineup, and 25 man roster (this is obviously generic and doesn't take matchups into consideration and makes some assumptions re : Harden, Crosby)

Game 1 : Barry Zito (Ace)
Game 2 : Esteban Loaiza (Hottest pitcher in MLB, hitting 92+ consistently and topping out at 95)
Game 3 : Danny Haren (WS Experience)
Game 4 : Joe Blanton
Game 5 : Barry Zito

Lineup :

C-Kendall
2B-Ellis
RF-Bradley
DH-Hurt
3B-Chavez
LF-Payton
1B-Swisher
CF-Kotsay
SS-Crosby (We need this guy back, Scutaro has played better than I expected offensively but defensively @ SS he's worse than I could've ever imagined - there isn't a worse defensive SS in MLB)

25 Man PS roster :

C- Kendall, Mellhuse
INF- Ellis, Chavez, Crosby, Swisher, Johnson, Scutaro, Bocachica (speed off the bench)
OF- Bradley, Kotsay, Payton, Kielty (Bocachica)
DH- Big Frank

SP / Long - Zito, Loaiza, Haren, Blanton, Harden, Saarloos
PEN - Gaudin, Calero, (Harden, Saarloos) Kennedy, Duke, Street

So that's 25. No room for Halsey or Perez. In a PH situation I'd much rather have Bocachica up over Perez and more importantly he has more speed. DJ could be a valuable weapon off the bench in a situation where we need a Sac fly. Just to provide some background on my decision to go with Bocachica, here are his #'s @ SAC this year :

.326 / .422 / 1.016, 19 HRs, 61 RBIs hitting mostly clean up + 18-21 in SBs

Do You Miss Jason Giambi?

2006-08-31T19:10:00.000-07:00

I remember the first time he came back to Oakland as a member of the Yankee$, I couldn't wait to boo him. I purchased 1st row tickets in section 109 along the 1B line just to tell him how much I hated him, but in retrospect I was just upset that he left. For some reason, I don't have anywhere close to that kind of feeling about Zito who is also a GREAT person, a fan favorite and a fantastic player. The truth is, I believe Zito's production on the field in a lot of ways can be replaced. Maybe not completely by 1 guy but I think a combination of things will allow us to absorb that loss. Then again, maybe I'm just in denial but regardless, that's another subject altogether.

Giambi was the only real Captain type player this team has had under Billy Beane and he was a ridiculously talented hitter during his time with the A's. Roids or not, dude is still a monster at the plate. I'm sure many of you have seen this recent article on the A's web site but if not, here's the link :

http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060831&content_id=1638771&vkey=news_oak&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak

After reading all the things Giambi said it reinforced that he's a good guy and made me think back to the days when our offense was so dominant, obviously he was the leader of that squad. 2000 and 2001 for example were fun teams to follow, a lot of charachters on the A's back then and none were bigger than Giambi. He really set the tone for the rest of the team in terms of having fun, playing hard, and then having some more fun!

I guess what I'm trying to say from a completely hypothetical standpoint is if there's any way we could bring him back at the tail end of his career, I'd be all for it.

I couldn't have imagined saying that in 2002. I guess, maybe time does heal old wounds.

The Silicon Valley A's of Fremont?

2006-08-31T01:21:00.000-07:00

Say goodbye to the Oakland A's and hello to The SVAF?

As I've been saying for about 6 months, it will be an upset if the A's do not announce their intentions to move to Fremont by the end of the calendar year. It makes too much sense, all signs point to it, you've got the new Mayor of Oakland saying the A's likely have "one foot out the door" during his Choose or Lose The A's campaign speech back in June. You can see his speech here :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mgWP2GawNQ

You've got the A's foaming at the mouth to tap into the South Bay's Corporate bank accounts, not to mention the A's recent Public Relations blitz into Fremont including plans for a Dennis Eckersley field according to an article I recently read on AthleticsNation.com

I'm sure many fans like myself who have spent hundreds of days at The Coliseum over the years will be a bit sad when this is finally official but in the end, it's the right move. And no, I'm not just saying that because I live in The Silicon Valley. The fact of the matter is, the A's will never be able to attract the casual fan if they don't get a new stadium. We are competing with the Giants who have the best stadium in the history of sports and as of now, the A's clearly have a top 3 worst stadium in MLB - Tropicana and The Metrodome are awful but MIN has a stadium in the works.

The A's are already homeless as far as I'm concerned. The Coliseum is now home of the Raiders, the A's just sublet for a few months. Enough is enough, Oakland has had more than enough time to get a deal done. And now, it's too late, the A's really do have one foot out the door.

Mark Purdy from the San Jose Mercury News wrote a great article in today's edition :

There are plenty of murmurs in Silicon Valley circles that Cisco is smitten with the idea of a partnership with the A's, on many levels -- including naming rights to the ballpark. There are rumblings out of Cisco's offices that concepts for a ``ballpark of the future'' have already been brainstormed and game-planned. The project allegedly has support from the highest levels, including CEO John Chambers.

Does this mean we are headed for a high-tech intensive Cisco Field, featuring the San Jose A's of Fremont -- or perhaps the Silicon Valley A's of Fremont? It makes a lot of sense. Trying to replicate the retro atmosphere of AT&T Park on the flat baylands alongside Interstate 880 would be folly. Why not go the other direction and build the most revolutionary and ultramodern sports structure on earth?

For those of us who envisioned a beautiful San Jose ballpark that would bring downtown alive 81 nights or days per year, there will always be regrets. But as a second choice, it isn't bad. It isn't bad at all.

As I said it will be hard for many to get used to anything but The Oakland A's, but in the end it's absolutely 100% the correct move. The A's want to be in the South Bay but the Giants territorial restrictions won't allow it. So, they are going to choose the next best thing which in this case is Fremont. Our guys deserve to play in a state of the art facility and in front of a packed house, nightly. I'm looking forward to purchasing my season tickets as soon as they become available.

It seems like a lifetime ago, but B.A.D (before Al Davis) the A's had one of the best ballparks in all of baseball :

How Much is Big Frank Worth to The A's?

2006-08-30T18:06:00.000-07:00

The question was posed on the A's Post Game show the other day. I called in and proposed the following :

Offer Big Frank a 1 year $6m contract with a 2nd year mutual option for another $6m. Under this hypothetical scenario, the team could buy-out the 2nd year for $500k meaning the total guaranteed $$ on the low end would be $6.5m. Not only should we offer that, but we should also provide incentives based on plate appearances which would bump the yearly salary from $6m to a maximum $9m if he hits all of the benchmarks. So, if the A's keep him for the 2nd year and he hits all incentives over the course of both seasons the total contract value would be 2 / $18m for Frank.

Look, the A's have already made out like bandits this year, even if Thomas doesn't play another game. $3m or so is nothing and we need to offer him a solid deal to stay, he's not only the huge RH presence this team needs but he's also Swisher's mentor, not to mention one of the unquestionable leaders of the team. What type of $ value do you put on that? Also, Thomas will almost definitely hit his 500th HR in an A's uniform, Thomas is older now but he's still very marketable. The A's must find a way to make him a competitive offer, especially since Zito is as good as gone.

It's not a question of "should the A's re-sign Thomas", it's about what type of offer would be fair. I think the A's need to take into consideration how much they've already gained by having him on board this year. Based on what he's brought to the team he's worth about $10m to us this year. Let's not nickel and dime, let's make him an offer he can't refuse. Do the right thing A's, these are not standard negotiations, if anyone deserves a fat paycheck it's Big Frank. Pay the man.

AL Pitcher of The Month - August

2006-08-29T18:11:00.000-07:00

Esteban Loaiza. It's not yet official but it's not like I'm going out on a limb here.

They usually announce these awards 3-5 days after the month is over so it should be official very soon. The man 99% of A's fans loved to hate early in the season (for good reason) has been ridiculously filthy this month and the #'s back it up :

6 GS, 4-0, 42.2 IP, 35 H, 31 K, 4 BB, HR, 7 ER, 1.48 ERA

In August of 2005, Barry Zito won the AL Pitcher of the month award. For comparison, here's his #'s from 8/05 :

6 GS, 2-2, 42.1 IP, 23 H, 39 K, 16 BB, 2 HR, 10 ER, 2.13 ERA

We don't need Loaiza to continue at this pace (pitching like he's the best in the league), that's not realistic anyway but Loaiza is an outstanding pitcher when he's on, much better than most of us could have imagined.

It's a pleasure to be proved wrong in situations like this, keep it rollin' "E-Lo" - I still hate that nickname, but whatever.

Will The A's Have Swisher's Back vs Boston?

2006-08-28T12:43:00.000-07:00

The Red Sox staff hit Swisher a couple times back @ Fenway earlier in the season, once by Schilling digging him in the ribs pretty bad after an A's pitcher hit someone on BOS. It was obviously intentional, and if you rememember, Bradley was the guy who had Swisher's back yelling @ Schilling from the dugout. The A's went on to win the final game of that series which was nice, but it's time for payback and someone on the Sox needs to take one square in the back tonight. If Varitek was in there he would be my favorite target but since he's not, I'll take Manny as a backup assuming he plays and if not.... Well just about anyone will do! You get the point. Macha won't do a thing, he never does, he doesn't "play that way", what a joke.

Here were a couple of great quotes after that game :

When Ken Macha went out to protest the warning, the crowd got on the A's manager, and it was at that point, according to fans behind the dugout, that Bradley got up on the top step, turned and began yelling at them.

"He stepped out and said, 'Shut the f- up,' " said Roger Wilson of Oakdale, Conn.

Swisher, who has been pals with Bradley since the start of the spring, said, "I love the fact he had my back in that situation."

"These fans will get you going, they'll get you fired up," said Oakland outfielder Jay Payton, who also has been the target of the Boston crowd on occasion. "There's some stuff they say you probably can't repeat. He was pretty fired up, and Milton's a fiery guy. ... We don't worry about Milton. If we see him start to jump over the dugout, we'll grab him."

"The guy had been hitting his spots all night," Swisher said. "If you didn't think it was on purpose you're crazy."

One of the A's pitchers needs to do the right thing on behalf of Swisher over the next 3 days because lord knows, Macha wont.

Revisiting September 4th, 2002

2006-08-28T03:24:00.000-07:00

The Headline Read : Absolutely amazing - A's win 20th consecutive game after blowing 11-0 lead

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/
news/2002/09/04/royals_athletics_ap/

In my (not always)humble opinion, that streak won't be duplicated during any of our lifetimes. 20 WINS IN A ROW??? Are you kidding me? Is it just me, or was that one of the most remarkable streaks / records in the history of MLB?

What a magical run that was, a great time to be an A's fan. Just wanted to bring this up because the National Media doesn't ever discuss this and every so often I think back and years later I'm still A-mazed.

In an unrelated topic and this is just FYI for my fellow A's fans residing in Mountain View or San Franciso...All of a sudden as of 10 minutes ago, I Have Free Wifi & I Don't Understand Why! All of a sudden up pops up a Google-Wifi option in my "View Available Wireless Networks" options. So Im thinking hmmm, maybe it's my neighbors? Why dont I click on it and see what happens! All I had to do was provide an email addy (didnt even need to be confirmed) and booom I'm connected!

Google is now offering free WiFi in San Francisco and Mountain View. I've never heard of this and I don't get it, maybe I should just be happy and shut up but Im wondering why this happened?!? I did a search on Google for "Google Free Wifi" and up popped this article from last year but I don't understand the strategic purpose for Google to do this. Maybe its for advertising / marketing purposes, all of a sudden I'm talking about Google instead of the A's. Could that be it?

LOL, wow this is really funny to me :

gigaom.com/2005/09/30/goo...ifi-plans/

A's Should Miss Johan Santana 9/11-9/13

2006-08-27T15:08:00.000-07:00

Thank God. MIN does not have an off day before that series starts and as of now, barring an injury or change in their rotation Santana will pitch the final game of the DET vs MIN series on 9/10 so we miss him!

Thu. 31 Kansas City (Santana)

Fri. 1 at NY Yankees (Silva)
Sat. 2 at NY Yankees (Radke)
Sun. 3 at NY Yankees (Garza)
Mon. 4 at Tampa Bay
Tue. 5 at Tampa Bay (Santana)
Wed. 6 at Tampa Bay
Thu. 7 Detroit
Fri. 8 Detroit
Sat. 9 Detroit
Sun. 10 Detroit (Santana)
Mon. 11 Oakland (Silva)
Tue. 12 Oakland (Radke)
Wed. 13 Oakland (Garza)

Probable Pitching Matchups Through 9/3

2006-08-27T14:32:00.000-07:00

SUN : Haren vs Padilla
MON : Loaiza vs K. Gabbard (Lester scratched due to back)
TUE : Saarloos vs Beckett
WED : Zito vs Schilling

Boston will be without Trot Nixon, Alex Gonzalez, Jason Varitek. Also, Manny Ramirez is again out of the lineup today vs SEA. Wily MO Pena, and Doug Mirabelli are also day to day. The Red $ox are reeling since their 5 game sweep at the hands of The Evil Empire and now they're starting to resemble a MASH unit.

THU : OFF
FRI : Blanton vs Bedard
SAT : Haren vs Loewen
SUN : Loaiza vs Hayden Penn (R. Lopez pushed back a day)

BEAT LA!

2006-08-27T13:28:00.000-07:00

Can the Yankees provide a lil help today? The Angel$ are the only team with a .500 or better record vs Torre since he's been in NY if Im not mistaken.

Today the Yankees are off to a good start, up 5-0 on Saunders and co. Even though NY has lost the first two games of the series at least they have made the Angel$ pen work.

FRI : Shields - 31 P, Kry-Rod - 16 P
SAT : Shields - 22 P, Kry-Rod - 28 P

And in today's game Saunders already has 60+ P in 2+ IP.

For comparison, the A's had Loaiza's CG on WED, an off day THU, FRI 8 + IP by Zito and SAT Calero, Kennedy, and Duke all had very little work thanks to a solid start by Joe Blanton so our pen has basically been resting since TUES. These little things matter as you get deeper into the season.

Jason Kendall Is On Fire

2006-08-27T03:41:00.000-07:00

Hitting .542 (13-for-24) in his past five games, .486 (17-for-35) in his past 9 games, and .443 (27-for-61) with 11 multi hit games over his past 14 games.

Can you believe it, Jason Kendall is now up to a team-best .296 batting average! Oh yea, and he gunned down Gary Matheews Jr on a Stolen base attempt in tonight's 5-3 victory over the Rangers which clinched another series victory for the 1st place A's