The End of the Road: DC and Baltimore, or, Eric Sweats! On Ice!

Did you all hear? The A's swept the Orioles at home and returned to .500 on the season. Though they lost to the Yankees and Bartolo Colón yesterday, one can again proudly say: "We're In This Thing!"

The A's are one bat away from making that surge. And even now at 27-28, they're only 2 games out of first place in the tight AL West. If you don't like their chances, then you aren't a fan.

Anyway, once more, the disclaimer, I was unable to watch these games, so be sure to check out the recaps offered by your favorite media outlet.

I did, however, make one last ballpark stop on my mid-Atlantic tour. These last four days of my trip could be described as: Eric attempts to seduce a nice young lady in Baltimore, or, Eric tries to distract Gordon from important studying, or, Eric tries to sweat through as many shirts in one day as possible, or, Eric mingles at a house party where he knows no one. It was some good times in the capital all right.

Nationals' Ballpark in our country's capital is once again, a gem to behold. I got to see a brilliant pitching matchup between the Nationals John Lannan and the Padres Clayton Richardson. Or maybe both lineups were so bad that the pitchers just came out looking like studs. Maybe, but who am I to judge? There were a combined 7 hits in the ballgame, and 3 went over the fence. Michael Morse was the hero as he took the first pitch he saw from Heath Bell in the bottom of the ninth over the left center field wall to win the game. This means that, of the three games I went to in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, all of them were decided in walk-off fashion. I have chosen wisely, apparently.

The Presidents Race in Washington is freaking awesome. The one I saw paid tribute to "Macho Man" Randy Savage, as Abe Lincoln donned his signature hat and sunglasses, and eventually won the race. After his hat fell down in front of his neck, preventing the poor soul inside from being able to see, I thought it was gonna be a win for Washington, but Honest Abe was able to recover to seal the victory.

Using guile and ingenuity, as well as the cover from a 45 minute thunderstorm delay, I was once again able to sneak down to the lower levels from my awesome $10 seat out in left field. An aside: this thunderstorm was nuts. It hit so suddenly I couldn't believe it, and in the words of Ollie Williams, in less than 20 seconds one might declare:



By the end of the game, I sat here:


Near me was an awful Red Sox fan, who decided he needed to vehemently root for the Padres. When Bartlett tied it up with his own home run off Storen in the ninth, he went ballistic, and the poor high school kid in front of me looked like he was going to cry. Fortunately he was able to run his mouth off at that obnoxious bum when Morse hit his no-doubter.

The Nationals made a beautiful park trying to revitalize the Navy Yard area southeast of the Capitol Building, but they made some odd decisions. One: You must tailgate in a controlled area where you must purchase the beer. There's not a lot you can park in, or bars around the area, you just have to go to this outdoor area outside the park. I'm not sure I liked it. The bigger deal, two: they totally screwed up the orientation of the park. I think they did this for shadow reasons. But, behind the big beautiful scoreboard walk and restaurant in centerfield, there was nothing but a few apartment buildings. Had they angled it 20 degrees more southward, it would have been a beautiful view of the Anacostia River. Had they gone 25 degrees northward, they would have had the Capitol and Washington Monument in their skyline behind the left field fence. But no, a visitor gets to gaze on a parking garage and some apartments. Nice.

I'm really glad I got to experience these other facilities on this trip. It makes me wish more for the facilities of the new ballparks for Oakland. It made me realize how electric baseball can really be when you have a winning team with a lot of tradition playing for you. Yeah, I get that latter thing in San Francisco, but it was interesting to see it on the other coast. I got to eat some delicious hot dogs, and I got to talk to some interesting people, like the retired soldier who kept me company during the rain delay in DC.

Before I sign off, huge shoutouts to Gordon and Tracey for hosting me in DC, as well as Liz and Ben who kept me company and invited me to that party I mentioned earlier. Finally a big thank you to Courtney, Julia, and the rest of the ladies who let me crash in their apartment after said party. On all these trips I take, I'm always taken aback by the hospitality of strangers, and it always tends to
help me renew my faith in humanity.

And oh yeah, the A's are playing the Yankees again tonight. Keep the faith. Beat the bombers, and look out Yay Area, I'm back.

Song of the Week:

Reflections on Philadelphia

First of all, way to go Athletics! Splitting the 4 gamer in Anaheim was a big boost after the debacle that was the previous week. Again, I am on vacation this week and not watching the games, so to learn more, I advise you to check out your favorite periodical or the official website for your A's news. The A's have 3 against Baltimore at home this weekend. It feels like there are no gimme games in this league anymore. Every team and every series presents its own challenges, and the Orioles are no different. Let's root for the A's to continue on the right track and in the AL West race!

In case you were worried about me, I have just finished spending 48 hours in the wonderful city of Philadelphia, PA. I give it glowing reviews. It's charm from neighborhood to neighborhood was remarkable, and old city truly blew me away. Huge shout out and thank you to Becca, who hosted me for two nights. She went above and beyond to make my stay worthwhile.

Trip Review, part 1.... written on Wednesday

Written on Wednesday.....

The A's won a game! Yes, the unbelieveable has occurred. After Cahill, Anderson, Gonzalez, and Outman all could not get the job done, Guellermo Moscoso was able to shut out the Angels for two innings and David DeJesus doubled his home run total to four as the A's finally snapped their 6 game losing streak.

I told you all not to panic. Remember? Apparently we were just hiding Moscoso until the time was right, because he looked like a grade A starter. But also remember, hubris is what brought us down before, and it will again unless we are careful. Hopefully we hit rock bottom, and it's upwards from here, but it can always get worse.

Giants Lose Buster Posey

I'm opening the blinds for just a few moments to share some thoughts on Buster Posey's injury:

For starters, there is no official report yet on how long he'll be out. Some reports have said it's season ending, which is certainly a possibility. We know there's a leg fracture. The biggest question will be in regards to ligament damage in his knee. But judging from the tone of Bochy's voice on KNBR this morning, Posey will be out for a long time.
----
Brian Murphy put it as well as anyone: "I'm 43, married, a father, have a job, a mortgage -- and I still can't fully process my emotions on Buster's injury."

I second that. Did anyone else find it about 10 times harder to get out of bed this morning? Did anyone else extinguish their allotted number of "sighs" for the day in about 30 minutes?

I can't stop thinking about Buster -- the shock, anger, frustration, unfairness of it all -- and yet, I'm having an incredibly hard time figuring out what to say. There almost isn't anything to say. Maybe what says it best is the absence of words -- the blank, empty gazes on the Muni this morning. People in Giants gear on the N-Judah, staring silently at the ground, going 20 seconds without blinking.

Silence may be the best way to describe it.

Remember the Hitchhiker's Guide?

I hope you do A's fans, all 2 of you that read these posts anyway. What does it say on the front, pray tell?



I wish I had better advice. I wish I had been able to see the games this weekend. Instead, I partied it up in the Hamptons with the Kardashians. No joke. Well, half joke, it was not with them. But it was with some awesomely orange colored people and bros as far as the eye could see. See below for an effective descriptor of the experience.

Bay Bridge Series Recap: City Sweeps Town

Last December, the San Francisco Giants put a limited number of tickets on sale for marquee games in 2011. One of the series they offered was Oakland A's trip to San Francisco in May. Being both far-sighted and a benevolent friend, I quickly realized the perfect Christmas gift for Eric: Giants-A's tickets. We would take in the first of our teams annual battles together.

As it turned out, Eric instead planned a trip to the East Coast for that weekend, thus shunning this harmonious peace offering and leaving me to watch the games alone, a cold shriveled mess.

But did the Gods take notice?

You bet your raptured butt they did. To the tune of 2-1, 3-0 and 5-4. It wasn't exactly the Apocalypse, but it was pretty darn close.

I jest. Eric was bummed to miss the first installment of the Bay Bridge Series and we already have tickets to take in the East Bay edition in late June. But as it turned out, Eric is probably glad he missed the carnage the baseball gods inflicted on his Oakland Atheists. It was not pretty for the Green and Gold and their thousand of fans elephant.

Awesome poster from thecitygraphics.com

Giants Road Trip Recap: Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

Road Trip Record: 3-3; Overall: 24-19; 1st Place (0.5)

Anyone who takes public transportation to work every day has a specific routine they like to follow. Catching the same train, boarding the same car, sitting in the same seat, buying a newspaper from the same newsstand (if anyone bought newspapers). Oftentimes you end up seeing the same people too.

The best part of my public transportation routine is walking by a man who sits at the Embarcadero Bart/Munio station with a tenor saxophone and a sign. Anyone who passes through that station in the mornings knows who I'm talking about.

He sits there with his sax, howls out a few notes, and displays a sign on a music stand with a new message every morning. This man has become my page-a-day calender. Every morning bears a news message that I just have to get a look at.

Most of the time they're awesome. They're pieces of advice about life, family, God, attitude. My all time favorite: "Rise and remember, there is none greater than the Elephant. And you are the elephant."

Now you may be saying, what does this have to do with the Giants?

Nothing really. But his message on this fine Friday morning reminded me a lot of baseball and the toll being a fan takes, particularly in these last four games. It read:

"Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."

A's v. Twins Recap

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The A's were riding a high..... only to have their hopes dashed on the rocks below after the wave crashed onto the beach. Quick hits to follow.

A's v. Angels Recap

It was only a two game series, but it still counts as a SWEEP! Horray!

I don't think this requires a full recap....

Let's look at what the A's accomplished with last night's game.

•It was their first sweep of a series since they swept the Mariners to close the season last October.

•They are now in first place for the first time since June 3rd of 2010.

•It was their first time scoring in double figures all season.

• It was their largest offensive output since they beat the Angels 15-1 on July 10th of last year.

•They entered the game 12th in the AL with 146 runs, scored in 41 games. They added 1/10 of that number in one night.

The A's won on Monday what might become their signature win of the season. Up 3-0, down 4-3 with 2 out and two strikes on Barton in the 9th, he singles home Crisp to tie, and then Ellis wins it with a ground ball in the 10th. All this in the rain after an hour and a half rain delay. It was one of those wins that you needed to have, because if you didn't get it, especially at home, it was going to sting for a long while.

Digesting the Giants' Offense

As Michael "Squints" Palledorous  once said, "I can't take it anymore!"

We knew from the beginning that this team was and is built around its starting pitching. It is the straw that stirs this drink.

But what we've seen so far this season is a team that depends entirely on its starting pitching to be elite to have any chance at winning a game.

Luckily for the Giants, the starting pitching is fully capable of being just that. And as we saw in their recent 6 game winning streak, it's capable of being elite for an extended period of time. They won 6 straight at home without scoring more than 4 runs in any one game. That's never happened before in the history of Major League Baseball.

But as we saw last night, the Giants' starting pitchers are going to falter from time to time. As hard as it is to believe, Tim Lincecum is human and even he cannot pitch at an elite level every time he takes the mound.

The problem is when the starters do falter, no one has their back.

The Giants offense has shown no ability whatsoever to pick up a starter after he's struggled. Those games you see where a team goes down 5-0 early and then comes back to win 8-7? The Giants know not of these things.

The stats say it all.

A's v. White Sox Recap

We all knew Trevor Cahill was human. We didn't want to believe he was human. We wanted to believe that he was an amazing Pterodactyl Android. He lost, but he is still our ace. And you know what, soon even Giants fans will know his name. The A's still can't hit so well, and they can't play defense so well, and it keeps losing them ballgames. Through 40 baseball games, that's right kids, 1/4 of the season has already passed us by, the A's are 20-20. To be a realist, I don't have too much to complain about or tear my hair out over. To be a person who wants to incite the fervor of 1,000 suns, the 2011 A's are one of the most infuriating teams I have ever watched. It's beyond torture. That's right Giants fans, you can't call it torture when you're the reigning major league champions. It's torture when your team can't seem to get a guy to first base.

**UPDATED** Giants Sweep Homestand, also Kitten Plays Piano, also Sharks Advance to Conference Finals

**Update** A frustrating day for the San Francisco Giants. Having already scored one run in the first inning, Cody Ross struck out looking to end the inning with runners at second and third. Former Cub Mike Fontenot had a sure home-run blown back into play by large gusts of wind. And as we learned in Avatar, if mother nature is against you, it's going to be a long day.

Mad Bum cam unglued in the 3rd inning, walking the pitcher with two outs which led to two more runs. The Giants battled back to cut the deficit to 3-2 before Jeremy Affeldt wowed Wrigley with his best Dan Runzler. Affeldt gave up 4 runs, recorded only one out and actually lowered his ERA to 5.79 (no, not really).

Not to be outdone, Dan Runzler did his best Jeremy Affeldt impression and gave up another 5 hits and 3 runs in the 8th after the Giants scored to make it a somewhat more respectable score of 8-4.

Clearly the game had been surrendered at that point. Cubs fans sitting just above the Giants dugout reportedly heard the following conversation with a growling Bruce Bochy:

Unidentified Coach: "Wanna get someone loose?"
Bochy: "Hmm? I was thinking steak or some of that deep-dish pizza."
Coach: "No, the bullpen. Should we get Romo up?"
Bochy: "Huh? Ah, hell with it. Ford! Go get me a....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...."

A remarkable stat, however -- of the Giants 17 losses, only 4 have been by over 3 runs. Today was their first since April 20th. As much as today's game stunk, the Giants have kept their losses close. While it might not always work out, they've been in almost every game they've played.

Wait a minute. Ah yes, I knew I was forgetting something.

The San Jose Sharks came out on top of an epic Game 7 against the Detroit Red Wings, and avoided becoming only the 4th team in NHL history of blow a 3-0 series lead in the playoffs. Nonetheless Randy Hahn felt the need to scream "THEY DID IT!" as the final horn sounded and Danny Boyle thanked the fans for being "the only ones who believed in us."

Actually, I'm pretty sure everyone believed in you. You had a 3-0 lead. It was only after you nearly choked up a bull moose and sent Todd McLellan to an unemployment line that people started to even question you making it to the next round. I get that it was an intense game, but Hahn's celebration seemed inappropriate. The Sharks have been here before (last year) and were up 3-0. A "THEY DID IT!" would have been more appropriate had to team down 3-0 came back to win. I was expecting something more along the lines of "THEY DIDN'T BLOW IT!"

Comparison No. 125 between the Shark and Giants Playoff Runs:
The general public started getting excited about the Giants a week before the regular season ended. The general public will start getting excited about the Sharks half-way through the Conference Finals.

Comparison No. 201:
When the Giants advanced to the NLCS, it led on the front page of the Chronicle. The Sharks got a small photo of the team celebrating on the top bar that at least 51% of San Franciscans assumed was a photo of demonstrators in Tripoli.

As bitter as I sound, I'm actually starting to come around to the Sharks. No, I'm not jumping on a band-wagon. I'm simply realizing I'd rather see them win than anyone left in the field.

Tampa, Flordia deserves youth sports only. And maybe bowling and bocce. Boston is, well, Boston. It'd be fun to see a Canadian team win finally and I do love Orcas. But when it comes down to it, you have to support the Bay. I went to my fair share of Sharks games when I was a kid. I remember the usher who gave me a puck when I was a wee lad. So while I won't be weeping with emotion, if the Penguins can't do it, why not the Sharks.

Part of my problem with the Sharks is that I don't think I've met more than about 3 real Sharks fans in my life. People who watches every game of the regular season. People who know every player. People who are seriously invested in the Sharks the way I am the Giants or Eric is the A's. I've literally met maybe 3, tops. I meet fans, sure. People who like the team, go to some games, can name most of the players. But fans who hang on every shift? I just don't think there are many of them out there.

But they are out there. And for those few that I have met, I hope they win it for you. I'm thinking of Edd, a San Jose native, and one of the biggest Sharks fans I know. Or Maya, our loyal reader who hounds us for more hockey content. I remember her despondency after losing to the Stars in 2008. It those folks who would get genuinely emotional seeing Jumbo Joe hoist that Cup. We all deserve our cake at some point, and why not now? So I'm rooting for that.

But who am I kidding, having the Giants and Sharks as Champs would finally make ESPNBayArea.com happen. And that's all anyone wants. It's way overdue.

--

In other news, the San Francisco Giants completed a three game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks to finish a perfect 6-0 on their recent home stand.

The Giants are suddenly 5 games over .500 and in 1st place in the NL West.

I'm not calling myself Nostradamus, but 10 days ago, I wrote this in a post called "Giants Hit Rock Bottom":

"I say this not to lament about how far the Giants have fallen, but rather to remind us how quickly things can change in baseball. Momentum is gained as quickly as it is lost. And 12 days from now, this current debacle could be as distant a memory as Opening Day is now. We're still in this thing."

What debacle? We were bad??

The significance of the Giants recent sweeps can't be overstated. Not only did we see improvement in nearly all phases of the team, but it gave both players and fans confidence that the slump they'd been in since being swept by Atlanta was over. A six game win streak is lengthy enough to officially end the slump they were in last week. Now, if they Giants go on the road and stink it up, at least it's a new slump beginning rather than a continuation of the last slump. Separation between slumps is key.

Clearly the offense is still not where it needs to be. The Giants are still leaving too many men in scoring position and particularly at 3rd base with less than two outs. They still seem to think the goal of baseball is to be retired on the fewest number of pitches. But for all their trials and tribulations at the plate, they are getting the clutch hits when they need them, much like they did toward the end of 2010.

The pitching was fantastic. Tim was his usual self, cut from marble. Sanchez showed refreshing focus, even after going down 3-0 early on. We took bets on how long he'd last and I'm happy to say I guessed the longest with 6.1. Matt Cain showed the determination of steaming locomotive, powering through 7.2 quick innings.

Brian Wilson deserves 5 gold stars for pitching in 5 consecutive games and earning 3 wins and 2 saves. In his save on Wednesday night he was clearly out of gas, so his rest on Thursday was a wise move by Bochy. By the looks of things, he may be needed just about every night.

The Good: Miguel Tejada
Say whaaa? Even Scrooge had a heart, and I will give props when props are due. Tejada played as big a role in the Giants Wednesday night victory as anyone. He went 3-4 with his first extra base hit since 2009 and his first RBI since 2002. It was a big night for Miggy. He's obviously not happy about the way he's playing. But if every now and again Miguel Tejada can come in and help us win a game and the rest of the time just avoid losing the game, I'll be satisfied. And who knows, maybe he'll go on a little run here.

The Better: Crowds
Say what you will about the Giants bandwagon and the Wave and Beach Balls. There's no doubt that these crowds have energized this team. Before this home stand they seemed to be doing just enough to lose. Now, they're doing just enough to win. I'm not saying that the crowds are responsible, but having 40,000 people chanting your name makes you try that much harder or want it that much more, sometimes that's all it takes.

The Hilarious: Ron Swanson
What more can you say?

Song of the Week:
Back on the Road

On Deck:
The Giants visit America's greatest ballpark for the first of two visits to Wrigley Field in 2011. The Cubs have lost 4 of their last 6 and are currently 4th in the NL Central at 16-20. The Giants will make the back turn in their rotation sending Bumgarner, Vogelsong and Lincecum against Ryan Dempster, Doug Davis and Carlos Zambrano, all of whom have an ERA over 4.00. Considering the cozy confines of Wrigley, the Giants will hopefully get the long ball working. If the Giants' starters can limit the long-ball and prevent free base-runners, the Giants have a good chance to continue their winning ways and roll into LA and Denver with a full head of steam.

A's v. Rangers Series Recap

"God has smiled upon you this day. The fate of a nation, in your hands. And blessed all the children be, who fight with all their bravery. Til only the righteous stand."

This lyric, from "South Park: The Movie" kind of sums up the series nicely as far as I'm concerned. The A's played a great game Monday, a not so great game Tuesday and then got bailed out by a timely rainstorm on Wednesday. When it was all said and done, the A's split the series 1-1 against the Rangers, and return home tomorrow with a 3-2 road trip. They still sit at 19-18, tied for second in the AL West.

Post for Sarah -- Walks-Offs Are Cool and All, But...

If we're not careful, we here at We're In This Thing are going to start getting a big head. That's what 15 daily page views will do to you.

Plus, we're expanding our brand to all corners of the globe. We're proud to have consistent readers (or at least Internet bots that randomly view our site) in over 20 countries.

But our heads grew to Bonds-esque size tonight. For the first time, I received a request to write a post-game recap. I got a text from a friend that said they were looking forward to reading my reaction to Tuesday's Giant's game. Until now I've only received messages from people saying they were looking forward to not reading my post-game recap. So things are looking up!

Before the monotony of another work day kidnaps the joy tonight's thrilling walk-off win produced, let me share some of my thoughts on the game.

Giants On Right Track, Born This Way

It doesn't matter if you love tim or capital T-i-m.

When we left each other last week, we had an image of the Giants being stranded in open water, treading water, trying to stay afloat, and generally unsure of when or where their savior would come from. Well in predictably unpredictable fashion, along came a short, unassuming Louisianan named Mike Fontenot in a tug boat.

Here he is, steering his tug boat and whisking the Giants to safety:

*Note* This video's relevance ends 15 seconds into the clip.

Part of the appeal of this Giants team, and what made them sweethearts in the 2010 postseason, was their "different hero every night" mentality. While one of the drawbacks of having a team without a single offensive superstar is never knowing how the heck you'll score a run on any given night, it also means that when good things do happen, it's usually from a different source almost every time. For better or for worse, they spread the love.

A's v. Indians Series Recap

This was supposed to be posted last Friday. Then some stuff went down.... my bad. I know you missed your recap. And sadly, there will be no recap of the Kansas City Series. But they get a paragraph!

The Cleveland Indians have some magic in those bats right now. They're where the A's want to be. And I'll say it right here. You want to know what the difference is? They play for Manny Acta, while the A's play for Bob Geren.

Acta looks intense in the dugout. And, it seems, he's found a way to make that team believe in itself and win ballgames. It's exactly where the A's are supposed to be, and where the Giants were last year. They get good pitching, and the hitters are just scrappy enough to win ballgames. Acta is much more aggressive with his bullpen, evidenced today when he took out his starter after 5.1 to turn Pennington around. The A's seem to only get up and excited late in games. How many times this season have they failed to jump on a starter who had not looked good coming into the game(See: Hernandez, Felix; Carmona, Fausto; Lewis, Colby)? I don't mind a manager who has his players' backs, but not when they lose games because of it.

Light That Baby Up!

It's been a while since my last post, but I figure a bunch of Bay Area sports fans probably don't need constant updates on anything to do with Southern California. I don't blame you. I was just as happy as the rest of you to see the Lakers bend over and take it. A friend of mine is an admitted the NBA-is-obviously-rigged-just-look-at-the-evidence conspiracist, and I would be thrilled to disprove his ridiculous arguments when someone other than the Lakers and Celtics meet up in the finals. Hating aside, it's time to revisit the good ole boys down south.

Mike Scioscia notched his 1,000th win as a major league manager. He's spent all 12 years with the Angels and has led them to the postseason 6 times, including the 2002 Wild Card to World Series Champs dream season. The ex-Dodger has fully invested himself in the Angels organization and the city of Anaheim, much like Mike Montgomery coming to Cal. Scioscia's got a great rapport with his players, just look at Torii and Vernon giving him a gatorade bath. As Tim Salmon said in the post-game report, Mike was probably on the trainer's table icing his hammy after a sprint like that.

After proving to the world that the Red Sox are not indeed our daddies, the Halos managed to take 2 of 3 from the surprise team of the season. The Indians are playing really good baseball. Their starters are strong and their hitting is stronger. They gave the DreamWeaver his second loss of the season and Dirty Haren another no-decision. Remember Fernando Rodney? Yeah, he was the closer going into 2011 and sucked it up in the opening weeks. Now frequenting the setup spot, Rodney recorded two wins against the tribe. What the hell is going on!? Ok, ok, I'll take what I can get. We'll walk away from this series up 2 games on Texas and Oakland (kudos, Eric) and pretend that didn't happen.

Highlights:

Mark Trumbo had 3 infield base hits in the last two games against the Tribe. The guy is 6'4" and 220 lbs, and he managed to leg out three choppers off the dirt and plate. You expect that sort of thing from Bourjos, who went first-to-third on a grounder to LEFT FIELD - NO THROW! Couldn't find a video of it, instead enjoy Petey taking second on a grounder up the middle, catapulting over a diving Youkilis and dashing to third (ruled a double with throwing error by Scutaro).

In other news, everyone's hitting, including Vernon Wells. Yippee! He better heat up quickly, I'm tired of seeing this $26 million "investment" strike out and pop up. I would do that for $26.00 (but I definitely couldn't hit one into the lighting scaffolding on top of the Green Monster, yikes).

Rookie starter Tyler Chatwood gave up 1 run in 8 innings on his way to another ND in yet another extra-inning game. Weaver will be back to form soon enough, and Haren, Santana and Pineiro are looking reeeeaaal good in the 2-4 spots.

Looking ahead, the White Sox are back in town this week, and I'm hoping for another sweep. Tomorrow is wrestling mask world record day, I might just have to go to that one to get me an Angels' wrestling mask. Beware Bay Area, these wrestling masks have the ability to turn the average human into the Dark Knight, or at least Nacho Libre. Either way, we're all gonna look like red versions of the Machine with those things on. Someone call Brian Wilson, we're gonna need a lot of sugar.

Giants Split Ten Back East, Stay Afloat

The San Francisco Giants have lost only 3 of their first 10 series of 2011. That should be cause for celebration. If they lose only 16 of their 52 series this year, it's safe to say they'll be in good shape.

Yet they stand at only 15-16.

It's a curious stat. The Giants have taken series against the Dodgers, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Pirates, Mets and split with the Padres.

Why then do we feel like punching the proverbial wall?

Mascot/Team Name Royal Rumble

Sometimes I get to thinking. Though this usually has negative results, every once in a while an idea passes across my frontal lobe that's just too amazing to ignore. During an A's game last week, a few friends and I got to talking about how baseball mascots, as a whole, are none too threatening. But what if we had a mascot playoffs? We take the 8 leanest, meanest mascots (read: team names), and put them in a royal rumble with each other. Let's see who comes out on top.

Giants Hit Rock Bottom (We Hope)

They say good things don't last.

Apparently bad things don't either.

In only two hours and two minutes the San Francisco Giants were shutout on three hits by the Nationals' Tom Gorzellany and Drew Storen. As my Dad said, "Pitiful." Bruce Bochy has had trips to the bathroom that were longer than that. And I'm willing to bet they were only half as frustrating and painful.

I'm going to restrain myself from writing a full "Roadtrip Recap" until the Giants complete their series in New York. Chances are most of the things I have to say about the first 7 games of this trip will apply to the last 3. I hope I'm wrong.

 

A's v. Rangers Recap: GODZILLA STRIKES

Hello friends. Good to see you. While Frankie laments over the struggles of the Giants, I get to tell you how the A's have kind of looked like the Giants of September 2010, aka, WINNING.



As I sit here watching the remaining moments of the Lakers-Mavericks game, I still am reliving Cotroneo's call from this afternoon. It took one pitch for the game to end in the bottom of the 10th. It was not the game 7 of a hotly contested ALCS. It was even in front of less than 10,000 people, (EDIT - 4700 actually came through the turnstiles) and I'm willing to bet, that in the 10th inning, there were probably less than 3,000 left. (In his post game interview, Matsui said, "Hopefully it means another 100 show up tomorrow.") But Cotroneo called it like Bucky Dent just beat the Sawks. Unfortunately, the call on the highlight I can direct you here is Glen Kuiper, and it doesn't have the same magic, but take a look anyway.

Matsui Wins It for the A's