Scott Stapp attempts to ruin baseball

Well, we thought we had vanquished Creed and everything it stood for. But, it's back, with a vengeance. Eat your heart out Marlins PR team.

When I go to sleep at night I like to imagine that I'm Peter Bourjos

It's been a while since my last post here, so I apologize to the approximately 2 Angels fan who reads this blog: Hector and Todd. Shout out. I was going to whip something up around the All-Star break, a sort of mid-season recap/look ahead, but that didn't end up happening. Then again, I also planned on going to more than 2 Angels games this season, and so far that hasn't happened either. Just downright unacceptable.

For those of you who don't know (and you probably won't care), I spent a 6-week chunk of my summer by the bay, watching the tides of Giants success and struggles roll in and out. I also had to take a summer class, but that's beside the point. I did, by the way, pass and will receive my diploma from the finest public university sometime around December. They really are an efficient example of the bureaucratic process, aren't they? The point is, I did it.

Frank's in Korea at the moment, so I thought I'd take a minute to fill these pages with something other than Eric's moaning about the A's. We get it. Their inadequacy makes you unhappy. We are all Cal fans, don't forget. We know how this works. Oh but Giants fans, don't get your hopes up. I'm not writing about the Giants. I love the Giants; they're my #1 NL team and my #2 MLB team, and the Franchise really tickles my fancy, but I just can't fill the shoes of the might Frank-the-Tank.

Pac-12 Inaugural Season Standings Prediction

Yes, college football returns in a little over two weeks and hopefully will distract myself and some others of you from the debacle that is Bay Area baseball. How do we see the Pac-12 falling this year? Will it be favorable to the Bears? Read on to find out.

To begin, let's make sure we all understand how the Pac-12 will work. In the North, we have the Washingtons, Oregons, and NorCal squads. In the South, the Mountains, Arizonas, and SoCal teams. Each team will play the five other teams in its division, plus 4 of the teams in the other division. In the case of the Northern California schools, each year will see them miss one Mountain and one Arizona school. This year, the Golden Bears will play both Mountain schools, but the Colorado game will be a non-conference match.

Once the regular season ends, a game will be played between the winner of the North and South to determine who will be crowned the Pac-12 champion and in effect earn a trip to the Rose Bowl.



After the jump, an idea, from a California fan, of how it all shakes out.

A's Find New Ways to Upset Me

So I was planning on writing a post Friday. It was going to praise the A's, who had just won back to back road series in what felt like forever. They had climbed back up to 53-64. Which, though not a great record, at least felt competitive. At Tampa Bay and Toronto, the A's had an offense, they had pitching, they had defense. It was like watching a whole different team.

Then, the Rangers came to town. And, the Rangers kind of made the A's look like an old washed up Jedi.

A Funny Thing Happened Once in St. Pete

The A's won a road series. I know, the punch line wasn't so good, and I didn't leave you wondering for long, but that's really the case. It's just a funny thing. The A's took until August 7th to get their 20th road win. They hadn't won a road series since May 6-8 against the Royals. With three games to go on this particular road trip, they find themselves at 20-39 on the road. A mark only better than the Royals and the Orioles in the American League. By the math, this season isn't quite over yet. But, in reality... well, it is.

What I hope we get to see over the next month and a half is the resurgence of a competitive team. The team is now 24-27 under Bob Melvin. Yeah, it's not a great mark, but it's respectable. The team is still hitting the cover off the ball. Hideki Matsui and Josh Willingham have finally showed the power stroke we hoped they would show all year. Weeks still looks like the top of the lineup spark plug that every single team loves to have in their lineup.

The Trade Deadline: Report Card

July 31st. For a baseball fan, it's like Christmas in July. Either your team buys a piece or two to make the push towards the playoffs, or your team calls it a season and adds money or prospects to make a run for next season. Either way, most teams and fans go home feeling like their team has done something in order to make it better either for the now or for the future.

Every deadline there are a few big splashes. This year: Ubaldo, Beltran, Pence, and K-Rod, and Bedard were some of the larger names to change hands. Now, reflecting on the deals a few days later, here's who we think some of the winners and losers were this trade season.

A's fans might know a bit more about this face soon.