2005 Random A's Ramblings

[Providence A's]

A's sign Lansford:

http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/NAS...=.jsp&c_id=oak

[A's Baby Girl]

4 and a half games out of the WC. Who would have thought after the way this team played in May...

Bring on the 2nd half, I can't wait for Thursday.

[The Philly Fanatic]

The A's are a young and exciting team but expect to see the high's and low's with the inexperience. It should be a fun (and probably unexpected ride) for Oakland fans.

[Providence A's]

No chemistry in Beane's formula??

To Beane, team chemistry is mumbo jumbo. It has as much to do with winning and losing in baseball as good luck charms and favorable Tarot cards.

[Providence A's]

A's have the best record in the majors since June 1 at 27 - 11.

[Providence A's]

http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/NAS...=.jsp&c_id=oak

With Durazo's status finally resolved, at least Macha has one less roster headache to worry about. Had Durazo returned to the roster, Macha would have had to find a way to work him into the first base/DH mix that's been so capably handled by Scott Hatteberg and rookies Dan Johnson and Nick Swisher since Durazo went on the DL on May 27.

Durazo is done for the year, possibly his career. Either way, his time with the A's is over.

[A's Baby Girl]

What's up with all these players having to get Tommy John surgery. I can think of Baldelli, Dotel, Gagne and now Durazo off the top of my head right now...

Unfortunate, I was looking forward to seeing if he could build on the year he had last season. But these things happen I guess

[Providence A's]

From ESPN:

• Barry Zito won his sixth straight start Monday as the Athletics defeated the Indians 13-4. Five of those wins have come during the month of July, marking the fifth time since the 2000 season that Zito has won five games in a calendar month. He went 5-1 in September 2000, August 2001 and June 2002, and he went 5-0 in July 2002.

Only two other major-league pitchers have won at least five games in a month five times since the start of the 2000 season -- a couple guys named Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling have each enjoyed five such months.

[Providence A's]

A's players fire back at those who said they were cooked

Booby Crosby:

"People weren't just saying we were bad, they were saying we were one of the worst teams in baseball. What are they saying now? I'd like to know."

[DirtyKash]

I'm back, guys! I actually just got home this instant from California from a one-week vacation in San Diego/Oakland/San Francisco (my aunt/cousin stays less than a mile east of Lake Merritt right off the 580, so we paid them a visit).

I got a pretty big suntan from five days at the beach; my skin went from Reggie Miller-white to Barry Bonds-black (well, it's not that bad.)

It's been a while since I've been to San Francisco; usually we just stay in SD and Oakland, but this year, we took the Oakland/Alameda ferry across the Bay to San Francisco where we had lunch at this fancy restaurant (which happens to have some extraordinary restrooms), then strolled along Market Street and we actually waited in line 50 minutes to take those old San Francisco cable cars to Fisherman's Wharf (which is SO COOL!!!)

Anyways, I'm glad to be back, because I was starting to get sick and tired, but SF is definitely one of the coolest cities I've ever been to, for sure. I'd like to retire there eventually.

[Providence A's]

welcome back chief! I loved SF/Oaktown when I visited there. I went in August. 70 - 80 degrees during the day, no humidity, no clouds, 60 degrees at night...perfect. There's so much to do in SF, too. We took the BART from Oaktown to SF. We went to Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz, and a few other places. We ate at different places, but the one I liked the most, not necessarily because of the restaurant, but the location. It was a Cheesecake Factory that was on the 3rd or 4th floor of a building and we sat outside on a balcony and you could see all over. It was nice.

[Providence A's]

from ESPN:

After going 19-8 in June to overcome a slow start to the season, the A's did even better in July, tying an Oakland record set in 1974 with 20 wins in the month. The A's have shaved 11 games off the Angels' lead in the AL West and trail by only 1½ games -- the closest they've been since after games of May 1.

[A's Baby Girl]

Who would have thought? This has been an amazing run. I can't wait for the series against the LA pretenders next week.

[Fishercat]

And some of you didn't believe me when I feared the A's and said they could be dangerous to the Sox. Pshaw.

Damn crazy run though.

[Kingdom]

Nick Swisher is a ****ing beast.