2014 Oakland Athletics Thread

Not sure why I bother, but once again A's come up against a good-but-far-from-great pitcher and they can only get 2 runs on 5 hits. Silver lining is that Hammel actually pitched a gem, too bad Gregerson had to cough up the moon shot to Carter.

I miss when our offense was dominant

Originally posted by IT21:

I miss when our offense was dominant

I miss Cespedes also.

No Debbie Downer's comments after a come from behind win Big series starting tonight, with all the big boy pitchers lined up. Here's to hoping they can take the series again.

Originally posted by Bluesbro:
No Debbie Downer's comments after a come from behind win Big series starting tonight, with all the big boy pitchers lined up. Here's to hoping they can take the series again.

Mr. Laughy Face popping in again, is that all you know how to do? And by the way, last time you came in here with your lame clown face because I had predicted that by the end of the A's/Angels series last weekend the A's would have fallen out of 1st and be at least 1 game behind the Angels...care to tell us who was in 2nd place exactly 1 game out at the end of play on Sunday?

And yeah, nice that the A's got a W last night, but if you know anything about baseball as you claim then that Astros series will tell you the A's still have red flags...pen that can't hold a lead and oh btw lost Doolittle, an offense that struggles almost nightly even in a bandbox and is downright anemic against anyone even just mediocre. So maybe can it with thinking you're smarter than everyone else in the room...the A's might break out and take 3/4 or even sweep the Angels but doesn't change the fact that they've played avg-at-best baseball for the better part of a month.

Wow, you really take things personal. Just my observation on how some people only post negatively. I won't rise to the name calling bait. Perhaps my comments are hitting too close to home? So go ahead and keep beating your depressing drum. I will continue enjoying one of the best, and most entertaining teams in the league.

Originally posted by Bluesbro:
Wow, you really take things personal. Just my observation on how some people only post negatively. I won't rise to the name calling bait. Perhaps my comments are hitting too close to home? So go ahead and keep beating your depressing drum. I will continue enjoying one of the best, and most entertaining teams in the league.

Guess I didn't get the memo that only rose-colored homer comments are allowed...are you Ray Fosse? Go try your Pollyanna shtick in the Giants or NT forum and you will get your a** summarily handed to you. If you've been following along all season then you'd see there's plenty of positive, but that typically happens, you know, when the A's are playing well...and barely squeaking out 2/3 vs the Astros doesn't exactly make me want to go all rainbows and unicorns. Not sure if you missed it, but the A's have been pretty bad over the last month, coincidentally the time period after the trade of their best player, a trade which did not result in making the A's a better team. And of the few of us that have been posting in here, it's typically not just "the A's suck", we usually back it up with an informed opinion...if you disagree, maybe offer up a better retort than laughy face and acting like we don't know wtf we're talking about.

This is a terrible start. They are lucky they aren't down by more right now. Meanwhile, we struggle to move one runner and get him home. Awful.

This has to be the worst camera work I've ever seen

Honestly, I think this series will define the A's season. If they lose 3 of 4 then I think the A's focus needs to shift on not losing home field in the one game playoff.

Originally posted by socalfan21:

Originally posted by IT21:
I miss when our offense was dominant

I miss Cespedes also.

I miss the old Moss, Norris, Crisp, and healthy Lowrie, Jaso far more.

Originally posted by Bluesbro:
Wow, you really take things personal. Just my observation on how some people only post negatively. I won't rise to the name calling bait. Perhaps my comments are hitting too close to home? So go ahead and keep beating your depressing drum. I will continue enjoying one of the best, and most entertaining teams in the league.

They haven't been entertaining in two months. I used to make time to watch every game. In the past 2-3 weeks I've purposely avoided the games for 4-5 day stretches at a time, and when I have watched them they're an exercise in pure frustration.

The team I enjoyed watching for two years died in early July (before the Cespedes trade, BTW). I'll happily watch that team again if they somehow resurrect, but I highly doubt it. This team has a WC game loss to Hernandez and Seattle written all over it.

Originally posted by captveg:

Originally posted by Bluesbro:
Wow, you really take things personal. Just my observation on how some people only post negatively. I won't rise to the name calling bait. Perhaps my comments are hitting too close to home? So go ahead and keep beating your depressing drum. I will continue enjoying one of the best, and most entertaining teams in the league.

They haven't been entertaining in two months. I used to make time to watch every game. In the past 2-3 weeks I've purposely avoided the games for 4-5 day stretches at a time, and when I have watched them they're an exercise in pure frustration.

The team I enjoyed watching for two years died in early July (before the Cespedes trade, BTW). I'll happily watch that team again if they somehow resurrect, but I highly doubt it. This team has a WC game loss to Hernandez and Seattle written all over it.

But they were starting to snap out of it in those last 10-or-so games of July, which happen to be when Cespedes was finally snapping out his long-a** slump...coincidence, correlation, causation??? On the whole, though, post-ASB this team just hasn't been the same...especially Moss. I guess making the AS team fulfilled his life's ambition because he has just been soul-crushingly awful since then...his total WTF play last night on the bunt totally summed up his second half.

Even though the Angels lost Richards I do not think that's enough for the A's to win the division...unless the Angels go into some tailspin and the A's get red-hot, then I agree they have a play-in game vs Hernandez in their future. And right now the only real question is whether it will be at Oakland or Seattle, although given their history vs Felix it doesn't matter a whole lot...actually I'm pretty sure his career stats vs A's are better at O.co.

Originally posted by DelCed2486:
Guess I didn't get the memo that only rose-colored homer comments are allowed...are you Ray Fosse?

You and I will never agree obviously, but this made me laugh ... HARD. Now THAT is funny. I never knew you had it in you. Not sure why you are so averse to emoticons, but you have strong feelings on the subject. Were you mistreated by someone wearing a smiley faced t-shirt when you were young?

I disagree that Cespedes was the best player on the A's however. Good yes, might be great ... perhaps. But he would be long gone off the A's before his prime anyway. He is a streaky power hitter, that was suspect in the field despite all the outfield assists. I can think of 3 this year off the top of my head that were made because he misplayed the ball first, and subsequently threw out the runner trying to take the extra base. Great arm but average fielder, seemingly a good teammate, definite power but streaky as hell. Now could his presence and protection out of the lineup completely explain why Moss has disappeared? Maybe, maybe not ... I am not sure. I think the bigger thing is did it upset a fragile chemistry? Again, I am not sure.

Here is the real question. You obviously think if they didn't make the trade that the A's would be running away with this thing? With just one more streaky hitter with power that is hitting .250 in the middle of the order? I don' t know if I buy that.

In the end it comes down to this for me. They are battling a division rival that has double their payroll, with a potential murders row of a lineup. The only team in the entire majors with a better record is the team in front of them in their division. And despite what people say, sometimes you can buy a championship ... or it sure can give you a better chance anyway.

Lastly about Cespedes ... he was going to be gone anyway after next year. Because they are always gone off the A's when the first big contract is due. They took a shot with Lester. If they can make it to the playoffs, he will be a huge plus. No one had any illusions. It was always about this year only. I just hope they can get hot at the right time and make a deep run. Not bad for a team with a payroll just north of 80 mill.

Oh, and just so you have some ammo for your retort ...

Originally posted by Bluesbro:

Originally posted by DelCed2486:
Guess I didn't get the memo that only rose-colored homer comments are allowed...are you Ray Fosse?

You and I will never agree obviously, but this made me laugh ... HARD. Now THAT is funny. I never knew you had it in you. Not sure why you are so averse to emoticons, but you have strong feelings on the subject. Were you mistreated by someone wearing a smiley faced t-shirt when you were young?

I disagree that Cespedes was the best player on the A's however. Good yes, might be great ... perhaps. But he would be long gone off the A's before his prime anyway. He is a streaky power hitter, that was suspect in the field despite all the outfield assists. I can think of 3 this year off the top of my head that were made because he misplayed the ball first, and subsequently threw out the runner trying to take the extra base. Great arm but average fielder, seemingly a good teammate, definite power but streaky as hell. Now could his presence and protection out of the lineup completely explain why Moss has disappeared? Maybe, maybe not ... I am not sure. I think the bigger thing is did it upset a fragile chemistry? Again, I am not sure.

Here is the real question. You obviously think if they didn't make the trade that the A's would be running away with this thing? With just one more streaky hitter with power that is hitting .250 in the middle of the order? I don' t know if I buy that.

In the end it comes down to this for me. They are battling a division rival that has double their payroll, with a potential murders row of a lineup. The only team in the entire majors with a better record is the team in front of them in their division. And despite what people say, sometimes you can buy a championship ... or it sure can give you a better chance anyway.

Lastly about Cespedes ... he was going to be gone anyway after next year. Because they are always gone off the A's when the first big contract is due. They took a shot with Lester. If they can make it to the playoffs, he will be a huge plus. No one had any illusions. It was always about this year only. I just hope they can get hot at the right time and make a deep run. Not bad for a team with a payroll just north of 80 mill.

Oh, and just so you have some ammo for your retort ...

Yes I do think Cespedes was their best player, that overall he did more hitting-speed-defense that had positive impact on the team, and that doesn't include that even with the language barrier he was integral to team chemistry. Crisp a valuable cog, but dude is a China Doll that can never be counted on, whereas Cespedes had vastly improved on staying in the lineup this year...plus I'd be shocked if the winning pct with/without Crips was as disparate as Cespedes.

Running away with the div with Cespedes? No, but they would've been a few games better this month and still in 1st...and even if the Angels did catch them, this A's team had that confidence and swagger to where I think they would've re-taken 1st place. This current A's team just doesn't look to be the same loose, confident bunch.

Yes Cespedes was likely going to be gone soon, but coming off a strong 2014 and 1 year left on contract, he would've had considerable value this offseason, particularly to a deep-pocket team that would love the chance to have him for 1 season and then sign him long-term. I could see him bringing a quality big leaguer and/or top-shelf prospects, certainly more than a 2-month rental on a pitcher. If Lester plays a prime role in getting this team to the WS, then I'm wrong and it was worth it...and I get the fact that still with Cespedes the WS was no guarantee, but I just believe the team as constituted before the trade had a better shot at it than they do now.

And it was 1976, going to the A's game and outside the Coliseum some stinky, long-haired chain-smoking hippy was wearing a smiley shirt and passing out Vote For Carter buttons...scared the s*** out of me, scarred for life.