The Jim Johnson Effect

During the off season, the Oakland Athletics parted ways with their fan favorite closer, Grant Balfour. With the closer role needing to be filled, the A’s made a trade with the Baltimore Orioles, sending Jemile Weeks and a player to be named later (David Freitas) for Jim Johnson. Johnson’s numbers with the Orioles over the last two seasons, including 101 saves in 113 chances, gave the A’s what many called, the best bullpen in baseball.

Flash forward to March 31, Opening Night. In the top of the 9th inning of a 0-0 game, Bob Melvin called upon Johnson to make his Oakland debut. To say it didn’t go well would be a large understatement.  In one third of an inning, Johnson allowed two runs on two hits and a walk before being pulled.  Unbeknownst to everybody, it was a sign of things to come.

After several rough outings, the fans began to turn on Johnson and he was removed from the closer role. The boo birds were in full effect when he would come into games, causing a brief rift between the players and the fan base. Johnson’s appearances started to because few and far between as his bad luck continued. The tipping point came on July 23, when the A’s were facing the Astros at home. With a comfortable 9-2 lead, Johnson made what would be his last appearance in an A’s uniform. By the time the inning finally ended, it was 9-7, with Johnson allowing four runs on four hits, all without recording an out. The next day, he was DFAed.

August 6th, the A’s post season enemy, the Detroit Tigers, picked up Johnson. The Tigers weakness has been their bullpen for the last few years, so they’ve been picking up more bullpen arms with trades. Johnson made his Tigers debut Sunday, and lucky me got to watch the game on my flight back from Atlanta and was holing back laughter. The one thing that annoyed me was the comment made by the announcers, that Johnson chose to stay in Triple-A to work out some issues. Had he done that with Oakland, he might still be with the team. Might. However, watching Johnson pitch, it appears that he still needs to work things out. Some of us in Oakland made the comment that he was unlucky, plays weren’t being made that should be and everything was finding the holes. Sunday, his bad luck continued. There was a play at first that Victor Martinez botched, but Johnson was able to recover and get the out, however, a run still scored. The next batter popped up to shallow left, with the left fielder and shortstop running for it, Rajai Davis called for it, only to have the ball hit off his glove. Another run scored. Johnson had gotten two outs while allowing two runs, one earned, to score, and leaving two men on bases.

I don’t wish bad things upon him, I really don’t. I never booed him while he was here, nor did I support the booing. It was hard to watch. It was hard to watch him pitch like he was waiting for something bad to happen. It was hard to watch the fans turn on him. It was hard to watch us lose games we should have won because he couldn’t close games out. And it was hard to watch this pitcher who had been so good the last two seasons completely fall apart. That said, if we were to face the Tigers yet again in the post season this year, granted either team makes it to that point, I’d love to see the boys take their former teammate deep. Repeatedly.

Ghosts

The hallowed grounds of old ballparks are filled with the ghosts of baseball’s past.  The stands in Oakland are filled with a different kind of ghost.  The booing kind.

I debated with myself repeatedly the last few days on whether or not to actually write this, but it needs to be said.  Then I’m done with it, never to be discussed again.

Jim Johnson has struggled at home.  That might be a giant understatement, but I was there for his first save at home, so I can’t say he’s wasn’t always bad at home.  Johnson was thrown into a horrible situation.  The fans in Oakland had fallen in love with Grant Balfour and were all sad to see him depart after the 2013 season.  Coming in and replacing a fan favorite is never an easy task, but Johnson was thrown into the situation.  The fans in Oakland, myself included, have always welcomed players with open arms.  Sure, we might think a player is overpaid, but have always been optimistic.  Or so I thought.

March 31st, Opening Night, did not go well for Jim Johnson.  Faced with a 0-0 tie in the 9th inning, Johnson came in and gave up two runs while recording just one out.  As he walked off the mound he was greeted by an unfamiliar sound at Oakland A’s games, boos.  I was taken back, as I’m sure most people were.  That’s not what we do in Oakland.

As Johnson continued to struggle at home, the boos continued to come and seemed to grow.  I watched his home/road splits vary greatly (Home: 11 games 14.04 ERA with 13 runs allowed, Road:11 games 1.98 ERA with 3 runs allowed) and realized that the fans are part of the problem.  My boyfriend has a weekly radio show talking about the A’s and Memorial Day weekend, Johnson was the topic of discussion.  While listening from my hotel in Chicago, I text him that it was the fans causing his problem.  Here was my logic: on the road, there is nobody booing him, where as at home, it’s just a matter of time before some of the fans start booing him.  I said it most likely gets into his head and causes him to not make his pitches and makes him less effective.

Skip ahead to Thursday’s day game against the Tigers.  The A’s were down 3-2 going into the 7th inning.  Enter Johnson.  In his one inning pitched, he allowed 2 runs, giving the Tigers a 5-2 lead.  The A’s rallied in the 9th to score 2 runs, only to lose 5-4.  Fans jumped on Johnson as he walked back to the dugout after his inning ended and was greeted to fans booing and flipping him off.

I love Twitter and I hate Twitter.  You can say whatever you want, which is great, until some people take it too far.  Everybody I follow is against the booing, as am I.  I get it, you paid money to see the team play, so you should be able to do whatever you want.  By all means, but if you screwed up at your job, would you want somebody booing and flipping you off?  I’m guessing the answer is no.

The players have now come after the fans.  I get where they are coming from, I do, but it’s not the best answer.  The fans booing and the fans not booing (and trying to stop the booing) are all being grouped together.  We had Sean Doolittle, a fan favorite, going after fans on Twitter Thursday night, which upset a lot of fans.  Hoping that the issue was finally put to rest, the A’s beat writer felt the need to bring it back up on Friday to Josh Donaldson, another fan favorite, who made a comment that I took as a slap in the face.  They players have made it perfectly clear that they are annoyed with the fans for booing.  Here’s the thing.  You know how the coliseum can have 15,000 people and still sound like it’s a sellout? Yeah, it works the same with the booing.  There might only be a few people booing, but because of our lovely acoustics, sounds like the whole place is.

My other issue is that nobody said anything when the fans were booing Daric Barton.  Sure, Barton has greatly overstayed his welcome in Oakland, but still.  I should mention that I am a Daric Barton fan, so I think he’d be best if he could find another team and start over again, but that’s not going to happen.  However, what makes it ok to boo one player and not another?  Because Barton has had multiple chances to prove his worth and Johnson has not.  Or maybe it’s because Barton is now in Sacramento and Johnson has now been singled out for the fans boos.  Johnson has a proven track record of being a solid pitcher, while Barton, well, he does not.  However, if you are going to attack the fans to stand up for your teammate, it’s best to stick up for all of your teammates, not just one.

Friday was filed with #BooGate comments filing my Twitter feed, and bad vibes.  Texting with Wes (@rfwes) I mentioned we needed to find a way to turn this around and make a joke out of it.  I said I was going to make sign with a picture of a ghost that said “I’m just here for the boos.”  Pictures of cartoon ghosts quickly took off as he ran with the idea.  In fact, if you find him on twitter, he is currently ‘Casper’ and a few others we know have followed suit.  As an A’s fan that’s anti-booing, I’m hoping the fans start showing Johnson some support when he pitches at home.  It’s amazing what a little moral support can do.  Hopefully he can turn his season around and be the pitcher we were all raving about this off-season.

RIP #BooGate.  Can we save the boos for Halloween?

April 6, 2014: Jim Johnson earns his first save as an Oakland Athletic

An Opening Series to Remember

The past few days have been a whirlwind of excitement and just about every other emotion of happiness. For years I’ve watched Opening Series events on TV from around the globe, always watching in jealousy, vowing to one day go. That one day finally arrived.

Last season, Major League Baseball announced that the 2014 season would open in Sydney, Australia at the historic Sydney Cricket Grounds with two games between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks. It could have been the Royals and the Rays, I still would have come. Sydney has always been a dream, and with the announcement, the dream became reality.

After months of saving and planning, and more planning, I’m finally here. It was worth every single penny, and every moment of stress. Saturday night made everything priceless. It really was a MasterCard commercial in real life. The Diamondbacks held a special fan event before the game with a bunch of the fans that came out from the states, and members of the Diamondbacks, including the media guys, and team ownership. From there, we walked over to the Sydney Cricket Grounds for the game. The SCG is absolutely beautiful and they did an amazing job turning it into a baseball field. The foul territory was massive- like makes the Coliseum’s foul territory looks small, massive.

We made our way to our seats, the top deck, directly behind home plate and watched as the Diamondbacks finished taking batting practice. Baseball was back. As I was warned before, the weather in Sydney can change on a dime. After a beautiful, sunny, cloud free day, the clouds rolled in an hour before game time. Rain delay. Start time was delayed an hour, but I didn’t care, as long as it started. There is something peaceful about hearing the national anthem at a baseball game, in my opinion at least. And since we are down under, the Australian national anthem was also preformed, which is quite beautiful.

Tarps on the field is never a good sign. The storm did create a beautiful sunset

First pitch. Strike.  And just like that, the season had started.  Being on the West Coast, by the time our Opening Day rolls around, all the other firsts of the season has happened.  First walk, first strike out, first double play, first home run.  This time, I actually got to experience those.  All of those.  It was amazing and very exciting.  Yes, I realize that sounds weird, and I do not care because I am in Sydney watching baseball.

The Diamondbacks lost game one 3-1, it was close, but Clayton Kershaw is one of the best for a reason.  I was bummed to see the DBacks lose, but you can’t win them all.  Of course, I’m also an A’s fan and we can’t seem to win opening day, so I’m used to not getting a win.  The only downside to the rain delay was that it was a quick turn around for the next day, so I was a little sleepy for game two.

Game two was on Sunday, or Saturday night back in the states.  Got to love that 18 hour time difference.  It was another beautiful day in Sydney, perfect for baseball.  My mom and I walked around the SCG a little bit before the game to check it all out.  The older section, the members only pavilion is absolutely stunning.  The view from the third base side offered an incredible view.

Baseball at the Sydney Cricket Grounds

We grabbed some food, and no, we did not get one of those two foot long hot dogs.  We got burgers and fries, or chips as they call them.  My mom asked if they came with fries, to which the girl said “Yes, they come with chips” and my mom said “Chips? No, we want fries.”  My mom was unaware that chips and fries were the same thing.  I was cracking up.  We made our way up to our seats with a beautiful view of the sun shining down on the field.  They did a tribute to all of the Aussie born Major League Baseball players throughout the years, along with having them on the field for the ceremonial first pitch.  It was great to see former Athletics players Grant Balfour and Travis Blackley in the tribute.  The 9th inning just won’t be the same this year.

History of Baseball in Australia

Balfour makes the All-Star team in 2013!!

Grant Balfour

As the game quickly started to turn into a blow out, we made our way down to pick up a few more souvenirs.  We watched the game from the back of the seats on the first base side for a while before moving to the third base side and grabbing some seats from a couple leaving.  The dbacks did their best to come back against the Dodgers bullpen, putting up 5 runs in the 8th and 9th innings, but fell a little short.

And just like that, it was over.  I do not want to go back to the states and I can’t wait to see where the next Opening Series will be.  Thank you Diamondbacks, Dodgers and Major League Baseball for an amazing weekend I will never forget.

My mom and me

First vacation with my mom, and it was a blast!

Mommy and me time

Me and Bob Brenly. He remembered me from when I got to meet him last season.

My mom and Ken Kendrick with his 2001 World Series ring

Me with Ken Kendrick (Managing General Partner of the Diamondbacks). He was nice enough to put his 2001 World Series on my finger for the picture.

My mom, Derrick Hall (President of the Diamondbacks), and me at the DBacks fan event before Game One

Back to Back

The Oakland Athletics at the American League West Champions.  Again.  Last year, we clinched the final day of the season to shock the Teas Rangers and the baseball world.  This season, we didn’t take any chances, and clinched with a week left in the season.  Yesterday, in the 3rd inning, the stadium erupted into cheers.  The Kansas City Royals has just beat the Rangers on a walk-off Grand Slam, giving the A’s the division title.  We all had been patiently (OK, that was a lie) watching our phones for updates and couldn’t contain ourselves.  The best thing was when Josh Donaldson quickly turned around to look at the out-of-town scoreboard.  The score wasn’t posted, but the buzz quickly filled the stadium followed by chants of “Let’s Go Oakland!”  It was an amazing moment.

As I sat there cheering and enjoying the moment I got a little choked up.  The magic of last season will never be matched or duplicated, I realize that, but this was amazing as well.  Last year, everybody wrote the team off, but they never gave up and we never gave up on them.  Again this year, the experts were set to write them off again.  That the Angels and Rangers would both beat them, almost saying the A’s got lucky.  It felt good to shut them up.  Again.  This team is amazing and continue to prove everybody wrong.

Yesterday was amazing.  Not as good as last year, but a close second.  This is my second division clinching game in my life and they have been nothing short of amazingly awesome.  I wish I could come up with another word, but amazing is the only one that seems to do it justice.  I stayed to enjoy the celebration.  The smell of champagne was burned into my nose, not that I minded one bit.  There are few things I love to see more than grown men running around pouring champagne on other grown men.  It was great watching the boys do the victory laps and spray the fans with the champagne and Balfour with the hose action again.  I seriously love this team!  Josh Reddick with the Georgia football helmet….. best thing I’ve seen.  After the game I finally got to meet some of the awesome folks from the RF Bleachers that I’ve talked to on twitter all season.  Great group of people out there and it was great to meet you!!!!

Now, done to business.  We want Detroit.  I have been to two post seasons in my life- 2006 and last year.  Both of which the Tigers have knocked us out.  I was nervous about facing them in 2006, but last year, I thought we would beat them.  This year, I’m nervous, but I know we can beat them.  We already proved that.  The four game series earlier this month should have the Tigers very nervous about this post season.  We not only dominated them with our offense, but our pitching shut them down.  The Tigers mentioned last year how loud the fans were in Oakland, and it was LOUD.  This year, the tarps are FINALLY off, which means there will be an additional 12,000 people there.  We could beat the sound levels that were put out at that 49ers, Seahawks game recently.  I’m hoping we can lock down home field advantage, and with the Tigers recent struggles, it is looking good for us.  I’ve got my tickets for the post season, so I’ll see you out there!

Players spraying the fans behind the visitor dugout

Josh Reddick giving an interview with his Georgia helmet on

2013 American League Champions

AL WEST CHAMPS!

A’s at Orioles

I finally made it to a game at Orioles Park at Camden Yards!  If you’ve checked out my page from my trip last year, Baseball Trip 2012, you know that my first attempt didn’t go well.  For those that don’t know, I was walking to the game when some kid decided he wanted my phone and stole it out of my hand while I was using it.  It took an hour for the police to show up and by that point, I didn’t want to go to the game.  I vowed to make it back there, while my parents voiced their opinions to just forget about it.

When the A’s and O’s both made the playoffs last year, I said if they both moved on to the ALCS, I would find a way to go to a game, no matter the cost.  Well, that didn’t happen as both teams were eliminated from the post season in game fives of the ALDS.  So much for that plan.  I waited patiently for the 2013 schedules to come out to see when my boys were going to be in Baltimore so I could see them and the stadium.  The end of August.  And not just the end of August, but at 4pm.  Do you know that it is impossible to get from Oakland to Baltimore before 4pm?  I do.  The earliest I could get there was 4:15, which was not going to happen.  I started to think the baseball gods hated me and didn’t want me to make it to a game in Baltimore.  I needed a way to get to the game, and that’s where the Marlins game came in.  I was able to fly to Miami, go to the Marlins game, check off Marlins Park and get to Baltimore in time for the game.  Win-Win.

I admit, I was a little nervous walking to the game, even if it was the middle of the day.  Luckily, there was police everywhere and tons of other fans, so that helped.  I got to the stadium early to see the guys taking BP.  I kid you not, the outfield stands were packed with people as Yoenis Cespedes was giving balls away.  If only he did that during games more often!  I made my way to my seat to watch the end of batting practice and enjoy some relaxing time in the sun.  Once BP finished, I started walking around the stadium again, taking pictures and enjoying everything Camden Yards had to offer.  My friend is originally from the Baltimore area, I picked him up a Manny Machado bobblehead because he has a massive man crush on the kid.  As I walked around, I couldn’t help but think it was a really nice stadium.  It has the old feel and design to it, considering that it’s not that old.  Outside of the outfield gates there are all their retired numbers, with #8 right in front.  Speaking of #8, it was Cal Ripken Jr.’s birthday!  There is also a statue of Babe Ruth, who is from the Baltimore area as well.

Cal “The Iron Man” Ripken Jr.
Number 8 was retired in 2001

I left my A’s jersey at home, on purpose.  I think it used all of its magic last season.  Going into Baltimore, I had seen the A’s four times on the road this season, and had only seen one win.  Tampa Bay was a 1-0 loss to the Rays, Milwaukee was a 10-2 win over the Brewers, Seattle was an ugly 7-5 loss to the Mariners, and Anaheim (or is it LA) was a 2-0 loss to the Angels.  With the team’s recent struggles, I didn’t want to chance it, so I left the jersey at home and opted to wear my “Chicks Dig Diamonds” A’s shirt.

Pitching for the A’s was Jarrod Parker, who I saw pitch in Tampa Bay.  I am so proud of Parker.  After struggling the first month and change of the season, he has turned it around and has been lights out.  The start before this one, he had his first career complete game.  You can’t help but wonder what the standings would be like if he pitched this well all season.  The most exciting thing about this game though was the starting catcher.  Kurt Suzuki made his debut for the A’s, well his second debut, at the game!  After being traded to the Washington Nationals last season, Suzuki was traded back on Thursday night and made his first start back Saturday.  Myself and the other A’s fans all loudly cheered when they announced him, with several welcome back comments too.

The Orioles got on the board early with a solo home run by Ryan Flaherty in the bottom half of the 3rd inning.  I was having flashbacks to Tampa Bay when Parker pitched and lost 1-0 after giving up a solo home run.  Oriole’s pitcher, Chris Tillman, didn’t allow a hit until the 4th inning and was matching Parker with putting zeros on the board.  The A’s finally scored in the 6th inning with a double by Suzuki and Jed Lowrie.  Speaking of Jed, that dude is a doubles machine this season.  Both pitchers deserved a win with their pitching performances, but sadly, that’s not how the game works, and I want my team to win.  Just Win Baby!  Oh wait, I’m confusing my Oakland teams….

I love hot Coco, and I’m not referring to the drink.  Coco Crisp.  I am so happy that Billy Beane picked him up in December of 2009.  He’s such a spark in the lineup and makes some amazing plays in Center Field.  Game 3 of the ALDS robbing Prince Fielder was craze amaze, and then to walk it off in Game 4 of the ALDS.  After not playing due to an injury, it was great to have Coco back in the line up, and he was hot.  You knew he was going to make things happen when he came up in the 9th inning, and he rarely disappoints.  He hit the go ahead home run to put the A’s up 2-1.  The Aussie swear jar, Grant Balfour, came in and did his thing.  This would be the only game the A’s would win in their series against the Orioles.

Happy to say, this trip to Baltimore was far better than the last one.  I made it to the game, the A’s won, and I left with all of my belongings.  My next road game will be the end of the season to see the boys wrap the regular season in Seattle.  Hard to believe there is only 28 games left of the regular season.

Fans awaiting another souvenir from Cespedes

Babe Ruth Statue

Me at Oriole Park at Camden Yards with the A’s celebrating their win in the background

Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Happy Labor Day Weekend!  Hope you are enjoying some baseball.

A’s at Angels

The West Coast tour continued last Saturday as I made my way down to Anaheim for the A’s and Angels game. I only wish I could have gone to Disneyland while I was down there, but there’s always next time!

Being an A’s fan, I naturally have a strong dislike (or hatred) for the Angels. I like to mock their name, especially since they are not in Los Angeles or even Los Angeles County, and to add to the mocking is the stadium name. It’s Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Again with the ‘of Anaheim’ in there.

All mocking and joking aside, the stadium is actually really nice. Out front of the main gates there are the giant Angels hats and on the stadium walls are pictures of their star players. They had a bunch of booths all set up giving some stuff away and fan interaction, including the Angels All-Star Mickey Mouse which you can get your picture taken with.

Me with the All-Star Mickey Mouse

Outside the main gates

I was excited to about going down there because I have family down there that I don’t get to see too often. They were nice enough to pick me up and give me a ride to the game as they got tickets to the game as well. Aside from the fact that they had on Angels gear, it’s old school Angels gear from the California Angels days so I’ll let it slide. I also got to finally meet my friend Mike (@MyHami) from Twitter at the game. It was great meeting you!!

I should mention that there was a country music concert after the game. I am not really a country music fan. I like some, but not a lot. There were a lot of country music fans there, or at least a lot of people with cowboy hats and boots. The dress entire down there was different from any other stadium I’ve been to, aside from the country western apparel. I’ll leave it at that before I go all fashion major on you. Since I’m not a fan of country music, especially for people I’ve never even heard of, I got out of dodge. Plus, I had just driven 6 hours and had to drive another 6 hours home the next day, so I walked back to my hotel and got some sleep. Also, I realized walking back that I’m still not OK with what happened in Baltimore.

Moving on. We got there nice and early to see batting practice, which was cancelled due to a freak rain storm. Judging by how the A’s played, they needed to take BP. However, the rain had let up enough for them to workout on the field before the game. It was great to see the guys and they were out there signing autographs for everybody, which I always like to see, especially when fans of the other team where over there. The highlight was watching Jerry Blevins, Sean Doolittle doing running exercises with Yoenis Cespedes. He’d beat them and kind of chuckle looking back at them.

The Angels had my least favorite pitcher on the mound for them in CJ Wilson. I don’t hate him for being extremely corny in his Head & Shoulders commercial, but for his comments about Oakland and how much he hates playing there. Good, we hate you too. Sadly, he was very CJ Wilson like, pitching 8.1 innings allowing 0 runs on 3 hits. It was painful to watch. On the flip side, we had Dan Straily pitching, who despite a pretty good start, got the loss. Straily pitched 7 innings allowing just 2 runs, one on sac fly and the other on a solo home run. I’ll take the blame on the home run. I got up to go get my mini bat from the team shop and before I even got to the concourse, Alberto Callspo hit his fifth homer of the year. The employee at the entrance to the team shop felt the need to get all up in my face talking smack, so much so that another employee had to come over to him to tell him to stop. Yeah, an EMPLOYEE of the Angels. I expect that from the fans, but not somebody that works there. Klassy.

I was really excited to see Grant Green play, finally. I met him at FanFest this year and he’s the nicest guy, so I wish him well. I hoped his first hit would be like Stephen Vogt’s first Major League Hit, a home run. That didn’t happen. Clearly. Unfortunately, Green was just sent back down to Triple-A, but I’m hoping he’ll be back and better in the near future.

Some cool things at the stadium, the fountain/rocks in the outfield with a big A in the rocks. Fitting since the stadium is known as The Big A. They also shoot fireworks off from there. I admit, it’s cool. Nearby there is a Jack in the Box. Yes, there is a Jack in the Box in the ballpark. Not as cool as Fat Burger (AZ), but still fun. On the main concourse and to the right of the main gates is something cool. They have the trophy from the 2002 World Series, the one where they beat the San Francisco Giants, on display along with photos and other mementos from that season. Across the concourse from that is a memory wall with photos celebrating their achievements over the years. Pretty cool. I like when teams do that, I know Houston and Philadelphia both have something like that.

The 2002 World Series Trophy

Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim, CA

All-Star Week

With the All-Star Break looming, the festivities chatter has kicked up quite a bit.  Thursday, we learned who the final two members of the All-Star team were, with Freddie Freeman of the Braves winning the National League Final Vote and Steve Delabar of the Toronto Blue Jays winning the for the American League.

I voted for Freeman over Puig for the simple fact that a player needs to play more than 5 weeks to be an All-Star, in my opinion.  Puig has put up good numbers, I’m not saying he hasn’t, but he’s not deserving of the All-Star Game.  Yet.  If he had come up earlier in the year and was still playing hot, I would have said sure, but 5 weeks is not enough time.  Player’s numbers change and even out over the course of the season, and nobody stays hot forever.  New call ups tend to do a little bit better the first month or so because there isn’t enough scouting reports available.  Once those get around, the numbers usually come back down to human level.  Which we’ve seen with Puig’s increasing strike out numbers.  Either way, I think Freddie Freeman is a great player and very deserving of the honor.  At least somebody I voted for made the team!

One of my least favorite All-Star Game festivities is the Home Run Derby, which takes place tomorrow.  I like home runs, but I’m not a fan of the derby.  It has a history of screwing up the players that partake and actually do well.  Watching Josh Hamilton at the old Yankee Stadium in 2008 was amazing though.  This year, the Oakland A’s have a representative in the derby, Yoenis Cespedes.  I’m sorry to all my fellow A’s fans, but I think this is horrible.  I love Yo, but I have a very bad feeling about this.  Aside from the fact that Cespedes has not hit a home run since June 21, three weeks ago, bringing his total to 15.  The main reason I don’t want him to participate though is his swing.  He has a very strong and slightly violent swing.  He has a tendency to hurt his wrist and miss time because of said swing.  Having him go up there and that’s exactly what he will be doing for a minimum of 10 swings is horrifying.  I don’t want to see him get hurt in something that doesn’t mean anything for the team and could end up hurting us as we continue to make a push for the post-season.  That’s right, it’s mid-season, I’m now allowed to say it.  I would love to see him do well, and maybe watching the balls go out will help him when he rejoins the team after the break.

Exciting news today though, Athletics closer, Grant Balfour, is a proud member of the American League All-Star team!!!!  I’m so excited and happy for him.  He is truly deserving and I’m just bummed it took them this long to add him to the team.  I can only hope he gets to actually play, I’m sure FOX will love the Aussie Swear Jar.

“All-Star” Game

I thought that maybe after a couple of days I would be less annoyed.  Turns out, that’s not the case at all.  In fact, the more I think about it, the more upset I get.

Saturday, Major League Baseball announced the All-Star Game rosters.  I wrote about the All-Star game last year and it’s the same issue this year.  I am really starting to hate the game with a passion.  The fans are ruining the game.  Hands down.

I would not have an issue with the fan voting if baseball’s All-Star Game was like all the other ones in professional sports, in that it literally means nothing.  However, thanks to the infamous game in Milwaukee in 2002.  The game that changed the game forever.  That game ended in a 7-7 tie.  Because of this horrible management, we have been punished with the rule of the winner of the All-Star Game gets home field advantage in the World Series.  At that point, fan voting needed to get the boot.

I hate the fan voting for the very reason that most of the fans voting, know either nothing about the game, or know just about their team.  Which is great if you know your team, but not helpful in voting for All-Stars.  You end up with people voting in mass quantity for every member on their team that’s available to be voted on, whether they are deserving or not, or playing or not.  I know plenty of people who have voted for players on their team that are injured and wouldn’t be playing.  That’s a wasted vote.  I’m sorry, but seriously.  You think the guy sitting on the bench is the most deserving of your vote?  I bite my tongue, because my mommy taught me that if I have nothing nice to say, then say nothing at all.  There was over 1 million people who voted for Derek Jeter to be an All-Star, knowing full well that there was no way he was going to play.  Wasted vote at it’s best.

This year, I think I’m going to pass on watching the All-Star Game.  Each year I watch it, and think of all the players that should be there and aren’t, and get annoyed.  Baseball is my passion, it shouldn’t be making me angry.  There were so many snubs this year, it’s hard to believe.

I love the Oakland Athletics.  It’s hard to believe, hard to swallow and hard to accept.  One.  One All-Star.  As of right now, we own the second best record in all of baseball, behind the Boston Red Sox.  We have beaten the National League Central’s best in the St. Louis Cardinals (2-1), Cincinnati Reds (2-0), and Pittsburgh Pirates (2-1).  And yet, we have one All-Star.  Bartolo Colon deserves it, but there are two other guys that aren’t going and should be.  Josh Donaldson and Grant Balfour.  Donaldson is having a career year and is making the hot corner look like the cold corner.  The guys on MLB Network have been going on for weeks about how he deserves to be in the game and the first thing they said after the rosters were announced said he was snubbed.  Grant Balfour has been lights out so far this season.  Not one blown save.  In fact, tonight, Balfour continued with his record-setting ways while notching consecutive save number 42.  Impressive is an understatement.

My National League team, the Arizona Diamondbacks had a couple of snubs of their own.  Outfielder, Gerardo Parra, wasn’t even on the ballot.  Parra was expected to be the fourth outfielder for the team, but due to an injury, was made into the starting center fielder.  He’s having a great season, and isn’t going to the All-Star Game.  Paul Goldschmidt, the Diamondbacks first baseman, is having an AMAZING season so far.  He should be starting the game at first.  No offense to Reds Joey Votto, but Goldy is having a much better season.  If you looked up Beast Mode, it would say Paul Goldschmidt’s 2013 season.  That’s how good he’s been.  I’m happy he made the team, but he should have been voted as a starter.  The numbers he has put up this season so far are incredible.  21 home runs, 74 RBI and batting .310.  Holy smokes.  But he’s not a starter because the Diamondbacks aren’t as popular as the Reds are.  It’s as Jon Heyman would say, a shame.

Then there’s the Dodgers’s Yasiel Puig.  I get it, I do.  It happened last year with Oakland’s Yoenis Cespedes.  He was great to start the season and everybody was going on and on about him.  However, his numbers have tampered way off this season.  Sure, he still can hit massive bombs, but it seems like it’s a bomb or he’s bombing with a strike out.  Pitchers are very well equipped today with technology to figure out how to get batters out.  That’s what their job is, and they will figure a way to do their job.  Puig, he’s got talent, but I don’t think he is an All-Star, yet.  But, considering the game has become a popularity contest rather than based on what you do on the field, I’m sure he’ll make it.  I don’t see how a guy with 34 games in the big leagues can be considered an All-Star.  So Braves Freddie Freeman is getting my vote on the final ballot.  Mainly because I want a hug.  I kid, sort of.

In the end, my opinion doesn’t matter.  The downside of being a small market fan.  I only hope that Major League Baseball at some point does something to fix the voting system to make the All-Star Game full of actual All-Stars.  Until then, its high school all over again where the popular kids win everything.

Whirlwind

I had every intention to write a very nice tribute post on Jackie Robinson on Monday, and I promise that I will finish it soon.  I had just started writing it, just one sentence in when I noticed my Twitter blow up.  I stopped my post to see what was going on for that many things to show up at once, and my heart sank.

We all know what happened on Monday in Boston.  It is horrible and heartbreaking.  Those images will forever be in my mind, and I’m sure all of yours.  Sadly, this hit a little too close to home for me.  I know somebody that was running in the marathon, and had a lot of friends that were there to see her run.  I have mentioned my “grandfather” or faux grandfather that has season tickets for the A’s that always gets me tickets.  Let me explain.  My neighbors, Frank and Sandra, are some of the nicest people I know.  They have amazing hearts and I’m lucky to have them in my life.  They are my neighbors that have adopted my family into theirs.  They joke that my dad is like their son, and I’m their granddaughter.  We spend some holidays with them and celebrate birthdays together.  Several years ago, Allen and Katherine Hern moved into town, and they quickly welcomed them to our “family”.  Those of you in the Bay Area have most likely heard about Aaron Hern who was injured in the blast on Monday.  While sitting here watching all of this unfold on Monday was hard enough, but then we got the phone call that Aaron got hit in the first blast.  We had no clue what happened or anything other than the fact that he had been injured.  An hour later, my “Aunt” told me that Aaron was in surgery, but they had no clue the full extent of his injuries. I have known this kid for years, I even baby-sat him and his sister a few years back, and the thought of him being injured in a bombing was shocking.  We’ve been flipping between news channels and texting my “grandmother” (Sandra) for any and all information we can get.  I haven’t been able to sleep the last few nights, crying and worrying about Aaron, and everybody else effected by this tragedy .

Today, Aaron underwent a second surgery on his leg that had been hit with shrapnel from the explosion.  The doctors had expected they would need to do skin grafts on the wound, but were happy to report today, they didn’t need to and were able to close the wound.  I got the text message just before the 8th inning while I was at the game today.  I should mention, my grandfather’s seats, he has had those seats for years, as have the people around him, so everybody knows each other there.  When we went to game four against Seattle during Opening week, Frank had told the guys that sit in front of him that he wouldn’t be at this game as he was going to Boston to see somebody run in the Boston Marathon.  When they got to the game today, they asked me about Frank and if he was OK, and what not.  When I told them what was happening, they were in shock and said to send their love.  We are all family at these moments.

Now, with all this going on, the only thing keeping me from going completely crazy is baseball.  It’s been a chance to escape for a few hours each night.  Still, it was hard to give it my full attention.  I wanted to email the A’s, but at that point, Aaron’s name had not been released to the public, so I didn’t say anything.  Aaron’s dad, Allen, is a big baseball fan, and I love talking ball with him.  Lucky for me, I’m an A’s fan.  Also lucky for me, the Astros aren’t very good.  Don’t get me wrong, they’re not horrible, but they’re not very good.  I enjoyed them beating up on the Angels and enjoyed them beating the Mariners.  I hope they continue to do well against the other teams in the division, but continue to struggle against the A’s.  Last week in Houston, the A’s swept the Astros, and today, they swept them in Oakland.  It was amazing.  The A’s dropped 6 runs in the 1st inning, knocking Astros starter Bud Norris out of the game after getting just two outs.  The A’s looked like they were on their way to another easy win, but as it always is in baseball, you have to fight for all 27 outs.  The Astros, down 7-1, fought their way back into the game, scoring 3 runs in the 7th and Rick Ankiel hit a home run to start the 9th inning.  Balfour struggled in the 9th, but managed to nail down the save after making it interesting.  By this time, my mind was all over the place, calling, texting, tweeting, facebooking the news about Aaron being OK while trying to catch glimpse of the game between it all.  I almost forgot!  Shane Peterson, filling in for Brandon Moss (he’s wife had a baby boy yesterday, so he’s home with his family right now) got his first career hit.  He looked good the last two days, and I can’t wait to see what he can do in the future.  Nice job rookie!

It feels like it should be later in the week with everything that has gone on, and it’s hard to believe it’s only Wednesday.  It’s amazing how time slows down when stuff like this happens.  Makes you cherish every moment, and live life to the fullest.  I’m looking forward to going to Tampa on Saturday to catch the A’s take on the Rays.  Wish I could get up to Boston, but my thoughts are with the Hern’s and everybody else.

Boston Strong.  I love you Boston!

From my trip to Fenway Park last year. My favorite ballpark of all time.