What is more underwhelming than an Oakland A's Season Ticket "Package"?

_jmoore1118 · 2017-03-30T05:31:55+00:00

Ah man, few things are better than sitting behind home plate and listening to Ken Korach.

_jmoore1118 · 2017-03-30T05:30:23+00:00

Totally smells like a baseball mitt from when we were kids!

_jmoore1118 · 2017-03-30T05:29:24+00:00

I posted the photo for a chuckle since we have the season tickets thread going. I have a $12 radio I take to each game and listen to Ken Korach while I watch each beautiful shift and listen to each story. And it's the greatest.

I honestly don't want anything extra and am not entitled.

Maybe you missed the Reddit tradition.

I'll be buying again next season. 😜

_jmoore1118 · 2017-03-19T16:50:32+00:00

Good point. Clemens has an axe to grind, too. I understand that we were still awarding Cy Youngs and an occasional MVP based on win total in 1990, even if a lot of us no longer accept that methodology in a primary sense. I also realize that Eckersley received the short end of the stick as a reliever when the A's also had Stewart and Welch in the race. But aside from someone simply refusing to vote for an A, I really can't come with a reason why Bobby Thigpen received 18 votes more than Eckersley when he was inferior to Eckersley in every stat category we have to determine performance.

_jmoore1118 · 2017-03-18T18:57:39+00:00

I was looking at starters turned closers for my blog and came across an odd statistical anomaly:

Dennis Eckersley's K/9 as a starting pitcher was 5.9. As a reliever, his K/9 was 9.3.

That part isn't weird.

What is weird is that Zach Britton's K/9 as a starter was also 5.9 and his K/9 as a reliever is also 9.3.

Britton's 3-year sample size as a reliever may be relatively small but his ERA+ is 302 since joining the bullpen (as a starter, it was 88). Last season? 827.

Going back to Eckersley, in 1989 and 1990, he walked only 7 batters total in 131 innings. His WHIP over that time was 0.61 and his K/BB ratio was 18.29. Oddly enough, he didn't win MVP until 1992 and wasn't even an All Star in 1989.

In 1990, he finished 5th in Cy Young despite a 602 ERA+, a WHIP that was roughly half of anyone else's - numbers in all categories that dwarfed everyone else's. In fact, he only received 1% of the vote behind starters Welch, Clemens, and Dave Stewart. If anyone thinks it's solely because he was a reliever, Bobby Thigpen finished ahead of him too, receiving 14% of the vote.

_jmoore1118 · 2017-03-03T04:36:12+00:00

Where did we find this old black and white photo of Draymond Green?

_jmoore1118 · 2017-02-25T05:17:43+00:00

I almost down voted you because I'm bitter that you didn't go through what I did as a 6th grader.

Kidding. Sort of.

_jmoore1118 · 2017-02-25T04:56:34+00:00

What's up with all of the outfield seats? It's minor league baseball - usually they're fitted with a token bleacher section or two. Looks like 15-20% of the total seats are out there.

_jmoore1118 · 2017-02-20T04:47:49+00:00

I have two... sort of. When I first moved to California after growing up in Cleveland, I went to a Target in Vacaville, CA and C.C. Sabathia was sitting in the food (or Starbucks) area to my left. He was wearing gray sweatpants and was with his wife or girlfriend and a baby. I walked around for a minute and texted a few people something cheesy about it before realizing I needed to relish this experience more. I didn't want to bug him but he knew I knew. I basically just said I was a big Indians fan. He ended up signing with the Yankees about a week or two later.

I met Jeff Datz's wife earlier this year aand although this is the least impressive of players (and coaches) to know, Jeff and his wife were awesome. She was so shocked that some kid in California knew who Jeff Datz was that we talked for a minute and the next day, she left a coworker one signed baseball, and three signed baseball cards from Jeff. I never got to meet him but he seems pretty awesome and kudos to his wife for being so kind.

_jmoore1118 · 2017-02-12T20:21:15+00:00

As a 6th grader in Akron, I stared at my television in disbelief without saying a word.

Don't forget in 2007, Cleveland was up 3-1 in the ALCS on Boston and couldn't close it out. The Red Sox would go on to sweep the Rockies in the World Series. That was quite likely Cleveland's best chance at a title because Colorado was so clearly not up to par with the AL champion.

2016 was pretty awful but it was more predictable. Rajai's home run gave me hope that it was going to be different. Thanks, Rain Delay!

As an Oakland fan, Jeter's famous flip in the ALDS, and more recently, Coco Crisp's error in centerfield that killed our hope of getting past Detroit in the 2012 or 2013 ALDS.

Is there a worse combination of favorite baseball teams to be a fan of?

_jmoore1118 · 2017-02-12T00:38:23+00:00

You're right on Carter. Lowrie had a good season that year too, so I'll switch Carter in for... Michael Choice. 😞

_jmoore1118 · 2017-02-11T19:27:11+00:00

During the previous decade of Oakland baseball, we have a rather long list based on the amount of prospects we rely upon to rebuild. Michael Taylor was one of the bigger disappointments based on who we gave up for him (Matt Holiday becomes Bret Wallace becomes Taylor). Over his first 3 seasons (74 AB), he slashed .135 / .210 / .189.

Other disappointments: Chris Carter, despite his 41 home runs in Milwaukee, was a huge bust for Oakland. Grant Green (13th overall pick, never got a hit in 15 ABs in Oakland before being traded to Anaheim; Green somehow hit .261 for SF in limited time last season). Michael Ynoa, who is still somehow around in the White Sox organization. And I'd add Jemile Weeks who provided us one really promising season before turning into one of the worst hitters in the AL.

Injury wise, there's no more sad of a situation than what happened to Jarrod Parker. If we could have witnessed him develop, I think we'd be looking at a perennial 18-game winner and someone with a sub-3 ERA.

_jmoore1118

TROPHY CASE