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Sunday, August 21, 2005 |
Games, Games, Games
Ecclesiastes 9:11: Royals 2, A's 1
Was I the only one who thought that, starved of a win, that the Royals might break out and snatch one or two, even from a team as good as the A's? It was a lesson the Dodgers learned firsthand, though they're in fact a horrible team.Yet, I won't gloat. The season has handed the Angels their share of disappointments, and it ain't over yet. Watching an eight-game lead vanish is no fun. Yet, I hear from certain quarters that the Angels are "spending their way" to a pennant (and thence, we guess, to a title), and the usual nonsense that comes out of A's fans about this time of year. We hear unrealistic plans for a new stadium, to be financed using smoke and mirrors. Let us be clear on a couple of points.
- The alleged "Orange County" market that the Angels covered, prior to Arte buying the team, was always a fiction, but one Jackie Autry was happy to abide by. Looking at the two Bay Area market sizes, it's clear that by combining San Francisco's 84 and Oakland's 61, it adds up to 145, larger than Philadelphia, close to Boston's market, and larger than also-has-two-teams Chicago.
- Second, A's fans just don't show up for the games. A's attendance in the regular season has never once placed better than sixth in the American League since 2000 despite their Grand Canyon-sized stadium (capacity 48,219) and simply obscene records in that period (483-326 to 2004, or a .597 winning percentage). And that doesn't even cover the club's chronic inability to fill their home park in the postseason.
For now, the Angels are two and a half games up on the A's.
Every Silver Lining Has Its Dark Cloud, Huh Milton? Dodgers 11, Marlins 6
After reading the Times and other oracular fonts, I learn that Pauly was the heart of the Dodgers; please bear with me, as this anatomy stuff is hard for me, and I'm learning on the fly. That would make Guillermo Mota the soul of the Dodgers, or maybe the chitlins, or perhaps a gall bladder, or could it be the coccyx? I forget. Anyway, the question of the day will be whether Plaschke starts bellowing about suchlike now that the former soul blew up and gave the Dodgers an exclamation point on top of their already substantial lead. I know I sure wasn't expecting the bullpen to hold the lead, whether Tracy called two names or twenty; in fact, it took five relievers to get through the required 27 outs, and Brazoban provided a brazier for the Fish to heat up again before Duaner Sanchez came in to pour a little water on the Fish (is that a good thing or a bad thing?).However did Choi get into the lineup? Did Tracy forget to refill his Excuse-o-matic machine? Whatever the case, Tracy will be certain to avoid learning any lessons from the night. Tomorrow: Jason Phillips, and back to the old garbage.
But I suppose now the season has finally gotten to Milton Bradley, or perhaps he's off his Frank Jobe-ordered Prozac. We read now that Milt got in a big hissy fit over Jeff Kent's alleged desire to pad his own numbers, yet I recall someone, whose name shall not be mentioned but whose initials are Milton Bradley, who went 7-38 upon his return from the DL. Well: maybe it has something to do with Kent's famously prickly personality:
As for Bradley running the bases at full speed, although there has been no report of leg injuries, he has not displayed the same running speed since returning from nearly two months on the disabled list with a finger injury that he had early in the season.My, how charming.Regardless, Kent apparently felt Bradley should have scored the go-ahead run on his double, and said so. Bradley eventually scored two batters later on a bases-loaded walk to Jayson Werth and Kent scored on Jose Valentin's infield single.
Jason Vargas
Maybe He's Not Quite Ready: Padres 7, Braves 2
Remember Joey Devine? Maybe he wasn't quite so divine, at least, for the Braves, surrendering four runs in the thirteenth as the Braves closer-du-jour made quite an impression -- on Xavier Nady's bat. Though, one wonders which Nady Padres manager Bruce Bochy has been watching lo these many:"He's a dangerous hitter," manager Bruce Bochy said of Nady, who continues to search for a regular job to fit his abundant physical talents. "You always like those guys up there in those situations. He can hit the ball out of any ballpark."Um, dude? .266/.320/.476, 13 HR is pretty good, but hardly "dangerous". On the other hand, Scioscia regularly gets away with calling Garret Anderson and his .288/.317/.434 plus 13 HR "dangerous", so maybe there's some mystic threshold I'm unaware of. Whatever, the Pads get a big ego boost, and no change in the standings relative to the Dodgers.
Comments:
Rob;
For my money, the most unfortunate fallout from this game is the endless crap that will go on ad nauseum about Choi vs. Phillips in the lineup.
It was only a matter of time that Kent finally went too far and someone took offense. It was also only a matter of time that Bradley reverted to his former ways. The past is always the future.
Why is it never pointed out that Perez always manages to squirm out of big games he is likely to lose?
Last season he conveniently offered to pitch out of sequence, thus avoiding Boston at Fenway and the Yankees at home. Now the mysterious rib "injury" that forces him to miss Willis.
There is a pattern here.
Rick
For my money, the most unfortunate fallout from this game is the endless crap that will go on ad nauseum about Choi vs. Phillips in the lineup.
It was only a matter of time that Kent finally went too far and someone took offense. It was also only a matter of time that Bradley reverted to his former ways. The past is always the future.
Why is it never pointed out that Perez always manages to squirm out of big games he is likely to lose?
Last season he conveniently offered to pitch out of sequence, thus avoiding Boston at Fenway and the Yankees at home. Now the mysterious rib "injury" that forces him to miss Willis.
There is a pattern here.
Rick
# posted by 
: 8/21/2005 06:09:00 AM
: 8/21/2005 06:09:00 AM
Rob, I like your blog, but the anti-A's fans screeds are getting a touch obnoxious. True, the Bay Area is bigger than Boston or Philly, but in case you haven't noticed, those two cities each only have ONE TEAM. It's also well known that the A's are the Bay Area's ugly red-headed step-child to the Giants. That could have been said about the Angels as well, up until the Southern California bandwagoners jumped on the Rally Monkey in 2002.
Also, the Angels aren't "spending their way to a title". They are spending their way into a division race with a flawed team that has half their payroll and, if they make the playoffs, another likely first-round whupping at the hands of the Red Sox.
Also, the Angels aren't "spending their way to a title". They are spending their way into a division race with a flawed team that has half their payroll and, if they make the playoffs, another likely first-round whupping at the hands of the Red Sox.
# posted by : 8/21/2005 09:38:00 AM
: 8/21/2005 09:38:00 AM
Sorry you didn't like me directly quoting an honest-to-God A's fan. And as for the Angels' bandwagon fans -- fair enough, but the A's have been winning, I see. Where's their bandwagon fans? And the distinction between the two cities is, IMO, as false and silly as the one that existed between the Angels and the Dodgers prior to Arte doing something about it. They are both in the same media market, no? Both teams have cable deals with FSN, no? My point is exactly that the complaints by Oakland fans about their team being the "red-headed stepchild" aren't especially convincing. The Bay Area is a larger market than Chicago, and Chitown has two teams to split its loyalties, too. I don't hear the White Sox complaining, neither the Cubs.
Actually, White Sox fans do get the short end of the stick a great deal of the time. The Cubs suck and the White Sox have the second best record in the league, and which ballpark sells out? The Mets would have a similar situation, but New York has so many people that it doesn't matter. The distinction might seem silly to you, but that doesn't mean it isn't there.
# posted by : 8/21/2005 03:01:00 PM
: 8/21/2005 03:01:00 PMNewer› ‹Older
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