Oakland Athletics 2010 Season Thread (27-23) (@ Texas)

[jumpmanfromdabay]

Originally Posted by Th3RealF0lkBlu3s

I'm going to Opening Night, should be a real nice time. I've missed baseball dearly.

 im not an A's fan but i make sure i go to A's opening night every year
Baseball is back 

 

[eagle 0n]

[h1][/h1]

[h1]Purdy: Obstacles in A's way to San Jose are mainly myths[/h1]
By Mark Purdy


Mercury News Columnist

Posted: 03/31/2010 09:07:45 PM PDT

Updated: 04/01/2010 08:58:01 AM PDT


The A's road to San Jose is warming up. Not totally burning. Not yet. But if the Nimitz Freeway pavement feels a little hotter these days, there's a reason:

Major League Baseball could finally be close to a decision on whether A's owner Lew Wolff can pursue his wish to relocate in the South Bay. As my good friend, the Magic 8-Ball, once said: "Signs point to yes."

It has been more than a year since a special blue-ribbon panel was assigned to investigate whether an A's move southward is a good idea. The panel has been reporting regularly to commissioner Bud Selig.

During his annual round of visits to spring training camps, the commissioner was reportedly buttonholing certain key owners to discuss the issue. One baseball source affirms that Selig's decision on the matter will arrive between opening day and July 1.

About time. Anyone who regularly visits this corner of the newspaper knows of my proudly obnoxious and consistent views. Assuming the deal makes sense for local citizens, the A's playing in downtown San Jose is a no-brainer idea. And this week's Mercury News poll showed positive support for a privately financed ballpark on publicly donated property.

I know this much: No matter what Selig's ultimate decision is, you will hear a lot of false chatter when it's announced. The curveball myths, I call them. Let's round them up and debunk them with the fastball truths:
1. Curveball Myth: The Giants control territorial rights to San Jose.
Fastball Truth: No, they don't. Major League Baseball regulates the territorial rights to all markets. In 1992, MLB granted the Giants the rights to operate in Santa Clara County when a referendum was on the ballot to build a Giants ballpark in San Jose. After the referendum failed, the A's failed to ask that Santa Clara County again be declared "neutral territory," so the Giants retained those rights.

2. Curveball Myth: The territorial rights are set in stone.

Fastball Truth: Hardly. The rights can be overturned by a 75 percent vote of the owners. And over history, a lot of horse-trading has occurred. Before 1958, the Boston Red Sox had the territorial rights to San Francisco — so when the New York Giants wanted to move west, MLB owners crafted and voted in a plan to have the Giants exchange their territorial rights to Minneapolis-St. Paul to the Red Sox for permission to move to San Francisco.

In this case, the A's might be forced to pay some penance for moving to San Jose. The template could be the considerations received by the Baltimore Orioles when the Montreal Expos moved to Washington.

3. Curveball Myth: The A's are abandoning Oakland because Wolff never wanted to stay there.

Fastball Truth: It's more a case of Oakland abandoning the A's — beginning in 1994, when Steve Schott and Ken Hofmann purchased the franchise from the Haas family. Schott and Hofmann wanted to remodel the Coliseum with the city's help but were rebuffed because the Raiders were moving back to Oakland and the city's money was being spent on the NFL team.

Later, the Warriors received assistance from Oakland to remodel their arena. After Wolff bought the A's in 2005, he tried to work with the city on a ballpark project that would have also redeveloped the entire area around the Coliseum — but received little cooperation. Only then did Wolff first investigate Fremont and later San Jose. It's simply the result of Oakland ignoring its MLB team in favor of its NFL and NBA teams — and paying the consequences.

The recent scrambling attempts to find a new Oakland site are basically half-baked and too late.

4. Curveball Myth: The Giants' business would be adversely impacted if the A's moved to San Jose.

Fastball Truth: No one really knows for sure. But the blue-ribbon panel is surely addressing that issue. Keep in mind, though: If Wolff builds his ballpark on the proposed San Jose site, that would place the A's and Giants farther apart than any two teams in any other two-team market. In fact, the San Jose ballpark site is even farther from AT&T Park than the Washington Nationals' ballpark is from Camden Yards in Baltimore.

The Giants have plenty of fans in Santa Clara County — but obviously, no one would be stopping those people from still attending Giants games if the A's moved to San Jose. Plus, would A's fans in Marin County and the northern part of the East Bay be more likely to make the drive to San Jose or would they start going to more Giants games instead?

5. Curveball Myth: Building a downtown San Jose ballpark would be a slam dunk if the commissioner gives his approval.

Fastball Truth: Nice thought, despite the sports mixed metaphor. But these projects are never, ever easy to complete. There are a lot of moving parts. San Jose's redevelopment agency faces challenges just like every other civic entity in this economy.

Purchasing the final land parcels for the ballpark will require financial dexterity. The ballpark site neighbors (including the Sharks at HP Pavilion) must also be satisfied. Wolff, though, says he is eager to work with the city to get going. The political will seems to be there. So does the public support. Now, it's all up to Selig.

Please create no potholes in the Nimitz pavement, Mr. Commissioner.


I'd love for the A's to stay in Oakland, but I'd rather have a new stadium if anything. Plus, I think SJ is a better fit than Fremont.

 

[touch money]

if they move to san jose

 

[milkandcookies]

Originally Posted by TOUCH MONEY

if they move to san jose

This would suck for the east bay cats.
 if they move to SJ I'd actually start going to baseball games.

 

[GreenNGold89]

Originally Posted by WearinTheFourFive

I'll be at school for opening night.

Did you guys hear 147 HD games on Comcast SportsNet this year?

...but again, I'll be at school getting Comast West.

I feel your pain.

I haven't been able to go to opening day for 3 straight years now.

 

 

[rcdp]

Originally Posted by milkandcookies

Originally Posted by TOUCH MONEY

if they move to san jose

This would suck for the east bay cats.
 if they move to SJ I'd actually start going to baseball games.

It would suck for me cuz I always take BART to the games.  No BART = no mas 

 

[shaunhillftw49]

No more CSNCA for me either.
Got my tix. St Mary's

 

[suckafree85]

I hope they don't go to San Jo..

 

[bayburyya]

Congrats to my homie from HS Tyson Ross for making the opening day roster. Gives me a reason to follow baseball.

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

Sounds like Coco's pinky isn't in the worst shape, he shouldn't be out so long (I wonder how many times I'll be saying that about him this season).

I read that Kazmir is going to start on the DL for the Angels. Maybe the AL West can become a scrap-fest in the beginning and we'll find ourselves floating near everyone else?

 

[wearinthefourfive]

I get my daily dose of A's news, and hear Coco is out, Cahill is out, Bailey is out, Cust is getting DFA'd. It's got my mind spinning. Buck will probably replace Coco, Gio gets the 5th spot by default, We got bullpen up the +@* so theres no problem there, and Chavee is probably going to take over the day to day DH spot (until mid may when something goes out on him).

 

[rcdp]

Devine and Wuertz also on the DL though

 

[shaunhillftw49]

Need a new sig

 

[eagle 0n]

#LetsGoOakland

 

[jumpmanfromdabay]

Where are all the A's fans at????

 

[wearinthefourfive]

I knew it would have to come down to us getting to their bullpen. BAILEY SIGHTING!!!! THAT HIGHCHEEESE

 

[eagle 0n]

kevin kouzmanoff you son of a %#!%%

 

[urb]

Originally Posted by EAGLE 0N

kevin kouzmanoff you son of a %#!%%

He didn't even throw it hard, looked like a JV throw

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

Rajai makes me happy. Kouzmanoff will get it together, at least defensively.

I liked Sheets yesterday, he'll be consistent throughout the year. I'm hoping that Coco will be back soon, I think with him and Rajai on the basepaths there will be chaos in the infield.

I'm putting Chavez as being done before the end of May. It'll be a tweak in his back at first, and then he'll be shut down and that will be the end of the Eric Chavez era.

Buck needs to shorten his swing, a lot. Looking like Terrence Long out there with his rope-a-dope length.

Bob Geren needs to wake up a better manager.

I can't believe Pennington is our short stop. How long do we have to wait for Grant Green?

 

[shaunhillftw49]

Horrible game. Errors, walks, HIDP.
And my friend flaked so I sat alone in the cold

 

[wearinthefourfive]

Ok here are my thoughts from last nights game (I caught it after inning 2, when my stream kicked in):

I don't want to be quick to judge the offense, it was King Felix. We handled our own against normal pitchers (their bullpen).

Our pitching (minus Ziggy) was solid. Sheets' velocity was on point, that was the only worry I had from him

We're suppose to be the best defensive team in the League, if not all of baseball; where the !+$+ was that?

full count, two outs, bases loaded, top of the 9th, tie game. We couldn't wait 1 game to give me a heart attack?  After that single, I stood up, launched my chair into my dresser, shattering it. Lets hope they don't find that until I move out of my dorm.

Cliff Pennington, thats just a shame. Green/Cardenas should be in full effect next year. Hopefully Cardenas gets brought up ASAP.

[h2]http://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/blo...day-lineup-Oakland-Serious?urn=fantasy,232410[/h2]

[h2]That's your opening day lineup, Oakland? Seriously?[/h2]
By Andy Behrens

OK, I thought it was pretty remarkable that the Mets allowed Alex Cora(notes)to bat leadoff in their opener on Monday. He's a career .245 hitterwith only modest speed. His lifetime on-base percentage is just .313.

But then I saw the A's opening day lineup, and realized that Oakland is fielding an entire team of Alex Coras this year. Check the box score:

That'sreally a civic embarrassment. The 3-4-5 hitters in the A's lineup havecareer OPSs of .727, .741 and .726. It should not surprise you to learnthat Oakland had the American League's lowest team slugging percentagelast year (.397). They can't seriously expect to score enough runs tobe competitive in 2010, right?  

As a bewildered Jack Cust(notes) said after he was designated for assignment over the weekend,"It's messed up. … The fact is, this team has no power and they've justreleased a guy who (averaged 28 homers) the last three years. That'samazing."

It really is amazing. I cannot explain why the A's have putthemselves in this predicament, but I know a fantasy opportunity when Isee one. Here are all the starting pitchers who are likely to faceOakland this week:

Tuesday - Ian Snell(notes) (vs. Dallas Braden(notes))
Wednesday - Ryan Rowland-Smith(notes) (vs. Justin Duchscherer(notes))
Thursday - Doug Fister(notes) (vs. Brett Anderson(notes))
Friday - Matt Palmer(notes) (vs. Gio Gonzalez(notes))
Saturday - Jered Weaver(notes) (vs. Ben Sheets(notes))
Sunday - Joe Saunders(notes) (vs. Dallas Braden)

Most of them are available in standard mixed leagues. Stream as needed. 

@*+!%@% Yahoo!

 

[jumpmanfromdabay]

but that is not cool at all smh at yahoo.

 

[urb]

I just tuned in on the game, pitchers duel, and Braden has 10 strikeouts through six and a third?!? I was like

when I heard it.

 

[wearinthefourfive]

We really need to pull this out.

 

[suckafree85]

im stuck watching what happens on mlb.com with the live play by play.