Monday, October 02, 2006

Still drooling.


by Ryland Walker Knight

After a two-year hiatus (including a late-season stumble last year), the Oakland Athletics have won the AL West and are competing in the playoffs. I was pretty heartbroken following their last few flame outs in the postseason but my expectations were pretty high going into those series. This year I'm a little more realistic. And skeptical. The end of the season was a little distressing, to be honest.

Last week I attended the series opener against the Mariners here in Seattle. All they had to do was win and the A's would clinch their AL West title. And things started out great with a home run by Milton Bradley in the top of the first. Estaban Loaiza was even relatively effective. Then, in the 5th inning, with the A's up by six runs (9-3), the Mariners began to batter the A's bullpen. Going into the bottom of the 9th, the A's still lead by three but that apparently wasn't enough for the usually lights-out Oakland closer (and reigning Rookie of the Year) Huston Street. The Mariners tied the score and wound up winning the game. I was flabergasted, speechless as we exited.

The A's went on to win the series and clinch their pennant but their final series against the Angels was yet more dispiriting. They lost that series playing sloppy only to win the final game of the season. I must admit, my hopes for this playoff run are significantly less than in years previous. Especially drawing the Twins at home for the Division Series.

The Twins have been on a ridiculous tear, playing a Major League best 71-33 since June. They have the best home record in the Majors as well at 54-27. They also have the best pitcher in the game, Johan Santana, and the batting champ, catcher Joe Mauer, plus a serious MVP candidate in firstbaseman Justin Morneau. It's a tall order for a team with its best pitcher (Rich Harden) still recovering, its marquee player (Eric Chavez) enduring a trying year beset by injuries and a mediocre bullpen struggling down the stretch.

What the A's do have going for them is their best lineup since 2001, a better starting pitching rotation than the Twins and a lot of veteran excitement. At the top of their lineup, Jason Kendall and Mark Kotsay have never played in the postseasn and are quick to declare their own excitement. Frank Thomas is back on the big stage to prove himself once again after a season's worth of proof he's still dangerous and capable. But good will won't win ballgames. Timely hitting, good pitching and reliable team defense do win ballgames. Luckily, the A's have all three. But so do the Twins.

The one thing the A's have over the Twins is a key mental edge: when cornered, considered the underdog, the Oakland Athletics have routinely prooved they can rise up. Granted, that was always in the regular season, climbing the standings to the top by the end of the schedule. But that's part of that good will factor that won't necessarily push Oakland over the equalizing line.

For now I'm just hoping the A's make it intereting. I'm pretty much conceding game 1 against Santana since he never wastes a pitch and can take his excellent stuff deep into games, handing the ball to Joe Nathan, the best closer in the AL this year. But I think the A's could do some damage against the rest of the Twins' banged up and inconsistent rotation. But let's not forget Barry Zito is 2-1 with a 2.74 ERA in the postseason. If he can keep it close, maybe the A's will make a real push to put some pressure on the Twins early in the series. Maybe that way they can break their streak of exiting early and show the Yankees who's boss on the big ALCS stage. Having attended two Oakland wins in New York I know the A's can beat them. But first things first: make the Division Series interesting enough and don't give up. I can't help drooling about a possible win but I'll try wiping my mouth for now.

18 comments:

  1. Okay, I'm going to post comments all game. I'm starting a little late so a little recap:

    Top 1st: 3 up, 3 down--2 K by Santana. Scary good.

    Bottom 1st: 3 up, 3 down. After a leadoff walk from Zito, he settled down to retire the side with ease. He seems focused.

    Top 2nd: Frank Thomas leading off--HOME RUN! OMG! Santana looks pissed. Eric Chavez strikes out on a slider away. Woo-hoo! Jay Payon gets a hit. Nick Swisher can't handle the heat yet. But wait--Scutaro just loped a double and Payton's rounding third. A's up 2-0. Mark Ellis strikes out.

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  2. Bottom 2nd: Barry Zito looking good, strikes out Cuddyer with a change up. Morneau grounds out to 2nd. Torri Hunter hits the first pitch to SS and Zito's out of the inning with 8 pitches.

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  3. Looks like the A's are in control but it's still early so I won't get too excited. But really, who would have expected this score at this point in the game in favor of this team? Pretty hard not to drool with joy.

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  4. Have you seen these ads with Tommy LaSorda? He just coaxed a young coed Red Sox bandwagoner out of the bathroom to root against the Yankees. It's cute. One of the better baseball ads I've seen.

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  5. Top 3rd: Kendall leads off and strikes out again. He rarely strikes out (hardest in the AL next to Ichiro?) so he must be getting fooled. Big surprise. Kotsay worked the count but he got K'd again, too. Despite that good at-bat to see some pitches, he looked lost. Bradley gets some wood on it but hits it right at SS. That top of the order needs to get it together if they want to score some more runs.

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  6. Bottom 3rd: A fly to right, a chop to the mound, and a fly to center means another easy inning for Barry Zito. 30 pitches in 3 innings--pretty good so far--and with every pitch working. That curve is nigh unhittable today. He's going to earn a lot of money this offseason.

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  7. Top 4th: Big Hurt hits it high, hits it long, omg!, no, it's foul. I thought it was a replay at first. Fly out to right. Chavez looks lame and strikes out again, waving at all the pitches. But the replay shows he was right on it, just not timed well eoungh. Jay Payton goes after the first pitch and hits it to second base. 7 pitches. Santana's got even better stuff than Zito today but he's made more mistakes so far. But that's just a few to none. And Santana's dominating a few hitters. Crossing fingers.

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  8. Bottom 4th: Zito stars a little off, 2-0, now 3-0 to Castillo. Why can't he throw this guy a strike? Okay, he does: 3-1. Castillo shows bunt and Zito walks him again. Sacrifice is close but the A's turn an excellent play with Ellis covering first base for Swisher, who fielded the ball. Mauer hits it to second, in effect another sacrifice, moving Castillo to third with Cuddyer coming up. Zito's still effective but the just showed he's thrown 21 balls and 23 strikes. Cuddyer hit it high but right at left field, stranding the runner.

    Phew! So that's 22 balls and 24 strikes, 46 pitches through 4. Still decent, even if that inning was a little nervous.

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  9. Top 5th: Swisher leading off, swings and misses at the first one and then pops up the second pitch. It must be tough to wait and watch some pitches when Santana only throws strikes early on but c'mon. Scutaro hit it right back at Santana, knocking him over, but the pitcher recovers and throws to first for the out. Jesus, 3 pitches guys. Ellis looks at strike one before swinging at the second pitch and grounding out to second. 5 fucking pitches? I know, I know, it's the bottom of the lineup but Swisher should know better at least. The A's patience is always one of their strengths but their not showing it right now.

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  10. Bottom 5th: Ken Macha's sweet. He says the big play was Jason Kendall throwing out Castillo cuz it helped turn around Barry's 1st inning. Morneau lunged at a curveball and hit it to the warning track but Kotsay got right under it, perfect. That guy's big and strong to hit it like that and get it out to the left center wall. Torii Hunter chases a curve and pops to center. Actually, a good pitch to hit but he missed it. Rondell White gets the first hit for the Twins: a standup double. The crowd is alive again. Barry throws one in the dirt to Nevin before a strike inside. Whiffs at a curveball in the dirt, 1-2. Down again, great save by Kendall. Nevin pops it up! Fuckin sweet.

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  11. Top 6th: This is a damned quick game. Good pitching will do that, I suppose. Kendall gets another try and gets a ball before flying out to center. At least he got some of the bat on it this time. Kotsay can't handle the high heat and it's 0-2 before Kotsay hits it up the middle, breaking the streak of 11 retired in a row. Double play. Fuck. Got a little too excited.

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  12. Bottom 6th: First pitch swinging pops Bartlett out. A strike to Castillo! And another! 1-2 before a curve in the dirt. Damn, hit to the gap--but played well by Kotsay to cut it off and hold Castillo to a single. HA! Punto pops it up to Ellis for out number two. Mauer shows a bunt and gets a strike from the homeplate umpire. Zito's falling behind, 2-1 and now 3-1. He walks Mauer. Damn. Two on, two out with clean up hitter Cuddyer (who drove in 109 this year) coming up. 12-to-6 curve for strike one. A hit right at SS. Phew. Quick out to second. Man that was a threat. With a two run cushion that's tense shit. But Barry's staying cool.

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  13. Top 7th: Big Hurt hit it to right and almost got thrown out. Chavez hit it to SS but it got bobbled and a sure fire double play is bungled. Two on, no outs, Payton up. Bartlett looks a little pissed, as he should. Mauer is like a foot taller than Santana. Payton pops up to center, one out. Swisher settles in and takes a ball outside. He hit .190 with RISP this year--OUTCH!--but he's ahead 2-0 before waving at a change up WAY outside and laughing at himself. Slider inside corner for strike two. Crowd rising. Swisher thought he'd taken strike three but it was ball three, up. WALK! Amazing at-bat from Swisher to load the bases. All we need is a sac fly to get another run but it better be a deep fly to center cuz Big Frank is mighty slow. Confrence on the mound slows the game down as Scutaro settles into the box. Scutaro lines the ball right at center, shallow, and Thomas cannot make the run. Now we need a hit. Ellis flies out, wasting the chance.

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  14. Bottom 7th: Morneau flies out to deep center. Hunter flies out to left. Rondell White gets a home run to left on the first pitch he sees. Score's now 2-1. Nevin goes quietly but the Twins are within striking distance and Santana looks jazzed to get back out and shut down the A's.

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  15. Top 8th: Kendall leading off almost beats out a grounder to third. Punto jumps into the stands to grab Kotsay's pop up. Bradley's having a great at bat staying alive and Santana's got enough gas to strike him out. Getting tense. And it's loud as shit in that Metrodome.

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  16. Bottom 8th: Zito still hurling. Gives up a left field line drive double to Bartlett. Castillo tries to bunt and Kendall almost threw out the sneaking Bartlett. Castillo shoots it to third, Chavez looks Bartlett back and throws out Castillo at first. Punto hits it to the second baseman and moves Bartlett over. Mauer flies out to left, stranding the run, keeping the A's lead intact. Another Phew! inning. Guess we'll see if Street's up to it in the bottom of the ninth. Now let's try for some insurance.

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  17. Top 9th: Santana threw 107 pitches and gives way to Jesse Crain. Frank Thomas leads the inning off and launches a home run! 3-1. Chavez is running the count full. Grounds out to second for the first out. Payton chopped the ball to the SS and almost beat out the throw but it's out number two. Still giddy from the HR, we're just crossing our fingers here. Swisher switches to left handed hitting and takes a couple of balls. Swisher hits it to right, who bobbles it, and ends up on second. Pitching change: Pat Neshek in. Scutaro gets a few strikes and the faithful get loud--and now even louder as he strikes out. HERE WE GO! Middle of the order coming up.

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  18. Bottom 9th: Milton Bradley loses the high fly from Cuddyer in the bright white ceiling and it bounces to the wall before Kotsay, backing up, can throw it back in; Cuddyer hustles his way to third. Uh-oh. At least it wasn't Street's fault. Torii Hunter grounds out to second but the run comes home, bringing the Twins closer. 3-2. Now we've got two outs and nobody on base with Rondell White at the plate. HE FLIES OUT! A'S WIN! YES! AWESOME!

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