Idiots Write About Sports

Dear Oakland A’s,

The other day, I fretted in public that one of the reasons for your less-than-optimal start was my selfish insistence on watching all your games, since you always seemed to lose when I tuned in. However, I watched the first seven innings of yetsterday’s battle against our hated oppressors from the Southland on television and caught the last two on the radio. And since the game ended with us towering over the burnt bones of our rivals in triumphant glee, I can only conclude whatever our problem is, it has nothing to do with me. I suggest you blame Chavez.

Your pal,
Phil

Actually, I saw quite a bit more of the A’s-Angels game on TV than I intended to yesterday. The plan was to maybe see the first inning or two while I took care of some business related to the paying gig, then run some errands with the wife as the Angels radio broadcast kept us posted on the details. But that work-related task, which should have taken about 15 minutes, wound up taking decidedly longer when our content management system chose a breaking news day to completely melt-down.

If you’ve ever wondered whether there’s anything worse than being stuck at work on a Sunday, I’m here to tell you that there is. You could be stuck at work on a Sunday thanks to a server crap-out while your wife is giving you such a powerful stinkeye, you can feel its piercing glare from the other room. Oh, and the server problem could seemingly get resolved, only to crap out again, just as Garret Anderson hits a three-run homer to put the baseball team you root for in a 6-4 hole.

Well, Marco Scutaro came through with that game-winning homer. And I could at least shut the door to my office to avoid direct contact with the nuclear stinkeye. So that’s two out of three problems solved right there.

Other news and notes from Sunday’s game:

• Not only did Scutaro come up with the big hit Sunday, he also made a nifty play in the field to throw out Steve Finley on what looked to be a sure single. And, let us not forget, on Saturday, Scooter laid down The Bunt That Launched a Thousand Swishers.

And to think, Scutaro was slated for a trip to Sacramento, until Bobby Crosby cracked a rib. Oh, a handful of brave, handsome, perceptive Internet pundits argued that he belonged on the team, but our reward is the knowledge of being proven right time and time again.

• Or maybe not. As Rob McMillin suggests in the comments of this post, I may have over-rated the Angels’ offense a tad much.

• While I’m at, since I don’t hesitate to jump all over Eric Byrnes when he does something wrong, I should note that Spaz made a highlight-reel catch yesterday and added a lead-off double to begin the inning where the A’s mounted their final comeback. It doesn’t change my overall opinion of Byrnes’ ultimate worth to Oakland — summary: buy low, sell high — but he makes the occasional contribution. (As I write this, Byrnes has just struck out on three pitches with a runner on third and one out in tonight’s Texas game. Thanks, Eric — I hate the taste of crow.)

• Because my attention was focused on the world’s most fickle content management system, I didn’t have the wherewithal to pay Rex Hudler much mind. He began the top of the sixth, enthusing about how emergency replacement catcher Josh Paul had done a good job calming down John Lackey… just as Lackey gave up the lead-off double to Byrnes and base hit to Mark Ellis to cut the Anaheim lead to one. And when it looked like Lackey might escape the sixth without further damage, Hudler returned to his theme of Josh-Paul-as-calming-influence… seconds before Scutaro knocked the ball over the left field wall.

Oh, Rexy. I’m laughing with you, not at you.

• You can make too much out of pitcher-batter match-ups, but wasn’t Ricardo Rincon the same pitcher who gave up the hit by Garret Anderson that cost Oakland the division last year? Wasn’t the decision to stick with Rincon in that game one of the rumored reasons for bench coach Chris Speier getting the ol’ heave-ho? So why was Rincon brought in yesterday to serve up a gopher ball to his personal tormentor Anderson?

These are the things that torment me while I wait for servers to be fixed.

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