Idiots Write About The Athletics

"The Athletics" archive

Tuesday 1 November

King for a Day (09:14) - Major League Baseball and the Hall of Fame have opened up fan balloting for the Ford Frick Award, which honors... | 0 Trackbacks | 4 Comments

Wednesday 19 October

Bill King Tributes Better Than Mine (13:20) - As always, Ken Arneson sets the bar high for A's bloggers with this recollection, plus a collection of previous posts... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Tuesday 18 October

In Memoriam: Bill King (13:45) - I miss you already, Bill. Update: OK, I've had some time to gather my thoughts into something that is hopefully... | 0 Trackbacks | 1 Comments

Saturday 15 October

Look on the Bright Side (09:51) - You could do a lot worse, I suppose, than drag the corporeal remains of Ken Macha out of the deep... | 0 Trackbacks | 2 Comments

Friday 14 October

Macha Replaced by... Macha? (11:57) - Bwah? I will have more on this, once I've managed to reconstruct my exploded head.... | 0 Trackbacks | 3 Comments

Tuesday 4 October

Belated Props (17:10) - This photo gallery over at Catfish Stew? Unbelievably cool. And kind of depressing. Really depressing, actually. I'm going to need... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Wednesday 28 September

Alien Planet Baseball Standings (16:22) - The comments to my Baseball Fever - Inoculate Against It! post made me think once again about what would happen... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Wednesday 14 September

Q & A(nger) (21:42) - The theory came to me Tuesday night, just as Ben Broussard put a Jay Witasick pitch over the center field... | 0 Trackbacks | 9 Comments

Monday 29 August

Let It Byrnes (22:00) - From the accounts and descriptions of Friday night's A's-O's game: Kendall dashed to third safely, taking advantage of former teammate... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Thursday 25 August

That's Telekinesis, Homes! (16:27) - So apparently, the mere threat of me writing mean things about the A's has inspired Oakland to snap out of... | 0 Trackbacks | 2 Comments

Wednesday 24 August

Pat Robertson Clarifies His Anti-Eric Chavez Stand (18:27) - Continuing our ongoing effort to deliberately misread news headlines, we update yesterday's Pat Robertson Calls on US to Kill... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments
OK, Boston, Maybe You Are Helping (11:32) - The Red Sox responded to my pissy little complaints about their lack of victories against the hated Angels of Greater... | 0 Trackbacks | 1 Comments

Tuesday 23 August

Pat Robertson: Destroy All Athletics (12:16) - So I'm scanning the news today, when I come across this headline: Robertson Urges US to Kill Chavez And I'm... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Sunday 21 August

You Are Not Helping, Boston (12:17) - Dear Boston Red Sox: I realize we have never really been on the best of terms. In fact, I think... | 0 Trackbacks | 5 Comments
Why Can't We Be Enemies? (04:15) - I'm a big fan of the MLB on XM Satellite Radio ad that airs nearly continuously during Major League Baseball... | 0 Trackbacks | 5 Comments

Monday 15 August

Rex Accepts What He Cannot Change (23:00) - Let us turn our attention away from the dark clouds gathering around the A's and back toward happier times --... | 0 Trackbacks | 6 Comments
Ken Macha Mystifies Phil, 335 in a Series (20:59) - Let us say you are Oakland A's manager Ken Macha. Let us further suppose your team is clinging to a... | 0 Trackbacks | 4 Comments
...Or Else (10:09) - At long last, new A's owner Lew Wolff has unveiled his plans for a new stadium just north of the... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Thursday 11 August

Cram It, Clown (11:00) - How to explain the A's gripping win over the Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles last night? Some would say it... | 0 Trackbacks | 1 Comments

Thursday 4 August

Random Is in the Eye of the Beholder (22:59) - Say, people are always asking me. Don't you have a blog where you write about the triumphs and tragedies of... | 0 Trackbacks | 3 Comments

Friday 22 July

Puzzling Words from a Puzzling Man (17:39) - I still don't know what to make of Jay Payton. I'm not sure he's that great a pickup except in... | 0 Trackbacks | 2 Comments

Thursday 21 July

Let's Hope the Sklar Brothers Don't Retain Vigilant Legal Counsel (20:11) - Clearly I have been watching far too much Cheap Seats, the episode featuring the Pam Minnick def poetry slam in... | 0 Trackbacks | 2 Comments

Thursday 14 July

A Farewell to Spazzy (10:25) - A few weeks back David Schoenfield, one of the few remaining bright lights over at ESPN.com, did a bit on... | 0 Trackbacks | 2 Comments

Wednesday 13 July

Player Laundering (16:44) - The A's have sent submarining reliever Chad Bradford to Boston in exchange for the galactically unexciting Jay Payton. The trade,... | 0 Trackbacks | 1 Comments

Monday 4 July

You Can Spell "Fourth of July" Without the A's (14:35) - For a nice, little four-year stretch -- from 2000 to 2003 -- the wife and I used to celebrate the... | 0 Trackbacks | 1 Comments

Sunday 3 July

Time for Smash Mouth's Royalty Checks to Increase Ever so Slightly (22:08) - Traditionally, I have two interests in baseball's all-star game: 1) to see the unusual pitcher-versus-batter match-ups one just doesn't get... | 0 Trackbacks | 5 Comments

Thursday 30 June

Kenny Chesney, Molder of Men (10:26) - I am probably the last person in the world to stumble across this item that appeared in USA Today Sports... | 0 Trackbacks | 3 Comments

Sunday 26 June

Reasons My Wife Is the Greatest Woman I Have Ever Known, No. 300 in a Series (21:41) - So we have on the Indians-Reds game this morning, but mostly as background noise. I am puttering around the Internet,... | 0 Trackbacks | 1 Comments

Wednesday 22 June

Byrnes Giveth, Byrnes Taketh Away (23:34) - Eric Byrnes hit a run-scoring double in the top of the 12th to give the A's a 4-3 lead over... | 0 Trackbacks | 2 Comments

Tuesday 21 June

The Long and Winding Road (10:45) - If you live on the West Coast, at some point in time, you will find yourself driving up and/or down... | 0 Trackbacks | 6 Comments

Friday 3 June

Glynn? G'wan... (19:27) - There is perhaps no more disconcerting feeling than flipping on the telecast of the team whom you follow in lieu... | 1 Trackbacks | 1 Comments

Thursday 2 June

D'oh!-Tel (18:39) - Hey, remember that agrument I made about trading Octavio Dotel to a contender. Guess that plan's off the table. Athletics... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Tuesday 31 May

Dust Off the Kool & the Gang Record (18:34) - Holy cow! An A's win! A good A's win! With timely hitting and stellar bullpen work and come-from behind heroics,... | 0 Trackbacks | 4 Comments

Monday 30 May

Loser Connection (10:54) - From the Notes section of this wire story recording the A's latest bout with ineptitude for posterity: Oakland has not... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments
What to Root For (10:13) - I go into each season with a simple hope -- that the A's will play meaningful ballgames deep into September.... | 0 Trackbacks | 3 Comments

Sunday 29 May

What Did I Just Say? (09:44) - I write: Ken Macha needs to pick a lineup and stick with it. No more of this “start Kielty on... | 0 Trackbacks | 2 Comments

Saturday 28 May

CrummyBall (16:38) - Actual iChat transcripts from A's-Injuns game: Oakland begins the game with a Kendall single, a Kotsay walk, and a Kielty... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Friday 20 May

A Friendly Wager (14:38) - With the A's and the Giants meeting in pitched battle this weekend, Jason and I will be setting aside our... | 0 Trackbacks | 5 Comments

Thursday 19 May

Should Have Kept the 'Stache, David (17:13) - As you may have noticed during yesterday's trouncing of the World Champions by the usually overmatched Oakland Athletics, David Wells... | 0 Trackbacks | 4 Comments

Friday 13 May

You Can't Go Home Again (14:12) - Thanks to my work schedule, I find myself spending time in the Bay Area for the second time in three... | 0 Trackbacks | 1 Comments

Tuesday 10 May

Timing Is Everything (18:57) - Just got home from a cross-country flight from Dulles. It's about 6:50. "Hey, the A's-Red Sox game is probably still... | 0 Trackbacks | 3 Comments

Monday 9 May

Billy Beane's Miracle Wondro-Elixir (06:43) - Friends, is your baseball team floundering? Are your local nine as down in the dumps as they are in the... | 0 Trackbacks | 2 Comments

Friday 29 April

You Haven't Lost a Blogger, You've Gained a Gourmand (15:50) - A major overhaul of the editorial direction over at Catfish Stew: Last time I tried to do an A's web... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Wednesday 27 April

What Are These Things Called Runs? (11:25) - Dear Oakland A's, I think it was awfully nice of you to stop scoring runs between the game I attended... | 0 Trackbacks | 2 Comments

Monday 25 April

Triumph of the Small Ball (00:18) - It is foolish, perhaps, to cast a single baseball game as a battle between organizational philosophies. Then again, the past... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Saturday 23 April

The Forecast Tonight? Rain and Irritation (15:46) - One of the nice side effects of being a California-based baseball fan is that in two-plus decades of attending ballgames... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments
Ups and Downs (08:27) - I did not see Rich Harden's ascension into Ace-i-tude on Thursday. It was my wife's birthday, and so I got... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Thursday 21 April

Billy's Goats Gruff (10:34) - So many goats in last night's game against the Mariners, so little time. Ah, but who is the king of... | 0 Trackbacks | 2 Comments

Wednesday 20 April

Say It Ain't So, Joe (16:42) - For those who've missed the latest chapter in Joe Morgan's brave public battle against common sense, the grumpy, old "in-my-day-we-always-bunted-in-runs-and-we-liked-it"... | 0 Trackbacks | 1 Comments
Tempted by the Fruit of Another (03:16) - While we are on the subject of my fantasy baseball team -- Wait! No! Come back, damnit! -- let me... | 0 Trackbacks | 1 Comments

Monday 18 April

Not It! (17:39) - Dear Oakland A's, The other day, I fretted in public that one of the reasons for your less-than-optimal start was... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Sunday 17 April

Off to the Fortress of Solitude (10:27) - What an A's-Angels game yesterday. Two stellar pitching performances! A taut, thrilling game! A shocking A's bunt! A game-deciding error... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Saturday 16 April

Halo to Last Place (10:50) - I don't know why, but I found Friday's loss to the Angels profoundly dispiriting. Maybe it's the fact that another... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Monday 11 April

A Weekend Without Baseball (20:57) - The only A's game from Tampa to find its way to my television this weekend was the Friday night extra-innings... | 0 Trackbacks | 2 Comments

Friday 8 April

Faster, A's... Kill! Kill! (16:15) - Boy, the A's looked fast in Thursday night's game against the Orioles. They swung fast, they ran fast, they took... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Wednesday 6 April

Now That's More Like It (23:01) - Everything that went wrong Monday? It sure went well tonight. The A's worked the counts (six walks!), got runners on... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Tuesday 5 April

The 12th Man (22:59) - And on the second day, the A's rested. Well, they pretty much rested on the first day of the season,... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Monday 4 April

So Much for Going 162-0 (23:01) - You see a lot of posts on assorted baseball blogs about the sense of promise and spirit of unfettered optimism... | 0 Trackbacks | 2 Comments

Monday 7 March

Live from Arizona: Phoenix Municipal Assessed (10:38) - We bring you this post live from a nondescript part of Tempe, where one-half of the Idiots Who Write About... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Wednesday 16 February

Oh, Come On... (10:28) - The wait continues for an Oakland Athletics-themed illustration from our mad, Korea-based genius. And it looks like the wait will... | 0 Trackbacks | 8 Comments

Tuesday 15 February

Ramon Hernandez: Like Wall? (15:00) - ESPN.com's Phil Rogers -- whom Jason thinks is just a wee bit insane -- looks at the cavalcade of catchers... | 0 Trackbacks | 5 Comments

Sunday 13 February

An Idiot's Guide to Spring Training: Part Two (17:11) - In part one of our epic-length, extended-dance-remix-version Spring Training Guide, we talked about the various venues in the Phoenix-Scottsdale area.... | 0 Trackbacks | 3 Comments

Saturday 12 February

An Idiot's Guide to Spring Training: Part One (14:51) - Pitchers and catchers report in less than a week. Are there nine words in the English language that sound so... | 0 Trackbacks | 3 Comments

Sunday 6 February

We Have So Much to Learn From Korea (11:23) - Why are you wasting your time with this site? Really -- why? All the cool stuff is over at Rob... | 1 Trackbacks | 9 Comments

Tuesday 25 January

My Stare-Down with Stew (23:01) - It's been nearly 18 months since I was exiled from my ancestral homeland in the East Bay to Southern California.... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Monday 17 January

Una Gran Serie de Historias sobre Béisbol (21:53) - Since I spend a lot of time here -- too much time, really -- ripping apart stories that offend my... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Friday 17 December

Folding an Ace: The Aftermath (10:54) - Reactions to the Tim Hudson-for-Three-Who's-He? trade are beginning to pour in. They're understandibly giddy about the deal over at Braves... | 0 Trackbacks | 2 Comments

Thursday 16 December

Goodbye, Huddy (15:32) - Well, Tim Hudson won't need to travel so far from his Florida home for spring training next year. I don't... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Wednesday 15 December

You Better You Better You Bet (23:17) - This thread here, where Steve-O takes me to school on the finer points of sports books and vigs, reminded me... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Sunday 12 December

Is That All There Is? (09:33) - The New York Post, in its typically self-assured fashion, reports that a Tim Hudson-to-the-Dodgers deal is all but complete. Oakland's... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Wednesday 24 November

Crummy Pitchers, Begone (18:27) - Word around the campfire is that Jason Kendall is this close to becoming an Oakland Athletic, once the A's and... | 0 Trackbacks | 3 Comments

Monday 15 November

Arr, Matey (21:59) - I haven't had much to say about Bobby Crosby winning the Rookie of the Year award. Maybe it's because things... | 0 Trackbacks | 4 Comments

Tuesday 5 October

Requiem (10:15) - I have this bad habit when watching A's games on television that has only gotten more pronounced this season. When... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Friday 1 October

Radio Silence (19:45) - You know, if the A's have to lose to the Angels tonight, then that's what's going to happen. Disappointing, yes,... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Thursday 30 September

I Feel Happy.... I Feel Happy... (15:29) - "Bring out your dead! Bring out your dead!" Here's one. I'm not dead yet. "'ere... he says he's not dead... | 0 Trackbacks | 2 Comments

Tuesday 28 September

My TiVo Concedes to Anaheim (21:38) - Not long after Erubiel Durazo popped up in the bottom of the seventh with the bases loaded to nip any... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Saturday 25 September

Hud The Homer (14:32) - Your Fox broadcast team for this afternoon's A's-Angels tilt -- the very under-rated Mel Proctor and the unspeakably abysmal Rex... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Friday 24 September

Grumpy Phil (16:52) - Mean things about John Kruk. Pissy dismissals of Jayson Stark. Long, rambling treatises on events that were old news a... | 0 Trackbacks | 1 Comments
You Can Have My Beer When You Pry The Plastic Cup From My Cold, Dead Hand (09:00) - After the chair-throwing comes the meddling -- the on-rush of pundits armed with well-meaning-but-ultimately-idiotic proposals to make sure that situations... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Thursday 23 September

You Know What? I Think I Will Mess With Texas (21:50) - (You know the bummer thing about taking a vacation, even when it's to someplace beautiful like Kauai? It takes you... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Saturday 4 September

Good Natured G.M.-Ribbing (16:58) - From the Chronicle's account of last night's A's-Blue Jays contest: Not to be outdone, another A's outfielder, Bobby Kielty, put... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Friday 3 September

Swish! (17:24) - As I write this, Nick Swisher, Oakland's first-round pick in the 2002 draft, is making his Major League debut in... | 0 Trackbacks | 0 Comments

Monday 30 August

The Most Subdued Walkoff Homer Ever (16:08) - Billy McMillon has 15 career home runs (13 heading into this season, two so far in 2004); none of them... | 0 Trackbacks

Thursday 19 August

Taunting 101 (20:05) - The A's had just dispensed with the Baltimore Orioles, and I was sitting in Section 74 at Camden Yards, totalling... | 0 Trackbacks
Durazo 5, Orioles 4 (07:24) - So the wife and I took in a game at Camden Yards last night to see if the A's could... | 0 Trackbacks | 1 Comments

Thursday 5 August

The Man With No Name (16:44) - So as a part of his weekly baseball column on ESPN.com's Page 2, Eric Neel is asking readers to choose... | 0 Trackbacks | 1 Comments

Sunday 1 August

A Farewell to Fabio (00:05) - I've been too busy -- or perhaps too indifferent -- to comment on Oakland sending Eric Karros on his way... | 0 Trackbacks

Saturday 31 July

Ken Macha's Very Bad No Good Terrible Day (12:18) - During the eighth inning of last night's eventually disastrous A's-Rangers affair, as pinch-hitter Kevin Mench strode to the plate to... | 0 Trackbacks

Thursday 29 July

Hammerin' Hank (23:09) - There are some A's fans who do not care for Hank Greenwald as the A's part-time TV announcer. Perhaps they... | 0 Trackbacks

Wednesday 28 July

The Bad Old Days (09:50) - Last week, I mentioned in passing the A's truly horrible 1979 squad. Almost on cue, the San Francisco Chronicle ran... | 0 Trackbacks | 3 Comments

Friday 23 July

Alvin Dark, International Man of Mystery (16:20) - The A's celebrated the 30th anniversary of the 1974 World Series champions while I was up in the Bay Area... | 0 Trackbacks | 4 Comments

Thursday 22 July

Bush On Bush (13:08) - I am probably the only human being in the world amused by the fact that the San Francisco Chronicle's report... | 0 Trackbacks | 1 Comments

Friday 9 July

Losing Is For Losers, And Winners Play to Win (15:35) - You wouldn't expect to find me this calm, cool and collected the day after an extra-innings loss to the hated... | 0 Trackbacks | 1 Comments

Monday 5 July

Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Cold (11:04) - Contretemps in yesterday's Giants-A's finale at Texas-Based Telecom Company Ballfield. Mark Mulder plunked Barry Bonds on the wrist to lead... | 0 Trackbacks | 4 Comments

Thursday 1 July

Thou Shalt Not Bunt in the First Inning (13:39) - I have the A's-Angels game on this afternoon -- shhhhh, don't tell the boss -- and since I'm back in... | 1 Comments

Saturday 26 June

Idiot Questions Answered by Other Idiots (20:21) - Yes, Jason, Phil saw the play of which you speak, and yes, it irritated him greatly, though not as much...
Fielder's Brain Lock (18:49) - In last night's Giants-A's tilt, there was a particularly awful A's play in the first inning. I'm sure Phil was...

Friday 25 June

Keep Away! (15:19) - I can't really add anything to the discussion over how Oakland fared in the Carlos Beltran deal that you won't...

Thursday 24 June

How Great Thou Art Not (20:54) - "If you haven't seen this yet," trusty reader Vic writes after last week's angry rantings about Arthur Rhodes, "I suggest... | 2 Comments

Thursday 17 June

Arthur, Too, On the Rocks (16:22) - Got home from work last night, just in time to watch Arthur Rhodes -- proof positive that just because you've... | 1 Comments

Tuesday 8 June

We Heard It There First (21:39) - Me and The Other Guy who posts stuff here spent Sunday afternoon at Sabermetrics Day at the A's, a joint... | 1 Comments

Wednesday 2 June

The Gang That Couldn't Save Straight (11:21) - I'm glad that Jason was able to return from across the pond to find the Giants inexplicably winning. Because if...

Friday 28 May

Marco! Scuta... Scoota.. Ah, The Hell With It (16:42) - We're getting the Cleveland field for tonight's A's-Indians game, which means I get to play my favorite game of the...

Thursday 20 May

The Two Zitos (16:17) - Just so that my wife's comment in the preceding post doesn't cause any unnecessary confusion, perhaps it's time to point... | 4 Comments

Wednesday 19 May

The Reflexes of A Cat... A Fat, Slow-Witted Cat (12:07) - Between 2001 and 2003, I had a 20-game season ticket package for bleacher seats at the Oakland Colisuem. That means... | 1 Comments
Arrivederci, Frankie (09:33) - I don't have quite the same problem with Frank Menechino that most A's fans seem to have. Frankie's name has...

Thursday 6 May

Black is White, Night is Day (23:16) - Curious happenings in Oakland tonight: the A's starting pitcher, Rich Harden, left the game with two on and two out... | 1 Comments

Tuesday 4 May

YES? No! (21:16) - I'm watching the A's-Yankees game on MLB Extra Innings tonight, which is coming to me courtesy of YES, the Greatest...

Wednesday 28 April

So Other Than That, Mr. Macha, How Are You Enjoying New York City? (10:35) - God knows I'm not trying to belabor this Ken Macha-screwed-up-last-night's-game-and-quite-possibly-Western-Civilization kick I've been on because it's one game out of... | 2 Comments

Tuesday 27 April

Ken Macha Ruins Everything (23:37) - So I've got a little quiz for you folks out there. Let's say you've opened up an 8-4 lead over... | 3 Comments

Sunday 25 April

I Am to Blame for Oakland's Losing Streak (09:35) - Over the years, I have acquired a sizable collection of Oakland A's-related clothing. Not including green Hawaiian or polo shirts...

Tuesday 20 April

Things That Go Balk in the Night (17:18) - Boy, I tell you, nothing like devoting four-and-a-half, five hours to watching a baseball game when you should be spending...

Tuesday 6 April

Marco! Scutaro! (00:04) - My wife has really turned into a baseball fan. Which is impressive, because when we met she was not interested... | 0 Trackbacks

Saturday 3 April

Voice of the Home Team (19:59) - Last night's Giants-A's preseason tilt was broadcast live from XYZ Park by KICU (Slogan: "Action 36!" because "KTVU's Sloppy Seconds"... | 0 Trackbacks