Picking up where Ed left off last night. Losers of 5 of 6, the A’s try to straighten things out against Anibal Sanchez and the Tigers (who have lost 7 of their last 9 themselves even after last night).
It’s the MLB.tv Free Game of the Night, and on the radio side Vince is off for a couple days to attend his daughter’s high school graduation, so Roxy Bernstein sits in with Ken and Ray.
Scott Kazmir is on the mound for the Green and Gold, supported by this lineup:
Coco CF, Jaso DH, Donaldson 3B, Moss 1B, Cespedes LF, Lowrie SS, Norris C, Reddick RF, Sogard 2B.
ooh nice. I like roxy.
Yo, anyone else kind of appalled by that ad for the California Registered Nurses Association or whatever that they have been running during games on the radio this year. It’s in terrible taste and wtf is the point of it anyway?
They’re trying to lure Jennifer out here.
She’s dead.
I’m not up to date on California politics but assume they have a Proposition (or are opposing a Proposition) on the November ballot?
I was expecting that too, but there’s no mention of politics. It seems to be just designed to make people appreciate nurses by ham handedly presenting a dystopia in which smarmy doctors use math to misdiagnose the elderly.
yeah, Algorithms are bad, they have no place in medicine.
now pass the leeches.
total supporter of the unions, but I don’t get the point either.
Probably related to work rules.
I bet FSU knows.
Nurse:patient ratios are set by state law, hospital chains would like them relaxed because nurses are expensive. This ad campaign is on of CNA’s tactics for lobbying Sacramento on the issue.
It’s pretty ill conceived method of lobbying then. There’s no mention of that backdrop at all, just a bunch of shitty scare tactics.
Generic article about In Search Of: MLB Commish edition.
So that’s it-the shared territiory discussion never GOT to him!!
I am super excited to see rajai davis lead off
Can we not lose tonight, please?
“athletics Investment Group”
Home whites?!
what the fuck
look, Raijai made a good play stealing thirs, but are we ignoring how he got to second? on a passed ball?
I’m more and more convinced Norris is simply a bad catcher.
I have come to this conclusion as well. He could improve though where Jaso is what he is.
We’ve seen a Rajai run. Now we need a patented Rajai out.
Or the gidp works.
Did not expect a 9 pitch inning there but I’ll take it.
now runs. early and often
oh, and Rajai is in center? come on, show us your 2009 self rajai
why oh why is this a shooty babbit game. It would be so great to not have ray prattling on
Ray on the radio at night is just a slap in the face. I don’t know if I can take this.
Stop talking about the replay ray.
you confuse me, because I don’t have pictures, I can’t tell if you are looking at something or just making up old man stuff
Right? Who does he think he’s talking to?
Try Shooty. You’ll miss Ray.
This.
Yes, I have come to the conclusion that hiring Shooty for the 20 game TV color slot was done entirely to make fans think Fosse is really not so bad. And it’s working.
Wait. So I’ll have to suffer through 13 more of those? NOooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!
Maaaaaaaaaaan!
Yes, it is.
Hunter again.
Dammit.
And I so wanted the call to be Torii the homophobe slid out of the basepath.
did torii the homophobe?
No more than anyone else normally does. But it would have made me happy.
dammit, where is the raijai route
Damn it Raj.
Dammit. This is going to be the infamous Rajai series isn’t it.
Better now than Oct?
I hadn’t noticed how lowrie has disappeared.
what the hell? we gave you a chance! we claimied you off waivers and made you a regular.
stop being an ungreatful ass
Thank goodness for Ian Kinsler.
see how that goes? nice inflection, tells me “strikeout” first, then fills in the details.
I can now listen in the 2nd and 3rd.
They really need to move Vince to the TV side where explaining what happened isn’t at all important.
can we option sogard in the middle of a game?
Getting really fking sick of Keebs.
I like the guy. Nerd power is cute. Keebs is cool. Heim and his wife seem nice.
We need a 2b man.
Roxy was on the Marlins radio crew when Sanchez threw his first NO-HITTER and he could be in the park for another Sanchez NO-HITTER tonight.
Wait, what? Are you saying he has a NO-HITTER going?
the A’s not having any hits means sanchez has a no hitter going tonight?
Well done gentlemen.
Sanchez is still working on a SHUTOUT though.
sanchez has a no runner?
Hes still WINNING?
DAMMIT TORIIIIIII
I’m guessing Ed’s head is about to explode.
i had a knife in my had.
dammit
Does it seem like Lew has been in his seats less this year?
Yes, I have noticed this also. Or perhaps he’s doing what every other owner in baseball does and is sitting somewhere that does not deliberately make a spectacle of himself.
Nah…
whenever we hang out together at the game, we like to sit in a box…
Does he collect the additional cover charge personally?
For some reason I always pictured him as a short old man with kyphosis. I was mistaken.
close. halitosis.
he is tall.
Reggie is actually showing for this reunion? I’ll be damned.
you can pay for an autograph session.
ok now runs
If Reddick gets on, Sogard can bunt and maybe the Tigers will throw it away.
Bold move asking for those in an inning that begins with Reddick, Sogard.
i just heard somebody yell “John Jaso Jingleheimer shmidt”
I heard that too! I don’t think it was the Famous Ralph…
dammit
At least King Felix hasn’t crapped the bed against the slegnA yet.
Runs, dammit.
ray said “especially,” Drink
We need to find a way to get Theth into this game.
Kazmir is pitching a gem and it pisses me off that I cant enjoy it.
I know, right?
This game will need a bloop and a blast in the bottom of the 9th.
well, if reddick makes out, we can guarantee a bloop leading off.
TWSS
Thanks for swinging at ball 4 Reddick. And again, we get Keebs leading off the ninth.
well, we can pinch hit Callaspo. That fits the algorithm.
Nurse!
Wait, Philip Humber is pitching in relief at Sacto?
Why?
…because he sucks?
If he can’t start, he is useless, right?
I’d say his usefulness is roughly equal to Jeff Francis.
oof. not what i wanted to walk in to.
A door?
yesterday’s billed pitcher’s duel postponed? or just a frustrating game?
A jar.
i’d gladly walk into a jar of rum with ice.
Steeeerick one
Well Sogard cant hit, but that glove….
Ok, now that I am breathing, yeah, clearly got him.
Out. Twice.
That is fucking CLEARLY and obviously out
Thanks, and go As.
so out.
Yay, it’s our second complete game of the season.
Say what you will about replay, but if the fucking ump can’t even that call right, replay is absolutely necessary.
It’s precisely for those types of calls. In fairness, he was blocked by bodies.
momentum changer. let’s go oakland!
Coco!
fuck yeah, coco
A cue shot and a blast would work nicely too.
cue shot, soft line drive, and a blast
Would not have taken out Sanchez… Donaldson likes to hit those get ’em over breaking balls Nathan throws now…
You, sir, are quite prescient.
Ok, I’m retiring from commenting on the internet as of now.
“Hello MikeA, this is gameday calling. have you considered a career in Scouting ™”
Rally time
The power of Salma compels you!
Excellent work here.
Now coco, you have to be really, really, really sure if you try any funny business
Yes, Shooty, it IS almost like the pitcher is throwing downhill.
Almost as if he is standing on a small hill when he throws to hitters. Who aren’t on a hill.
Thanks, and go As.
gentry?
nice
C’mon JD…be patient
unless you wanna hit the first pitch out.
Thanks, and go As.
that works.
Thanks, and go As.
NEVERMIND FUCK YES!!!!
This is when all stars step up.
THE SON OF FKING DONALD!!!!!
Double steal…make it so.
never in doubt
PIE DAMMIT
A BLAST!!!
yesssssss!!!!
JD i love youz.
FK YEAH JD
PIE
PIE
PIE
PIE
PIE
PIE
PIE
pie!
Korach’s call of that almost made me fall out of my chair.
sad i missed it.
turn on your radio.
(listen listen listen listen)
ok highlights now
turned radio on the second i realized my folly.
I jumped in my kitchen
nice call. he was shocked too. too bad about the slight misspeak or it’d make the promos.
and fking ray
This.
i’m laughing into the mic.
Live and let pie.
What does it matter to ya,
when you’ve got a job to do,
you gotta hit it well
You gotta give their stupid closer Hell!!
I love Donaldson. Like, really love him.
can we buy out his arb years and a couple more?
How about a 10 year deal, just for shits & giggles.
He is going to get PAID in arbitration if we don’t. I feel like they should be able to work out a four- or five-year extension with him. He locks his first real payday now, and he can still get another deal when he’s 32-33.
He probably won’t continue being a star after his 6 years of service. As heartless as it sounds, I’d only want him for 1-2 years after those. His 33/34 years.
I dunno, I get the feeling he’ll bolt for the really big bucks first chance he gets. No idea why I think that.
He’s inching up on Tulo’s WAR.
FKing awesome.
hey, I am inching closer to being in socal june 7-11. I may go to the A’s game with my kids and parents on monday or tuesday
I may be able to do Monday. I have a conference in San Diego from Tuesday to Thursday. I’m presenting Tuesday and Wednesday, but might be able to make Monday night work if I’m feeling totally prepped.
I’ll let you know more when I know more
Don’t recall hearing Roxy do baseball before. He is great.
we need a draft roxy campaign
It took me a while, while listening on the radio, to realize it was him. The voice sounded different. But the sound of a professional announcer was refreshing. He told stories (Byrnes did look safe on the last out of Stanford’s no-hitter) and I knew what was going on at all times. Korach and Rosy. Make it happen.
He is awesome
Petrichor (/ˈpÉ›trɨkɔər/) is the scent of rain on dry earth, or the scent of dust after rain. The word is constructed from Greek, petros, meaning ‘stone’ + ichor, the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology. It is defined as “the distinctive scent which accompanies the first rain after a long warm dry spell”.
i don’t mind the mexico alt kits as much as i thought i would. still don’t understand the colors. but i like the zigzag on calves and nipples.
—
didn’t realize this was cuauhtemoc’s farewell game. thought he was actually in the WC squad (which seemed crazy). but also seems odd to do this now.
—
if i ever write my screed to espn about commenting on the p•uto thing, i should do it before saturday. river-boca* are having an offseason exhibition superclásico at azteca and i fully expect the chant to go against both goals. by then my ire will seem partisan.
*for those keeping score at home, river won the second half-season and the new-to-this-season half-season champs game against san lorenzo, both going to the libertadores next year. boca surprised everyone by coming in second in the second half-season, totally out of nowhere, putting them in the sudamericana.
english cosmological nerd to be named later bait.
FK Paddy Power, that’s what.
The equation is trivial, as Hawking well knows:
P(England win world cup | Year=/=1966) = 0
I only skimmed the articles, but Hawking’s formulas seem like at least a bad a case of overfitting to sparse data as yours.
(And even less likely to have predictive value.)
(And I assume he knows that, and is just having fun.)
well… he’s no paul the octopus.
but sparse data is all we have with only 20 WCs. and still, it seems to work in some cases. like, only 2 teams have ever won outside their own continent, which seems somewhat predictive and true for 2014. (FKquiz: name them!)
*19.
this is the 20th.
I know Lichtenstein won the 1985 world cup played on Antarctica, but can’t remember the other one.
I TA’d for a class on “Data Science” and had this group as one of the final projects that I was responsible for grading: https://s3.amazonaws.com/WC2014/index.html
They did a great job on assembling a data set from a wide variety of sources, but didn’t really come up with a model.
Whoever won in USA and Japan/South Korea.
both of those are right, but you still need another winner.
another 2 winners, GM points out.
4 of Brazil’s 5 wins have come outside its continent, and it’s the only Euro/S.Am. team to win on the other continent’s turf.
Spain, Brazil, and Argentina but I guess you’re counting Mexico as part of South America or just not recognizing two American continents?
i was recognizing separate american continents. but totally forgot about the last world cup!
3 teams have won outside their continent. fetch… the comfy chair.
or i could backtrack and say there’s only one american continent and then yes, only 2 teams.
WeYou are all one Mestizo people, from Tierra del Fuego to the Rio Grande. I learned that fromChe GuevaraGael Garcia Bernal.cosmic
kiterace, what planet did we come from?thinking about it some more, the only predictive thing about this stat is that the verdeamarello can win anywhere.
except at home.
My rule of thunmb: If the Cup is in Europe, it will be won by a European team unless someone else has Pele and Garrincha at the same time. If it’s played elsewhere, anything is possible but don’t bet on the Europeans.
Seems pretty strong:
Played in Europe – 9 Europe, 1 SA
Played in SA – 4 SA
Played elsewhere – 4 SA, 1 Europe
Is there a prevailing theory for why that happens? Body clock? Altitude? More partisans?
majority of players don’t have to travel much if it’s in Europe? I have no idea.
Thanks, and go As.
My theory is that European players almost never play games outside of Europe unless it’s the World Cup. South Americans, and especially Brazilians, play all over the world, and even their qualifiers require long trips to crazy conditions (e.g. La Paz) that Europeans never have to do.
hate to say it, but i think the 3rd-continent teams just aren’t good enough anyway to let home advantage push them to the top, and brazil is just always that good that they don’t need it. take them out of the equation and it’s closer to a continental divide — is south africa the only 3rd continent final with both teams from the same continent?
If Suarez doesn’t handle that ball (or Ghana converts the damn penalty), I feel like they had a shot last time.
The fateful last game in 1950 had two teams from South America, but it was a final group back then of course.
a shot at getting past the dutch? honest question. i can’t remember ghana’s strengths but if holland could stand 90+ minutes of spain without letting them score, i don’t know if ghana had a chance.
They would have been underdogs, but that was a rugged, talented Ghana team. I think they could have hung with Holland.
i’m taking your word for it.
I hated that goddamn Holland team, so I am probably underrating them a bit as a result.
why?? they were such sweet and noble gentlemen!
i just turned it on, and haven’t even seen the score yet, but this game is on right now. (with replay on watchESPN.)
layún seems to be the revelation for mexico. his outside shot’s kind of a rocket.
i’m pretty sure chicharito was offside on the 3rd goal. i’m willing to bet he touched it on the way in, but i actually mean he was offside on the throw-in leading up to the goal. (the offside rule counts during throw-ins, right?)
any word on whether corona died from that knee to the head?
These last two games have been excellent. Monday was fun, and badly needed. But these are two very good teams. Watching comeback wins by both was impressive by the Tigers, and great by the A’s.
I’m just glad the A’s don’t have to worry about facing Verlander in Game 5. It will be time to worry about the Angels then.
View from the lab (credit D. Parks)
noice
a nerd with a view
At first, I was thinking it was a little untidy that the walk off had a final score of 3-1. I prefer one run victories for walk offs.
But then I thought it fits with the A’s season that it was a blow out walk off.
The alternative fit would have been a 2-1 walk-off with a Gentry-overtaking-Callaspo POOTBLAN
We needed to improve our record in 2-run games.
We need to improve our record in all games.
who decided this was damon week?
mlb headline i can’t fully believe: A’s go for series win in duel of division leaders. pretty sure some exec will notice and change it to tigers go for tie, etc etc.
I had to sit through a bunch of pre-game celebration of the 2004 Red Sox last night. I like Pedro and Manny. Could definitely live without Curt FKing Schilling.
Nah, the press is hearing us. The A’s are starting to get some respect. It’s a little disconcerting.
colon’s… RBI?
(sbn link)
Round Body Index?
Yay!
With today’s Game 54, the remaining obligation to Jim Johnson is $6.66 million.
The A’s will have to eat most of that, but is there a team out there that thinks Johnson can be fixed, and might see him as a low-risk investment at $2 million or so now? The notion being that they’d have a few weeks to get him right and then if successful would have a decent pitcher for the second half. The A’s would save some money and could pick up some journeyman for June with that 40-man roster spot eventually going to O’Flaherty. To the extent the journeyman throws more innings in June than Johnson has in May (9), those innings would mostly come off Otero’s ledger.
So we need a team in need of bullpen help with some sort of middle infielder with a pulse to give away. The nice thing is they could be just replacement value and it could be an upgrade.
and also a team that views JJ as bullpen help.
Thanks, and go As.
Unfortunately Johnson will not bring any infielder who would be an upgrade over Punto/Sogard. That’s some other deal. I’m just trying to save Billy a little money and temporarily upgrade Johnson’s roster spot in a minimal way that takes the extra load off Otero, while we wait for Cook and O’Flaherty.
whatta dummy. last week i remembered to sched’d my phys therapy this week on thursday to avoid wednesday noon game. didn’t check schedule to see that the noon game was thursday.