The Mariners managed to briefly shuck the cursed bird with an out-of-nowhere sweep of Houston but are still the squad that watched our green and gold lads blast past them ‘oer the last month.
Gonzales vs Manaea
Paxton vs Fiers
Leake vs Anderson
Rimes with Schmalbatross 287
287 thoughts on “Rimes with Schmalbatross”
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According to Vince, Gonzales over some recent period has an ERA “better than 8.”
Is that more or less than 8?
Manaea’s first pitch 92 mph, not 88.
Deleting my GT. Your title is way better
I’m not imagining things right? Manaea looks like he’s lost a lot of weight through the season.
For sure, back in March he looked like he’d deliberately added pounds for the long season.
Rimes with Schmoutatsecond
Howdy pardner!
Hi FSU! Nice to see you!
evening, captain
Hi Ed! Good to see you; hope you and the fam are well!
Are you landed out east?
I am! We’ve been crammed into an AirBnB for 7 weeks, and moving into a rental house next week. Then, hoping to get through the driver’s license and voter registration stuff in time to be a North Carolina voter!
I’ll be in town Sept 8-9 to do a show (details here, just in case: https://www.facebook.com/events/549068382162805/).
How are you? I hope all is well!
Exciting times, good luck settling in, and enjoy having a vote that matters!
We’re good. Took the monsters to the fireworks game last night and they had a blast, then insisted on watching today’s game. I think that about doubles the number of A’s fans in Mill Valley.
Good start
Aw hell jeah.
Matt Chapman Last 28 days: .361/.431/.723, and he’s over 5 fWAR for the year.
Superstar
I mean, those are ok numbers if you play competent defense at a semi-important position. Does he?
Suddenly if you squint just right this A’s starting rotation looks downright not horrible.
At least in a cool night game in a big park.
At least in a big night game in a cool park.
“Downright not horrible” … an epitaph to die for.
I’m still not good with Anderson but Manaea, Fiers, Cahill, and Jackson is a nice mix of #3 and 4 starters.
Holy shit, what an awful slide.
That wasn’t a slide, he was doing the worm.
OK so turns out there is one thing Chapman actually sucks at.
Pasta diving Seager!
Reports of Jed’s death appear to have been premature.
DL HIM!!!
What’s with his shoes, though?
Haha, Glen: “It was not Matt Chapman’s best slide…”
Felix tonight?
This could be genuine community spirit, it could be cold-eyed tactica. It’s definitely the kind of smart thoughtful move the old guard could never make.
Bob doesn’t have anybody to hit behind Khris vs. a lefty right now. If Piscotty could get it going again that would help a lot.
Lost count of how many terrible Semien throws Olson has saved this year.
Who’s the guy in Lew’s seat that Kaval has been chatting with all game?
Huh, just as I write that they’re both gone.
No, Kaval’s still there, they just shuffled seats around. Damn upgraders.
Manaea velocity watch – he’s down to 88-89 again after starting the first 2-3 innings at around 92.
well, there are these four guys…
On the pregame Dave Stewart showed video clips to suggest Manea’s velocity drop correlated to a more sidearm delivery slot (not by design). Sure enough last inning I thought his arm had dropped down.
Interesting, sign of fatigue?
Fatigue in the sense he lost consistency in his mechanics, was the suggestion.
It could go back to your point about the weight loss. I’ll have to look back at Slusser’s February/March pieces to see exactly what his comments were but I do recall him blaming the in-season weight loss for poor performance late last season.
Or last September, maybe. No way is he carrying the 240-245 he’s proposing in that article.
batter to batter with Manaea? Take him out?
Very glad we cashed in some more of these opportunities.
During Semien’s AB I heard a fan upclose yell “take it to right Marcus” and I had to check if Ed had the front row seats tonight.
tomorrow
User name checks out.
The A’s are just a tiring team to pitch to. I have no idea if this could be tracked but they have to be close to leading the league in working counts like 1-2 and 0-2 to 3-2.
Ptbnl?
wHO?
The a’s have now given servais the ability to waste this game to rest the bullpen.
I am hopeful the A’s can get deep on paxton tomorrow
last Canha at bat?
Emilio. You disappoint.
Hatcher left a big pair of shoes to fill and Pagan is doing as best he can.
It’s really fking ridiculous that Trivino is being brought into this game.
Can’t tell who I’m annoyed more at, Pagan or Melvin.
Melvin.
No way Manaea should go more than 7
Ok I’ve decided, it’s Pagan. There’s been more than a few times this year where he’s been brought in to close a blowout and couldn’t get out of it without getting pulled. Get some fking outs.
Wtf is this shit
This is disgusting.
you can’t make this shit up, yeah?
It wasn’t a save situation, and a great closer like Familia can’t be expected to come in with his full focus in non-save situations.
Either that or Jim Johnson sneaked on the A’s plane last night.
Man Familia just looked awful, all sharp motions and awkward spasms of a delivery, I understand that’s his style but it sure makes it look like disaster is imminent.
Familia and Rodney in the same pen is too much.
Double play back in order. Let’s go.
This is brutal.
2 games back
Should have been Pagan for 4 outs and game over.
Hoo boy. Familia gave Treinen an especially emphatic postgame handshake, as well he should.
Melvin’s gotta figure out something out. They were having much more success earlier in the year with Trivino and Treinen going multiple on occasion when they’re pitching well. The additions of Rodney, Familia, and Kelley should’ve aided in that strategy in that they’re quality options so those guys can take a day off in between those types of outings.
Instead they’re rapidly shotgunning through relievers and everyone is being used everyday to the point of overwork. When you use five relievers in a game, it’s not surprising that one or two would suck.
This is an excellent point, they could even have a regular rotation of off days for one or two of the five top guys daily, barring odd situations.
Melvin’s mistake was leting Manaea going into the 8th. there is no reason for that
Wasn’t he only around 80 pitches at that point?
yes, but as noted, his veocity/arm slot was down and its mid agust.
Fair. But that’s likely why it happened and I’m not so sure there was anything wrong with how they handled it. Batter to batter, got into a little bit of trouble and was immediately pulled.
I am not going to get too worked up. Familia and rodney are good enough. this won’t happen every time. Kelley probably just got all of Pagans innings
Agree with most of the sentiments. In particular that, as effective as this bullpen has been, there have been way too many games where we had a 5-6 run lead and ended up needing ot go to the big 2-3 to get the final outs.
Familia should be able to shake it off, but we have to get off days for Trivino and Treinen over the next 2-3 weeks. Also bring up all the pitchers on 9/1.
I sometimes wonder whether “plus” relievers perform worse when they are suddenly thrust into games that appeared to be outside of their area of expertise a few minutes earlier. Like, did Trivino/Familia relax assuming their services weren’t needed and then have trouble locking in after Pagan made BoMel’s blood pressure elevate.
Today’s Effectively Wild podcast has a fun and informative interview with the Coliseum’s assistant head groundskeeper (Zach Ricketts). I had fun and felt informed anyway.
And a link on there to an article by Nate Freiman nerding out on the strike zone.
sometimes I go to the rickshaw stop to see a band, and find out the headlining band is super popular and the place is packed on a tuesday night and I had no idea why.
Listening to their into music, I realize that people do listen to those bands.
Their intro/interstitial music is often interesting to me. There is someone who keeps an updated spotify playlist of it, which I listen to from time to time.
I like some of it. I just never hear it. Only on that podcast
Same. As an old, I appreciate being exposed to what young(er) nerds listen to.
A few things I learned:
-In the hierarchy of the grounds crew, watering is near the top. Young guys don’t “hold the hose” until they have proven themselves.
-They found a skunk recently.
-The mound is built on some kind of platform that hooks into the ground, and there is a giant truck they use to move it.
-Mowing elaborate patterns in the field can affect the way the ball rolls.
I bet they scheduled this against the Yankees so that Reggie might actually show up.
All right, ladies, biggest game since 2014 tonight. Win this one, that’s step on their throats and win the series.
I hope the attendance picks up starting tonight. I have this Friday and Saturday, plus three over the Labor Day weekend, and if I can do that from a couple hundred miles away I hope the Bay Area can jump in to support some fun-as-hell baseball.
The entreaties worked on me, nurse n me made late choice to attend. Waiting for my food truck gyro now.
17,419, not great but not embarrassing like 10K.
I am actually checking Southwest flights.
had to drop kid off downtown, took me 55 minutes to get on the bridge. didn’t slide into the seats until felix was waling in
It’s a shame Servais realized that Haniger is a better leadoff hitter than Gordon.
A leadoff Semien is always appreciated.
Ouch
While we have a few minutes…are you in the front row seats on Friday? I don’t recall having met you at any of the parking lot tailgates, but maybe that’s just my lousy memory. Anyway, if a short fat blond guy with glasses is yelling HEYYY GLORIOUS MUNDY that will be either me or some lurker pretending to be me.
I will be there if certain details can be worked out. Hope we can meet!
Glorious Mundy is lit.
No, you’re lit.
Ugh. Paxton is terrific but he has the hex on him.
Did that get Paxton right on the elbow? Relatively speaking it didn’t look like a hard hit shot
The hell happened to Canha?
Have a night Mark Canha.
Thanks, and go As.
First inning pinch hitter, don’t see that every day.
Canha coulda done that.
Fiers doesn’t look to have his best stuff tonight, better score some
Melvin just said he almost had to start Petit because Fiers had a “lower back/upper glute” issue before the game.
Houston down 4-1 heading to the ninth.
5-1 going to the bottom.
It’s a final.
It does feel like pre-All Star break Jed is back.
Yeah Jed’s fine
Good job by Fiers not letting Melvin do anything jumpy with the pen there.
Hmm, not sure Fiers wouldn’t have been the better option this inning.
I watched that last Felix start vs. the Rangers, and all in all it looks like facing the Green and Gold has (unsurprisingly) cured most of his problems.
Trying to finish with Buchter, Petit, Rodney mmmkay…
On a night when you presumably don’t have any of your top three relievers available, pulling the starter after 76 pitches following a 1-2-3 inning is bizarre.
I get going balls-out to win this game with Treinen in the 9th, but if it doesn’t work tomorrow is painful.
Buchter-Petit-Trivino-Familia ought to be enough to bring a lead home, should Anderson hand them one.
Well, I guess Treinen is available after all, unless Shawn Kelley is closing.
Not a fan of using relievers for one batter unless it’s a really high leverage situation.
I don’t know about using Petit for only two batters either.
OTOH generally not inclined to quibble about what Bob has done with this team.
Hard to argue with his game-to-game management, in terms of squeezing out wins. My main worry is that all the relievers are going to die at once from overwork.
Isn’t that why we now have all of the relievers on our team?
Generally agree but mediocre Buchter for a one batter positive matchup is fine by me.
Very nice having a good defensive centerfieldman
Out!
God DAMN that was sweet throw.
There was a moment in 2012 late in the season that Derek Norris threw out a Baltimore Oriole in the 9th inning of a crucial game. This really gave me similar vibes.
Good memory. Walk off caught stealing.
Shaky cam video
fireworks night
Wow, I was 100% expecting to get fucked by replay there.
DEFENSE
“There’s nothing accidental about the way this man gets down” – Dallas Braden, on Matt Chapman
Kool and the Gang concur.
First Ramon bests Yo, now Chappy has a go at the tarp catch?
We just need a dance from the late 80s and we have a greatest hits montage of the old crew.
Bob Geren sighting babysitting Puig after he started a brawl.
Check him out!
Macha would have wrapped him up.
Macha’s sensei powers were underappreciated.
The determination in Puig’s eyes, man.
Ugh, the A’s have missed 3 runs on 3 almost home runs.
olson’s fouls was impressive, I don’t know how close it came, but damn
4
1!!!!!1!!ONE!!!
FK yes
What is happening in Oakland?
What isn’t happening in Oakland?
It’s just incredible. Plus I’m loving all the Oakland movies right now.
well… they *are* really good, unusual, and on point.
and they show actual oakland. (though don’t try and figure out the logic in any driving routes based on the landmarks shown.) my office window made a cameo in blindspotting.
That always annoys me. The bay area driving on the whole is just so funky while they try to hit scenic spots.
Thats true anywhere.
Related-any show based in LA is unrealistic when they show people driving because the cars move.
But they do get out and dance on the hoods like in La La Land, right?
Ive been tempted to in a traffic jam…
I blame Clint Eastwood.
steve mcqueen!
also sun ra. but he was intergalactic so he probably knew the local wormholes.
Mal Craggs!
there was oakland in that?
i couldn’t tell. my eyes opted for blindness to stop the pain.
Dont let Bed here you say that.
Wouldn’t your ears be the bigger problem?
I have reached the age where I can no longer keep track of what title goes with what movie that people are talking about.
What are the Oakland movies I should see?
Sorry To Bother You and Blindspotting are the two big ones I know of. Seen the first, not the second yet.
This team was so bad at defense a year ago. I have stop and marvel at the turnaround sometimes.
I never thought leareano or chapman had any sort of shot at those.
I will continue to say Chapman reminds me of the kid in little league who runs from 3rd and calls off the RF to catch a fly ball because he is so much better than everyone and the coach told him to just make every play.
Except at the zenith of his sports world. And he can hit. And seems like a nice guy. That attendance speech the other night had an implied “gosh” in every sentence.
I think I may have just talked myself into Chapman for the Kelly green jersey when I get it.
This team is full of low-key, likeable personalities. Chapman, Olson, Davis, Semien, Manaea, Treinen, Piscotty…they all seem like extraordinarily chill guys.
davis
Yes
Uh oh. Mariners-A’s looks like it’s to be “joined in progress” on MLB Network following Brewers-Cubs, and they are in the top of the first right now.
Ah, that is true, but today’s game will be on NBCS-CA. It wasn’t on the original schedule but was added at some point.
Hey y’all, who was the fascist in charge of Halos Heaven back in the day? Didn’t they literally call him like the fuhrer or something like that?
nico?
Honestly, its been so long since anyone here has thought about SBnation, I doubt anyone remembers anything. I only remember Nico because you said it the other day.
couldn’t be.
she died like back in 1988.
When i said all tomorrows parties, I meant ALL tomorrows parties.
no excuses
Heh heh that’s excellent.
RevHalo?
Who finally got fired.
Yeah, I definitely missed this story but holy shit.
can we get a pitchers guard when anderson pitches?
chapman was almost taken down by his own hubris.
first and second one out, grond ball to him, instead of 5-4-3, he elects to go the bag and throw from there. I don’t know how many steps he had to take, but the cross the body throw almost got away from olson.
Scott boras should note that and find a team that has a giant at fist before he demands 7/$210M
The Mariners have given more than 1,100 PAs to Seager, Healy and Zunino, and not one of them has an OBP above .275.
I am about to look it up, but the eye test says seager has been bad on defense.
I’m not sure what Seager’s issues are this year. He’s been pretty consistent at around +/- .333 OBP after his first couple years.
Just glancing at his numbers on Fangraphs, it looks like he is swinging more often and missing more often than he did in his prime.
meh. middle of the pack
I’m guessing Bob won’t be yanking Brett after 5 IP/63 pitches this time.
Hasn’t even thrown that many through six.
That was a bullshit strike.
“Strike” 3 to Khris? Yeah.
what the fuck was that all about?
Dee. That was a truly terrible at bat.
I refuse to say anything nice about Brett because the moment I do body parts are sure to go flying all over the infield.
i mean, we all all waiting for that shoe to drop, and he really gave the A’s more than expected
And here comes the rapid shotgunning of relievers. I guess Trivino is now a one out guy.
Trivino for one out is ridiculous.
I have to assume that Melvin thought he only had one batter in him today for workload-management reasons. Otherwise that was a crazy move in a game that was looking destined for extras.
They’re “being cautious” with his workload, but maybe a little too cautious recently.
I would think that too but Trivino’s last 3 appearances have all be for one out.
The A’s haven’t played a sub-2 hour game since July 8, 2008, and if you remember Wes Bankston your memory is better than mine.
1:59 at the end of the 9th inning.
Hell, I couldn’t even remember that we had a reliever just last year named Michael Brady when it came up the other day.
I still don’t remember that even after reading your comment.
Same.
He was yet another Cal guy, which is the only reason I have any recollection.
Cal’s own.
Willie Bloomquist was Seattle’s #2 hitter. Yikes.
Winning here before their top of the lineup bats again would be preferable.
Laureano walkoff magic powers don’t activate until 13th inning or later
Damn, palms were definitely sweaty there.
Baseball is great.
Baseball is also terrible.
Yes, it can be both. Thanks to buying the Treehouse pass for the month I headed out for the game at around the 5th inning but it went so fast by the time I got there it was the top of the 8th. I still got to see 5 innings of ball and it wasn’t over that much later than a normal game. Too many missed opportunities for the A’s in those innings, but overall not bad on a sunny Wednesday.
Winning here before Bob either brings in a crappy reliever or goes to Treinen yet again would be preferable.
Actually, Petit wasn’t one of the “crappy relievers” I had in mind.
lefty to face lowrie? with davis on deck?
So fking ridiculous. They had every opportunity to put them away.
I want to complain but if we keep winning 2 out of 3 we will be ok. And it isnt over yet here I guess.
Damn Dee Gordan, should be shooting jump shots somewhere
I just learned today (from Vince!) that he is Tom Gordon’s son.
I am dumbfounded by this information. In my head Flash Gordon is too young to have kids that have been in MLB for years.
#Imold
Oh hey, BoMel remembered that Kelley is on the team.
The Rockies are doing a fine job of waking up the Astros’ bats just in time for the trip to Oakland. Astros’ announcers indicated that Springer is expected to be activated off the DL for Friday’s game.
if I know anything about three game serieses witha team from texas down two games late in the season, he will be losing a ball in the sun on day three
Sat Sept 1: anyone up for some tailgating and fireworks? Not to mention A’s pennant chase baseball. I can get tickets next week for those interested in sitting together.
Buying tickets tomorrow if anyone to join in for the game and fireworks. I’ll ping the tailgate event itself again in the Seattle series game thread. I’ve never seen The Sandlot.
Just confirming our plan, one ticket please.
Check. I’m looking at plaza level, 1B side based on available inventory.
I don’t know. I have been at tournaments and out of town every weekend for a while. (ask nurse upgrade to show you the latest)
I really want to, but I need a weekend at home. haven’t done a full grocery shop since early august.
We are in. Deux (2) please.
Mais oui!
You may.
Can I still get in for 2?
Absolutely.
Tickets in hand, lemme know best way to get em to ya.
Welcome to my world ;-)
Even a tech-challenged old fart like me can handle the Ballpark app (once I finally succumbed and got a phone that could handle it).
tucked in the band of your chonies
tickets out, dollars in.
are you grilling before hand?
Yes, starting at 3 or 330.
Same place as it use to be?
Yes near A8 pole in north lot, unless they direct parking, in which case I’ll post the new location.
I wonder if A’s Access is, in part, an attack on tailgating. $5 Sierras and $3.50 dogs at the place formerly known as Saags is pretty freaking hard to beat.
How much are tix? Thinking I might bring the boys.
Thanks, and go As.
The 227 seats I got were $35 if you want to aim there. But there’s some kid half price deal isn’t there? Vaguely remember a radio plug.
They’re really only half a person, so it makes sense.
Thanks, and go As.
Bet that’s not how it looks on your grocery receipt.
I dread the day that BOTH of them start eating like horses.
Thanks, and go As.
I hear you can reduce costs by having them eat horses
Wish I’d seen this, though we arrived stylishly late to a sold out parking lot (!!!)
Would love to but will be FFB drafting.
I may actually go to the Sunday game. Draft is in Fresno so I am already halfway there. Thinking I might use the long weekend to my advantage.
Damn, thoughts go out to Melissa Lockard
Very sad. Her full eulogy piece is no- subscription-required at The Athletic.https://theathletic.com/475931/2018/08/16/a-love-for-all-seasons/
It’s a really lovely tribute. Recommended reading/tears likely.
Beautiful eulogy
beau taylor is back. gotta find a way to get him on the 40 man, then a september call up
I am not a fan of Nancy O’Malley and they could definitely lose this case.
mob justice is what the court is supposed to protect against. Just like the brock turner case.
You people need to leave us alone and let us do our jobs
Electing legal officials is just inherently conflicted. DAs, city attorneys, judges, all of those people’s jobs require taking unpopular positions.
This comment is holding up. What a mess.
AJ is a friend of mine. That is horseshit. There is case law that says the judge can’t fuck up a deal, I hope someone can stick to it
Not to detract from the many seriousnesses here, but there’s just something odd about courtroom art.
I do like the detail of Harris’ face tat and gauge though, and Tony Serra’s geezer mullet has been his signature style since before the Judi Bari days.
I was in an elevator with Serra once, his breathe smells awful.
he is a creepy dude. From the 2000s on, he has had different young women handlers. Last time i saw him he didn’t. wondered if he got me too’d
I went to school with his kid. Good baseball player.
lol angels
First triple play in which the batter was not retired since 1912!
Talk about a fielder’s choice.
Sometimes it feels like conservatives are from another planet.
Oakland streets slated for re-paving on a 0-100 scale, rubble to fresh-laid tarmac.
Telegraph above 48th scores a 13 – any challengers?
yes, my whole fucking neighborhood.
apparently some streets are not slated, see nicols between champion and fruitvale. but i guess whoever did this rating doesn’t ride a bike.
for reference, see arkansas street (12).
and i contest the rating system itself. see howard / boston intersection, (unfair comparison maybe, because they’re already repaving) but i seriously doubt telegraph / anything is as rough as that’s been. it’s been, zig-zag around potholes for a couple years now. so maybe these ratings are averages.
ooh, possible winner. dale block (10).
nope.
tulip (9).
lol.
15th street in the 80s.
yeahno.
looks like *someone* got distracted from their scientific rating by a row of trafficked teenagers standing on the corners…
oh wait. wrong stretch of 15th. i mean between 14th ave and 22nd ave. that strip is fucked.
not. even. rated.
As I understand it from colleagues, a big challenge is that you can’t always just prioritize the most broken streets. Your road money goes much further if spent before the condition gets really bad, so smarter cities will spend half or more funds on streets with decent paving ratings, before they degrade.
i get that, and sure, the dale block probably doesn’t get much traff. (wait. afterthought addendum. so why is it slated for work?)
but i gotta stand by my bike comment. maybe the prioritization overall is skewed toward one kind of commute and not another.
because it seems the prioritized streets are car avenues, and i need the ones parallel to them done for safety away from those cars.
like, i ride 15th and wiggle on 16th and some other non-rated back streets to not be on foothill.
there’s a big oakland bike commute program that released recently. hope the recommendations in it come through. if foothill becomes protected, i’ll ride it.
at that time. in some tertiary stage of funding and approval.
but i gotta get on my bike and rattle my noggin to work and back as early as tomorrow, on streets right next to some that are funded and are already getting worked on, so i can’t help but scoff.
I doubt cycling holds much carry on these sorts of decisions. Main city arteries and places that bring in the most economic traffic are what’s high on the list. And smaller residential neighborhoods and side streets not so much.
See for example MLK from 47th to 54th, street index 90.
i said howard. maybe i was still in container mode.
i meant harold.
Meh – 22 ain’t gonna cut it.
Poplar (6)
I may have to go down there just to try it out!
We have a winner … Garnet between Emerald and Broadway (0).
Hmmm, a zero is worth checking out. Garnet Street January 2018 GSV
I used to live just to the right of the yellow house you can see at the end of that block.
I detoured down Garnet on the way home yesterday, and though it’s pretty damn bad I wouldn’t call it “rubble”.