None of us, or at least not many, thought the Major League Baseball season would still be going on the weekend of September 25-27. This is the Barry Manilow of baseball series and with perfect Sierra weather, which won’t be around much longer, tonight’s game is probably the only one I’ll see much of.
There’s a doubleheader tomorrow at 1:10, and then all games start concurrently at 12:10 on Sunday. I’m not going to guess the pitching rotations.
What I discovered Blew. My. Mind. -- Pat Boone
Weekend in Hegenberger.
Minor and Blackburn are supposed to pitch tomorrow, possibly Montas, Sunday.
Scoreboard watching: TB wins, all three AL-C teams are currently losing to NL-C teams.
Clevelands win. This will be quite the standings clusterfk if the other games stay the same.
Without digging into tiebreakers it seems the Giants are going to have to work awfully hard to miss out. The Padres are locked into the #4 seed so no incentive at all for them.
Houston wins, clinching at least a tie with LAA, but LAA has the tiebreaker.
It would be hilarious if the Angels caught the *s. Less so if they went on to knock us out.
Oops, Houston game was not final. They were already at 29 wins.
But Texas just tied it in the 9th.
That Philly bullpen has really helped them out.
I’m starting to think it doesn’t really matter which starter we face since it seems like we can get shutdown by anyone at this point. So I guess bring on the Clevelands since it seems like theirs is the only offense that can match ours in futility.
It worries me when I have the same Pollyanna hopes that Fosse has about KD.
I can’t find any reference to oakland, but this book is about a barry manilow lover who works as a public defender in a fictionalized Oakland, I think its called “Santa Rita”
Thanks, Ed, but I think I’ll save the $23.95.
i could mail you a copy for free
It’s the Fan Appreciation weekend, where do I check to see if I won the new Chrysler?
Does that really count as winning?
2nd prize is 2 new Chrysler’s.
And right on cue:
That’s a good prize!
Is no one on this fking team capable of keeping their front leg down when they slide?
I’m liking the new louder bats that the A’s are using tonight.
They should have 2-3 guys in a row use those new bats.
Agreed. Might need more than one loud bat per inning.
Something something about this offense, a flag-draped casket and the Capitol Rotunda.
Ken and Vince were talking about the usual problems with short notice of playoff first pitch times. On Tuesday the game in Oakland is the only one not in the Eastern or Central time zones so that just about guarantees something like 6:30-7 p.m. Pacific. There are 8 games on Wednesday and up to 8 on Thursday, with games also in LA and San Diego on those two days, so those game times could be anything.
I would think they would still want an AL and an NL late game, so we would get 3 night (or at least evening) games.
(RTT GM)
Maybe. Also if possible they would try to avoid having an Eastern time zone team play late in LA or San Diego, which would push the A’s to a later start.
TBS gets one AL series and will presumably pick the Yankees. All other first round games are on Disney and spread among ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. They will try to minimize overlaps but there will be multiple games going at once and they might say screw it, we’ll pull another West Coast game up to 5 p.m. or so.
Anyone got guesses on game times for next week? Certainly a night game on Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday I’m less sure, with both the Dodgers and Padres at home.
So, just speculating here, what do you think they’d do if I showed up Tuesday and started grilling? There’s lots of room, we could be plenty distant.
Finding new and creative ways not to score runs.
Getting picked off first immediately after almost getting picked off is some stupid stuff man.
I accept that catch as atonement.
Today I learned that Robbie grossman is left handed.
Yes let’s get all the offense suck out before the playoffs – me, last week of the 2019 season
Postseason prospects seem remarkably discouraging even by A’s standards.
I was much more discouraged in 2014 and 2019.
Yeah, I’ll go along with “Postseason prospects seem remarkably discouraging” but “by A’s standards” is a much higher bar.
I’d feel a lot better facing the Astros. Damn wins at the end of the year.
2006 for me, and that turned out to be the most successful Beane era outcome, so I’m hoping something similar is in play this year.
the A’s weren’t in the post season in 2014
The A’s ended their season at the All-Star game that year.
hoe great was it to see 10 all stars from the A’s?
That’s when we knew Brandon Moss was for real.
Fangraphs has an article today about how the CWS have lost a total of zero games this year against lefty starters.
So, naturally, let’s throw the young lefty at ’em and hope to win games 2 and 3.
Yes Glen, there are a lot of close races for playoff slots. That’s because every barely not-crappy team still has a shot.
Bang bang. Call stands.
Its cute that we still challenge.
Late Sept, when the leaves start to turn, we get the 1st slight chill, and we cant touch some guy with a 14.5 ERA.
And Diekman can’t throw strikes to a guy with a .170 average and a 40% strikeout rate.
Return of DieBBman.
Clutch.
Ramon upping that Clutch factor.
Did someone say off-the-charts clutch?!
BAT FLIPPING SEAZEN!
Cool
Back to the 2 seed, in line to face the ChiSox.
Yay. But some surplus hits and runs tomorrow would make me feel better.
lol Giants. lol Coonrod.
The “battle” between the Phillies and Giants for that last NL playoff spot is pathetic.
I’m actually going to miss the runner on second in the playoffs. Not because I like it but because we’re so good at it.
Grant lied to us.
Today’s top COVID tip … don’t use an alcohol spray to disinfect a bus with an automatic breathalyser lock.
That’s hilarious
Marcus has looked better at the plate last few games.
Game 5 of a division series: Minor over Montas?
If we’re playing the Mariners, sure.
I was sure Piscotty was going to gidp. Crossed me up by walking and letting the next two guys pop out instead.
Minor’s got a pretty good graybeard going for a 32 year old.
A’s bats are in cryogenic storage at this point.
Minor made Seager look bad there.
A’s haven’t had more than six hits in a ballgame since Sept. 14.
Weird. They managed to score 6 runs on 6 hits three times during that streak.
This is probably dumb thinking, but one thing that makes me hopeful for the playoffs is this team’s knack for grinding out wins when they are struggling to hit.
They have a few guys with contact skills, which is potentially valuable against the better pitchers we will face in the playoffs (but somehow hasn’t resulted in more hits recently). That combined with a good bullpen seems like a better formula than just hoping to out-homer everyone.
Glad Bob won’t have any seven inning games to manage in the playoffs.
Boy, the bottom of the 6th sure was Sadler
I think they should consider leaving Trevino off the roster. I don’t see him getting into an important game
Partly depends on what Wendelken’s deal is. Might just need an extra arm on the roster.
If Blackburn pitches well enough maybe him instead of Lou. But I feel like at least some of Lou’s issue this year is pitching like every 9 days. (Havent validated his usage at all)
One less thing to worry about.
Judging by Blackburn, while at the alternate site you’re not allowed to have scissors and mirrors.
Lamb Orf Machin and Olson infield Pick-4 ticket pays $100K.
And thank God Kemp can play OF. Gotta have that bat in the lineup.
The main goal is to not get any regulars injured, so if they want to put Weems in CF I’m ok with it.
Which bugs me that they dont have KD in every game. If there is even a 1% chance you can get him functional enough to contribute you try it. And it isnt like LaStrella needs more ABs.
yup
That seems like enough Blackburn for this year.
Thank god this one is only seven innings.
Consistency is not what Kaprielian is looking for right now Vince.
Does he seem like he doesn’t really care about pitching. he is just standing on the mound because someone told him to give it a try?
Forget what I said before, maybe we just need to hit more dingers.
8 hits and counting this game.
Glad we got over that hurdle. The hits should come easy now.
I hope Soaker enjoyed his fresh air more than I enjoyed this doubleheader.
Back to seed 3, and the *s.
Twins hold tiebreaker over white sox on divisional rivals (5-5 against each other). I think the A’s win or lose will have the tiebreaker over Minnesota )playing the reds) so if the A’s win tomorrow, and the twins lose, they are the 2 seed.
If Cleveland wins and the white sox lose, they flip flop Cle 4 and CHW 7.
I think
regardless, I am rooting for an A’s loss tomorrow as it’s the only way to guarantee the Astros.
If the Yankees lose tomorrow and the Blue Jays win, I think the Jays would edge them out for the five seed, giving the Yankees to the Rays. Wouldn’t that be some shit.
Come on Blue Jays. You can still do this.
Guess who can clinch the last playoff spot tomorrow for the Brewers. It’s Mr. Brett Anderson.
If Brewers and Giants both win tomorrow, I think the Cardinals would have to play a doubleheader with the Tigers on Monday.
Well that would be hilarious. Strongly rooting for that.
If any of you are still up, the Bonnaroo feed is showing on YouTube. Right now Turkuaz is doing Remain In Light with Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew. Belew is still a wizard.
Jo Adell helped another homer happen with his glove.
I am not a scout or evaluator, but he seems really bad at defense, not withstanding the homer helpers
Good
How big are playoff rosters? Still 28, or 26?
28 I think.
My recollection of Pinder is that he hits well ice cold.
I’m not satisfied with simultaneous game starts. I want simultaneous inning starts, like on the bubble of a poker tournament.
LOL City
Uh, what happened?
Hopefully he was locking Tony Kemp out of the outfield.
He got back in.
Brett yanked in the third, Brewers currently counting on the Padres.
A single digit number on the mound will never ever look right.
The post sticking up above the HR fence seems like a bad design.
But no worries, surely we will get the runner in anyway.
I prefer they didn’t. Sonny great is doing his best to throw their game to the twins. He balked in a run on what should have been strike 3
I don’t have a strong preference for who we play. Astros are probably worse objectively, but they still scare me. Going for the “just win baby” philosophy, and having the team break out of it’s funk a bit seems worthwhile.
The return of Good Frankie is encouraging.
Strong audition to start game 1 of round 2.
I like it
I don’t hate Vince’s limits on where infielders play than most anti shift proposals.
Still don’t like it, but it’s better.
(limiting the distance from the dirt the infielders can play)
I’m surprised hitters still haven’t adjusted.
Profar and Mateo doing some damage to the Giants playoff hopes.
Giants, Brewers and Phillies all down at least 4 now. Brewers would back in.
They will probably go on to win the pennant.
Rake Lamb.
I’d like it if Jake continues to go hamb during the post season
edited
did trout peace out on the season?
That was slick!
So we are one Reds run from getting the White Sox now?
sounds like
Sneaky Trump dumping his taxes during the last day of the MLB group stage.
Nice regular season, fellows.
~.590 3 years in a row
The A’s opponent is up to Sergio Romo
Giants got Rob Draked.
guns and trump?
Rosenthal blew fastballs past the first two hitters.
Then Slater also struck out on two bad called strikes.
I feel endless sympathy for them.
If it is the Sox, starting Manaea and Luzardo is sketchy. They haven’t lost to a lefty starter this year.
Yeah, I don’t like that short series matchup.
Bassitt game one mane games tow then a bullpen game game 3?
.887 team OPS vs LHP. Yikes.
Might be nice to have Montas available. Alas.
Yeah this is the worst potential matchup. Oh well.
Gotta consider Fiers for game 1 I think.
Fiers, Bassitt, bullpen?
We’ll see I guess.
Hopefully we adjust if they pound Luzardo (as I expect).
Sox also lose on a terrible called strike three.
Honestly, not getting this shitty shell of a * team really FKing sucks. I thought the Blackburn game would have locked it up.
all the least desirable outcomes happened
No sub-500 postseason Gnats
Hell, it would have been a great year to play the Yankees too.
Their offense scares me.
Outcome of a best-of-3 is pretty random anyway unless it’s the Rangers or Pirates or somebody. I’ll guess at least 3/8 lower seeds win. As to the A’s, winning Game 1 and then blowing it would fit the Beane Era perfectly.
In the end, only one of 8 series (St. Pete vs. Buffalo) is a divisional rematch. Kind of fun that these teams won’t have seen each other or even scouted each other in person.
With the White Sox matchup, that leaves only Cleveland that we have never played off against in the AL other than our division rivals.
Noon starts.
Not gonna lie, this will affect my tailgating plans.
Dumb.
Huh. Part of it on Tuesday is avoiding the debate. I thought TBS had its choice of series but obviously that wasn’t the case because BUFTOR/TB is ratings hell.
Interesting to see some games back on broadcast ABC. 2 pm eastern starts, which shouldn’t be much of a schedule sacrifice for them.
Sigh, at 3 eastern I’m definitely going to miss game 1 and likely most if not all of game 2.
!
I’m ok with this. If we lose, I’d rather lose with our best/most talented, and that’s what Luzardo is regardless of his mixed results this season which are still entirely SSS.
And I think he profiles (Ks + GBs) as well as a lefty can against the White Sox. I doubt they’ve faced a lefty with his stuff this year.
I feel better about this after seeing a list of who the LH pitchers they beat were.
(apologies for going to some weird ass White Sox site for this I just didn’t know a good way to get the data myself.)
huh. Yeah, those aren’t the best lefties in the world
All things considered I think this is the right decision.
Luzardo has been erratic, and there is the platoon issue, but he is also potentially dominant in a way that Manaea (who would have the same platoon issue) and Fiers are not. Going with the higher-upside gamble seems like the smart move in a playoff game.
In retrospect, of course we would prefer to have Montas, who is essentially the righty version of the same gamble, availble, but that’s mostly 20/20 hindsight, since
1) Going into yesterday Chicago was the least likely opponent (needed all 4 games to go as they did, roughly 1/16 chance); and
2) Before that performance we didn’t want him starting a playoff game at all.
(Not quite entirely hindsight, as if they had juggled the rotation as I suggested before the Dodger series they could have the same two starters pitching games 1 and 2, but with a day of extra rest each, plus, depending on what they did after that, potentially better options for game 3. But even then, some options were off the table because we were playing 7 games in 6 days, followed by only 1 day before the playoffs, so there was less flexibility than in a normal year.)
Yeah, it’s fine. The two best guys are starting the first two games, and then it’s all hands on deck for game 3, whether Manaea or Fiers starts.
I’m confident that Luzardo and Bassitt will keep them in both games. The real question is whether the batters let Giolito and Keuchel put them to bed.
Were there any potent offenses in the central besides the white sox?
Wow, there really were not. The other nine teams in the two centrals by wRC+:
16. Twins
19. Cardinals
20. Royals
21. Cubs
23. Reds
24. Tigers
25. Brewers
27. Clevelands
29. Pirates
my theory at the time of your suggestion was Melvin was too superstitious to go off turn.
This is just perfect.
You know, I won’t get that time back. But I was just killing time between a email to a judge and whatever my next task is.
That guy and those who work for him ad had to read/edit/write that got paid to do so.
I like this guy. We’ll see if I still like him on Thursday.
Is there still a way to get Tweets put up in the tunnel for the players to read? Asking for a friend…
Leaning hard toward not liking him any more.
heh, read the thread, ed
Wendelken is back from whatever was going on. I guess either Lou or Weems doesn’t make the roster.
I know it won’t be, but it’s be hilarious if it were fires
We dont want vol 3 of the curse of Fiers. Just say no, Ed.
Weems doesn’t make the roster. All six regular starters do, as does Nate Orf.
Game 1 lineup has Pinder at DH. Khris and Piscotty both on the bench.
Is Pinder really the best option? I know Piscotty/Davis would probably be hopeless as well vs Giolito, but I can’t imagine Pinder being any better. Honestly would rather go with Kemp at 2nd (lefty, better D) and LaStella DH.
I’m against most any scenario where you put a guy who can field 4-5 positions “adequately” into the DH. We will become the first team in the ear of a universal DH to lose the DH.
-Does that DH rule still exist now that both leagues have the DH? Seems to not make sense anymore.
not concerned about losing the DH in this game. When I thought manaea would get the start I thought putting Murphy at DH would be good, given there are 5 bench players that can fill the role when manaea leaves the game
Not starting Piscotty, who has been hopeless recently, is probably the right move. I agree that Kemp may have been the least-bad option.
Love the backstory NBC just gave on the Dallas Stars goaltender. When he was a child, “his family left Kazakhstan for Siberia so he could learn hockey in a better place.”
Can’t really say Billy Eppler deserved to keep his job, but does seem like the problems in that organization will persist until Arte Moreno leaves the scene.
They need 4 bullpen arms, 3 pitchers and a short stop. They can live with an all glove short stop, but that is the least of their concerns. Even with no Pujols in 2022 they still have the shell of Upton and the iron glove Adell in right.
Welp
Not gonna be able to watch the game today but based on a long, long history of being familiar with how A’s playoff games usually go this is how I see things going:
– Our SP will dominate but will have one inning where things go off the rails and someone gets a big hit (gonna go with Eloy, but if he’s not in the lineup, then Robert)
– Offense will be silent against their SP, but there will be an early inning teAse that will conclude unsatisfactorily (probably with the one spot in the lineup that’s debatable, Pinder)
– There will be a TOOTBLAN (probably by the A’s)
– There will be a controversial umpire call/replay review (probably against the A’s)
– A’s will score runs against their pen (but will be behind at that point)
– In spite of all the potential BS, the A’s pull this one out, because FK it this is the year where the ridiculous and unexpected happens so we’re FKing winning this.
Except for the last one, I would happy to see any of these predictions proven wrong.
Go A’s!
No no no, most of that only happens when we are in a position to clinch. History says today will be a solid, hope-raising victory.
I’m going with lose a close one today, win in a walk-off tomorrow, shit the bed Thursday.
You were close!
Turn that frown upside down! This time it’s different! THIS IS THE YEAR!
I’m expecting Encarnacion to come off the bench at some point and make me swear.
former A’s always get us
Unlike most of you catastrophizers I’m feeling pretty good about things in the East Bay today. The air is clean-ish, the oppressive heat has receded, the Coliseum is bedecked in its playoff finery (I assume), and my cutout gets at least a couple more chances to catch a foul ball.
I would not have made it this long as a sports fan if I were not Charlie Brown, thinking maybe this time will be different.
The A’s and Cal football is such a combination, the World Series and the Rose Bowl aren’t really goals anymore, it’s the enjoyment of whatever game is before me.
Grienke makes the narrowest possible escape from a bases loaded jam in the first.
If only Sunday had gone differently, that could have been us loading the bases with one out against Greinke and coming away with nothing.
Chortles, kicks dirt.
It still can!
Honestly don’t know if I’ll watch. I have 3 remote court appearances starting at 1, don’t know how long they will take. Yelling “Fuck” while the judge is deciding to let out my juvenile client may not be the best look
Manager interviews during playoff games are obnoxious
Baldelli: “There’s always some Grateful Dead and some Phish playing in the clubhouse.”
We are everywhere.
I’m sure I have a sticker still adhering to a shirt in some drawer
Not being able to pay to watch the game through MLB is obnoxious.
also-I’m gonna go ahead and puke now.
Sling does 3-day free trials.
I will remember that. Since I’m working today it is probably better.
Let’s get this done