It doesn’t get any easier, as the Dodgers come into the Coliseum having added Trevor Bauer and his suspicious spin rate to last year’s championship team.
Playoffs? We’re just trying to win a game!
If even that seems like too much to ask, maybe you can root for:
– A lead at some point
– A game with fewer than 8 runs allowed
– The bullpen striking out more batters than they walk (currently 10 each)
– Frankie Montas keeping all his fingernails
M: Montas vs. Dustin May
T: Bassitt vs. Kershaw
W: Luzardo vs. Bauer
In keeping with the theme, tonight’s lineup features an outfield of Kemp/Canha/Tom.
A’s lineup vs Dodgers: Canha CF, Lowrie 2B, Olson 1B, Moreland DH, Chapman 3B, Murphy C, Tom RF, Andrus SS, Kemp LF; Montas P
— Martín Gallegos (@MartinJGallegos) April 5, 2021
Enjoy!
This college hoops finale could be great. Best two teams all year long, by far. Will exile the A’s to the laptop.
As it turns out the college game has been a blowout since the first minute yet is still more watchable than the A’s.
Narrator: it wasn’t.
“And the plucky Baylor Bears have triumphed over the adversity of having one player murder a teammate and the coach cover it up and an epidemic of sexual assaults which the university president covered up and also Ken Starr. What a feel good story!”
On the one hand, yes. On the other hand, did these players have anything to do with it?
vince doesn’t like all the fastballs that have been swung through. needs more contact
now vince thinks Montas shouldn’t feel bad because the two hits were soft contact.
Ray said the difference this year has been the grounders that found a hole in the infield.
Frankie’s stuff looks great, but 25 pitches/inning.
Hopefully may leaves early. 2 redheads trading the mound sounds bad
My expectations are lowering by the inning.
Yeah, not sure I went low enough.
Apparently we’ve already lost half of our playoff odds.
Only half? I’ll take that.
sean. why are you calling anything but fastball?
Aaron Rodgers was pretty dull but one of the contestants was a Cal alum so we got a Go Bears from both of them, and then the Berkeley grad won big.
We both thought he was really good overall.
All the guest hosts start off by saying what big fans they are of the show. With Rodgers you could really see it was true, and it made a difference.
For one thing, he mostly did a good job with the mechanics of the show, making it through all the questions before time ran out and adding a little extra information when appropriate (like filling in the first name when a contestant gave only a last name as an answer). It’s been interesting how much better the amateur Jeopardy nerds (Jennings and Rodgers) are at that than the professional TV people (Couric and Oz).
And also, while he did occasionally seem a bit awkward on camera, he was also clearly having fun and not afraid to show a little (just enough) of his own personality show. He was psyched to be hosting Jeopardy, and that made it fun to watch too. It was also funny how his appearance ended up being book-ended by a Cal guy winning the first three games, and then the crack he got to make after yesterday’s Final Jeopardy.
Say it ain’t so, Joe!
First he ruins football. Then baseball. And now, potentially, Jeopardy.
Good grief.
I take all your points, but there was something about him that just didn’t work for me. Curious to see Levar Burton next – I think a lot of people nominated him from the get-go.
i don’t recognize a game until my team is down by 9
Dude
It’s difficult to watch this team. Mostly because I can’t name a single player.
jed lowrie
Truth
but at least you can go to bed before it’s over
I’m on vacation this week. I’ve got free time.
vacations are pretty stupid. I was on vacation last week
I used to actually go places.
I stayed in the same place you did a few years ago
Owner’s nice. Rates are great.
I don’t think this team is going full 1988 Orioles, but they might get like halfway there.
this is going poorly
Ka’ai tom got a hit!
Guduan gettimg plenty of work in.
he is going on the ML DL. good for him
maybe 7 inning games aren’t so bad?
I wonder if MLB would agree to expand the blackout area for me if I paid a little more?
So, partial success? Bullpen threw 6 K and 5 BB.
Thoughts of the day.
Ooh, this is a spiffy, barely-used 737-MAX9. That’s one way to avoid enduring a 100-loss season.
Hopefully not just like new.
Survived the flight(s). Getting out of the airport without killing someone at Avis was touch and go for a while. Please fix the ballclub while I’m on the other side of the country.
I endorse idea of Olson skipping Kershaw.
Of course that means playing Kemp, who doesn’t have a prayer against Kershaw, but what are you gonna do.
And Moreland.
You want to replace Marcus Semien, do ya?
There are three other winless teams, but they’ve collectively played four games.
– A lead at some point ✓
A lead! I remember those!
drink!
don’t drink the lead ed. what are you, from flint?
Well that was a pleasant feeling. See you in 2022.
Can one pitcher not completely suck? One??
I don’t think trading away Jeremy Giambi will help this time.
I just hope they’re getting some kind of bulk discount on throwing chairs.
It does look like it’s going to be an ass-whoopin’ kind of year.
Replay won’t save us, the cameras are inadequate on fair/foul homer calls.
the three games I have noticed him, brian gorman is inadequate
bassitt threw two terrible 2 strike pitches. Six worker like innings. Not terrible.
So…MVP for the season!
Good Lou inning. That’s today’s positive.
this is ridiculous
Minor threat for the A’s says vince
it’s treinen time!
When an A’s really gets into one this season, it’s off the wall. I’d blame the dead ball, but I’m pretty sure the other guys are hitting the same version.
OK, this morning in an effort to change the mojo I resolved not to wear an A’s hat again until they have a win. If that doesn’t work, starting tomorrow I’ll resolve not to wear A’s gear of any kind until they win. If they leave Houston 0-10 I will be forced to extend that to not wearing clothes at all.
Your re-nude commitment is admirable.
Hey-o!
Ice Cream wins the day at 9am. Impressive.
Is not getting no-hit by Trevor Bauer with this lineup realistic?
The top three are OK, I guess.
…and his Bat of Renown!
and glove of renown!
So, we’re gonna need you to keep predicting no-hitters…
Dallas Braden has gone full Unabomber.
Looking in on the jays rangers game I can’t help but think I would rather have received odor and kept semien
“Hitters are good fastball hitters.” -Ray Fosse
Sigh
KK and vince report melvin talked to the umpires after bauers half inning
Supposedly
Melvin may also have been tipped off by the first sentence of the FK thread for this series.
Bauer missed by more than Jesus and got the calls
Strike 3 to Canha just now was ridiculous. Nowhere near the zone at any point.
“Get into a hunting mode. Stalking the outs. They’re being fed to you.” Braden is such a weirdo.
It really does seem to be everything going wrong for the A’s. Calls go against them at bad times. Their defense fails them at the worst times. Injuries to the wrong guys (Pinder/Laureano are probably the two hottest players). Balls just foul. Giving up the hits with 2 outs or 2 strikes or both. They’re really not that bad. Don’t get me wrong, they deserve to be 0-6, but I don’t think there should have been 6 blowouts.
Anyone else who streams from the NBC app feel like they are being driven slowly mad by that Wendy’s ad?
Glove of Renown!
Is there really such a big difference, as the public imagination would have it, between winning and losing?
A Rickey Run!
Ramon is the only player who seems unaffected by whatever curse befell this team before Thursday.
Ramon doesnt believe in Monkey’s paws.
Need a bit more Renown…
Scrape together another couple of HBP-SB-SB-WP sequences, and we just might have a chance to win this one.
and of course rely on the bullpen being nails for 3-4 innings.
Bullpen? [bites nails]
Got through the Kolarek appearance with only one run scoring. The plan is still operational.
and a hbp!
Field of Dreams correctly gets grief for being sappy and Costnery, but I’m OK listening to that James Earl Jones monologue all season long. It’s like baseball Valium.
I think chapman got him before barnes hit the bag, not that it changes the score
Romo has nothing left.
that was a strike
Romo’s pitch to Turner might be the single worst pitch I’ve seen in mlb.
I believe we will require more runs.
There’s one!
The Padres are playing Jorge Mateo in centerfield for some reason and he deflected a fly ball over the fence for a two-run homer.
Andrus is tragic at the plate.
First game so far we’ve been close late. Progress!
My feeling exactly.
Diekman got beat on a good pitch, tip your hat etc. Trivino is missing his spots by a foot on either side.
OMG that last Lou pitch was center cut, very lucky dude swung through it.
A bottom of the ninth where there is actually hope!
Some afternoon pie would be delicious.
So you’re telling me there’s a chance?!?
Chappy starting to wake up is good.
I’d feel better about moving the runners into scoring position if it weren’t Andrus’s turn to bat
This is sad-feels like a playoff win to have tied a game in April…
That went well, but I would have still preferred Kemp to take a couple more pitches, what with Jansen being all over the place and him having a small strike zone
yes.
Also, lol at roberts, yeah, concede the run, play for the tie. we got this.
Over but low..I dont need this in my life buddy.
Looking forward to the A’s signing Jansen in 2029.
ouch
Piscotty/Pinder wouldn’ta dropped that.
JED is a pretty good guy to have up here.
Bad baserunning…
Chapman walk-off
I’ll take that, too! PIE!!!
Mitch better have my RBI.
KK cant understand why the Dodgers would play back. I understand all too well.
Victory cabbage for everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hooray! Hatless not hapless!
You realize you have to burn the hat now, right?
I tip my cap to your bare head.
At long last…VICTORY!
Good game
now hopefully bauer gets suspended
That would upgrade it to great game.
Compared to your expectations, would you say this series:
Fell short
Met
Exceeded ✓
honestly it was a good matchup. I had no little faith in montas, and bassitt did alright and luzardo did alright.
And don’t forget Puk’s outing – very encouraging.
This win will obviously lead to momentum shifting to an A’s sweep of the Astros.
Fangraphs win probability for today still has the A’s at 36%
Still sounds high.
Indeed it was, Vince.
he also “went viral” with his tweet
There’s no vaccine for Vince’s charm.
I get that this is just how things are done now..but would any A’s fan really want to bid on game used items from this last home stand? Unless we are building a bonfire..
Never knew the potato story
That’s a beauty – thanks!
Oh come on!
Win a game, lose a guy, the standard terms for any deal with Satan really.
Deolis Guerra struck out 12 and allowed no runs in 6 2/3 innings of spring training.
Based solely on that I am declaring him our new bullpen ace.
Hung one to Altuve, but looked quite good against the scary trio of Brantley/Bregman/Alvarez.
Guduan is a different guy?
Guerra is the one who will have a high WAR.
jajaja
Guerra is the good one, not the Guduan.
The best I can do is to offer a sacrifice of my German friend. We took this photo on 3/19/18 in Scottsdale. It’s been downhill from that day on
FWIW my friend insists it’s all AJ’s fault, as he ordered a salad bowl for dinner.
Optimism clearly failed, so I’m going with this being one of those 5-20 start and never heard from again debacles. A recent example that comes to mind is the 2016 Twins, who were coming off 83-79 and thought to be contenders. They started 0-9, were 10-30 by May 19 and finished 59-103. This has all the signs, especially the early injuries.
This is a much more natural look on you.
Yeah, the other was like I tried dying my hair purple or something. What was I thinking?
LOL, Michael Conforto just very blatantly stuck his elbow out over the plate on strike three for a walkoff HBP and a Mets win. Even the Mets announcers are appalled.
That was a SHOCKING missed call. Pitch was a strike, buckled his knees, so he tried (and maaaaaaaaaaaaybe succeeded) to hit it with his elbow.
Complete and utter horseshit, and the umpire deserves infinite demerits. METS announcers were going crazy.
Tie game, bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, Michael Conforto sticks that fking thing out there into strike 3. HBP, game over.
Damn it GM.
How did Mattingly, the Marlins pitcher, the Marlins catcher, not get themselves tossed, suspended, imprisoned over that call? I have never seen a screw job quite that extreme.
I was surprised to learn at the time that while the rule does say you have to try to get out of the way (which Conforto blatantly violated), the ball being over the plate makes no difference.
Mets booth said the last Mets WOHBP was Justin Turner against the A’s. I managed to forget that one.
Brad Ziegler, bottom of the 13th. A’s had tied it in the ninth on a Conor Jackson single off of K-Rod.
Game thread suggests Turner also stuck some fking thing (maybe just his uniform) out there.
And the next day:
I don’t remember Godfrey’s fastball velocity, probably 90ish, but it was definitely harder than Ziggy’s frisbees, especially when aimed directly at the ribs as Godfrey’s pitch was. Nobody complained. Mattingly is old-school enough that I’d expect something similar for Conforto at the first opportunity.
You should be surprised, because it’s wrong
Perhaps my Vince-like phrasing is confusing.
An actual strike (like Conforto’s) is not supposed to count as a HBP.
But one that is “over but low” (like Seager’s) can.
Ah, OK, then I misunderstood you and I agree
The most surprising thing is that it isn’t reviewable.
I kinda get that it’s not, because it would be reviewing a judgement call (strike/ball)
That’s clearly the rule, but man it sucks when replay shows someone totally, 100% inarguably, screwed the pooch and there’s no remedy.
After watching the 6 Nations (rugby) I’ve lost what little patience I had with the stupidity of US-style video review. They still have the call-live-must-be-overturned standard, but the helper officials can have things reviewed, and once you’re reviewing the point is to figure out what the right call is. (Also, and this is great, the conversation between ref and reviewer is broadcast.)
In the back of my mind i am sloshing around an objection to the HBP on the body armor.
I can’t quite figure out if it’s reasonable to discount a HBP on the the elbow guard.
Ah. The Barry Bonds debate.
Everyone is replying in your thread, so you win after all.
Best part was the umpire doing the first half of his strike three motion before changing his mind.
Yeah, that was pretty funny, unless you’re a Marlins fan
a what?
heh
Ron “Mea” Kulpa
There is some discussion over whether this should really be considered a judgment call about whether the ball was a strike (and hence not reversible) or a misapplication of the rule (which could be appealed). I assume nothing will happen, though.
It should be protested. And there should be a way to fix it.
And the bigger issue isn’t whether it was a strike. It is that he fking LUNGED at the ball and you missed it.
Sounds bad!
ouch
Going in for a sore shoulder and coming out down a rib seems like a real bummer.
that’s a bad tradeoff. i wouldn’t do it for anything less than a helpmeet.
Like getting an Ace Closer ™ at the trading deadline!
Hey nerds,
My nephew is about to graduate from Cal with a degree in physics/astrophysics and was not accepted at any of the 10 PhD programs he applied to. Apparently having a 3.9something GPA means you are dumb.
Any suggestions on things to occupy him for the next year before second round of applications?
Any geographical constraints?
Send me his CV.
none. My sister would be sad to see that answer in print.
and thank you!
This has been a weird/tough year for physics PhD applications. I saw very good students get rejected by decidedly non-elite schools. It’s not much consolation, but he shouldn’t feel down on himself.
that’s what he was told too.
he is kicking around ideas right now. Like teaching english somewhere in the world, or moving to oregon or whatever
Townsend just unironically said that “it will be like adding a guy just after the trading deadline” if Rosenthal comes back.
God DAMMIT.
This place the Blue Jays are playing looks pretty posh for a spring training park. Maybe the Rays should move there.
Baseball! On television before dark!
Not a lot of masks in this crowd.
Darwinism
well positioned.
again