Today Yesterday just so happened to be the four-year anniversary of my lightly-read blog.Don't worry...this isn't another "thanks for reading" hostage video. I did, however, want to once again express my appreciation to everyone who takes time out of their day to check in with the never-ending a »»
General Manager: Jack Zduriencik (since October 2008) Manager: Don Wakamatsu (since November 2008) Gains: Milton Bradley, Eric Byrnes, Johermyn Chavez, Tommy Everidge, Chone Figgins, Ryan Garko, Casey Kotchman, Brandon League, Cliff Lee, Yusmeiro Petit Losses: Phillippe Aumont, Miguel Batista, A »»
General Manager: William Lamar ("Billy!") Beane (since 1997) Manager: Bob Geren (since 2007) Gains: Ben Sheets, Coco Crisp, Gabe Gross, Jake Fox, Michael Taylor, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Eric Sogard, Steve Tolleson, Adam Rosales Losses: Adam Kennedy, Bobby Crosby, Scott Hairston, Aaron Cunningham, Jeff »»
News Item: The Oakland A's signed SP Ben Sheets to a one-year, $10M contract with incentives. Last week, Sheets – who hasn't thrown a pitch in a Major League game since August 2008 – held a workout for interested teams down in his home state of Louisiana. By all accounts, Sheets was superb. H »»
From the men who brought you last month's discussion on Prince Fielder's ample antics… Out on the east coast is m'man Tom Daniels. He's a dismayed Mets fan who recently called into WFAN to propose a David Wright for Ichiro Suzuki and Felix Hernandez deal. In America's Heartland sits Cardinals fan »»
Infielders Outfielders Catcher and DH Greg Smith 7-16, 4.16 ERA, 32 GS The Good News: When all 8,000 A's fans were singing Greg Smith's praises after he posted a 2.84 ERA in his first ten starts, I was the voice of reason that screamed, "Wait! He's not as awesome as you think!" Thankfully, the »»
After being quietly linked to Colorado Rockies OF Matt Holliday since the end of the season, the A's "surprised" the national media that generally ignores all things Oakland by (reportedly) agreeing to a deal. Holliday for OF Carlos Gonzalez, SP Greg Smith and RP Huston Street I'm way behind in my »»
Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays Myth: Home field advantage will be the deciding factor in this series. Fact: In baseball's postseason, there really isn't any significant statistical edge to the holders of home field. This one will come down to the talent on the field. The Rays make for a cute, »»
Game: Florida Marlins at Los Angeles Dodgers Date: July 10 Network: FSN-Prime Ticket Play-by-Play: Vin Scully Color Commentator: None Pre-Game Stooge Troika: Patrick O'Neal, Kevin Kennedy and Steve Lyons "High fly ball into right field, she is GONE!" With those nine words, the venerable voice of »»
Game: St. Louis Cardinals at Atlanta Braves Date: July 31 Network: Fox Sports Net-Midwest Play-by-Play: Dan McLaughlin Color Commentator: Al Hrabosky OK…on the one hand, I'm one of those that believe St. Louis just might be the best baseball town in America. On the other hand, the sheer number »»
Game: New York Yankees at Minnesota Twins Date: June 2 Network: FSN-North (MN) Play-by-Play: Dick Bremer Color Commentator: Bert Blyleven Ummm…"Telly"?: Telly Hughes Uncomfortable Looking Ex-Player in an Ill-Fitting Suit: Ron Coomer I've never really had much love for the Twins. In 2002, they b »»
Game: Milwaukee Brewers at St. Louis Cardinals Date: July 24 Network: FSN-Wisconsin Play-by-Play: Brian Anderson Color Commentator: Bill Schroeder Long name. Not a natural blonde.: Trenni Kusnierek Studio Hosts? For the Brewers?!: Jeff Grayson & Jeff Cirillo I work with someone who is the bi »»
Game: Baltimore Orioles at Boston Red Sox Date: July 11 Network: New England Sports Network (NESN) Play-by-Play: Don Orsillo Color Commentator: Jerry Remy Hotter'n 100 Hazel Maes: Heidi Watney About 20 years ago, the rivalry between the Red Sox and my A's was about as fierce as any in baseball. L »»
Game: Toronto Blue Jays at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Date: May 31 Network: Rogers SportsNet Play-by-Play: Jaime Campbell Color Commentator: Rance Mulliniks From what I can gather, Rogers SportsNet is the very loose equivalent to Fox Sports Net for Canada. More specifically, they're competing »»
Game: Washington Nationals at Cincinnati Reds Date: July 6 Network: Fox Sports Net-Ohio Play-by-Play: George Grande Color Commentator: Chris Welsh In the third inning of this game, Grande and Welsh shared the microphone with 8-year-old Adam Bender. Bender is a truly inspirational story as he lost »»
General Manager: Jon Daniels (since October 2005) Manager: Ron Washington (since November 2006) Gains: Vladimir Guerrero, Rich Harden, Mitchell Hilligoss, Colby Lewis, Darren Oliver, Clay Rapada, Chris Ray Losses: Joaquin Benoit, Hank Blalock, Marlon Byrd, Greg Golson, Jason Grilli, Eddie Guarda »»
General Manager: Jed Hoyer (since October 2009) Manager: Bud Black (since November 2006) Gains: Aaron Cunningham, Jon Garland, Jerry Hairston Jr., Scott Hairston, Radhames Liz, Dusty Ryan, Yorvit Torrealba Losses: Elizer Alfonzo, Cha Seung Baek, Josh Banks, Henry Blanco, Chris Burke, Mike Ekstrom »»
General Manager: Tony Reagins (since 2007) Manager: Mike Scioscia (since 2000) Gains: Hideki Matsui, Joel Pineiro, Fernando Rodney, Brian Stokes Losses: Jose Arredondo, Kelvim Escobar, Chone Figgins, Vladimir Guerrero, John Lackey, Shane Loux, Gary Matthews Jr., Dustin Mosley, Darren Oliver Min »»
So, what did we learn from the AL and NL Division Series? (1) Karma caught up to Randy Moss Matt Holliday like a m***af***a. Too bad "karma" couldn't catch that ball, eh Matt? (2) The Red Sox, desperate to stave off their team's increasing age and irrelevance, are going to throw mad free agent mo »»
It took a bombshell to break up the cacophony of self-congratulatory sportswriter backslapping in the aftermath of the shocking news that someone other than Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, Canseco and Clemens took steroids. I'm normally numb to the tawdry tabloid side of sports and entertainment, but Wednesd »»
Daric Barton – 1B .226 BA .327 OBP .348 SLG The Good News: After bottoming out offensively with a .595 OPS on August 21, Barton hit .307/.418/.525 over his final 124 plate appearances (31 games). His defense noticeably improved throughout the year – in fact the relatively esoteric stat RZR »»
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Tampa Bay Rays Myth: After being wrong about the Rays in the ALDS and the ALCS, Aaron is ready to concede the world championship to Tampa Bay. NEVER! Look, there are a number of angles to explore here. Will the Phillies be rusty after a week-long layoff? Did the seven- »»
Game: Arizona Diamondbacks at Houston Astros Date: August 16 Network: FSN-Houston Play-by-Play: Bill Brown Color Commentator: Jim Deshaies "Patti" with an "I", Annoying with an "A": Patti Smith (Sorry, kids…the Astros have someone who's even harder to find a picture of than the Arizona's "intervi »»
Game: Cincinnati Reds at Philadelphia Phillies Date: June 5 Network: Comcast SportsNet Play-by-Play: Harry Kalas (1-3, 7-9 innings) Tom McCarthy (4-6 innings) Color Commentators: Gary Matthews, Chris "Wheels" Wheeler The 1994 strike effectively ensured that there'd never be another team like the 1 »»
Game: Detroit Tigers at Seattle Mariners Date: July 4 Network: FSN-Northwest Play-by-Play: Dave Niehaus (Innings 1-3); Dave Sims (Innings 4-9) Color Commentator: Mike Blowers Rally Fry Girl: Cara Capuano (mildly attractive in-game correspondent who hands out french fries to parasites who bring sign »»
Game: Oakland A's at Chicago White Sox Date: July 4 Network: Comcast SportsNet Play-by-Play: Ken "Hawk" Harrelson Color Commentator: Darrin Jackson This should be fun. Harrelson is almost universally despised by baseball fans and considered the biggest "homer" broadcaster in any sport. You've s »»
Game: Oakland A's at Texas Rangers Date: May 30 Network: Fox Sports Net-Southwest Play-by-Play: Josh Lewin Color Commentator: Tom Grieve In-Game Tapeworm: Jim Knox Lewin is more famous here in San Diego for being the play-by-play voice of the Chargers, while Grieve was the General Manager of the R »»
Game: Los Angeles Angels vs. Oakland A's Date: July 13 Network: Comcast SportsNet Play-by-Play: Glen Kuiper Color Commentator: Ray Fosse Token Girl Near the Dugout: Jaymee Sire As most of y'all know, in spite of my unabashed adoration for the A's, I've never lived in the Bay Area. As a result, I »»
Game: Houston Astros at Pittsburgh Pirates Date: July 7 Network: Fox Sports Net-Pittsburgh Play-by-Play: Greg Brown Color Commentator: Steve Blass If you're ever amongst friends and the subject of "most underappreciated teams of the last 20 years" comes up, you could do a lot worse than referencin »»
Game: Kansas City Royals at Oakland A's Date: July 28 Network: FSN-Kansas City Play-by-Play: Ryan Lefebvre Color Commentator: Frank White Not the WCW Goldberg: Joel Goldberg Back in the day, the Royals were actually a pretty dominating force in the old American League West. But, my favorite momen »»
