This weekend, the Oakland Athletics will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the organization’s 1972 World Series championship, as part of their three-game series hosting the Cleveland Indians. The highlight of the weekend will be the fan giveaway for Saturday’s matinee—a Rollie Fingers bobblehead doll, featuring his awesome signature handlebar moustache.Renowned for his famous facial hair, Fingers also happened to have a Hall-of-Fame career as one of the first premier relievers in baseball history and clearly the most successful in the redefined role of the modern closer. His excellence on the field not only revolutionized the role of the closer in modern baseball, but it also ...
The Raiders continued their progress while remaining under the radar on Friday when they signed wide receiver Duke Calhoun. Calhoun is a great prospect that can really help the Raiders if he plays well, but won't hurt too bad if he doesn't pan out. Like Calhoun, many of the Raiders' free agents that they've signed this offseason have that same effect. If they do well, Reggie McKenzie will look like a genius. If they don't, McKenzie won't take that much heat as many of the signings are on one-year deals. Begin Slideshow
An old face came back to help defeat the A's on Friday. Former A's third baseman Jack Hannahan had three RBI as the Cleveland Indians held off the A's 4-3 in the opener of a three-game series at the Coliseum.Graham Godfrey's wildness helped contribute to his undoing as he fell to 0-3. Godfrey walked five batters and allowed all four runs on three hits. Although the bullpen threw four scoreless innings for the second straight game, the A's could not quite come back from three runs down.Godfrey's troubles began in the second inning when he walked three of the first ...
Add this to the string of low-profile, potentially shrewd acquisitions orchestrated by new Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie this offseason: the team has announced the signing of free agent wide receiver Duke Calhoun.Originally undrafted in 2010 out of the University of Memphis, Calhoun was added by the New York Giants during the college free-agency period and spent the 2010 season with the team. He appeared in seven games and caught one pass for four yards. Calhoun was released last offseason and spent 2011 out of the NFL.During his college career, Calhoun played in 49 games with 26 starts and finished with 212 ...
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Oakland Raiders fans, but the 2012 campaign for the Silver and Black will be another disappointing one. I simply don't see this team breaking its nine-year postseason drought.Part of it is the schedule, made difficult with the AFC West matching up against the AFC North and NFC South this season. That means bouts against several teams that made the playoffs last year, such as the Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons.But teams within the AFC West have also improved, most notably the Denver Broncos, who ...
There are only a few days left before the 2012 NFL Draft, and it's time for me to roll out the last edition of my 2012 NFL Draft Wish List for the Oakland Raiders.The Raiders have done a great job since the offseason began, doing everything they can to fill the holes by signing proven veterans at a cheap price. To replace Chris Johnson and Stanford Routt, the Raiders signed Ron Bartell, Shawntae Spencer and Patrick Lee. When the Raiders released Kamerion Wimbley, two new holes opened up. By cutting Wimbley, the Raiders not only lost an outside linebacker, but ...
The new-look Oakland Raiders 2012 season is going to be grounded before it even has a chance to get going. They have a rough opening slate of games that is going to leave them scrambling to piece together anything but a disastrous record. The Raiders have a lot of change to process in order to get ready for the season. The organization is undergoing more change than it has at any time since the late Al Davis took over control. This team has a new leader in GM Reggie McKenzie. He will be instilling a vision and philosophy that had previously only been dictated ...
It's no secret that the Oakland Raiders need to improve the secondary if they're to succeed in 2012.Safety should not be an issue, as the Silver and Black tagged Tyvon Branch and re-signed Matt Giordano. Reggie McKenzie also acquired some veteran DBs, including Shawntae Spencer, Pat Lee, Brandon Underwood, and Ron Bartell. Nevertheless, the team is still lacking in depth and could use another presence in the backfield. Here's three possibilities that the Raiders can afford.Begin Slideshow
The Los Angeles Angels handed the Oakland A's their third consecutive loss on Monday, with a stellar pitching performance from Jered Weaver.Weaver recorded his 1,000th strikeout and helped provide the goose egg in a 6-0 loss where the A's failed to get 10 hits for the 11th game in a row, which is now a franchise record to start the season.The game was basically decided in the top of the first, with A's starter Brandon McCarthy giving up three runs on four hits, which included Kendrys Morales's first home run since May of 2010.It was the same old story for ...
New game, same story: The Oakland A's are simply not hitting. Held to six hits by four Los Angeles Angels pitchers, the A's suffered their second shutout in three games, falling 6-0.Kendrys Morales hit a three-run home run in the first inning and Jared Weaver cruised over 6 2/3 innings. Brandon McCarthy took the loss, allowing 11 hits and five runs in seven innings. The game essentially ended in the first inning. After Weaver retired the A's in order, back-to-back singles by Howie Kendrick and Albert Pujols put runners on first and second for Morales. On an 0-2 pitch, Morales launched ...