Fans having low expectations for the Oakland A's prior to the approach of the 2012 season, was to be expected.They traded away two quality starting pitchers and an All-Star closer. The starting lineup had question marks, with several spots up for grabs as spring training unfolded.Even if you brace yourself for disappointment, you still think to yourself, "I didn't think it would be this bad."The A's pitching has not been fantastic, but they haven't been terrible either.The club is not producing at the plate and that's the real problem in Oakland right now, not the pitching. Don't be FooledI know, the ...
Ten games into the MLB regular season, the Oakland Athletics are 4-6—about where most expected. And though the season is in its infancy, we have at least learned these three lessons: Cespedes Can Crush a LotLet's get the obvious one out of the way first. Yoenis Cespedes is a far-from-finished product who strikes out at an alarming rate (15 already), but when he hits the ball, it goes far. Really far. With three home runs in 10 games, he is on pace for a total of 49 on the season—enough to tie Mark McGwire's rookie record set in 1987. Cespedes is growing ...
It took only two games for A's fans to get a glimpse of Yoesnis Cespedes' immense potential. In the seventh inning, facing Mariners reliever Shawn Kelley, Cespedes scorched a breaking ball straight into the left center field seats of the spacious Tokyo Dome.In each of the next two games, Cespedes would do the same. On April 6th, Cespedes launched his first homer in the Coliseum, driving a Jason Vargas fastball an estimated 462 ft. Then in the following night against M's right-hander Steve Delabar, Yoesnis deposited one over the right center field wall. Since then Cespedes has gone on a bit ...
Eric Sogard's fifth inning three-run home run proved to be the A's only scoring as they fell in Seattle 5-3 to the Mariners.A's starter Graham Godfrey struggled, allowing five runs (three earned) on six hits with a walk and three strikeouts in five innings. Even in spacious Safeco Field, Godfrey allowed two long balls, one to Brendan Ryan in the second and another to Justin Smoak in the third. Godfrey fell to 0-2 while Seattle starter Blake Beavan improved to 1-1.Down 3-0 in the fifth, the A's rallied with a single by Kila Ka'aihue and catcher Anthony Recker was hit ...
Tom Milone was solid in his second start as an Oakland Athletics pitcher. He just could not match Hector Noesi of the Mariners, who shut the A's down en route to a 4-0 victory to even the three-game series in Seattle.Noesi held the A's to five hits over eight innings and was never really threatened in the game. After a relative outburst of four runs Friday, this performance more resembles the scuffling A's batting order that has only scored 25 runs in nine games thus far.Milone's troubles largely caused by Jesus Montero. In the second inning, Montero yanked a fastball ...
Coming to a foreign country as your new place of employment can often be a difficult transition for anybody. There’s the obvious potential language barrier. There’s the scrutiny of your new peers and high expectations from your superiors for importing you into their business. And the obvious adaptation to the new surroundings is daunting enough as it is.For the average expatriate, these issues themselves can be difficult to overcome. Now imagine doing your new job, in a foreign land, while being followed by hordes of media, with the extreme demands of both representing your native country and performing at a high ...
As you watch Reggie McKenzie and compare him with former coach Hue Jackson, who has been called a football czar, you see day and night. McKenzie represents "day" because he has had the courage to make extreme changes in the Oakland Raiders' lineup.McKenzie is cool and careful, while Jackson was excited and talkative.McKenzie is the football warrior with surprise attacks planned in his head, while Jackson was the guy who aggressively approached his opponent with noise and motion.It reminds me of the cultures that made loud, aggressive sounds when they approached a battle, while other cultures were silent and strategic ...
With a few more starts like this, Bartolo Colon may establish himself as one of the free-agent steals of 2012.Colon went seven shutout innings, only allowing three hits and a walk while striking out five, and the Oakland A's cruised to a 4-0 win over the Seattle Mariners.After being rocked for seven runs in 4 1/3 innings in his last start against Seattle, Colon adjusted by throwing many more curveballs and keeping Seattle's lineup off balance. Ryan Cook and Grant Balfour completed the shutout with two innings of scoreless relief.The A's got on the board in the third inning when ...
For most A's fans, the A's stadium situation has been nothing more than a headache.Beginning in 2005 with Lew Wolff's purchase of the team, a new ballpark has always seemingly been a top priority for ownership.Now in hindsight, there are many that doubt that sentiment. It's obvious to see how someone could consider that notion laughable when looking at ownership's dubious efforts to get a new ballpark deal done, especially when looking to stay in Oakland.There were even rumors of ownership abandoning Oakland and then purchasing the Dogders. In this scenario, there was also the chance of the A's being completely ...
The 2012 Oakland Athletics stand at 3-4 in 2012. This record is good enough for third place in the four team American League West.Let's throw out the record for a second; shall we? If the A's do not improve their hitting, they will not be good enough period.The A's have six players with 20 or more at bats. Only newcomer Yoenis Cespedes is batting over .230 (.273). Next is Josh Reddick at .227. The next four, Jemile Weeks, Coco Crisp, Kurt Suzuki and Cliff Pennington are batting .200 or below. The stats of these six hitters take all the mystery out of why ...