Tuesday, April 15, 2008

This Week in Baseball 4/15/08



This week really starts last week, when we were at McAfee Coliseum to watch the Oakland A's on a brilliant Sunday afternoon take on the Cleveland Indians.  The A's had quite surprisingly taken the first two games of the series:  C. C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona were the starting pitchers and neither fared very well at all.  I was so excited to see McAfee Coliseum, and it did not disappoint, though Mr. Hendricks told me that everyone thinks it's a dump.  It is a shared field between the Oakland A's (baseball) and the Oakland Raiders (football) and only poor and/or stubborn cities don't have separate stadiums for their sports teams.  Additionally, McAfee is going to its rest in a few years when the A's build a new stadium in Fremont, California, so I wanted to see the joint before it went up in demolition smoke. 

"Baby" Joe Blanton (not his real name, of course:  I have a nickname for nearly every ball player I love and hate) was on the mound for Oakland, and Cliff Lee for the Indians.  Luck would have it that we were sandwiched between Indians fans, and they couldn't have been nicer.  Much more reserved than the blabbermouth wearing a Zito jersey who showed up around the fourth inning at the end of the row.  It was challenging to pay attention to the game with the sunny skies, brisk breeze, and good company.  It was also an unusual pleasure for me to watch major league baseball out of doors:  the Twins play in the Metrodome which, while never that appealing, really seemed like the ugly stepsister by comparison.  The A's lost, but we had a great time in the sun, Mr. Hendricks with his blue cotton candy, and my friend Zelda and I with our shared ice cream sandwich.  I even bought a sweatshirt with a zip front in the green and gold of the Athletics to wear on my walks when it's cold here in the spring and fall.

Back home I've had the opportunity to watch the A's and the Twins a little more closely, and, as usual, I have some complaints.  The A's beat the White Sox last night, but not after Huston Street, the A's closer, once again shaved years off my life as he allowed hits and a walk.  He finally got out of the inning, but not after much cursing on my part.  The Twins, on the other hand, blew a five run lead TWICE in their game against the Detroit Tigers, and I didn't even feel sorry for them.  First of all, you don't deserve to win when you blow a five run lead.  Twice.  Secondly, the Tigers have had a rough time of it, skunked twice in the last two games, and can't seem to get it together.  Granted, there are already injuries, but still:  these guys are great and I believe it's just a matter of time.  Thirdly, those Twins outfielders looked like all they did was chase balls around in the outfield.  Denard Span, who is playing right field while Michael Cuddyer nurses a broken finger, actually tipped a long (catchable) fly ball over the fence and gave Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez a home run.

So the Tigers won 11-9, and Jim Leyland may have felt a little sheepish about his "chat" with his boys the previous night.  Apparently, you could hear his voice through stone walls.  He told reporters it was none of their business when asked what he'd said to the players.  There's a story that he yelled at his former team, the Colorado Rockies, in the nude and while a clenching a cigarette between his teeth, with an inch or so of ash was hanging from its tip.  Paints a picture, doesn't it?  Today the A's are losing to the White Sox, and the Twins and Tigers play again tonight.

Why are the White Sox so unlikeable?  Ozzie Guillen, for one:  when he was the new skipper for the Sox, he was sort of colorful and had a devil-may-care attitude.  Time went on and more offensive and unbelievable things came out of his mouth.  Then he practically shamed to death, on national television, a pitcher fresh from the minor leagues because he couldn't bean the batter that Guillen wanted to punish.  So now he's just an obnoxious and ignorant ass, and he seems to like to have those kinds of players around, too.  A. J. Pierzynski is the first that comes to mind:  no one likes this guy.  However, I would have paid good money to see him in the clubhouse of his former team, the Giants, with Barry Bonds.  That's a tea party, my friend.  Juan Uribe:  looks so unhappy.  Some of the good guys are Jermaine Dye, Paul Konerko and Jim Thome.  But overall, there's just a bad vibe.  And the television announcers are as annoying as they come, exclaiming, "He gone!" when one of the Sox pitchers strikes out a batter.  They just feel dirty and icky, kind of like the Yankees without the veneer of "professionals."

Till next week then.