OperationAthletics

To Live And Die With The A's?

Greetings, friends,

Professor had been feeling under the weather for several months and is just getting back on his feet. It was a difficult year for professor, enduring the A's feeble offense and facing a lifeless August.

Without a colorful Nick Swisher and smooth Dan Haren, wins won't come any easier.

It's rebuilding, restocking, refueling, revamping time?

The next two years will certainly test your loyalty to the green and gold.

So what are your thoughts on the A's future?

I remain,

Professor Oakland

A's Limping Out of the Gate

Alas, our record looks better than our state. While talent is always important, you have to wonder if injuries or lack thereof will unveil the American League West champs in 2007.

Those nagging hamstrings are so tricky and linger like a ruthless fever. Swisher and Bradley, the flashy tandem whose uncanny home run celebration in the dugout electrified our hearts, are its next victims.

The problem with hamstring injuries is that they’re difficult to tame. A player can hit for the cycle one game, but cramp the next. Those ups and downs can linger for an entire season. That’s why the A’s will crack open the box of Band-Aids this year and only temporary smother their setbacks.

No Band-Aid, however, can soothe the loss of Rich Harden, the tease. The stallion has electric stuff, but can’t conquer these mysterious injuries. If it’s not his oblique, then it’s his shoulder. That’s why his stock is sputtering, and his name is being associated with Mark Pryor and Kerry Wood, two talented pitchers whose injuries have stifled their careers.

But Harden still has hope. He may be forced to compromise his velocity for movement. Do I hear Jamie Moyer, Greg Maddux? He might have to use his brain more than his arm, which may prolong his career.

Real fans stick around to the end, though.

I remain,

Professor Oakland

0-2 Blues?

Why have some A’s fans already panicked over 0-2 start?

Entering the ripe days of April, the A’s are sharing last place with the Rangers and are two games behind the high-powered Angels.

Let’s plan that luxurious October-vacation in Cancun after all.

Please, people.

Don’t read too much into this two-game drought.

Our scrappy A’s have lost two-straight games before, and will have more losing streaks sprinkled throughout the season. Let’s hope the streaks aren’t long and grueling, though.

But because the losses come at the most optimistic time of the season, we equate them with talent. Our minds begin to wonder and doubt, and even beg the question:

We’ve had 7-consecutive winning seasons, so could this be the year that Moneyball falls flat on its face?

Doubtful.

The only parasites that can infect Beane’s system are injuries, and they have already knocked some air out of the club. With Loaiza’s bulging disc in his neck, the A’s have two journeyman relievers, Gaudin and Kennedy, rearing the rotation. With all due respect to both, the watered-down rotation has yanked the “kick out of the drink” so to speak.

Alas, at one time, the A’s starting rotation had been like an exclusive, plush Country Club with an endless waiting list. If you were selected and privileged to throw behind Mulder, Hudson, Zito, you were proven and had the “stuff.”

Those days are over, it seems.

Now all we can do is wait and see how far H.B.H., Haren, Blanton, and Harden, will take us.

We’ll probably find that out in early July, but not on April 4.

I remain,

Professor Oakland

Life Begins Today...Play ball!

Can’t explain it, but for the Professor, my life stops today.

I mean, I’m still living, but something special interrupts its flow.

For the next six months, my activities, thoughts, and emotions will be wrapped around baseball. I may experience mood swings, though. After a grueling A’s loss, I may sink into depression. But should they pull off a nail-biter in extra innings, you may see me at Crogan’s in Walnut Creek circling the dance floor.

Some of you can identify with me. Starting this afternoon at 3:30 p.m., A’s baseball envelopes our lives and takes us on a thrilling ride. Through ups and down, injuries and walk-off home runs, we cling to the green and gold.

So let me ask you this question:

What does opening afternoon mean for you?

I remain,

Professor Oakland

For Now, Gaudin Inherits Fourth Slot

So goes for pre-season projections in January.

While most of us were mulling over the fifth-starter slot all winter, we’re barging into the season with Chad Gaudin as a bandaid for the fourth spot until Esteban Loaiza’s shoulder recovers.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m impressed with Gaudin’s stuff as a middle-reliever, however, having he and Joe Kennedy rearing the rotation piles more pressure on Dan Haren and Rich Harden. If a team manages to conquer the Harden-Haren duo, the next three starters, Blanton, Gaudin and Kennedy must silence lineups, which I’m not sure they can consistently do.

That’s why Loaiza’s recovery and performance plays a crucial role in the A’s 2007 rotation. With an effective Loaiza, it bumps the other starters in the right slots. Not too mention he’ll keep his team in the game, most of the time.

It’s a disappointing way to start the season, but the A’s aren’t the only club confronting starting rotation setbacks.

Things could be far worst:

We could have Carl Pavano as our opening day starter.

I remain,

Professor Oakland

Haren Anchors Rotation; Piazza Shines, and Kotsay's Scary Absence

As I predicted during the off-season, Dan Haren has evolved into the A’s ace and will get the starting nod on opening night at Seattle.

Yes, Rich Harden still has some of the most electric stuff in the majors, but Haren’s dependability (440 innings over the last two years) and composure has made him the wiser choice. And the kid’s split-fingered fastball is dominating, too.

While being the opening day starter can be glamorous, it won’t mean much amid a heated pennant race in August. With injuries and off-days sprinkled throughout the season, all that matters is an effective 4-man rotation to keep the lineup in the game.

Speaking of the lineup, Mike Piazza is scorching the ball all over the field and entering Sunday, he’s batting .520 this spring. And while I realize it’s only spring training, I’m comforted to know that he still boasts enough bat speed to smash home runs. Let’s see if he can translate that power into the season. Remember: Mike Piazza is a Steroid Era player, and while I’m not claiming he used performance-enhancing drugs during the decade of the 90s, I would be shocked if he hadn’t. His numbers don’t lie.

Trotting toward the outfield, I’m extremely disappointed to learn of Mark Kotsay’s back injury. He anchored and cemented the outfield, and no one glided effortlessly toward baseballs better than him. Countless times, he snatched drives over his head and out-ran balls headed toward the right-centerfield gap, and his absence will not go unnoticed. Trust me.

I remain,

Professor Oakland

Bleeding Green, Gold, Black, and Orange?

Dear Professor,

Okay, so I've been getting into it with my fellow A's fans on an issue.
They say it is possible to be a true "die hard fan" of both the A's AND Giants. I say it is impossible. They are geographic rivals, and it is, by definition, impossible to be a "die hard" fan of more than one team.
I told them that having two "die hard" teams is like being married to more than one person, not possible and laughable. Professor, have I lost my mind because of a lack of A's baseball for months, or is it true?

Kyle
San Diego, Calif.

Personally, I celebrate the A’s and tolerate the Giants.

But if the A’s aren’t on the tube, I’ll certainly flip over to the Giant’s station and see what both Barry’s will be doing.

The Giants’ broadcasters, Duane Kuiper, Jon Miller, and Mike Krukow are the best in the business, so I’ll watch them just to enjoy some entertaining commentary. Krukow’s jargon is creative and fun, and even if the Giants are losing 10-2, he’ll find someone interesting in the stands to pick on.

But to be a die-hard fan for both teams will exhaust my emotions. If one loss ruins my sleeping patterns, what will two losses do to the Professor?

Hand me the Prozac, people.

So I wonder if they’re die-hard fans at all, because if we truly invest our emotions, energy, and commitment to a team, the success and failures will alter our moods.

If I’m a die-hard for both teams, and one team wins and the other loses on a particular day, how can I celebrate the win if a painful loss looms?

Too much work.

Got to pick one, I think.

Go A’s!

Tell me your thoughts.

I remain,

Professor Oakland

Britney Spears; A's Eye Fresh Start

Some say Britney shaved her head to represent a new beginning, a fresh start. While others claim her extensions had been irritating her, so she grabbed the clippers and plowed through. And then there’s some that feel she’s on the verge of a nervous breakdown and is headed for rock bottom.

I’m inclined to lean toward the first opinion: She wants to begin a new chapter in her life.

For the A’s, though, every February represents a clean slate. When spring training rolls around, every player forgets about last year’s horrific slumps and nagging injuries and eyes a breakout season.

Despite the pain of the four-game sweep in the ALCS last October, the A’s will begin another eight month journey, hoping to still be playing through October.

So, A’s fans, as we embark on spring training, I ponder these concerns:

Has Eric Chavez fully recovered from his array of injuries that paralyzed his bat last year?

Will Rich Harden’s electric velocity finally translate into a Cy-Young type season?

Will Bobby Crosby and Mark Kotsay battle with back injuries for the remainder of their careers?

Will Huston Street rebound from a horrific September and October?

As the fifth starter, can Joe Kennedy keep the offense within striking distance?

Has Mark Ellis fully recovered from his broken hand?

Should Shannon Stewart snatch the third outfield spot, what will be the roles of Dan Johnson and Bobby Kielty?

If Erubiel Durazo bulldozes through spring training, how will Mike Piazza accept being a part-time designated hitter?

Those questions should be addressed during spring training, a time when each player shaves off the residue from last season.

I remain,

Professor Oakland

The Best of Foulke...

Announced earlier this week, and after ten injury-littered seasons, former A’s closer Keith Foulke, 34, retires for health reasons.

Not certain about the health issues, but Foulke battled injuries throughout his career.

Even so, he sported a successful career out of the bullpen and saved 190 games.

But I’m blogging about Foulke because he was another fledgling player who moped into the A’s organization in 2003, revitalized his career, and landed a monstrous contract with another club. The following year, in 2004, he anchored Boston’s bullpen and secured the final out of the World Series, ending their 86-year championship drought.

For the A’s, fortunately, of his ten seasons, they milked the best of him.

After some rocky years with the White Sox, A’s GM Billy Beane took a chance on Foulke, spotting in him the motivation to re-establish his career.

In essence, Beane packaged Billy Koch and a few minor leaguers for Foulke.

The gamble paid off for Beane, as Foulke baffled the heart of lineups with a deceiving change-up, making even the most thunderous bat look foolish.

That year, he boasted a 9-1 record with 43 saves, along with a stingy 2.08 ERA. With his pinpoint control during his career-high 72 appearances, he allowed only 20 base-on-balls. Not bad, folks.

So we say farewell to Keith Foulke, but we thank him for giving us his best year ever.

Feel free to drop some comments on Foulke.

I remain,

Professor Oakland

Romancing the A’s: A Green and Gold Valentine’s Day?

So you don’t have a valentine to wink at over the dinner table? While your co-workers our boasting about their meticulous romantic itinerary with their soul mate tomorrow, we’re frantically flipping through our tiny black books and searching for something similar.

We’re analyzing each candidate who strolls through our office door and asking ourselves, “Can that be the one?”

Time is running out, we think. We certainly don’t want people to think we’re alone, desperate, unattractive, and even more damning, unwanted.

You ladies might say:

“Those bleacher guys are players and don’t want to settle down, so I might march through the diamond level section, a seemingly more mature bunch of men with grip.”

But let me release the Dr. Phil out of me, my unattached A’s friend:

Don’t search for someone to make you complete; you’re already complete.

Don’t look for the catch––be the catch.

Remember: you can be complimented, but not completed.

That leads me to the A’s, the reason you migrated over to my blog.

If you haven’t met someone to make your heart-pound tomorrow, absorb yourself with the A’s. Hop on blogs, forums, chat rooms, and floss your favorite A’s apparel. While you grill the chicken and toss your salad, sprinkle the living room carpet with green and gold rose petals, and read a chapter of Moneyball.

While humans come and go throughout our lives, our passion for the A’s remains. With each boyfriend and girlfriend we’ve encountered, the team is probably one of the few constant elements in our lives. Six months out of the year, they carry us through a heart-racing journey, which, at times, helps us escape from life’s nagging issues.

Think about it: What human can produce the adrenaline and excitement of a Milton Bradley walk-off home run? When we leaped out of our seats when the A’s finally surged past the first round of the playoffs last year, a joy rippled through the Coliseum that afternoon.

So, while having a significant other has its perks, romancing the A’s lasts a lifetime.

"You’re too hard-core, Professor Oakland," you say.

Sorry, there's no other option.

So tell me, singles: What do the A's do for you?

I remain,

Professor Oakland