Well, the Rangers did get to play October baseball this year, but unfortunately, it wasn’t the kind we were looking for, it was just the final game in a very dismal season.
Ryan Glynn pitched like he was the ace of the staff yesterday. He went toe to toe with Oakland starter Tim Hudson, going a total of 7 innings, and giving up 2 runs on six hits. Two of the runs were in the final inning he pitched, when he seemed to be getting the ball up, Oakland hit two solo home runs. Other than that, he was masterful. Pitch count was good, he walked four, struck out four, and generally pitched awesome.
Problem was that Tim Hudson was even more awesome. With the division crown on the line, and going for his 20th win, Tim Hudson pitched like a CY Young winner. He went 8 innings, giving up no runs, striking out ten, and giving up only four hits. There were two walks, but one of them was intentional. Tim Hudson was totally awesome, and from the looks of yesterday’s game, he was a big part of the success the A’s have had this year.
My hat goes off to the A’s – they are worthy champs, and I hope they go further than we were able to in the last couple of years in the playoffs against the Yankees.
I did notice on the TV coverage that after the A’s had won, you didn’t hear anything from Tom Grieve anymore. I wonder if he was on the field or in the A’s clubhouse to congratulate his son or something. Again, I can’t express how glad I am it was the A’s that won the division, and not the Mariners. I don’t dislike the Mariners, but I like the A’s – great young team, great heart. Also, I’m from Philadelphia, so there’s that tie too (Although when I was born, they had already left for Kansas City).

OH MY GOD! – Just when you didn’t think it could possibly get worse – it does. Worst loss ever in team history, and the most runs the A’s ever score in their team history – going all the way back to the Philadelphia days.

A big two THUMBS DOWN! Could it get any worse on the final game tomorrow? Look at this box score!

Line Score
AL  FINAL
1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9     R  H  E
-  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -     -  -  -
TEXAS               0  1  0   0  0  0   0  0  1     2  9  0
OAKLAND             9  0  1   0  5  0   8  0  x    23 24  0   (FINAL)
BATTERIES:  TEX - DARREN OLIVER, BRIAN SIKORSKI (1ST), MATT
PERISHO (5TH), FRANCISCO CORDERO (5TH),
JONATHAN JOHNSON (7TH), DOUG DAVIS (7TH), JEFF
ZIMMERMAN (8TH) AND RANDY KNORR, BJ WASZGIS
(8TH)
OAK - BARRY ZITO, SCOTT SERVICE (7TH), TODD BELITZ
(9TH) AND RAMON HERNANDEZ, SAL FASANO (6TH)
WP - BARRY ZITO (7-4)
LP - DARREN OLIVER (2-9)
SAVE - NONE
HOME RUNS:  TEX - NONE
OAK - RANDY VELARDE (11) OFF SIKORSKI IN THE 1ST, 1 ON
JASON GIAMBI (43) OFF SIKORSKI IN THE 3RD, 0 ON
MIGUEL TEJADA (30) OFF CORDERO IN THE 5TH, 3 ON
RYAN CHRISTENSON (4) OFF D DAVIS IN THE 7TH, 2 ON
TIME:  3:32     ATT:  35,546
PROBABLES:  TEX - RYAN GLYNN (5-6, 5.84)
OAK - TIM HUDSON (19-6, 4.31)
Box Score
TEXAS (2) VS OAKLAND (23) - FINAL
TEXAS                  ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Sc Green cf             5  0  1  0   0  1   5  .242
R Clayton ss            3  0  0  0   0  2   0  .241
M Young 2b             2  0  0  0   0  1   3  .000
R Palmeiro 1b           3  0  0  0   0  2   0  .288
Dransfeldt ss          1  0  0  0   0  1   1  .115
Curtis lf               3  0  0  0   0  1   0  .275
a-Valdes ph-rf         1  0  1  0   0  0   0  .260
Sierra dh               4  1  1  0   0  0   2  .237
Ledee rf-lf             2  1  1  0   2  1   0  .238
Sheldon 2b-1b           4  0  2  0   0  1   1  .289
Lamb 3b                 4  0  2  1   0  0   0  .276
Knorr c                 3  0  0  0   0  0   5  .303
Waszgis c              1  0  1  1   0  0   0  .222
Totals                 36  2  9  2   2 10  17
a-singled for Curtis in the 8th.
BATTING: RBI - Lamb (47), Waszgis (4). Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - Sc Green 2, Knorr 1, Sierra 1, M Young 1.
Team LOB - 9.
OAKLAND                ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Long cf                 4  3  3  3   1  0   0  .290
b-Porter ph-cf         1  1  0  0   1  0   0  .154
R Velarde 2b            5  3  3  2   0  0   2  .277
Menechino 2b           2  1  2  2   0  0   0  .255
Ja Giambi 1b            3  3  3  3   2  0   0  .334
Je Giambi pr-1b        2  0  1  0   0  1   1  .253
Saenz dh                3  0  1  1   1  0   1  .310
J Ortiz pr-dh          2  2  1  1   0  1   3  .182
d-Hinch ph             1  0  0  0   0  1   2  .250
Tejada ss               4  1  1  5   1  0   4  .275
c-Byrnes ph-rf         1  1  1  0   0  0   0  .300
Grieve lf               4  1  1  0   1  1   2  .279
R Christenson pr-lf    1  2  1  3   0  0   0  .248
Piatt rf-3b             6  2  4  0   0  1   2  .299
Chavez 3b               0  1  0  0   1  0   0  .280
a-M Bellhorn ph-3b-ss  4  0  0  0   1  3   5  .154
Ra Hernandez c          2  1  0  1   1  1   2  .238
Fasano c               3  1  2  2   0  1   0  .214
Totals                 48 23 24 23  10 10  24
a-walked for Chavez in the 2nd; b-walked for Long in the 7th;
c-singled for Tejada in the 7th; d-struck out for J Ortiz in the 8th.
BATTING: 2B - Long (34, Sikorski); Grieve (39, Cordero); Fasano
(6, Cordero); Piatt (5, Jo Johnson); Menechino (9, Jo Johnson).
HR - R Velarde (11, 1st inning off Sikorski 1 on, 2 out); Ja Giambi
(43, 3rd inning off Sikorski 0 on, 2 out); Tejada (30, 5th inning
off Cordero 3 on, 1 out); R Christenson (4, 7th inning off D Davis
2 on, 2 out). RBI - Ja Giambi 3 (137), Saenz (32), Tejada 5 (115),
Ra Hernandez (61), Long 3 (80), R Velarde 2 (40), Fasano 2 (19),
Menechino 2 (26), J Ortiz (1), R Christenson 3 (18). 2-out RBI -
Ra Hernandez, Long 3, R Velarde 2, Ja Giambi, J Ortiz,
R Christenson 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out -
Ra Hernandez 1, M Bellhorn 1, Tejada 2, Hinch 1.  Team LOB - 11.
--------------------------------------------------
Texas          - 010 000 001  --  2
Oakland        - 901 050 80X  -- 23
--------------------------------------------------
TEXAS                        ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
D Oliver (L, 2-9)               2/3   5   6   6   1   0   0   7.50
Sikorski                      3 1/3   4   4   4   4   2   2   5.73
Perisho                         1/3   3   4   4   1   1   0   7.46
Cordero                       1 2/3   3   1   1   2   2   1   5.35
Jo Johnson                      2/3   5   7   7   2   2   0   6.21
D Davis                         1/3   2   1   1   0   1   1   5.38
Je Zimmerman                  1       2   0   0   0   2   0   5.30
OAKLAND                      ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Zito (W, 7-4)                 6       5   1   1   1   7   0   2.72
Service                       2       2   0   0   0   2   0   6.38
T Belitz                      1       2   1   1   1   1   0   2.70
WP - Perisho.  Pitches-strikes: Zito 100-62; Service 34-22; T
Belitz 16-10; D Oliver 29-18; Sikorski 73-38; Perisho 29-19;
Cordero 39-21; Jo Johnson 37-20; D Davis 20-13; Je Zimmerman
28-21.  Ground balls-fly balls: Zito 6-5; Service 2-2; T Belitz
1-1; D Oliver 2-0; Sikorski 1-7; Perisho 0-0; Cordero 0-3; Jo
Johnson 0-0; D Davis 0-0; Je Zimmerman 0-1.  Batters faced: Zito
24; Service 8; T Belitz 6; D Oliver 8; Sikorski 18; Perisho 5;
Cordero 10; Jo Johnson 9; D Davis 3; Je Zimmerman 5.
UMPIRES: HP--John Shulock. 1B--Brian Runge. 2B--Rocky Roe.
3B--Ian Lamplugh.
T--3:32.  Att--35,546.   Weather: 72 degrees, sunny.   Wind: 7 mph,
out to right.

The final series of the season. I hope going into this series that we actually lose all three, and let the A’s win it. We have nothing to play for at this point – the season is just about a total loss, we’re way in last place, and the only point in winning now would be to help the Mariners. Given a choice between the Mariners and the A’s, I’d rather the A’s get the division crown.
Well, we followed up on this plan in Game 1, losing 7-5. As losses go, it wasn’t the worst, we didn’t lie down, but a loss is a loss, and in this season, there’s a ton of ’em. 89 losses. That means we have to win both the last two to avoid a 90 loss season – don’t think it’s gonna happen. :)
We used seven pitchers, Kenny Rogers going 4.1, giving up five hits, and 3 earned runs. No one else pitched more than a single inning (Perisho had a 0 for IP). Francisco Cordero gave up two runs in 2/3 of an inning, and Jonathan Johnson & Mike Venafro each gave up a run, but neither was earned. On our side of the stick, we had a few decent nights by Scott sheldon, who went 2 for 3 after coming in early for Luis Alicea (Luis never played the field), Royce Clayton, who went 3 for 5, and Randy Knorr, who went 3 for 4.
Johnny Oates also fired Dick Bosman, which was a surprise, as they’d been together 9 years over two teams. Be curious to see who we bring in as a pitching coach. My initial vote – Bill Haselman.

Well, I was really hoping to come out of Seattle winning two of three and hurting Seattle – I really want to see the A’s win the division. Didn’t happen. No change in the standings at all during this series – Seattle is still 1/2 game up on Oakland going into the final three games of the season.
I had forgotten this game was on at 5:30, and didn’t see much of it, as I tuned in late. I did get to see Ruben Sierra’s home run – I was really really hoping he’d get one, on the (fairly decent) chance he won’t be here next season. He was all kinds of smiles in the dugout, and that was very nice to see – my wife even commented that it’s great to see players smile like that.
The other notable about this game (other than the fact we trounced on the Mariners) was the 5 stolen bases by Scarborough Green. I really think he should be given a shot at a 5th outfielder position. It’s too bad he can’t hit – because he plays passable defense, and has some ungodly speed – he could be a great leadoff hitter.
This weekend Tom Grieve has a chance to see his son’s team clinch the division with him announcing it. That must be cool for him.

As this season draws to a close, I’m finding it harder and harder to sit and watch an entire game without flipping channels, looking at something else on my TiVo… This game was no exception.
We lost, and we had chances. We couldn’t follow through and beat the Mariners’ closer for the win. Oh well.