SB Nation User Blog: 67MARQUEZ

Happy ThANksgiving!

67MARQUEZ — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:23:30 -0000

As we prepare to gather with family and friends for food and foot...oh wait, that's a bad word ‘round here, I wanted to take a moment to wish the ever-growing community here at Athletics Nation a warm and wonderful holiday.

In case you are suffering from heartburn or you've had enough of Uncle George's jokes, AN will be open all day today. Feel free to sneak away and tell us who or what you are thANkful for- A's style.

Today is a day to give thanks to loved ones both near and far, but it is also to remember those who may not have so much to be thankful for. It was 25 years ago this week that this song was recorded, and its message still rings true today. It is not too often that I have a "Where were you" moment with a song, but this is one of them. I still remember sitting with my classmates in Journalism my senior year trying to pick out each artist as they sang their part.

I would be a turkey not to mention Nico's canned food drive from last Saturday. It was well worth the trip to Berkeley to "witness the magic". Kudos to his kids- no, not the four-legged kind in his backyard- who not only were as sweet as pumpkin pie, but happily handed out flyers in three separate shifts (and didn't even question the straight time pay!) to unsuspecting shoppers. In restoring my faith in the human race, these fine folks were so inspired that they went about stuffing four barrels worth of food! The unofficial goal was two barrels, with everything beyond that considered, um, gravy.

OK, enough of the Thanksgiving clichés (I see you rolling your eyes). It's time to do my part for the feast. I am on Drinks Duty. And if you think that's easy, try figuring out which beer, soda, juice, and wine to buy for some forty family members of all ages and tastes.

Before I forget, I am thANkful for the little team on Coliseum Way that continues to bring me joy after all these years, and for having an awesome group of people with whom to share my passion.

Be safe, and enjoy.

67M

Was I supposed to share? Oops. Happy Thanksgiving, AN! -Nico

Scrapbook Memories - The Finale

67MARQUEZ — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:03:38 -0000

I woke up early the morning of Sunday October 29, 1989, walked down to the 7-11, and proceeded to buy one of each newspaper on the stand that day. Who knew that the images that adorned those sports pages would be brought back to life on a blog site some 20 years later?

Who knew that I would still be waiting for a Sunday like that one?

When we began this journey back in February, we saw an Oakland A's ball club coming off a heartbreaking end to their previous season, and my oldest sister Tonianne receiving the news that she had breast cancer:

I was so looking forward to Spring Training that year. I knew we were on the verge, especially after they way things ended in '88. Sadly, I really don't remember much of it. I started chemo in April. I had my first treatment just before we took Patrick to his first A's game (he was 19 months). I know we sat in the first deck and I brought the baseball glove booster seat that you gave him for his first birthday. Everyone got a kick out of it. He didn't sit in it very long though; one of us ended up holding him most of the game. I think that was the last time things felt normal for me that year.

Things were a little left of normal for Tony La Russa's A's that season, first with the rash of injuries to key players, then with unexpected competition from the likes of the Angels and Royals, and finally an earthquake that shook the Bay Area just minutes before the start of Game 3 of the World Series, which the A's led two games to none over the San Francisco Giants before Mother Nature crashed the party.

Tonianne, who was already one of the A's biggest fans before cancer, went to great lengths to show her true colors, though not intentionally:

The first chemo wasn't too bad and I don't think I was sick much if at all. It all went downhill after that. One of the drugs I was given was a fluorescent green color. I remember thinking Lasorda may think he bleeds Dodger blue but I really do have A's green running through my veins!

While the A's slowly returned to full strength and received an extra boost of energy in the form of Rickey Henderson in June, my sister's attention turned away from the team she adored:

Meet the Hendersons: the A's really took off in 1989 when Rickey joined Dave in the outfield.

The rest of the summer, my focus was on Michael and Patrick, and getting through the chemo. Michael was working days with the Sheriff's Department so he had a somewhat normal schedule. I also continued to work at the bank full-time and worked my days off around chemo treatments. So, we made the most of the days we had together. I know we took a lot of day trips with Patrick. I don't remember going to very many games though, or even listening to them on the radio (and you know I never miss on game on the radio, even now).

After an ugly sweep at the hands of the Red Sox, Oakland won 11 of its last 14 games to win its second straight division crown, and then disposed of the Toronto Blue Jays in five hard-fought contests to become the first repeat American League champions since the 1977-78 Yankees. Tonianne was hardly able to enjoy any of it:

As the A's headed down the stretch, so did I. I was getting so sick from the chemo; it was taking me longer to recover between treatments. I was on steroids (supposedly to help with the nausea) so my face was bloated. I had my sights set on October, not because it was pennant time but because my last chemo treatment was coming up. In fact, my last treatment was on Friday, October 13 (the day before Game 1 of the Fall Classic). I popped into Safeway's floral shop just before treatment because I wanted to pick up a cactus plant for my chemo nurse. I ran into Uncle Rick who was in full A's regalia. Honestly, until I saw him I wasn't even thinking World Series. I just wanted the chemo to be over. It was pretty bad. I got sick in the office before they even brought the drugs out, and whatever they gave me after the treatment helped with the sickness but knocked me out for two days. I missed the first two games of the Series entirely. Usually if I had a treatment on Friday, I would be well enough to go back to work on Monday but I was pretty messed up so didn't go back until Tuesday, the day of the earthquake.
I have to say I was pretty freaked out by the quake, and when the Series resumed it was hard for me to get caught up in it. I so wanted to! I wanted everything to be "normal" again. I remember going to Mom's to watch Game 3. They kept showing the clip of Al Michaels getting cut off by the quake. All of the pre-game stuff was centered on the quake; mourning those lost, and celebrating the heroes. I guess looking back, it was important to recognize that and put in perspective what had happened. But we were back to baseball, at least the A's were, and it felt good to try and enjoy that.

I don't remember where we watched Game 4...

If the Giants had any ideas of extending the World Series, they were quickly laid to rest by an A's team that was simply not going to be denied. Rickey Henderson led off the game with a home run, and the rout was on. With two men on and two outs in the second, Oakland starter Mike Moore strode to home plate, trying to break an 0-for-70 skid by American League pitchers in Series play. In the ABC-TV booth, announcers Jim Palmer and Tim McCarver joked about what the scouting report was on Moore: "Has trouble with thrown ball." The Giants were the ones in trouble after Moore doubled over the head of centerfielder Brett Butler to drive in two runs, and then scurried home on a single by Rickey, sending starter Don Robinson to an early shower.

Terry Steinbach tripled home two more runs in the fifth, and scored on Tony Phillips' double to make it 7-0. A Rickey three-bagger in the sixth was followed by Carney Lansford's single to push the lead to 8-zip, before the Giants rallied.

The game hung in the balance in the seventh when SF put four runs on the board to close within 8-6, and brought up Will Clark with a chance to tie the game on one swing. Clark flied out, MVP Kevin Mitchell did the same, and that was that.

Tony Phillips made two sparkling plays in the ninth, as the A's finished with just one error in the Series- and that was by Dave Stewart in the first inning of Game 1. In a Fall Classic that saw the Bashers hit nine homeruns (by eight different players), the A's won the Series on what got them there in the first place- pitching and defense. Dennis Eckersley- just one year earlier the face of despair- gloved the final out of the 1989 World Series, and pumped his fist in celebration.

While the A's place in history was secure, they also understood their place in a different kind of history. Sports Illustrated's Steve Wulf:

Theirs was a celebration as unique and classy as they were. The Oakland Athletics had decided against staging the riotous bacchanal that these days almost always accompanies world titles, sensing, quite rightly, that the sight of players pouring champagne over each other would have been inappropriate in the aftermath of the earthquake that had claimed so many and ruined so much. So, instead, they had an impromptu family get-together, after finishing off their Bay Area rivals, the San Francisco Giants, last Saturday night in the fourth and final game of the 86th World Series. In the visiting clubhouse at Candlestick Park, green and gold balloons stood guard over the players, their wives, children and relatives.

I will let my sister put the finishing touches on a championship now two-decades old:

I don't remember being overly celebratory. I do remember that at Christmas all of the kids had World Series Champion t-shirts and that was fun! Michael gave me an A's team jacket and that was the tiny beginning of my road to recovery- from cancer, quakes and the like. I felt like the coming year would be great again and I was hoping that I would get to "celebrate" another A's championship.

I start every Spring Training thinking that we will! I don't attend as many games as I used to and we've long since given up our season tickets (1993.or so) but I never miss a game on TV and/or radio. I used to listen to every game when Bill King was around, televised or not, but I still enjoy listening to the radio. It reminds me of the old days when I kept a transistor under the pillow (games started at 8:00 back then and often didn't end until after 11:00, unless Holtzman was pitching); the same transistor I had put in my lunch bag during the ‘72 playoffs against Detroit. I still have it somewhere in the garage!

I don't know that winning a World Series again will ever feel like it did in ‘72 but I'd like to find out! I want our kids to jump up and down and go crazy and feel the pure joy that we felt. I'm glad that you can remember ‘89 differently than I do. I'm glad that you were able to experience that joy of winning it all. I'm glad that the year ended better than it began!

Twenty years a survivor, and counting: Tonianne with Eck this past summer.

Scrapbook Memories - The Finale

67MARQUEZ — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:36:57 -0000

Who knew that I would still be waiting for a Sunday like that one?

I was so looking forward to Spring Training that year. I knew we were on the verge, especially after they way things ended in '88. Sadly, I really don't remember much of it. I started chemo in April. I had my first treatment just before we took Patrick to his first A's game (he was 19 months). I know we sat in the first deck and I brought the baseball glove booster seat that you gave him for his first birthday. Everyone got a kick out of it. He didn't sit in it very long though; one of us ended up holding him most of the game. I think that was the last time things felt normal for me that year.

Tonianne, who was already one of the A's biggest fans before cancer, went to great lengths to show her true colors, though not intentionally:

The first chemo wasn't too bad and I don't think I was sick much if at all. It all went downhill after that. One of the drugs I was given was a fluorescent green color. I remember thinking Lasorda may think he bleeds Dodger blue but I really do have A's green running through my veins!

While the A's slowly returned to full strength and received an extra boost of energy in the form of Rickey Henderson in June, my sister's attention turned away from the team she adored:

Meet the Hendersons: the A's really took off in 1989 when Rickey joined Dave in the outfield.

The rest of the summer, my focus was on Michael and Patrick, and getting through the chemo. Michael was working days with the Sheriff's Department so he had a somewhat normal schedule. I also continued to work at the bank full-time and worked my days off around chemo treatments. So, we made the most of the days we had together. I know we took a lot of day trips with Patrick. I don't remember going to very many games though, or even listening to them on the radio (and you know I never miss on game on the radio, even now).

As the A's headed down the stretch, so did I. I was getting so sick from the chemo; it was taking me longer to recover between treatments. I was on steroids (supposedly to help with the nausea) so my face was bloated. I had my sights set on October, not because it was pennant time but because my last chemo treatment was coming up. In fact, my last treatment was on Friday, October 13 (the day before Game 1 of the Fall Classic). I popped into Safeway's floral shop just before treatment because I wanted to pick up a cactus plant for my chemo nurse. I ran into Uncle Rick who was in full A's regalia. Honestly, until I saw him I wasn't even thinking World Series. I just wanted the chemo to be over. It was pretty bad. I got sick in the office before they even brought the drugs out, and whatever they gave me after the treatment helped with the sickness but knocked me out for two days. I missed the first two games of the Series entirely. Usually if I had a treatment on Friday, I would be well enough to go back to work on Monday but I was pretty messed up so didn't go back until Tuesday, the day of the earthquake.
I have to say I was pretty freaked out by the quake, and when the Series resumed it was hard for me to get caught up in it. I so wanted to! I wanted everything to be "normal" again. I remember going to Mom's to watch Game 3. They kept showing the clip of Al Michaels getting cut off by the quake. All of the pre-game stuff was centered on the quake; mourning those lost, and celebrating the heroes. I guess looking back, it was important to recognize that and put in perspective what had happened. But we were back to baseball, at least the A's were, and it felt good to try and enjoy that.

I don't remember where we watched Game 4...

While the A's place in history was secure, they also understood their place in a different kind of history. Sports Illustrated's Steve Wulf:

Theirs was a celebration as unique and classy as they were. The Oakland Athletics had decided against staging the riotous bacchanal that these days almost always accompanies world titles, sensing, quite rightly, that the sight of players pouring champagne over each other would have been inappropriate in the aftermath of the earthquake that had claimed so many and ruined so much. So, instead, they had an impromptu family get-together, after finishing off their Bay Area rivals, the San Francisco Giants, last Saturday night in the fourth and final game of the 86th World Series. In the visiting clubhouse at Candlestick Park, green and gold balloons stood guard over the players, their wives, children and relatives.

I will let my sister put the finishing touches on a championship now two-decades old:

I don't remember being overly celebratory. I do remember that at Christmas all of the kids had World Series Champion t-shirts and that was fun! Michael gave me an A's team jacket and that was the tiny beginning of my road to recovery- from cancer, quakes and the like. I felt like the coming year would be great again and I was hoping that I would get to "celebrate" another A's championship.

I start every Spring Training thinking that we will! I don't attend as many games as I used to and we've long since given up our season tickets (1993.or so) but I never miss a game on TV and/or radio. I used to listen to every game when Bill King was around, televised or not, but I still enjoy listening to the radio. It reminds me of the old days when I kept a transistor under the pillow (games started at 8:00 back then and often didn't end until after 11:00, unless Holtzman was pitching); the same transistor I had put in my lunch bag during the ‘72 playoffs against Detroit. I still have it somewhere in the garage!

I don't know that winning a World Series again will ever feel like it did in ‘72 but I'd like to find out! I want our kids to jump up and down and go crazy and feel the pure joy that we felt. I'm glad that you can remember ‘89 differently than I do. I'm glad that you were able to experience that joy of winning it all. I'm glad that the year ended better than it began!

Twenty years a survivor, and counting: Tonianne with Eck this past summer.

Skinny Guy with Stringy Hair Who Pitches for That Team Wins 2nd Straight Cy

67MARQUEZ — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:08:29 -0000

Also known as Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants. He's the major's first repeat winner since Randy Johnson won the award four straight seasons from 1999-2002.

And they say marijuana isn't a performance-enhancer.

Oh I kid.

Discuss here.

Tell-All's: More Damage than Good?

67MARQUEZ — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:55:40 -0000

Andre Agassi's "Open" is just the latest in a long, long line of literature in which an athlete comes clean.

The former tennis star admitted to using crystal meth in the 1990's, and then lied about it after failing a drug test. Aside from the obvious that Agassi's DOC was not a PED, is there anyone left in the sporting world we can trust? Do we even care? Should we care? I mean, the man wore a wig, for mullet's sake!

Surely these tell-alls are slightly more intriguing when the person telling all is someone of stature, a la Canseco, Torre, Agassi, et al; even more so when innocent bystanders are thrust under a bus in the process.

One writer wonders what other tennis players might reveal in their own autobiographies, including the story behind Sharpova's shrieking on the court:

I had a coach to hone my groundstrokes and another to fix my serve, so it made perfect sense to find someone who could perfect my grunt. To protect her identity, I'll call her Monica. Before a big tournament, I would always pay her a visit to work on my pitch range and timing. Not only did Monica improve the length and volume of my screeching, but most importantly, when to change the frequency. We developed special screeches for different situations in the match. If I was losing, I would break out the scream that sounded like I had come home to find my dog brutally murdered. We called it "Dead Dolce." Then there was the one I'd use when returning serve on a pivotal break point. It was an extended moan with a touch more bass than my standard scream. Before I met Monica, I was just a noisy teenager with some promise. She made me a Wimbledon champion.

A fond as I may be of Maria, I prefer to ponder a penning by Nico of his blogging days at Athletics Nation:

"I wanted Marquez banned from the beginning, but Blez had a soft spot for him for some reason. Gad, how many posts on the 1974 A's can someone write?"

"People never got me. No one even tried to know Cindi. They only wanted to know the Nico living inside of me. Truth is, I hated Nico."

"Most nights I'd sniff glue before a (game) thread."

Wait, that last one might be true.

I guess Andre and other athletes/artists feel that these confessions are somehow soul-cleansing, but isn't that what therapists are for? I can't imagine he needs the money.

I just don't get the point.

Scrapbook Memories: 1989 World Series, Game 3, Part 2

67MARQUEZ — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:13:16 -0000

Scrapbook Memories celebrates the 20th anniversary of Oakland's last World Series triumph. Since the day they set foot in Arizona some seven months prior, the A's mission for 1989 was clear; a wildly successful 1988 season had ended with a thud, leaving a sour taste in their collective mouths, and a sense of unfinished business. After disposing of the Toronto Blue Jays in five hard-fought games, the A's allowed a single run to the San Francisco Giants in the first two World Series contests, putting them two victories from being crowned champions for the first time since 1974.

Just when it seemed there was nothing to derail Oakland's date with destiny, a massive earthquake shook the Bay Area a few minutes from the commencement of Game 3. While the region healed, baseball took its proper place. It would be a full ten days before the teams would again take the field at Candlestick Park. Prior to 1989, the longest delay in World Series play was six days. That was in 1911, and the participants were the (Philadelphia) A's and (New York) Giants.

ABC's Al Michaels, as told to a nationwide audience before Game 3, Part 2 (you can read the first part here):

"...And now on October 27, like a fighter who's taken a vicious blow to the stomach and has groggily arisen, this region moves on and moves ahead."

"And one part of that scenario is the resumption of the World Series. No one in this ballpark tonight- no player, no vendor, no fan, no writer, no announcer, in fact, no one in this area period- can forger the images. The column of smoke in the Marina. The severed bridge. The grotesque tangle of concrete in Oakland. The pictures are embedded in our minds."

"And while the mourning and the suffering and the aftereffects will continue, in about thirty minutes the plate umpire, Vic Voltaggio will say ‘Play Ball', and the players will play, the vendors will sell, the announcers will announce, the crowd will exhort. And for many of the six million people in this region, it will be like revisiting Fantasyland."

"But Fantasyland is where baseball comes from anyway and maybe right about now that's the perfect place for a three-hour rest."

Oakland manager Tony La Russa had kept his players' eyes on the prize by flying them to Phoenix for two days of workouts, but clearly there was a wide array of emotions (excerpt from "Three Weeks in October"):

"We showed up in Arizona and there were all these people in the stands. That really touched me. It's like somebody was saying, ‘Baseball is great. Baseball means something.' When the day was over, I felt this tugging," he said, pointing to his heart. "I had some positive vibes, but then I had another tug. A different kind. I was embarrassed. I mean, aren't we supposed to feel guilty? It confused the hell out of me. When I drive by 880, I feel a lot of emotion. Then about 10 miles down the road I'm getting full of myself. And I start feeling guilty again."

La Russa said he would tell his team before Game 3: "Be honest. If you feel good, you deserve to feel good. They're calling this the forgotten World Series, but if you play well in this situation, it will have more meaning than any other World Series that has come before. Nobody's ever been asked to do this."

Indeed.

As I recall it, when I left work with my brother John that October 27, at the same time as we did ten days before, there was a general uneasiness going home. Like, can it really happen again? The entire family gathered at Mom's for this one; with some of us attending the games in Oakland, this was the first time we were able to take in a World Series contest together. Inside Candlestick Park, there was a festive mood, like "Now where were we?" The earthquake had brought this region, hardly antagonistic to begin with, even closer. All that was needed was for the A's to actually show up. Steve Wulf, Sports Illustrated:

By the time the Series resumed, it was permissible to joke a little about the circumstances. The Battle of the Bay had become the Rattle of the Bay, and Candlestick Park was dubbed Wiggly Field by columnist Herb Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle. Early arrivals checked out the park, and the only thing they could find awry was that the A's were missing. The team bus had been stuck in traffic on the San Mateo Bridge - the alternate route they had to take because of the damage to the Bay Bridge - and they arrived at Candlestick nearly an hour late for batting practice. "I wasn't worried," said first baseman Mark McGwire. "I'm from Southern California, so I find traffic relaxing. Besides, they weren't going to start the game without us."

The Giants might have had a chance if they did start without them. If the Series' competitive fire had been reduced to a flicker during the layoff, it took just three batters for it to light up again. Scott Garrelts twice threw high-and-tight to Jose Canseco, who was upset enough about being mired in a 0-for-23 Series skid (dating back to Game 1 of the previous season). And so the Giant woke up the giant; the slumbering, slumping Canseco, who promptly singled past the shortstop.

Then it was Dave Henderson's turn, who hit what we all thought was a home run (including Hendu, who did his little homer hop) but instead it hit off the top of the fence for a two-run double (Carney Lansford had singled ahead of Canseco). Just like that, the A's were on top.

Rickey Henderson, who had a subpar game- well, for him- in Game 3 (1-for-5, 1 run scored), did find time to double to lead off the third, and swipe third base, his record eleventh steal of these playoffs.

In the top of the fourth, Hendu led off with a shot that did clear the fence and two batters later, Tony Phillips joined the bashers with a blast of his own. Exit Garrelts, after allowing four runs on six hits in 3.1 innings of work.

The Giants came back with two runs in the bottom half to close within 4-3, but Mark McGwire kept Oakland in front with a diving stop at first and a flip to starter Dave Stewart. Then the A's put the game out of reach with four in the fifth, the first three coming when Canseco took Kelly Downs downtown and the last one coming on Hendu's second home run of the night.

Carney Lansford's home run with two outs in the sixth gave the A's five big flies on the night; not since the 1928 New York Yankees had a ball club put on such a power display in the World Series. It was Lansford (3-for-4, 4 runs, 2 RBI's), Canseco (3-for-5, 3 runs, 3 RBI's), and of course, Dave Henderson (3-for-4, 2 runs, 4 RBI's) who swung the biggest bats in Game 3.

Almost lost amid the parade of elephants was Dave Stewart, who was his usual stellar self. Already idolized within the community for his efforts on the field, the St. Elizabeth High grad turned in his A's cap for a hard hat during the layoff, pitching in wherever he might be needed. When La Russa looked to him in Game 3, Stew simply pitched: seven innings, five hits, three runs, one walk, eight strikeouts. Winner of 62 regular-season games from 1987-89, Stew became the first man in history to record two victories in both the League Championship Series and World Series in the same year.

The A's, as a unit, earned straight A's this evening, tacking on four more runs in the eighth and steamrolling to a 13-7 win.

Scrapbook Memories: 1989 World Series, Game 3, Part 2

67MARQUEZ — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:13:57 -0000

ABC's Al Michaels, as told to a nationwide audience before Game 3, Part 2 (you can read the first part here):

"...And now on October 27, like a fighter who's taken a vicious blow to the stomach and has groggily arisen, this region moves on and moves ahead."

"And one part of that scenario is the resumption of the World Series. No one in this ballpark tonight- no player, no vendor, no fan, no writer, no announcer, in fact, no one in this area period- can forger the images. The column of smoke in the Marina. The severed bridge. The grotesque tangle of concrete in Oakland. The pictures are embedded in our minds."

"And while the mourning and the suffering and the aftereffects will continue, in about thirty minutes the plate umpire, Vic Voltaggio will say ‘Play Ball', and the players will play, the vendors will sell, the announcers will announce, the crowd will exhort. And for many of the six million people in this region, it will be like revisiting Fantasyland."

"But Fantasyland is where baseball comes from anyway and maybe right about now that's the perfect place for a three-hour rest."

"We showed up in Arizona and there were all these people in the stands. That really touched me. It's like somebody was saying, ‘Baseball is great. Baseball means something.' When the day was over, I felt this tugging," he said, pointing to his heart. "I had some positive vibes, but then I had another tug. A different kind. I was embarrassed. I mean, aren't we supposed to feel guilty? It confused the hell out of me. When I drive by 880, I feel a lot of emotion. Then about 10 miles down the road I'm getting full of myself. And I start feeling guilty again."

La Russa said he would tell his team before Game 3: "Be honest. If you feel good, you deserve to feel good. They're calling this the forgotten World Series, but if you play well in this situation, it will have more meaning than any other World Series that has come before. Nobody's ever been asked to do this."

Indeed.

By the time the Series resumed, it was permissible to joke a little about the circumstances. The Battle of the Bay had become the Rattle of the Bay, and Candlestick Park was dubbed Wiggly Field by columnist Herb Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle. Early arrivals checked out the park, and the only thing they could find awry was that the A's were missing. The team bus had been stuck in traffic on the San Mateo Bridge - the alternate route they had to take because of the damage to the Bay Bridge - and they arrived at Candlestick nearly an hour late for batting practice. "I wasn't worried," said first baseman Mark McGwire. "I'm from Southern California, so I find traffic relaxing. Besides, they weren't going to start the game without us."

The A's, as a unit, earned straight A's this evening, tacking on four more runs in the eighth and steamrolling to a 13-7 win.

So What Do We Do Now?

67MARQUEZ — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:22:50 -0000

What a year, huh?

My first season as a front-page writer is officially in the books, and it was an amazing- and often humbling- experience. No question, I had some very large shoes to fill. But I had two wonderful coaches in Nico and baseballgirl, for whom this has become old hat. I wish to personally thank them- and Tyler- for their patience and support this year.

On the eve of Athletic Nation's sixth birthday, I think it is safe to say that this has been the site's most trying season- and this says nothing of the team's performance on the field. I will spare you the gory details, but "meta-thread" was an all-too popular phrase around here for awhile. And just as we have become accustomed to seeing favorite ballplayers leave Oakland for greener pastures, AN lost a core group of people that had come up through the site's farm system.

But I am not here to talk about what Athletics Nation is not. Just like that little team over at 7000 Coliseum Way has done through the years, AN will rebuild and continue to reinvent itself. Maybe it's not the site you once knew and were fond of; well hell, neither are the A's, but we keep showing up. And if you feel the urge to wax nostalgic over Jennifer, do it. It's no different than getting teary-eyed over Marco. Look, I am the last guy to tell you not to talk about the past.

I don't mind looking ahead either, and I will echo Nico's sentiments about sticking around for the off-season. For many of you, this is the most wonderful time of the year, when rosterbation and speculation take over Athletics Nation.

There might be a retro piece or two from yours truly, including the conclusion of Scrapbook Memories, and the Decade in Review. If you are into that sort of thing.

And for the non-statsy, game-thread crowd, we will keep you entertained. Maybe Leopold Bloom and I will find the time to renew our DLD rivalry. (Or like Rickey working with Jemile Weeks, maybe monkeyball will come out of hiding and show us how it's done). Perhaps someone would like to take on the arduous task of bringing back the QOTM's. I know Nico has some other fun stuff planned, as do I, but why spoil the surprise?

So there will be plenty to see and do to get you through the winter. And remember, Spring Training tickets go on sale December 8...if you weren't sure what to get me for Christmas.

As for the new-look Athletics Nation, I'll leave the interior design comments for someone else. For me, it doesn't matter what the house looks like.

It's who lives there that counts.

Escape To New York: Phillies Stay Alive with 8-6 Win

67MARQUEZ — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:28:46 -0000

More photos » by Matt Slocum - AP

Have a Coke and a smile, Chase.

Browse more photos »

Well the tease was on in the 9th, but thanks in part to a 6-4-3 double play off the bat of Derek Jeter, there will be at least one more baseball game in 2009.

Chase Utley homered twice, the second one providing insurance the Phillies ultimately needed, and Cliff Lee, even in human form, was good enough to send this Series back to New York.

Utley joins Reggie Jackson as the only men to hit five home runs in a single Series.

See you Wednesday.

Utley Chases Down Reggie; Phillies Trying to Hold On

67MARQUEZ — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:46:50 -0000

A pair of Chase Utley homeruns ties him with Reggie Jackson for most (5) in a single Series. Meanwhile, Cliff Lee does his best, well, Cliff Lee. Phillies in Phront 8-4.