Whiteshoes40 beat me to the punch but here are my photos from the last home game of 2008. Enjoy!

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We have now arrived at the worst two weeks in sports. With Baseball set to low, Football has gone now as well. For the next two weeks we get the pseudo-sport "Super Bowl Hype". Endless talk about every aspect of the game. A game which rarely, and how could it, live up to the hype. Whether you care or not, many still watch - friends, fun and food. It's also time for the least sports savvy person in your company to win the pool. Super Bowl Hype invades every corner of popular culture, it is very hard to avoid. So good luck. The best thing is that once it's over, it's baseball. I wonder though, how do YOU spend the greatest sports day? I tend to stay home, around noon I prepare a Homer Simpson worthy amount of Nachos and start drinking. Usually margaritas, on the rocks. I catch the first 5 minutes, fall asleep and wake up for at least half of the 4th quarter. What a great day!

It will come as no suprise to learn that the nearly God-Like Jim Leyland has been given the title AL Manager of the Year. Leyland nearly singlehandedly brought his team from the depths of despair to within reach of the gold ring. It should be noted that Leyland didn't actually field a postion, had no hits but commited no errors. What value a manager has is debateable (to some GM's) but whatever IT IS, Leyland clearly has it. And he has done it in both the AL and the NL. It was hard to dislike the guy, even with his Tigers shutting us down. From what I saw of his style, he made the moves when needed and played a hunch or two. He continually put his team a postion to win, and that's all you can ask. As for the NL, Joe Girardi was also the front runner to nab this one. Joe took a team that everyone wrote off and somehow got them to keep winning. Sadly for his reward he was fired, and as punishment is off to the north side to manage the hapless Cubs, bummer. Both managers showed that a manager can make a difference. They didn't over-manage, but they just didn't chew gum either. They are smart baseball men, not hotheads. I can only hope as the A's move forward, our new manager can make decisions, on the field, during the game that will result in a few more W's than L's. Just 1 or 2 will work. He doesn't need to be a personality, he just needs to know his team.

Or Not Throw It back?

At Game 1 we were sitting in 130. Inge's HR ball went whizzing over our heads and was caught in 131. Everyone is chanting "Throw it back, Throw it back." He didn't. Eventully security had to come and relocate him. In case you don't know this THEY TOSS YOU FROM THE GAME if you "throw it back!" Yes it's cool, and it is a very bad policy, most parks in the MLB praise this behaviour. Is it because of Carl Everetts noggin, or that ass who mixed it up with Texas, or is it because this is Oakland and you know how they are. That totally sucks. Do they really toss the people? or maybe they relocate them so people THINK you get tossed. If I caught that ball there is no way I am throwing it back; ticket prices, parking, concessions - I am already into the game for $200. I thought it sucked this guy is hassled so much he has to be moved.

ESPN, FOX and "the media", like Sauron, have their eye towards the East.

Last night on Sportcenter they cut to BT for a mini-analysis of the two big pitcher returns, Harden and Martinez. They fact they considered including Harden in that piece is remarkable in itself. But wait...Did you see the ESPN Poll last night, Who Will Win the AL MVP (Santana, Mourneu, Jeter, and two others I forget.) Frank Thomas was NOT on the list; but he did appear in the why Santana could get it. They showed him striking out twice to JS.

Also last Saturday (as my son had "things to do.") I had to leave the game early and caught the end on TV. FOX had it on and was showing why Crede is making a case for Gold Glove at 3rd base. However they failed to show Chavez's skill when two innings earlier he made an even better play. No way anyone unseats EC and his dominance at third. Guy can barely swing for a few months and he still owns third base.

I think that is part of the A's attraction, NO LOVE.