Who's going? Where are you sitting? Wearing anything special?

I'll be sitting in Section 112, Row 6, wearing a bright gold t-shirt with Mulder on the back. This, of course, is my way of saying thanks to Billy Beane (and Walt Jocketty), as "Mark Mulder" will be on the mound today to start the game (and could potentially come in to relieve later, as well).

I'll be sitting with my brother - Jeffro - in his gold Ben Grieve jersey. Any ANer's near us?

I can hardly wait.

Go A's!

His status to be updated tomorrow.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/10/04/sports/s151342D21.DTL&type=as

I think this is a pretty big loss for the A's - he's the ultimate pro.

Oh well, it's the playoffs. Keep fighting...Does anybody know how Crosby is doing? We just may see him figure prominently IF this thing gets to the ALCS.

Not only did I think his first column back was classy and classic Gammons, in his on-air return today Peter Gammons did what he seems to do every year: finally be the national voice touting an A's candidate for a major award (this time MVP).

Admittedly, Peter said that Derek Jeter will/should win it (I respectfully disagree), but it was nice to hear him mention the Big Hurt in the conversation, which Miller and Morgan failed to do with ample time the other night. I don't know how to link to ESPN Video, but it's worth checking out.

In any case, welcome back, Peter. It's GREAT to see you.

Today's news about Bill King hit me pretty hard, and I think this article hits the nail on the head as to why. ESPN's Eric Neel wrote it during the 2002 pennant chase, and it sent chills down my spine. After reading it, I immediately emailed it to radio@oaklandathletics.com and asked if Bill, Ken, and Ray had read it...Robert Buan responded to me pretty promptly and said he'd pass it along to the guys. Selfishly, I hope Bill King read it and understood how important he was to so many of us. I post it again here for your pleasure.

Enjoy...and thanks Eric Neel, this is still one of my favorite articles of all time.

http://espn.go.com/page2/s/neel/california10.html

I was all jazzed a few weeks ago when I finally broke down and bought access to ESPN Insider. The main reason? I'd get to read Rob Neyer on a regular basis again. Well, today he surprised me a bit with this posting about the American League Rookie of the Year:

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=neyer_rob&id=2146006&CMP=ILC-INHEAD

Something else that has changed: the battle for the American League's Rookie of the Year Award. It wasn't that long ago that I basically conceded the prize to Robinson Cano, but that was probably just my famous pro-Yankees bias doing my thinking for me.
Unless Cano enjoys a big September or the voters lose their minds, he's not going to win. Among the five AL rookies with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title, Cano's .704 OPS ranks fourth, and well behind Chicago's Tadahito Iguchi (.792), Oakland's Nick Swisher (.775) and Toronto's Russ Adams (.769). And Cano's .299 on-base percentage is easily the worst among the five (Seattle's Jeremy Reed is the fifth, and he has a .321 OBP).

Reader Paul Maslin argues that the AL Rookie of the Year actually should be a pitcher: Oakland's Joe Blanton or Huston Street. Both are fine candidates and would win in some seasons, but at the moment, I'm not sure how you vote for anybody but Iguchi, the second baseman with the team that has the best record in the league.

What's that? You don't want to vote for a 30-year-old with a ton of professional experience? I don't blame you. But the rules don't allow for distinctions between different "classes" of rookies. And until they do, we simply have to vote for the best "rookie," whether we think he's really a rookie or not.

A few excerpts from today's Peter Gammons posting on ESPN Insider:

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/gammons/story?id=2145453

*OK, Huston Street should be a walk for AL rookie of the year. But has anyone noticed that next to Johan Santana (1.57 ERA) that Joe Blanton's second half ERA (2.11) is the best in the league among pitchers with 40 or more innings? For those who read "Moneyball" but didn't understand, Blanton was a No. 1 pick because of the work done by scout Matt Keough, whose work convinced him that, contrary to conventional scouting thoughts, Blanton had great makeup. Which the A's knew on the Cape from the previous summer. Someday someone will explain to me how some of the teams with multiple picks in the 2004 draft allowed Street to last until the 40th pick.

*The Red Sox went into Sunday's game leading the AL in on-base percentage at .359. The Yankees were next at .353. Toronto was third (.335), hence an 18-point spread between second and third. The difference between the NL leader Philadelphia (.342) and the trailer (Pittsburgh, .320) was 22 points. But the Athletics had the AL's best run differential.

Barry Zito was named the American League Pitcher of the Month for July, beating out Rich Harden. Although awards are usually pretty subjective, it's great to see our guys get recognized on the national stage. Congratulations, Barry. Here's to a few more of those awards before the season is over.

PS - You may have heard of that guy who won Player of the Month, too.

PPS - As Alien points out, Dan Johnson, Huston Street, and Nick Swisher finished, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, respectively, in the Rookie of the Month voting. What a month it was!

Josh Suchon wrote a good article in the Oakland Tribune today that we can probably all appreciate after Thursday and Friday night. My favorite paragraph was the following, which hit home after being at the game on Thursday and calling several family members and telling them to watch, and then listening to Zito's gem on the radio because I didn't want to get up and go see if the TV was free because I just may jinx it:

But what about those of us watching the game from the press box, the radio booth, the stands or on television? Do you call family and friends and tell them to turn on the TV or radio? Do you remain frozen in your seat, even if nature or hunger is calling? How far does the so-called jinx extend?

Anyway, I thought I'd alert AN to the article, given Blez's rule about the jinx and 3e8 and hattebergexpress's performances on successive nights.

Enjoy.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/athletics/ci_2866393

During the 7th inning at last night's game, I leaned over to my buddies and said, "I often wonder which games I'll tell my grandkids about, which games will stick out in my mind in the stories I share. My grandpa always tells me about the All-Star game at Fenway Park where he saw Ted Williams hit a home run. It feels like my grandkids could be hearing about tonight some day."

So obviously I jumped the gun, at least a little bit. But it got me thinking. Which games stick out in your mind as the best you've been to? The ones that you'll tell your grandkids about, even if, like me, you aren't even married yet.

Here are a few of mine:

1. Somewhat unfortunately, the one that I'll probably always remember being at is Game 1 of the 2000 World Series. It's a game that will live in infamy, if only because Mike Piazza's bat broke and the top of it landed in Roger Clemens' hand.
2. Game 3. Blasted Game 3 in 2001. Derek Freakin' Jeter. Jeremy Freakin' Giambi.
3. Game 1 of the Angels-Giants Series in Anaheim, and only because Barry Bonds somehow turned a baseball into a golf ball with one swing of the bat.
4. Random summer night game at the Coliseum in 1989 or so, only because I made my uncle, brother, and grandpa stay until the end and Carney (my favorite player of all time) won it with a single to right center in the bottom of the 11th.
5. Last game of the 2000 season. Huddy versus the Rangers. My friend and I were putting up K's in right field, and Huddy was dealing a lot of them. Velarde's HR, followed by Olmedo Saenz's HR. That was the best feeling I ever had at a baseball game. Unreal. A spiritual experience.

I found this interesting. I started resenting this Eddie Bane guy halfway through the article, and then decided I really don't like him and relish the fact he's in the Angels organization.

Then there's Gary Hughes...

Anyway, I thought I'd share it with you guys. Any comments? The other members of the discussion are Voros McCracken and Gary Huckaby. It's a worthwhile read with several references to the A's.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=schwarz_alan&id=1963830