So I was sitting here watching the A's game and the Colorado St./Colorado game simultaneously this afternoon, and the football game cuts to a crowd shot and I saw a guy in an Athletics Nation T-shirt, clear as day. He was a dark-haired guy and he was holding a camera with a large lens.

I'll add that it was quite cool that I was watching two sporting events at once and rooting for the green and gold guys in both. :-) The green and gold guys lost both games though. :-(

Anyway, I'm dying to know which one of you that was!

So, we've got three games against the struggling Yanks this weekend. Here's what Ryne Sandberg had to say on Yahoo Sports:

"When a team with high expectations is playing poorly, that's when the manager can really make a difference. He can switch the lineup around a bit and do other things a little differently, like put on hit-and-runs and call for bunts, to get the team going.

Sometimes, a turnaround can happen in one series. Sometimes, one series is all it takes to change a team's attitude and get a team on a roll.

Even when a club is losing more games than expected, you have to remember the bottom line - that a baseball season is a marathon and not a sprint. After six months, the best teams usually rise to the top.

The ascent could begin this weekend for a certain struggling team in the Bronx."

He predicts our A's will get swept and the Yankees will start their climb back to the top.

We can not let this happen! Go A's!!!!

From this afternoon's chat:

Steve (Bay Area): Peter, can I expect any quality starts out of Barry Zito this year? How does someone in their mid-20's lose velocity?

 Peter Gammons: (4:30 PM ET ) Last year, Barry had lost a lot of weight and did not have good velocity. This spring, he threw as well as he did in 2000 and 2001, so I would think that he will come around and have a good season.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric (El Cerrito, CA): What do you expect from the A's in 2005?

 Peter Gammons: (4:32 PM ET ) I think Oakland CAN contend. I think Haen, Harden and Zito will combine for better numbers than Hudson, Mulder and Zito did last year -- and their bullpen is MUCH improved. The question is their offense, they desparately need Bobby Clark back, because they have no alternative.

So he thinks we'll be fine, but I don't know how much we should listen to him after that "Bobby Clark" reference... :-P

Eesh. This is just up and down and all over the place.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=fanball-athleticshudsoncente&prov=fanball&type=lgns

Maybe the Boston package is Youkilis and Arroyo. But where would we play Youkilis? Isn't he a 3B/OF?

I know this trade talk is tiring but I can't seem to stay away... :-P

He's reportedly close to being shipped to St. Louis, though I'm not sure who is involved. I've yet to find any Internet sources on this - just that Dan Patrick said on ESPN radio that it's "close."

http://www.jasonkendall.net

After spending about a half hour surfing this fansite, I'm even more psyched about this guy.

ESPN is predicting Jeff Kent and Juan Gonzalez go to the A's. I'm laughing so hard I can hardly type. Here's the link - top 50 free agents:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?page=top50mlbfreeagents

As much as they've struggled and disappointed us this year, we all know what it's coming to - Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of Mudler, Zito, and Hudson.

Isn't that the way it should be? Say all you want about their inconsistencies, but there's a glimmer of hope in my mind that some magical things could be happening on the mound this weekend.

Here's to the Big 3 pitching like the Big 3.

GO A'S!!!

So, looking at the AL West standings in the sidebar here on AN, I noticed that the A's and Angels have the exact same number of runs allowed: 712.

The Angels have more runs scored (800) than the A's (779), so would this mean our pitching is equal, but their offense is slightly better?

Because if you think about it, we've won a lot of one-run games, and they've had a lot of blowouts...

From oaklandathletics.com:

Mulder to start Friday: Despite his recent struggles, left-hander Mulder will take his regular start on Friday when the A's open a crucial three-game series with the visiting Anaheim Angels.

"Mulder will start on Friday at this particular moment," Macha said. "He's a 17-game winner and he's the horse of our pitching staff."

Mulder was the first pitcher in the Majors to reach 17 wins on Aug. 24, but he hasn't won in six starts since. He has an ERA of 7.71 in that span, allowing 28 runs in 32 2/3 innings.

"I wasn't doubting," Mulder said, "I was starting. That's it."

That's all I can say right now.

M. Kotsay cf
E. Byrnes lf
E. Chavez 3b
J. Dye rf
B. Kielty dh
N. Swisher 1b
B. Crosby ss
D. Miller c  
M. Scutaro 2b  

Switching it up with the lefty on the mound. I wish I could watch!

What a disappointing series. I thought we really had today's game in the bag. But then, nothing is in the bag with Dotel on the mound. :-P

Luckily the Angels are scuffling too right now.

Go A's!!!

Here's what consoles me during this September of A's mediocrity:

2003 September record - 14-11
2002 September record - 18-8
2001 September record - 18-4
  * Also 6-0 in October in the games delayed by 9/11
2000 September record - 21-7

This year the A's are currently 9-10 in the month of September. It's all about getting hot at the right time. Maybe in years past, they've sizzled in September, only to fizzle in October. Can they do it the other way around this time?

Of course, as we all realize, there's going to have to be some A's winning (and some Angels losing) to even get there.