SB Nation User Blog: One won lost won

Playoffs That Mean "Baseball"

One won lost won — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:23:25 -0000

Ever since the playoffs began in the late 1960s, I never felt right about the early five-game system, the four-team system, with the "borrowed" wild card idea...the whole system, really. I wasn't sure what was missing, but somehow the traditional jump from a dominant regular season did not necessarily mean you were going to the World Series any more. Some team like the Twins, and their weird indoor non-baseball sky, non-baseball carpet, might trampoline a few hits and all the hard work of May, June, and July ends in tears for the Twins' opponent. I was happy that Colorado made the World Series, but it all came about because of one man's failure: Trevor Hoffman. A future HoFer had a singular moment of "fail" and San Diego's season evaporated.

What would work better??

I am going to use the American League and its fourteen teams to illustrate what I believe would create a lot more fan interest, get the right, no-doubt-about -it proven team into the World Series. It is now August 3rd, and the Athletics have shown what August can mean to a team not in contention: they have five possible first-basemen, they have mediocre crowds on a perfect Sunday for baseball, because the team they are playing also has a vanishingly small chance at the playoffs. The sports pages are filled with articles about football players and training camp holdouts, with small print for out of area games.

There doesn't have to be "The Dog Days of August".

I'm looking at the "Wild Card" standings at Baseball Reference:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/2009-standings.shtml

Note the relative positions of the fourteen American League teams. Now, what if the "regular" season ended at the end of August? Ended with each team playing a balanced schedule, five at home, five away, against the other thirteen teams? At the end of 130 games, the top six teams play only amongst themselves, for September. Thirty games (not five, not seven) against all the other five top teams, and no one else. If the standings remained as they are, on August 31, as they are today, August 3rd, that would mean the Angels (slegna), Yankees, Red Sox, Texas, Tampa Bay, and Detroit Tigers would get a new schedule, starting September 1, and only playing each other. Pretend you are the PR guy for one of the six teams. Write some copy about "Six Teams...September!" Write up a hypothetical schedule. I did, and I could feel the intensity that was inherent in the concept.

The remaining eight teams, like the Athletics, could now give a shot to the Cliff Penningtons, the Tommy Everidges, and other call-ups, let them play against the lesser competition of Kansas City, Baltimore, Seattle (obviously, the eight teams would also get a new schedule come September 1, but it would not be as important if a game was missed here or there, or a doubleheader had to be scheduled because of a football game.) I feel it is important that teams with no chance to make the postseason, have the leeway to play "future starters" and not affect playoff races during September. Right now, through September, Kansas City and Cleveland have an obligation to "play to top form" whenever they play any of the contenders for the Central Division title. And the schedule guarantees they will be playing them heavily during September. The "Division Title" is a one-hundred-percent construct for MLB that might seem right for football, and its sixteen-game season....but not a sport with one-hundred-plus regular season games!

But let's return to August 3rd, today. That sixth spot that Detroit is holding by a narrow margin, and even Tampa Bay, they would be really generating fan interest, along with Chicago, Seattle, Minnesota, and Toronto. That means games in August would really have some octane, some intensity, for a lot of teams. Unfortunately, the Athletics are not in that group, but think of the American League and what this would mean for the majority of teams: top-rate competition in August for many teams, rather than going through the motions.

For the thirty games of September, the top three teams of the six would have "home field advantage", that is, their six games against the lesser three teams would always start as a three game set at home. Right now, the Angels are pretty much cruising in the AL West, but it would not be so, knowing they are very much neck and neck with two other teams for one of the top three spots. More intensity pumped into August games.

When September 30th came to pass, the top team winning percentage among the six "first tier" team would go to the World Series. No other "playoffs", no end-the-season-one-day-fly-to-playoff-the-next. A traditional, seven-game World Series, with a couple of days rest after September 30th, beginning October 4th, and ending before (not during) the snow weather back East.

It is highly unlikely that a Trevor Hoffman-like meltdown, a single, one-person event, would send a team to the World Series....

....there would be twenty-nine other games that truly measure.

Photos from 2009 FanFest

One won lost won — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 01:05:26 -0000

In no particular order, and certainly, no particular comments, my "raw feed" from the February 8th fanfest is available to anyone caring to link to the pages online with Flicker. Here is the address:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bergquist/sets/72157613522633770/detail/

These are 2MB-plus photos, so if you look like an ant, just blow it big and you'll still see that mole that Mom said no one would ever notice.

This event was held in a glass-casting showroom, so every flat surface you spy in these photos is a 2-inch thick piece of glass. I mean everything...the stairs, the table tops, counter tops. So if you wonder..."Why is that photo in the mix??!!" it is because the glass was very very impressive, and added a unique ambiance to the whole event. That shower stall in the bathroom, with floor to ceiling glass was something special. Thanks again to Lynn for providing this space.

Rebuild, or Rehab?

One won lost won — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 06:07:38 -0000

Now that I've teased you into this diary with buzzwords, let me tell what it's all about: The Oakland Coliseum.

Please, I know we've been through the objections and adulations on a couple of occasions. And, the Athletics ballclub has made no secret that they're "heading South" or, to anywhere away from here in Oakland, away from the edifice near the Coliseum BART station, near the airport, near 880 freeway.

A Nobel prize winning physics professor once remarked, "The way to get a good idea is to have a lot of ideas." Since we just had fan fest at the Coliseum (forget the sponsor, I've received no money) and the season is fast approaching, I'd like to hear some "wacky" ideas about improving the current ballpark. Not fantasy, but semi-realistic. I know the $$$ part really belongs to Alameda County, but...

Here's my "wad" to get the commentary going:

Do the interior walkway areas have to look like a parking garage? Concrete on concrete, painted with a realistic "concrete" coating? How about surgical white? So's there's more light, more bright.

Can't parking be cheaper than $11, $12, whatever it is? Sometimes I'd like to stop in, spontaneously, but, when you see a HUGE abundance of something (like hundreds of parking places, bare) it really bugs me to shell out good money. So, no stop. How about freeway onramps and offramps that lead directly out onto the freeway? (<< there's a good name for a music group, "The Offramps".) Going through a couple of traffic signals to enter and exit the parking area... why? Bridges and overpasses? Really really expensive, or???</li>

They did Mount Davis. So what about giving the old "arc" of seating going from foul pole to home plate to foul pole, a clean wipe off with torches, wrecking balls, and bulldozers, and recasting the concrete with seats closer to the field and parallel to the rectangle formed by the third-base-left-field line, and the first-base-right-field line? Circular stadiums are "out".

Instead of "pulling a tarp over the dead" area formerly known as the third deck, how about putting a gazillion potted oak trees up there? After all, this is "oak-land", not "tarp-land"!

Ownership complains about football games ruining the field. What about moveable turf? Don't they have that in Phoenix, where they just played the Superbowl? Don't they have big trays of grass they roll-in, roll out?

Not sure much about "South" of the stadium, but "North" and "East", it's so so ugly! Can't the city get smart and do some urban redevelopment in the blocks surrounding the complex? Heck, bulldoze all those eyesores, and plant even more oak trees!

Wanted: Stomper homunculus

One won lost won — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 20:31:31 -0000

Professional Sports Team - Mascot
Reply to: hr@oaklandathletics.com
Date: 2008-02-01, 11:04AM

The Oakland Athletics are currently seeking a part-time, seasonal Mascot. This position reports directly to the Special Events Coordinator and is responsible for but not limited to the following:
• Performing at all A's Friday, Saturday, and Sunday home games and at a select number of other games during the 2008 season
• Performing at private parties, parades, festivals, grand openings, etc. on specified days during the week and on weekends throughout the year
• Performing at off-site community appearances
• Creating skits, dance routines, and other forms of mascot-related entertainment and crowd interaction
• Responsible for researching, creating and/or purchasing props and costumes for the mascot
• Represent the A's as Stomper at special Major League Baseball functions including the annual All-Star game
• In charge of marketing and scheduling the mascot to generate revenue within company guidelines
Requirements:
• Due to costume restrictions, candidate must be at least 5 feet 7 inches and no more than 6 feet 2 inches and weighs between 165 lbs and 225 lbs
• Punctuality is mandatory and availability to work nights, weekends and holidays
• Must have own transportation
• Must be highly energetic and fit

Anyone interested in applying for this position must send a VHS tape or DVD of a live performance along with a cover letter and résumé to Oakland A's, Special Events Dept., 7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland, CA 94621. No phone calls please.

* This is a part-time job.
* Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
* Please, no phone calls about this job!
* Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

Original URL: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/lab/...
===========================================================================

Do I need to say anything else? Res Ipsa Loquiter.

I'm busy, or I'd make up a poll as to favored ANer for the job.

Fremont Athletics? or Dodgers?

One won lost won — Fri, 11 May 2007 20:54:58 -0000

Since the city of Oakland could not muster enough resources to keep the Athletics inside the city limits and Fremont is the irretrievable destination of the Athletics, it is timely to revisit "what could have been": the Dodgers were the first choice of the city of Oakland!

In the www.walteromalley.com website is a copy of the original 1957 letter sent by the city of Oakland, with an offer to build a 45,000 seat domed stadium!

http://www.walteromalley.com/docu_de...

It is interesting to note that the idea of a stadium was in vogue because of designs by Buckminster Fuller and his students (see: "The Last Good Season" by Michael Shapiro) and such domes were projected to have 'natural lighting' and real grass.

Why Point at the Sky??

One won lost won — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 19:51:54 -0000

I don't know how baseball players managed to get on the "fast track" about how things are run in "Heaven".
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/photo?sl...

First, IF there even IS a place like heaven, how is it "our ancestors" get to say, "Sorry God, no time for You, I have to watch a ball game, and perhaps act God-like myself, and do supernatural things to affect the game!" Bonds, Guerrero, Swisher, they all think a departed loved one is helping them.

Say you die, and your 100-trillion neuron connections actually mysteriously travel to heaven (or a parallel set in another dimension get activated.) Why do you get to watch baseball games on Earth? Maybe everyone in Heaven, 100% of their time, has to participate in the ongoing "Greek Olympics"?? "First Adapters" may get to call the shots!(??)

Maybe for the first 1000 years, you have to go to the Andromeda galaxy, and do "good work" pushing boulders around? Why do baseball players make public displays indicating they think they know more about this than others know ???!

Some baseball players appear to think they have it "wired", and figure their antecedents get to become "mini-Gods" pushing baseballs over fences? Isn't one of the Ten Commandments about "no gods before me"? Doesn't that include ancestor-worship to give them thanks for using supernatural powers???

And, if they think God Himself is working, inning by inning, how come only one team gets a World Series victory each year, with MOST "heaven-pointers" excluded?

Wooden Bats and Their Wood

One won lost won — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 19:43:34 -0000

Anyone know how bats get certified for Major League usage? I've read snippets here and there. Apparently B. Bonds has one guy do his maple bats, and this guy is swamped. But it is one guy.

California has a woody plant, Arctostaphylos, that would be great for baseball bats. It won't fracture on impact with a baseball, if treated. However, if you cut down a growing Arctostaphylos, it will split and crack if you do not immediately give it (an obscure) treatment.