SB Nation User Blog: Vegas Ace

A's best pitcher & best fielder =

Vegas Ace — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 15:13:54 -0000

The Duke & Ellis. In addition to Scutaro's MVP performance, these two oustanding players excelled on the field in the A's sweep of the Twins. Let's not blame subs like Jiminez. There are multiple factors why the A's are being swamped by the Tigers who are out pitching, out hitting and out fielding them but in addition to the "Missing in Action" performance of Chavez, Swisher and Thomas, the unavailability of these two stellar performers, Ellis & the Duke, highlights their value to the team's prior winning ways. IMHO, the Duke has been the only real Ace of the team's pitching staff this year. Street, Zito, Loaiza, Haren, Blanton and almost every other pitcher on the staff has had "ups and downs" during the year. The Duke has been the dependable "stopper". Hopefully, a healthy Harden will return to being the starting pitching ace next year. The Duke has earned the right to compete for a starting slot next year and, if given the chance, he might just turn out to be one of the top starting pitchers in the league to give the A's an upgraded 1, 2, 3 rotation of Harden, the Duke and Haren. We have seen firsthand the devastating impact of vulnerable starting pitching against a team like the Tigers and the Duke could become even more valuable in the starting rotation. It is great to have a strong bullpen but if a weak hitting team like the A's gets behind before their relievers enter the game against another team with a strong bullpen, the comeback odds are unfavorable.

As for hitting, as valuable as Thomas as been this year as the designated hitter, I am not convinced that the A's should bust their budget to resign such a one dimensional player unless he is willing to offer the team a reasonable deal in recognition of the opportunity that Beane offered him a year ago.

"Let's face it: Zito is ace in name only"

Vegas Ace — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 04:51:11 -0000

Let's face it: Zito is ace in name only
By LOWELL COHN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061011/NEWS/61011011/1055/SPORT10

"...Even though Zito will make a pile of money when he becomes a free agent after this season, he is not an ace. Never will be. He is a No.2 pitcher, maybe a No.3...."

..."After the game, Zito came to an interview room, and he looked stunned. "Stunned" is the only word to describe his blank face. The Tigers had their way with him and he couldn't dispute it, but he couldn't explain it, either.

After giving up a home run in the third inning to No.9 hitter Brandon Inge, he said he began to "nitpick." He said he lost his concentration and his ability to focus on every pitch.

This is the kind of stuff he says every time he loses. The implication is that, if he just reared back and fired, if he let everything hang out, he would have been all right. He tells himself that, but he is wrong.

There is nothing to let hang out in Zito. He is an intellectual pitcher. He over-thinks every situation but he doesn't have the speed or the power to overcome small defects. He definitely is not a hanger-outer.

Which brings us to the big picture. He has meant so much to the A's. But if he walks away after this season, it is no tragedy. The A's need an all-the-time ace, not Zito, who's an ace only now and again."

Contact Staff Columnist Lowell Cohn at 521-5486 or lcohn@pressdemocrat.com.

Harden to pitch last game of season or 1st game of

Vegas Ace — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 05:59:04 -0000

the play-offs???

Reading an excerpt from Susan Slusser's SF Chron article tonight, I wondered if the the A's management would be so stupid as to pitch Harden in the last game of the season rather than the 1st game of the play-offs. "He threw 76 pitches in all, and he's expected to be around 100 his next time out, which is the final regular-season game at Anaheim on Sunday."

Is this a no brainer decision or do we have to worry about Macha's "inside the box" decision-making patterns. Any comments?

Macha is a big problem in September & in the play-offs

Vegas Ace — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 17:09:24 -0000

He is not the "solution" for the play-offs.

Last night's game is a perfect example of his poor decsion-making in the 8th inning by not bringing on one of your best relief pitchers in the form of the Duke.
When your team is up by 2 runs and you are essentially in "play-off" mode trying to retain your front runner status for the play-offs, you go with your best to hold your lead in the game and in the standings. Also, you "never" let one pitcher not only lose the 2 run lead but allow another two runs in one inning. Macha is okay during the regular season when he can manage in his mediocre, routine style, however, his defects are now magnified. On the flipside, Payton's aggressive baserunning highlighted how one guy's risk taking on the bases can essentially "manufacture" runs. That was a huge "insurance run" that should have been enough to win the game that Macha soon squandered.

Why Beane's A's succeed: No one has a recliner

Vegas Ace — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 01:35:02 -0000

http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050727/NEWS/50727003/1062/SPORTS09

I was pleased to see Bob Padecky's column in the Press Democrat issuing a gracious "Mea Culpa" and giving Beane and the A's credit for proving most people wrong about their season. I especially please because I have been persistently the May columns of Padecky and Cohn. Cohn refused to reply and acknoledge the error of his ways. On the flipside, Bob replied graciously and agreed with me and agreed to do this kind of column at the appropriate time. I thanked him and said I only hoped his column did not jinx the A's. He replied that the only thing that could do that would be making the cover of SI.

Why Beane's A's succeed: No one has a recliner
Wednesday, July 27, 2005

By BOB PADECKY
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

OAKLAND

I'm channeling Mike Myers right now.

Billy Beane, I bow before you. I am not worthy.

Back in May I thought your A's were leftovers, your genius gone mad, the end of a nice run. See ya. Sorta like how I still feel about the Giants now.

But Billy, I am on my hands and knees now. I am not worthy. I didn't see this coming, the team winning 74 percent of its games over the past two months. I believe in miracles, sure, but a team that had won just four times in 24 games, I thought the franchise was entering the Ice Age.

I held the same level of optimism for Oakland's resurgence on May 29 as I did for Lance Armstrong winning seven consecutive Tours back when he announced he had cancer. But sports always has been the theater of the wonderfully absurd. It pushes the boundary of inspiration, making us go where no sane person otherwise dares.........

see PD website for more.

"49ers atop Bay Area's 'stink' list"

Vegas Ace — Tue, 21 Jun 2005 03:12:19 -0000

Saturday, June 18, 2005
By LOWELL COHN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
"Which is next to worst? A lot of competition here. But even though every team is a contender for next to the worst the A's surely deserve this distinction. They had a good thing going and they tore it apart. A team loses points for that kind of carelessness. You can talk about Moneyball all you want, about getting position players on the cheap, but the A's were good because they had three terrific pitchers, and now they have only one - and he was the weakest. Boo on the A's.

The Giants sit a rung above the A's, one measly rung. With a little slippage they could be at the A's level. That means the Giants are awful in their own right. They are an old team, and what's worse they are highly boring. Boring is not good...."
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050618/NEWS/506180348/1057/SPORTS0920

Another sports writer who does a superficial job of analyzing teams...repeats the same old lame mantra about the Hudson/Mulder trades....as if, the only way the A's could ever win is with those guys...he gives not attention to the fact that the A's are at the bottom of the list in terms of hitting, home runs and run production.
See my reply:
"Dear Lowell:
I am somewhat surprised at your comments about the A's poor performance this year as it indicates a lack of understanding of the real reasons for their current ranking in the standings which can be mainly attributed to their lack of power and poor hitting this year rather than the departure of Hudson and Mulder.

Your comment that "the A's were good because they had three terrific pitchers, and now they have only one - and he was the weakest. Boo on the A's" displays a superficial knowledge of the rebuilding process going on and the fact that the A's actually have three or four top starting pitchers that are as good or better than than last year's top three and they have also improved their bullpen which was one reason that even stellar pitchers like Hudson often lost games in which they pitched well. Admittedly, the trade for Hudson was a "bust" thus far but the trades for Mulder have panned out very well indeed. Their top three pitchers this year can be considered to be Harden, Haren and Zito....followed by Blanton who has finally found his "groove" ....having won 3 of his last 4 games despite the feeble hitting of the A's. Haren, who they got for Mulder in addition to Calero, an excellent relief pitcher, and a top hitting prospect, now has an ERA better than Mulder and has pitched well in his last eight games. As for Harden who is coming off an injury, even Hudson anointed him last as a rookie as having the better "stuff" than the "Trio" on the staff. At this early stage, Harden can out pitch Hudson, Mulder or Zito and he has many more years ahead of him and is now locked in under a contract for many years. Zito has actually pitched very well lately and has been a victim of the A's anemic hitting this year as Hudson and Mulder also would have been. Injuries to key players like Harden, Crosby, Dotel, Durazo, etc. are other factors but every team has injuries. Since the return of Crosby, the team has now won 12 and lost 7 without even having Harden. With Harden returning soon and Blanton much improved, they will soon have a solid starting rotation. Thus far, I have not even mentioned Huston Street who has performed in spectacular fashion as a rookie playing like a veteran and now filling the shoes of their former "closer" Dotel who is disabled. Street should be a leading contender for Rookie of the Year to follow the first year performance of Crosby....not a bad sign of a team that knows how to pick and develop young talent. In summary, if their starting pitching and bullpen are improved at midyear over last year (keeping in mind that Hudson and Mulder had deficiencies in the health department and Mulder was an unmitigated disaster during the critical second half last year), a true in-depth analysis of the A's performance and potential must focus in on their shortfall in the power and hitting department. With the lack of home run production, the A's management must decide to either start going with speed and the "small ball" which they traditionally resist or trade for some extra power in the lineup."

"Not Much Left to Say for Last-Place Yanks"

Vegas Ace — Fri, 06 May 2005 16:25:40 -0000

Today's article from the New York Times on the current plight of the Yankees. Will the arrival of the Oakland A's be just the tonic to solve the Yankees losing trend?

Devil Rays 6, Yankees 2
Not Much Left to Say for Last-Place Yanks

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By TYLER KEPNER
Published: May 6, 2005
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., May 5 - Derek Jeter remembers the glory days, an era in Yankees history that seems to be gone forever. The Yankees of that generation hardly resemble this team, a collection of faded stars who have crash-landed in the basement of the American League East.

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Scott Audette/Reuters
Manager Joe Torre has held three team meetings since April 17, but the talks have not inspired better play.

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Into the Basement

Yankees Notebook: Zimmer Expects the Worst if Slide Lasts (May 6, 2005)
Fans Aren't Charged in Sheffield Incident (May 6, 2005) The Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the rookie Chien-Ming Wang by 6-2 on Thursday night, sending the Yankees staggering away from Tropicana Field. The teams are tied for last place, Tampa Bay with its $29 million payroll and the Yankees with their bloated, $200 million tab.

Jeter, the captain, knows why. Asked if there was a sense of disbelief that a team with so many stars had played so badly, Jeter did not hesitate.

"You don't win with star players," he said. "You have to have a good team. I don't care what you've done in the past. This is always a game of day to day. You don't win just because you've been successful in the past. You have to go out and play. Just because you've hit well in the past, they don't say, 'Here, take first base.' "

Even if they did, the Yankees may not know the way. They look lost, dropping their last three games to the Devil Rays, who are usually their favorite elixir. The Yankees have not had a lead since Monday.

Nothing is working. Manager Joe Torre called another team meeting Thursday, closing the clubhouse for 15 minutes before batting practice. It was at least the third meeting the Yankees have had since April 17, but the talks have not inspired better play.

"We're out of things to say," Jeter said. "What else can you say? You just have to get the job done."

The last time the Yankees were in last place this late in a season, it was June 20, 1995, and Jeter was playing for Class AAA Columbus after a brief trial in the majors. That team recovered to win the wild card and start a 10-year playoff run, but the streak may be in jeopardy.

Torre, who started with the Yankees in 1996, told the team to ignore the standings and forget what had happened. He said he was not mad at the team, as he was after a sweep in Baltimore last month, and he has stopped short of publicly questioning its effort. But Torre does not want the team to be satisfied.

"We can't try to talk ourselves into feeling good about this, because there's no reason we should feel good," he said.

With an 11-18 record, the Yankees are on pace to go 61-101, the reverse of their record last season. The Yankees have not lost 100 games since 1912, two years before Joe DiMaggio was born.

In their 10 series so far, the Yankees are 2-7-1. They went down meekly against the Devil Rays on Thursday, with their final 11 hitters making outs.

Bernie Williams, who will have a magnetic resonance imaging test on his ailing right elbow Friday, had one of just seven Yankees hits off starter Mark Hendrickson and reliever Lance Carter. Hendrickson worked seven and a third innings for his first victory, and the Tampa Bay leadoff man, Alex Sanchez, went 3 for 3 with two bunt singles, a home run, two stolen bases and four runs.

It was too much for Wang, who had made an impressive debut last weekend. He worked six innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and two walks, striking out three.

A replacement for the injured Jaret Wright, Wang was an unlikely option to stop a losing streak, and he could not do it.

"He's trying to pick us up, and it's not fair to have him be the one trying to do that," Torre said.

The Yankees have no other options. Sean Henn was overmatched in his cameo Wednesday. At Class AAA Columbus, opponents are hitting .308 off Pete Munro, the starter with the most major league experience.

And the Yankees apparently can forget about trading for Houston's Roger Clemens this summer. Clemens is probably too expensive, anyway, and the Astros' owner, Drayton McLane, recently told The Sporting News, "There are no conditions under which I would do that."

There may be no saving the Yankees, unless the stars align and summon their past heroics. Their next chance will be Friday at Yankee Stadium, where the fans who bought some of the 3 million tickets sold before opening day will be restless.

"You get what you earn," Torre said. "We understand what goes with playing this game in New York for a team that's supposed to win. You can't go hide. You have to go out there and take your lumps and look forward to the day we turn this thing around."

INSIDE PITCH

Macha gets desperate, signals bunt

Vegas Ace — Fri, 29 Apr 2005 04:57:00 -0000

Press Democrat article by Lowell Cohn on Macha's finally turning to the bunt in an attempt to win games with a team that is short on power and clutch hits and long on hitting into double plays. Is Macha finally seeing the light about creative ways to "manufacture runs" or is this just a temporary "desperation move"?

Macha gets desperate, signals bunt
Thursday, April 28, 2005

By LOWELL COHN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

OAKLAND

You should know this. A's general manager Billy Beane was not frothing at the mouth, nor did he leap across the room and grab his manager, Ken Macha, by the windpipe and try to choke him to death.

Why might Beane resort to such violent behavior? Oh, that's simple. The A's had just defeated the White Sox, 2-1, and the win had involved a crucial bunt. Yes, you've just read the curse word, the forbidden word -- bunt. The A's, as you know, are a team based on power, based on getting a few guys on base and then having one of their big boys jack the ball out of the park. Except the A's don't have any big boys any more -- they resemble a collection of leadoff hitters -- and that muscle-bound approach has become an anachronism.

So you bet they bunted. Beane visited Macha's office after the game and he praised the manager for calling a bunt. Of course, he then questioned the team's situational hitting. That's because Beane is a perfectionist, a chronic we-can-do-better kind of guy. We understand that now. But let's get back to bunting and situational hitting because the concepts are interesting and instructive.

With the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth and nobody out and Erubiel Durazo on first, Macha told Mark Ellis to bunt. And he did. He laid down a beauty, and Durazo chugged into second, which meant the A's exchanged an out for a base. This was almost shocking. In the past, the A's looked at bunting as something only wuss teams did. When Durazo eventually scored the winning run, bringing the A's back to .500, the bunt seemed justified.

In case you're wondering, there is a pattern to this development. In the seventh, Macha had asked Ellis to bunt, which he did, moving Durazo to second, and Durazo went to third on a wild throw. So this is premeditated, all this bunting. Macha also asked Mark Kotsay to lay one down, but Kotsay couldn't do it. Not that Macha blamed him. He said Kotsay is his best bunter.

So, that's the bunting background -- we'll return to it in a moment. But what was Beane's gripe about situational hitting? It's just that the A's twice had a runner on third and neither time could they get him in. This is bad situational hitting. One case was particularly galling. Charles Thomas, who was 0 for his career with the A's at that point, came to the plate in the third inning with Marco Scutaro on third and no one out, and he struck out. A weak grounder to short would have scored Scutaro, but Thomas got nothing and so did the A's.

Which is why, after the game, Beane stood in Macha's office declaring: "Situational hitting is what we've got to work on." Or as Macha said, "With a runner on third and less than two outs, we've been awful." One time he asked Nick Swisher to look for a changeup, and Swisher, who's still learning the game, replied he never goes up there looking for a change.

And that's where bunting comes in. If the A's can't hit -- Eric Chavez is currently smashing the ball at a .181 clip -- they need to do the little things. Hey, you never thought you'd read that sentence. In spring, Macha knew what he had to do. Last year, he wanted to bunt but mostly refrained because he'd just be giving away an at-bat. So he asked coach Ron Washington something really off the wall -- he asked him to teach the A's to bunt while they were bonding in Arizona. This was revolutionary. In the past, the A's bunted twice at the start of batting practice, but they went through the motions because they just knew they'd never actually have to do something as silly as bunting in a real game.

Washington actually set up a bunting station. He put lines on it. One area was a perfect bunt. One was very good. And the other was stinkeroo. After a while, the A's learned to lay them down in the perfect area. For nine straight days they bunted, three groups, a half hour per group.

"Bunting is a fundamental, whether you use it or not," Washington said. "After two days they started getting serious. I don't think the manager's hands should be tied if he decides to put the bunt on and we can't do it. If Macha doesn't do it, it's on Macha. If he does, he has it."

As you can imagine, Washington missed bunting, or as he said, "I always would have liked it in our arsenal."

When they had Mark McGwire or Jason Giambi or Miguel Tejada, the A's could afford to be buntless, could afford to scoff at the lowly bunt. Now they do whatever they can.

Someone asked Macha if the A's philosophy has changed. He didn't answer directly. He is a careful man and philosophy is Beane's department. So Macha said: "I think the philosophy should be, 'Let's win some games.'"

As philosophies go, that makes sense.

Macha swore not to get carried away with bunting, which means he'd like to keep his job.

He even admitted to calling for the hit-and-run three or four times this season. Asked if he ever ordered the squeeze bunt, he shot back, "No."

He may be experimental, but he's not insane.

Contact staff columnist Lowell Cohn at 521-5486 or lcohn@pressdemocrat.com.

"Wolff's A's will gather no moss"

Vegas Ace — Sat, 02 Apr 2005 12:48:19 -0000

An interesting column from Sonoma County's Press Democrat: "Wolff knows, right now, exactly what he wants to do with the Oakland A's. It's to move the team to Las Vegas unless the Bay Area trips over itself to keep the team...."

I share his conclusion that if Wolff cannot make an attractive deal for a stadium in the Bay Area, Las Vegas would be an excellent choice for their next home. Personally, since I spend time in both the Bay Area and Vegas, I would be happy either way.

Wolff's A's will gather no moss
Friday, April 1, 2005

By BOB PADECKY
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

In Greek mythology Sisyphus is the sinner condemned to an eternity of rolling a boulder uphill, only to have the boulder roll back down every time he reaches the top.

Funny, but I don't see Lewis Wolff, the front man for the new Oakland A's ownership group, lasting that long with his boulder.

His boulder was Charlie Finley's, and Walter Haas', and Steve Schott's and Ken Hofmann's. His boulder, in general, is selling baseball in a non-baseball town, elevating it to an essential item of existence even though no one has done that. In the specific, it's believing a brand-new $300 million stadium is all that the Oakland Athletics need to get off food stamps and live in the high-rise like so many others, even though no one has placed their money alongside that vision.

Is Wolff willing to gamble he's the guy who can make all that happen? Well, Wolff didn't get to be a mega real estate magnate by gambling. He doesn't make it up as he goes along. He doesn't get trapped the way his old fraternity brother, Bud Selig, did a couple of years ago when the teams ran out of players at the All-Star Game and he threw up his hands, confused at what to do next.

Wolff knows, right now, exactly what he wants to do with the Oakland A's. It's to move the team to Las Vegas unless the Bay Area trips over itself to keep the team. It's not to play the fool. It's not to be Schott and Hofmann, whining they are tired of squeezing water out of a rock. Whatever joy the A's achieved by making the playoffs was crushed by Schott and Hofmann claiming they couldn't keep this up much longer.

It's not to be the Haas family, saying they poured millions into the franchise only for good money to turn into a bad investment.

It's not to be Finley who poured maybe a teacup of cash - and complained even that was too much.

Wolff is not likely to engage in such unending melodrama. He will not cry out for public money because he knows there is none, not after the Raider deal soured and closed everyone's pocketbooks in the East Bay. He will not clamor for San Jose unless he - and John Fisher, the money behind the new group - woo Peter Magowan with a $100 million donation to Magowan's favorite ballpark in the name of territorial rights.

Wolff will make himself a moving target, not a stationary punching bag. In the beginning, he won't bring up Las Vegas. He'll push Oakland and a new stadium to be built in the parking lot at the Coliseum. He'll say he has investors to put up the money and all he asks in return is someone help him with a new hotel near the Oakland Airport, so bereft the area is of a four-star hotel. It'll be good for the community, he'll claim. Create more jobs, tourist dollars and tax base.

Wolff will do all that lapel tugging until he's certain the A's, when the tire has to meet the road, do not have a grip on the community. Why build a new stadium to have 6,000 people in it because the A's that year happen to be 10 games under .500.

Wolff will remember those 1992 playoffs against Toronto when the A's failed to sell out a single home game. Wolff will remember that the A's couldn't even meet the Bay Area standard: fans show up only for winners.

Wolff then will decide he's had enough. Peter Gammons, in the latest issue of ESPN The Magazine, predicts it will happen by next winter.

The X Factor in all of this is that the A's have never been on the cusp of relocation. To this point, it's all been conversation. We know mountains can be moved if the moment is white-hot; look at what happened when the Giants almost were sent to Tampa.

So bet on this: Wolff will move quickly. He will make the moment white-hot. He's 69; he doesn't have time to fiddle. He's accomplished. He is not Sisyphus. One way or another, the boulder will be moved.