SB Nation User Blog: bvank

Get the A's on radio, AN!

bvank — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 00:10:54 -0000

All of the recent noise about a serious lack of A's on the radio in Sacramento, and Reno among others, has me thinking that we can once again put the power of the Nation to work.

Let's put together a form letter asking our local program directors to consider continuing to carry or adding the A's to their lineup. The idea is for someone with great, persuasive writing skills to post text that we could copy and paste into a word processing document and send to our favorite local station. I am not much of a wordsmith, so I am looking for help. I also don't have much experience writing for effect, so I am unsure of which approach is most successful (demanding, requesting, begging, etc.). Maybe we could come up with some sort of Athletics Nation letterhead so that we look totally united too?

In addition, I am thinking that we could maximize our impact as a group by coordinating our letter writing campaign so that our letters arrive at the stations during the same week.

I propose that we have our letter put together and posted by Thursday, March 2. Then we ask all members of the Athletics Nation, their friends, family, co-workers, etc. to mail their letters on Monday, March 6 so that the stations are bombarded with mail during that same week. That will give the folks in charge three full weeks to step up to the plate and deliver the A's to their fans by opening day.

For those in the Reno, NV. area here is our local contact for the station that has carried them for the past few years:

Mr. Dane Wilt
Lotus Radio - ESPN 630
2900 Sutro St.
Reno, NV. 89512

Let's see if we can get at least one station to add the A's for our listening enjoyment this summer. Go A's!

Smallball is infecting my brain, please help AN!

bvank — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 22:32:25 -0000

After three-plus weeks of watching National League teams, and the White Sox, constantly play for one run my subconscious mind is being taken over by the "small ball" theory. I know that it is wrong to play for one run, particularly in the first inning, but I find myself expecting just that. When Craig Biggio leads off the game with a single, my first thought is "Now, if Taveras can bunt him over to second then Berkman and Ensberg will each have a shot to drive him in."

AACCKK!

When I stop to think about it, I can force myself to adjust my thinking regarding Biggio at first and Taveras at the plate with nobody out in the top of the first to something like "If Taveras can get on then Berkman, Ensberg and Lane all have shots at really breaking this thing open before the Sox even get to bat." But it didn't used to be this way. For as long as I can remember, the norm for me was more like "play for the big inning, don't be desperate, one run will not win this game." I am afraid that all of this Tim McCarver/Joe Buck/dare I say Joe Morgan hooey is really getting to me.

Please, can somebody point me in the right direction? I need stats, probabilities and situations to get me back on track.

Thanks.

How should I get to the stadium this weekend?

bvank — Thu, 11 Aug 2005 00:01:46 -0000

My wife and I are planning on attending all three games vs. the Twins this weekend. We usually stay in Walnut Creek and take BART to the games. This time we are staying in Jack London Square - new for us. Looking at a map I see that we could walk to the City Center BART station. Is this a good option?

Poll

Would you walk 0.6 miles on Broadway from Jack London Square to the BART station?

Yes, it's totally safe and not a bad walk.

27 votes

No, that's not such a good neighborhood.

1 votes

No, I don't walk anywhere.

1 votes

29 votes | Poll has closed

Is Byrnes another Bobby Higginson?

bvank — Fri, 13 May 2005 21:58:29 -0000

I just saw a note that Higginson was place on the DL by the Tigers today. My first thought was "At least someone else will get a chance to play everyday in Detroit now. That guy has really been a disappointment." So then I looked up his career numbers. He has been a solid outfielder with roughly .270/.360/.455 15hr, 70r, 70rbi averages. Tiger fans enjoyed a very good stretch in years 3-5 or so, but all-in-all he has been an albatross for the last 5 seasons. Since his early success he has been one of those players that fans said "Wait 'till he gets back to 'normal'." Only, normal became a disappointment instead of more like the good old days.

I wonder if Eric Byrnes is on the same track, and if so should the A's deal him now - as Mychael Urban suggests - while he may be worth something? Or, should they hold onto him, get his very best years out of him (which could mean .270/.360/.460 22-25hr, 90r, 85rbi for two or three seasons) and then let him walk because he has regressed at such a rapid rate?

I think he could be a typical "Moneyball" guy where he out performs his contract in Oakland, becomes a free agent, earns the A's a compensation pick, signs a fat contract with a club desperately hoping that he continues to trend upwardly and then gets run out of his new town because his best years are already behind him. If this is the case, then he is going to get hot and have a good year and the A's will see a nice winning streak come their way - yeah!

Eric Chavez - great human being

bvank — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 01:01:46 -0000

Chavez is now my favorite person on the team.

My wife and I were in Phoenix for spring games and workouts from the 12th to the 19th. On the 15th we visited Peoria to see the A's/Mariners game. There was this cool spot in the stadium where we could see the players parking lot and the A's clubhouse. As we waited for players to come out and sign autographs on their way to the field we met a family from the Bay Area (we are from Reno). They had two boys, maybe 9 and 11 years old. The older boy had his program and it looked like he already had tons of autographs. He said he really wanted Eric Chavez. Eventually players came out and Chavvy was one of them to stop to sign. The boy got his autograph and was almost as happy to have it as my wife was to have one too!

When we got to our seats we notice that we are right next to the family, and the warning track where the players head for the dugout. Lo-and-behold Chavez comes out stops right in front of us to sign again. One lady asks for a picture and now pictures are the big thing. The same 11-year-old boy comes down, gets a picture with Chavvy and shares with him that he is a cancer survivor. Cool moment as Chavvy tells the boy that he is proud of him.

Five or six innings of the Mariners kicking butt crawl by and Macha takes Chavez out of the game for Bobby Smith. Between halves of an inning Chavvy heads down the line on his way to the clubhouse, he is done for the day. As he approaches our section he takes a broken bat out of his bag and starts scanning the crowd for the boy. He finds him, leans into the stands, jerks the bat out of the hand of some dude in front of the boy and makes sure that it lands in the hands he intends. The boy has the biggest Kool-Aid smile you have ever seen. It clearly is a great day!

* Here comes the cool part *

The boy gets on his Mom's cel phone to call his uncle. This is the part that I heard:
"Hi Uncle (insert male name here)! Guess what, we're at the A's game! I made friends with Eric Chavez!"

Not "I got an autograph, a picture and a bat" but "I MADE FRIENDS"!

That's the type of guy our 4-time Gold Glove winner is . . . . . .