Well, another season come and gone-  sort of sad note the way our boys finished out the season- more of whimper than a statement of promise.  But after four decades of watching all sorts of A's teams take the field, I can  honestly say that in my unscientific opinion, this is far from the worst team we've fielded.   Were there great disappointments this year? Surely.  Perhaps the biggest bomb ever to land on the field in Oakland was named Matt Holliday (whom I am convinced gave about 35% effort in his short stay with us).  I'm always cautious about these over-hyped National League guys and Holliday proves my caution.  The return of Giambi was nothing like most of us imagined and the expected hopes of players like Sean Gallagher (what happened there?) and Dana Eveland fizzled at the start. 

But enough of the negative.  I see a lot of positive notes coming out of the 2009 A's-  we have probably one of the best young pitching staffs getting ready to bust out in the AL next year- other teams are going to be amazed at what they see coming their way.   Suzuki ranks right up there with the cream of the crop in the AL catchers and the best part is we have him locked up for at least four more years.   I like Pennington- despite his 8 errors and sporadic batting, this kid is going to shine.  Our biggest gaps probably rest in the outfield- still no real power hitters there and the fielding has been suspect.  Rajai has been fun to watch (until this last week) but Patterson cannot remain in Left Field.   We've got to find more power to pull from the OF positions. 

As for Cust- I know he's fan favorite of many-  I see him as a rally killer-  time for him to go.   We can find another DH to hit 25 HR a year without striking out 185 times.

I've joined the "fire Geren" crowd a few times but I can't see it happening.  Beane will not boot his friend unless ordered to.

Gaps to fill- sure, but I feel much more  optimistic about 2010 than I did a few months ago. 

Oh well,  that's my view of the season-  looking very forward to next year and hoping the bandwagon fans come back on board.  It's tough seeing those empty seats game after game.

Maybe it's just my computer but for the last three weeks or so, these blasted Mcdonald's pop up ads have been blocking out the A's Nation Posts?  Anyone else having this problem?  Unlike most popups,  this one doesn't seem to have an option of "closing the ad" or whatever it's called.    The ad just sort of hovers over the posts, blocking out most of the text.  Hey Mcdonalds- back off of the Nation and go sell your greasy biscuits somewhere else!

Okay, this is not some post to beat down on Casilla/Garcia-  just a question posed to those who pay a lot more attention to the details and inner workings of the green and gold than I have time for.   I've watched Casilla (who I still resent for lying about his name for so many years),  pitch absolutely horrible in several games now and pitched only slightly better in a number of others.   The A's were quick to send Dana Eveland down when he struggled and have relegated Sean Gallagher and others to Sacramento until they learn how to pitch again-  so why not Casilla?   Is there something he offers the team at this point that I'm not seeing?  To me, he seems to have absolutely no confidence on the mound and appears lost in every outing.

Now, I  know that Giambi's career is far more colorful and full of more gold stars than Bobby's will ever be-   but lately I've been wondering just who might be the biggest disappointment to A's fans this year-  Jason or Bobby.   I mean with Bobby-  we really didn't expect a great deal, did we?    After watching him flail away at the ball last year-  his hyped first "full healthy year"-   and watching the disastrous attempt at getting rid of him in the offseason-  we thought he would be little more than a benchwarmer this year.  Surprise-  Bobby has been an almost full time player due to injuries and in the inability of the A's to find a reliable third baseman.  Still, Bobby has pretty much did what we expected him to do,  flail away at the ball and continue to look completely lost at the plate most of the time.  

Giambi however, came riding into town on the white stallion (okay, maybe a graying stallion) and was hyped (along with sub-par Holliday) as being the savior of the ailing A's offense.    I've got to admit, I believed the storybook crap-  I believed that Jason still had the ability the hit homeruns on a consistent basis and lead this team to wonderful places.  I thought for sure the Yankees would be truly sorry they dumped him-  er, rather "didn't pick up my contract" as Jason says.   When Billy Beane was sitting there in the press conference with this schoolgirl crush look on his face,  gushing all over Jason and telling him how wonderful it was to have him back,  I just knew that Jason would lead the way. 

Well, here we are two months into the season and it's obvious that Giambi doesn't have nearly the offensive prowness he used to have.  Sure,  he can jack one into the stands now and then -when he manages to get a bad pitch to hit- but most of the time he's standing there watching the third strike or sending another easy fly ball in into the outfield for an out.   More disturbing to me is the look on his face-  and that is a look of uncertainty.  Long gone is the Jason of yesterday that seemed to overflow with arrogance and confidence-   now we have a player who seems to know his glory days are over for good.  

So if I had to vote,  I'd cast my meaningless vote for Giambi as the biggest disappointment of the year, so far.

Okay,  did Geren & Co.  really give Cabrera the sign to attempt a bunt in the 9th inning last night- or did he do it on his own?   It was probably one of the worst bunt attempts I've ever seen and I was literally stunned that they would try such a bonehead move.   And why can't a veteran like Cabrera lay down a bunt?  It has  puzzled me for years how the A's have been unable to execute bunts.  Is there such thing as a bunt clinic?  If so, it's time to bring in the bunt gurus and go for it.

As bad as it sounds, I was almost wishing they would pinch hit Bobby Crosby for Cabrera last night in the 9th-----almost.

This has nothing to do with baseball-  but reading the news about the three slain officers (and the others injured) really makes me focus on what's more important in the world.  I'v e known quite a few cops in my life and whether they work in a small town or large city-  they all know that everyday could be their last day.  All too often we hear about the heroes in the military, but these guys are indeed heroes as well.

I'd like everyone to remember these brave men in their thoughts and prayers.

Okay,  I'm hesitant to do this because I really hate the hassle of boxing up things and looking for tape and going to the post office...blah blah blah,  but if you (or your kid or perhaps your grandma) are thinking about starting an A's card collection,  here's a deal you won't see again in your lifetime.  I have a box of about 200-300 (could be more but i won't take the time to count them) A's cards from the 1970's- 1990's- all in excellent shape that I will give away FREE to anyone willing to pay the shipping costs.  I'm on the East Coast, so depending on where you are at-  this could range anywhere from five bucks to I imagine no more than ten.   The collection includes cards like Joe Rudi, Rick Monday and Billy North from the 70's,   Rickey Henderson, Canseco and all the stars from the 80's and 90's and a host of players I've long forgotten about.  There are a variety of brands and some duplicates- but you will find more than enough value in this box, especially since it is FREE.  I will not look through the box for individual cards and I will not take the time to see what cards are actually in the box, I just know there are a ton of great players and stars in the collection.

This is not a scam of any sort-  I don't sell cards, and I don't care if anyone wants them or not.   I just collect them and to be honest I need the space in my closet.  I don't want to do the ebay thing because I honestly hate card sellers. Besides,   it would please me greatly to know that some kid or some old fart is out there building their own A's card collection.

Okay,so how do we do this-  I suspect I will get more than one interested party,  so I'll do it the fair way.  Whoever responds to this post first with SERIOUS interest , you are the lucky winner of tonights lottery.    As long as you have an e-mail in your profile I will contact you and work out details.   I do not have one in mine to avoid spammers so I will have to contact you.    It's already 9:30 PM where I am at so it might be tomorrow before I contact you.

Good Luck.

I was just noticing on e-bay that there are a ton of the Vida Blue Jersey's for sale- most in the thirty dollar range.   It seems that this is the way it always works- whenever there is a bobblehead or jersey giveaway,  hundreds of people will rush to e-bay or other sources to quickly offer the items for sale.  So my question is this- is it really worth the effort?    I mean it looks like you have to stand in line for a few hours to be assured of getting any of the premium giveaway items-  I think we stood in line something like two and half hours once for the Catfish Bobblehead-  and then you have to go through the effort of listing it on bobblehead,  checking and responding to e-mails, shipping the item,  etc....  all for $30 ?   It doesn't seem like it's worth it.

I'm curious if anyone of the AN'ers  regularly sell  their promotional items on e-bay or if you are like me and you keep every little thing.....

The Chronicle reports that Andrew Brown rides BART to the games when at home. If true,  I find this to be a totally cool reflection on what this dude is made of.  In the era of whining, self-centered "me, me" stars who seem to care only about themselves, this dude is riding Mass transit to get to work.  I seriously doubt there are many other MLB players,  if any, who use Mass transit to get to the ballpark.  Hats off to you Andrew!

I'm a big fan of Suzuki-  I think he's a sharp kid with a bright future for either the A's or some other team.  However- with his offensive abilities floundering and his tendency to kill rallies-  it's natural for some to express their frustrations about him. There used to be a belief in baseball that if your team had a catcher who was an exceptional catcher ,you could live with their inability to hit the ball.  The catcher wasn't really expected to be one of the big bats on the team.   I guess that changed a bit over time with more powerful and consistent catchers coming up through the leagues, but my question is this-  what should we expect from the catcher's position?  Should we be satisfied with a Kendall type toughness with no ability to drive in runs (at least not in the AL)  or should expect a Russell Martin or Posada?   Just curious what everyone thinks.