SB Nation User Blog: luvsthecurveball

TWIB's History Class with Free (band)Wagon Ride!

luvsthecurveball — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 20:02:34 -0000

Please line up directly behind Mr. Andersen.

Yes, apparently Garrett Andersen came up with this brilliant idea to have many different players of different ethnicities appear on TWIB to thank Jackie Robinson for bringing us different players that we have loved to watch through the years. Good job Garrett.

But on to the real reason I'm writing...

Watching This Week In Baseball (TWIB)'s tribute to Jackie Robinson this morning reminded me of so many reasons why I love baseball.

I work in a group home with SED boys aged 10 - 18. Not many of them have an appreciation for baseball and I'm constantly hearing how the game is stupid, it's boring, there's not enough violence, etc.

It's a rough job because these boys are so damaged: no sense of family, no sense of self dignity or respect, no sense of history of any kind.

Last season, I took a group of six boys to an A's game. I was kind of worried because I was afraid they would ruin my enjoyment of the game. To my astonishment, the opposite happened.

It was a fireworks night and the game went into extras. We had to be back in Sacramento at a reasonable hour or I would be fired, so the other staff & I decided to cut and run rather than wait to watch the fireworks on the field. Of course the A's scored the winning run while we were waiting in line for the shuttle to take us to the BART parking.

We made it to our van just in time to sit on the curb and watch the fireworks and listen to thousands of fans vocally celebrate an A's victory. The kids were moved and so was I. Several of the boys said it was the best night they'd ever had.

Baseball is about history. It's a beautiful, mental game that can teach us things whether or not you've ever actually played it. My 20 year old daughter bought a new glove and a ball for the first time in...a while. We've been playing toss like she was 5 again. And it is amazing.

Year after year, I fall in love with the game. With players old and new. I smile and get a bit misty eyed when I happen to see an old favorite who is no longer playing. Memories...good times.

Jackie Robinson opened up this game to so very many people. TWIB's show is not to be missed in my opinion, whether or not you're a fan of TWIB.

Root Beer and Runs

luvsthecurveball — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 07:16:09 -0000

We had both today at in Oakland. Thank Heaven. I really couldn't handle being swept by the Red Sox right now.

I am sick as a dog and, let me tell you, it is really frustrating to be at a game and not be able to cheer for your team. Especially when they're winning.

Missed a bit of the Float Day festivities and didn't take a whole lot of pictures. What a great day for baseball:

the floats tasted yummy
Danny and the pen pitched a helluva game
it wasn't too hot
The nonbaseballplayingalien that's been inhabiting Chavy's body was gone (at least for one day)
$40,000 was raised for juvenile diabetes
Frank Thomas was Frank Thomas
and - oh yeah - the A's won baby!

Loved Danny's high socks! Hot. But I really don't get why he and Swisher think they have chicken legs. Perhaps we should start a letter campaign to lobby for the wearing of high socks.

View on for pictures...

Huston's GF is very pretty.

Swish Recap of Jim Rome 7-17-06

luvsthecurveball — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 18:09:34 -0000

I think these are fairly accurate quotes although I was in and out of my cube. Nick will be some sort of correspondant on JRIB this week. I got the impression it was only for one day, but maybe not?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On what he's currently doing:

"Sitting in the hotel watching Field of Dreams. One of the greatest baseball movies of all time...I just don't have the heart to turn it off."

On the Schilling HBP:

"It was kinda weird because the first couple pitches kinda set up the beanball pitch. Whether it was purposeful or not, just kinda put it in the memory bank. What's done is done."

Rome asked if he expected it when he stepped in the box:

"No, not really. I wasn't thinking that. I can see that the pitch to Jason Veritek didn't look so good, but it barely even hit him...That one definitely dotted me up. Lol"

Rome commented on Milton yelling, etc. :

"Well it's nice, ya know. That's one of the things we've always taken pride on the Oakland A's is to have each other's back. And Milton really had my back."

On Milton as a teammate:

"He's awesome. Regardless of what people said, unless you get to know the individual, you don't know. We come from opposite ends of the spectrum and we get along great. If you're asking me to say a bad word about Milton, I can't do it."

On he and Milton sitting:

"I've been dragged down with a touch of the mono lately. So it was just a time for me to try to get some rest."

Will Barry be with the team next year?

"When you think of Barry Zito, you think of the Oakland A's. Me and the rest of the guys on the team would love to have him for the next three four years."
On the Slusser article:

"I couldn't believe it was written. I never thought anyone would purposely hurt you or make you look bad in the public eye. When it comes to media, I've always been accessible and nice. And I'm learning that there are some people or situations you have to watch."

"In general I think it shouldn't have been written and it did not make me feel good that it was written."

"Was it personal? Ya know, maybe. I don't know. If someone had something personal against me, I don't know why. That was my first sort of run in with someone trying to bring me down when you're flying high."

"The veterans really stood behind me. The fact that it was written and the way it was written..."

"I'm not going to be one of those guys who shuts off the media in general. I'm one of those guys who has too much to say. Lol But now I know that there are some people that you have to watch."

"I don't think you can gain any better compliment than when the veterans are backing you up, especially for a young guy. (Mentioned specifically Jay Payton, Mark Kotsay, Frank Thomas, Jason Kendall.)"

On the 5 punch out game:

LOL "What he said (re: Richie Sexton), he could've walked five times, well not me. Guys were saying `you couldn't even hit the broad side of a barn'. Guys put wood putty on my chair so I could fix the holes in my bat."

"After the first three stikeouts I got a hit and I thought okay, it's ending for today. But then they just kept piling on. I would have just been happy to get beaned."

On his dad's influence (I think I missed a bit of this):

"My dad was one of those grind em out catcher guys. Obviously we're a lot different in some senses, but he's my hero, my idol."

Pitchers, Pitchers, and more Pictures!

luvsthecurveball — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 09:40:22 -0000

I'm just getting around to posting from the Saturday game.

Sat in the bleachers for the first time this year. Forgot how brutal the sun can be, so now I am a lovely (and painful) shade of lobster red.

I love sitting at various spots around the park which is one reason I never buy season tickets. But I have to say, the bleachers are the best for fan camraderie and interaction. I love it. And with Nick Swisher out there, there's just no reason to sit anywhere else.

So, in some ways, let this diary be my tribute to the awesomeness that is the Left Field Bleachers. No matter where I sit in the park, you are appreciated.

Okay, so I previewed that and the picture is totally huge! So apparently photobucket is not resizing today and I am not at home, so I can't resize with my normal software. I'm not sure how this will affect this diary. But here goes.

Potholder day! Yay! I really needed new potholders and I must say, those were darling. Free is always good.

I was a little bummed to see that there wasn't going to be any BP. I'm one of those who loves to just hang out at BP and take tons of pictures, walk the park, sit in a random seat and listen, etc.

I love the zzzzip/thud sound the ball makes when a pitcher is really throwing and I'm standing by the bullpen.

I'm a bit like Nick Swisher in that I talk to almost anybody who talks to me. So I struck up a conversation with one of the ushers and she mentioned that Eric Chavez' glove with sitting on the bullpen bench. Not sure if it was really his glove, but it has his name on it.

Regardless, I thought it made for a cool picture anyway. Brandon Buckley took it into the dugout later.

We hung out for a bit and watched (and listened) to Joe Kennedy's bullpen session. Any word on how it went? He looked pretty good. No telling from this group though.

Then we had to walk over to the D'Backs dugout to see if Byrnse was out. He wasn't but the cutest "cutip" was walking around hollering "Where's my Byrnsie?"

As we made our way back to the home side, oh JOY o' Joy! Pitchers! I love pitcher work out days. Now I'm not upset about the lack of BP anymore.

Pitchers talking, stretching, having a good time.

Here's a topic for a poll...how do you prefer your Danny Haren? Mountain man? Clean shaven? Plucked eyebrows? Well, today he had mountain man going on. Still looked pretty hott though.

Sorry that's a little blurry. This one's better.

There's a reason Zito is so good.

He worked as hard, if not harder, than any pitcher out there. Here, Saarloos and Haren provide a strike zone for a game of long toss.

Kirk was also working hard. And looking pretty good while doing so.

Halsey was very difficult to get a good picture of. This one was blurry...

While the (semi)action shot was much better. Go figure. Must have been operator error.

What was that? You want another Zito butt shot? Okay, how can I refuse?

But the view from the front is just as sweet. Oh that gorgeous hair! I wish mine looked that good.

Barry was just awesome. I have never been so proud to be a Zito fan that I was on Saturday. And that's saying a lot because I absolutely admire Barry in many ways.

Next to the bullpen was a rather rambunctious team of kids. Their uni's said "Ports" on them. Towards the end of the pitcher's workouts, they started calling "Mr. Zito! Mr. Zito!" A lot. Barry looked over at one point and gestured at them to calm down while saying "settle, settle".

The kids heard something different. A round of loudly whispered "he said he'd come sign!" and "he said he'll come over" followed.

To his credit, Barry finished his workout and then did come over to sign. A lot. He signed forever. Not just for the Ports, but of course anyone else who could get close.

But the thing that really got to me was hearing Barry lecture a little boy on lying. I didn't hear the child's claim, but as Barry walked up, the kid said something and one of his teammates said it wasn't true. Barry asked the kid if he was lying. The little dude sheepishly admitted that he was. Barry responded, "Lying's not cool, dude."

The coach heard the exchange and complimented Barry on talking to the kid. Barry ignored the coach and kept on talking to the kid while he signed, impressing upon him that lying was something he should not do.

The kid promised his hero that he wouldn't do it anymore. Another kid asked if Barry had received the letter he had written. Barry asked when he had written it and when the kid responded with "two weeks ago", Barry told him that he would check his locker for it.

I like this picture because the autograph seekers are reflected in his glasses.

I waited around just to get a picture of Zito smiling and was rewarded towards the end. A few minutes after I snapped this and wormed my way out of the crowd that had gathered, Barry called it a day.

With that, we took our seats in the bleachers.

As always, players showed their love for the bleachers.

Then it was time for the national anthem. Loved the accapella group. They did an excellent job.

It was wonderful to see Eric "I'm no oil painting" Byrnse in center.

And our center fielder ain't bad. Cute butt too.

I wouldn't kick this butt out of bed, either.

Pitching change.

And I'll finish up with this (BCG might appreciate this a little more than the rest of us):

Another not so good day at the plate for Nick, but at least I got that cute picture out of it.

(There are a bazillion more pics from the game on my webshots page. http://community.webshots.com/user/Luvsthecurveball )

Poll

Danny's best look is:

Whiskers of fear

12 votes

Clean Shaven

7 votes

Mountain Man

10 votes

Whatever, but somebody pluck those eyebrows please!

2 votes

Danny is so not cute but Nico would do him anyway.

9 votes

40 votes | Poll has closed

Slusser Speaks

luvsthecurveball — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 16:55:11 -0000

Susan Slusser was on KFBK Talk 1140 this morning with the Rise Guys. F.P. Santangelo had asked her to come on to discuss the Nick Swisher/partying article. Interestingly enough, in spite all of the public fallout from the article, Susan said that F.P. was the first person to actually contact her to talk about the article directly.

F.P. admitted to being taken a bit by surprise...it seems he hadn't actually heard about the article when he was doing the A's pregame show on Friday. His first inkling that something was up was when he "saw a sad puppy dog in the dugout by the name of Nick Swisher". Nick told him about the article and said that he was called into the principal's office: scolded by both Macha and Beane.

Susan said - and reiterated later in the interview - that she thinks there was over-reaction on the part of the A's. She stressed that she never implied anything directly about Nick, other than that he likes to stay out late and is very visible when doing so.

One of her earlier motivations in doing the article came from a conversation she had with Eric Chavez awhile back. She said the conversation mostly had to do with how religious he has become in the last couple of years, but they also touched on his early days with Jason Giambi and the partying that went on. Eric said he tried to run with Jason for the first two years and that he couldn't do it...he got fried.

Dating back from that time, she had the idea for an article to discuss mainly how young players get caught up in the fast life and how they bounce and deal with it. Hence her talk with the obvious current Athletic who seems to fit that persona, Swish.

She felt it was a good time for such an article because the A's recently brought in two players who have infamously made bad decisions - Esteban Loiaza and Scott Saurbeck. A bit later in the interview she talked about how the A's seem to be exploring the niche market of "bad-rep" players that was touched on in Moneyball. Milton Bradley, the aforementioned Loiaza and Sourbeck, and even Frank Thomas all came with baggage.

She mentioned that she was approached by a member of the A's public relations department who was a bit upset at her for the story's timing. She was asked why she had to write it now when he's playing very well and she responded that she thought it was better to write it now rather than when he's playing poorly. That she did not want to seem like she was blaming him. Then alternately she was approached by someone else in the A's P.R. department who asked why she didn't write the article when Nick was leading the team in all categories. You just can't win for losing when you're a beat writer...

F.P. said that Nick was very upset and asked Susan if perhaps Nick didn't realize what the gist of the story was going to be. Susan said that Nick knew exactly what type of story she was going for and he was down with it. Again, she stressed that she never said anything derogatory about Nick. Never implied that he played hungover, never implied that he played drunk. And with the comments from Macha, she was trying to show that management simply was worried about young players being tired and overdoing it.

Nick was very upset. One of Susan's cuter statements was "No one wants to change Nick's personality, especially us reporters. And it is KILLING me that he's mad at me."

F.P. asked how her relationship has been with the A's players as a whole since the article came out. She replied, "Nick was ticked. No one else seemed to be." Some players took her aside and said that they didn't have a problem with the story.

She did talk with Nick after the fallout and he hadn't read the story yet so it was a "weird conversation". He was upset. F.P. said that it was because he was called into the principal's office. Susan said she feels bad that he was "hauled in and yelled at by the GM." And again, said that the A's overreacted to the story.

F.P. said that Nick was probably going to change how he deals with the media a little. And try not to be so open, but not in a major way. One of the other Rise Guys said "No one swaggers like Nick Swisher" and Susan agreed and said that no one wants that swagger to stop. She said "there is no bigger Nick Swisher fan" than she is and that she wanted him to do well, especially after the fallout.

She said that Nick being Nick, he's always out on the town, talking to people and wanting to meet people. And that he shouldn't change that.

Anonymous Rise Guy had a great question: "Why are the A's so worried about a guy being out until 2:00 a.m. and then they go out and sign a pitcher who's out at 3:00 a.m. in the bushes?" Double standard much??

Susan briefly discussed trades and said that the A's feel that when they are healthy, they will already be real contenders. She doesn't anticipate any blockbuster trades and certainly none involving Barry Zito. She said that Z will probably not be going anywhere as long as the A's are in contention, especially with Rich Harden proving to be so injury prone. She said what many of us feel...that the A's can't afford to trade Barry when they don't know how often Rich will be available to pitch.

F.P. finished up with an amusing story from 2001. The team was in Baltimore and one night, after being out all night, Gil Heredia and Mark Guthrie decided to cap off the night with a morning swim in the pool in front of the Washington Monument. So they take a taxi back to the hotel after their swim...fully clothed...dripping wet...walk in to the hotel lobby at 7:00 a.m....and run into Art Howe as Art went out to get the morning paper.

F.P. also said that in 2001, the team partied every night. Constantly. And that Jason was the ringleader. No news there.

It was interesting to hear Susan sing Nick's praises and get her perspective on the article and the A's. Especially the A's management and their overreaction. She was genuinely distressed at the fallout, especially for Nick. F.P. stressed how awesome Susan is and that she really didn't mean to harm Swisher. It was a good take. Although I wouldn't mind getting Huddy's point of view after this and seeing as how he felt her article on the "bar brawl incident" was somewhat overplayed. That'd be another interesting take IMO.

Larrysgirl asked about my Swish quote

luvsthecurveball — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 07:18:16 -0000

And here's the answer...I had told her that I found it on a "quote page". But I just happened across the old (8/4/05) SI article which contains it.

I thought I'd post it up for those, like me, who didn't see it.

Friday, just before 6:00 p.m. in Oakland. Cloudless and cool, the beginnings of a picture-perfect NoCal evening. Deep inside McAfee Coliseum, Rich Harden is immersed in his pregame routine, locked in a tense state of concentration in a corner of the home clubhouse. It's an hour before the young ace of the Oakland A's -- the American League's hottest team -- is due to throw the first pitch in tonight's game, and here he is, stone-faced and silent, his eyes fixed on a blinking video screen in front of him.

"Yessss!" Harden suddenly howls as he raises his arms and leans away from the full-sized Street Fighter arcade machine, which he plays before each of his home starts. A few feet away, third baseman Eric Chavez is tossing a football around with a clubhouse attendant standing on the other side of the room. Chavez is launching perfect spirals -- "I should play for the Niners," he crows at one point -- until one of his throws smacks into a light fixture -- Thwack! -- hanging from the ceiling. A large piece of plastic falls to the ground.

At a nearby locker, A's rookie right fielder Nick Swisher, a 24 year-old Kenny Chesney fan who ranks Wedding Crashers as his favorite movie of the year (Who wouldn't?), laughs. "There's not a moment of peace and quiet in this damn clubhouse," Swisher says with the bass of the heavy metal music thumping loudly on speakers.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/albert_chen/08/04/athletics.hot/index.html

Caption Time!! Pics from Tuesday's game

luvsthecurveball — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 17:51:02 -0000

by Luvsthecurveball

Scutaro: "Damn Macha, no more burritos in the dugout!"

So, went to Tuesdays game, thanks so much to Matt! The seats were awesome, the people were fantastic (with emphasis on fan), and needless to say, the game was premium.

I absolutely love close games. So I guess it's a good thing I'm an A's fan, right? Most of the green and gold polish was gone from my nails by the end of the 9th and I'm considering sending Blanton a bill for a new manicure. But, nah. He pitched a gem. I forgive him. Now let's KEEP that Mo, Joe!

WARNING: Girlyness ahead

I confess to being a bit of a camera stalker. I love pictures...I love dugouts...I love baseball...I love hot baseball players...and I even love Jason Kendall! And by that, I confess that I think he's hott in a grizzled veteran kind of way.

And can you possibly get any hotter than a Chavvy/Swish combo? And you can take that any way you like...

by Luvsthecurveball

More photos from Tuesday's game are here:

http://community.webshots.com/user/Luvsthecurveball

Deep Thoughts by Eric Chavez

luvsthecurveball — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 17:59:26 -0000

Wow, my first diary...

The occasion to prompt this daring on my part was the warm sound of Eric Chavez speaking to Jim Rome on the radio as I drove back to work this morning. All of a sudden, I wasn't mad at my kid anymore for making me run back and forth!

Soooo, Chavvy didn't talk about much of great importance...say injuries to himself or team members...so that was disappointing. Not that Romie is a tough "journalist" or anything.

But Chavvy is Chavvy and a joy to listen to anytime he opens that gorgeous...errrrr...talented mouth. So, thoughts from Eric in no particular order.

Chavvy on Jason Kendall's Home Run:

Apparently this was a topic in the clubhouse for months...when would Jason ever hit another home run? They planned to do the total "college world series" thing, where they mob him at home plate. But after consideration, they backed off because they didn't want to offend the other team.

Rome mentioned that the other team be damned...if it offended them, Jason would just go after the whole team a la the Lackey incident. Chavvy laughed and said that, yeah, Jason has some vinegar and it adds to the team.

Chavvy on the Yankees Sweep:

It was great and a lot of fun...obviously. He mentioned the Dan Johnson home run bribery and said it actually went a lot deeper than that. Without mentioning any names, he said he now owes one guy a set of clubs (of the "guy's" specification) and several greens fees to other players. Apparently DJ heard about the bets that were already placed and approached Chavvy and asked him what he'd get for a homer. So Chavvy, being the kitty cat that he is, offered $500. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Chavvy on the team winning Five in a Row:

Well, basically you need at least two of three things to win consistently. Pitching, defense, and hitting. Eric said basically that right now, they have good defense, great pitching and hitting. Not sure if he meant great pitching and great hitting; I'd have to beg to differ a bit if he did. "Ya know, it's like clockwork. We start slow in April, have a terrible May, and then June hits and we take off." "Luckily, no one's run away in the division and we're all just playing .500 ball."

And finally, on the chances of Zito leaving:

Rome: "So, what are the chances that Barry Zito will be around at the end of the year?"
Eric: "Oh, I think he will be. We've got new owners now who want to win. They aren't afraid to drop some money to get good players, and hopefully have players stay. They picked up Thomas and Bradley and Loaiza and that was huge. So I think Barry will be here."

Hmmmm, he certainly sounded very happy and optimistic. And now I will be too...for the rest of the day at least. Let's Go Oakland!