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The Oakland Telegraph
20 April 2026
Oakland's fast start continues despite increasing injury misfortune
By Terry Blibadluck, upside down horseshoes correspondent
Paulie Beane, Oakland's general manager, said he suspected things might have gotten jinxed when in preseason he dropped a mirror as he saw a black cat while walking under a ladder. He didn't explain why he was carrying the mirror. And so it came to pass, as his unlucky team yesterday suffered their third player injury within the first fortnight of the season.
This time it is Oakland's clumsy clutz second baseman Alejandro Gusman who has been struck down while undertaking the task which even most 2-year-olds could complete without harm, baserunning. Putting one foot in front of the other, or "running" to use the technical term, seems like a fairly rudimentary activity for an able-bodied adult human being, but apparently it is proving difficult for a number of the A's batters. Gusman hurt himself during yesterday's 7-4 win over the Texas Rangers, and will miss two weeks with an oblique strain. No, I've no clue what that is either. As Gusman heads to the disabled list, Rich Weaver takes over at second base. Jose Gonzalez, who arrived from Arizona over the winter in the Cao trade, comes up to the active roster as infield backup.
Despite their rash of injuries, the world champion A's have maintained their good start, sitting in first place in the American League West division with a 9-3 record. Oakland's pitching has been superb so far, as they lead the majors with a 2.25 ERA. Starters Karl Dickson and Rodney Stewart have been especially brilliant, with a combined 5-0 record and 3 earned runs allowed in 40 innings pitched.
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