Your 2021 Oakland Athletics

[thehatfield]

There wasn’t really much real analysis to be done that might be useful after just one month of regular season games. Obviously we were playing the traditional role of the “overachieving-out-of-the-gates small market team” with a record of 19-6 that matched the defending MLB Champion New York Mets for the best in baseball. Obviously the 8-18 New York Yankees and their $107.6 million payroll (6th highest in baseball) were underachieving despite hitting .293 as a team, which was better than us (.292). The 5-20 Braves were hitting just .205 as a team and no one expects that to continue all season either. After another month of the season we’d be able to get a better picture of what was actually going on in the league.

Some notes about the team, the traditional stats certainly don’t tell the whole story. Second baseman Ken O’Bryant, for example, is only hitting .252 through the month of April but he leads the club with a .450 batting average in close and late situations. Teddy Revelez leads the club with 6 home runs but has only 15 RBI and has been criticized by fans for never seeming to get a hit when it would mean something important to the club. Mumbles Yamasita is off to a very strong start for us with a .464 OBP but hasn’t exactly been the burner on the basepaths that he was advertised as by his agent and our scouting team. Our bullpen, which figured to be a strength of the club coming out of Spring Training, has not been very reliable outside of Fairfax von Schoening and closer Bill Mathis and both of those two have a blown save!

While en route to Texas for the final 3 games of our 9-game road trip the first set of monthly awards were announced and we had a winner for the first time since Jose Arce took home the Batter of the Month award in April of last year – 25-year old lefty Rowley Dickson was named the Pitcher of the Month for April in the American League. In an official interview with the league Dickson stated that “it isn’t all about how hard you throw, it’s about accuracy…” and seemed pleased with himself when he said he doesn’t give opponents anything good to hit. But he then went on to say “but that’s not always true. Every pitcher gives up a long ball now and then, myself included. Usually there’s at least one mistake pitch per at-bat, but you’ve got to battle through your mistakes and build some positive momentum and the rest will simply fall into place.” Dickson’s happy-go-lucky style has been a fantastic fit in Oakland since he came over to the A’s from Tampa Bay as a free agent in the off-season. Dickson finished the month with a 5-0 record, 2.41 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, .217 opponents batting average, just 6 walks and 37 strikeouts in 37.1 innings.

In the National League it was Brandon Radley of the New York Mets taking home the Pitcher of the Month award after a dominating string of performances that saw him end up with a 5-1 record and 1.09 ERA, 62 strikeouts, and just 10 walks in 49.1 innings. Batters hit .183 against the 30-year old lefty and managed just 32 hits against the 4-time Cy Young Award winner. Bad news for the rest of baseball as the Mets also boasted the National League’s Rookie of the Month Winthrop McDonnell, a 26-year old center fielder from Ocean City, New Jersey. McDonnell hit .347 with 7 home runs and 24 RBI for the Mets in April.

In the American League it was 25-year old shortstop Bobby Hartshorn of the Toronto Blue Jays taking the Rookie of the Month honors by hitting .307 (including 18 extra-base hits) with 5 homers and 26 RBI.

30-year old former All Star and Gold Glove winner Damario Rosado of the Chicago White Sox took home the AL Batter of the Month Award with a blistering .350 batting average and .740 slugging percentage. The center fielder hit a co-league best 9 home runs and knocked in 25 RBI to go along with 6 stolen bases in a truly superior month.

The 2016 Rookie of the Year, last year’s MVP and Triple Crown winner, and the new single-season home run king John O’Hennessy took the NL Batter of the Month honors and stopped a Mets clean sweep by edging out New York first baseman Hippolyte Ashe. O’Hennessy hit a Major League-leading 13 home runs and knocked in 31 while hitting .361 for Colorado in the first month of the year. The center fielder posted a slugging percentage of .835 during the month of April.

We won’t take an in-depth look at league leaderboards until at least next month to account for any anomalies that might have occurred during the season’s first 4 weeks. Next up would be our 3-game set with the Rangers.

[thehatfield]

They Said It…

“I told you once the season began everything would be fine.” – Oakland first baseman Jose Arce breaks his media silence after a solid April saw him hit .300 with 4 homers and 17 RBI.

“I’ve been reading this book about the old days, Derek Jeter: Baseball Jedi, and they used to say the same things about him. But he’s in the Hall of Fame now so he probably doesn’t care too much. I’m right here though…and I hear these things.” – Jose Arce replies sourly to a question about a lot of balls ending up down in the right field corner despite him only committing one error thus far at first base in 2021.

“I tell you, if my GM had spent the extra $30 million that Jeff Hance got this year from his new GM I might still be in Oakland.” – Former Athletics Manager and current Kansas City Royals Manager Miguel Padilla comments wistfully after the A’s complete a 3-game sweep on Saturday.

“Including the split with Texas we’ve only lost one out of our first nine series played… no one really expects us to keep this up which helps us keep things low pressure and really makes it fun to play baseball right now.” – Undefeated American League Pitcher of the Month Rowley Dickson comments about the A’s while he receives his award.

“Ya know Frankie, if this team keeps getting performances from the top of the rotation that they’re getting out of J.D. Knisley and Rowley Dickson, people are going to have to start taking this team seriously. At least when they have to play the A’s and have to face either or both of them.” – Chris “Water Buffalo” Passolo comments to his broadcast partner on their popular Bay-area sports talk radio show.

“It’s been a nice month but there’s an awfully long way to go yet.” – Oakland Manager Jeff Hance tempers the local giddiness with some reality.


Man on the Street…

“Honestly I think you should look yourselves in the mirror and consider going with Person on the Street or Word on the Street instead because I’m not giving you an answer and quite frankly I’m surprised that anyone gives you an answer. No one I associate with would.” – Ina May Finkelburger, 24, Union City

“April has to be a mirage. There’s no way the team is this good and aside from the Angels and two games with the White Sox we haven’t really played any really good teams.” – Sam Horvath, 53, Fremont

“Yo, Teddy Revelez is a dog, brah. He don’t eva get a hit when ya need it, not eva.” Zigmund Ashi, 18, Hayward

“You’re starting to see a lot of younger kids wearing A’s hats around. They just don’t know any better. They’ll have ‘um packed away by July, mark my words.” Sue Bogger, 44, East Oakland



Next Up: 3-game series on the road at Texas

It was another divisional match-up as we made our way into Arlington late Saturday night to face the 16-9 Texas Rangers on Sunday – Tuesday. The Rangers were feeling good about themselves after winning 7 of their last 9 games including taking 2-out-of-3 from the Angels in their last series. Our goal coming in was to take 2-of-3 from Texas as a sort of validation stamp for what we had accomplished in April and to keep our strong divisional record intact; we wanted the players to raise their intensity level to give us a successful conclusion to our road trip and promised a complete off-day for travel day on Wednesday as long as they were back in Oakland and ready to play in Thursday night’s game against Detroit.

The starting pitching match-up would probably fall in our favor as J.D. Knisley and Rowley Dickson would be on the hill in the first two games of the series.


Sunday, May 2, 2021
Game 26 at Texas Rangers
7-1 Win; 44,173 in attendance
W: Knisley (4-1) L: Rose (2-3)

Recap: Despite an electric atmosphere at the beginning of this game the stands would be nearly empty by the bottom of the 9th inning in what ended up being a whitewash of a divisional match-up. Dome Guevaro hit a 2-run home run in the top of the first inning and that would be all the Athletics would need behind 7.1 strong, 4-hit innings by Oakland starter J.D. Knisley. Knisley outpitched his Texas counterpart Rob Rose who was knocked out of the game in the 4th inning after surrendering 5 earned runs on 6 hits and 4 walks. Guevaro would add his second homer of the game and 7th of the season off of 27-year old righty reliever Fane Hambleton in the 7th inning to take home Player of the Game honors. Guevaro, Mumbles Yamasita, and Travis Byers each had 2 hits for Oakland. Guevaro committed his 4th error of the season at third base in the 3rd inning.


Monday, May 3, 2021
Game 27 at Texas Rangers
10-0 Win; 41,087 in attendance
W: Dickson (6-0) L: Ayala (0-1)

Recap: Both Teddy Revelez and Dome Guevaro had the day off which gave rare starts to Javier Raymundo and Jim MacFall. Shortstop Edgard Galdames had 4 RBI including his second home run of the year, a 3-run shot in the top of the 2nd inning. But this game was all about Rowley Dickson who threw a 3-hit shutout, his second shutout of 2021, while striking out a season-high 13 batters. 25-year old Dickson improved to 6-0 on the season and has been looking more impressive than fellow free agent and #1 starter J.D. Knisley. Jose Arce had 5 hits including 2 doubles and despite the two biggest bats in the lineup on the bench offense was not a problem. Raymundo went 3-for-5 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored and MacFall walked twice, added a hit, and scored 3 runs. Travis Byers was moved back up to the #3 spot in the lineup with the big guns out and went 0-for-6 and left 8 men on base.


Tuesday May 4, 2021
Game 28 at Texas Rangers
5-4 Loss; 33,087 in attendance
W: Hambleton (2-0) L: Leverett (0-1) H: Clay (1) BS: Snyder (1)

Recap: Perhaps over-reacting a bit to past late inning implosions, Jeff Hance was certain to stem one off when he pulled starter Neifi Villaluazo after 4 innings and 84 pitches. Villaluazo looked okay and gave up 3 earned runs on 5 hits while striking out 6 and walking 3. Texas starter Abelando Gonzalez scattered 7 hits over 7 innings and struck out 6. Jose Arce hit a solo home run in the top of the 9th inning off of Danny Snyder to knot the game at 4-4 and send it into extra innings but Texas then got 3 shutout innings of relief from Fane Hambleton before rallying and scoring the game-winning run on a close play at home on a fielder’s choice to shortstop in the bottom of the 13th. Despite the loss Mumbles Yamasita’s 3 hits (including a double and a triple) gave him the nod as Player of the Game. Texas had 16 hits in the extra-inning affair and 3 different players with 3 hits. Shortstop Edgard Galdames wrenched his knee while running the bases in the 3rd inning and was listed as day-to-day for the next week or so. One can only wonder if Galdames and his cannon arm were still in the game if Texas would have scored their winning run.


Current Oakland Record: 21-7

We were so close to another sweep but Texas gutted it out and ended our season-best 7-game win streak instead. Since the boys had won the series they would get Wednesday completely off. We would start a 6-game homestand against Detroit on Thursday and as long as the players were at the ballpark in time for the first pitch they could do whatever they wanted until then. I hoped they would really enjoy it because starting on the 20th of May was a stretch of 13 straight games and there would be little free time for anyone.

Coming up would be Detroit and Chicago at home, then Detroit and Chicago on the road before our first inter-league series at the Los Angeles Dodgers.

[thehatfield]

Next Up: 3-game series at home against Detroit

12-17 Detroit came to town having lost 10 of their last 14 games to drop them into last place in the American League Central. But with the White Sox sputtering to a record of 15-13 thus far, Detroit, Cleveland, Kansas City and Minnesota were all within 3½ games of the division leaders.

Detroit had been dealt an early-season blow losing 35-year old shortstop Ryan Zimmerman for 13 months with torn ankle ligaments in a 6-5 loss to the White Sox back in April. Zimmerman, a 3-time All Star, accounts for close to $9 million of Detroit’s $82.2 million payroll (11th highest in baseball). The silver lining of the Zimmerman injury is that Detroit may get to see what they have in 26-year old shortstop prospect Lex Gravely. Gravely was called up to take Zimm’s place on the active roster after hitting .310 with 10 homers and 26 RBI for the AAA Toledo Mud Hens. The touch of grey on that silver lining is that Detroit had been starting light hitting 33-year old veteran Barry Fortescue for his outstanding defense instead of giving Gravely some playing time. Our former 26-year old shortstop prospect Vicente Rosas, traded with Ed Robinson for Bill “Crunchy” Mathis in the off-season, was also tearing up Triple-A for Toledo with a .358 batting average and it was probably just a matter of time before he ended up in Detroit with the Tigers.

Otherwise, Detroit had a balanced lineup with 6 players having at least 5 home runs (we, by comparison, have 4) and are led by 33-year old catcher Lou “Thrifty” Argyll and 25-year old third baseman Culley Aldridge. The pitching staff is anchored by team captain Jeremy Bonderman who has spent his entire 19-year big league career with the Tigers. But aside from Bonderman and 26-year old righty Erek Pugh Detroit’s starting pitching does not intimidate opposing batters. Ed Robinson, the other player involved in the Bill Mathis trade, was Detroit’s best reliever with a 1.76 ERA in 12 appearances. New Detroit closer Alex Pinto, 29, has 9 saves in 11 chances but opponents are hitting .355 against him which has contributed to an absurdly high 9.82 ERA.


Thursday, May 6, 2021
Game 29 vs. Detroit Tigers
13-8 Loss; 16,631 in attendance
W: Robinson (2-0) L: Nakamura (4-1)

Recap: Detroit simply wore our pitchers out. Our starter Nori “The Bandit” Nakamura was out of the game after 64 pitches, 6 hits, 3 walks and 7 runs (5 earned) in the 3rd inning. Nakamura also committed his first error of the season on a comebacker to the mound that he threw right past first baseman Jose Arce and down the right field line which allowed two runs to score. Oakland was still in the game until Gregg Basnett came in to pitch in the top of the 6th inning and promptly gave up a 3-run homer to 25-year old third baseman Culley Aldridge and a solo shot to 26-yer old second baseman and former #5 overall draft choice Jesus “Scuttlebutt” Zamudia back-to-back to seal the game for Detroit. Aldridge was named Player of the Game after going 4-for-5 with 7 RBI, 3 runs scored and 3 extra-base hits. Our ex-reliever Ed Robinson pitched 2.1 innings of perfect relief for the Tigers to earn his second win of the season. Reydel Vazquez started at shortstop while Edgard Galdames nursed his sore knee and went 3-for-5 with 2 RBI and a run scored. Ken O’Bryant and Teddy Revelez also had 3 hits for Oakland as did Detroit’s Jotaro Kobayashi.


Friday, May 7, 2021
Game 30 vs. Detroit Tigers
13-2 Win; 16,448 in attendance
W: Cake (2-0) L: Pugh (2-2)

Recap: What a difference a day makes! Taking a lesson from the loss the day before we waited out Detroit to the tune of a season-high 12 walks, including 3 with the bases loaded, to score 13 runs on just 9 hits. Despite issuing 5 walks of his own in 7 innings, Fred Cake allowed just 3 hits and won his second straight start. For the first time in 4 appearances since April 20th Terry Rogers pitched scoreless innings of relief for the A’s. Mumbles Yamasita hit his 7th home run of the season to lead off the game in the bottom of the 1st for Oakland when he dinked one off the foul pole down the line in right field. Travis Byers knocked in 3 runs with a single in the 8th inning when the Athletics dropped the hammer on Detroit and put the game out of reach by scoring 7 runs. Despite his control issues Cake was named Player of the Game. Teddy Revelez was walked 5 times in his 5 plate appearances. Ken O’Bryant, Jose Arce, and Yamasita all walked twice for Oakland.


Saturday, May 8, 2021
Game 31 vs. Detroit Tigers
6-5 Loss; 19,188 in attendance
W: Adams (4-1) L: Leverett (0-2) SV: Pinto (10) BS: Leverett (1)

Recap: We jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on the strength of Travis Byers’ second home run of the season, a 385-foot 2-run shot to left field in the third inning, and Mumbles Yamasita’s solo shot in the 4th, his team-leading 8th of the year. But Detroit’s 27-year old right fielder Raul Paz got to J.D. Knisley in the 5th inning with a big grand slam to right center to give Detroit a 4-3 lead. Oakland scored twice to go back up by a run heading into the 8th inning but after getting two popouts Jonathan Leverett allowed a single and promptly wild pitched the baserunner to second. Culley Aldridge singled to left and the runner scored from second ahead of Teddy Revelez’ throw. The next batter doubled to right and Aldridge decided to try and score from first and test Byers’ great arm and he just made it in under Cornelius McInally’s tag to give Detroit the final margin. Aside from the grand slam Knisley pitched well for Oakland. Tigers starter Mark Adams gave up 13 hits and 5 earned runs through 8 innings but struck out 11 and didn’t walk anyone to get his 4th victory of the year. A’s second baseman Ken O’Bryant came out of the game in the third inning after fouling a ball off of his foot and he’s being taken to Highland General Hospital for x-rays.


Current Oakland Record: 22-9

It was our first series loss since the first week of the regular season. Shortstop Edgard Galdames had sat out the entire series with a sore knee but backup Reydel Vazquez did a fine job filling in by going 7-for-14 with 3 RBI and 3 runs scored. A nervous phone call from Manager Jeff Hance made me worry about the status of our 26-year old second baseman Ken O’Bryant. The television announcers had speculated during the game that O’Bryant came out with a badly bruised foot but Hance wanted me to make sure Dr. Rick Hartshorn, our team doctor, would be there at Highland General when O’Bryant arrived. That sounded a lot more serious than I’m used to hearing Hance regarding something as seemingly innocent as a deeply bruised foot. Even though we had cover we didn’t have another true second baseman on the active roster so losing O’Bryant for any length of time could present some trouble for the club.

With the White Sox coming to town next and our 3rd, 4th and 5th starters scheduled to take the hill we were perhaps on the precipice of our first back-to-back series losses of the 2021 campaign.

[Jestor]

Splendid dynasty... and if I were an A's fans, I'd so want a Dickson jersey

[thehatfield]

Originally Posted by Jestor

Splendid dynasty... and if I were an A's fans, I'd so want a Dickson jersey

Thank you! Dickson's been outstanding thus far; he's been the best pitcher on the team for the first 5 weeks of the season that's for sure. I'm not too sure who my favorites are yet... I sort of like catcher Cornelius McInally and I hope Travis Byers does well but I may have been duped by the scouts.


Ken O’Bryant: Lost for the Year

It was very bad news for us and our 26-year old second baseman Ken O’Bryant – a broken foot that would require surgery and about 6 or 7 months of rest. O’Bryant was a waiver pickup in 2019 from the Cincinnati Reds, one of the rare positive baseball moves made by the old Manuel Silva/Miguel Padilla regime, and was poised to have a breakthrough year after hitting .294 with 16 home runs and 76 RBI in his first season as a full-time starter last year.

Dr. Rick Hartshorn delivered the news to me late Saturday night after our loss to the Tigers. Since Dr. Rick and Manager Jeff Hance had tipped me off during the game that this might be serious I had already been hard at work researching alternative options at second base before the game even ended.

Within the organization we had 26-year old Ken McCree and 26-year old Artie Page at AAA Sacramento. McCree has a .258 career batting average in 1,144 Major League at-bats, is a slightly better second baseman than Artie Page and can also play shortstop or third base pretty competently. McCree is also having a better start to the season than Page with the River Cats but is not generally thought to be a better hitter than his teammate overall. Page only has 61 Major League at-bats in his career but is much faster than McCree and is supposedly the better all-around athlete. Page’s complete lack of discipline at the plate and his awful Spring Training performances, though, are big factors against him being the automatic choice to come up even though just a couple of months ago we had no doubt Page would be the emergency replacement. To be frank, McCree seems like the average prospect that has already topped off while the frustrating Page never seems to be taking advantage of opportunities or living up to his potential. Another thing to consider with both Page & McCree is that they are out of minor league options so any decision now would have long-term effects on their futures or Ken O’Bryant’s.

The waiver wire was completely empty but there were some options to look at on the free agent market. 36-year old shortstop Jamie Klee, who’s actually a better second baseman than a shortstop, is available but wants about $800,000 for a one-year deal. The 354th overall pick of the Minnesota Twins back in 2006 actually played the 2013 season with Oakland and hit .276 with a .337 on-base percentage in 319 at-bats and could probably be marketed to the fanbase as the loveable journeyman. For what Klee is asking either Artie Page or Ken McCree are better defensively, comparable hitters and would be far cheaper.

27-year old Australian second baseman Brock Clemens is looking for about $400,000 in a one-year deal. He’s an interesting option… a very good contact hitter with good gap power but he’s not very good defensively at second base. In fact he’s infinitely better at first base. He was originally drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2013 but has been in the Minnesota Twins organization since 2015. The impression I get from Head Scout Gaspar Zelaga (for what it’s worth) is that Clemens would be a more consistent hitter than our two internal options or fellow free agent Jamie Klee.

30-year old Gabriel Rojas, a former Athletic whose contract I let expire this winter, was still out on the free agent market. The guy is a speedster, a solid second baseman, and a decent hitter but his agent let me know that Gabe wouldn’t listen to any offers unless the starting point was $1,000,000 for the rest of this season. That’s just too much money; I would rather put together a trade before throwing down that much cash for a player like Rojas. That all said, Rojas was a San Jose, California native and spent the majority of his career in our organization so it could be marketed as a homecoming.

The last realistic or, more properly, worthwhile option available on the free agent market was 38-year old lefty Greg Dupree. Dupree won two Gold Gloves with Minnesota back in 2016 & 2019 at third base, a position he plays as well as he does second base. Dupree is synonymous with the Twins and has played for them on three different occasions for a combined 11 years. Despite his 38 years he’s still pretty fast, has great range, and would be the best defensive option out of those previously mentioned but he’s an average hitter and strikes out a ton (last year for Detroit he struck out 65 times in 190 at-bats).

In more off-the-wall news, New York Mets General Manager Bill Wass said that he would actually have to think about it if we wanted to trade 22-year old center fielder Mumbles Yamasita to the World Series Champions in exchange for 8-time All Star, 3-time MVP and 2-time Gold Glove Award winner Adelardo “Wild Man” Arguijo. The Venezuelan Wild Man is a .336 career hitter with 388 home runs and 1,050 RBI in 11 Major League seasons. He is on the last year of a 5-year contract but stands to earn close to $14 million this season which more than likely puts him out of our reach. On the other hand, Washington would also listen to a Yamasita-for-Jerry Williams deal. 26-year old Williams has been a regular starter in the Majors since 2016, 3 years after being drafted 8th overall by Washington in 2013 and has averaged over 30 homers and 100 RBI per-season over that 5-year stretch. Williams is a .288 career hitter with a .367 OBP and .549 slugging in 3,290 Major League at-bats.

In addition to replacement options for the long-term Jeff Hance had to make changes to our lineup for tomorrow’s game with the American League Champion White Sox. After some tinkering throughout early and mid April Jeffy had finally come to a regular lineup of:

1. Yamasita CF
2. Galdames SS
3. Revelez LF
4. Guevaro 3B
5. Byers RF
6. O’Bryant 2B
7. Arce 1B
8. McInally C
9. Corliss DH

Whichever roster move we make to replace O’Bryant will ultimately decide what our new lineup will look like and unless we make a crazy trade the basic thought is that the 7-through-9 hitters will all just move up one spot in the lineup and the free agent or minor leaguer will hit 9th. I told Jeff Hance to keep a close eye on designated hitter Vic Corliss because he was the weakest member of the current regular lineup and perhaps we could appear to make a concession to the fans and bring up 22-year old Pasqual Feliu to get some Major League hacks in that slot. Also, if we did decide to trade Yamasita I wanted to know what he thought of including Corliss as part of the package.

Lots of options… but who knows which one is the best? In the meantime, we informed the league office that O'Bryant would be placed on the 60-day disabled list.

[thehatfield]

Next Up: 3-game series at home against Chicago White Sox

At 16-15 the defending American League Champions weren’t exactly striking fear into the hearts of their opponents in the early going of the 2021 season. But despite the record they still had a 2½-game lead in the AL Central Division over the team that had just taken 2-of-3 games from us: the Detroit Tigers. We had taken both games of a 2-game series against the Sox here at home just 2 weeks ago and I thought this first game on Sunday was extremely important considering the loss of second baseman Ken O’Bryant to injury for the rest of the season and our series loss to Detroit. Even though it was still so early in the year I really had a pit in my stomach about this game and thought that a loss here would probably send us on a downward spiral.

Speaking of O’Bryant, I decided to drag my feet on the final decision on his replacement. I tried to survey the fans by checking out the sports talk radio but no one really seemed to think that this was a big injury. But O’Bryant had been such a good clutch performer this was, in fact, a big deal to me and the everyday lineup. I didn’t want to rush into anything but I wasn’t getting any actionable advice from my assistants either. So I decided to bring up a 6th outfielder from AAA just for the White Sox series and gave the surprise call-up to 20-year old Colombian center fielder Francisco Quinenes. I insisted to Manager Jeff Hance that barring injury designated hitter Vic Corliss was going to sit for the next 3 days and Quinenes was going to play all 3 games against Chicago as the DH. Backup shortstop Reydel Vazquez was going to cover second base for the next couple of days until I decided on a permanent course of action.


Sunday, May 9, 2021
Game 32 vs. Chicago White Sox
4-3 Win; 18,859 in attendance
W: Mathis (2-0) L: Duncan (1-3)

Recap: Our starter Rowley Dickson and Chicago ace Bowie van Ingen battled to a 3-3 stalemate through 8 tight, quick-flowing innings before giving way to the bullpen. Since our closer Bill Mathis hadn’t been used in nearly a week Manager Jeff Hance was going to throw him in the 9th and probably give him another inning if the game lasted that long. It didn’t. A 1-out single by catcher Cornelius McInally in the bottom of the 9th inning was followed by the first extra base hit in the Major League career of rookie designated hitter Francisco Quinenes when his double moved McInally to third. 21-year old reliever Maurice Duncan then got Reydel Vazquez to pop up for the second out. With two strikes on him, Mumbles Yamasita hit a sharp ground ball to second base but instead of going to first for the easy out Chicago second baseman Michael O’Toole went home and McInally beat the tag giving Mathis his second win of the year. Travis Byers was named Player of the Game for his 3-for-4, 2 RBI effort. I was extremely relieved that we were able to hang on to this game… a loss here after a tight contest could have been a big bodyblow to our relaxed clubhouse.


Monday, May 10, 2021
Game 33 vs. Chicago White Sox
7-5 Win; 17,455 in attendance
W: Villaluazo (4-2) L: Lockett (2-2) H: Basnett (2) SV: Mathis (12)

Recap: This was a brutal 3½-hour long game… even though there were 20 combined hits and they came in bunches it seemed like there was grave danger in just about every half inning and that was stretching the game out. 30-year old Chicago starter Trinidad Lockett lasted just 3.1 innings, giving up 5 earned runs on 6 walks and 3 hits. Our starter Neifi Villaluazo gave up 5 earned runs of his own on 10 hits and 3 walks but he also fanned 13 White Sox in his 6.1 innings. Gregg Basnett had a good 1.2 innings of scoreless relief and didn’t let his one inherited runner score before Bill Mathis collected his first save in a week (despite allowing a 2-out triple to Damario Rosado). 35-year old Chicago designated hitter Everardo Benaricles hit a 2-run shot in the 4th inning off of Villaluazo, his 4th of the year. Mumbles Yamasita continued his torrid start to the season with his team-leading 9th home run of the year off Sox reliever Jakob Ridd in the 6th inning. The victory tonight gave us our second series victory of the season over the defending American League Champions and it was quite an accomplishment. I gave Jeff Hance a call in his office immediately after the game to congratulate him and to have him extend my thanks and appreciation to all of the hard-working players on the team.


Tuesday, May 11, 2021
Game 34 vs. Chicago White Sox
6-3 Win; 13,524 in attendance
W: Nakamura (5-1) L: Nanez (4-4) H: von Schoening (2) SV: Mathis (13)

Recap: Teddy Revelez, Dome Guevaro, and Travis Byers all homered for us as we jumped on White Sox starter Alberto Nanez early and held on the rest of the way for the win. Despite being tired prior to the game, Bill Mathis pitched in his third straight contest for the save and the series sweep. This game took 2½ hours but after Monday’s contest this was a breeze as it seemed like it was over in a flash. Noritoshi “The Bandit” Nakamura was very solid through 7 innings, giving up 3 runs on 7 hits and 1 walk. The Bandit also struck out 6. Fairfax von Schoening threw a perfect 8th inning for Oakland. Shortstop Edgard Galdames suffered a minor concussion while running the bases in the 7th inning and Dr. Rick recommended at least a couple days off to ensure he doesn’t play until he’s 100% ready. Guevaro and Byers hit their home runs back-to-back in the 4th inning, Byers’ being a 430-foot rainbow to right center field.


Current Oakland Record: 25-9

As we prepared to leave for Detroit and the start of a 9-game road trip I was pleased to learn that we had already drawn 288,650 fans to the Coliseum this year which was more than half of what we drew all of last year (445,239). I was equally pleased that we were 5-0 this year against the Chicago White Sox even if all 5 of those games had been in Oakland. Our road trip would take us to Detroit, Chicago, and Los Angeles to play the Dodgers in our first inter-league games of the season.

I wanted to make a decision on Ken O’Bryant’s replacement before leaving for the road trip but I still needed a night to sleep on it. Rookie outfielder Francisco Quinenes went 5-for-11 in the first Major League at-bats of his career against Chicago and I wanted to keep him up a little while longer with the big club to get a better feel for his skills. Backup left fielder Javier Raymundo or backup center fielder Bertram Holsinger are the two candidates to go down to AAA Sacramento and we still had a couple of options as to the infielder to bring up.

Mumbles Yamasita was really off to an amazing start to the season. In 127 at-bats he had 48 hits, 40 runs scored, 27 walks, and 26 runs batted in with a .490 OBP and .685 slugging percentage. Head Scout Gaspar Zelaga’s scouting report says he has below-average power and yet the leadoff hitter from New Jersey leads the team with 9 home runs and had 17 bombs in 280 at-bats with Atlanta last year. I need to really sit down with Gaspar and see what’s going on with him. Maybe something’s been distracting him at home or maybe he’s feeling burnt out but whatever the excuse the quality and accuracy of the information I’m getting from him is highly inconsistent and that’s just not acceptable. It was my job to tell him that and hopefully it would either inspire some better output or it would pave the way to our getting rid of him.

Anyway, at 22-years old and with what looks like a very bright future ahead of him it might seem crazy for us to think about turning around and trading Yamasita especially since the #4 overall draft pick in 2020 Buck Foulke, a hard-throwing, highly touted right-handed starting pitcher, was involved in the trade to Atlanta for him just this spring. But we could probably get a very good second baseman in return for Mumbles right now and I think with a combination of Quinenes and perhaps Pasqual Feliu we’ll have good enough outfield cover for the rest of the year. Not 100% certain but it seems like Yamasita might be on his way out the door.

[thehatfield]

Next Up: 3-game series on the road against Detroit

We went to 16-19 Detroit having dropped 2-of-3 games to the Tigers at our place last week. Our sweep of the White Sox in our last series left Detroit just half a game out of first place despite the sub-.500 record. The Tigers came home to Detroit after taking the last two games from Seattle in their 3-game set to finish their road trip at 4-2 and appears to be trying to turn the corner with a 6-4 overall record in their last 10 games.

Since we were embarking on a 9-game road trip I had to make a decision on the replacement for injured second baseman Ken O’Bryant. A couple of the high-profile trades we investigated involving center fielder Mumbes Yamasita didn’t pan out because either we couldn’t afford the incoming contracts, other teams requested too much in addition to Yamasita, or the other clubs wouldn’t include a considerable cash component. It might turn out to be a blessing in disguise to keep Yamasita as our lineup seems to have great chemistry thus far this season with him at the top but if a deal comes our way that includes a strong pitching prospect and a second baseman he still could be moved.

I didn’t feel good about it because he had a great Spring Training and didn’t get the at-bats he deserved thus far during the regular season but 30-year old backup center fielder Bertram Holsinger was sent down to the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats and 26-year old second baseman Artie Page was brought up. This was basically a “last chance” chance for Page who has an unimpressive .197 batting average, .290 on-base percentage, and .295 slugging percentage in 61 at-bats over parts of 3 big-league seasons between Kansas City and Oakland. Page didn’t travel with the team because he had a game for the River Cats so he met us in Detroit but when he showed up he looked completely exhausted. Manager Jeff Hance reported that he asked shortstop Edgard Galdames, who had suffered a minor concussion while running the bases on Tuesday, if he could play second since he had a day of rest yesterday on our travel day and he said while he wasn’t “feeling 100% normal yet” he could play.

Here’s what the lineup was going to look like going into the series:

1. Yamasita CF
2. Galdames 2B
3. Revelez LF
4. Guevaro 3B
5. Byers RF
6. Arce 1B
7. McInally C
8. Quinenes DH
9. Vazquez SS


Thursday, May 13, 2021
Game 35 at Detroit Tigers
6-2 Loss; 30,129 in attendance
W: Pugh (3-2) L: Cake (2-1) SV: Robinson (1)

Recap: It seems to be turning into a bad omen when good old #12 Teddy Revelez hits a first-inning home run as we ran our record to 0-3 in games in which the big left fielder has done the deed after squandering the 2-run lead his 8th homer of the year gave us. And after two strong outings in his first starts of the year Fred Cake came back down to earth, allowing solo home runs in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings before being pulled in the 6th. Cake went 5 full innings, allowed 7 hits and walked 5 while striking out 3. He only allowed 4 runs despite that line but that was obviously 2 runs too many. Jose Arce and Reydel Vazquez combined for 5 of our 8 hits on the evening. Detroit starter Erek Pugh, who walked the ballpark last week when we tagged him for 6 runs, went 7 solid innings allowing 7 hits and 3 walks before Ed Robinson, our former reliever who is having a great year for Detroit, pitched two scoreless innings for the save. Detroit’s center fielder Jotaro Kobayashi took Player of the Game honors going 2-for-3 with a home run, 2 RBI, 2 runs scored, and 2 walks while Tigers first baseman Mike Wolford went 3-for-4. We had to pull Edgard Galdames out of the game in the 5th inning when he complained about blurry vision when running down to first base after being hit by a Pugh pitch.


Friday, May 14, 2021
Game 36 at Detroit Tigers
7-4 Loss; 25,603 in attendance
W: Bonderman (3-5) L: Knisley (4-2) SV: Pinto (13)

Recap: Detroit continued their 3-home run power surge yesterday with 4 more home runs against us today, all of them absolute bombs. Mike Wolford hit a 439-foot 2-run shot in the 1st inning, 33-year old catcher Lou “Thrifty” Argyll sent one 442 feet to left field in the 5th, and center fielder and Player of the Game Walt Brinkworth had a 432-foot shot off our starter J.D. Knisley in the 6th before belting a 1-0 fastball from reliever Terry Rogers 451 feet to left center in the bottom of the 8th to seal the game. 37-year old Detroit starter Jeremy Bonderman had a decent outing to get his 3rd win of the season. Bonderman went 8 innings and struck out 8, allowing 4 runs on 8 hits. Bonderman didn’t walk a batter. Teddy Revelez was 3-for-4 with 2 RBI and Dome Guevaro also had 2 RBI. Guevaro also committed his 5th error of the season, which opened the door to 2 unearned runs against Knisley. Our reliever Terry Rogers, who gave up Brinkworth’s second home run, hadn’t pitched in a week prior to this game and gave up the blast on his second pitch. Reydel Vazquez played second while Artie Page got another day off and Jim MacFall played shortstop in place of Edgard Galdames.


Saturday, May 15, 2021
Game 37 at Detroit Tigers
4-3 Win; 33,036 in attendance
W: Dickson (7-0) L: Robinson (2-2)

Recap: Leave it to Rowley Dickson to help us fight off a sweep but this tight game turned in the top of the 9th inning when Manager Jeff Hance attempted an audacious 2-out double steal with Reydel Vazquez, not known for his speed or baserunning prowess, as the lead runner and the score tied at 3-3. Tigers catcher Lou Argyll made Hance look like a genius when he threw wildly down to third base and Culley Aldridge, trying to avoid Vazquez, couldn’t get to the ball as it skipped into left field allowing Vazquez to score the go-ahead run. Dickson surprisingly came back out to pitch the bottom of the 9th despite closer Bill Mathis being fully rested and finished off the Tigers for his 3rd complete game in 8 starts. Dickson gave up 8 hits, issued a season-high 3 walks and allowed 2 home runs (to shortstop Barry Fortescue and first baseman Mike Wolford back-to-back in the 3rd inning) while striking out 8 in the win. We hung the loss on former Athletic Ed Robinson but he only gave up 1 hit in 1.2 innings and his only run allowed was unearned. Dome Guevaro hit his 9th homer of the year in the 4th inning off of 36-year old Tigers starter Mark Adams. Despite stealing a win here Detroit outhit us for the third straight game, 10-to-7. Artie Page started his first game of the year at second base and went 1-for-5 with an RBI single and a run scored while Vazquez moved back to short in place of Edgard Galdames.


Current Oakland Record: 26-11

We were lucky to avoid the sweep in our last game, that’s for sure. As a team it seemed like we were starting to level off a bit as the Red Sox, Phillies, Cubs and Mets all now had better records than us while the Dodgers had the same mark. As we headed into Chicago our exceptional early-season play had helped us amass a 6-game lead over the Los Angeles Angels but we were 5-5 in our last 10 games while the Angels were 6-4. Mumbles Yamasita seemed to have his first bad series at the plate of the 2021 season going 2-for-10 against Detroit. No doubt the trade rumors had something to do with his sudden drop in form. Jeff Hance gave me a call and said he was relieved we won’t have to face the Tigers again until September because they certainly seemed to have our number and he wasn’t kidding.

Rowley Dickson keeps getting closer and closer to that first loss of the year but always seems to do just enough or get just enough support to keep his unbeaten streak going.

All of the time we spent checking out free agents for a replacement for Ken O’Bryant didn’t go completely to waste as we nabbed a few young prospects on minor league deals: 19-year old first baseman Nick Rearick, 19-year old second baseman Culley Quance, and a trio of pitchers: 20-year old Italian/French-Canadian Gilles Brunetti, 18-year old Ethan King, and 19-year old Kent White.

Since we sent Bertram Holsinger down to the minors we decided to remove the temporary number #36 jersey we gave to recently called-up outfielder Francisco Quinenes and let him choose his own. He went with #14. Second baseman Artie Page was given Quinenes’ old #36 as a temporary number.

[thehatfield]

Next Up: 3-game series on the road against Chicago White Sox

We had owned the American League Champions with a 5-0 record against them this year and they came into the series licking their wounds with a 3-7 record in their last 10 games including a 3-game sweep at our hands in Oakland last week but the rest of the American League Central was so bad they still held a ½-game lead over Detroit at the top of the division with an 18-19 overall record. The bashing White Sox had a deadly core of their lineup as center fielder Damario Rosado and left fielder Brandt Wurz were tied for second in the American League in home runs with 12 apiece while catcher Roberto Darna was fourth with 11. Those three players combined have 35 home runs while we as an entire club have just 39 (third in our division behind the Angels (56) and Mariners (44)).

Tanyon Meagher was going to start the first game of this series because Cornelius McInally needed the day off. To be on the safe side we were going to sit Edgard Galdames for the entire series in favor of Reydel Vazquez. But here’s what the new regular lineup was looking like:

1. Yamasita CF
2. Galdames SS
3. Revelez LF
4. Guevaro 3B
5. Byers RF
6. Arce 1B
7. McInally C
8. Quinenes DH
9. Page 2B

The draft pool for next month’s draft was released and I dispatched Head Scout Gaspar Zelaga to find out what he could about the draft eligible players. Unbeknownst to Zelaga, I also asked 63-year old veteran scout Lucio Ubeda to do the same thing. I just wasn’t trusting 47-year old Gaspar anymore thinking that perhaps he wasn’t experienced or savvy enough, and I was going to need backup from Ubeda in order for me to fully trust any of his assessments. It was certainly looking like late days for Gaspar as Head Scout.

I received some information from my toady Herb Watson about the top-selling Oakland Athletics jerseys at the moment:

1. Rowley Dickson #10
2. Fred Cake #85
3. Tomiichi Yamasita #34
4. Jose Arce #5
5. Fairfax von Schoening #25
6. Teddy Revelez #12
7. Ken O’Bryant #22
8. Bill Mathis #29
9. Francisco Quinenes #14
10. Cornelius McInally #13


Sunday, May 16, 2021
Game 38 at Chicago White Sox
4-1 Loss; 40,480 in attendance
W: Nanez (5-4) L: Frank (0-1) SV: Thurber (1)

Recap: Reliever Josh Frank walked three and gave up a hit to squander a 7-inning, 2-hit performance from starter Neifi Villaluazo to get the loss but didn’t get much help from Fairfax von Schoening who allowed 2-of-3 inherited runners to score in this close-‘til-the-end encounter in front of over 40,000 baseball fans. The White Sox owed us one and got a great performance from their own starter Alberto Nanez who gave up just 3 hits while walking 2 though 8 strong innings in a Player of the Game performance. Third baseman Dome Guevaro hit his team-leading 10th home run of the year in the 6th inning of off Nanez but Chicago second baseman Michael O’Toole’s 434-foot shot off Villaluazo in the 3rd inning was the homer of the night. The final score here didn’t tell the whole story as the White Sox threatened in almost every inning, leaving 16 runners on base. We really just looked flat all-around in this one.


Monday, May 17, 2021
Game 39 at Chicago White Sox
13-9 Win; 40,306 in attendance
W: Nakamura (6-1) L: Grimley (0-4)

Recap: It was a nice start for us through 3 innings as Dome Guevaro’s 11th home run of the year helped stake us to an early 4-0 lead. A 2-run double from Teddy Revelez in the top of the 4th inning gave us a commanding 6-0 lead and knocked White Sox starter Chip “Joker” Grimley out of the game after 3.2 innings, 8 hits, 3 walks and 6 earned runs. In the 7th inning Revelez hit a double with the bases loaded off of Chiacgo reliever Chad Allen to drive in 3 more runs as we extended our lead to 12-2. With a 13-2 lead Nori Nakamura turned the ball over to Gregg Basnett, who proceeded to give up 7 earned runs on 4 hits and 3 walks in the 9th inning before striking out the side in a very unusual ending. 36-year old Chicago starter Grimley, who has spent his entire 15-year Major League career in a White Sox uniform, picked up his 4th loss against no wins in his 6th start of the season and the media is just killing him with nonstop talk about his career being finished. 23-year old Basnett’s ERA has exploded to 12.15 in his 13.1 innings pitched and he’s just about proven to me that it doesn’t matter if the pressure is on or off when he pitches. One or two more poor performances and my mind will be made up that he’s just not ready to be in our bullpen.


Tuesday, May 18, 2021
Game 40 at Chicago White Sox
19-3 Loss; 40,455 in attendance
W: Baker (4-3) L: Cake (2-2)

Recap: Our starter Fred Cake allowed a grand slam to 31-year old right fielder Dayton Craye in the first inning and 5 runs overall before he recorded his first out in this contest. 4 more home runs in the bottom of the 2nd inning had Chicago ahead 11-0 and Cake was just staying in the game so as not to destroy the bullpen. But after giving up 4 more runs on another grand slam off the bat of Damario Rosado in the 3rd inning, his second homer of the game, Manager Jeff Hance had no choice but to pull the 32-year old veteran so as to avoid further embarrassment. Cake’s final line set a new Athletics record with 15 earned runs allowed in 3 innings pitched, 10 hits, 6 home runs (another record), 2 grand slams, and 6 walks. We never had a chance and were buried in our worst loss of the season 19-3. Player of the Game Rosado brutalized us with 6 RBI, Craye finished with his 4 and Brandt Wurz had 3 on 2-for-3 hitting and 4 runs scored. Reydel Vazquez went 2-for-3 for us in our only highlight. Chicago starter Scott Baker got his 4th win of the year going 6.1 4-hit innings. Despite White Sox relief pitchers allowing 7 walks we left a combined 23 men on base in this blowout.


Current Oakland Record: 27-13

We just haven’t been playing good baseball as we lost back-to-back series for the first time in 2021. With a big series victory against the Red Sox the Angels had shaved another game off our lead and sat 5 games behind at 22-18. Fred Cake was absolute garbage on Tuesday, no other way to say it. This guy looked like a completely different pitcher than the one that picked up victories in his first two starts for us this season. Mumbles Yamasita has his second down series in a row going 3-for-12. We now had an off-day to travel to Los Angeles to play the Dodgers at the beginning of a 13-games-in-13-days stretch (including 7 at home) that would take us to the end of the month.

[thehatfield]

Next Up: 3-game series on the road against Los Angeles Dodgers

Our first inter-league match-up of the year brought us to Los Angeles for a 3-game set with the Dodgers. Even before the rebirth of Major League Baseball 15 years ago this rivalry had taken on a tone of flashy Los Angeles against blue-collar Oakland. These franchises have history going all the way back to 1926-27 when the Philadelphia Athletics signed Zach Wheat after he was released by the Brooklyn Dodgers. The clubs also traded World Series Championships in the old Major League Baseball, Oakland beating the Dodgers for the 1974 title 4-games-to-1 and the Dodgers reversing that outcome in 1988.

The recent incarnation of the Dodgers have been rather like the Texas Rangers in our division – despite 5 trips to the playoffs, 3 division titles, and consistently being among the league’s top payroll spenders the Dodgers have never won a National League Championship. The Dodgers have gone to the playoffs in each of the last 4 years and are the two-time defending National League Western Division Champions. Maybe because of the huge disparity in talent and success over the last several seasons this match-up just doesn’t have much juice. This inter-league “rivalry” is simply being manufactured by the media and Major League Baseball to try and sell some extra tickets right now and our decent start to the season has certainly aided the cause as we sport identical 27-13 records.

The Dodgers had 4 big bats in their lineup: 30-year old second baseman Yhency Castro the #2 hitter who is sporting a .354 batting average, a .422 OBP, and 43 runs scored in a team-leading 158 at-bats; 30-year old right fielder Jose Calvario is hitting .375 with 10 home runs and 32 RBI in just 96 at-bats (he missed time in April with a hernia); 29-year old Canadian catcher Bryan “Giant Killer” Blatchford is batting .352 with 10 home runs, 37 RBI, and .760 slugging percentage; and 28-year old left fielder Willie “Long Haul” Matarranz who is batting .345 with 14 home runs and 48 RBI. 36-year old Cory Wheeler and his 207-career wins and 5-1 record on the season anchors an otherwise young Dodgers starting rotation that also features 6-1 27-year old Bronx, New York native Rio “Rocky” Basurto. 34-year old closer Paul Martin has 9 saves on the year and 402 in his career which is 10th all-time. 24-year old rookie reliever and spot starter Jim “Doppler” Dunn has been lights out from the bullpen with a 1.42 ERA in 12.2 innings pitched.

Being in the National League ballpark we’d sit Francisco Quinenes for this series. Edgard Galdames was back to 100% and would be back at shortstop taking his usual #2 place in the lineup. Second baseman Artie Page would move up a slot and hit #8 ahead of the pitcher.


Thursday, May 20, 2021
Game 41 at Los Angeles Dodgers
6-1 Loss; 47,462 in attendance
W: Wheeler (6-1) L: Knisley (4-3)

Recap: For the second straight game we gave up a 1st inning grand slam when Bryan “Giant Killer” Blatchford blasted one 433-feet to right field off of J.D. Knisley and for the second straight start Knisley surrendered 3 home runs in a loss. The 34-year old lefty pitched 5 scoreless innings after falling behind 6-0 but it was too little too late. Dodgers starter Cory Wheeler was named Player of the Game for a 5-hit, 4-walk performance through 7.1 innings. Despite the fact that both clubs had 8 hits Los Angeles made theirs pay off with the convincing win and we were never in the game. Hopefully this defeat was just a hangover loss from the 19-3 drubbing we suffered on Tuesday in Chicago and not indicative of a more general downward trend. Willie Matarranz and Alberto Morin each had two hits for the Dodgers.


Friday, May 21, 2021
Game 42 at Los Angeles Dodgers
1-0 Loss; 38,968 in attendance
W: Basurto (7-1) L: Dickson (7-1)

Recap: Rio Basurto tossed the first no-hitter of the 2021 season and the 28th no-hitter in Major League Baseball history as the Dodgers handed Rowley Dickson his first loss of the year in a tense pitcher’s duel. Dickson scattered 6 hits and struck out 8 but the day was about Basurto who used his circle-changeup to keep us completely bamboozled all evening. Basurto was 3 walks shy of a perfect game, two of them issued to Dome Guevaro. With the loss we dropped our third straight series and it was especially tough to waste such a solid performance from Dickson considering how we’ve been playing of late. “His ball was basically moving and darting all over the place and Rio was the only one who knew where it was going,” said first baseman Jose Arce in the locker room after the loss. “It sucks to be on this side of history, you know, but at the same time as a baseball player you have to appreciate it when someone goes above and beyond and accomplishes something only a few other men before him have been able to accomplish.”


Saturday, May 22, 2021
Game 43 at Los Angeles Dodgers
4-2 Win; 48,763 in attendance
W: Leverett (1-2) L: Stapley (1-3) SV: Mathis (14) BS: Stapley (1)

Recap: A 4-run rally in the top of the 8th inning against Dodgers relievers Ken Stapley and Jed Curson allowed us to salvage the last game of the series and our 9-game road trip. The top of the lineup, Mumbles Yamasita, Edgard Galdames and Teddy Revelez went a combined 8-for-14 to spark the Athletics to the victory. Our starter Neifi Villaluazo came out of the game in 5th inning complaining about pain in his lower back. His final line was 4.1 innings pitched, 4 hits allowed, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts, and 1 earned run. Gregg Basnett, whose every appearance is now under close scrutiny, came into the game in the 5th inning with Oakland down 1-0 and a runner on second base with one out and promptly balked the baserunner over to third. But before we could even stop shaking our heads in disbelief he had struck out the next two batters to get out of the inning. He ended the day with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief. Last year’s closer Jonathan Leverett gave up a run in the bottom of the 8th inning on a Jose Calvario double but avoided further trouble to get his 1st victory of the season.


Current Oakland Record: 28-15

Our third consecutive series loss left us with a 3-6 record for our 9-game road-trip and we would be the team licking our wounds as we headed home for the start of 7 straight at the Coliseum beginning tomorrow against the Twins. Not only had we lost the series and played under .500 baseball on the trip we and our highly-paid free agents were no-hit. The local media, especially the East Bay Express, were confidently proclaiming that “the old Athletics were back” and that everyone should just settle back and get ready for a long, painful summer. To be honest, some of the stories were actually kind of humorous if I pretended that they were written tongue-in-cheek, but overall just the frequency and bitterness of them were a bit draining to me personally in terms of keeping my energy up.

Speaking of keeping one’s energy up Dr. Rick Hartshorn has been a busy man lately and even before the end of the game he called to let me know it didn’t look good for 25-year old starter Neifi Villaluazo. His rough estimate was that Villaluazo will be out for about 6 weeks with a herniated disc in his back. If we stayed within the organization it was probably going to mean a recall for 25-year old righty Rick Stanely but 27-year old lefty Gib Glaus is 5-2 at AAA Sacramento with a 3.58 ERA and 24-year old righty Damonte Wisner is 2-0 in 5 starts with a 1.96 ERA. With Villaluazo being just one of 2 right-handed starters in the current rotation we will probably want to go with a righty to replace him but with our surplus of left-handed arms I started to investigate trade opportunities that would involve Glaus.

[thehatfield]

Neifi Villaluazo: Out for 6 weeks

In one of my first moves as Athletics General Manager I decided not to offer starting pitcher Neifi Villaluazo a new contract, instead he went to salary arbitration. And despite his injury history and a 17-36 career record Villaluazo got nearly $5 million from the arbitrator for 2021. Well he was now going to be out of action through injury until the beginning of July with a herniated disc in his back and without any real options inside our organization we decided to call a couple of teams.

And then the circus began!

Trade rumors surrounding Mumbles Yamasita exploded again as ESPN, Baseball America, and other national outlets were telling anyone that would listen that we were close to completing a blockbuster 6-player deal with the Washington Nationals that would also involve our top shortstop prospect John Tardiff and on-the-cusp 27-year old pitcher Gib Glaus. Washington were thinking of trading All-Star second baseman Jerry Williams, whose batting average has been on the decline since hitting .305 in 2018, 28-year old starting pitcher Alfredo Garcia, and 26-year old utility outfielder Steve Penrose. Garcia was actually a 4th overall pick in the 1st round of the first year player draft by the Athletics back in 2010 and despite his 48-67 career record he seems to be more the victim of poor run support rather than a below-average pitcher, at least that was what I was telling myself. If the deal came off Penrose was also likely to play as the designated hitter since he was hitting .276 with 11 home runs and 25 RBI for the Nats this year. Obviously Yamasita and Tardiff were the crown jewels in this transaction and so it was difficult to tell if I was jeopardizing a bright future for our ballclub or strengthening the quality of our team as a whole while sacrificing skill at center field. While Tardiff has frequently been given the “can’t miss” label from the media the fact that he hasn’t broken through yet to the Major League level will soften his departure a bit.

If we trade them, of course.

[thehatfield]

They Said It…

“You know, at first I was like: ‘What? We’re getting Jerry Garcia? I thought he was dead!’ but then they were like: ‘Nah, man, if the deal goes down they’re probably getting Jerry Williams and Alfredo Garcia, from the Nationals.’ I got confused but man, you know, it wasn’t that big of a deal.” –Rowley Dickson comments about his confusion when he first heard about the possible blockbuster trade with Washington.

“He (General Manager Jim Fillmore) has no business trading Mumbles (Yamasita). The kid is only 22, he fell into our lap in the spring and has been outstanding. I mean, what’s it going to take to not get traded out of here? It’s not like Neifi (Villaluazo) is out for the year and we have no other options. Sheesh; I just don’t know, man.” – Outspoken Jose Arce lives up to his reputation as he comments to the East Bay Express about Tradegate 2021.

“It’s no secret we need a center fielder and a leadoff hitter but I can’t really comment right now about specific players contracted to other teams, you know how it goes.” – Washington Nationals General Manager Derrik Stainthorpe neither confirms nor denies trade rumors involving Mumbles Yamasita.

“Nothing about this deal feels good. Nothing. I don’t know how you do it when your gut and everything else tells you not to.” –Local radio host Chris “Water Buffalo” Passolo chimes in on the possible Mumbles Yamasita trade, imagining that his own instincts are the feelings of Oakland General Manager Jim Fillmore.

“I’m not really all that worried, no. I’ve been playing pretty well since I’ve been up from Sacramento and hope I’ve given them something to really think about.” –Oakland second baseman Artie Page goes the diplomatic route when asked about his feelings about an established second baseman being involved in the rumored Mumbles Yamasita trade.


Man On The Street…

“I could care less. It won’t make a difference if he trades the whole friggin team they’re not going to do anything this year, next year, or any year. They’re the A’s, moron.”
Ham Salad, 43, bar owner, Oakland

“No, we don’t really know, we’re just visiting from Houston, Texas.”
Enid Spenser, 70, retired baker, Houston (Texas)

“I think the A’s are doing a decent job, yeah. But we’re not going out to see them unless they keep this up into August.”
Wallingham FitzRandolph Williams IV, 38, personal investor, San Francisco

“Hey, he’s trying to get a starter that will keep that bum Fred Cake out of the rotation even when (Neifi) Villaluazo’s healthy so I say go for it.”
Hidalgo Richard, 26, chef, Union City

“I could really care less about the Dodgers, I didn’t watch an inning.”
Rabbi Hershel Dinkle, 39, rabbi, Fremont



Next Up: 4-game series at home against Minnesota

Minnesota came to town with a 21-23 record and stuck in a logjam with Chicago, Detroit, and Kansas City near the top of the American League Central 1½ games out of first place. They were feeling good about themselves too having just swept 3 games from the Cincinnati Reds in their last series and posting a 7-4 record in their last 11 games overall. The Twins’ starting rotation is led by 27-year old righty and Massachusetts native Dorey O’Honan (6-2, 4.06 ERA, 58 strikeouts, 8 walks, 62 innings pitched) and 30-year old Camden, New Jersey lefty Kynan Parker (4-1, 4.30 ERA, 48 strikeouts, 22 walks, 58.2 innings pitched) while highly-touted 25-year old Julio Cabral was holding down the bullpen in his 2nd full season as the Twins’ closer. 26-year old former Mets prospect Ken Watkins, the shortstop, was leading the team with a .341 batting average in 179 at-bats. 34-year old catcher Martin Labady, a former long-time Dodger, leads the regular starters in on-base percentage with .452, working 33 walks in addition to 46 hits and 1 hit-by-pitch in 142 at-bats while 28-year old Idaho native Martyn Hatchett, the left fielder, leads the team with 12 home runs and 38 runs batted in despite his .267 batting average in 161 at-bats.


Sunday, May 23, 2021
Game 44 vs. Minnesota Twins
8-2 Win; 21,878 in attendance
W: Nakamura (7-1) L: Tejeda (1-7)

Recap: All eyes were on the home dugout as between batting practice and first pitch rumors of Mumbles Yamasita being traded away to the Washington Nationals spread throughout the Coliseum like a highly contagious virus. But at the start of the game there was some sustained applause from the crowd as #34 made his way out to center field for the top of the first inning. The first three innings went by quickly as Nori Nakamura and Minnesota’s Robinson Tejeda squared off in front of our largest home crowd since drawing 23,564 on Opening Day. But the day would belong to 20-year old rookie designated hitter Francisco Quinenes, the man earmarked to be Yamasita’s replacement in center field, as he hit the first home run of his career, a grand slam off Tejeda in the bottom of the 4th inning, all the run support we really needed on the night. This was a very strange game, though, because despite the lopsided-looking 8-2 final score Minnesota outhit us 10-to-8. Nakamura gave up 8 of those hits along with 3 walks in 8 innings of work that saw him wiggle his way out of multiple jams. Artie Page looked comfortable at the plate going 2-for-4 on the day. Dome Guevaro committed his 6th error of the year while playing third base.


Monday, May 24, 2021
Game 45 vs. Minnesota Twins
15-5 Win; 20,547 in attendance
W: Cake (3-2) L: Reynolds (2-5)

Recap: The club came out roaring, building a 7-0 lead after three innings highlighted by a Travis Byers 3-run shot, his 4th of the season, in the bottom of the 1st inning. Byers also went 4-for-5 on the day with 2 doubles, 5 RBI, and 4 runs scored to take Player of the Game honors. We smacked around 6 different Minnesota pitchers and pounded out 19 hits on the day as we worked off the frustration of being labeled an overachieving-yet-inconsistent club on the defenseless Twins. Rookie designated hitter Francisco Quinenes homered in his second straight game and was 3-for-5 with 3 RBI. Jose Arce (6) and Dome Guevaro (12) also homered for the Athletics. Mumbles Yamasita, Arce, Quinenes, Guevaro, and Byers all had at least 3 hits on the day. Fred Cake managed to give up 5 earned runs on 5 hits and 3 walks and still get the win, getting tagged for a 3-run home run by Twins left fielder Martyn Hatchett in the 5th inning. Despite the less-than-stellar performance nothing could have been worse than his last outing and Cake actually lowered his season ERA under 10.00 to 9.42. Yamasita stole his 12th base of the season while Edgard Galdames snatched his second.


Breaking League News…

After the game we learned that the New York Yankees had made 54-year old Eric McIntosh the first managerial casualty of 2021. Interestingly, the axe dropped on McIntosh after a thrilling 5-4 victory over the first-placed Boston Red Sox. The Yankees, despite the 6th-highest payroll in baseball, were dead last in the American League Eastern Division with a 15-30 record. Yankees General Manager Chris Nutting commented that he thought there was plenty of talent on the team and that McIntosh had let the city, and especially the city’s fine and brave Yankee fans, down. Nutting had no comment as to possible replacement managers. He better not even think about trying to poach from our coaching staff.


Tuesday, May 25, 2021
Game 46 vs. Minnesota Twins
8-2 Win; 20,716 in attendance
W: Knisley (5-3) L: O’Honan (6-3)

Recap: J.D. Knisley pitched 8 strong innings and struck out 9 Twins as we matched the final score of the first game of this series in our 4th straight overall victory. Knisley pitched to backup catcher Tanyon Meagher who went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk while giving Cornelius McInally the day off. Dome Guevaro was named Player of the Game for his 3-for-4, 2 RBI, 2 runs scored performance. Twins second baseman Mike Hoffmann went 2-for-3 and 25-year old designated hitter Dave Breed hit the 1st home run of his Major League career, a solo shot, off of Knisley in the 6th inning. Edgard Galdames, Guevaro, Travis Byers, Jose Arce, and Meagher all had at least 2 hits for us. With chatter about trade rumors heightening all day long, Mumbles Yamasita went 0-for-5 with 2 strikeouts.


Breaking League News…

New York Yankees General Manager Chris Nutting moved swiftly to replace fired Manager Eric McIntosh when he named 52-year old Sheffield Moncrieff as the new skipper of the Yankees. Moncrieff had some wacky things to say upon his appointment during the news conference; ESPN kept replaying footage that included him laughing about the fact that he has no managerial experience and that his last job was operating a mini-forklift at Home Depot. He even seemed to imply that he had essentially blackmailed Chris Nutting into the job offer. “Let’s just say he had no choice,” was the line of Moncrieff laughing hysterically that was keyed upon in clips and soundbites. Everyone wonders what the heck is going on as Moncrieff went on to demand Nutting’s resignation on his desk by morning!


Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Game 47 vs. Minnesota Twins
5-3 Loss; 20,358 in attendance
W: Parker (5-1) L: Dickson (7-2) H: Revilla (6) SV: Cabral (10)

Recap: It was Minnesota this time that built a 5-0 lead against Rowley Dickson through 3 innings and they just coasted the rest of the way, handing the popular 25-year old lefty his second consecutive loss. Dickson had his worst outing of the season, surrendering 2-run home runs to catcher William Duffy and center fielder Frisco Gonzales and a solo shot to second baseman Mike Hoffmann. Our rookie designated hitter Francisco Quinenes continued to look good despite the loss and hit his third home run of the series, a solo shot, in the 6th inning off of Minnesota starter Kynan Parker. Aside from that one mistake to Quinenes, Parker tossed an excellent game and kept us off-balance all night with a nasty changeup. Josh Frank and Gregg Basnett each managed an inning of scoreless relief in another bright spot for us in the loss. We actually got a couple of no-out runs off of Minnesota reliever Fernando Revilla in the 9th inning to bring some life back into the crowd and getting the brooms back up into the air but we didn’t manage a thing once closer Julio Cabral entered the game.


Current Oakland Record: 31-16

In a crazy turn of events, the Yankees ownership announced the firing of General Manager Chris Nutting just a day after Nutting announced a new Manager for the club! Sheffield Moncrieff, who showed up for his press conference in a purple suit with a feather boa, a black cane and dark sunglasses, went on to badmouth, threaten, and mock Nutting incessantly to the assembled media, setting all-time records in classless behavior. But to see the Yankee ownership cave to Moncrieff’s outrageous behavior was certainly the baseball story of the week. The noise coming out of New York was such that the announcement that the Florida Marlins, at 13-31 on the season, had fired their 58-year old Manager Gaven Berner was almost an afterthought.

As far as we were concerned, it was nice to get back on the winning end of things after dropping our 3 previous series played. Cleveland was coming to town next and then we’d finish off the month in Minnesota at the start of a 12-game road trip.

Shortly after the final out of the Wednesday night game, my phone rang.

It was Derrik Stainthorpe, the General Manager of the Nationals.

[thehatfield]

Next Up: 3-game series at home against Cleveland

Everyone was wondering about a possible trade with the Washington Nationals for our center fielder Mumbles Yamasita but at the last moment the fact that Washington starter Alfredo Garcia was second in the National League in walks with 39 was just too much of a stumbling block for us and discussions broke down when Nats General Manager Derrik Stainthorpe didn’t want to entertain ideas for replacing Garcia with another pitcher. Might be the best deal we never do. But if the right deal comes along we’re still thinking of moving Yamasita in a package including left-handed starter Gib Glaus and highly-touted shortstop prospect John Tardiff. The latest rumors were starting to swirl about a possible deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks that would include 39-year old lefty C.C. Sabathia. Fans were vocally against the move on sports talk radio and mentioned we needed a righty, not another lefty starter, and the fact that aging Sabathia had already undergone a stint on the disabled list himself this season. But despite that C.C. has a 4-0 record and 2.75 ERA in 50 innings pitched.

Since no deal was made I decided to bring up Gib Glaus instead of Rick Stanely to audition him at the Major League level for other clubs. We gave Glaus a temporary #70 jersey and didn’t ask him for his preference.

Cleveland took 2-of-3 games from us in Oakland in the first week of the season and ended the month of April in a tie for first place in the Central Division with a 14-11 record. But despite taking 2-of-3 games from Seattle coming into this series May hasn’t been kind to the Indians who are 7-16 during the month fueled by two losing skids: one of 7-games and the other 5. We were fortunate that one of Cleveland’s top offensive weapons, 27-year old left fielder Totoya Yoshida, would miss the series completely with a deeply bruised cheekbone. Cleveland wasn’t exactly tearing the cover off the ball as a team but would be led by 31-year old left fielder Lennie Mager, a former 3rd round draft choice of the Colorado Rockies back in 2011. Mager is hitting .302 with a team-leading 11 home runs and 34 runs batted in. 33-year old third baseman Roydrick Williamson, who missed 3 weeks in April with an arm injury, was also a potent bat in the Cleveland lineup.

Cleveland is extremely aggressive on the basepaths and lead the American League by a whopping 26 steals over the next closest club and are tied with the San Francisco Giants for the Major League Baseball lead as a team with 47 steals. The Indians’ 28-year old center fielder Taylor van Rijn leads the American League in steals with 18. With the exception of third base, Cleveland has near-Gold Glove-quality defense at every position.


Thursday, May 27, 2021
Game 48 vs. Cleveland Indians
5-4 Win; 20,937 in attendance
W: Basnett (1-1) L: Hewlett (1-2) BS: Hewlett (2)

Recap: Cleveland handed a 4-3 lead over to closer Jon Hewlett after 8 solid innings from their starter Ben King but Jose Arce’s solo home run in the bottom of the 9th inning tied the score. Catcher Cornelius McInally was then lifted for pinch hitter Javier Raymundo who was immediately plunked by a Hewlett pitch and issued first base. The next pitch was wild and when Raymundo took second base the Indians decided to intentionally walk designated hitter Francisco Quinenes to get to #9 hitter Artie Page but Page rapped a single into the left field corner that scored Raymundo from second base without a throw for a thrilling walk-off victory, our first of the year! Our reliever Gregg Basnett threw in his second consecutive game and notched 2 scoreless innings to get his first victory of the year; hopefully he was on his way to turning his season around with 3 straight scoreless innings now under his belt. Edgard Galdames went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI while Mumbles Yamasita was 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored. Cleveland left fielder Lenny Mager was also 3-for-4 in a performance that saw him hit a triple in addition to his 12th home run of the year. Our starter Gib Glaus gave up 4 earned runs on 7 hits in 6 innings pitched, walking 2 and striking out 5 in his first start of the year. Glaus certainly wasn’t great but he wasn’t terrible either and he kept us close enough that we had a chance going into the late innings. Credit here has to go to the clutch hitting of rookie second baseman Artie Page and the strong performance of the bullpen who between Terry Rogers and Basnett threw 3 scoreless innings.


Friday, May 28, 2021
Game 49 vs. Cleveland Indians
10-8 Win; 20,566 in attendance
W: Nakamura (8-1) L: Lima (2-3) SV: Mathis (15)

Recap: This game was a crazy back-and-forth game and another win for Nori Nakamura on a night when the offense had to compensate for his poor pitching line: 5 earned runs, 10 hits, and 4 walks. Closer Bill Mathis hadn’t been used in over 5 days so Manager Jeff Hance brought him into the contest with 2 outs in the top of the 7th inning. Cleveland first baseman Harold Alfred dumped a 364-foot home run into the right field corner against Nakamura in the top of the 4th inning and was also 3-for-4 on the day with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored to take the Player of the Game award. Dome Guevaro committed 2 errors at third base, his 7th and 8th of the season and Artie Page committed his first error of the year at second on an errant throw to first base that allowed two unearned runs to score against Bill Mathis in the 8th inning. Edgard Galdames led our hitting attack with a 4-for-5 performance and Teddy Revelez and Travis Byers each had 3 RBI. Francisco Quinenes had the first two stolen bases of his Major League career in this game. Catcher Cornelius McInally asked to come out of the game when he pulled up lame at second base after hitting a double in the 8th inning and was replaced by Tanyon Meagher.


Saturday, May 29, 2021
Game 50 vs. Cleveland Indians
12-1 Win; 22,086 in attendance
W: Cake (4-2) L: Brumback (1-8)

Recap: We knocked struggling Cleveland starter Jeremy Brumback out of the game in the bottom of the second inning when a combination of 4 walks and 2 hit batsmen by Brumback and 4 hits by our lineup netted 6 earned runs to put the game out of reach early. Mumbles Yamasita became the second Athletic with double-digit home runs when he hit his 10th of the year off of Brumback. Our starting pitcher Fred Cake threw his second straight good game which gives him 2 decent starts, 2 horrible starts, and 2 decent starts in his 6 starts this season. Hopefully he’s not due for two more horrible starts coming up. Artie Page hit his first home run of the year, and just the 3rd in his Major League career, in the 8th inning off of Indians reliever Jaime Cancino. 24-year old Cleveland shortstop Salim Tynie was 3-for-4 on a day of few bright spots for the Indians. Yamasita was 3-for-5 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored while Edgard Galdames went 3-for-4 with 2 walks and 2 RBI to lead our offense. Jose Arce committed his 3rd error of the year at first base but was 1-for-3 with 2 runs scored and an RBI on the day. The crowd of just over 22,000 was a new second-best home crowd for us.


Current Oakland Record: 34-16

If someone had told me last week that we’d go 6-1 on this mini-homestand and that the one loss would come when Rowley Dickson was on the hill I would have thought they were crazy; but that’s exactly what happened. Our overall record of 34-16 was getting miraculously close to the glorious 20-game over the .500 mark and if we ever got to that point I think the organization is going to push through a “we’re for real” sort of marking campaign in the national and local media. There were only a couple of days left in May and we had no time to rest as we now had to head out for a 12-game road trip that would include inter-league match-ups with the Florida Marlins and the Philadelphia Phillies. We’re going to finish off the month with a 3-game series against the Twins before heading up to Boston to face the division-leading Red Sox for the first time this year.

Since the season began whenever I hear from Dr. Rick Hartshorn it usually isn’t something I enjoy listening to and this time was no different: catcher Cornelius McInally would join the growing number of players on the Disabled List as Dr. Rick diagnosed him out of action for 3-to-4 weeks with a strained achilles tendon.

[thehatfield]

Cornelius McInally: Out for 3-4 weeks

Just 2 months into my first season as a General Manager and I was about to place my third player on the Disabled List. I have to admit I much preferred the relaxed, lengthy and amorphous “big-picture” off-season to the daily grind and disaster-management of the regular season. But alas, this is the world we live in, and these are the hands we’re given, ohohoh.

24-year old Cornelius McInally wasn’t off to a good offensive start at all in his first full season behind the plate at the Major League level and was way below the average starting American League catcher in terms of production. He has been solid behind the plate but since defense was his advertised strength he’s actually been a bit disappointing: 2 errors, 2 past balls, and 4 runners thrown out on 13 attempts against in 371 innings caught weren’t exactly good enough numbers to carry a player with a .224 batting average, .280 on-base percentage, and .301 slugging percentage with just 1 home run and 16 runs batted in 156 at-bats. Nevertheless, we came into the season wanting to evaluate McInally on a full season’s body of work so we made it clear within the organization and to the outside media that there was no doubt McInally would be the starter again when he recovered from his strained achilles tendon.

24-year old switch-hitting backup catcher Tanyon Meager would take over the bulk of the playing time for us even though he posted a dreadful .199 batting average and .255 slugging in 286 at-bats last season. So far this year he had a .241 average with a .328 on-base and .310 slugging in 58 at-bats. He also had no errors and no past balls and had thrown out 2 of 4 attempted base stealers in 76 innings behind the plate.

We had a couple of options in the minor league system as to a possible replacement as the Major League backup catcher. Both 23-year old Thomas Goodloe and 24-year old Steve Lesswick were already on the 40-man roster but Goodloe was hitting just .212 with no home runs in 113 at-bats at AAA Sacramento and Lesswick had just been called up to the River Cats from AA Midland (where he had 6 home runs and a .392 on-base percentage in 176 at-bats).

The best option actually seemed to be 22-year old Canadian Oscar Aylward who has spent the last three years as a hard-working minor leaguer after being drafted out of high school in 2018. Aylward, from Oromocto, New Brunswick, Canada’s Model Town, has been hitting .263 with a .326 on-base percentage and .433 slugging in 157 at-bats with the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats. The only thing working against him was that he wasn’t on the 40-man roster and there were only two open spots.

Decisions, decisions.

[jetking]

You know that late Phil Collins-era Genesis allusions are what the road to hell is paved with, don't you, PC?

Not much love to go 'round...

[thehatfield]

Originally Posted by jetking

You know that late Phil Collins-era Genesis allusions are what the road to hell is paved with, don't you, PC?

Not much love to go 'round...

Yeah, I dunno what happened there with that.


Next Up: 3-game series on the road at Minnesota

The best thing about our 34-16 start to the season was that we had already brought 435,738 paying customers to the ballpark which meant that in the first home game after this upcoming 12-game road trip we would surpass last season’s entire total of 445,239. This was great news because it might help ensure that our hands aren’t tied financially-speaking this summer and would have to be viewed as a positive in my column as far as my dealings with the Athletics’ ownership group.

We had quickly righted the ship after a rough patch when we went 6-1 in our last seven games at home and were looking to build off of that momentum. Three of those six victories came against our next opponent, the Minnesota Twins, and we were lucky to start this road trip with the #1 starter in our rotation, J.D. Knisley. The Twins came home for this series with a 23-28 record after dropping 2-of-3 games to last-place Seattle in their last series and with a 2-5 record in their last seven games.

I decided to reward 22-year old Oscar “Oromocto” Aylward for his good start to the year with the AAA Sacramento River Cats so I added him to the 40-man roster and called him up to the Majors for the first time in his professional career (we issued him the temporary #71). In a normal world I probably would have brought up Thomas Goodloe but I was trying to really to help create a new identity for the A’s (Goodloe was part of last year’s all-time MLB worst team) and in my mind it was important for the fans to be seeing new faces regardless if they have promise or not.


Sunday, May 30, 2021
Game 51 at Minnesota Twins
9-5 Loss; 43,973 in attendance
W: O’Honan (7-3) L: Knisley (5-4) H: Abbinett (1) H: Revilla (8) SV: Cabral (12)

Recap: The homer bug seemed to return as solo home runs from Minnesota shortstop Ken Watkins and left fielder Martyn Hatchett staked the Twins to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st inning. Our starter J.D. Knisley got in trouble again in the second inning after an infield hit and a walk put two men on base with no outs but he was able to work out of the jam there and settle down for the next four innings. But 27-year old Minnesota starter Dorey O’Honan was on top of his game from the start and held us to one run through six innings as the Twins stretched their advantage to 4-1. Twins catcher Martin Labady blasted two home runs, one off Knisley in the 7th inning to knock him out of the game and one off reliever Fairfax von Schoening in the 8th inning to push the home team to an 8-run lead. A few runs in the 9th inning off of Minnesota relievers Kenzie Abbinett and Fernando Revilla made the final score look like the game was closer than it actually was. Mumbles Yamasita and Teddy Revelez both had 3 hits in the loss. Rookie Francisco Quinenes hit his 4th home run of the year in our short-lived 9th inning rally. Knisley, never one to make excuses before, told reporters after the game that the Twins caught him “at the right moment” because he was feeling under the weather and that if this had been a night game instead of an afternoon match-up he would have been better rested.


Monday, May 31, 2021
Game 52 at Minnesota Twins
1-0 Win; 41,818 in attendance
W: Dickson (8-2) L: Parker (5-2)

Recap: Rowley Dickson came into this game with a chip on his shoulder after losing his last two starts and took it out on the Minnesota batters, striking out 6 of the first 9 men he faced through 3 innings. By the 5th inning it was clear that we were witnessing a fantastic pitcher’s duel as Twins starter Kynan Parker hadn’t allowed a single hit and Dickson had allowed just 2. But in the top of the 6th inning Parker’s first pitch to Dome Guevaro was deposited over the wall just about 400-feet away in right-center field for Guevaro’s team-leading 13th home run of the season. And that was all that Dickson needed, going all 9 innings and striking out 10 for his third shutout of the season! This was another of those strange games that you feel lucky to win as Minnesota out-hit us 6-to-5 and with Dickson having lost some tough games coming into this one I just kept waiting for a mistake but we ended up getting the good break today. Tanyon Meagher was the only player on our team with more than one hit (he went 2-for-4) and the Twins successfully pitched around Teddy Revelez twice. Minnesota left fielder Martin Hatchett went 2-for-4 against Dickson with a double.


Tuesday, June 1, 2021
Game 53 at Minnesota Twins
7-2 Win; 41,908 in attendance
W: Glaus (1-0) L: Cardoza (1-4) H: Frank (2) H: von Schoening (2)

Recap: In a complete opposite of the opening game of the series, a grand slam off the bat off Dome Guevaro staked us to a 4-0 1st inning lead and that would be all we needed to clinch the 3-game series from the Twins. Our starter Gib Glaus somehow managed to make it through 5.2 innings without giving up a run despite allowing 9 hits and 2 walks. The Twins just couldn’t get that clutch hit when they needed it and ended up leaving 10 men on base (combining for 22 left on in all opportunities). The local media was especially harsh to Teddy Revelez, who hit his 9th home run of the year in the 9th inning with the game already well in hand. His stat-padding through the first two months of the season when games are already decided has been a major point of frustration with Oakland fans and they were becoming more and more vocal about the Athletics’ leading earner not being either our best hitter (Mumbles Yamasita has been that) or our best power hitter (Guevaro). Shortstop Edgard Galdames went 3-for-5 to raise his batting average to .356 on the season. Travis Byers, Yamasita and Player of the Game Revelez each had 2 hits. Minnesota shortstop Ken Watkins, center fielder Frisco Gonzales, and designated hitter Pasqual Medina all went 2-for-4 in the losing effort.


Current Oakland Record: 36-17

With the victory in the third game of the series we had clinched another series victory and were tantalizingly close to the 20-games-over-.500 mark. This was only the second series in the last three weeks (the other being the Dodgers series) where we didn’t commit at least one error. We were playing strange baseball – sloppy in the field one night and making dazzling plays the next; no-hit one night and knocking out 18 hits the next; throwing shutouts one night and giving up 5 homers the next – and yet we were still winning considerably more than we were losing. Certainly we had been very lucky though the first two months of the 2021 campaign but with the season now just about a third of the way complete there was no denying that we had put ourselves into great position heading into the next two months.

[thehatfield]

 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL STANDINGS - JUNE 1, 2021

   AMERICAN LEAGUE           NATIONAL LEAGUE
   Eastern Division          Eastern Division
 Boston     35-18  -      New York     41-21  -  
 Baltimore  29-24  6      Philadelphia 38-15  3 
 Toronto    26-26  8½     Washington   28-24 12½  
 Tampa Bay  22-32 13½     Florida      17-35 23½
 New York   18-35 17      Atlanta      14-39 27

   Central Division          Central Division
 Chicago     29-23 -       Chicago    40-13  -       
 Detroit     26-26 3       Pittsburgh 27-25 12½
 Kansas City 24-28 5       St. Louis  24-28 15½ 
 Minnesota   24-30 6       Cincinnati 22-30 17½
 Cleveland   22-30 7       Milwaukee  17-36 23
                           Houston    15-38 25
   Western Division
 Oakland     36-17   -       Western Division
 Los Angeles 30-22   3    Los Angeles   36-16  -
 Texas       28-24   7    Colorado      30-21  5½
 Seattle     21-31 14½    Arizona       30-23  6½
                          San Diego     22-31 14½ 
                          San Francisco 17-36 19½

Oakland Batting Statistics as of June 1, 2021

Name           G   AB   R   H  2B 3B  HR RBI  BB   K  SB CS  AVG.  OBP.  SLG.  Name
Byers RF      52  221  27  66  12  0   4  45   8  25   0  1  .299  .321  .407  Byers RF
Yamasita CF   51  202  61  76  15  2  10  31  41  25  14  4  .376  .486  .619  Yamasita CF
Guevaro 3B    52  201  36  56   2  0  14  48  25  29   0  0  .279  .359  .498  Guevaro 3B
Arce 1B       53  193  27  56   9  0   7  31  23  34   0  0  .290  .377  .446  Arce 1B
Galdames SS   44  177  28  63  11  1   2  26  17  22   3  0  .356  .421  .463  Galdames SS
Revelez LF    52  177  43  57  12  1   9  43  59   9   0  1  .322  .490  .554  Revelez LF
McInally C    42  156  15  35   5  2   1  16  11  51   0  1  .224  .280  .301  McInally C
O'Bryant 2B   30  112  14  30   8  0   1  17  16  18   0  0  .268  .374  .366  O'Bryant 2B
Corliss 1B    26   82  15  19   2  0   1   9   7  14   0  0  .232  .297  .293  Corliss 1B
Quinenes CF   20   74   8  17   2  0   4  11   5  22   2  0  .230  .278  .419  Quinenes CF
Meagher C     22   67  10  17   4  0   0  12   8  13   0  1  .254  .346  .313  Meagher C
Page 2B       17   66  12  18   3  0   1   9   2  15   2  1  .273  .319  .364  Page 2B
Vazquez SS    18   55  10  13   2  0   0   3   8  18   1  0  .236  .333  .273  Vazquez SS
Holsinger CF  12   23   2   2   1  0   0   1   1   9   0  0  .087  .125  .130  Holsinger CF
MacFall 3B    11   20   5   6   2  0   0   0   2   4   0  0  .300  .364  .400  MacFall 3B
Raymundo LF    9   11   4   6   2  0   0   3   1   2   0  0  .545  .615  .727  Raymundo LF
Dickson SP     1    3   0   0   0  0   0   0   0   1   0  0  .000  .000  .000  Dickson SP
Knisley SP     1    3   0   0   0  0   0   0   0   1   0  0  .000  .000  .000  Knisley SP
Leverett MR    1    1   0   1   0  0   0   1   0   0   0  0 1.000 1.000 1.000  Leverett MR
Villaluazo SP  1    1   0   0   0  0   0   0   0   1   0  0  .000  .000  .000  Villaluazo SP

Oakland Pitching Statistics as of June 1, 2021

Name              G  GS  W  L HLD SV BS   IP   HA HR   R  ER  BB   K   ERA  OAVG. CG SHO Name 
Dickson SP       11  11  8  2  0   0  0  87.1  71  6  22  22  13  95  2.27  .216   5  3  Dickson SP
Knisley SP       11  11  5  4  0   0  0  82.0  65 17  41  38  27  96  4.17  .212   2  0  Knisley SP
Nakamura SP      10  10  8  1  0   0  0  66.2  83  9  41  36  24  64  4.86  .301   1  1  Nakamura SP
Villaluazo SP     9   9  4  2  0   0  0  56.0  55  7  26  26  21  67  4.18  .255   0  0  Villaluazo SP
Cake SP           6   6  4  2  0   0  0  37.2  35 13  30  20  20  32  7.17  .236   1  0  Cake SP
Mathis CL        18   0  2  0  0  15  1  20.1  19  1   5   3   1  21  1.33  .235   0  0  Mathis CL
Frank MR         12   0  0  1  2   0  1  20.0  19  4  10  10   8  22  4.50  .250   0  0  Frank MR
Stanely SP        4   4  0  2  0   0  0  19.1  26  5  19  19  17  11  8.84  .321   0  0  Stanely SP
von Schoening MR 14   0  1  0  2   2  1  19.1  16  2   7   7   4  16  3.26  .222   0  0  von Schoening MR
Basnett MR       13   0  1  1  2   0  0  18.0  23  4  18  18  11  15  9.00  .307   0  0  Basnett MR
Leverett MR      11   0  1  2  2   1  0  18.0  24  2  12  12   4  15  6.00  .312   0  0  Leverett MR
Rogers MR        11   0  1  0  2   0  0  17.0  27  2   8   8   4  14  4.24  .355   0  0  Rogers MR
Glaus SP          2   2  1  0  0   0  0  11.2  14  1   4   4   3  12  3.09  .298   0  0  Glaus SP

Past Standings & Statistics

Statistics Through April, 2021

[thehatfield]

Note: I had a damn glitch while attempting to backup my savegame. OOTP crashed to desktop and the savegame was corrupted. I backed up previously just before the start of the Cleveland series 6 games ago so I just simmed those 6 games to get back up-to-date. So stats & records, which I just spent much of the afternoon typing out, will be slightly different from what I just posted moving forward from here. A review of the leaderboards and the month of May will now be a bit useless as well but here's what I had just started prior to the crash...

Major League Baseball Update: June 1, 2021

All of the division leaders with the exception of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West had remained the same as the month before. The Cleveland Indians, who were tied with the Chicago White Sox for first place in the American League Central at the end of April, had experienced the biggest drop during May as they found themselves eight games out of first in last place. The Houston Astros won just seven games in May and were looking up at the division leading Chicago Cubs from 25 games behind. The Atlanta Braves held onto the worst record in baseball with a woeful 14-39 record. If the Braves stay on their current course they may end up challenging us for the worst single-season record in baseball history (we posted a 44-118 mark last year).

The Braves couldn’t hope to fly under the radar because the team with the best record in baseball, the defending World Series champion New York Mets, were in their division and were off to a nasty 41-13 start (the best in baseball) and held a 27-game lead over the hapless club from Atlanta.

Despite our strong month the Angles had had an even better one and sat just 3 games behind us in the American League West. They had gained ground on us by playing a relentless string of games in May and we were probably lucky that we wouldn’t have to face them again until late July when they might hopefully cool down a bit.

[Jestor]

I've noticed Dome is pretty error-prone at third. Have you thought about trading Mumbles for a really good defensive third baseman and slotting Q (who I'm starting to love as well) at CF and moving Dome to DH?

[thehatfield]

Originally Posted by Jestor

I've noticed Dome is pretty error-prone at third. Have you thought about trading Mumbles for a really good defensive third baseman and slotting Q (who I'm starting to love as well) at CF and moving Dome to DH?

You're right... Dome's 7 errors are worst on the team (1B Jose Arce is second with 3 errors) and tied for second-worst in the American League. In fact, the entire left side is below average with Revelez in left field being our worst defensive outfielder.

I like Quinenes too - he's only 20, he hit 40 home runs last year at AAA and he's got speed. Even though he's probably up a year early he was the reason why we were going to try to bring back an above average second baseman for Mumbles earlier but he won't walk like Mumbles walks and will probably strike out a lot more, too. Mumbles, Revelez and Dickson are always the blockbuster chips other teams want back in trades right now if I try to go for one of their big players. I keep feeling like if I trade Mumbles, though, the whole house of cards is going to collapse and with him only being 22 I know I'm going to regret it for years. Galdames could probably leadoff though so you never know. If something comes up that's just too good I'll have to move him.

I just looked at the leaderboards, though, and Milwaukee third baseman Steve Little is second in baseball with 28 errors committed behind Atlanta catcher Dioner Navarro who has 44!!!!!!!!!!!

But I haven't really looked into a defensive third baseman, it's a good idea.

[Lastplaneout]

Originally Posted by Purple Cowboy

I just looked at the leaderboards, though, and Milwaukee third baseman Steve Little is second in baseball with 28 errors committed behind Atlanta catcher Dioner Navarro who has 44!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy crap! Send them back to little league.