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KTE—Athletics
I will be out-of-town with limited internet access so wanted to post this now—all stats are current through Sunday, 17 June...
The A’s continue their trip down memory lane, coming to Shea to take on their 1973 World Series counterparts after having just met their rivals from the Fall Classic in 1972, the Cincinnati Reds. The A’s (whose award-winning ad campaigns of recent years have given way to “they’re not just athletes…they’re Athletics!) roll into town with a record of 37-32, good enough for second place in the AL West, six games behind division leading Anaheim, and a step ahead of the surprising Mariners. This record is somewhat surprising, given the rash of injuries that have hit rookie manager Bob Geren’s club. Currently, the A’s are without: Bobby Kielty (60 day), Esteban Loiaza (60), Milton Bradley (15), Mike Piazza(15), Huston Street (15), Rich Harden(15) and Justin Duchsherer (15). Expect a typical mid-summer run from this club once they get some of these guys back.
Offensively, the A’s are led by on-base machine Nick Swisher (if he homers, watch his post-trot ritual with Milton Bradley) and Jack Cust, professional hitter. Defensively, they are no great shakes, but Eric Chavez is a multiple gold glove award winner, and possesses a cannon for an arm. The same cannot be said for the A’s backstop, the perpetually stubble-faced Jason Kendall. Expect the Mets to run wild on this iron man catcher (his backups rarely see the light of day) and captain of the all-overpaid team ($10.5 million) Jason Kendall, who has the lowest percentage of base-stealers caught in the bigs this season, having nabbed but 11 of 58 would-be thieves..
The Bats: HR RBI AVG OBP SLG
1B Dan Johnson 6 25 .253 .371 .431
2B Mark Ellis 6 34 .256 .336 .404
3B Eric Chavez 12 33 .247 .313. .470
SS Bobby Crosby 6 28 .242 .291 .365
LF Shannon Stewart 2 19 .271 .352 .333
CF Mark Kotsay 1 6 .254 .313 .356
RF Nick Swisher 10 39 .287 .415 .489
C Jason Kendall 1 20 .224 .364 .269
The Bench
IF Marco Scutaro 4 10 .238 .292 .381
OF Travis Buck 6 20 .286 .381 .509
OF Jack Cust 9 25 .274 .423 .584
The Athletics have been getting stellar pitching from Danny Haren—do you think the Cardinals want to re-do the Mark Mulder for Haren and Calero trade?--, and better than expected from the back end of the rotation. Alan Embree has been closing games (7 of 8) in the absence of Huston Street.
The Arms: W L ERA IP K/BB WHIP AVG
Dan Haren 8-2 1.64 104 84/24 .88 .183
Joe Blanton 6-4 3.62 87 66/21 1.12 .238
Chad Gaudin 6-1 2.85 82 53/36 1.41 .255
Joe Kennedy 2-4 3.62 79.7 35/31 1.42 .264
Lenny DiNardo 2-3 2.21 40.7 21/16 1.18 .225
The ‘Pen G IP ERA K/BB WHIP AVG
Alan Embree 33 31.3 2.87 23/6 1.21 .264
Jay Marshall 33 26 5.19 9/11 1.54 .282
Kiko Calero 31 25.3 6.39 21/9 1.38 .263
Ex-Factor: Marco Scutaro is the only player currently on either roster who has played for both squads.
Trivia The Athletics franchise has called three cities home (Phialdelphia, 1901-1954, Kansas City, 1955-1967, Oakland, 1968-Present), and is one of only two current Major League teams to play in as many cities without changing nicknames. The other??
What’s with the pachyderms?
The A’s lovable mascot, Stomper, is not as cute as Mr. Met (but, hey, who is?) but he has his charms. A sunglass-clad Stomper even adorns the Athletics spring training cap…
But what does an elephant have to do with baseball?
Well, in 1902, NY Giants manager John McGraw derisively referred to the Philadelphia Athletics of Connie Mack as “white elephants”, suggesting that Mack had assembled his talent by raiding other teams rosters, or by assembling a team of retreads. McGraw and Mack, two of the most notable figures of early MLB, were fierce rivals who often engaged in press-baiting and the like. Mack defiantly took the term and adopted it as the team’s mascot—to this day, the A’s uniform features a white elephant on their jersey sleeve. A sunglass-clad Stomper even adorns the Athletics spring training cap…
The Swingin’ A’s of Charley Finely were among the most uni-distressed franchises in all of MLB history, adopting outrageous color schemes in the early days of color TV (to match the colorful personalities of Vida Blue, Reggie Jackson, and others on that team, it was said)…but they ALWAYS wear “wedding gown white” on home Sundays. Always.
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