I wish all of you an amazing holiday, and lots of turkey, or turducken, or tofurkey, or whatever you will be eating today.

I dub this the "As an A's fan, what am I thankful for?" open thread.

I'll start. I'm thankful that we are at least trying to compete for 2009. And I'm thankful that we still have our A's in Oakland, at least for another season.

According to Eric Chavez,

"I'm about three months or so out from surgery right now, and rehab has been going really, really well," Chavez said. "I'm not going to start with baseball activities until January or late December, but talking to the doctors and trainers, we all pretty much feel like I'm ahead of schedule. So if I had to guess right now, there'd be almost no doubt; I fully expect to be ready for everything by the time Spring Training starts.

"And I fully expect to play third base."

From Mychael Urban's mailbag:

I've been hearing that Chavez won't be healthy next season. Are we kidding ourselves by hoping that he is?
-- Justin D., Stockton, Calif.

Have you heard this from anyone with a medical background and access to Chavez's most recent post-op evaluations? Have they been supervising his offseason workouts? If so, go ahead and believe them.

If not, all you have to go on is Chavez's word, and when is the last time Chavez flat-out lied or was overly optimistic about anything baseball related? The answer is never. He's as honest of an athlete about himself as you'll ever find, so when he says that rehab is going well and he expects to be healthy, I'm going to take him at his word.

Assuming that we all are going to take Chavez at his word, how do you see his impact on the team this season? I don't feel the same hopelessness about Chavez as I do about some other players. In certain cases, I think that the touted talent might be overrated, and I cringe every time someone says "They never lived up to their potential", because I really think the bar was set too high. I feel that Chavez did (and perhaps still does) have all the potential in the world, he did not live up to his only because of injuries. I think it's a shame that we didn't get a healthy Chavez, and I will always wonder what he could have been for the A's had he stayed healthy through the years.

Now that we are looking at him as a possible third baseman candidate this season, I don't know what to think. I have missed his defense in every way possible, and I agree with Urban (gasp!) when he says that Chavy tells it like it is; he isn't one to be overly optimistic. I have a small glimmer of excitement about Chavez that I haven't had in quite a while. I have missed him, and nothing would thrill me more than a successful season from him this year.

Thoughts?

NEW YORK (AP)—Lew Wolff has a way to shorten baseball’s postseason: Make the first round best-of-one.

“I’d make it one-game-and-you’re-out for the first series,” the Oakland Athletics owner said Wednesday. “It would be exciting. It would be great.”

Begun in 1995, the division series has been a best-of-five competition. Some people have advocated it be expanded to best-of-seven, matching the league championship series and the World Series. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has repeatedly said he favors the current format.

Wolff said he hasn’t brought up his concept with Selig.

“No, I’m afraid to do that,” he said.

link

This is one I haven't heard. I've heard plenty of advocates who wish to expand the LDS to seven games to match the LCS, but this is the first time I've heard someone suggest a single "Win or Go Home" game for the first round. Maybe as an A's fan, Wolff thinks that having a five-game series just prolongs the agony of the eventual Game 5, and we should get it out of the way before fans become invested in the series. Or maybe Wolff was just kidding.

Nevertheless, as the potential 2009 World Series Game Seven on November 5th looms closer, no doubt baseball is rooting for some West Coast teams this season, if for no other reason, than to postpone a decision. Because something might need to be done about the playoff schedule.

But what? Are the playoffs fine the way they are? Are they too long? Too short to really pick "the best" team? Should the season be shortened to accomodate the playoffs? Do the playoffs allow for too many days off?

Discuss.

Update: Matt Holliday will be on KNBR at 4:30PM, talking about the trade. Thanks Louis for the tip!

Since there appears to be absolutely nothing going on with the A’s lately, let’s talk about the season premiere of LOST starting on January 21st.

(snip)

Maybe I shouldn’t use the automatic post feature too many days in advance during the off-season.

You know a baseball story is big when it actually breaks into Monday Night Football. There I was, watching some team masquerading as the 49ers actually playing football semi-successfully, and there was a “Game Break” for baseball news.

For anyone who has ever watched one minute of the NFL, Game Breaks are hardly ever about baseball, and never about the A’s. I started to tune out the latest Manny/Jeter/Boston/Yankees news when all of a sudden I heard, “Oakland A’s”. They were covering our trade! This is big, people!

Not that we should judge a trade based on the media attention that it received, but the outside reaction is great. Personally, I am thrilled with the addition, the direction the team is going, and the words “We Are Competing for 2009” have never sounded so sweet, particularly after the excruciating months of July, August, and September of this year. It’s nice to have something to write about and look forward to. (Insert shameless plug for ticket sales here.)

Billy Beane has made some amazing trades; he has made some shocking trades, and overall, you could probably argue that there are very few of his trades that have really come back to haunt him. For every Hudson trade that hasn’t panned out, we have a Mulder trade that just keeps on giving, and although we have been playing with Bobby Crosby as our shortstop for years, have watched Ethier develop in blue instead of green and gold, and have watched a number of ex-A’s in the 2008 playoffs, by and large, A’s fans have trusted Beane and the teams he has fielded.

I understand that in any trade, you must give away talent to get talent in return, and don’t get me wrong, I really love this trade (assuming we can lock Holliday into an actual contract), but I can’t help but wonder if what I'm experiencing is the reverse Crosby effect. I feel that Beane waited far too long for Crosby to turn into the player he was projected to be, was far too patient in this wait, and may very well have expected too much from him from the start. But in any case, I feel that we have seen what Crosby has to offer the A's, and at best, he's a servicable middle infielder.

In the case of Carlos Gonzalez, I have the opposite feeling. I wonder if we've seen even a glimmer of who this player could be in a couple of years; if we let him go for the sure star a little too early. Gonzalez had a disappointing rookie season, to be sure, and a dismal second half, but were there flashes of superstar that showed on occasion? In two years, are we going to regret letting this player go when he finds his power stroke and is hitting for average?

Will it be worth it? Will Holliday be who the A's think he will be? Can the A's keep him? Will his year(s) with the A's outpace Gonzalez' performance in the years he would have played in Oakland? Is playing for 2009 worth it? Could the A's have waited out another season for their young talent to develop?

Probably.

Then I remember July, August, and September. I remember the empty(ier) seats at the ballpark. I remember 80 comment game threads here on AN.

And then I think of .325/25.

Welcome to Oakland, Matt Holliday! We'll nickname you soon.

From the New York Daily News (and nice 'stash, Bob!)

Could the 19-year "Sunday Night Baseball" broadcasting partnership of ESPN's Jon Miller and Joe Morgan be coming to an end? And will their ESPN Radio call of the Rays-Phillies World Series be the final chapter?

"We expect both Jon and Joe to be back in the Sunday night booth next season," an ESPN spokesman said.

Of course there is a big difference between "expect" to be back and definitely returning. So there is something up here. Miller and Morgan have spent nearly two decades together. During that time their relationship has had its rocky moments. That's no secret.

What's coming to light is how unpopular Morgan has become with many of his ESPN colleagues, who are less than thrilled with the way he prepares for a telecast. Some of them also don't respond well to what they call Morgan's haughty attitude, which he has displayed during some of his more outspoken performances in internal ESPN meetings.

Prone to on-air mistakes, Morgan also has come under some intense media scrutiny. And during those moments when he's made a mistake, the give and take between him and Miller can sound strained. But some of this stuff (if you don't take it all seriously) is kind of funny.

Thought some of you would be interested in this little tidbit. I personally credit Fire Joe Morgan, which has provided plenty of data to support their case over the years.

Here are some gold gloves to take a look at, and don't forget to stop by AN next week to discuss the big awards.

There are certainly times when the baseball fan in me wars with my allegiance to the team I love. I didn’t choose to love baseball; baseball chose to find me, but I do feel like I picked the Oakland A’s as my team. Maybe my elementary-school self loved the colors; the green and gold so different from the usual reds and blues; maybe it was the rebellion of youth spawned from being raised in an all-Giants family, or maybe there was just something about the team of the early 80’s that would grow into the dynamic powerhouse at the height of the now-questioned, but certainly much-enjoyed era of baseball, but for whatever the reason, I have now ended up aligned squarely with the small-market, new-school, post-Moneyball team that still clings to Oakland as home.

It’s not popular on AN to complement anything that is produced, directed, invented, or sold and packaged by ESPN and its constituents. It’s not okay to harbor any fondness for the big-market teams, and it’s certainly a bannable offense to show affection for either the New York Yankees or the Boston Red Sox, and I realize I’m risking my AN status with the following posts, but I am baseballgirl, so maybe everyone will understand.

Perhaps in complete defiance of a team that was painful to watch for most of this year, I decided that the 2008 season would have to become a little more about baseball and a little less about the A’s. And there seemed no better year to visit the baseball powerhouses of the East than this one; especially with the stadium closure in New York. 

I reasoned that if I was going to temporarily dabble in the dark arts, I should keep the visit as brief as possible, so I attended a Friday night game at Yankee Stadium and a Sunday afternoon game at Fenway Park.

Although I had driven by Yankee Stadium briefly on a previous visit, actually showing up to a game was an entirely different story. There is a reason why legends were made here; why the grounds are hallow; why the aura seems to transcend the current season and forces open a window to the past when you are inside the park. Love or hate the Damn Yankees (and 2001 certainly cemented where I stand on that particular issue), Yankee Stadium is a magical place.

 It was a beautiful Friday night in the Bronx as ten of us attended the 22nd-to-last game at the stadium. Despite arriving at the park a good three hours before the game, we were one of the last people allowed in line to tour Monument Park in center field, where Vlad almost killed half of our tour group during his batting practice.

But we saw what we came to see:

 
The players took the field with as much fanfare as I've seen from a club, and the Yankee "roll call" was no doubt the best part. If you watched the last Yankees game of the season, you have seen this, but there is nothing like seven professional athletes waiting like little kids to have their names called so they can turn around and acknowledge the crowd. Johnny Damon was the highlight of the routine, and he couldn't keep himself from waving at little kids periodically throughout the game.

The game itself was nothing special; unless you enjoy a pitching duel between the Yankees and the Angels, and despite all the offense both teams would throw up during the next two nights, Friday's game went into the ninth 0-0. We got to see Mariano come out of the 'pen to pitch the ninth; and become the losing pitcher. Of course, that meant that I got to see another K-Rod save, which would still be a haunting memory if the ALDS had ended differently. I have discoved one way to root for the Yankees though; have them play the Angels while you are in New York in a ballpark straight out of Field of Dreams.

At the close of every fifth inning, the counter ticked off one more game from the long schedule of Yankees games; ours went from 22 to 21. The recorded seventh inning stretch was way better than it seems on TV, and really, the whole experience was like stepping back in time.

 
I understand how some die-hard fans can be upset about losing this park, even if it is a good thing. The Yankees have enough money to be playing in a state-of-the-art facility; with real concession stands, and bathrooms, and restaurants, and sky boxes, and they have been hanging onto Old Yankee Stadium, afraid to let go. I can see why. The memories aren't the same when taken to another park, but new ones will have to be made.

Hopefully, they will be tinged with a certain amount of green and gold.

Just in case you missed innings 1-5 1/2, I have "borrowed" the Gameday summary to catch everyone up. Of course, the game was re-aired this afternoon, so everyone could see baseball played underwater (I'm pretty sure The Little Mermaid was wearing a Ray's hat), but it will officially resume tonight at 5:37, tied 2-2, after Pena came up HUGE for the Rays with the last-second RBI hit. We will join the Phillies at bat in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The Rays had already activated their 'pen, but the Phillies had their ace on the mound (Hamels finished six innings with 75 pitches), and his spot is first up to bat. I can only assume that the Phillies pinch-hit, go to the bullpen, and use Hamels for a possible Game 7 on Friday. (Game 6, if necessary, will be played tomorrow night in the not-looking-like-such-a-bad-idea Dome in Tampa Bay.) Game time temp will be about 40 degrees with a wind-chill making it about 10 degrees colder.

Game scoring summary so far:

Bottom of the first:
Rollins flies out.
Werth walks.
Utley HBP.
Howard K's.
Burrell walks.
Victorino singles. 2-0 Phillies.

Top of the fourth:
Upton grounds out.
Pena doubles.
Longoria singles. 2-1 Phillies.

Top of the sixth:
Iwamura K's.
Crawford grounds out.
Upton singles
Upton steals second base.
Pena singles. 2-2, game tied.

Lineups where we left off:

Iwamura, 2B
Crawford, LF
Upton, CF
Pena, 1B
Longoria, 3B
Navarro, C **the top of the seventh inning will start here**
Baldelli, RF
Bartlett, SS
Balfour, P

Rollins, SS
Werth, RF
Utley, 2B
Howard, 1B
Burrell, LF
Victorino, CF
Feliz, 3B
Ruiz, C
Hamels, P **the bottom of the sixth will start here**

And after all that, I think we should get some more baseball.

LET'S GO RAYS!

From a "wanting things to work out quite neatly" standpoint, this 2008 season just hasn't gone Bud Selig's way. Here we sit, in the middle of a rain delay spanning at least a day, and maybe more, while the country tries to figure out what happened to the World Series, while players, coaches, ticket agents, and the commissioner himself all try to get fans in the seats, broadcasts on television, and water off the field in time to play the last 3+ innings of Game 5, which may or may not complete this year's World Series. I'm sure any neutral party is now hoping for the full seven games, at least to make it worth it; the final two games don't have a weather problem, because, after all, what could possibly go wrong in a dome? (Don't answer that.)

Tangentially, the reason why tonight's game might not be in a dome is because of a different Selig rule; shortly after The Great Tie of 2002, Selig decided that the All Star game would "count", and nearly paid for that decision this year, as it took 15 innings to decide a winner. Complain all you want about ending in a tie, but if it was one of our position players (the imaginary A's All-Star slugger) who was next in line to pitch, I'd certainly rather end the game some other way, even in a tie. Selig was in a lose-lose situation of his own making; if he has the authority to change the rainout rules for the World Series, he certainly could have set up a Home Run Derby, winner-takes-all situation to end the All Star Game, couldn't he?

And let's forget about Prime Time programming needs for a minute (which I know is ironic, considering how pleased I was with the A's/Twins approximate 6:00 AM start time for the 2006 ALDS), and consider the poor baseball fans on the East Coast, who must regularly stay up (or at the ballpark) until midnight, one, even two in the morning to get some of these games in. I'm all for making games watchable for everyone, but at least on the weekends, would it be the end of the world if baseball started at 5 or 6, East Coast time?

And for the love of all things baseball-related, unless you live in California, November is not a terrific month for outside games. Yet the late start to the World Series next year would put the possible Game 7 on November 5th. I'd like to take Stadiums Covered In Snow for $1,000, Alex.

The commissioner is never going to please everyone; such is the nature of the beast, but he is certainly not getting any help this year. The All-Star tie made people mad? Sure, let's make it count from now on. Inevitably, there was going to be a game that went fifteen innings with no available pitchers.

The Dodgers and Phillies play each other in the NLCS? The team with the current beautiful 85-90 degree weather without a cloud in the sky can't win; ensuring that the middle games will be played in a virtual monsoon in Philadelphia, forcing Selig to read up on every conceivable rainout rule before making a series' decision.

And even though two games managed not to be rained out, a game that was already pushing it with a 8:30 PM start with two East Coast teams was delayed two hours, and nearly went extra innings, sending the exhausted, but happy, crowd home about the same time as the bars closed.

And just for the fun of it, amidst all the talk of instant replays, and the integrity of calls in a game, let's have the umpiring crew have their worst series in years; blatantly missing calls all over the field. That would be fun too. As if getting Tampa Bay/Philadelphia instead of Los Angeles/Boston wasn't bad enough.

What is a commish to do? Are there things that you would do differently in the position that may please a greater majority? How do you think Bud has done this year? How has he handled the tough MLB issues, i.e. steroids?

Let's discuss.

Tentative game time 5:37 tonight.

Despite a less-than-auspicious first inning by Scott Kazmir, who allowed two early runs and wriggled out of quite a bit of trouble (he would allow 3 runs in his 6 IP), the game did not turn into the slugfest it might have been. Instead, the Rays’ bullpen gave us a genuine pitching duel, as Kasmir and his replacements matched Cole Hamels almost pitch for pitch. Hamels went seven, but only allowed two runs; the difference in the game-- this game was one swing from tied from the fifth inning on. Contrary to the League Championship Series’, only two homeruns were hit tonight; one by Crawford, one by Utley.

Clinging to their 3-2 lead for most of the game, the Phillies’ pitching took it all the way to Lidge, who absolutely destroyed the heart of the Rays’ lineup in the bottom of the ninth to secure the road win.  Crawford put up a valiant at-bat at the end, but was finally retired.

And what a game it was. If you like baseball, this series might be a dream come true. When all was said and done tonight, both teams left baseball fans wanting a little bit more. I’d like six more games like this, please.

We go to the bottom of the fourth inning, all Phillies so far. They lead 3-0 as the Rays come to bat, trying to get a rally started off of Hamels.