Yes, No, Maybe so........So Close!

AArrgh!  Down 5-1 heading into the bottom of the 8th last night versus Houston, the A's would rally for 3 runs to make 5-4 heading into the ninth.  Then in the bottom of the ninth, Chris Young, hitting a whopping .195 hits what appears to be a walk-off pie-in-your-eye game winning homer!  After further review, the ball was ruled just barely, I mean barely foul.  A sliver, hair, inch, gust of wind just foul--aarrgh!

The A's have shown some good signs the last 3 days.  Sunday and Monday they prevailed in two real ugly grinders.  Then last night they appeared out, and all off sudden, they are a whisker away from a blast off walk off.  The long ball has returned the last few days and if just one or two Athletics can hit hot, hello postseason.  Cespedes ripped 3 hits yesterday, and it sure would be swell if "La Potencia" got hot.  Rookie Dan Strailey was also steallar Monday on the mound.  On the negative side, they A's defense continues to kick the ball around--they simply give too many runs away--and ole Bartolo is starting to pitch like his age. Last night the 'Stros, the youngest team in the Bigs by the way, were knocking around the veteran one pretty good.  Not many swings and misses by the Astros.  By the way, back in the day, the Astros were my favorite NL team.  I loved the jerseys, all of them!  I love when Nolan Ryan pitched for them-->it may have simply been that I just liked rooting against the Giants and Dodgers?!?

Well, it could have been a lot worse as Texas, Tampa, and Baltimore all lost as well.  Thus the good guys in Green and Gold remain a game behind the Rangers, and 2.5 games ahead of Baltimore for the last Wild Card Spot.

Two Thoughts:

1.  Why not install some sort of sensor on the foul poles in major league parks?  If a ball nicks the pole, circle the bases and count the run.  Or perhaps like Tennis, an umpire should sit right underneath the foul pole to determine fair or foul home runs?

2.  You may recall previously I mentioned an article that essentially said bet against the home teams when they are returning from the road?  Well, the A's returned home from the East Coast and lost, and Texas also just returned home, and lost as well.  Next time I am in Tahoe, I may just test this theory?