A's win 2-1, Increase Lead Over the Rangers, and Some Numbers:
Dan Stailey pitched a gem yesterday in the O.Co, helping the A's hold off the Astros 2-1. Yoenis Cespedes grilled home run #22 to put the A's up 1-0. Sean Doolittle recorded his first save. So let's take a closer look at some numbers:
*Most Importantly, thanks to some help from the Halos, the A's lead the Rangers by a game and a half, with that BIG 3 game series next weekend looming in the distance. The last week of the season will be very interesting as the A's finish on the road in Anaheim and Seattle, while the Rangers host Houston and Seattle.
The A's may want to try and
*Strailey's numbers during the day: 4-1 record, 2.25 ERA, 1.0 WHIP, .181 BAA (batting average against);
*Strailey's numbers at night: 5-6 record, 5.21 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, .267 BAA.
Strailey's numbers slightly better at home than on the road, so it's pretty simple-->pitch Dan in Oakland, during the day!
*Cespedes' year has been of particular interest to me, so I compared his stats from 2012 and 2013. Interestingly, his plate appearances are nearly identical, 487 in 2012 and 471 thus far in 2013. The category that jumped out was that Cespy has 20 more strikeouts in 16 less late appearances. His hit total is down, as are his average and on base percentage. Walks are nearly the same, as our home runs. It would appear, Yo Yo needs to pick his spots, and think about more singles and doubles! If he can somehow someway get on a tear, things would look a little brighter in Oaktown!
Memories of my First NFL Game, Fall of 1972:
It was a rainy day in Oakland, when the Monsters of the Midway were visiting the Coliseum. The Bears Quarterback was Bobby Douglass. We must have been late, as we walked from a parking lot on Hegenberger Road. We meandered away through fences, across a canal, and finally into the lot of the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum. It was beautiful. We sat behind the Bears, in what they used to call the "Bleachers." I seem to recall more than one funny smelling type of cigarette out there, and maybe even an item or two being projected at the Bears bench. The field was sloppy, and I as I recall the Raiders prevailed 28-21. (I just looked it up, it was indeed the Fall of 1972, and I was 6 years old!) It was a blast. My father, my brother, and a friend of my father, wonderfully pleasant man by the name of George Hiromoto. I believe we stopped for ribs at Emmil Villa's in Walnut Creek. Good times, good times indeed!
I also have many great memories of Niner games at the Stick. The Stick seemed fine for football, baseball, um, not so much. The major difference in my humble opinion between going to the O.A.C. C., or the Stick, was that it was or is still much easier and faster to get out of the Coli than the Stick. In Oakland I learned the lessons of tailgating from Mary Spingolo and her family. Over at the stick, it was good times with the Rio Vista families, the Smiths and the Flaherty's in particular. ( I seem to remember the Landa's as well, but come to think of that, that may have been more for A's games?) In the 70's it was a great time to be a Raider, A's, and Warrior fan. There was some heartbreak involved, but there was definitely OUR share of raising the victor's cup!
So today, I raise the cup to the families of Frank Spingolo (Mary's Dad), Lincoln Chan (an Icon in Delta Pear farming); Mike Flaherty and Rex Smith, two guys who are always welcome in the Get Down Lounge!; and of course my fun-loving, always good food consuming parents. My mother the master of the Kitchen Sink sandwich which always tasted scrumptious in the second half. I eventually learned not to ask what was in it, just to eat it! To pops for all of the driving. And the chocolate malts. And maybe a pennant or two! To the Coli too, well just because you have always been there!
Enjoy the Sunday people, enjoy, and a little rib sauce on the cheeks, shirts, and arms is just fine for you 6 year olds out there, it just means they were good going down!
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