Kuzul

The perfect game is long gone for Dallas Braden. He finally got his first win since he pitched that masterpiece, but after tonight it looks like he’s going back to his losing ways. 

Tonight was an absolutely disgraceful performance by Braden against the Texas Rangers. It wouldn’t have been that big of a deal if Braden had been roughed up by certain hitters in the Rangers lineup such as Michael Young, Vladimir Guerrero, Nelson Cruz, Jorge Cantu, or even David Murphy, but that didn’t happen.  

It was the ninth place hitter in the Rangers lineup; a hitter so bad that he wasn’t even hitting .100 for the season! The batter was Taylor Teagarden, who rarely gets playing time because he simply can’t hit.

For some reason against the A’s he does. Well it was understandable that he did get his first homerun of the season off Vin Mazzaro who should have never gone out to pitch that inning to begin with.

Yet, with Braden on the mound it’s a different story. He came in the bottom of the third and Braden fell behind. Teagarden eventually got a 3-2 changeup that he deposited into left field for an easy double. 

He scored on a double by Elvis Andrus, but that’s the first time that Teagarden gave Braden problems in the game. Coming in to the game Teagarden was hitting .059 on the season. Yes, .059! 

With that double it meant it was Teagarden’s third hit of the season and brought up his average to .086. Teagarden wasn’t done, he had an encore for Braden. 

Braden allowed a sharp single to Christian Guzman who hit a rocket to shortstop Cliff Penningtin. This brought up Teagarden again. Braden then gave up Teagarden’s second homerun of the season.

This is an example that shows how far Braden has fallen since the perfect game he threw in May. 

The game itself showed nothing too exciting for the A’s offense, they just laid down for Cliff Lee. There was no effort except for in the first inning when Daric Barton hit a one out triple and Kurt Suzuki followed up with an RBI double.

There was one last chance for the A’s to come back that was in the bottom of the eighth inning. With two outs Daric Barton hit a single which was the third hit of the night for him, and Kurt Suzuki followed with a single.

So the A’s had first and second with two outs. In stepped Kevin Kouzmanoff with an opportunity to get the A’s in striking distance against Lee. Well, to call the at-bat disappointing is an understatement. 

Much like Kouzmanoff has done all year, he swung at the first pitch and popped it up, but luckily for him it went out of play instead of being caught. The second pitch from Lee was a fastball on the inside corner and if he had been looking for it he could have it, the third pitch from Lee wasn’t even in the strike zone and Kouzmanoff flailed helplessly at the pitch.

If tonight was a big game for the A’s, that means tomorrow afternoon is even bigger because if they don’t take this weekend series from the Rangers the season is all but over. Hopefully tomorrow afternoon brings out a much better effort. 

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This day came a little earlier than I supposed it would. Ben Sheets’ season is now officially over. Possibly his career. Twice at the quarter season and half way points, I have given Sheets an overall grade. Now, instead of having two more reviews, I am forced to give my final one with his season ending surgery.

Sheets plans on having flexor-tendon surgery, mostly so that he can pitch again if he would like to; but he stated: “If I came back, I would have to feel a lot better.” (San Francisco Chronicle).

He will most likely miss all of next season, and there is a good chance he could be done permanently.  The infamous Dr. James Andrews did his prior surgery on his injured tendon in his arm.

Now let’s get to the review:

Sheets, the 6’1”, 222 pound starter was 4-9 this season with a 4.53 ERA. The league average is 4.15.

He started 20 games this season and had seven no decisions. He had 116 innings pitched this year which was his second lowest of his career (88 in 2006 was lowest). Sheets was 1-1 against his division with four no decisions.

All of these factors are mixed in with his $10 million contract which equals out to $2.5 million dollars per win. I am not trying to be too hard on Sheets—who undoubtedly went out and pitched hard, but the wins just aren’t there.

He was getting quite consistent to end the year as he didn’t allow more than four Earned Runs after a May 2nd debacle where he gave up 9 runs to the Blue Jays. That meant over his last fourteen starts, he has left his team in the game, just not been able to get run support.

With all of this taken into account, he can’t be given a high grade, since he just didn’t step it up in the games when needed; but still became effective to a point as the season progressed. The season ending injury realistically has to hurt his grade overall.

Season Ending Grade: C

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Now that Matt Garza has provided us with the fifth no-hitter of the season we might as well rank the great performances we have seen. It is apparent that the steroids-era in baseball is over.

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Tampa Bay Rays’ Matt Garza just tossed Major League Baseball’s fifth no-hitter of the season.

You have to go back 20 years to 1990 to find a season with more than three no-hitters, when six were thrown.

In MLB history only 20 pitchers have thrown a perfect game. Two of those were thrown this season, and that doesn’t include Armando Galarraga’s gem that would have been perfect if not for that one missed call.

If you have been paying attention, you know what is going on.

The pitching numbers have been absurd this season. It’s no surprise that many people are calling this the new age of pitching.

If you are a baseball purist, you are probably loving it right now. The game at its purest form, with pitching dominating hitting, requiring more strategy when the hits are fewer and far between.

But if you are a fan who likes to see some action in the sports you watch, then you might not be enjoying this Renaissance so much.

Dare I say it: Would some people prefer the excitement that reverberated throughout stadiums when power hitting ruled baseball? Yes, I am referring to the Steroids Era.

If you go back to 1990, the last time so many pitchers threw gems, the game was on pace to hit a lockout and lose a little bit of its luster.

It took the great home run derby between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire to resurrect interest in the sport for much of America.

Looking back on the Steroids Era, many people are horrified at what actually transpired and at how the record books were tarnished by these steroid users.

But, you have to wonder if some fans long for the days of excitement, even at the cost of steroids.

The purists will scoff at those people, saying they are not true fans. But that group will say that a sport needs fans to generate excitement.

It certainly can be a catch-22 of sorts for sports, between the fundamentals and the excitement of seeing professional athletes do what we cannot.

Sure, most of us cannot pitch one of these no-hitters, but is it more exciting for you to watch a pitcher stifle a team into not hitting a single ball or a player smack a few long balls in a game?

Most people will think this is blasphemy, but what is your opinion on the matter? Which form of baseball do you prefer: pitching dominance or hitting power galore? Or is it even a question?

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Oakland Athletics pitcher Dallas Braden is famous for being protective of his pile of dirt. Especially if you trot over it on your way off the field.

Just ask Alex Rodriguez about the fit Braden threw in the A’s dugout. He was in total outrage over A-Rod taking the shorter way over his beloved pitching mound. Braden threw his glove, kicked some cups that still had water in them and cursed like a truck driver.

Guess that fact that A-Rod was right there, in the A’s stadium, his house, was just not an option. Hey, it was the next best thing than challenging A-Rod to his face.

Do not forget, Braden also threw a perfect game on May 9, 2010 but has not done much of anything since. Like win another game. Braden only had six strikeouts that day, but it was against the Tampa Bay Rays, and they are legit.

After the historic game, Braden’s grandma commented on the feud, saying, “Stick it, A-Rod.”

Now, the New York Yankees are back for three games in Oakland in Dallas Braden’s house. A-Rod is now there for the taking.

If I were A-Rod, I would assume that route back to the dugout again.

Why not?

Sticking it to Braden’s grandma is good enough reason. No older respectable woman needs to talk like that or at least add some curse words to look like real white trash.

Go figure that Braden is on the DL with elbow stiffness. He has thrown bullpen sessions. One would think this would be a series Braden would not miss unless his grandma cut off his arm.

The A’s are even trying to profit from that April 22 jog, selling festive historic T-shirts that read, “Get off my mound.”

“Get off my mound” is kind of desperate, considering Braden said it to everyone but A-Rod.

Well, that is Braden in a nut shell. A big mouth, famous via A-Rod, who got lucky on one day.

I would be concerned that I could not throw off this hump and that A-Rod still owns it.

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Maybe it’s an aberration, but the Tampa Bay Rays were the victims of being on the wrong end of a no-hitter—again.

Dating back to July 23, 2009, The Rays have been no-hit three times; two of those being perfect games.

Let’s take a look at them.

On July 23^rd of last year, Mark Buehrle pitched a perfect game against the Rays at US Cellular Field in Chicago. He struck out six batters on 116 pitches (76 for strikes).

There’s no shame in that. Buehrle is a four-time All-Star with eight career shutouts and over 1,200 Ks. He ranks fifth all-time in strikeouts, sixth in starts, and eighth in wins in White Sox history.

On May 9^th of this year, Dallas Braden of the A’s threw a perfecto in Oakland on Mother’s Day. He also fanned six Rays. He threw 77 of his 109 pitches for strikes.

Prior to that game, the only thing Braden was known for was getting into a spat with Alex Rodriguez when A-Rod crossed over the mound in the middle of an inning.

Braden has gone 0-5 since then and the Rays are winless in all eight of his starts dating back to Mother’s Day.

Most recently, Tampa was no-hit by former Ray Edwin Jackson. This time it was at Tropicana Field.

Jackson threw only 79 strikes in 149 pitches and walked eight batters through nine innings. He also had six strikeouts.

The Rays had two stolen bases and left nine men on base (BJ Upton was hit by a pitch). They were 0-7 in scoring opportunities.

There’s something wrong when a pitcher struggles that much with his command and you still can’t manage a run—let alone a hit.

Is it just a crazy coincidence or a cruel twist of fate? I don’t think so—at least not entirely.

Many people are left scratching their heads because, on paper, Tampa is too good of a team to be the victims of two perfect games and a no-hitter in one calendar year.

Sure, they’re not the Yankees or the Red Sox, but they’re not the Mariners or Orioles.

They’re in the middle of the pack in the AL in batting average, hits, and home runs.

They lead the AL in stolen bases and are fourth in both runs and RBI, but they’ve also struck out 286 more times than they’ve walked.

It’s not otherworldly offensive production, but it’s not that bad either.

So what’s the problem?

This is my opinion, and it’s a little subjective. However, I think there is some merit to it.

The Rays have a fairly young team of very talented players. However, when they find themselves struggling in a game, they push too hard and try to do too much.

Instead of staying within themselves and being disciplined at the plate, they start swinging for the fences on every pitch.

Whatever the cause, they allow themselves to go on tilt too easily, and there really isn’t that guy to bring them back down to earth.

Until they learn to weather the storm and avoid these highs and lows, they’ll be vulnerable to being no-hit again.

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The Oakland Athletics were hanging tight in the race for the American League 
West division title. After the past two series where the A’s have lost five games out of six that were played, it has become clear the A’s need to make some major adjustments. 

That would involve making trades for a big time bat in the lineup. The only problem is, what self-respecting player would want to play for Bob Geren? This was shown by the most recent trade the A’s have made. 

Instead of getting a big bat from Arizona which has been rumored to be trading pretty much its entire roster, the A’s could only come up with Conor Jackson. No offense to Jackson, who’s a solid hitter, but he’s not the guy who’s going to be a savior for the A’s inept offense. 

Over the last few games there’s been countless times the A’s have had scoring opportunities and the A’s have come up empty each and every time. It hasn’t helped that manager Bob Geren has been shuffling the lineup since the arrival of Jackson either. 

In the second game against the Chicago Cubs, Rajai Davis was benched in favor of Ryan Sweeney in center field. Jackson was actually the leadoff hitter for the A’s. Davis was out of the lineup after going 3-5. 

Just inexcusable managing by Geren. To make matters worse, today’s game was lost because Geren took out Dallas Braden way too early from the game. 

That’s just icing on the cake for how Geren manages the A’s. He doesn’t know what it takes to win because every season the A’s have been nowhere near a playoff spot. This year has been a surprise and with the A’s strong starting pitching they should be able to remain close. 

The issue is, can the A’s bring in a bat to help with the offense? At this point there’s really no positives going for the A’s team. Their next series is against the St. Louis Cardinals and they will be facing Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainright.

Even if the A’s had one of the better offenses in the league, it’d be a scary matchup, but it’s much worse with the pathetic offensive lineup. 

At the end of the series against the Cardinals, the A’s could be easily suffering their fourth straight loss along with having lost eight of their last nine. Even at that point in the season the A’s chance at a playoff spot will be slim to none. 

Lack of confidence for such a young team and will lead to the young starters, specifically Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, and Vin Mazzaro, to try to make the perfect pitches. 

The end of the season will be a disaster if the A’s can’t find a way to bring in more than just prospects. 

In 2008 the A’s traded Nick Swisher to the Chicago White Sox for Ryan Sweeney and Gio Gonzalez. While, Sweeney has been a solid player for the A’s he’s nowhere near the power threat that Swisher was. 

The most homeruns in a season by Sweeney has been six compared to Swisher who as an A hit a career high 35 in 2006. Gonzalez has come along very well for the A’s and has been one of the more consistent starters for the A’s but it took him some time to get to the big leagues. 

Dan Haren trade along with Connor Robertson for Chris Carter the A’s best power prospect, Brett Anderson, Aaron Cunningham, Dana Eveland, Carlos Gonzalez, and Greg Smith. 

Anderson has become one of the A’s best pitchers but is currently injured. Carter again is the best power prospect for the A’s but hasn’t shown the stick yet at Sacramento to be called up, Eveland is gone, Gonzalez is gone, and Smith is gone. 

Gonzalez showed promise for the A’s but was part of the trade that brought in Matt Holliday. Which, will go down as one of the worst trades that Billy Beane has made. 

Holliday was eventually traded for Brett Wallace, Shane Peterson, and Clayton Mortenson. Wallace is gone, and Peterson and Mortenson down in the minor leagues. 

Joe Blanton was traded for Adrian Cardenas, Matt Spencer, and Josh Outman. Only Outman has seen time in the big leagues and is currently recovering from major surgery. 

Question is where is the Major League talent being traded for? There hasn’t been much and a majority of the players are either in the minors still or have been traded away in parts of other trades. 

The common denominator is the clueless man managing the team, Geren! 

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With Brett Anderson being on the injured list for most of the season, the Oakland A’s needed someone to step up to become the ace of the staff while Anderson recovered from his injury. 

All signs pointed to Dallas Braden as being the new ace of the staff.

The highlight of Braden’s success came on Mothers Day when he pitched a perfect game. Since then, Braden has struggled. 

Part of the problem has been the lack of run support for the perfect pitcher.

The other problem with Braden is that he doesn’t throw particularly hard and since he throws a slider only on occasion, hitters know that they are either getting a mid-to-high 80s fastball or a change-up that’s in the 70s. 

He’s made six starts as of tonight since the perfect game and has given up 44 hits, 21 runs (19 earned), and has gone 0-4 with two no-decisions in that span. 

Overall Braden has a 4-6 record, two complete games, one shutout, a 3.95 ERA, 81 hits given up, 38 runs (36 earned), 50 strike outs, and walked 14. 

Braden’s numbers aren’t bad but he hasn’t been pitching like an ace.

On the other hand, Gio Gonzalez has been pitching with greater poise and actually has become the most consistent starter on the staff for the A’s. 

Early in the season Gonzalez did have some struggles.

One issue that was noticeable with him was when he got in a little bit of a jam he’d lose his focus and would lose the strikezone. 

He’s been much better as of late in those situations.

Unlike Braden, Gonzalez possesses two above average pitches his slider and fastball. So, when Gonzalez needs to, he can blow a hitter away with a 95 mile-per-hour fastball whereas Braden would try to finesses his way through it and, because of that, he’s liable to give up bloop hits. 

Gonzalez in his last six starts has given up 34 hits, 15 runs (all earned), and has gone 3-1 with two no-decisions. 

Overall for the season, he’s got a record of 6-3, no complete games or shutouts, a 3.58 ERA, given up 60 hits, 29 runs (all 29 earned), and has 61 strikeouts to 32 walks. 

The key to Gonzalez being the ace of the staff came after two late losses in the first two games of their three-game series against the Minnesota Twins.

Gonzalez came through in a big way—throwing seven innings while giving up six hits, two runs, and struck out four while walking one. 

With Gonzalez pitching so well he has taken over as the ace of the young A’s pitching staff in Oakland.

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The Oakland A’s are currently in a battle between two other teams for the American League West title. The A’s have some things that they need to work out to even consider being in contention for the division.

So, here are the seven things the A’s must do in order to win the American League West division.

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Dallas Braden has been all over the media by pitching only the 19^th perfect game in the history of major league baseball on May 9^th, 2010.

The accomplishment rightfully overshadowed a possible code violation, but it should be pointed out.

Braden was in the middle of a perfect game when yet another player disrespected him. In the fifth inning, Oakland was beating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-0. Evan Longoria might have committed a violation of one of baseball’s unwritten rules by attempting to bunt his way onto first thus ending Braden’s perfect game.

Longoria’s accused bush league antic sent him to the dugout. His bunt went foul and forced him to go down swinging. There were plenty of fans who were aware of his attempted breach and let Longoria hear it as he left the plate.

Joe Maddon made the following statement on MLB.com:

“We’re trying to score runs there,” Maddon said. “We’re not just trying to permit him to go into the record books. Our intent is to win the game. And actually if he gets it down, who knows what could have happened. That’s one of those other unwritten rules that I’m not a subscriber to.”

Just because someone doesn’t believe in an unwritten rule doesn’t mean they have the right to violate them.

In Alex Rodriguez’s head Braden wasn’t A-list enough to call him out when he ran across the mound. That doesn’t negate the fact that he knew he was violating the code.

The situation might have been overlooked had it been Ichiro Suzuki with the attempted bunt merely because it’s a common strategy used by the Japanese star. But Longoria is an elite power hitter that never bunts for hits. The fact is the Rays did not want to be the victim of a perfect game.

Longoria stated to the Tampa Tribune:

“I figured I’d try to take the opportunity there, maybe it stays fair and we get a runner on. At that point, you’re really not thinking about the guy’s perfect game or no-hitter; you’re just trying to get back into the game. It was a manageable game. Get somebody on and try and score.”

Critics often question the unwritten rules of baseball often missing the point. Baseball is played with grace and some acts are considered classless. The majority of players adhere to this code of conduct.

The violation would be more clear if it was in the eight or ninth inning. Dallas Braden doesn’t seem to be bothered by it but that might be only due to the fact it did not break up his perfect game.

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