Oh, and:

“Last year only one A’s starter had an OPS over .800 (Jack Cust) and he’s now in Seattle.”

Cust is hitting .176 out of the four hole for the M’s this year, with an OPS of .511! Want him back? We would of course demand just compensation, such as you running across the Bay Bridge to AT&T and picking us up an order of Garlic Fries.

Coghlan’s 3 run double puts the Pheesh up 4, despite some horrendous baserunning by Stanton et al, who tiptoes around the bags as if he were afraid he might harm them somehow, and with Anibal by the Sea, hurling through 3 shutout innings it appears the Pheelies will still be looking up at the Pheesh, come morn.

As far as Cincinnati chili, though, that stuff is going to taste the same no matter where you eat it. >urrrrrrppppppp. ‘Scuse me.

Mwahahhahahahaaaaaaa….!!!!

I feel kind of sorry for the Pirates. They had the best chance to see what they had in this guy and not only wasted their chance but nearly his career. I love a good underdog story. There’s a nice novel in this one.

And your top ranked Canucks almost fell victim to Heyward’s Hawks—who just happened to be on the verge of not making the playoffs, not to mention facing an 0-3 series hole. Any worries about that, beaver boy?

And I also highly doubt that Jose is a user. I mean look at him, he’s built like normal guy in shape, because he’s a pro athlete and all, maybe…….

Speaking of Amarista’s vertical challenges, he may be listed at 5’7″, but standing next to such skyscrapers as Aybar and Callaspo it was pretty clear that 5’7″ is a height devoutly to be wished and never to be obtained. My guess is 5’5″, maybe, in spikes. He is every bit a product of the Angels clone factory where they stamp out slick-fielding, fast slap-hitters who sting the ball and show good poise at the plate while making every play in the middle infield.

Tonight is Dan Haren v. Tyson Ross with the Angels looking for the sweep, and only half a game behind the Rangers. Those Rangers come to Oakland Friday, sans Hamilton and Feliz, but still with plenty more offense than the A’s.

One of Comcast’s “Baseball Insiders” was a guest in the broadcast booth last night, and he predicted the A’s offense would “come alive” soon because there were too many “professional hitters” in the A’s lineup. This is true, strictly speaking, as all these guys are being paid to hit. What’s at issue is the degree to which they are and can be successful at this endeavor relative to their peers. If their peer group is limited to say, the Padres, or the Pirates, then yes, they will “come alive” at some point. But for most of this collection of A’s their best days are behind them, whether those days were in AAA or with another MLB team, or from a career year now long past.

Oakland has allowed only 81 runs so far this season. That’s 1 more than Philly, who have allowed the fewest in the majors. But Philly has a +20 run differential while the A’s are +2. Despite not having Utley in the lineup, and all the other “woes” we see ascribed to the Philly offense, that +20 is consistent with a division leader (Cleveland and St Louis are +30 to lead the category). Last year only one A’s starter had an OPS over .800 (Jack Cust) and he’s now in Seattle. This year no A’s regular is over .800.

Can the A’s offense “come alive”? They may improve marginally. There will be the occasional “explosion”. But A’s owners are treading water here, awaiting the outcome of the Selig slow-boat to San Jose commission. The team on the field is a .500 team, not an embarrassment, but not worth the prices they are charging for tickets most nights. In any other business if you had as much unsold product as the A’s (empty seats) you’d drop prices to clear inventory. The A’s have chosen the Angelos Way, which is to play to empty stadiums and pay out less than you take in from TV and revenue sharing. No, it would take Dr. Frankenstein to make this A’s offense “come alive.”

In other game related news, Brett Tomko looked better than the starter, Harrison, a kid a decade or so younger than he. Us old guys can still bring, eh?

The Canucks won. Wooo-hooo! A nailbiter in OT. A veritable beaver-fest of joy, innit?

Oh, and the Phlyers won, as I’d sort of hoped they would. So the Phaithphul still have something to be happy about, too.

I’ll be in Cincinnati this weeked to see the Cincinnati Ballet’s collaboration with Over the Rhine and will most likely pay attention to the Reds on local cable at the hotel as part of my ongoing project to watch at least one game per season featuring two teams about which I care not a rat’s ass. But also must buy a few packages of goetta (which I guess you could think of as Cincinnati scrapple – though that’s forcing it a bit) to bring home without having to pay insane next-day shipping prices.