There is the price of gas, the $15 parking fee, the gates that stay closed during Oakland's batting practice, the annual find-the-A's-on-the-radio game.

This really is a huge issue. You have to make such an effort to be an A's fan. To take a look at a team that's basically the polar opposite, the Red Sox are always easily found on TV or the radio, always in your face at Dunkin Donuts or some place, always visible. The Giants are similar. Even though they suck, they're always visible.

Even when the A's are winning, they just aren't very easy to follow for the casual fan.

Even though I'm an A's fan, I don't even pay them much attention during the season anymore, and that includes the regular season in 2006, so it's not like I'm off the bandwagon just because they aren't going to the postseason. There is one reason for that which can be stated with two words: Glen Kuiper.

He is the personification of these bland A's. Kuiper's game calling is roughly as good as mine was when I was in second grade and turned down the volume to pretend I was announcing. He makes the games damn-near unwatchable.

This really is a huge issue. You have to make such an effort to be an A's fan.

We Nationals fans know where you're coming from.

It's funny how the A's were attacked as playing boring baseball when they were perceived to be a softball keg-league team who would score a bunch of runs by ignoring defense. Now they're getting the same crap for being a pitching and defense team.

And not to defend the A's crappy offense, but is it really more boring than the Royals?

Try being an A's fan in New York. I don't know who handles the media/marketing wing of the A's, but they do an awful, awful job. The A's actually have a pretty good national following that they are just wasting. It just seems that the business side of the organization is run in a very disinterested fashion. Luckily I was born in Hayward and am an A's fan by the grace of God and so on, etc.

Here I was thinking that walks and homers were boring and pitching and defense were the morally correct way to win baseball games.

Here I was thinking that walks and homers were boring and pitching and defense were the morally correct way to win baseball games.

The IBA, like Cohn, also has a hard on for Beane. The more Cohn and IBA squeal, the more comfortable I become with what Billy is up to.

Kuiper's game calling is roughly as good as mine was when I was in second grade and turned down the volume to pretend I was announcing.

Glad to hear that I'm not the only one who did that.

I thought I was pretty good...

Here I was thinking that walks and homers were boring and pitching and defense were the morally correct way to win baseball games.

I don't know about morals, but walks and homers are boring.

The A's problem isn't that they're boring. It's that they're anonymous. Looking at yesterday's box score, the A's didn't play a single player that a casual fan would recognize. And A's fans know that as soon as a player gets good, they're gone.

And A's fans know that as soon as a player gets good, they're gone.

Except for Chavez. Grrr.

Anyway, to speak of happier things that I have yet to see linked here at BBTF, how about Brad Ziegler? A fringe prospect, spends a couple of years learning to throw sidearm, and he's just set the AL record for scoreless innings to start a career. He's been writing at diary for Athletics Nation for a couple of years now and it's easy to root for him, even if you're not an A's fan. He's just a good story.

Oakland's lineup yesterday and what I know about them (and what I know may be wrong):

Oakland Athletics
1. R Sweeney RF - Got him mixed up with Mike Sweeney the first time I heard of him
2. K Suzuki C - He's American born, right?
3. J Cust DH - Famous prospect finally getting a chance
4. E Brown LF - Played a few years back for the Pirates. KC picked him up last year in the Rule V draft
5. C Gonzalez CF - Who?
6. B Crosby SS - Former ROY. Known around here as the Porcelain Mormon. Dad was Ed Crosby.
7. J Hannahan 3B - I recognize the name, but know little about him
8. W Bankston 1B
9. B Conrad 2B

G Smith P

I have no idea who these last three are. But I've heard of Alan Embree and he relieved in the game!

Okay. I was off on Brown. But he was hitting cleanup?

"I have no idea who these last three are."

Carlos Gonzalez: Top OF prospect also picked up in the Haren deal. Not really a CF, but playing one on TV. Hitting a ridiculous # of doubles right now.
Jack Hannahan: Former Detroit prospect, picked up in a minor trade last year. Oakland's regular 3B with Chavez out. Really struggling this year.
Wes Bankston: A good 1B prospect with Tampa a few years ago, kind of hit a plateau at AAA and then bounced around on waivers. Only up for a few weeks so far, wasn't hitting very well at AAA before that. Probably not long for the majors.
Brooks Conrad: Longtime Astros minor leaguer and pseudo-prospect, 2B/3B, some pop, some contact issues. Signed as a minor league FA this offseason.
Greg Smith: Young lefty picked up from Arizona in the Haren deal. Has done pretty well this year, leaning heavily on his D (as with most of Oakland's pitchers).

I am such a huge dork.

"But he was hitting cleanup?"

That one, I can't explain.

I can. Cap'n Bicycle Kick and his best man are morons.

And you forgot to add that Greg Smith has the greatest pickoff move in the history of ever.

Ryan Sweeney - I learned a couple months ago that this guy is an outfielder for the A's. Probably sucks or he would have been traded already, since he's been on the team for almost a year now.
Kurt Suzuki - catcher for the A's. from Hawaii
Jack Cust - everyone knows this guy.
Emil Brown - extremely mediocre outfielder from the Royals
Carlos Gonzalez - came to the A's in the Haren trade. Probably a centerfielder though I may be confusing him with Carlos Gomez.
Bobby Crosby - everyone knows this guy.
Jack Hannahan - infielder for the A's. Probably sucks or he would have been traded already, since he's been on the team for over a year now.
W Bankston - who?
B Conrad - who?
Greg Smith - came to the A's in the Haren trade. Starting pitcher.

I would guess that Emil Brown and Bobby Crosby combine for about ten times as much major league experience as the other 8 guys put together. Maybe twenty times as much. And those two guys are only about 30 years old themselves.

The real problem is the boring names.

Hey, the A's have exciting new players! An outfielder named Gonzalez, an outfielder named Sweeney, a pitcher named Smith, and a reliever named Brown! These guys are like the equivalent of the generic "FOOD" containers in Repo Man.

"Wes Bankston" and "Brooks Conrad" sound like generic ballplayers too. This team desperately needs an owner that will force stupid nicknames on the players, instead of the absentee landlords that own the A's today.

"But he was hitting cleanup?"

That one, I can't explain.

I can. That lineup goes L/R/L/R/L/R/L/R/S ... the first three lefties are the best hitters in the lineup, one is a legit big bat, one young and above average, and one a blue chip prospect, but the RHB are all bad ... Brown might be the best of the bunch, and that's said with a straight face (and a sigh).

Carlos Gonzalez: Top OF prospect also picked up in the Haren deal. Not really a CF, but playing one on TV. Hitting a ridiculous # of doubles right now.

From what I have seen and from the stats I have seen, he has been pretty damn good in CF so far.

Cap'n Bicycle Kick

It took me a couple of minutes to figure this one out, but that's hilarious.

From what I have seen and from the stats I have seen, he has been pretty damn good in CF so far.

I think he looks pretty good out there. That play he made while in right field against the Yankees was just sick. No, not when he dropped the ball, but the catch he made in the 9th to save the game. He's a keeper.

Try being an A's fan in New York. I don't know who handles the media/marketing wing of the A's, but they do an awful, awful job. The A's actually have a pretty good national following that they are just wasting. It just seems that the business side of the organization is run in a very disinterested fashion. Luckily I was born in Hayward and am an A's fan by the grace of God and so on, etc.

Boston. Ditto. (not about Hayward though. Raised in Benicia.)

The A's have always had a very solid die-hard fan base, as evidenced by the popularity of a place like Athletics Nation, but their marketing deparmtent is so goddamned incompetent that they've never come close to really developing any kind of casual fan base. At least not in my fan lifetime (which, admittedly, ain't been very long).

Forget about nuanced marketing approaches like taking advantage of Rickey Henderson, who everyone loves (not even a bobblehead day or something? Really?), they can't even do something as simple as get a reasonable TV and radio deal.

The A's have always had a very solid die-hard fan base, as evidenced by the popularity of a place like Athletics Nation, but their marketing deparmtent is so goddamned incompetent that they've never come close to really developing any kind of casual fan base. At least not in my fan lifetime (which, admittedly, ain't been very long).

It isn't just in your fan lifetime. The A's chronic inability/unwillingness to invest in a competent radio/TV coverage plan goes all the way back to Charley O. As a result, even though they've generally put a better team on the field than the Giants, the Giants, who despite many other failings have always had very extensive radio/TV, have a much broader and wider geographical fanbase.

You have to make such an effort to be an A's fan.

I don't know... I hop on the BART and I'm there in minutes.

But seriously, you guys are no doubt right with respect to the poor marketing, compared to other teams. Speaking of BART, though, there are really cool poster advertisements for the A's on the BART trains. Hmmm I wonder if they bother to take down the posters that feature players who have just been traded?

Boston. Ditto. (not about Hayward though. Raised in Benicia.)

Born in Oakland. I win. Grew up in Albany and then Berkeley though, so I'm still beatable.

Glad to hear that I'm not the only one who did that.

I thought I was pretty good

I announced my Strato games as well.

Fun game, coming up with your off-the-cuff impressions. I have no real idea what any of the A's numbers are, outside of a vague awareness for a couple of guys.

Ryan Sweeney - Decent White Sox prospect, actually quite a bit better than I thought he was.
Kurt Suzuki - Future All-Star? Asian.
Jack Cust - Mr. Three True Outcomes. Defense that would make Clint Eastwood cry, which is why he doesn't play defense anymore.
Emil Brown - Jos Posnanski thought he would perform as well or better than Jose Guillen, right?
Carlos Gonzalez - Good OF prospect. I wouldn't know him if I passed him on the sidewalk.
Bobby Crosby - Peter Gammons once was pimping him as a future MVP.
Jack Hannahan - Know the name, that's all. Or maybe I'm thinking Joel Hanrahan (sp?). Or Jack Hanna from the San Diego Zoo.
W Bankston - Former Tampa Bay minor league slugger.
B Conrad - No idea.
Greg Smith - Poor man's Kenny Rogers.

My Dad is a diehard Athletics fan, and always has been. When we moved to this country in the late 1960s, we had never seen baseball or American football. My Dad became an Oakland Raiders fan, mainly because in the days of Daryle Lamonica and Warren Wells, they threw long on just about every play, and that was exciting and easy to understand for people unfamilar with the game. Since he adopted Oakland as his football team, he adopted Oakland as his baseball team, too, and he's been a loyal Athletics fan ever since...

#25, is there a series of these type of posters?

Rich Harden

Sadly, most of the impressions I have of these guys are from the RLPA (the OOTP league that started off of BTF), so I'm not even going to bother.

Most pickoffs in a season, Wild Card era:

Hey, I want to play this game too!

Ryan Sweeney - White Sox prospect that it feels like I've been hearing about since 1986, but honestly, that's about all I know about him. He was hitting OK last I checked, but that was a while ago.

Kurt Suzuki - I love the name and keep wondering if he's going to put KURT on the back of his jersey. I would. I actually noticed last year that there are about 10 catchers in baseball right now that can hit a lick, and he had a good chance to be one of them.

Jack Cust - Captain of the Three True Outcomes team. We all know him.

Emil Brown - Guy that really, really sucks. I mean, the Royals got rid of him.

Carlos Gonzalez - Centerpiece of the Haren package. Seems he's holding his own in the majors, especially given plus defense. He's real young, isn't he? Like 22? ... OK, I checked and yes, he's 22, but no, he's not holding his own, not with a .303 OBP.

Bobby Crosby - Guy that was hot business for about 10 minutes back in the 1940s, but he's basically been injured and/or ineffective ever since.

Jack Hannahan - Like LIMA TIME!, I know Jack Hannahan is a position player and Joel Hanrahan is a pitcher, but that's about all I know about either one of them. I know HANRAHAN was one of the pitchers on the Cubs in Ken Griffey Jr. Presents MLB on the SNES, along with the staff ace, DRIFTER. I think they were Mike Morgan and Jose Guzman, respecively... OK, I checked, and my memory serves. Man, I played the snot out of that game.

Wes Bankston - I know who this guy is because he turned into Frank Thomas in my last Mogul franchise. Otherwise, I wouldn't have a clue besides a vague 'he was in the Rays system once, right?'

Brooks Conrad - There was a pretty strong FREE BROOKS CONRAD! campaign going on among BPro and some other sabermetric sorts for a year or two, while the Astros were demonstrating their lack of a foggy idea what a good baseball player looks like. So suffice to say I'm not surprised he's in Oakland now.

Greg Smith - I don't know who this guy is. Was he part of the Haren trade, too? I honestly don't know. OK, I checked... yeah, he was.

That was fun. I think I'll go and do that for some other lineups and fire up the ol' blog. Streams of consciousness are great enjoyment.

I would guess that Emil Brown and Bobby Crosby combine for about ten times as much major league experience as the other 8 guys put together.

I remember the Giants and Barry Zito facing the A's this spring training, and the A's beat the hell out of Barry. I was going to make a joke about how Zito was helping his friends out, but when I looked at the lineup (which was a pretty standard one, it wasn't the B-team or anything,) I realized he had not played with ANY of the guys he had faced. He had only been gone from the team for a year!

I tend to fall in the camp that thinks Beane has over-rebuilt as it were, but I'm willing to wait and see. If this admittedly-now-stacked farm sytem leads to a dynasty, great. If it fizzles out, well, I don't think not going for it this year from six games behind will haunt anyone forever, but it still will have been dumb.

Bobby Crosby - Guy that was hot business for about 10 minutes back in the 1940s

No, that was Bing. You should hear him duet on "The Little Drummer Boy" with Micah Bowie, though!

No, I know which is which -- Bing was the one that was able to do his job 8 months out of the year. Not Bobby. See!

I never realized until this headline that Oakland has an ungrammatical logo.