As rights/chest protector extraordinaire, Vic Voltaireggio, once wrote…“Baseball faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.”
Yes, maybe our knowledge tells us the A’s are still last in the American League in runs scored and last with a .228 batting average. Maybe our knowledge tells us they’re too young, too inexperienced, too lucky with those five straight one-run wins and a major league-leading 11 walk-off wins.
But why not the A’s? They’ve allowed the fewest runs in the AL—38 runs fewer than any other club. Too young? Can’t hit? I’m sure in late July of 1969 skeptics said the same thing about the New York Mets. I’m sure in July of 1991 many believed the Atlanta Braves, who had finished in last place the previous three seasons, were too inexperienced and just riding a wave. In 2008, we waited for the Tampa Bay Rays to fall apart.
Sometimes, as we apply our knowledge, we too easily ignore the emotion of the sport, strip it down to numbers, statistics and probability. Probability. That’s not the same thing as certainty. A’s general manager Billy Beane undoubtedly can see this weekend’s results and think back to his 2002 club that won 20 games in a row. What was the probability of that, even from a team far superior to this one?
5. Intangibles
Yes, let’s put it out there. Emotion, energy, the thrill of the unexpected. It means something. Maybe we can’t quantify it. Maybe there isn’t a number we can point to that analyzes it. But the something is there with this club right now.
Repoz
Posted: July 23, 2012 at 06:59 AM |
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1. Shooty is in the Trust TreeAlso, this is the real reason the A's have a chance and I think it puts Beane in a quandary. It would be easy to improve the lineup but you do so at the risk of upsetting the league's best defense on which your finesse-style pitching staff greatly relies. Time for Billy to earn that money.
COUGH
I've always been a Giants fan. I was raised in one of those annoying multi-team families as a kid. And I have nearly 40 years of bi-team memorabilia in my mother's garage to prove it! I mostly post about the A's here for some reason, though. I think it's because I discovered this site in the midst of the Moneyball wars when every thread was about the A's, steroids...or both! and I've just stuck with it. Ask me to recall the offseason the Giants brought in Al Oliver and Manny Trillo and how exciting that seemed at the time, though.
Also, shall we relive your attempt at singing a certain Journey song for the gathered audience...hmmm?
How would trading a pitcher or 3 for a SS who can hit upset the defense....as long as it's not Howard Johnson or somebody? The bigger problem is that it would drain the pitching depth, but I'm for worrying about that in the offseason.
And I've already said I sounded like crap. ;-)
They could trade Coco and play Cespedes in CF. Or I'm sure they could find someone who hits better than Inge who isn't as good with the glove.
The .228 specifically will probably tick northward, as outlier stats always tend to gravitate toward the norm as the sample size increases. But the A's offensive issues are legitimate. They have craters at multiple positions.
Though I hope I'm wrong, this assessment makes me skeptical that it's time to start believing in the Athletics.
I'd say it's a question of what we're "believing" in the Athletics to do. Have they arrived as an elite team? No. But are they a genuine Wild Card contender? I'd say yes. Their run prevention is something to believe in.
Accepting the article's premise (do nothing to upset the delicate psyche of the pitching staff) requires leaving the catchers alone (it is hard to understate how terrifically awful Suzuki has been at the plate this season), but acquiring a second baseman, shortstop, or third baseman who could sniff a 100 OPS+ would be a massive upgrade. Massive.
That assumes that the Carter/Moss and Smith/Gomes platoons are legit, and that Crisp has gotten over his early-season troubles, otherwise those spots could be improved at all.
Realistically they're probably committed to riding it out with Weeks, as good as he was last year, but it wouldn't be difficult or upsetting (presumably) to make some progress at SS or 3B.
Yes, let’s put it out there. Emotion, energy, the thrill of the unexpected. It means something. Maybe we can’t quantify it. Maybe there isn’t a number we can point to that analyzes it. But the something is there with this club right now."
Intangibles is the new market inefficiency.
Ya, I hope they don't do these things. I'm ready to get a real SS, say, I don't know, Yunel Escobar, and promote Donaldson to catch and see what happens.
I don't think they're looking to jettison Weeks just yet, and I'm actually OK with Inge at 3B since I believe his defense could be as good as his +10 UZR so far. I'm fine with upgrading SS and C and letting it ride. I'd like some bullpen help too.
I was somewhat alarmed to see that the Mariners didn't have the worst team BA. My sense of order was restored when I checked the Team OPS column. Whew!
1) They are still a mediocre team. Just one that is on a hot streak. There's a losing 9 of 11 out there for them too.
2) This doesn't change anything about management's intentions. This intangibles crap and not hurting the defense is a perfect excuse since the powers that be are not interested in anything but a new stadium. They're not going to make any kind of move that positions them as "going for it." They're not interested in any of that.
Know this.
I'm here too. They should be trying to upgrade those positions regardless anyway given the black holes they have become. SS would seem to be the greater priority - Suzuki was decent as of last year and a 44 OPS+ might be in line for some kind of regression to the non-suck. They also have Sizemore injured for the year so that's theoretically a decent 3B who should be around next year, for whatever that's worth at the moment.
But he wears though philosophy major glasses. He's too busy worrying about early Wittgenstein to hit.
Anthony Gose? Matt Holliday?
A's adopt "Weekend at Bernie's 2"-inspired dance to keep loose and now to celebrate home runs. This might not be news to people in the Bay Area, but I just became aware of it watching the games on TV over the weekend.
The video that inspired Blevins, Crisp, and Inge. The guy in the purple shirt has Bernie Lomax down cold.
So, why have his walks and hr collapsed and his strikeouts bumped up?
He's supposedly been playing through a hand injury since early May (Bard HBP), but he wasn't exactly tearing it up before then. But Norris hasn't hit well since April. I think I'm warming to Ivan's idea of giving Donaldson another shot if they're comfortable with his defense. He was godawful in the majors earlier this year, but he's been the best hitter in Sacramento.
Nightengale apparently tweeted the same thing. It would be like Howard Johnson at SS. I guess we shouldn't care about defense as long as the offense is good enough to make up for the downgrade there, and the Yankees won many World Series's with Jeter and Brosius at SS and 3B. It won't be aesthetically pleasing on defense, but I guess I'm OK with it. As a bonus, I'm hoping that Fangraphs is underestimating how hard it is for a righty to hit in the Marlins stadium and that Hanley is actually more than an average MLB hitter this year....if they actually trade for him that is.
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