Thursday, October 12, 2006

Being down 2-0 Sucks

It feels real emtpy. Let me make one thing clear, though: We are NOT out of this. But, if we do in fact want to be in this, the Oakland A's absolutely MUST win Games 3 and 4. No bones about it. For that to happen, we need:

1)Rich Harden to pitch up to his talent level. Pretty simple, he either brings it like we've seen him bring it before, or we're left hoping for a 2004 Red Sox like resurgence.

2)Dan Haren steps up big. The man has the stuff, the poise, and the smarts to put in a huge start against the Tigers. Will he? I don't know, but I know he can, and he knows he can, so we've got a fighting chance.

3)Frank Thomas wakes up. In what might have been one of the biggest blue-ball moments in post season history, Thomas left 3 men on base as he popped out tonight as we sat losing by 3. It had the makings of one of those magical, unforgettable, Kirk Gibson baseball moments. It didn't happen, but make no mistake, this man can still hit. If the sleeping giant wakes up, we're in all that better a position.

Finally...

4)The defense shows back up. Play Mark Kiger at second if you must, because D'Angelo Jimenez is a joke. Nick Swisher, you need to smarten up yourself, both at the plate and on the field. Eric Chavez, be the gold glover you are. Tonight you couldve made a play that you had no real business making, that could very well have saved the game early on for us. When you're on your best, you're talented enough defensively to make that play and shift the game. We need that out of you.



Again, it's only 2-0, and I like Harden vs. Rogers, and Haren vs. Bonderman. We are not done by any means just yet.



In the meantime, the Sharks look good so far, at least. And there's always the Warriors coming up. They never let you down. Nice consistent suckery. (Although now that Donnieboy's back, we may actually have a shot there too.)


Again, don't count out these A's just yet. They're a resilient bunch.

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