Oakland Athletics

A goal of many baseball fanatics is to visit all 30 Major League Baseball ballparks. Some claim this accomplishment separates the genuine baseball enthusiast from the fair-weather fan.

People who have traveled the United States in pursuit of this ambition speak of three types of stadiums.

1.      The classic ballparks:

"I could ask the Phillies to keep me on to add to my statistics, but my love for the game won't let me do that." —Mike Schmidt

It’s always refreshing for a Hall-of-Famer like Mike Schmidt to know when the time’s right to hang up the spikes.

Bob Geren's legacy as manager of the Oakland A's will always be his legendary incompetency. No manager in Major League history is as clueless at using their bullpen as Geren has been.

Tonight illustrates a perfect example of how Geren can destroy the confidence of a young pitcher. Henry Rodriguez came into the ballgame to face Paul Konerko in the top half of the eighth inning, and Rodriguez did his job keeping the game close at 3-1. 

Several times in 2010, I've used this space to lament the unfortunate trajectory on which the Oakland Athletics' season seems to routinely find itself. If it's not injuries derailing an otherwise smoothly steaming train, then it's...well....

No, it's pretty much been injuries every time, all the time.

In a move that has been anticipated for a while, the Oakland A’s have locked up catcher Kurt Suzuki for the foreseeable future.

The A’s and Suzuki agreed to a four-year, $16.25 million contract on Friday. There is a vesting option for a fifth year based on games played. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle has the breakdown of the contract:

After beginning the second half with a three-game sweep against the Kansas City Royals, the Oakland Athletics are ready to make a run at their first American League West title since 2006.

The A’s are currently 46-46 and seven games back of the division-leading Rangers. This may seem like a lot of ground to make up, but Oakland has their schedule and their pitching on their side.

Please check out my website, TheSportingRave.com . More celebrity/pop culture stories.

The newest sports movie to hit the pre-production stage, titled Moneyball,  is a story that tracks the Oakland A’s baseball team and its unconventional general manager Billy Beane, played by none other than Brad Pitt.

The Oakland A's have had an up-and-down season so far.

They were in first place in the American League West at the beginning of June.

At the All-Star Break the A's are now 43-46 and seven-and-a-half games out of first place and three games out of second.

Now is time to take a look at the grades for each player the A's have had at the break. I'll start with the infield, then outfielders, relievers, and then the starters for the A's.

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Bob Geren does not belong with the name Albert Einstein, but he does have something in common with him. That is Einstein's definition of insanity, which is doing the same things over and over again expecting a different result. 

Well, for the Oakland A's and their bullpen, Geren continues to make the same errors in decision making or in some cases the lack of decision making process. Tonight's another perfect example of Geren's insanity. 

After a miserable June, A.J. Burnett has apparently returned to form.

Burnett limited Oakland to two runs over seven innings as New York topped Oakland, 6-2, Wednesday night at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.