I really enjoyed the A’s-Angels series, the last two games especially. Every game was well-pitched, and each game was decided by a few key plays. Make the play: you win, don’t you lose. There were only 14 runs scored in the series, and three of them were scored by runners from second base on balls that didn’t ever leave the infield. Isn’t baseball fun when the deciding runs are scored by aggressive baserunning and their defensive responses? Homers, shmomers. On Tuesday, there were three close plays at the plate. All three plays went the Angels’ way, and they won the game. On Wednesday, the A’s made the plays; the Angels made the mistakes, and the A’s got the win.

The tone of these games felt different from recent A’s games. Instead of games where the A’s were bumblin’ and stumblin’ their way into first place, the games felt sorta pennant-racy. There was an urgency to them, as if the games mattered or something. Good stuff.

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Of course, all that good feelings might be squashed if the test results come back and we find out that Bobby Crosby has a stress fracture in his back, or that Jay Payton has a broken hand, and their seasons are done. That’s what happened last year…everything was hunky dory until Crosby and Rich Harden went down, and then pfffffffffffft–all the air left the balloon. To have that happen two years in a row–Fate can be so cruel sometimes.