Game 2 Chat, Red Sox vs. Athletics in Tokyo
2008-03-26 2:00
I’m pretty zonked after staying up last night to watch the opener, but I’m going to try to get up for this game too, just because it’s Rich Harden Night. I’m happy to watch Rich Harden pitch anytime, anywhere. But I swear, the instant he leaves the game with the inevitable injured matsuge, I’ll shut my matubas and get me some good, old-fashioned inemuri.
1. Let's go, Harden!
2. Nice start there. 3 pitches and Pedroia is gone.
3. Good stuff. No radar gun, though?
4. Dang, four walks so far for Barton.
5. I sure hope walks are a stat in my fantasy league.
6. The splitter is working well.
7. If he could ever stay healthy, Harden would easily rank among the best pitchers in the game. It's a shame that just about every pitch he throws could be his last.
8. Oh, man, if Crosby can keep turning on the inside fastball like that, he might actually have a good year.
This is all too much of a good thing. Crosby will probably collide with Rich Harden next inning.
9. MGL did a study that had Harden as behind only Santana as the best pitcher in the game, when he's in the game.
10. OK, well maybe that gets Brown out of the doghouse.
11. If Harden stays healthy...and if Crosby stays healthy...and if Buck and Barton can develop into .OBP machines ...and if Street can be more healthy and consistent, I wouldn't count the A's out. Considering the injuries to the Angels rotation and the Mariners just not being that good, if things break right for Oakland, they could possibly steal the division.
12. Wow, Foulke sure has Manny's number. Never seen Manny look befuddled against anyone like he has in his last two ABs against Foulke. Weird.
13. Victory is ours!
That post-game ceremony was weird: both teams lining up on the foul line and managers thanking the fans.
14. Why were the A's the "home" team for both games? That seems unfair to them, assuming it costs them two actual home games in Oakland.
15. The only way you'll get the Red Sox to give up a home date is to pry the schedule out of John Henry's cold dead hands.
16. 9 Do you have a link to that piece? I'd love to read it. Harden looked great today, one can only imagine what the A's might have been able to accomplish had the guy not been so fragile thus far in his career.
14 The announcer did say during the telecast that the A's will be reimbursed by MLB for the lost revenue because games against the Red Sox in Oakland are always sell-outs.
17. Hey hey. Heavyweight Champs!
11 Considering how many injuries they had last season, giving the medical staff a break would be a welcome sight.
18. Caught this over at baseballmusings...
TOKYO -- Though they haven't complained publicly, the A's privately are feeling like second-class citizens here.
Officially, the A's are the home team, wearing the home uniforms and batting last. But somehow, the Sox were given the home dugout and the home clubhouse, which is significantly roomier with additional trainer's rooms.
The fans have been solidly behind the Sox, unsurprising perhaps given the presence of Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima and the team's standing.
But the playing of "Sweet Caroline,'' the Red Sox' unofficial them song, in the middle of the eighth inning may have sent the A's completely over the edge.
19. 9 It was in a blog entry or maybe a comment on insidethebook.com a couple months ago.
18 The A's will gladly take the 2nd-class status in exchange for the extra revenue. But I agree, playing the Sweet Caroline song is offensive.
20. Good to see Brown hit another HR in this Giants game. I hate the Giants, but it is not as much fun to go against them when they are just absolutely terrible.