Larry Brown Sports

If fans at the Coliseum choose to wear light-up jackets, they should be allowed to wear light-up jackets. Why? Because they’re fans and they’re at the Coliseum.  That’s a rarity.  Why piss off 20 percent of the fans that chose to attend your game?

Apparently the light-up jackets worn by an A’s and an Orioles fan Tuesday night were distracting enough that they were told to turn them off.  They were seated behind home plate, so I guess the field umpire thought they would distract the pitcher and/or fielders?  Who knows.  Check out the video of the fans with light-up jackets, courtesy of MLB.com via Big League Stew:

Add this to the list of reasons C.J. Wilson can’t stand the A’s.

C.J. Wilson is one free agent who will be commanding huge bucks this upcoming MLB offseason. While an agent would probably advise its client to keep all options open to improve bargaining power, Wilson doesn’t seem to care.  That’s how much he hates Oakland and everything about their baseball team.  Either that, or he’s pulling the best free agent ploy we have ever witnessed.

“I hate pitching there,” Wilson told the Star-Telegram. “The mound sucks. The fans suck. There are no fans there. The fans who are there are really adamant, but sometimes you’ll go there and there’s 6,000 fans. I just wish the fan base supported them a little more.

“So, you don’t have to worry about me signing there in the off-season,” Wilson added after mentioning that he doesn’t even like the weather. “The players on their team hate me. Whatever. I don’t care. We’re rivals.”

I guess that cuts the list of potential suitors for the left-hander down a bit — not that the A’s would spend big bucks on a pitcher anyways.  My only question is does the mound really suck or does it simply belong to someone else?

On Tuesday we brought you the thoughts of A’s reliever Brian Fuentes who ripped manager Bob Geren for his lack of communication regarding bullpen roles. It was hard to determine which side was right — Fuentes had been pitching poorly and it seemed like he was blaming someone else for his problems. Geren meanwhile should be communicating with his players and notifying them of their duties.

Though it was easy to side with the manager on the matter, comments from former Oakland closer Huston Street, now the closer for the Rockies, paints Geren in an even worse light.

“Bob was never good at communication, and I don’t want to speak for anybody else, but it was a sentiment reflected in many conversations during the two years I spent in Oakland, and even recently when talking to guys after I left,” Street told the San Francisco Chronicle. “For me personally, he was my least favorite person I have ever encountered in sports from age 6 to 27. I am very thankful to be in a place where I can trust my manager.”

Keep in mind that Street had a run-in with Geren in September ’08 when both were with Oakland, so there’s some obvious tension. Also, second baseman Mark Ellis backed Geren up saying he’s always been fine with him. Still, it seems to be a trend where relievers have a difficult time getting along with Geren. He may not be the worst person in baseball, but it’s pretty obvious he needs to communicate with his players much better. I’m guessing this is an issue GM Billy Beane plans on addressing.

I’ve started to pick up on a somewhat of a theme over the past few weeks.  For whatever reason, MLB players don’t seem to like when things they say end up as catch phrases on t-shirts.  I’m not sure if it’s because they want a cut of the profits, they’re embarrassed by the attention, or some other reason but, Dallas Braden and Dustin Pedroia have both recently expressed discontent over shirts that have been made in their honor.

Braden is the most recent example.  He thinks the “Get Off My Mound” shirts the Oakland Athletics are selling — which is of course a reference to the famous barking attack Braden unleashed on A-Rod when he ran across the back of the mound — are a poor marketing tool and he’d rather the incident go away.  Here’s what he had to say about the shirts, courtesy of Out of Bounds via New York Daily News:

It’s just not cool,” Braden told the New York Daily News, referring to the shirt. “It’s just a serious, gross lack of tact. At the end of the day, I hope I do not become associated with that kind of approach.”

“They’re trying to generate revenue, trying to get butts in the seat, I can see that,” Braden said. “It’s almost like, at what cost do you do that? They didn’t have permission. They were told on multiple occasions, that, no, it’s not a good idea. It’s not going to be approved. They just kind of put the horse-blinders on and ran with it.”

Read The Rest of the Story…

I learned my lesson (for the 82nd time) this year, that you can never underestimate Billy Beane. After he traded away Dan Haren and Nick Swisher leading into the season, I said the A’s had conceded 2008. They’re happily in 2nd place in the AL West, well over .500. What the **** do I know. Anyway, I think the Rich Harden trade definitely was one worth making for the Cubs, and was probably smart on the A’s part as well.

At first glance, the A’s got completely ripped off. Which probably means Beane got a steal. Sure, Beane was fleeced on the Tim Hudson deal after Dan Meyer decided to suck upon being dealt to Oakland, but there’s no doubting Beane’s track record — he’s awesome. Beane’s already received at least equal value in both the Haren and Swisher deals, and most of the prospects haven’t even come close to blossoming yet. So let’s break this trade down on both ends.

For the Cubs, they’re getting an ace who’s capable of pitching seven pretty unhittable innings in a ballgame. Rich Harden is one of the harder-throwing starters in the game, also possessing a devastating change up that he mixes in frequently. The dude needs a milk IV pumping into his bones not to mention a bubble to sleep in so he can be healthy, but he’s dominant when he’s out there, however infrequently it may be. The Cubs are essentially getting Mark Prior once again, and everyone knows how frustrating that can be. They’re rolling the dice and taking a gamble that can have a huge reward, and one that probably makes them the favorite at the sportsbook. If it doesn’t pay off, they’re not going to be hurt too much by losing the players they traded away. If it does pay off, they could be looking at winning a World Series. It was definitely a gamble worth taking.

Read The Rest of the Story…

Quickly, what’s the best team in the AL? If you were thinking Boston, New York, Cleveland, or Anaheim, you’re wrong. Those four playoff teams from last year are enjoying mixed success this year, with both Boston and Anaheim at 8-6. But much to my surprise, and probably yours, it’s not one of these talented and high-payroll teams that leads the league — it’s the Oakland A’s who currently hold the best record the AL. Only a couple of months ago I declared that the A’s had conceded the 2008 season. Clearly they’re out to prove me wrong.

While I don’t think they can keep it up, I’m nevertheless impressed by their solid start. You really can’t harbor any animosity towards this team; they’re so well-run that you can’t do anything but respect what them. Sure, Rich Harden and Justin Duchscherer are already on the DL, but this team is looking good. Dana Eveland who was acquired in the Haren trade has been lights out. Andrew Brown, Santiago Casilla, and Keith Foulke have been money in the pen. The staff as a whole has an ERA right around 3.50. They’re not swinging the bat especially well, but guys like Mark Ellis, Bobby Crosby, and Emil Brown have provided well-timed hits. This team doesn’t have even one borderline star on the team yet they’re playing well. How the heck do they do it? And how does Billy freaking Beane field a competitive team every single season?

This touches me, and pretty much anyone who read the outstanding book by Michael Lewis, Moneyball, deeply. Jeremy Brown was “the Badger” — the prototypical Moneyball player, one of the focuses of the book. He wasn’t pretty, didn’t look good with his shirt off, and he wasn’t heavily scouted coming out of college. But Billy Beane’s scouting system saw something — they saw a catcher who mixed an outstanding on-base percentage with some good power. They took Brown in the first round of the draft at a discounted rate when most people thought he was an extremely late round pick, if that. Beane reminded his scouts that they weren’t “selling blue jeans,” and looks didn’t matter. Well, after a career that’s lasted six years in the minors, and one 10-game stint in the majors, it appears as if Brown is calling it quits:

Brown … called Oakland assistant general manager David Forst on Tuesday and said that, for personal reasons the A’s chose not to disclose, he would not arrive in spring training camp.

The A’s announced Brown’s decision as a retirement, but general manager Billy Beane said it could be viewed more as a sabbatical, based on the fact that the A’s told Brown he would be welcomed back if he decided to change his mind.

I really don’t know what his reason for not reporting is, but I do know that at 28, he could have felt old for a minor leaguer. Maybe he thought his future wasn’t as a professional ballplayer. Sad news. The bright side is that Brown was 3-for-10 in the majors, and could retire as a .300 hitter for his career if he is hanging it up.