Rally gives rise to hope

The A's made a furious last at bat rally Tuesday in search of their first win, but in the end fell a couple feet short. Katy Nelson, the potential tying run, was tagged out as she came to the plate in a close call that had A's fans' hearts in their throats. The fact that the A's cames so close was nothing short of shocking.

The A's, as usual, came out sloppy, giving up a huge 7 runs in the top of the first. Determined to make a game of it, they answered back quickly with 4 of their own highlighted by the Puma's first homerun of the season. Unfortunately, the defense stayed porous, giving up 4 more runs in the second, and four in the third. Down 15-5, the A's battled back once more. They sent 10 batters to the plate (including Ian who went 4 for 4) and scored five on the strength of back to back homeruns from Matt and Charlie. The three homers are encouraging, as the team had only two all season coming into the game.

In the 4th, the A's made a defensive shift, and sent the nauseous Charlie Mitchell in to play shortstop, and put rookie ace Katy on the mound. The A's gave up no runs, and looked prime to get back in the game. Then the bats went quiet, and the A's were shutout. Undeterred, the A's gave up only one in the fifth, but still couldn't score. Still fighting, the A's gave up none in the sixth, with Mitchell making all three putouts, but still couldn't score. Heads hung a little bit when the Grunley Way opened the 7th with a solo homer, though the extra run seemed to mean little as the lead was 18-10.

Then the A's made their stand. Mitchell exhorted Ass Manager and Futo Maki to be table setters. The set a formal dinner, both reaching base to get us to the top of the order. Then the hit parade continued. Double by Berg, 18-11. Then one out. Single by Lane, 18-12. Single by Young William, 18-14. Single by Matt, 18-15. Single by Charlie, 18-16. Single by Katy. Sac fly from Sparapani, 18-17, two outs. Single by Ian, Katy moves to third. Sneaky Pete came up with A's nation holding its collective breath. She grounded to the pitcher, hope lost. Wait She's bobbling it! Katy is steaming home from third. The pitcher picks it up and throws home, with the catcher just tagging Katy before she crosses the plate. A's lose 18-17.

It was a heck of a rally, and the first reason for optimism all season. The A's try to break in to the win column against old foe Pew's Your Daddy. Pew is sitting in second place, while the A's are down around 50th. An upset sure would be sweet.

Maybe we are perennial doormats

The A's lead late, but handed away a game to the Freedom Tiklers 17-11. Leading 10-8 with two outs in the sixth, the A's crumbled, and gave up six runs. In the bottom of the sixth, with the A's still very much alive at 14-10, the meat of the order went down 1-2-3. Another loss.

Charles to the A's: 5:20

Good day, A's (and A's fans)
Suddenly, quietly, the team has stumbled to an 0-3 start. Significantly, it seems almost noone has noticed. Maybe the losses are rolling off of our shoulders because of an inner confidence that things will turn around quickly because we have a talented roster of player/drinkers. That's what I'd like to believe. Unfortunately I have reason to believe there is another reason with some of our number. It has come to my attention that several A's were telling next weeks opponent that "we know we're gonna lose". They went so far as to challenge the other team to alternative, post-game competitions, in lieu of giving it a real shot on the field. It is sickening, disturbing, maddening.
A's, we've made it halfway up the mountain. We can't turn around and do somersaults back down, no matter how awesome and fun that sounds.
Next week marks the return of All-Star centerfielder Young William. Kang gets back from overseas. Rookie Mattallee is ready to erupt and the rest of the team is showing signs of life. Our bats won't slump all year. We need to shake this demon, of feeling like loveable losers. We're loveable winners.
So, please cleanse your minds of these negative thoughts. Think win! Think beer! Think A's!
Coach

Hats for Bats

The A's bats stayed cold last week, posting only six runs in a 20-6 thrashing at the hands of HandOn DC. The A's did finish all the beer, and had great turnout at the postgame, and even had members of the team at the bar until close, so all was not lost.

Next week is a doubleheader, including a game against big rival the Minnesota 5 Lb Bass. The Bass are 2-0 this season and 4-0 all time against the A's.

A's stumble out of the gate (again)

The A's fell to 0-2 last night, but showed a ton of guts and drank a fair amount of Miller Lite. After Chris Ford, Medicine Man, had to rush off right before game time to save a small villlage, the A's were down to seven players. Frantic calls went out. Mandy called Aziz. John called his friend Meredith. Tsoghig called Pizza Hut. Only Meredith delivered, and though she brought intensity (and her own bat) to the field, it was not enough. The undermanned A's gave up 3 to 4 runs every inning and their bats stayed ice cold, in losing to Bases Loaded 18-7.

Quickly, a few bright spots. Herr German continues to impress in the field. Despite consitent post-game comments about his 'creaky knees' and 'trick back', he continues to shine defensively. (My guess is that when Herr German says 'trick back', he doesn't mean arthritic, he means some awesome McGyver-esque trick that has gotten him out of many a scrape.) H-Bergh went three for three in his first game of the year, bringing the State Legislative Department to a whopping season total of 10 hits in 13 at bats. SLD! The Armenian Berserker and Shinouye both pitched solidly, Mattallee displayed a cannon arm from the outfield, Timeout Mary hit the ball hard, and the Ass Manager caused tremendous envy on the opposing sideline with her jersey. Perhaps most exciting was the 5th inning arrival of A's all-star center fielder Young William, who ended his holdout after three long weeks. His appearance lifted the team to a four run rally, but it was too little too late. Still, it is hopefully a harbinger of big things on the horizon.

Next week, game 3, A's vs. The DC Renovators, Tuesday, May 15th, 1st pitch at 6:30. Last year they scored 14 runs in the 2nd inning, then held on to beat us 19-15. It's another road game, at 23rd and Independence. Please let me know if you're playing soon, I'll bring the first 18 to respond. Let's get a win so I can do a real game writeup.

A's lose opener, 13-8