Magic Number is 37
Choke Thread
The topic for today:
Of the myriad possible ways for the A's to choke in September, describe the scenario that produces the helpless gasping for air that begs the late-arriving Heimlich.
I'll go first:
Larry Davis, Oakland's head trainer, washes his digusting hair for the first time this season and none of the players recognize him, leading to numerous bangs and bruises going untreated, weakening the squad and contributing to an 0-8 slide sometime before the tree leaves start turning the color of an Angel jersey.
And also, it is almost September and time to check out the growing SBNation family of Football Blogs:
NFC
NFC East
Blogging the Boys (Cowboys)
Hogs Haven (Redskins)
NFC North
Windy City Gridiron (Bears)
Pride Of Detroit (Lions)
Daily Norseman (Vikings)
NFC West
Field Gulls (Seahawks)
AFC
AFC East
Pats Pulpit (Patriots)
AFC North
Cincy Jungle (Bengals)
Dawgs By Nature (Browns)
Behind the Steel Curtain (Steelers)
AFC South
Stampede Blue (Colts)
Big Cat Country (Jaguars)
AFC West
Arrowhead Pride (Chiefs)
Mile High Report (Broncos)
I guess you can make this a How will Brett Favre do in his final season thread if you are more inclined, seeing as he has more of a chance to something with his green and gold than Soon-to-Choakland...
0 recs | 72 comments
Ken Macha will panic. Yet again.
And, even though it will be all good news for the Halos, the impact of his unique ability to underthink and overmanage will be painful to watch. Yet, as with any train wreck, we won't be able to avert our eyes from the disaster.Stirrups - August 31, 2006
Bring Up the Young Guns
I am not one to throw in the towel, but unless this team starts playing with some heart (and Oakland comes back to earth), I say bring up all of our "Untouchable" players and let them get some Big League experience. Last nights W was nice, particularly because they had to come back to win,they did not give up any Un-Earned Runs for a change, and there were no third base coaching blunders.You missed a vital link in your SB Nation.
FinHeaven.com (Miami Dolphins) maybe there's hope now that we have a QB again. It's been a long time since the days of Dan Marino.
Rex DaKine Budler - August 31, 2006
Big reason why we won last night
We gave up:No earned runs
No walks
thrill000 - August 31, 2006
I think it starts small...
Friday-they lose by 2 runs after a top of the ninth rally by Baltimore.Saturday-Haren gets a hang nail and can't pitch out of the 2nd inning, but by that time, it's too late: Baltimore's already up by 9. This game also taxes Oakland's bullpen, who never end up bouncing back for the remander of the season.
Sunday-Loaiza gets a mysterious stomach ailment and can't pitch. During the game, it's evident Oakland players are starting to grip realizing they might get swept at home by Baltimore and they realize they have indeed entered The Month of September.
Who needs stats? This is how it will happen.
thrill000 - August 31, 2006
There's a lesson in this quote
Homer: It's just a little dirty. It's still good, it's still good![Passes traffic, jumps a bridge and lands in the water.]
It's just a little slimy, it's still good, it's still good!
[It gets caught in a dam spillway, and when the pressure builds, it shoots into the sky.]
It's just a little airborne, it's still good, it's still good!
Bart: [crestfallen] It's gone.
Homer: I know.
TimeToFaceFacts - August 31, 2006
Ya think
that a 7.5 game lead will evaporate that quickly? Wow.Rev Halofan - August 31, 2006
Hah.
180 slam DUNK.scottnak - August 31, 2006
A's fans' reaction to this year's choke job:
After the A's perform a perfectly sculpted meltdown this month, their hapless fans will look in bewilderment at each other and say one or more of the following:a) "Fire Macha."
b) "I told you Frank Thomas was a bust!"
c) "How can this be? My calculator must be broken."
d) "You know what, I gotta hand it to those HH folks -- they really never gave up hope."
ok, so the last one probably won't happen...
yeswecan - August 31, 2006
Yeah...
..it seems to me that they are actually angry/annoyed that we aren't giving up hope.NPCody - August 31, 2006
It has more to do
with the attitude and behavior of our fans.Why can't we just root for our team without denigrating Oakland at every turn, and giving more creedence to the stereotypes that all baseball fans have on Angels fans? Or maybe they're right, and Angels fans really are stupid, classless and immature. I'd like to think we can do better than this, though.
When Oakland clinches the division (and they will), the right thing to do would be to congratulate them on the division championship and wish them good luck in the playoffs. Some Angels fans will do that, but I get the feeling that everybody here will continue to be petty, arrogant, childish and petulant.
And that's very sad.
TimeToFaceFacts - August 31, 2006
WHY CAN'T WE?
Uhhhh, because we play them 19 times a seasonUhhhh, because they talk that "no fans before 2002" shit when every other AL West team's fans are fairer-weather than anywhere else in sports
Because the fan experience isn't a frickin' tea party with divine blueberry crumpets and sweet tasty yellow poundcake.
Without the bluster two team's fans may as well be groups of bookworms in a librabry occasioanlly SHUSHING those weird other kids in different colored clothes at the other table.
And why shold we wish THEM any luck in the playoffs - Seattle isn't in the playoffs so they have no chance to win a series at all there... but they willl likely choak first and not make it.
Rev Halofan - August 31, 2006
And with that
you've gone and proven my point perfectly. Congrats.I never claimed that our fans should act like they would at a White House dinner, but this is just ridiculous. I realize that you're probably a young college age (or thereabouts) kid, so perspective isn't something you will likely have for a decade or maybe more, but you need to realize that your actions and words are casting a disparaging light on Angels fans everywhere.
We don't all act like you, and thank God for that.
TimeToFaceFacts - August 31, 2006
You're a dork
Higz - August 31, 2006
He thinks i will grow up to be a wise man
wow, that troll better FACE THE FACTS that i am going to be sucking his scocial security taxes DRY before he ever gets a chance to party at the senior center.At the Senior Citizen Center Tea Party ! ! ! !
Rev Halofan - August 31, 2006
woooo - Conga Line, people!
Higz - August 31, 2006
Time To Face Facts
We're gonna conga with FaceTheFacts' momma and spend his ineritance on Diamond Club Tickets!Rev Halofan - August 31, 2006
If he's gonna place you that far back in time
can I go too???ladybug - August 31, 2006
awesome!
TTFF, you're my new favorite troll.the rev -- "young college age"! haha! hey rev, did you realize that when you reach the ripe old age of 32 (that'll be in 2016, approximately ten years after you graduate college, Mr. Class of 2006), you probably won't have this same "perspective"? oh my god, i'm really laughing my ass off -- out loud!
rev, aren't you concerned that "your actions and words cast a disparaging light on angel fans everywhere"?
TTFF, you're right. we don't all act the same way. that is an astute observation. is that all your college degree did for you? maybe you went to Cal State L.A.
yeswecan - August 31, 2006
CSLA
I'm the only member of their alumni association who was expelled from the school!Rev Halofan - August 31, 2006
we'll see...
but you better hope the A's clinch, because you can't imagine what you'll be hearing if they don't.yeswecan - August 31, 2006
Dude, look look look above
He think I am a college age kid - Wow, he thinks i am smart enough to go to one of them thatr colleges! He thinks I am YOUNG and will grow WISE !WOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTT ! ! ! !
I am YOUNG i am WILD and I am FREE !!!
Rev Halofan - August 31, 2006
That's bullshit and you know it
Check out Athletics Nation, they talk just as much shit as we do.NPCody - August 31, 2006
More
they have more smacktalk about usmore non-stat smacktalk about the Angels
more smacktalk about each other, hilariously, poor Blez amidst that daycare facility...
and they have more trolls smacktalking on our site ... but ban one here for being a dick and oh lord, they wrap themselves in the first amendment and light candles in heartfelt protest.
Rev Halofan - August 31, 2006
i'm gone for the next 2 days
picks:Sept 1: LAA 4/7 , DET 3/7
Sept 2: LAA 6/10 , DET 2/4
YES WE CAN!
yeswecan - August 31, 2006
I've got 'em recorded...
Stirrups - August 31, 2006
Tigers series
I appreciate rooting for the home team but when everyone predicts the Angels win every game, what's the point? The Tigers are a good team but struggling now. That said, with Rogers and Verlander pitching, I think a split would be great.wolverine - August 31, 2006
We don't predict wins
we assume the win and predict the runs and hits for each team in that assumed win.It is a different game entirely...
Rev Halofan - August 31, 2006
Ah, I get it
Thanks for the explanation, Rev. That's fun!! :)wolverine - August 31, 2006
cool
it is funny how other blogs from other teams RAGE at this game because tey do not understand it - and then they rage that this site doesn't get the nuance of things...Anyway, check the game thread for the Runs/Hits PIcks posts.
Rev Halofan - August 31, 2006
8 losses in a row
even the a's are not that big of chokers. If you are going to create scenarios of doom at least make them plausable.jasonlbe @ Halos Heaven - August 31, 2006
keep talking
keep that karma level rising...yeswecan - August 31, 2006
Not over yet
The Tigers had a 10 game lead over the White Sox on Aug. 7th and on Aug. 30th, it was 4.5 games. So, it's possible for the A's to blow this lead. They were tied with the Angels on Sept. 15th last year and ended up 7 games out. Plenty of baseball to play...wolverine - August 31, 2006
I'm liking this new kid
Wolverine, welcome to the Panther Posse.Rev Halofan - August 31, 2006
yup
need some fresh blood to keep the spirits up.We think they can, we think they can, we think they can......choo choo
ladybug - August 31, 2006
SNIKT!
Higz - September 1, 2006
Larry Davis is your best friend, guys
Rev, your image of Larry washing his hair is the funniest thing I've heard all day. Kudos. The best thing that could happen to the A's is for them not to recognize him. Better than getting treated!What are the Los Anegeles Mongrels playing right now...500 ball?
Maybe you better get Tim Salmon and his "take a big dump" stance back in the line-up or something, but unless you guys wing off 8 out of 10 or so, and do it in the next 10, ain't no Oakie Choke big enough to get your 50-50 team into the playoffs. Better move to the NL if you want that.
Of course, up here, what we really relish is the Boston fold. They'll always have 2004, just like you guys will always have whatever year you always will have. The Athletics? They have too many of those years to keep them all straight.
Connie Mack -- Dick Williams -- Charles O Finley -- Billy Martin -- Billy Beane. What traditions do you have? Bo Belinsky and that Jayne Mansfield look-alike?
ghost of charley O - August 31, 2006
That was...
..the worst attempt at trolling I have ever seen. There are so many holes in your criticism, I'm not even going to bother pointing them out.NPCody - August 31, 2006
seems the trolls
like to find the rather insignificant points and make issues out of the non-issues. People tend to do that when they don't have anything else intelligent to say.ladybug - August 31, 2006
Wear it A.N.
another Halosheaven-obsessed Oakland Troll.And this one is particularly articulate and intel;ligent...
Keep those clicks and visits coming.
Rev Halofan - August 31, 2006
I do have to give you one thing...
while I may hate the Angels, you guys/gals never give up. While I'm extremely tempted to start celebrating, 2004-05 is still fresh in my mind. I'll wait until we're 10 games up to start reminding you to reserve those October tee times :-P.That's why I hate the Sox fan base. Half of them are wearing Tom Brady jerseys right now, and have been since the beating the Yankees bestowed upon them.
jlaff @ Halos Heaven - August 31, 2006
1995
after being on the bad end of that 1995 debacle, we gotta believe that it might happen in our favor one of these years...yeswecan - August 31, 2006
Some A's fans are too sensitive
I love to talk trash myself. It makes the rivalry so much more fun. I now live in LA County and i make every single A's/Angels game. I'm the guy in right field every time taunting the Angels fans. It is so much fun most of you guys are defenseless!SoCalAsFan - August 31, 2006
A's choke scenario
I think it's completely possible for the A's to lose the pennant this year. All it takes is this:- Meteor strikes Billy Beane and knocks him dead.
- Replacement GM trades the A's pitching staff to the Angels for all those fat guys on the DL, minor-league callups, batting practice tossers, and beanball artists.
- New GM fires Ken Macha and replaces him with Tommy LaScioscia, who uses Super Lotto numbers to slot position players into fielding slots for every game.
- The team is ordered to play "Dodgers baseball" which has Frank Thomas getting thrown out trying to steal second after each single, Nick Swisher fanning on hit and runs with the bases loaded, and every runner who reaches third getting thrown out at the plate on a blown squeeze bunt where the batter decides to take.
- LaScioscia abandons the DH so he can pinch hit for the pitcher.
- As the team's winning percentage against the weakest teams in baseball reaches .333, GM orders a Rally Jackass to lift team spirits.
- Clean-up hitter hits .050 in critical series.
- Parking lot empties in the sixth inning.
If any of these things doesn't happen, it's a lock for the A's, so deal with it.OaklandRules - August 31, 2006
You'll always have the Raiders
becasuue after the coming choke, all of that certainty will translate into abandoning ship!Rev Halofan - August 31, 2006
Take heart, Rev.
Your post-season starts Tuesday, October 10, 2006. It's called the Arizona Fall League.OaklandRules - August 31, 2006
uh...
and yours will be over on the 14th after you get swept by whoever the hell you're playing?there's an awful lot of trash-talking by people who root for a team that hasn't done shit but be a AAA team for contenders since 1989.
pedro guerrero - August 31, 2006
Do you still thank Jesus for Dusty Baker?
You should, because without him there would be no championships in Anaheim/Burbank/San Dimas or wherever the Singing Cowboys play these days.OaklandRules - August 31, 2006
Magic number for Angel fans
As a public service here's some help with your trip to the post-season. Just call 1-877-493-BALL, commonly known as the A's ticketing office.OaklandRules - August 31, 2006
No points
for using someone else's joke.Kelly - August 31, 2006
It's public service from AN
Here's a fuller quote:But although we're getting close, we're not quite there yet. I still think it's a little early for A's fans to start calculating a magic number, so I'm not going to give one out.
However, I do have a magic number for Angels' fans:
It's 1-877-493-BALL, more commonly known as the A's ticketing office.
Choose the option for "Oakland Playoff Games".
Be sure to buy two tickets; one for yourself, and one for the Angels' player of your choice, because that's as close as he's going to come to any 2006 post-season game.
That was by baseballgirl, http://www.athleticsnation.com/story/2006/8/30/18307/5358
Thank you, drive through.
OaklandRules - August 31, 2006
You already
got 0 points.Trying to retell a joke doesn't give it any more points.
scottnak - August 31, 2006
sweet...
have fun getting swept in that shithole of a football stadium you call home.pedro guerrero - August 31, 2006
Have them back
You're welcome to have the Raiders back any ole time, pedro, you have the greater need.OaklandRules - August 31, 2006
You...
...missed the point completely. Go home, you're making yourself look retarded.NPCody - August 31, 2006
Anything but that!
No sports fan ever wants to look retarded, no no no, fandom is such an intellectual pursuit.OaklandRules - August 31, 2006
Okay fine
If you're really enjoying yourself that much and you have nothing better to do, you can stay.NPCody - August 31, 2006
Oh no
It's no fun if you don't get mad and stomp around like LaScioscia harassing the ump.It was pretty amazing to see the Halos collapse this year. On paper, it was a great team with excellent hitting, fielding, and pitching, so I was looking forward to a tight pennant race. As it is, we have a whole month to look forward to the playoffs, and not much to amuse ourselves but the garlic fries.
Try and do better next year.
OaklandRules - August 31, 2006
Keep trying
NPCody - August 31, 2006
hey dick,
eat up tubby.i'm willing to say that the halos chances are slim and none, but if the roles were reversed, and the a's were 8 games back, the last thing i'd do would be to track down an a's blog to talk shit.
you bored?
pedro guerrero - August 31, 2006
I mean..
..your guys' crazy obsession with this blog is pretty amusing to most of us, I think.NPCody - August 31, 2006
Make the Call
The sad thing is, without the Angels' fans and players buying up all of the tickets, any playoff games in Choakland will be played before an empty house.jjackflash - August 31, 2006
I'm impressed, pedro
So few people in LA remember what football is, let alone how to spell it. In the Frisco Bay Area in November it's such a problem. Should I go see the Raiders or the Niners?So many choices, so little time, such clean air.
OaklandRules - August 31, 2006
you're bragging about having to choose to watch...
the raiders of niners?that's like choosing between explosive diarrhea or a flesh-eating bacteria.
have fun with that.
pedro guerrero - August 31, 2006
Don't be sad
At least you've got a soccer team.OaklandRules - August 31, 2006
Real Football
We have real football here, courtesy of USC and UCLA; we don't need those bloated felons of the NFL and the child-support-avoiding scofflaws and thugs who attend their games.jjackflash - August 31, 2006
Wow
Oakland fans - obsessed with little old me.Rev Halofan - August 31, 2006
Rev
I <3 YouSoCalAsFan - August 31, 2006
Get in line
with the 3/4 of Athletics Nation streaming down here to kiss the ring at the Late-September rivalry games here.Rev Halofan - August 31, 2006
I'll be down here
with my shirt off painted green and gold on september 28th, 29th, 39th, and October 1st.Look for me in right field section 244.
SoCalAsFan - August 31, 2006
We'll be near each other
but not in spirit!Rev Halofan - August 31, 2006
where are you sitting?!
so i may mock youand be specific with section/seat/etc :)
SoCalAsFan - August 31, 2006
240
near the front. you'll hear me.Rev Halofan - August 31, 2006
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