Game 2: Same old A's?

Roger Clemens always got it. He got it 23 years ago in Winter Haven,
when as a 22-year-old nine months out of the University of Texas he
sat outside the clubhouse and talked about the moments that decided
pitchers' games: establishing the first inning, adjusting the second
time in the order and, most importantly, every time one's teammates
scored, going back out and shutting down the opposition.

"If you want to win a lot of games," he said, "you have to do those
things."

When I read those words in *The Sporting News* earlier this year, I
nodded my head. This has always been my theory about pitching. Why?
Probably because Clemens was my favorite player as a kid; he
intuitively just *got* it. Players/pitchers like this are a rare
breed; I guess that's why they have Hall of Fame careers.

Once again, the Oakland pitching staff just didn't *get* it. After the
offense tied the score with two runs in the top of the seventh inning,
the A's pitching staff came out and gave up FOUR runs in the bottom of
the seventh to effectively lose the game.

Shutdown inning, indeed.

Sure, this will happen once in awhile; that's baseball. But when it
happens all too frequently to the same team year after year after
year, you have to wonder what they're teaching these kids over in
Oakland. Is Kiko Calero a bad pitcher? No, not at all. He's usually
pretty reliable, so I don't expect to see this happen again any time
soon.

However, when you lose your first two games of the season to a team
you dominated last year due to fundamental breakdowns and stupidity,
you have to be disappointed in yourself as a player -- and as a team.
These were two winnable games in Seattle, and the A's booted them both
away like rookies on spring break.

It might be a long year.

On Apr 4, 6:11 am, "Tonawanda Kardex" <tonawandakar....TakeThisOut@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Roger Clemens always got it. He got it 23 years ago in Winter Haven,
> when as a 22-year-old nine months out of the University of Texas he
> sat outside the clubhouse and talked about the moments that decided
> pitchers' games: establishing the first inning, adjusting the second
> time in the order and, most importantly, every time one's teammates
> scored, going back out and shutting down the opposition.
>
> "If you want to win a lot of games," he said, "you have to do those
> things."
>
> When I read those words in *The Sporting News* earlier this year, I
> nodded my head. This has always been my theory about pitching. Why?
> Probably because Clemens was my favorite player as a kid; he
> intuitively just *got* it. Players/pitchers like this are a rare
> breed; I guess that's why they have Hall of Fame careers.
>
> Once again, the Oakland pitching staff just didn't *get* it. After the
> offense tied the score with two runs in the top of the seventh inning,
> the A's pitching staff came out and gave up FOUR runs in the bottom of
> the seventh to effectively lose the game.
>
> Shutdown inning, indeed.
>
> Sure, this will happen once in awhile; that's baseball. But when it
> happens all too frequently to the same team year after year after
> year, you have to wonder what they're teaching these kids over in
> Oakland. Is Kiko Calero a bad pitcher? No, not at all. He's usually
> pretty reliable, so I don't expect to see this happen again any time
> soon.
>
> However, when you lose your first two games of the season to a team
> you dominated last year due to fundamental breakdowns and stupidity,
> you have to be disappointed in yourself as a player -- and as a team.
> These were two winnable games in Seattle, and the A's booted them both
> away like rookies on spring break.
>
> It might be a long year.


Let's not panic, and let's not pressure Mr. Beane into getting into a
bidding war for Roger Clemens. Bobby Crosby blew game 1, and shows
every sign of having missed most of spring training; he needs playing
time, and maybe he should be asked to get it at Sacramento. Kiko
Calero blew game 2, and as you say, he's usually reliable; he just
didn't have that devastating slider with him April 3. Not excuses;
it's baseball,
--as ever, Russ