Author: moepea

I like lilacs, mist and cold air.

College Football’s Power Four Is The New Reality: You Have the Power (And The Money) Or You Don’t

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By Morris Phillips

RENO—ACC Football kicked off Saturday morning in Dublin at Aviva Stadium, and the reception was deadly, shenanigans commenced with the second half kickoff, and a traditional Irish jig aced by a trio of Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets highlighted the impromptu postgame celebration.

Inside the stadium, the pre-dominant Seminoles fans itched as Georgia Tech comported itself as a miserable pox. And outside the stadium, and across the U.S. football fans consumed it all via television.

ACC Football in 2024 has expanded its reach, entertained the masses and adapted to the prevailing conditions, whether it’s what really needed or not.

A Week 0 mandate: ACC, you better put your blocking, tackling and mistake-free football closer to the top of your list. A glaring loss by Florida State followed by a narrow win at Nevada by SMU isn’t the ratings winner the expanded league wants.

“We found a way to win in the fourth quarter,” SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said. “Guys dug deep. It’s not always how you won, it’s that we won. We’re 1-0.”

SMU’s circumstances of demanding that they be included with the big boys is unique. The SMU athletic department agreed to take what they were offered (or leave it) from the ACC. They didn’t care. The SMU boosters and sponsors stepped up, and the Mustangs are in. And in 2024, being in is a 180 degree spin from being out.

Nevada and coach Jeff Choate in his first game as head coach were noticeably poised and prepared. Offensive coordinator Matt Lubick dialed up a great scheme that caught the Mustangs’ defense by surprise early on. Lashlee obviously noticed that he needed to step up as much as his players, and he was quick to acknowledge Choate afterwards.

“He’s hard nosed, tough, culture-type guy and I think his team played with the edge he’s going to want them to play with moving forward,” Lashlee said.

If there’s any observation, it’s this: the pool of great high school players may be deep enough to stock Power 4 rosters, but the coaching pool may be deeper. That dynamic was on display Saturday night in Reno with Choate and Lubick, who almost pulled off a spectacular debut.

For the coaching staffs at Stanford and Cal, SMU-Nevada was appointment viewing. Every year, the new ACC trio competes in football they’ll see each other. In this first season of new rivalries, SMU will visit Stanford, and Cal will travel to Dallas to see the Mustangs in the regular season finale. Forget what the Bruins, Trojans, and Ducks are doing. For the ACC’s Bay Area teams, SMU gets a big share of their attention. If Cal and Stanford can hold their own against the Pony Express, then maybe, just maybe, they can have realistic hopes of hanging with Clemson and Florida State as well.

For all three programs, the ACC presents a unique challenge. Given significantly less resources, and a smaller cut of the league’s contract with its broadcast partners, they must compete. While coaches and their student athletes probably don’t like cross-country flights, they do like to compete, and it’s clear that they will do that and let those around them make the excuses.

Lashlee got his first taste and it was nearly bitter. After a big fourth quarter in which they shocked Nevada with 16 unanswered points to win 29-24, the taste was sweet.

“The experience, we’re going to need it,” Lashlee said. “Like I said, I’ve been on teams that lost games like that, but we find ways to win games like that early in the year and it ends up helping us later in the season.“

And a little clarification regarding the phrase “deadly.” In Dublin, that’s an up-to-the-minute slang term of curious origins that means “good or great.”

In the newfangled ACC, you’ve got to know your surroundings, and knowing them sooner is much better than later.

In Their Final Season in Oakland, the A’s Are Giving The People What They Want

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND—The Coliseum sound system remains on point. In the mid-fifth inning break Tommy Richman’s “The Devil is A Lie” is doing what it does. Later the Foo Fighters, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And prior to the fifth, Nelly’s “It Must Be The Money” bumped nicely, and thematically touched on the greater issue of the A’s final season in Oakland.

Initially, and through May and June, that music could have been the high point. The protests and the anger at A’s management could have been the low point. Now, as August gives way to the final September, the A’s surprising play on the field is the overriding theme.

The youthful, talent-challenged A’s could surprise and post a winning record at the Coliseum in their final season. They sit at 33-33 with 15 home games and five opponents remaining, and people want to see what they’re going to do, how they’re going to finish.

“Look at Bido, he pitched a great game,” Jerry Albright commented, from his choice seats right behind third base and home plate. “JP Sears is hitting his stride. Mason Miller’s been great.”

“We’re happy,” Albright continued. “We’re much happier.”

Albright is a true A’s fan. All he needs is green and gold uniforms in front of him, and at least one guy sitting near him to talk baseball. On Thursday afternoon, with just 5,142 people in the park, Albright had what he needed. And when I approached, I had to interrupt his enthusiasm for his team, and how swell they dispatched the Rays to even a competitive four-game series.

Albright’s taking his game to Sacramento in 2025. Two teams playing a full schedule on field turf in a burdened Triple-A stadium doesn’t compute to him. But he needs his team, and Amtrak will get him where he needs to be.

“We’re going to Sacramento,” he said. “We’re A’s fans. What are you going to do?”

Ten rows in front of Albright, reliever Jim Ferguson is anticipating his son Tyler’s entrance into the game as the A’s newly-minted setup man. Ferguson grew up loving Catfish Hunter, and his first game in the building was in the initial season in 1968. After raising Tyler in Fresno, and watching him pitch in Las Vegas, Phoenix with Diamondbacks, and a few other west coast ballparks, Jim Ferguson is back off Hegenberger Road, and he like Albright, appears to be in his element.

“Tyler’s coming in now,” he tells me in anticipation of the eighth.

The 31-year-old Ferguson worked fast and effectively. He needed just 12 pitches to retire the Rays despite surrendering a walk to Josh Lowe. Jim appeared satisfied after spending consecutive days in the park and getting to see his favorite pitcher work for six or so minutes.

“When I was here in May, we weren’t playing great ball, but we’ve made strides,” Tyler Ferguson said after the game.

Phil Peters, a few more rows closer to the A’s dugout, and joined by bookend friends, both wearing “Sell” t-shirts, was grumbling about the $50 seats and $30 parking. His guys fussed as well about not being able to change their seats when plenty of seats were obviously available. 

“There’s no one here. I’m here because I love baseball. It’s just sad,” Peters said.

The fans speak with their emotion. The players play. The actions aren’t similar, but the dynamic works. In a stadium where the sound system is the loudest thing, Mason Miller and Brent Rooker are the best things.

Lawrence Butler, JJ Bleday, Shea Langeliers, and JP Sears are stars as well in an environment that could be described theatrically. It’s a dense story, and Thursday’s winning pitcher Osvaldo Bido, Joey Estes, Zach Gelof, and Max Schuemann are scene stealers, too. Daz Cameron, Mitch Spence, and Tyler Nevin are promising actors. They, too, could one day be stars.

This is a story people want to see develop. But it’s leaving town, not for Broadway, but to some regional theater in mid-America.

The A’s open an engagement with Milwaukee on Friday. The slumping Mariners and Tigers open September, and the Yankees and Rangers close the home slate starting September 20.

This isn’t a promotional piece, but promotion is sorely needed. Oakland’s team, the A’s deserves a steady, stable audience.

ChiSox Sizemore Knows His Sample Size Is Limited

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Chicago White Sox manager Grady Sizemore photo

By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO—Making out the lineup isn’t a mundane act for Chicago White Sox interim manager Grady Sizemore.

“It’s something that I enjoy,” Sizemore said. “But again, there’s nothing set in stone. I’m just trying to get guys comfortable, playing in their spots. We’re evaluating it every day on where we want guys. I just want the best matchups.”

The best matchups on Tuesday night at Oracle Park weren’t very favorable for Sizemore. The woeful Sox were limited to three hits by Robbie Ray, a pitcher who didn’t survive the first inning in his last start against the Braves. On Tuesday, he was reborn, or more accurately, given a dream matchup against one of the worst teams baseball has ever seen.

The White Sox fell to 30-97, an unforgivable 67 games below .500, and they dropped their 14th consecutive series in losing the first two games against the Giants. A 14-game losing streak, and 21-game skid after that drew national headlines. And if Sizemore’s club falls behind, they fold their tents early and get ready for the next game. On Tuesday, the game was played in a brisk two hours, twenty minutes, and Chicago fell to 0-74 when they trail after seven innings.

To say Sizemore has his work lumped upon his clubhouse desk so high he can’t see out the door would be fair. But none of this is fair. Pedro Grifol was shown the door on August 8, and GM Chris Getz tabbed Sizemore to get the team through the final 45 games with grace, dignity and a whole bunch of humility.

Of course, those needs pointed Getz to rock-solid, super-steady Sizemore.

“We knew this season was gonna have its struggles based on the roster that we had,” Getz said on the occasion of Grifol’s dismissal. “When you make a change, you want to be very certain that it’s going to be effective.”

So what does effective mean in this very unusual case? It means that Sizemore, who has just one year of coaching experience as a minor league instructor for the Indians in 2023 must win at least 11 of the final 36 games to keep his club out of the record books as the worst team ever by losing percentage in the 20th and 21st centuries, a period of 125 years. It’s a weighty assignment that will draw a bunch of unwanted attention on a city and a fan base that at this point just wants to be left alone.

The 42-year old Sizemore doesn’t particularly like attention. So he is the right guy for the job. When asked if he would like this interim job to morph into a managers’ job somewhere else in 2025, a possibility if not a likelihood, he characteristically didn’t bite.

“Right now, I just focus on what I can do for these guys now,” he said after the 4-1 loss. “I don’t think past tomorrow.”

Sizemore’s words have never been terribly entertaining, but his tale of the tape is.

He’s originally from Seattle, and he graduated from high school in nearby Everett, Washington, where he played football, baseball and basketball while compiling a stellar 3.85 GPA. He’s bi-racial; his father Grady II is black, and his mother, Donna, is white.

From the managerial pedestal, his background sets Sizemore apart. African-American managers are often older not unlike Dusty Baker and Ron Washington, and have far more coaching experience and grooming, again like Baker and Washington. Yeah, black managers have been chosen to lead a bunch of reclamation projects, but not one this dire.

But here he is, and really isn’t trying to make light of any of it.

“I’m never going to waste my time worrying about stuff,” he said in an interview and article granted to ESPN in 2006. “I am going to enjoy my time on the planet, and that’s it.

“I don’t judge people. I just accept them for who they are.”

GAME NOTES: Tuesday’s game was a matchup of starting pitchers who both have had Tommy John surgery, and missed a large chunk of playing time, which today, is an occurrence that’s becoming more and more frequent.

“It’s great seeing (the Giants’) Robbie Ray, another TJ guy, pitch,” Chicago’s Davis Martin said after the game.

Martin said he felt great afterwards, departing in the fifth inning after throwing 82 pitches, which was a mandated max by Sizemore and his staff.

Ray completely turned things around by pitching into the seventh inning, after he didn’t survive the first inning against the Braves in his previous start, a 13-2 loss that was the low point of last week’s four-game slide for the Giants.

Giants These Days Far More Interesting As A Collection of Individuals, Then As A Team

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO—Four critical ballgames against a contending opponent, and the Giants won once. It’s simply not good enough, given the money invested in the team, and the expectations of the team leadership and the fan base.

But it in 2024, it is exactly what it is. At 62-62, after Thursday’s 6-0 win, the Giants are a .500 team for the mind-numbing eighth time and the fourth time in just the last 11 days. When it gets better, it inevitably gets worse, for better or worse.

Inside the numbers, the Giants fare far better against bottom feeders than they do against teams with winning records like the Atlanta Braves, who got completely healthy over the first three games of this series, before suffering a hiccup on Thursday.

Manager Bob Melvin, a three-time manager of the year who reeks of success, was reduced to prefacing his post-game answers with a telling, tepid statement.

“We’ve been in that situation a bunch and haven’t scored, so we had to try something different,” he said.

That situation in the second inning was easily the coolest thing to transpire during a rough home stand (3-4 with a season-defining, four-game losing streak): Rookie Grant McCray raced to his first-ever hit on a bases-loaded, bunt single, RBI. The skeptical crowd (29,319) rejoiced, the seas parted, and the sky opened because the Giants had scrapped together an early lead.

McCray was really funny in the clubhouse, trying to say something about the play but not really having a bunch of different descriptive words to describe it.

“I did a job for my team and got the scoring going. I can’t be more thankful for that,” McCray said.

McCray’s dad, Rodney, lit up in the stands. He made an emotional, overwhelming, but brief exit, up the aisle to a bunch of hi-fives. Rodney McCray famously, yet cringeworthy to the game announcers, crashed through the outfield fence at a Pacific Coast League game in Portland in 1991 and wound up all over the airwaves, and SportsCenter, for decades.

Again, his son Grant was in the clubhouse, trying to be descriptive.

”Today I just came in with the mindset of it’s just another game. Play hard and do your job,” McCray said.

In the sixth, McCray homered, and his first two major league games gained heft and record-book notoriety. In fact, his father Rodney might want to stick around for the weekend in Oakland. Grant could surpass his dad’s 14 career at-bats and three hits in just four games.

Logan Webb was dialed in again, working into the eighth inning efficiently (21 first-pitch strikes to 27 batters) and decisively, another reminder that Webb could be the lead actor in Broadway play with the Giants’ roster as his supporting cast for many seasons to come. On Thursday, when Webb took his final bow, the crowd howled with approval. Braves manager Brian Snitker played witness.

“(Webb) was going to give their bullpen a break, and he did. And he was efficient. Very, very competitive guy with really good stuff. And with that sinker, really throws a lot of strikes,” Snitker said.

Tyler Fitzgerald continued his fantastic Major League debut season with a hit and an RBI sacrifice fly. Casey Schmitt hasn’t had a bunch of opportunities or success, but he had a productive game with three hits, including a two-run homer.

A lot of good storylines and individual progress, those Giants, but not any more wins than losses. That’s them.

Again, Grant McCray in the clubhouse, beginning to warm to the occasion.

“It might be a fielder’s choice, but I’ll take a free hit,” McCray said of his bunt, which appeared to be a play in which no way, no how, was any throw going to clip him at first. “It doesn’t hurt my feelings.”

https://x.com/SFGiants/status/1824199908129378572?t=UVPHWx6Uz3RUosawWlV6-Q&s=19

The Ryan Walker Era Doesn’t Come With Frills and Extras

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–Ryan Walker embraces opportunity and upward mobility. But he’s not ascending with thoughts of adding an entourage, theme music, or a mood-setting game entrance.

Instead, Walker’s setting the tone with his sinker and the maintenance of his low-key demeanor. Yeah, he’s got a beard and a hint of swag, but no, he’s not Brian Wilson 2.0 or Sergio Romo.

He’s Ryan Walker, selected by the Giants in the now-defunct 31st round of 2018 draft, and he doesn’t pontificate. Actually, he mumbles a bit. And he’s the Giants’ new closer in place of the demoted Camilo Doval.

“I was really excited for the opportunity,” Walker said. “I never really thought this could happen.”

What’s happened is quite unlikely. Beyond Walker being drafted so late, four years passed before he got his big league promotion. And when he arrived in San Francisco, his ceiling was being a setup man, or so he thought.

But the Giants started to think differently when Walker’s sinker, slider combination showed refinement, and his strikeout numbers increased. The final step was harnessing his control and lowering his walk rate.

Then the unforseen happened when Camilo Doval struggled to the point he went from National League All-Star closer in 2023 to Pacific Coast League reclamation project. First, the fans built a groundswell of support for Walker–along with disdain for Doval’s shortcomings–and team president Farhan Zaidi and manager Bob Melvin shockingly followed suit.

“Could we have put (Doval) in a lesser role?” Melvin pondered. “I don’t know that it would help. I think that some of the issues that he needs to work on would be easier to do somewhere else than the big leagues. He’s an All-Star. We expect him to come back and be an All-Star.”

Melvin also stated Walker’s case beyond his effective sinker, slider combo that mirrors Saturday’s starter, Logan Webb.

He’s pretty good,” Melvin said prior to Saturday’s game. “Probably had our toughest role in that he would come in with guys on base all the time, and a lot of times go out for the next inning.”

Walker’s been described as a pitcher who sets the table with his sinker, which tops out at 97 mph, and confounds hitters with his slider at 84 mph. Called on to protect a 3-1 lead, the right-hander threw nine sliders and nine sinkers, and struck out Dillon Dingler and Javier Baez to end the game. Walker also ramped up the tension by allowing two of the first three hitters, Gio Urshela and Bligh Madris, to reach, giving the 28-year old a true first test as closer.

“Awesome. Nerve-racking,” he said.

Already this season, Walker has compiled a major-league leading 59 appearances, including eight in which he’s pitched more than an inning. Even more appealing, he has 73 strikeouts in 61 1/3 innings work. His 2.20 ERA is half of what Doval built up, and he’s all business.

Could Walker take this once-in-a-baseball-life opportunity and run with it?

He could. Just don’t expect him to expound on his good fortune in a show of self-promotion.

White Sox’ 21-game losing streak is over, but their record-threatening issues persist

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–It took a whole month, but the White Sox shed that onerous 21-game losing streak on Tuesday night, avoiding the possibility of a mind-bending seventh, consecutive series in which they were swept.

That’s good. That’s great, really. But the challenges that put the South Siders in such a precarious position persist. After two runs in the first inning on Wednesday afternoon, eight, empty frames followed along with a 3-2 loss. The occasion of the final ChiSox game in Oakland was a bust, like the tiny Coliseum crowd, the 14-game losing spell that ended June 6, the 0-17 run following the All-Star Break, and the frustrating season as a whole.

Whatever happens next, started happening 11 hours after the Sox emptied the dugout with sheepish grins in celebration of their 5-1 win. No jumping around in a near empty Oakland Coliseum, coincidently another well-known place for baseball strife.

Instead, the youthful Sox kept it cool and applauded themselves for hanging in there without berating each other because of the losing. After recounting their saga for the media inside their less-burdened clubhouse, the Sox made a quick trip to their San Francisco hotel to prepare for the series matinee finale and sleep.

“I don’t hide away from blame. Blame is what it is. I’ve got the position, the office, that’s the chair. I would never blame our players for this season. That’s not my makeup.” -Pedro Grifol, CWS manager

Wednesday morning at 11:00 am, trade deadline acquisition Miguel Vargas was not where he needed to be and cranky, bench coach/fungo master Eddie Rodriguez was ready to light up the 22-year old infielder when Vargas materialized for warm-ups at 11:06 am.

“You said you’d be here at 11 o’clock. Everything’s picked up,” Rodriguez barked.

After a short discreet conversation, Rodriguez relented, and a fielding exercise unfolded with the veteran coach hitting grounders to the 6’3″ Vargas. The young Cuban got an opportunity to assume an everyday, middle infield role with the Dodgers in 2023, but his bat was underwhelming. He hit .195 with seven home runs in 81 games, and was demoted in July and spent the remainder of that season with Triple-A Oklahoma City. His defense wasn’t elite either, as he committed five errors as the Dodgers’ second baseman.

On Wednesday, fielding grounders didn’t change much. Vargas batted leadoff as the designated hitter, going 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. He was filmed after Monday’s loss sitting dejectedly outside the Sox dugout, likely trying to process his fate as a star minor leaguer given a chance to impact the contending Dodgers, but suddenly traded to Chicago to contemplate his baseball future with a moribund franchise. The White Sox envision that Vargas can settle in, but everyone in Chicago knows that plan has a limited shelf life.

Gavin Sheets gained a measure of notoriety as the son of Larry Sheets, who started all 21 games for the Orioles during their notorious, 1988 losing string that torpedoed that season. The Orioles posted a winning record and contended in 1989, which is something the father and son have discussed in their daily phone calls the last month. Gavin admitted the phone calls have been critically important for his resolve as he navigates a nearly two-month stretch without hitting a home run.

On Wednesday, Sheets broke a hitless streak with a pair of base hits while hitting seventh in the lineup. But his homerless streak reached 43 games, which is troubling for a guy billed as a power-hitting first baseman. Sheets has enjoyed some nice stretches across four seasons in Chicago, but right now, his 43 home runs in 1,173 career at-bats is a glaring negative.

Luis Robert has struggled to gain traction after missing 53 games earlier this season with a hip flexor. He came into Wednesday hitting .149 over his last 17 games with one homer over his last 21 games. The Cuban product is a performer with impressive history in Oakland, as well as a breakout season in 2023. But right now, he’s a prisoner of his thoughts.

“When you’re going well, you don’t have to think about anything,’’ he said. “When you’re struggling, that’s where the spiral goes. You have to get back to how things feel and your process.”

“I think he’s pressing,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “His swings in the strike zone are down. People forget how young this kid is. He’s learning the game. He has inconsistencies now.”

Davis Martin, in his second ever big league start on the road, was Wednesday’s bright spot for the Sox. Martin navigated six innings and kept the power hitting A’s from adding to their 148 home runs in just 115 games. Martin allowed two hits and a walk in a season-best six innings. Afterward, he exuded confidence.

“(Tommy John surgery) is hard. Sometimes you don’t have the feel for stuff,” Martin said. “The fact you can have some success in the big leagues post-TJ brings a lot of confidence the next week and the week after that. Just going forward, it’s a really good starting point for me to build off of and go from there.”

The Sox have 45 games remaining, starting with a series on Friday against the Cubs back home at Guaranteed Rate Field. They need to win 13 of those to avoid finishing with a worse record than the 1961 Mets that finished 40-120.

Thirteen wins shouldn’t be too taxing, except:

The Sox have won just 17 times at home (17-40).

And they’ve won just 11 times on the road (11-49).

And Thursday started with the hardly unexpected news that Grifol was let go after compiling a record of 89-190 in less than two seasons after he replaced Miguel Cairo to start 2023.

Stayed tuned. The losing streak has ended, but another one could be coming like a wind storm gathering off Lake Michigan. If so, it won’t be pretty for Chicago.

Is River Ryan the answer for the Dodgers’ problematic, starting rotation?

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By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND—The Los Angeles Dodgers starting rotation is a mess.

But for the third, consecutive start, River Ryan provided the NL West leaders a neat option. The rookie right-hander pitched into the fifth inning and departed with a 3-2 lead over the A’s that would stand as the final score. In his first three major league starts, all since July 22, Ryan’s been on the winning side each time, and manager Dave Roberts has his unlikely rotation option penciled in for a fourth start Saturday after a convenient extra-day of rest.

“I thought River was good,” Roberts said. “We didn’t push him too much.”

“Warming up, I knew I wasn’t going to have my best stuff today,” Ryan said, as he took inventory of his strengths and weaknesses while warming up before the game in the bullpen.

Ryan, who started the season in the Arizona Complex League, and also pitched for Double-A Rancho Cucamonga and Triple-A Oklahoma City, wasn’t a rotation option at any point, until he was the option. With Walker Buehler slow to recover from Tommy John surgery, and flashy free agent signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto sidelined with a shoulder issue, two, critical spots opened in the rotation. In addition, the timeless Clayton Keyshawn didn’t debut until July 25. Tyler Glasgow and Gavin Stone have been the two constants, but neither are beyond getting replaced now that prized deadline acquisition Wade Flaherty has arrived and pitched well in his initial start.

Two other options, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin, are on the injured list as well. And all the uncertainty and issues brought Roberts and GM Brandon Gomes looking for Ryan.

Ryan admittedly hasn’t been fantastic, but he has been steady, allowing no home runs in 15 innings of work, the logical flip side to allowing three walks in each of his starts. Ryan’s reminder to himself ties it all together.

“If you fall behind guys, you give them a chance to do damage,” he said.

Sunday’s win gave the Dodgers their first series victory on the road in their last six opportunities, something that didn’t seem likely after Friday’s 6-5 loss. That dropped Los Angeles’ division lead to just four games, which is as close as the NL West race had been since May 30. But Roberts simply asked his club to stay focused, and put on blinders.

“You have to remain steadfast, and eliminate the noise,” Roberts said.

DODGERS-A’s SERIES NOTES: The Oakland Coliseum was made memorable in the movie “Moneyball” for being the location of the A’s record 20th win in a row in 2002. Now, the Coliseum could gain notoriety as the location of a Chicago White Sox’ record-tying 23rd loss in a row this week.

The Sox experienced another dreadful afternoon in Minneapolis on Sunday, falling behind 7-0 to the Twins after two innings, before losing 13-7. Chicago has now lost 20 straight games, the longest losing streak in MLB in the last 36 years.

The Sox play their next three games in Oakland, meaning they could be in line to tie the all-time record of 23 losses held by the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday afternoon.

The A’s won 17 of 24 games against the Dodgers at the Coliseum with the lifetime series now concluded. That success allowed the A’s to claim the best record against the Dodgers of any team all-time (24 wins, 21 losses).

Brent Rooker homered on Sunday, giving him 15 home runs and 37 RBI over his last 32 games.

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A’s goodbye to San Francisco not without a reminder of the deadly event that ultimately led to Oakland’s beloved teams leaving the burdened city

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–If the occasion of the final Bay Bridge series game in San Francisco has you feeling nostalgic, know that a more appropriate mood would be feeling mournful.

On December 2, 2016, in Oakland, 36 people lost their lives in the Ghost Ship fire. And while many point to the wanderlust exhibited by Oakland’s sports teams, others point to the fire, and the microscope it put a troubled, overwhelmed city under, as the reason for Oakland’s sports exodus.

On that night, hundreds attended an illegal warehouse party in the Fruitvale district that was perceived to be an opportunity to highlight the underground Oakland art scene. At 11:20 p.m., a fire broke out on the building’s first floor, trapping dozens who had no obvious way of escape. The fire, attributed later to the overload of the haphazard electrical wiring within the building, was lethal as one escape route was obscured by the smoke.

In the aftermath of the fire and the resulting trial of master tenants, Derick Almena and Max Harris, the tale of illegal subleting within the Ghost Ship was exposed. While average rents in Oakland hovered around $2,000 a month, warehouse tenants were paying Almena and Harris $300 to $600 to live on the building’s first floor, a junky space separated into units by wooden studs, steel beams, pianos and window frames.

The rents collected by the pair and supplemented by illegal parties sustained the space as tenuous but workable home for as many as 20 people. But the element of danger and cloak of secrecy were always present as Almena and Harris maintained there were no permanent residents, and the space was actually a 24-hour art studio. Building inspectors had knowledge of the scheme, as did building owner Chor Ng. But nothing was done to fix the makeshift, electrical wiring that showed constant signs of wear and overloading.

Just two weeks before the fire, building inspectors descended upon the Ghost Ship, only to leave empty-handed and ignorant when no one within responded to their persistent knocking at the front door.

The fire and resulting lawsuits exposed Oakland as a place unable or unwilling to police itself. First, the Warriors executed their plan to leave for San Francisco in 2019, and the Raiders went to Las Vegas in 2020. Meanwhile, the city, hamstrung not only by the devastating fire but blatant crime and chronic homelessness, stood ineffective and powerless as the events leading to the teams’ departures unfolded.

Not being capable of explaining to the public at large what happened leading up to the events of the tragic fire didn’t help.

“I can’t answer how that warehouse slipped through the cracks and that it bypassed our system – or how it bypassed the city’s system,” Oakland fire chief Teresa Deloach Reed said one week after the tragedy. “But everybody is at the table right now trying to figure out what happened.”

Oakland also found itself fumbling to articulate a plan to keep its teams. Now, in 2024, they aren’t any teams left to keep. The A’s are in their final season in Oakland with tentative plans to move to Las Vegas with a curious detour through Sacramento in the works as well. Throughout, Mayors Libby Schaff and Sheng Thao haven’t made Oakland attractive enough or deal savvy. In fact, neither mayor has come close to making Oakland attractive.

The deadliest fire in California’s history since the 1906 Earthquake resulted in Oakland paying $32.7 million to settle a lawsuit brought forth by the families of the victims. Could Oakland consummate a deal to save its teams given that toll?

Financially–and emotionally–the answer has been found to be no.

BAY BRIDGE SERIES NOTES:

After winning 1-0 over the A’s on Wednesday, the Giants are 52-52 in their last 104 games.

Logan Webb pitched up his third complete game, and second, complete game shutout. Webb’s 6.65 ERA in July prior to Wednesday was the second worst of his career with his 6.94 ERA in September/October 2020 his worst.

The A’s are 15-14 in Interleague Play, but just 30-51 against American League opponents.

A’s starting pitchers are 8-3 since the All-Star Break, and finished July 14-8.

Manager Bob Melvin was quick to sense that Webb was settled in the first inning, despite his previous struggles, saying, “As the game went along, he got better and better.”

Melvin also expressed frustration with his team’s offense which managed just four hits along with a game-winning sacrifice fly from Brett Wisely. Melvin said, “It’s a little bit frustrating that we couldn’t do more for Logan.”

Giants Weekend Notes: The Core Four and the Twins Lineup Shuffle

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–In the voluminous history of Major League Baseball, you don’t wander upon the story of Sergio Romo, Santiago Casilla, Jeremy Affeldt, and Javier Lopez first.

Or second. Or third.

But fourth? Ok, you’re warming up. The Core Four relievers that were readily available to manager Bruce Bochy in the 2014 playoffs and leading to a third World Series title in five years that season have history… together. Real history.

How much history, and how profound is that history?

This from President and CEO of the Giants, Larry Baer, during Saturday’s pre-game ceremony that honored the Core Four:

In the 2010, 2012, and 2014 postseasons, Romo, Casilla, Affeldt, and Lopez combined to allow nine runs in 79 innings pitched for a collective ERA of 1.10.

“We were a band of misfits, and I was just doing my part,” Lopez recalled during the ceremony.

“We’re getting old,” Affeldt said. “But in my mind, we’re always going to be putting on the orange and black.”

For 30 minutes, with Ryan Vogelsong narrating, and Buster Posey providing critical testimony, a ceremony as unlikely as those it honored was all the rage. Why? Because Romo, Affeldt and Lopez are exceptional talkers, all part of NBC Sports Bay Area this season in one capacity or another.

“He came in silky smooth like the night train,” Romo said of Lopez.

Affeldt was asked how he was somehow ready and confident when Bochy summoned him in Game 7 against the Royals… in the second inning with starter Tim Hudson running on empty before his baseball water could even develop a boil.

“‘Tim Hudson is old. He’s going to run out of steam.'” Affeldt said in recalling what Bochy told him prior to that decisive game. Bochy’s words worked; Affeldt recorded seven outs while allowing one hit and one hit batter, and was immediately locked in the second inning. In a decision left to that night’s official scorer, Affeldt was awarded the win in the biggest game of his career. Some dude named Madison Bumgarner would follow Affeldt with a pretty good, five inning stint as well, but Affeldt’s run was the one that caught the attention of the history books.

Posey, armed with numbers he said he culled just minutes before taking the podium, provided the timeline for the Core Four.

Romo arrived first in 2008 and had the longest tenure. His 722 innings pitched for the Giants, included a win in each of the three magical postseasons and microscopic ERA’s in 2012 and 2014. On Saturday, he was in full character, wearing his leather jacket and one of his many t-shirts adorned with his signature phrase, “I just look illegal.”

Casilla, the only one of the four with a profile as a closer, pitched 645 innings for the Giants. He was well-known for his stop-and-go pitch delivery and his meticulous nature on the mound. Posey recalled the occasion on which Casilla shook his catcher seven times before settling for the pitch Posey offered first in the sequence.

Affeldt was the lefty specialist summoned by Boch to get one lefty hitter on numerous occasions. Posey recalled that Affeldt was particularly locked in during an appearance in which his first pitch hit the dirt and then bounced off Posey’s throat.

“He inevitably gets out of the inning, but I had a ruptured Adams Apple,” Posey said, not wanting to be entranced like Affeldt.

Lopez had 451 regular season appearances in his seven seasons with the Giants after he was acquired via trade with the Pirates in 2010. He racked up 533 innings pitched, many of those with Posey catching. Posey said Lopez was always easy and smart with his intellect and wit, a product of his education at the University of Virginia, where he gained a degree in psychology.

“We all competed with each other, we battled with each other, and we also picked each other up. And I think those are the moments that made us great teammates,” Lopez said.

THE TWINS TURN TO VAZQUEZ AND LEE IN AN EMERGENCY INFIELD MAKEOVER

Manager Rocco Baldelli is always pushing. And his team, the Twins, doesn’t mind being pushed.

They finished the first half with a grueling stretch, 16 road contests in a 22-game span. The last two stops–at the White Sox, with four games in three days, then at the Giants for three, after an off-day, but a three-hour plus flight away.

Accordingly, the scheduling gods granted the Twins the longest All-Star break imaginable with five full days off, and a Saturday night resumption to play at home in Minneapolis.

And Baldelli blurted, “We don’t want five days off.”

And Baldelli didn’t want his makeshift infield with catcher Christian Vazquez playing third base for the first time ever, and Brooks Lee in his 10th Major League game at second base, feeling like they were anything less than comfortable.

The manager raved about both saying Vazquez was “not lacking in self-belief to play this game,” and that Brooks was “mesmerzing.” Baldelli didn’t stop there, pointing out that both guys played all nine innings defensively, and Vazquez fielded a bunt.

GM Thad Levine and crew are unlikely to leave the Twins without some options for Sunday’s first half finale, so Vazquez doesn’t have to create magic in back-to-back games. Baldelli hinted at a move, and that turned out to be 26-year old Diego Castillo, who went nine innings in the 3-2 Twins series-defining loss. Castillo played in 96 games for the Pirates in 2022, but only one game for the Diamondbacks in 2023.

Carlos Santana really made Minnesota’s lineup work on Saturday. The 33-year old veteran slugger hit his 314th home run, and completed a nice, tidy set of home runs in all 30 current ballparks. But he wasn’t excited; he’s been doing this stuff for way too long.

“Up and down,” he said. “It’s a long season.”

Carlos Correia–Giants’ fans hyper-focused on high-profile free agent acquisitions remember him–couldn’t go due to a heel contusion. Correia could have signed with the Giants, seemed like he was going to sign, but instead stayed with the Twins, who crafted a massive deal.

Correia wasn’t quite worth the money last season. He hit 18 home runs in 135 games, but struck out 131 times and hit just .230. This season he has been worth the money with a .308 batting average, 13 home runs and just 53 strikeouts in 75 of the Twins 95 games.

NOTES

On April 15, the Giants were 7-10. On May 1, they were 14-17. On May 21, they 23-26, and on June 15, they were 34-37.

And now, with the first half concluded, the Giants are 47-50, and they need a break, and so does everyone else watching this. This team is 40-40 in its last 80 games, and 22-21 in day games after they won on Sunday afternoon.

It’s a lot, and it’s not a lot at all. But the Giants have to figure out what it’s going to be in a really short period of time after the All-Star break. They open with a trip to Colorado for three, to the Los Angeles Dodgers for four, followed by four home games against the Rockies.

The Stars hold on for a 6-5 win over the Sea Lions at Rickwood Field on Thursday

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St Louis Cardinals Brendan Donovan rounds the bases after his two-run homer off the San Francisco Giants’ Keaton Winn in the first inning at Rickwood Field in Birmingham during the Negro League Tribute game on Thursday, June 20, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Morris Phillips

BIRMINGHAM—Flashy, throwback television tricks and a whole bunch of baseball history highlighted the St. Louis Cardinals 6-5 win over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday night at Rickwood Field.

Yeah, that part. The Stars beat the Sea Lions. Amongst the extremely-crowded group of nine NL contenders who have losing records, St. Louis got the leg up. The Giants dropped their third straight, and second consecutive game by an identical 6-5 score. The Giants have a rare Friday evening off before finishing their disjointed three-game set with the Cardinals in St. Louis.

“You look around and kind of can feel what transpired here a long time ago and the players that played on the field,” manager Bob Melvin said. “It’d be nice to win the game, but it was a pretty cool experience.”

The Stars built a 3-0 lead with Nolan Gorman’s run scoring sacrifice fly in the first inning and Brendan Donovan’s two-run home run in the second. Both surges were off starter Keaton Winn, who was lifted in the third inning, the conclusion of an outing in which he allowed five runs on five hits with only two strikeouts.

Randy Rodriguez relieved Winn and his wild pitch while facing Matt Carpenter gave the Cardinals an early 5-3 lead.

The Giants were able to get even briefly when Heliot Ramos connected for a three-run shot off Andre Pallante in the third. Pallante steadied and picked up the win. He allowed three runs on seven hits while striking out five.

Matt Chapman was 1 for 5, and Michael Conforto 0 for 4 in the middle of the Sea Lions lineup constructed by Melvin. Along with Winn’s poor outing, Rodriguez’ wild pitch and the inability to grab a lead at any point, the Giants weren’t all-around good enough to break their losing ways at 114-year old Rickwood. The TV lights, the tiny crowd, and even the fear that there could be a security breach didn’t change the visitor’s poor habits. Wearing snazzy home throwback uniforms didn’t help either.

LaMonte Wade and Cardinal legend Willie McGee weren’t honorary captains, but the pair did escort 99-year old Negro League legend Bill Greason on to the field before the game. Wade’s attempt to play in the game was aborted. His rehab from a hamstring injury continues. Melvin wanted Wade to at least have an opportunity to pinch hit in the game but that fell short when the recovery process didn’t progress quickly enough.

The Giants conclude their road trip over the weekend before a quick turnaround at Oracle Park for games against the Cubs on Monday through Wednesday.