State of the Athletics

Another month, another update on the state of the Oakland A's.

Last month I said they were the epitome of a .500 team through the first two months, but should start heating up through the summer months. And they did heat up. For the first three weeks of the month. At one game short of the halfway point of the season, the A's are at 41-39, a full two games over .500. They were 15-13 for the month of June, an up and down month that included a five game winning streak and a five game losing streak. They're solidly in third place, 9 games behind the Angels, 4 behind the Mariners, and ready to start getting hot again as soon as head home after this Roadtrip From Hell (tm).

They beat Igawa and the Yankees 7-0 today, behind three HRs and a one-hitter by Chad Gaudin. I was half hoping they would lose to keep their streak of .500 months alive, but it's nice to be above the break even point, and always great to beat the Yankees. Catfish Stew has a breakdown of where the A's have stood at the halfway point of the last five years and where they stood at the end of the season each of those years.

2006: 42-39, 1st place, 1.0 game up on Seattle, won AL West
2005: 40-41, 3rd place, 10.0 games back of LAA, missed playoffs
2004: 46-35, 1st place, tied with Texas, missed playoffs
2003: 46-35, 2nd place, 7.0 games back of Seattle, won AL West
2002: 46-35, 3rd place, 5.0 games back of Seattle, won AL West

This is a lot like two years ago, when the A's were horrible for the first two months of the year (14 games under .500) then started getting torrid through the summer before falling short at the end of September. Historically, they're always strong in July and August, so if they're still hovering around .500 at the end of July, I'll be ready to write them off. There's still half a season to go, and it should be an interesting summer, whatever happens.

OK iPhone

Very few people realize that the original working title of Radiohead's 1997 album OK Computer was OK iPhone.

It was going to be a concept album about the technological dystopia brought about by the introduction of a next generation of intelligent mobile device, called the intelliPhone (or iPhone for short). The iPhone was a cellphone, camera, media player, and wireless internet browser all in one handheld device. The must-have gadget of the summer of 2007. People were lining up for days for an opportunity to buy an iPhone.

Next generation technology doesn't come cheap, so iPhone devices cost US$500 each (or US$600 for more storage) plus a mandatory two year service contract at a minimum of US$60 per month. This made the total cost of iPhone ownership close to US$3000, outside the means of all but the most affluent, and outside the brains of all but the most gullible.

This "next generation" device only worked on a last generation data network with a top (top!) speed of 128kpbs. Which was "more than twice the speed of dialup" as they said in AOL broadband commercials, but many times slower than anything else. And the network was maintained by a ruthless oligarchy famous for poor service, hidden charges, and releasing their customers' private phone records to the U.S. government. They didn't care. They didn't have to care. They were The Phone Company.

The songs on OK iPhone explored the future balance between cool technology and the evil Phone Company. "Paranoid Android" was about the paranoia brought about by knowing that the Phone Company knew what you were doing, "the yuppies networking.. God loves his children". "Fitter Happier" was a series of feel-good slogans in a MacInTalk voice (which is how an iPhone would sound, if it could speak).

After the album was finished, the band surrendered to their own paranoia and changed the title to OK Computer. They feared that if the iPhone was just ten years away, it would be easy for the Phone Company to borrow a page from The Hitchhiker's Guide, and travel back in time to sue Radiohead for trademark infringement. Which they definitely would have done if the original title, OK iPhone, had been kept (unless Cisco sued Radiohead first).

Go Home Productions - Karma In The Life
Hard n' Phirm - Rodeohead
Luka Bloom - No Surprises
Menny Moore - Fitter Happier (Radiodread)
Radiohead - Palo Alto (OK iPhone outtake)

Knocked up with nostalgia

I finally made it out to see Knocked Up this week, and enjoyed it, but wasn't knocked out by it. It's a lot like Judd Apatow's first film The 40 Year Old Virgin, a series of funny scenes strung together by a fairly weak. Both movies are like early 80s teenage sex comedies updated for middle-agers who remember the time before AIDS and "Just Say No". I heard 40 Year Old Virgin referred to as a "middle-aged sex comedy", which is a pretty apt description of that film.

Actually, Knocked Up reminded me a lot of 1982's Fast Times at Ridgemont High. When it came out, Fast Times was perceived as another mindless teenage sex & drugs movie (Roger Ebert called in a "scuzz-pit of a movie"), but now it's seen as a classic of the genre. A raunchy teenage sex comedy with a heart and a mind. The cast included three future Oscar winners (Sean Penn, Forest Whittaker, and Nicolas Cage) and other actors who went on to greater things (Sean's stoner buds were played by Nic Cage, Eric Stoltz, and Anthony Edwards).

There was one part of Fast Times where Jennifer Jason Leigh's character Stacy gets pregnant and then decides to have an abortion. This was all handled completely matter-of-factly, like it was something that happened every day. Fast Times was the first R rated movie I saw in a theater (it came out right after I turned 17), and it's also one of the only times I remember a pregnancy being aborted in a comedy (this was before I saw Polyester).

In Knocked Up, Alison gets pregnant by some guy she barely knows, and then decides to keep the baby. It's all treated the same way that Stacy's pregnancy is treated in Fast Times, as something that needs to be taken care of. Some reviews have said that the values in the film "defy credibility". The story of the film is not really why she gets knocked up or decided to make a go with an aimless slacker, but how they both handle the situation of having a baby. Sometimes you need to suspend your credibility in a comedy. Just repeat to yourself "it's just a movie, I should really just relax... and remember to laugh!".

So, uh, Milton has been let go?

On Monday, Dave Del Grande of the Oakland Trib/ANG wrote a column explaining why the A's designated Milton Bradley for assignment. Del Grande is an annoying writer who seems to take great delight in yelling fire in crowded theaters to provoke readers, but I thought this piece was over the line even for him. The paper has pulled the article from their website, but I don't recycle my newspapers until Thursday so I can pull quotes from the paper itself.

Let me get this this straight: The A's basically cut a supremely talented black outfielder because they have a dime-a-dozen white guy who complains less about being a backup. What in the world was Billy Beane thinking? Bradley has the potential to be a difference-maker when he's hot. Name me one of the Oakland white guys about whom you could say that.

Swisher, Cust, Buck, Chavez, Ellis, Crosby, Kotsay, Scutaro, Kendall. Every player on the Oakland roster, every player (black, white, or brown) on every major league roster has the potential to be a difference-maker when he's hot. I'm a big Milton Bradley fan, wish he was still playing for the A's, and hope he hooks up with another team, but he wasn't their only player with the potential to be a difference maker. And he hasn't been healthy all year. Bradley was on the disabled list three different times, and only played in 19 of the A's 70 games. The A's embarked on a roadtrip from hell after Bradley was let go (losing five in a row before winning tonight), but his presence wouldn't have made much difference. Because he's hurt.

This wasn't even a financial decision. This was a matter of Bradley being ... well, black. Tell me it's not as simple as that.

It's not as simple as that. I'm kind of upset that the A's got rid of Bradley, because he's a great player (when he's healthy) and seems to be a good guy too. But letting him go wasn't a simple black and white issue, either figuratively or literally. It's idiotic and irresponsible for a writer to break out the race card without a shred of proof or evidence.

Del Grande's article generated a firestorm of controversy, just as he and the paper probably hoped it would, but I'm guessing they didn't expect this angry response from A's general manager Billy Beane. My favorite paragraph.

Let me state first of all that I have never met Dave Del Grande, and as our public relations people inform me, he hasn't been out to cover a game in years. He formed his opinions expressed in Monday's column without talking to me, our players or manager, as is common practice by responsible and well-respected columnists in the Bay Area.

Dave, dude.. You got served!

Free Format

In honor of the album's one year anniversary, the Format are offering last year's Dog Problems album as a free download until July 16th. Free for an email address.

This was one of my favorite albums of 2006, and is well worth a free download. Impeccably crafted pop somewhere in the neighborhood between Sparks and Jellyfish.

Dog Problems is an album that should be heard from start to finish to be fully appreciated. And once it is appreciated, Hi-Fi Heart has some nice Nilsson, Kinks, and Jellyfish covers by the Format available for download.

I'm a closer baby

The announcement of Rod Beck's death this weekend at the too young age of 38 reminded me of the time I ran into him at a gas station by the San Mateo bridge, 14 years ago.

I stopped by an Arco station in Foster City on my way home from work. My tank was running close to empty and the regular commute traffic was even worse after a late season Giants game at the ballpark formerly known as Candlestick. Traffic was crawling, and I wanted to add a few gallons so I wouldn't worry about running out of gas on the San Mateo bridge.

The Giants were in a tight pennant race with Atlanta, and this was their last home game of the season. They’d lost a close one that day to the expansion Colorado Rockies, because rookie manager Dusty Baker had chosen to start a young rookie pitcher named Solomon Torres, who had given up five runs in the first three innings. Because of the loss, the Giants were now tied with the Braves, both teams with 100 wins and 58 losses. This was before baseball had the wildcard, so one of the two teams would not make the playoffs with 100 wins.

The Giants final four games were against the Dodgers in L.A. and the Braves had four at home against those same expansion Colorado Rockies. The Braves probably weren’t going to lose to the Rockies (they hadn't all year), so the Giants' hopes hinged on sweeping L.A. at Dodger Stadium, and then beating the Braves in a one day playoff. They were up against the wall.

When I got out of my car and headed to the pump, I noticed this strange character on the opposite pump, filling up his van and silently muttering to himself..“I can’t believe we f—ing lost..I can’t believe we f—ing lost..” I thought it was a Giants’ fan taking their latest loss to heart. He was big guy with a fu manchu moustache and a mullet hairdo, wearing a huge leather cowboy hat. He looked like someone I knew from somewhere, and kept muttering “I can’t belive we f—ing lost..”, loud enough where other people at the station were looking at him.

I suddenly realized that the weird dude across from me was none other than Giants' All Star closer Rod Beck, the workhorse who had been singlehandedly keeping them in the pennant race. He was on his way to 48 saves and a 2.16 ERA, and was pitching in nearly every game. It looked like he was filling up his van for the long drive to LA, because it was full of personal belongings. I’d finished adding my three gallons, and wanted to give him some encouragement, so I shouted “sweep L.A. Rod” as I got in my car and drove away. He looked over and gave me a thumbs up.

The Giants did not end up sweeping L.A. They won the first three games, but lost the final game of the season because their rookie manager Dusty Baker gave the ball to the same rookie pitcher Solomon Torres, who gave up a bunch of runs early and lost the game. Meanwhile, the Braves easily swept the Rockies and ended up winning the NL West by one game. The Giants ended up winning 103 games, but missing the playoffs by one game. Baseball introduced the wildcard system the next year.

And now Rod Beck is gone. Sometimes life just isn't fair.

Interliga Fini

Interleague play in baseball is finally over, and apart from the local derbies like A's-Giants, Yankees-Mets, and Dodgers-Angels, it's mostly just a bunch of games by teams from opposite leagues with no history between them, with a few exceptions, like the just completed San Francisco versus New York serieses.

This weekend our Bay Area teams played against their New York counterparts in a couple of World Series rematches, Yankees-Giants (from 1962) and A's-Mets (1973). The A's were finally swept in a three game series this year, but the Giants took two of three from the Yankees, reversing the results from the two World Series.

The A's - Mets series was one where the pitching matchups just weren't there for Oakland, and the Mets went to town against bottom-feeding lefthanders DiNardo and Kennedy, and wasted a great effort by Joe Blanton yesterday by not breaking through against El Duque. It was just one of those series where the breaks were beating the boys. The Giants did win two of three from the Yankees, so there is that. It's always great when the Yankees lose!

I think the Giants should play home-and-home with the A's each year, plus one or two other series, but a whole month of interleague is overkill, and provides some unfair setups, like the A's having to play the Mets in Flushing while the Angels get three games against Pittsburgh. I guess it all evens out in the end, but interleague play seems like an unnecessary diversion all in all. Anyway, no more interleague nonsense until next year. Back to real baseball tomorrow.