Oakland A’s

Generations

Crippy Baseball , , , , , , , , ,

Gene Strenzel was born in 1935 and remembers attending the 1951 All Star Game with his grandfather at Briggs Stadium.  He saw “The Georgia Peach”, Tyrus Raymond Cobb, throw out the first pitch and he saw George Kell and Stan Musial hit home runs.

For most Americans the love of baseball is something you’re born with.  It is passed down from generation to generation.  For me, baseball was passed down to me from my Mother.

It all started with game 6 of the 1977 World Series.  I was watching the game with my Mom.  I watched Reggie Jackson hit three home runs on his last three swings.

I was hooked.

Reggie was my man.

Baseball was my game.

Baseball had been passed down to another generation.

On October 7th, 2013, Gene Strenzel attended game four of the American League Division Series with his daughter Jill and Jill’s daughters Elli and Jodi.  Three generations of one family taking in an important baseball game.

Baseball is passed down to another generation.

Here are some photos of their experience.

Jill_daughtersJill_family Jill_family_1 Jill_sign

Gene Strenzel Jill_family2

“It isn’t heaven but it’s pretty darn close.” -Ray Liota

“God I love baseball.” -Roy Hobbs | The Natural

Blown Save…

Crippy Baseball , , , , ,

So, I’m listening to the A’s and Indians.  The A’s were leading 2-1 entering the top of the 7th.  I’m not exactly sure why, but the A’s brought in their closer, Sean Doolittle.  Doolittle ended up allowing the tying run.  The A’s announcers said that Doolittle would be charged with a blown save.  This is interesting and something I never thought of.

MLB rules state that a blown save will charged to a pitcher who enters the game with an opportunity to earn a save.

Here’s a link to the rule on wikipedia.

To earn a save a pitcher is required to:

That rule states the official scorer shall credit a pitcher with a save when such pitcher meets all four of the following conditions:

  1. He is the finishing pitcher in a game won by his team;
  2. He is not the winning pitcher;
  3. He is credited with at least ? of an inning pitched; and
  4. He satisfies one of the following conditions:
  1.             He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least one inning
  2.             He enters the game, regardless of the count, with the potential tying run either on base, at bat or on deck
  3.             He pitches for at least three innings

So was Bob Melvin hoping that he could get his closer to pitch 3 innings?  Hmmmm, I’m not sure what’s going on but this seems a bit odd.

If there are any A’s fans out there that can help me with this, I’d appreciate it.

Update:  I think I got it.  Doolittle is not the closer, Balfour is.

“God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural