Bored

The real Jose Mesa finally shows up season and thankfully against the A's. They have scored five so far in the 8th to take the lead 11-10 all on Mesa. Edit: And of course Arthur Rhodes blows it on the 2nd pitch...HOMERUN BY RUBEN MATEO AGAIN!!!!!!!! 11-11. Ruben Mateo?????????????????????? Why why why why why why why do the A's still think Rhodes can close?

I'm following on mlb.com. Fox doesn't allow any games being televised locally during their broadcasts.

Yikes Mark Redman gives up a grand salm to Ruben Mateo. Paging Joe Blanton...

I suppose this is a *SPOILER* but I believe ESPN has already picked the 25 teams on the list as they have a poll on their site that let's you rank those 25 teams yourself. http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnatio...stranker?id=103 I know I'm biased but come on the '89 A's aren't on the list but the '91 Miami Hurricans are? They lucked out against Florida State to stay undefeated. That was hardly a dominant team and many felt the Washington Huskies were the best team in the country that year.

#89: Rulon Gardner stops invincible Karelin

#90: Reggie Miller scores 8 points in 11 seconds

So the A's will move into sole possession of first place over the Angels. Wait it's only June...damnit it's supposed to be August when they get in first! Crap they are going completely against the script. Oh well maybe they'll skip the lose in Game 5 part.

The 40 runs is a club record for the A's in a three game series.

I guess I shouldn't have worried with the Reds pitching. This game has just been bizarre. A's now have 40 runs in this series...so far.

So watching Baseball Tonight and it's been ESPN's policy this year to have their anchors complain about not pitching to Bonds and subjecting the viewer to pointless highlights of Bonds walking. So tonight Bonds goes 1 for 5 and doesn't draw a walk so I'm assuming the Devil Rays pitched to him. What do they do on Baseball Tonight? No highlights of Bonds, don't even mention his name. Just a hunch they'll go back to their bitching if Bonds draws a single walk tommorrow night. Oh and the A's are getting really close to blowing a 11-0 lead...now 11-7. Edit: Make it 11-8.

You can't stop Damian Miller, you can only hope to contain him. Who kidnapped the A's offense and replaced them with good hitters before this series? Okay helps the Reds pitching is just brutal.

Because saves are pretty. I'm sure John Kruk thinks he's best closer in baseball.

#91: Jordan, age 30, retires for the first time

Since they reveal one a day...you do the math.

#92: Heiden destroys competition at '80 Olympics

That is Jr. at #7.

The page with the updated A.L. vote totals isn't working on mlb.com so just tell you the only change is Jeter took the lead at shortstop. Not gonna bother making picks this week as just taking a quick look at the numbers there wouldn't be much change for this week to last.

Rob Neyer ranks his Top 10 center fielders of all-time. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/stor..._rob&id=1818011 1. Willie Mays 2. Ty Cobb 3. Mickey Mantle 4. Tris Speaker 5. Joe DiMaggio 6. Duke Snider 7. Ken Griffey 8. Billy Hamilton 9-11. Puckett/Wynn/Averill

N.L. voting update Catcher Player Name Team Total Votes 1. Piazza, M. Mets 621,524 2. Ausmus, B. Astros 359,004 3. Lo Duca, P. Dodgers 277,428 4. Barrett, M. Cubs 228,961 5. Estrada, J. Braves 151,716 1st Base Player Name Team Total Votes 1. Pujols, A. Cardinals 564,687 2. Bagwell, J. Astros 523,919 3. Lee, D. Cubs 217,666 4. Thome, J. Phillies 213,779 5. Casey, S. Reds 202,286 2nd Base Player Name Team Total Votes 1. Kent, J. Astros 627,162 2. Giles, M. Braves 280,087 3. Castillo, L. Marlins 234,102 4. Grudzielanek, M. Cubs 189,140 5. Alomar, R. Diamondbacks 175,499 Shortstop Player Name Team Total Votes 1. Renteria, E. Cardinals 367,301 2. Everett, A. Astros 365,056 3. Matsui, K. Mets 262,524 4. Gonzalez, A. Cubs 223,420 5. Larkin, B. Reds 209,419 3rd Base Player Name Team Total Votes 1. Rolen, S. Cardinals 596,823 2. Ramirez, A. Cubs 339,894 3. Lowell, M. Marlins 278,805 4. Ensberg, M. Astros 267,855 5. Beltre, A. Dodgers 225,877 Outfield Player Name Team Total Votes 1. Bonds, B. Giants 797,102 2. Sosa, S. Cubs 681,400 3. Griffey Jr., K. Reds 502,077 4. Berkman, L. Astros 437,589 5. Biggio, C. Astros 433,965 6. Alou, M. Cubs 389,805 7. Hidalgo, R. Astros 361,787 8. Edmonds, J. Cardinals 268,750 9. Cabrera, M. Marlins 268,390 10. Jones, A. Braves 217,883

Oh no don't say anything negative about the Reds! After tonight the A's are now 41 games over .500 at home (75-34) dating back to last year as compared to 3 games under .500 on the road (53-56). Since 2001 they are 182-89 at home, good for a .672 winning percentage.

#93: Baseball retires Jackie Robinson's No. 42

OMG ESPN IS ALL HD NOW!!! Do they really think people care that much?

I like the "natural rivals" but beyond that they need to junk it. As long as both leagues have different rules (DH) these interleague match-ups are inherently unfair. I'm going to Friday night's game between the A's and Pirates, on Spider-Man 2 night no less. Oh well at least I get to see Craig Wilson play in person for the first time.

All I'm hoping for in the draft is that the A's get Danny Putnam of Stanford.

Just the typical p.c. ESPN pick, not that anyone would have noticed if it hadn't been included on the list. It won't be the the last 9/11 related moment on the list. I'm interested to see if they'll have McGwire breaking the homerun record higher on the list than Bonds breaking it, which it should be since the McGwire/Sosa chase was ten times more memorable than the Bonds' chase and was 37 years in the making. My guess is they'll go the p.c. rout and have Bonds ranked higher which will go nice with their current policy to coddle Bonds. I'm also dreading the placement of the Derek Jeter/Jeremy Giambi play. I know those assholes are going to put it at least in the Top 20.