Dana Eveland and Chad Gaudin, the one-two punch today for the Oakland A's, will echo that as the A's fifth and fourth pitchers during the regular season. Today they easily knocked out the KC Royals on a very green St. Patrick's Day.
It took us awhile to get into the park, however. I figured, eh, Kansas City, no one will show up. Wrong! It was St. Patrick's Day, and everybody wanted to come and show the green! It took a good half an hour to get into the parking lot. And when I finally entered the lot, we were shuttled off to a side lot. Once we walked into Phoenix Muni, we went to the hot dog stand (of course!), and waited. The cashier didn't seem to be sympatico with her machine. And they kept running out of change. I saw in front of me several ASU students clutching $20 bills in their hands. Oy vey.
Still, we got down to our seats in the middle of the 2nd -- and we had wonderful seats today in Section 1, right behind home plate -- and found ourselves sandwiched between two large men. We were two large women. I think we held our own. And it was nice and cool today, as opposed to the rising heat over the next two days.
We saw some nicely played A's ball in the first few innings, as the A's players racked up some hits. We finally got to see some regulars: Mark Ellis, Bobby Crosby, Mark Sweeney (who made the squad and is going to Japan), Donnie Murphy (getting more and more play as Chavez's replacement), Kurt Suzuki, and Jack Cust. And Dan Johnson appeared. Dan started the 2nd inning with a double in the part of the game that the cashier stole from us.
The A's lead with a record in the Cactus League of 15-5, having won their last 6 games, tying a spring training record. Pitching is always key for the A's, and neither Eveland nor Gaudin allowed a run through 7 innings.
One great sign for me: Bobby Crosby is playing offense and defense with renewed enthusiasm and confidence. His new short swing seems to be producing great results. It's great to see him come alive after two years of strange injuries and a swing with huge holes in it.
We found out that young Gio Gonzalez, whom we saw give up 6 runs yesterday, was sent down to the minor leagues today. We also heard that Todd Linden, the Giants cast-off that was hitting everything in sight in A's camp, was told that he was not going to Japan, and he was really hot about it. I can't blame him, sitting on a .577 average for the spring; you have to wonder what he has to do. It's impossible to conceive, but the A's actually have TOO much young talent. Wow. If Linden just goes down to AAA (since he's not being sent to Japan, it seems that's his fate), and bides his time, he'll be up soon. He may be burning his bridges.
Baseball is all about talent, and hopes, and being in the right situation at the right time. It's also, as we see, about personalities and frustrations. It's never boring.
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