The Syndicate

S~V~S wrote:FUCK THE YANKEES!!!

That is all

LMAO Preach!


So, clearly, I'm late getting to this thread. But... maybe we'll have another one next season I can participate in. Although I did inherit my fandom, I am now a die hard Oakland A's fan. (So, that should tell you a lot about me... I like to start with nothing, work really hard, and then get bitterly disappointed. )

I'm about 5 years into my fandom, and am a major stats nerd. My main gripe is that I don't think statistics are tracked or reported accurately enough. So I have developed my own extremely nerdy way of tracking the statistics I think are important. For example, I prefer to keep track of "called balls" and "called strikes", while also keeping an actually accurate record of what the pitch really was. I also highly value walks, and get super excited for a 10 pitch at bat. I like to try to guess what pitch is going to be thrown next (which is extremely easy with a pitcher like Bartolo Colon - damn I love that happy fat man so much! and I miss him too). I enjoy the subtleties. Which, let's face it, is important... as an A's fan.

Pitchers and catchers reporting soon!! (Ours report Saturday. Hence why I am doing a green & gold manicure this week. Gotta support the team. )

When do yours report?

Any particular excitement you have over this coming season? Any worries?

I am concerned for our boy Coco Crisp. This will likely be his last season, and his body is slowly falling apart. I really want to see him play as much as possible before he has to retire. So I hope his neck keeps it together for at least a few games.

Chris Young and Jon Lester both were on the A's not too long ago. I liked them both when we had them.


My favorite was when we had Bartolo Colon. He's back with the Mets now, but damn do I miss him. I love that big ol' dude, I really do. One of my favorite things in baseball is watching a veteran play their position. I cannot even express the joy I get from watching a veteran play their position, seriously. There are no words. We had one rookie pitcher who Colon took under his wing a little bit when he was with us. The rook told a great story about Colon. Apparently, Colon watched the rookie pitch a few times during practice, and then walked up to him - he told him to move 2 of his fingers to different positions. Boom, the rookie had a brand new pitch added to his repertoire. Serious goosebumps!!!


We have so much turn over some years... my doctor once complained that sometimes you feel like you're cheering for laundry. He's a baseball fan too, and sometimes we spend more of an appointment talking baseball than my health. I love that.


The only other person who I can talk seriously baseball with is my better half. Other than that, most of the people I know are Yankees fans. And you just can't talk to Yankees fans.


So let the nerdery abound! I am that nerd who shows up to a baseball game with my own self-designed score sheet and a pen.

I think it was last season? Colon got an RBI single. He was huffing & puffing his way to 1st, and laughing sooooo hard! It was such an awesome moment to re-watch. You can just tell he's loving what he's doing, and trying his best, but not worrying about impressing anyone. He's so happy. It is sad that it's likely his last season. I always hope that dudes like that will come back in some kind of capacity - pitching coach, or whatever. But it's like, the game still needs them, you know?

I also worry about the young pitchers coming up. Tommy Johns are pretty much standard procedures now, and that just wasn't always the case. I feel like they push them too hard to throw heat, rather than just perfecting technique. Not that none of them have good technique, but the emphasis is on speed more than what is necessary. A good pitcher is a good pitcher - yes, having heat can come in handy, but I do think it is hard on their bodies, and they may not last as long because of it.

I would love to know what a healthy/sober Babe Ruth could do! I feel like I could have gotten aggravated watching him hack away at just about every pitch... but had he been healthy/sober, he may have had even more control of the plate. Even so, his stats are his stats... and they are not bad stats.