A Strong, But Ultimately Unsuccessful Start

Morning A’s,

Well I for one am very happy with the team’s performance in last night’s season opener.  Under a portentous cloud cover, a small A’s squad took on an even smaller Sons of Pitches on Barry’s lawn, determined to fight through the slick field and looming sprinkling of rain to start its effing season in true A fashion.  Meaning, we dug ourselves into a giant hole and needed a miracle or three to find our way out.

Still apparently shaking off the offseason rust, the A’s porous defense let in 8 runs in the top of the first, and things were looking pretty grim.  A lesser team would have certainly lost its composure, but these resilient Amendments knew there was still plenty of game left and started chipping away immediately, scoring three runs in the first two innings with the help of 2 triples and a double.  But we were still down by a hefty margin going into the third, when the light seemed to really go on.

K-Dawg and skip led off the inning and both promptly grounded out; the A’s looked dead in the water.  But utilizing our patented small ball technique, a 2-out rally of singles in the 3^rd netted us four more runs.  The Pitches were starting to sweat.  A 1-2-3 inning on defense followed, and the A’s were back up, ready to build off the momentum of the previous inning.  Red Five started the next rally with a single, becoming the first of 6 players who would score in the inning.  The tide had turned!  The A’s took their first lead of the game, and of the 2012 season, heading into the 5^th up 13-11.

But just when things were looking their best, the A’s lost their mojo and their bats fell silent for the next two innings while the Pitches’ seemed to wake back up.  They scored nine more over three frames to take a commanding 20-13 lead heading into the bottom of the 7^th, when MVP Matt “Mr. 1.000” led a rally that would fall just short of handing the Pitches a defeat.  The A’s went down quasi-triumphantly, scoring 18 runs in a losing effort to start the season.

But as I said, I’m very happy with this performance.  We had 2 players bat 1.000 on the day (guess those Picky Pants are paying off…) and 4 others who hit .600.  We had solid defensive play (especially after the first inning) all over the field, and truly clutch performances on both sides of the ball.  So let’s build off this excellent performance and go smoke the One-Hitters tomorrow (not literally; who knows what’s in those guys?)

That’s right; we’ve got another game just over 24 hours away.  I’m psyched, you’re psyched, heck even my grandmother’s been talking about this game for weeks.  Let me know if you can play. Also, I need a beverage sponsor for tomorrow’s game – let me know if you want to do it.  I again will be scouting and looking to get our home field.  The rain shouldn’t be an issue; the forecast is calling for 70 degrees and sunny.  So we should be in for a beautiful day in which to renew our rivalry against the stoners.  

Effing A, Mike