They got to the ALCS and got swept by the Tigers the year they had Frank Thomas.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

He isn't wrong, but I'd like for the team Stone calls games for to spend a bit and actually play a meaningful September/October game.

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I have a lot of respect for the A's organization although not a big fan of "Moneyball" per se. What never got told in the book nor the movie was the great scouting system and minor league set-up that the A's have/had.

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An Ode to the Texas man who shot an Antifa terrorist:

Oh, he might have went on livin'
But he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the Ranger
With the big iron on his hip

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True, but goddamn! Stone pulls no punches.

Can anyone explain the A's since 2000? Has anyone examined their playoff futility?

Watching their playoff games every year, I can say that their managers made some bad decisions, but I don't think that always explains it. Still, the decision to start Manaea, who only pitched a few games but threw well, might have been bad.

Maybe they have too many no-names and need more veteran leadership. Or maybe Beane fucks with the team too much. Who hasn't played a half-season for the A's?

Some of their studs have not shown up in elimination games. Keith Foulke had a great year when he was with them and then coughed a game late in the ALDS. Then the next year, he helps Boston win it. Josh Donaldson does nothing in the series against Detroit (they did have Scherzer and Verlander), and then wins MVP a year or two later for Tronna.

I'd like to say that they are the reincarnation of the White Sox from 1951-1967. Huge ballpark, good pitching, spotty hitting, but Oakland has had some bats in the past twenty years. They had power this year, but apparently could not hit with men on base. Beane said he was fine with that because home runs were more important than hitting consistently with men on base. Well, as JORR once said, in a short series or single game, if you're not on, you're screwed.

Just frustrating. I hated the A's in the late 80s/early 90s, but I've always been an A's fan, since they were the cool team when I was like three years old and because they almost moved to Chicago. I guess the Sox would have left.

I have a theory on A's playoff futility. My theory is that it's foolish to equate walks with hits as Beane does. A good batter can earn a walk, but it also requires a pitcher with poor accuracy on the other side. When you're in the regular season, you face plenty of awful pitching. In the postseason, you tend to face much better pitching so you aren't going to be given free walks. Who gives a fuck if you get on base by taking pitches vs shit pitchers. Give me a guy who can hit the fucking ball and get on base without relying on dogshit misses from the other guy.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

Very interesting. Makes sense. And they were having problems this year hitting with men* on (not sure about previous years), so there are two related problems.

* men and women or people. Sorry about the gender-biased language. JORR said if I didn't come back here and change this, I was banned.