The Baseball Gods

The Baseball Gods must be with the A'S thus far in the early season. They have had a Spring Training I would have never imagined and now have won the first two exhibition games in Japan. Say what you will about playing against scrabeanies (A word my father created to mean players that aren't really that good or from the minors. I thought everyone used this word but upon usage have found my father simply created it.) but the Triple A A's are looking good. I prefer to call the 2008 A'S a a Triple A team because they are made of and built on the foundation of the farm system and the hopes for the future. I hate waiting and especially for a promise from Billy Beane. Everyone worships Moneyball but I guess I was the last one to get on that train. (Really people worship this book.) I started the book and halfway through just stopped. But I have digressed from what was to be the main point of this blog.

The A'S looked good in their first outing Saturday or so it seems because it being in Japan I didn't actually see it. The article on the A'S website said: "Shortstop Bobby Crosby and third baseman Jack Hannahan hit back-to-back homers to erase an early deficit, and reserve catcher Rob Bowen banged an RBI double with two outs in the ninth to help the A's to a 4-3 victory over the host Yomiuri Giants on Saturday in an exhibition game at Tokyo Dome." They also got a game winning run off a single from Emil Brown and it is so nice to see different players producing.

The A'S looked good in the second game on Sunday as well winning 10-2 overt the Hanshin Tigers. It is exciting that Justin Duchscherer is now a starter having loved him tin the bullpen for years. I hope that with the loss of Haren this year the pitching will still be strong. The game was 14 hours after the Saturday game so I was happy the jet lagged A'S were able to pull out a win. Cust hit a two run home run which was nice to see and Buck also hit a great home run. I love that they scored 5 funs in the 8th which gives me hope for the season.

While this is all very exciting I overall am not so happy with the Japan trip. I think cutting Spring Training short is never a good idea. It is time needed to look at players and see who will fill out the major league roster. Players need to get their work in and pitchers especially need time to work up number of innings pitched. The Japan trip while fun will in my opinion jet lag the players and take away valuable time needed to evaluate the Triple A prospects. Japan is a country that loves baseball but I tend to think that this trip is just a publicity stunt to make MLB money. These however are just my opinions and this is just a blog.