Tape-Delay Blogging Spring Training: A's vs. Brewers

Obviously live-blogging is the gold standard of our business here, but sometimes circumstances conspire against us and we can't be present for the actual event. In this case, the circumstances of having to be at work all day and the tendency of Spring Training games to occur in the middle of the afternoon conspired to force me to watch the A's first televised game of the year from the safety and comfort of my DVR.  But no matter - watching the proceedings a few hours after they actually happened won't affect my ability to analyze what they might mean for the outlook on the A's regular season.

Top 1st Inning

Except, even if I had sat down with the MLB Network to watch the broadcast, I still wouldn't have been watching the game live.  When we started getting a feed of the game - 17 minutes past the scheduled broadcast time - I looked down at the lower crawl during Jemile Weeks's leadoff at-bat, and saw that the A's led the Brewers 1-0... in the bottom of the 5th inning!  Well, this isn't right... and what's more, I'll probably miss the end of the game due to the delay.  I know the the outcomes of Spring Training games aren't that important, but I'm gonna have to do something to avoid watching the game in the future.

Bottom 1st Inning

OK, I've obscured the crawl by stacking up all my videogames in front of the TV and leaning the box of my newly-acquired LEGO Batcave (the 2012 version - no they did not release the Lost Sets of 2006) in front of the screen.  And how funny is this: the brother of the A's leadoff hitter is now leading off for the Brewers!  Rickie Weeks recently missed a lot of time due to an ankle injury, which the announcers described as, "About as bad of a sprain as you can get without breaking the bone in your ankle."  Ouch.  I've had more than a few ankle sprains in my career, and I know how that feels.  What I don't need, though, is to SEE how it feels - so I have to duck for cover as we're shown brutal replay after replay.  I couldn't watch.  I felt like Nicolas Cage in The Wicker Man: "WHY IS IT SPRAINED!? WHY IS IT SPRAINED WHY IS IT SPRAINED!!!?!??!?!"  I'm glad I didn't look.  Here's what I heard though:

"It looked bad, and it was bad."

Ouch.  But after Weeks the Elder gets on base, he's picked off, gets into a rundown, and is tagged out in a spectacular diving play by his younger brother.  Classic.

Top 2nd Inning

Manny did not appear wearing the
Green & Gold in this afternoon's game.

Naturally, neither Manny Ramirez nor Yoenis Cespedes are in the lineup.  We do get to see Chris Carter at first, who looks like he can hit.  He's hit in a lot in the minors, and he just cranked a double down the line, but overall he's still at least 3rd on the depth chart, dependent on Daric Barton's cortisone status.  Josh Donaldson however, who just struck out against Yovani Gallardo, dosen't look like he can hit.  Part of that is that he still has to adapt to being a third baseman as opposed to a catcher - now that he's the A's only hope at 3B after Scott Sizemore's barf-o-rific injury. INFIELD MELTDOWN!

Bottom 3rd Inning

But Tommy Milone (née Tom Milone, acquired from the Nationals in the deal for All-Star Gio Gonzalez) sure looks like he can pitch!  Just wrung up Rickie Weeks on a great inside pitch.  He's just gone three innings, and if he keeps it up at this pace, he'll be a lock for the rotation (not that he wasn't already, due to the A's trading away all their major league pitchers during the off-season).

Top 4th Inning

And Seth Smith looks like he can hit!  He just stroked a double, breaking up the monotony of the interview with Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez.  The former closer's eyes are as red as the devil's rear end... which he claims is due to wearing "orange contacts"... I'd like to see if he can make the Vampire-Setup-Man-look work.

Bottom 5th Inning

Well, here we are, bottom of the 5th, and sure enough the A's lead the Brewers 1-0.  Jemile Weeks has the only RBI in the game, once again outdoing his brother.  Another thing about listening to the Brewers broadcast is that it's hard to tell who's who on the A's, as the announcers usually focus on the players and storylines of the home team.

Top 6th Inning

Eric Sogard, sporting the regular, non-sports glasses, just got a nice hit, maybe instilling a backup hope at 3B for Donaldson (who hasn't looked good today, despite reaching on an error that extended the inning, allowing Sogard to hit).  A's pack on some more runs the cheap way...

Top 7th Inning

Watching the interview with former-prospect Mat Gamel was not as fun as watching Interview with the Vampire-Setup-Man.  I've seen people be camera-shy before, but I'd be worried that he might be a victim of sunstroke the way he was just seemingly unable to string a sentence together.  A man of few words should be able to hit though, so we'll see how he does taking over as the Brewers new first baseman.  Even though there's clearly no replacing Prince Fielder, the youngest player to hit 50 home runs.

Top 8th Inning

With the Milwaukee broadcast, you also get the announcers doing their best Michigan J. Frog impressions.  And here I was thinking I couldn't possibly find a more irritating announcer than Hawk Harrelson.

Top 9th Inning

Wes Simmons, another possible third string hope at 3B, picks up another hit.  He was a sub, and I have no idea where we are in the batting order.  So I have no idea who just got the two base-hits following Timmons, cuz the damn Milwaukee broadcasters won't interrupt their damn Interview with Ed Sedar, whoever that is.  And he's not even dressed like a Vampire, although he is wearing sunglasses, presumably to protect against the sparkle.  It's fun to see the A's score runs, but it would be even more fun to know who's scoring them.

Bottom 9th Inning

Someone who for sure isn't scoring any runs is Josh Donaldson, who played the whole game and just struck out for the multipleth time.  He hit decently in the minors as a catcher, so I see no reason why he shouldn't hit well in the majors as a third baseman...

Aaand that's the end of our broadcast, with lefty Jerry Blevins completing the shutout of the Brewers.  I've always had a nice feeling about Blevins, ever since I got his autograph in my copy of the Hardball Times 2011.  He laughed that he wouldn't like to have to look at all those numbers.  Well, that's fine, as long as he keeps doin stuff on the field that we nerds can turn into numbers.  The more numbers, the better you are at Fantasy Baseball, of all types.  Which promises to be an upcoming subject of this blog, as fun as Astrology might have been...