Blink

SF GATE has gone overboard a week early and put out their Baseball preview. Of course, it was MLB's fault for scheduling the Japan trip and then cancelling.

First you can't finish an All Star Game and then you're surprised that there's military action overseas even after all of the Terror Alert/Martha Stewart color scheming. Fine.

Whatever mind erasing solvent MLB has in their water supply we wouldn't mind taking a swig of, especially when the credit card statement comes next month. Or the month after. The billing cycles have us confused. We're going with the COMCAST MLB game plan. We get a free copy of All Star Baseball 2004 for PS2 and the first two weeks of the season are free. We're not sure of the final costs, but it will be substantially less than going to a bar for every non-FOX Sports NET televised game. Also, we're not close enough to get whatever channel the A's directly broadcast to. We get it through a subsidiary channel that also broadcasts Giants games. Which Fox Sports NET also broadcasts.

There were some initial concerns as we thought we were in the blackout zone for MLB televised events. Apparently, just the Raiders have enough reach to blackout Sacramento.

Speaking of which, if you are interested in the Oakland A's EVER getting a baseball falsecity, sorry, phallacity, damn, facility, you should be paying attention to Al Davis' off-season conditioning program. While other teams get ready for the coming season, Al Davis goes to court. Or maybe Al's real sport is legal wrangling.

Let's see, two NFL teams, two MLB teams, two NBA teams and an NHL team...and the Northern California market STILL has not put together a sports network.

We're going to come up with some numbers and see if we can't get the ball rolling. Maybe we could start a company on the Jimmy James pledge never to buy a company with your own money. James James, the man so nice they named him twice.

HUH?

Oh, yah, the articles;

Susan Slusser's 2003 A's Preview. For whatever reason she always seems to talk to Terrence Long.

Slusser's scouting report

Slusser's Keys to Success. Might as well have been just one; "score more than the opponent a lot of the time".

Scroll way down.

Glenn Dickey on Miggi and more.

Miggi's injury. Not as serious as you think.

AL WEST preview.

Local stuff on the local teams.

Nice to know Ray Ratto has our back.

Why is Dusty Baker so popular with the casual fan and sports writers?

Fluff on Chavez.

The starting rotation is set. Unless Macha changes it.