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A's Hitters VERSUS Long Gone John Wasdin

Opposing hitter	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Mark McLemore	23	8	3	0	0	1	0	4	.348	.350	.480	.830
Mark Kotsay	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.200	.200	.200	.400
Eric Chavez	4	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.250	.400	.250	.650
Jermaine Dye	3	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	.333	.250	.670	.920
Eric Karros	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.500	.500	.500	1.000
Scott Hatteberg	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.000	0	1.000
Totals	37	12	4	0	0	2	1	7	.324	.350	.430	.780

ISSUES ABOUT AND AROUND

There is some surrounding talk about the A's and a new ballpark. There are several stories and a 'report' that we hope to get our hands on. Once we read some of the information, we'll pass it along. Essentially, the location for the ballpark is the North parking lot of the Coliseum, which doesn't solve the traffic problem or the revenue issue.

Huh.

Some A's guys go into the Hall of Fame today. More on that when we reflect later this evening.

Apparently, Grady Fuson is the jerk Micahel Lewis (and everyone else who has come across him) says he is. Click on the link to read the story from Baseball America.

BYRNES+HUDGENS = SLUMP

There's a reason "professonal" witers have editors. They are supposed to stop stupid things making it to print. Failure is always an option for Blog posts, though. Take this clapt-trap from MLB.com writer Tony Kuttner:

Notes: Byrnes snaps out of slump

OAKLAND -- On Friday night, the right-handed hitting Eric Byrnes drove a 1-1 offering in the third inning from the Rangers' Kenny Rogers soaring toward the gap in right-center.

Before the ball even cleared the wall for a two-run homer, Byrnes felt a great sense of relief, he said.

From a team standpoint, the homer was welcome because it tied the game, and for Byrnes personally it was a welcome end to an 0-for-15 slump.

Byrnes admitted he was starting to press a bit, hitting just .204 (23-of-113) since June 15.

"Don't we all?" he said. "The thing is sometimes in this game you've got to try less. I'm one of those guys when something is not going right I always want to try harder. But sometimes in this game it's the exact opposite."

"Opposite" is the key word here, because the A's had been working with Byrnes to try to get him to hit to the opposite field more.

"It's one of those situations where I had been fouling off a lot of balls and popping a lot of balls up, and really pulling off a lot of balls," Byrnes said. "I've been working a lot with [batting coach] Dave Hudgens, trying to stay inside the ball and take the ball the other way.

"It's nice to actually get some results because we've been working on it for a while."

As nice as that homer was -- Byrnes' first the other way as a Major Leaguer -- manager Ken Macha was even more impressed with what his left fielder did in his next at-bat two innings later.

"The most important one was the next one, when he had the guy on third," Macha said. "That ball was inside and he stayed inside it and hit it to center field for the sac fly."

Macha said not to expect Byrnes now to hit every pitch toward right field, but it's good to know that he can.

"I'm capable of doing it, but a lot of hitting the ball the other way is just trusting your ability," said Byrnes.

The notion that the two run homer Byrnes hit Friday was "Byrnes' first the other way as a Major Leaguer" is such a load of crap that a retraction needs to be printed. It was a shot to the right of center that was to the left of the Jagged Edge and Byrnes hit a similar shot last year when hitting for the cycle in San Francisco.

Here; watch for yourself.

And it's not like Byrnes doesn't go the other way. He does, on occasion. He hit a double on May 2nd this year in Tampa Bay that nearlly went out down the rightfield line that ended up being a double. He hit a triple to right center in SBC Park on July 2nd. But A's Hitting Coach Dave Hudgens has been trying to get Byrnes to hit down on the ball, trying to have Byrnes slap the ball on the ground and use his speed. It has had the opposite effect as Byrnes has been lifting everything because he now reaches for everything, thinking he can still tap the ball on the ground. As a result Byrnes turns his top hand over during the swing. Hudgens has been so far up Byrnes' ass that Byrnes has abandoned what made him a successful hitter; his strike zone discipline and patience.

Byrnes could be a good hitter if Dave Hudgens just left him alone and Byrnes concentrated on driving the ball on the inner half and going the other way on the outer half.

Recall last year in New York, early in the season - May 2nd to be exact. Byrnes made a diving play in the outfiled early in the game injuring his ribcage. As a result, Byrnes was unable to swing the bat and reach, he had to pull his hands in and concentrate on pitches on the inner half of the plate. Anything on the outer half he had to inside-out swing and drive to the right-centerfield gap.

Byrnes went on a two month tear at the plate hitting for power, average and consistency that hasn't been seen in Oakland for a very long time. His ability to draw walks and use his speed for extra base hits carried the A's.

Until, Thad Bosley was fired on May 31, 2003 and Dave Hudgens was hired as the A's Hitting Coach. Hudgens began 'working' with Byrnes in the beginning of July 2003, just when the 'Slump of all Slumps' began.

Anyway.

Back to Friday night. Click on the link and got to the Texas vs Oakland Plays of the Game.

And how exactly does getting one single hit call for an end to a massive slump? Byrnes is still in his 2nd half tail-spin, even with two sacrifice flies and being hit by a pitch in the last two games. The swoon is early in coming this year, but it is here.

ERIC BYRNES - JULY SWOON

July Totals	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2004	61	8	14	2	1	4	13	1	16	1	0	.230	.290	.492	.782
2003	74	2	7	4	1	0	1	5	11	0	0	.095	.152	.176	.328

We'll have a full wrap up on Sunday the 1st of all the A's hitters and pitchers and the top performers through the minor league teams.