THEREFORE, THOSE SKILLED IN MILITARY OPERATIONS ACHIEVE COOPERATION IN A GROUP SO THAT DIRECTING THE GROUP IS LIKE DIRECTING A SINGLE INDIVIDUAL WITH NO OTHER CHOICE.

The Art of War

Well.

The A's must now sweep the Angels this weekend.

The A's continue to play bad baseball.

It's just not fun being an A's fan right now.

NOTICE:

I was able to sell all of the tickets I had available for Friday night in about 15 minutes. So, thanks to all of those who participated - the tickets have been mailed each with a good omen included. The Smuin Ballet will get a regular-sized, non-novelty check in the amount of $110 in the name of Bill King. As much as I like over-sized novelty checks, it didn't seem appropriate in this case.

If you want to grab a bleacher seat ticket for $9 and sit with the group, let me know in advance and I will do my best to hold a seat for you. Just look for the 'PLAYER to be NAMED LATER FAN CLUB' banner in rightfield. We'll be behind that.

Don't be afraid to introduce yourself before the game or in between innings...but, please, do not do it while action on the field is occurring. I tend to get antsy when I miss pitches and I do want to give you my full attention. Plus, I have the scorebook and a notebook open when I watch games so I have to throw things to the side and then stand up so it's a great big hassle.

Just a quick thought or two:

• In the span of a week, Barry Zito gave up 3-run homeruns to two players who have a combined total of 3 homeruns in 512 at-bats for 2004. Eric Young of Texas on September 22nd and Willie Bloomquist on September 27th. Sandwiched in-between those two homeruns was David Eckstein hitting a solo homerun off of Arthur Rhodes Sunday; his second homerun of the season in 549 at bats.


• Why is real estate so expensive in the BayArea? Market demand. The San Francisco Giants lead all of MLB with 1254 runners Left On Base, the Oakland A's are second with 1247 runners Left On Base (breaking the Oakland Athletics team record of 1246 set by the 1999 Oakland A's). With all of those highly-paid athletes trying to get home, you had better have a good realtor.
  NOTE: Yes, the joke can also be related to traffic, but real estate is funnier.


• The 2004 A's broke the Oakland Athletics record for hits in a season on Monday and currently have 1519. The previous record was set by the 2000 A's with 1501 hits.


• The record for runs is 947 in a season was also set by the 2000 A's. The 2004 A's have just 781 runs for the year.


• The A's will break the Oakland Athletics record for At-bats in a season on Friday, as of last night they have 5572 AB's for the season. The current record was set by the 1996 Oakland Atheltics with 5630.

PITCHY RICH HARDEN'S GAME LOG: 2004

DATE	OPP	RESULT	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	GB	FB	PIT	BF	GSc	DEC	ERA
Apr. 20	@SEA	L 2-1	7	3	1	1	1	4	9	6	6	109	27	72	-	5.73
Apr. 25	ANA	L 4-3	5.2	6	4	3	1	2	4	11	6	100	27	45	L(0-2)	5.40
Totals			16.2	20	11	10	2	7	19	21	14	283	76	--	0-2	5.40
DATE	OPP	RESULT	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	GB	FB	PIT	BF	GSc	DEC	ERA
May. 1	@TB	W 6-5	6	6	1	1	0	2	4	7	11	100	26	58	-	4.37
May. 6	NYY	W 7-4	7.2	6	4	4	0	5	9	11	5	121	34	55	W(1-2)	4.45
May. 12	@DET	W 2-1	7	7	1	1	0	3	8	4	7	99	29	64	W(2-2)	3.86
May. 18	DET	L 5-1	6	6	3	3	1	3	2	4	11	105	26	47	L(2-3)	3.95
May. 23	KC	W 3-2	6	8	2	2	1	1	6	11	6	95	26	53	-	3.83
May. 29	@CLE	L 8-6	5	2	5	3	0	6	4	8	5	98	23	45	-	3.98
Monthly Totals			37.2	35	16	14	2	20	33	45	45	618	164	--	2-1	3.35
DATE	OPP	RESULT	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	GB	FB	PIT	BF	GSc	DEC	ERA
Jun. 4	TOR	L 6-1	7	4	1	1	0	3	7	9	3	103	26	69	-	3.67
Jun. 9	CIN	W 17-8	5.1	6	5	4	0	3	8	7	4	106	27	43	W(3-3)	3.92
Jun. 16	@STL	L 6-2	6.1	6	3	3	1	2	7	9	7	98	27	54	L(3-4)	3.95
Jun. 21	@ANA	L 10-3	5.1	8	5	5	0	2	4	8	9	104	26	34	L(3-5)	4.25
Jun. 26	SF	W 8-7	2.1	1	1	0	0	1	3	2	4	35	10	55	-	4.13
Monthly Totals			26.1	25	15	13	1	11	29	35	27	446	116	--	1-2	4.44
DATE	OPP	RESULT	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	GB	FB	PIT	BF	GSc	DEC	ERA
Jul. 3	@SF	W 6-2	6	2	2	2	0	4	3	7	7	90	23	59	-	4.05
Jul. 8	@BOS	L 8-7	5	7	7	7	2	6	7	7	7	114	27	26	-	4.52
Jul. 15	CWS	W 4-2	8	4	2	2	1	1	3	13	6	95	27	68	W(4-5)	4.33
Jul. 20	TOR	W 1-0	8.2	2	0	0	0	3	8	7	9	125	32	85	-	3.99
Jul. 25	TEX	W 9-2	5	2	2	2	1	5	4	4	7	119	22	54	W(5-5)	3.97
Jul. 30	@TEX	L 7-5	6	5	2	2	0	2	5	10	5	96	26	57	-	3.92
Monthly Totals			38.2	22	15	15	4	21	30	48	41	639	157	--	2-0	3.49
DATE	OPP	RESULT	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	GB	FB	PIT	BF	GSc	DEC	ERA
Aug. 4	@NYY	L 8-6	6.1	10	4	4	1	1	4	11	10	92	30	40	-	4.01
Aug. 9	@MIN	W 8-2	6.2	7	2	2	1	4	2	11	8	114	29	50	W(6-5)	3.95
Aug. 14	KC	W 6-1	6	5	1	1	0	4	5	7	7	112	25	59	W(7-5)	3.84
Aug. 20	@TB	W 9-5	5.1	7	5	5	3	2	6	7	7	90	24	38	W(8-5)	4.01
Aug. 25	BAL	W 3-0	8	4	0	0	0	1	5	6	11	111	28	78	-	3.80
Aug. 31	@CWS	W 7-2	7	4	1	1	0	0	5	7	6	102	24	70	W(9-5)	3.69
Monthly Totals			39.1	37	13	13	5	12	27	49	49	621	160	--	4-0	2.97
DATE	OPP	RESULT	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	GB	FB	PIT	BF	GSc	DEC	ERA
Sep. 5	@TOR	L 13-5	4.1	7	7	7	1	2	1	8	7	95	24	20	L(9-6)	3.98
Sep. 11	CLE	W 5-4	6	7	4	4	1	2	7	7	4	110	23	47	-	4.05
Sep. 16	TEX	W 5-4	6.1	6	4	3	0	1	7	7	9	109	26	53	W(10-6)	4.06
Sep. 24	@ANA	W 6-3	7	4	2	2	0	3	6	8	6	111	27	64	W(11-6)	4.00
Monthly Totals			23.2	24	17	16	2	8	21	30	26	425	100	--	2-1	6.08
			IP	H	R	ER	HR	B	SO	GB	FB	PIT	BF	AGS	W-L	ERA
Totals			182.1	163	87	81	16	79	159	228	202	3032	773	53	11-6	4.00