My First Two Podcast Appearances

My 1st LIVE podcast appearance:

Truluv Sports Talk on BlogTalkRadio

AL West Discussion: 4/15/14 

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN IN!

(I am the first guest!)

My VERY 1st podcast appearance: 

Ultimate Sports Talk Show:

A's Discussion: 3/27/14

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(I come in around the 45 min mark!)

Remembering What I Knew of Angels' Pitcher Nick Adenhart ....5 years Later ...

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Honestly, I knew little of Nick Adenhart. I knew he was young, new on the big league scene and as far as I was concerned really good at his job. I never met him or his friends or anyone else on the Angels ... wait I met  Lackey once but that is story about how one guy could be so damn ugly. You think he's bad with a hat - try without one at a bar Ewww! But back to the story at hand, a story that matters and may just teach you something whoever you happen to be....

Nick Adenhart was a pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 2009. He had pitched in the big leagues before but in 2009 he won the third spot in the  Angels rotation. After his first and very impressive start to the season he lost his life in an accident and it’s something I will always remember because basically in a way, I was there. The five year anniversary of his death and the death of two of his friends was on Wednesday. It happened on April 9, 2009. It does not seem like five years have passed but time just flies the older you get. I didn’t know Nick but the tragedy that occurred affected everyone around it.

My Story:

I was in Anaheim for the final game Angels pitcher, Nick Adenhart ever pitched. It was the third game in a series against the Oakland Athletics and for six innings he owned the A’s. The A’s ended up winning 6-4 so it was easier for me to appreciate those six shutout innings than . I remember thinking, “That kid is good. Better keep an eye on him” – or something of that nature. That night I was in Fullerton where the crash occurred. A friend of of mine owns a popular restaurant and bar there called The Slidebar Rock ‘n Roll Cafe. My friend Jeremy, my mom and I were hanging out there late night having a few drinks and tasting the all new items on the menu. We heard a loud noise and consequently soon after sirens. I remember we talked about it for a minute and moved on. I mean it probably didn’t affected us in anyway. Turned out that it did. My mom and I watched him that night pitch against our A’s. My friend Jeremy is an Angels fan. We were affected but not in the way so many others were.

To read the rest of my part of the story, what happened next and what has happened since CLICK HERE!

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Find us on Twitter @OakAsSocksGrl and @OPSN_MLB

Five Changes the A's Need to Make Right Now

Obviously it is not time to panic. No, it’s only been seven scheduled ballgames.  At this point the Oakland Athletics have won two out of the five games that they have actually played, out of the six that have been scheduled and with their ace 24-year old Sonny Gray on the mound there’s a decent chance they can emerge out of the first seven days of play with three wins and three losses. In a week, I’d call that unscathed. There was a rain out that turned into a double header and the next day a 12-inning marathon that ended in a 3-2 win. Then another game was canceled due to weather. So, like I said, no time to panic ...

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Ok, so why is everyone panicking and what can be done to quell the nervousness that is surrounding what should be a strong team? Problem number one: closer Jim Johnson who was acquired from the Orioles this off season. There  are lots of issues with this. The A’s gave up relatively nothing in Jemile Weeks and a player to be named later, who ended up being catcher David Freitas. They did, however,  take on the $10 million a year that Johnson makes and with a budget like Oakland’s he’s a player they are going to have to work with. So far he is responsible for two of the A’s losses. Letting what should have been an easy 9th inning where the A’s had the lead turn into a complete nightmare. And it’s not the type of nightmare where he gave up home runs. There were hits, there were walks and both blown saves were far from pretty. The fans are already up in arms with two arguments or complaints for Oakland’s general manager Billy Beane and manager Bob Melvin. The first is why didn’t the club keep their closer of the last two years who was let go to free agency when they could have afforded him? The second is why don’t they demote Johnson from closer and demote him now? As I mentioned panic has begun to set in in Oakland.

The other major is a HUGE lack of offense. When Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin both went down, Parker to season ending Tommy John surgery, everyone suspected that the A’s problem would be their starting pitching. Personally, I barely even flinched. I put more stock in Gray, Dan Straily and now that I have seen him pitch Scott Kazmir than either Parker or Griffin. Parker can be effective, so can Griffin but neither are entirely as consistent as I’d like and Griffin’s propensity for giving up home runs is quite staggering. Not shockingly, at least to me, is that the starting pitching and relief pitching by every pitcher but Johnson has been great. Collectively the A’s entire staff has an ERA of 2.44 which is pretty good considering Johnson’s alone is 22.00. The collective batting average of the team? .214. They aren’t letting teams score runs they are just not scoring any and the deficits in their lineup are not the ones you’d expect.

There are already some easy changes that could be made that would benefit the club. They have enough depth at almost every positions to correct these issues. Some may find them my suggestion bold, others may see them as obvious.  However you see them, here is my take on five ways the A’s can easily improve their two key issues: offense and the closer situation.

To Find Out What Five Changes I think the A's need to Make CLICK HERE! Brought to you by Outside Pitch Sports Network LLC. 

You can find us on Twitter @OakAsSocksGrl and @OPSN_MLB

Why Sonny Gray will Dominate the AL West and Beyond!

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Unless you watched the American League Division Series where the Oakland Athletics took on the Detroit Tigers, then you may not know the name Sonny Gray. At the age of 23 Gray was a, much anticipated by A’s fans, mid-season call-up in 2013. Drafted in 2011 in the first round by the Athletics, Gray had little professional experience yet a lot of expectations. He met those expectations and more.

Starting in ALDS game two he faced off and went pitch for pitch against the great Justin Verlander. Gray matched Verlander both throwing eight shutout innings and each amassing an impressive 11 strikeouts. Neither Verlander nor Gray won the game. The game ended in the bottom of the ninth with a walk-off single by A’s catcher Stephen Vogt. Not only did Gray face and match arugably one of the best pitchers in the league, he was chosen to face him again in game five over All-Star Bartolo Colon. Gray did not match Verlander perfectly in game five and the A’s lost. Gray’s effort, however, was stellar enough to win pretty much any other game if given at least some offense.  Gray lost the game to Verlander as the Tigers won 3-0. He only surrendered six hits in just over five innings.

To Find Out More About Sonny Gray CLICK HERE! Brought to you by Outside Pitch Sports Network LLC

Find us on Twitter @OSPN_MLB and @OakAsSocksGrl

The Return of Spiderman??

Is A's Reddick Already Having a Comeback Year??

It’s a Wednesday and the first game of the Cactus League between the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants has just ended.  Oakland won the game 10-5 over their cross bay rivals. The high score and A’s 16 hits, however, aren’t the only topics of conversation.  Josh Reddick‘s name is on everyone’s lips.

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Reddick is the right fielder for the Oakland Athletics. He scaled a ten-foot wall, not once but twice, to rob the same Giants’ hitter,Michael Morse, of two home runs. Many in the media were already calling Reddick’s first home run robbing catch the “Catch of the Year” and the top web gems of the season after only the first day of spring training games. Regarding the catch fellow A’s outfielder Sam Fuld said,

“The first one he made was the best play I’ve ever seen, on the field or as a fan or anywhere. Best play I’ve ever seen live, and then it just got wacky with the second one. You’ll never see that ever again.”

He also went 1-3 on the day with a RBI. Not bad for a guy who had a very disappointing 2013 campaign.

To Finish this story head over to OPSN - Outside Pitch Sports Network, a MLB Advanced Media Affiliate