June 16, 2011
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Knowing as we do that a rooting interest is the gateway to hell, we have to announce here an actual and rooting interest.
In something other than our own personal well being, that is.
It is that the Athletics sweep the Giants this weekend. Sweep them good, sweep them strong and sweep them without doing anything stupid or losing anyone important.
And why? Because they need it more. Because the Giants are still playing like they are three catastrophic injuries away from a catastrophe. Because two culturally healthy teams are better than one, and its been awhile since weve had that joyful dovetailing of provincial interests.
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And because Bob Melvin is getting worked up enough in his new job to get thrown out of afternoon games against the Royals, and that kind of borderline irrational passion demands reward.
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Frankly, because Melvin comes in new and hasnt been swaddled in the ennui that has come to be known as As baseball, he cares if he thinks hes been hosed on a call, or two, or five. That he went out twice to air out someone (well, umpires Mike Estabrook and Bill Welke) he felt had wronged him showed how earnest he is, and the fact that crew chief Tim Tschida then ran him as he continued his forensic lecture in the dugout shows how he doesnt let things go easily.
And thats good enough for us.
Even you Giant fans need the As to be winners, and feisty winners at that. Whether you like it or not, and well brook no arguments, the As flavor the Giants and vice versa. Two good teams in one area is a gift, not a burden, and the As have done a particularly listless job holding up their end.
But this isnt the first time the As have slapped hum on drum and called it baseball. The other times, they came up with Billy Martin, Tony La Russa, Sandy Alderson and loads of players who led with their fists and auras. Three men teeming with attitude, know-how and attitude, giving and nurturing the As collective personality, which they and the Bay Area desperately needed.
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This team aches to fly, but doesnt hit enough, field enough or stay off the disabled list enough to exceed its grasp, and the best players are, to be fair, not all that much bigger than life.
Melvin, though, seems to get it. He knows the game, he manages proactively, and he apparently will get in a guys grill to make his point. Its not BillyBall in the classic Martinesque sense, but its a start.
More than that, the As need to stop mousing about as the perpetually downtrodden second team. This is an organizational cry, though one that is likely to fall on purposely deafened ears, but the players can do their bit. They can play better and livelier ball, even if they have only triple steals and the hidden ball trick in their bagotricks.
If it means that Melvin has to become the scourge of umpires across the land, as out of character as that might be for him, thats what it will have to be. If it means the As start taking on an attitude their results and numbers belie, then have at it. If it means the owners have to start taking overt and open pride in their possession . . . well, lets not go overboard.
Anyway, for the moment at least, the As need this weekend more than the Giants. A lot more. Weve seen everything else theyve got, and weve been left cold by it. They need to do this weekend right, for their sakes, and for ours. And then again for theirs.
In the meantime, they at least have a battle cry to send them forth:
BoMel: Hell Stay Until He Snaps.