Raiders, A's Now Playing At The "Big O"

((HT: KGO-TV San Francisco))

Go ahead and make your jokes...
We already see them coming, but remember, Overstock.com is a Utah-based company...

Janelle Wang starts us off in the right direction...
We think...


Just think... nightly performance will be tested, performance anxiety will be monitored, and everyone hopes nothing will happen prematurely...

Carry on...
And we haven't even talked about the teams being overstocked with talent yet...

Coco Crisp charged with DUI

Coco Crisp/Courtesy: abc15.com-scottsdale police

We'll hold off the jokes. For now.

Oakland A's outfielder Coco Crisp (his real name is Covelli), was arrested and booked in the Scottsdale, Arizona jail early Wednesday morning after police pulled him over on a traffic stop.

Crisp was in the area because his team's Spring Training home is there.

More from myfoxphoenix.com RIGHT HERE

The team released a statement on their hard to boot up website about Crisp, who was only able to play in 75 games for the A's last season.

"Coco Crisp was arrested and detained early this morning under the suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. He was released from the City of Scottsdale jail this morning and arrived at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on tome for team pre-game drills. The A's are aware of the situation and take such matter seriously. The team and Coco will have no further comment until further details are available"


We suspect this may be the beginning of the end for Mr. Crisp, who has underachieved in his tenure with the A's. Sure, he did steal 32 bases last season in 75 games. but this is generally the type of thing that causes long term issues. We'll see how it goes.

In the meantime, it's really hard to look at "Coco's" name and not think of this commercial from my childhood. Sorry if it offends anyone, it's not meant that way:

A's Staying, Islanders Leaving...?

We're 50-50 with this next story...

You all know that the Oakland A's have been trying to get out of the Alameda County Coliseum ever since, well, the Civil War. It's old. They're trying to squeeze as much revenue out of the place as they can, and no one is coming to see the games in Oakland.

So, while the 49'ers are chasing a new home in Santa Clara, the A's were looking in San Jose.

Doesn't seem like that idea is going to work now...
Sydnie Kohara has your introductions on the "why"...
((HT: KPIX-TV/CBS5))


For the other story, we go to the other coast...

New York Islanders owner Charles Wang has invested, and lost, a boatload of money in a rat pit in Uniondale, Long Island. Yes, the HQ is talking about the Nassau County Coliseum. Everyone and their mother knows the place is a rat hole- even the commissioner of the National Hockey League agrees with the majority of us for a change.

He's even gone as far as encouraging a change- and soon...

But the pols on the Island aren't green-lighting Wang's multi-billion Lighthouse development project to the specs he would like.

Hazel Sanchez went chasing out on the Island...
((HT: WCBS-TV))


Wang has even gone as far as saying he'll look elsewhere if Lighthouse isn't approved. The HQ has heard Brooklyn (with the Nets) and Kansas City- where AEG has scheduled an Islanders game for exhibition season.

((Rub chin back and forth here))

Yeah, like the HQ doesn't know where this is headed...

Sandberg Throws Out First Pitch In Oakland...

((HT: KGO-TV San Francisco))

San Francisco area/Marin Catholic High School pitcher Gunnar Sandberg threw out the first pitch at the Oakland-San Francisco game Sunday afternoon...

The De La Salle player whose batted ball off a metal bat struck Sandberg, Zac Byers, caught the first pitch from Sandberg.

He was placed in a medically induced coma at Marin General Hospital after the ball struck him, and a portion of his skull was removed before he was transferred to the rehabilitation facility he is currently working in.

He was released from the rehab facility earlier this month but will undergo surgery Tuesday to replace the missing part of his skull.

Here's video of the event from Oakland...


The Sandberg incident has rekindled the whole idea of banning metal bats in high school baseball games. The California state Senate Education Committee approved a bill back on May 5th that would place a one-year moratorium on the use of metal bats in high school baseball games.

That bill, "AB7," now heads to a vote by the full Senate.

Dallas Braden Is Perfect...

The Oakland A's Dallas Braden pitched the 19th perfect game in major league history- shutting down Tampa Bay 4-0.

Gabe Kapler grounded out to shortstop for the final out- the first perfect game for Oakland in 42 years ((Catfish Hunter)).

The closest the Rays got to a hit was Jason Bartlett's liner to third leading off the game. Evan Longoria tried to bunt against Braden leading off the fifth, drawing boos from the small crowd.

"It's without a doubt a team effort," Braden said. "You got eight guys out there chasing balls and knocking balls down for me. So this is ours, not just mine, this is ours. ... It's just a tremendous feeling for the team, for everybody, for the organization. It's been a while since we've had something like that happen around here. It's never happened to me, that's for sure."

Just ask his grandmother...
Kate Longworth caught up with her knee-deep in the hoopla...
((HT: CSNCalifornia))


Whaddya think Alex Rodriguez will do when these two teams hook up again...???

"Get Off My Mound..." Braden to A-Rod

((HT: Traina))

The HQ heard about this driving from the Nationwide tournament in Valdosta yesterday.

The Oakland A's Dallas Braden didn't like A-Rod returning to first by running across "his mound." Is the pitcher's mound sacred territory...???

Dunno, but to Braden it is... here's the reaction from afterwards...

"He's a tremendous player and a tremendous talent, and I don't care if I'm Cy Young or the 25th man on a roster; if I've got the ball in my hand and I'm out there on that mound, that's not your mound. You want to run across the mound? Go run laps in the bullpen. That's my mound."

Rodriguez responded by saying, "He just told me to get off his mound. That was a little surprising. I've never quite heard that -- especially from a guy that has a handful of wins in his career."

A-Rod with the burn... haven't heard those since high-school...
Here's the play...
Thanks to MLB Network/CSNBA/baseballjeremiad

Loma Prieta Earthquake: 20 Years Later

((HT: ESPN))

Those of us at OSG HQ can't believe it's been twenty years since the earthquake that paralyzed the Bay Area. We all got a front row seat since the World Series was underway.

Here's Bob Ley's first-person anniversary account that ran on the four-letter...


But this is what most of us remember from ABC...
Al Michaels and Tim McCarver were right there for the greatest open in the history of television.
Bar none...
((HT: ABC/MLB))

20 Years Ago: Nolan Ryan's 5,000th Strikeout

((HT: HSE/MLB Advanced Media))


Rickey Henderson is the answer to the trivia question...
Richard Durrett of the Dallas Morning News points us in the direction of the night's game story... Merle Harmon and Norm Hitzges were your play-by-play and color from Arlington Stadium...

When It Rains It Pours - Miquel Tejada Charged With Lying To Congress About Steriods

Houston Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada has been charged with lying to Congress about steroids. Tejada is scheduled to appear at 11 am Wednesday morning in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. Tejada is expected to plead guilty to the charge.

The charge on Tejada alleges he gave false statements to Congressional staffers regarding his conversations with another player about steroids and human growth hormone back in 2005. The player is believed to have played with the Oakland Athletics with Tejada.

Tejada "unlawfully withheld pertinent information from the committee because defendant Tejada, before and during his interview with the committee staff, then and there well knew that player #1, one of his teammates on the Oakland Athletics, had used steroids and HGH," the papers state.

The court papers filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Durham charge that during spring training in 2003, Tejada had purchased a substance believed to be HGH from the player, giving him payments of $3,100 and $3,200.

In the Mitchell Report, which examined steroid use in baseball, Oakland outfielder Adam Piatt is cited saying he discussed steroid use with Tejada and having provided Tejada with testosterone and human growth hormone.

The Mitchell Report, issued in December 2007, also included copies of checks allegedly written by Tejada to Piatt in March 2003 for $3,100 and $3,200 -- the same payment amounts in Tuesday's court filing.

[HT/AP]

Photo Courtesy: AP

The Oakland F's

The Oakland A’s are in the depths of hell right now. The A’s traded away most of its marketable stars the past couple of months and the end result have been a free fall that sees no end.

The A’s have a small fan base already that is becoming apathetic and are trying to build a new park in Fremont where a fan base for the team is almost non-existent.

Read more about the Oakland F’s from Ray Ratto’s column in the San Francisco Chronicle