Jason Michael Barker

A few years back I attended all three games of a weekend series between the Royals and Mariners at the Kingdome, at the time a personal best. By "best" I mean "most," as in the most baseball I'd seen over three days, as there was nothing all that special about three games between clubs well out of post-season contention.

I managed to top the feat last weekend, taking in an entire series between the Mariners and Athletics at Safeco Field. Not only did they play a full four games (and four is more than three), but both are pretty good clubs who also happen to be battling for the top spot in the AL West, which is certainly better than the aforementioned Mariners-Royals tilt.

I had the misfortune of sitting with an A's fan Thursday night, which would prove to be a sign of things to come. She's actually a very nice person (hi if you're reading), but that's an easy thing to forget when it comes to fans of the opposing team.

The Mariners jumped on Tim Hudson for two runs on two hits, a walk and an error in the first inning, but managed only three hits the rest of the game.

Most notable about the opening frame? Alex Rodriguez singled, and it was the first and only hit he'd have in the series. The media seemingly wrote Rodriguez out of the MVP picture a few weeks back, choosing instead to focus on Carlos Delgado and Frank Thomas, but the Most Coveted Free Agent in Baseball History (tm) sealed his own fate by going one-for-sixteen in his team's most important series of the season.

Slumps happen, of course, but Rodriguez picked a poor time to have one. Even the normally supportive (of anyone except Jose Mesa and Bobby Ayala, at least) Seattle crowd had a few jeers -- and were those some boos I heard? -- for young Alex when he struck out looking to end the eighth inning on Sunday.

Getting back to Thursday, Hudson's fastball-sinker-splitter combination kept opposing hitters off-balance all evening. I've been thinking all year that he's been a bit overrated, his 18-6 record a product of the better than seven runs of support the A's give him each time out, but he really does have good stuff and he looks very composed on the mound. Kudos to the A's for locking him up to a long-term extension earlier this season.

Hudson's counterpart Jamie Moyer, sporting an ERA over six since the All-Star break, took a one-hitter into the sixth but fell apart before leaving with a 5-2 deficit. Bret Tomko took Moyer's place on the hill, and promptly benefited from a veteran play by catcher Joe Oliver.

With runners on first and third and one out, A's skipper sent Eric Chavez from first, probably thinking Oliver would simply hold the ball rather than allow Matt Stairs to come in from third on the sneaky double steal. Oliver, however, leapt up from his crouch, pulled his arm back, and executed one of the best fake throws to second I've ever seen. It was enough to fool Stairs, who came halfway down the line before realizing his mistake as he was tagged out.

Tomko pitched a brilliant 3.1 innings, allowing just one walk and no hits, but those sorts of performances tend to get overlooked in defeat.

Friday was Fan Appreciation Night at Safeco, which prompted more than one fan to yell "I'll trade those prizes for some runs!" when it was clear the Mariners weren't capable of mounting an attack against even Omar Olivares, making his first start in over two months.

Offense aside, this one was over almost before it started -- the A's knocked Freddy Garcia around for five runs in the first inning, then cruised to an 8-3 win behind a pair of pitchers (Olivares and Scott Service) who had ERA's over six even after the game.

On Saturday I got a rare treat -- the chance to see the Kevin Appier of old. It was vintage Appier, as the veteran allowed just one hit (an Edgar Martinez homer that reached the second deck in left field) and two runs with seven strikeouts over seven innings.

A tense 2-2 game turned into yet another A's romp in the seventh, when the normally reliable bullpen duo of Arthur Rhodes and Jose Paniagua were torched for six runs, capped off by a Ben Grieve grand slam. Everywhere you look the A's have powerful left-handed bats -- Jason Giambi, Matt Stairs, Eric Chavez, Jeremy Giambi, Ben Grieve -- and it's only a matter of time before one of them hits a homer.

With one last chance to salvage first place in the division, the M's sent John Halama, arguably their least effective starter this season, to the hill against one-time prospect Ariel Prieto (remember him?). Seattle scored a run in the first, one in the second and another in the fourth, so it was up to the pitching to keep the A's down -- no mean feat.

With a 3-2 lead, one out in the eighth and the season hanging in the balance, Lou Piniella made perhaps his best (and most dangerous) managerial decision of the season. Rather than go with Paniagua, his traditional set-up man, Piniella went straight to closer Kazuhiro Sasaki. Not only was this the earliest Sasaki had been brought in all season, but he was brought in to face Miguel Tejada, Grieve and pinch-hitter Stairs.

A strikeout, a walk and a groundball later, Sasaki was out of the eighth. The ninth was predictably anti-climactic by comparison, with only a hit-by-pitch marring Sasaki's 35th save of the year.

I know there isn't much time left for you to catch the A's (none, unless you happen to be in the Bay Area this week), but trust me on this -- Jason Giambi seems to be up every other inning. It's like they're cloning the guy, and that should certainly be illegal. I'm calling Selig to ask for a full investigation.

That frozen body you saw being chipped from the ice on the X-Files was, in fact, Jason Michael Barker after the M's-A's series. The deep thaw was brought on suddenly by the iciness of the Mariner bats. Why not offer to thaw him out properly with blowtorches at jmb@strikethree.com.

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