Last Call! :- )
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1. It doesn't matter! whether you, as a fan, quit on the season, or whether you do not. Your emotions mean nothing to anybody other than to one person.
In July, the M's will go on a 20-for-26 streak or they won't. If you quit, they could still go on a tear. Teams do. If you quit and the M's surge -- as young, talented teams can -- you can hop back on at any time.
It is unlikely, but not farfetched, that the M's could have a big second half. Right now they're not looking like it. In the immortal words of Brian Bosworth, their offense blows chunks. Like, it totally sicks you out, man.
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2. For Dr. D, this road trip is Last Call. If the M's don't rip off a series of wins against the A's and Angels, he goes into his Can You Win Your Next Pennant With This Player mode. Just so you know.
It's an intensely personal decision, you know. I've come to face my own identity.
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M's 3, Oakland 2
The M's needed to poach a series opener with Bazooka Joe, and then he could kneel down in front for Felix Hernandez and Mr. WBC to fire their muskets from behind him.
Hey, guess what. This in fact occurred.
Our 1-2 starters are dangerous, and might easily sweep the series all by their ownselves. If so, the road trip gets interesting. Enjoy the moment, Pepper. This very moment --- > might be your last of 2013. Savor the next 48 hours, it sez here.
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The A's had gone 21 and 5 over the last month, and even when behind on Friday night were laughing, high-fiving, and planning their postgame lemynades. Did you see that?! Just f'r instance, behind 3-2, their catcher made a nice play and they pointed fingers at each other like "we got this." When they made the final out they were disoriented.
We'd like to see the disorientation if Felix kicks their keisters Saturday, and if Iwakuma is cruising through another shutuout in the 5th on Sunday...
Enjoy da next two games, mates. How sweet your last few sips of real baseball might be. Independently, Geoff Baker has arrived at the same recommendation. Shows you how heavily his head must sit on his shoulders, no?
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Primal Mode
There comes a time, in sports, when everything is going wrong and you revert to an early stage of evolutionary strategy. This occurred the first time Dr. D recruited friends to play park-and-rec basketball. First three trips down the floor, none of the plays worked at all and we were down 6-0 on fast break baskets. Know what I'm saying?
Throw the ball to your best player and hope he can score. The prefight strategy lasts until the first punch.
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Zduriencik and Wedge are desperate not to write off this season (from which we infer that their Overlords have signaled that their jobs are in evaluation). Their offense has been a joke -- and they have reverted to using any weapon that might be at hand.
Bay and Ibanez are in there every day* because they're reliably mediocre; what does that tell you about how much of a Rearguard Mode the offense is in out there?! Nick Franklin showed two good games' worth of AB's and BANG!! he's your second baseman, with Dustin Ackley playing catcher, or setup relief, or something, in AAA. Mike Zunino has three or four pro AB's in his first game and BANG!! Keith Shopley is an ex-Mariner.
It has a very primal feel, and Dr. D approves in a deep, sincerely wholehearted manner.
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Closer
When Oliver Perez took the mound, it occurred that this was either a profound, or a primal, choice. One of the two. :- ) Good on yer, Sgt. Wedge. Somebody write a book on profound-and-primal choices.
Dr. D wouldn't bet anything he was afraid to lose, that Oliver Perez was going to sustain the 9th inning. He's kind of wild, and kind of simplistic, and he looks "solvable." The odds against his saving 30 games next year, even given the chance to do so, are what ... 8:1 or thereabouts.
But he's got real swagger, makes up his "styling" windups on a pitch-by-pitch basis, thoroughly enjoys the mano-a-mano ... remember, this guy won 15 games for the Mets, has been one of the league's best starting pitchers (2004) and any relief role (even "Closer") is a comedown for him. That matters when you're talking about Definitions Of Success.
Perez' game is based on a VERY sharp inside-outside concept. He throws both the fastball and slider from a wide 1B angle, and the pitches either nip the inside corner (on a left hand batter) or sweep across to catch the outside corner. Up-and-down is no factor in his game. A lot of his F/X charts, you'll see pitches clumped on the inside and outside edges -- this from a guy whose pitches are coming sideways to begin with.
There is no defense, practical or theoretical, against these pitches properly executed. Will they be? We have our doubts, but right here right now we're good with Perez. He's my choice for tomorrow night's ninth.
Go M's,
Dr D