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Long-time Oakland Athletic Marco Scutaro was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays today. Scutaro had an incredible number of clutch, late-inning hits for the A’s over the years. So long Marco. You will be missed. Discussion over at Athletics Nation.

Well, it’s over now. The A’s were outplayed by the Tigers and their season is over. Milton Bradley was one of the few bright spots for the A’s in this series. He batted .500 in the four-game series, had 35 % of his team’s total bases (17 of 48), and he played hurt during the final game (strained quad). Tip of the cap to the Tigers who played great fundamental baseball, had outstanding pitching, and got the timely hits. And they did all of that with a low payroll.

The A’s were smacked around again by the Tigers today and they are on the verge of being swept out of the playoffs. This quote from A’s third baseman Eric Chavez really bothered me:

“We’re running into a better team, and they’re knocking down everybody in their path,” A’s third baseman Eric Chavez said. “It’s not frustrating, they’re better than we are.”

That is absolutely the wrong attitude, even if you are down 3-0. Save the concession speech for when the series is over.  Eric, you should be frustrated with the way that your team has played.  Very frustrated.  There’s some heated discussion about this ridiculous quote on Athletics Nation.

I went to ALCS Game 1 on Tuesday. More photos on Flickr.

It was an unforgettable day at the Coliseum today.  More photos on Flickr.

Congratulations to the 2006 Oakland A’s! After a two year hiatus they are back in the playoffs.  >>video

Congratulations to Huston Street on a well deserved AL Rookie of the Year award. That makes it back-to-back rookie of the year awards for the A’s. Bobby Crosby won it last year.

Jason Kendall scores the winning run in a wild victory today over the Angels. The A’s take the lead in the American League West with this win. This was the first day shooting with my new Nikkor 70-300mm f/4-5.6D lens. More photos on Flickr.