Look at that! The A's show a little fight and win a game!

An out away from losing for the 11th straight time, the A's came from behind and beat the White Sox.

Bob Melvin's A's should a little fight.
And I don't believe that was a double possessive, but I am sure my mom will tell me either way.

A win is the first step.
Here's the second step... creep closer to the Rangers.

Guess what? They are only 8 games back in the loss column and the Rangers inevitably have a bad August. (They did last year as well... but no other AL West team was even decent last year.)

Think about it... if the A's turn around and win this thing, Bob Melvin might win the Manager of the Year. And if he does that he'd win it in both leagues, joining Tony LaRussa, Jim Leyland, Bobby Cox and Lou Piniella.

Ah maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.
It's just one win.

It might be time for the A's to fire Bob Melvin

Bob Melvin is CLEARLY not the answer.
They have yet to win a GAME under his leadership.

What are you waiting for, A's?

Get rid of this guy!

(You see, it had nothing to do with Bob Geren. I just want the A's to have a new manager for every game.)

Bob Geren got fired? WHY? WHAT WENT WRONG?

I've been calling for Bob Geren to be axed for more than 2 seasons.
It's amazing that he has lasted longer than a Presidential term, taking a team that was a regular playoff participant and seeing them turn into a sub .500 non entity.

It's not ALL his fault but it clearly wasn't working.
Bob Melvin is the new manager. During Geren's first season (2007), Melvin took an unlikely and seemingly overmatched Diamondbacks team and led them to a 90 win season and homefield advantage in the NLCS.

They got to within 4 games of the World Series with Eric Byrnes as their top offensive threat and Livan Hernandez as their #3 starter.

In that time the D'Backs have been dismantled and rebuilt with 2 other managers.

And Geren stayed put in Oakland... until now.

The A's could use a little overachieving.

Or who knows?
Maybe Geren should have gotten ANOTHER 4 1/3 seasons!

Remember when the Diamondbacks were putting together a dynasty?

May 18, 2008 technically wasn't THAT long ago!

It was a little more than 2 years before I started typing this post.
But the Diamondbacks and their fans, it must seem like an eternity has passed since then.

On that day, the Diamondbacks beat Detroit in an interleague game. Blast from the past Randy Johnson threw 7 shutout innings and Arizona won 4-0.

The Diamondbacks improved to 28-16 and were in first place and looked like manager Bob Melvin and company had put together a contender not just for 2008, but for well into the next decade. This wasn't a quick grab for a World Series title like in 2001 that nearly bankrupted the team. This was a smart rebuilding.

The D'Backs were coming off a surprise NLCS appearance in 2007 where their 90-72 record was the best in the National League.

Their team was LOADED with young talent like Conor Jackson, Chris Young, Mark Reynolds, Brandon Webb, Danny Haren, Stephen Drew, Justin Upton and Chad Tracy... all of whom were under 30 and had some playoff experience.

And on that day in 2008, the Diamondbacks were 5 1/2 games up with the best record in baseball. They were on pace to win 103 games.

Arizona was poised to take over baseball.
I started thinking that Arizona could be the next great baseball fan base.

What has happened since May 18, 2008?

They went 54-64 the rest of the way, barely finishing above .500.

From May 19, 2008 to last night's 3-2 loss against Colorado, the Snakes are 144-182.

If they lose to Ubaldo Jimenez (a distinct possibility) they will be nearly 40 games UNDER .500 since that win.

The manager is gone, replaced by A.J. Hinch, who isn't faring much better.

Sure it hurts when you lose Webb, the team's Cy Young contender.
It hurts that Chad Tracy, Conor Jackson and Chris Young all flopped as badly as they did in 2009.

And it sure doesn't help that their bullpen has been a house of horrors this year.

The Diamondbacks are now floundering in the basement of the NL West... the only team NOT contending. They finished in the cellar last year as well as they look like perennial cellar dwellers just as it seemed like they were on the verge of becoming a powerhouse.

Who knows?
Maybe they'll get good as quickly as they got bad!

Maybe Justin Upton will break out and the Brandon Allens and Marc Krauss's of the world can have the Diamondbacks jump back UP in the standings.

Let's check back on May 18th, 2011.

2007 was a long long time ago

In 2007, the Rockies, Diamondbacks and Indians were all in the League Championship Series.

Each had young hungry teams filled with terrific talent and seemed to be poised to contend for many years to come.

And each had a steady manager at the helm. Clint Hurdle with the Rockies, Bob Melvin with the Diamondbacks and Eric Wedge with the Indians.

So how did it work out?

Well with today's firing of Eric Wedge, all three managers have been fired less than 2 years after their improbable LCS berth.

It's sobering, especially when you think about teams that are trying to build something positive for the long term, knowing that you don't even get 2 years credit for a solid and unexpected finish.

But as I said about the Rays at the end of last year, it's dangerous to try and predict who will have long term success.

WHO SHOULD I ROOT FOR? Part 6: THE NL WEST

I've waited a while to write my "Who Should I Root For?" NL West edition for a few different reasons.

And seeing this is Sullybaseball, I will list them.




1) I respect my dad.
Remember he felt the Giants were still in it... and seeing that the Giants are my favorite National League team, I was hoping he was right. Well, they are eliminated from every race... so I have to pick another team.

2) It was too crowded
A few weeks ago there were 4 teams crowded near the top... and it is hard enough writing one of these posts with two teams, let alone 4.

3) I've had a really hard time figuring out who to root for.
Not a lot of emotion tied to these teams other than the Giants.

But now the race has been whittled down.
The Dodgers are out of it unless they start playing with a purpose... and with Grady Little managing you KNOW that isn't happening. And again, I respect my dad... I can't root for the Dodgers any more than he can root for the Yankees!

The Rockies aren't doing it and it is a shame, because they were the team I found myself leaning towards. Plus it would all but clinch an MVP for Matt Holliday, who I love more and more.

So it is down to the Diamondbacks and Padres... tied in the loss collumn with 12 days left in the season.

Now I will admit, when I've done these posts before, a lot of the times I know who I am going to root for and I try to find a rationale for it.

I knew I wanted the Mets, the Brewers, the Indians and the Mariners when I started writing those posts...

But the NL West is proving to be tricky. I honestly don't know which way to lean. So I will be figuring it out as I write this!

So let's break this one down carefully.

First Criteria... which team has more members of the 2004 Red Sox?

Neither team has one. I could have sworn the Padres had one.

The Diamondbacks do have former Red Sox Tony Clark, who as a Yankee hit that bizarre 9th inning 2 out 2 strike ground rule double that didn't score the go ahead run in game 5 of the 2004 ALCS and then struck out to end game 6.


ADVANTAGE: PUSH




Second Criteria... which team has more future Hall of Famers who could use a ring to cap off their resume?

In my Hall of Fame posting, I said that Trevor Hoffman needed to be a closer on a World Champion in order to get in the Hall of Fame. I stand by that.

Another ring for Greg Maddux would be nice, but he doesn't need any more resume padding.

One of the likable qualities to this Diamondback team is that they are devoid of superstars and future Hall of Famers, yet are somehow in First Place.

If you think Eric Byrnes is Hall of Fame material, then more power to you.

ADVANTAGE: PADRES


Third Criteria... which fan base has suffered more?


This is a tough one to pick.
The Diamondbacks won one of the great World Series of all time with their stunning epic 7 game victory over the 3 time defending champion Yankees.

But Phoenix fans have had their share of bad luck.
The Suns lost the triple overtime game in 1976, lost to Jordan and the Bulls in 1993 and had Tim Donaghy blowing calls against them in the 2007 playoffs.

Plus think of an Arizona Cardinals highlight that doesn't involve the words "Jerry" and "Maguire."

Not much in Phoenix other than 2001!




The Padres have never won a World Series. Their only two trips, they had the bad luck of facing two of the best teams of the Free Agency era: The 1984 Tigers and the 1998 Yankees.

The city of San Diego has never had a winner. The 49ers dispatched the Chargers in their lone Super Bowl and has had Marty Schottenheimer run them out of the playoffs the last few years.


That being said when your home looks like this... how bad can life be?







SLIGHT ADVANTAGE: PADRES




Fourth Criteria... which team has a stranger and more random feature to their ballpark?

When building Petco Park, the Padres decided to not tear down the Western Metal Supply Co. Building. Instead it is part of the ballpark, jutting out in the left field corner.

That's pretty cool.


BUT COME ON!
Phoenix has a pool!

A SWIMMING POOL!

You can take a dip while watching the game! Home runs can land in the pool!
When the Diamondbacks had that amazing 9th inning rally against Mariano, someone was watching it while sitting on an inflatable alligator... AT THE BALLPARK!
What isn't awesome about that?



ADVANTAGE: DIAMONDBACKS

Fifth Criteria... which team had stupider uniforms?
Even though the D'Backs have only been around for 10 seasons, they seem to have had about 38 different uniform combinations. The ugliest were the first ones...








But don't talk to me about bad uniforms until you've looked at the Padres.

In fact I'm not going to write another word about their unis... I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.



























ADVANTAGE: DIAMONDBACKS


Sixth Criteria... whose manager would you rather see in the post game conference?













Bob Melvin and Bud Black...

Not exactly a marquee matchup of managers.

Not exactly LaRussa vs. Leyland, or Torre vs. Pinella... or even Scioscia vs. Guillen.

More like "Interchangeable White Guy vs. Interchangeable White Guy."

But there is something likable about Bud Black as a former pitcher doing the job as a manager. Plus Bob Melvin went to a high school that was one of my high school's rivals!

ADVANTAGE: PADRES

Seventh Criteria... which team has had the better run?

Can you believe the Padres could win their third straight division title?
Shouldn't three straight titles be something we celebrate?
At least notice?

I guess they need to win at least one playoff series.The Diamondbacks are looking to be the only team with multiple World Championships this decade... that's worth noticing.

ADVANTAGE: DIAMONDBACKS








So we've done seven criteria, and still no winner...

Better do a random tie breaker!

Random Tie Breaker... which city can lay claim to the funnier movie?



Yeah, I thought the San Diego based Anchorman was funny...









But rent Real Life with Albert Brooks and Charles Grodin... and thank me later. Conan O'Brien has called it "the funniest movie ever made." He might be right. It took place in Phoenix and the opening song number to get the people of Phoenix excited is worth the price of the rental!





ADVANTAGE: DIAMONBACKS

Whew!
That was close!

So I am rooting for the no stars, no frills Diamondbacks to win the West.

And who could argue with my methods?