I Hate Joe Kennedy

(Or, you learn where my loyalties lie. This is a preview of what is to come: long posts re: the Oakland A's and St. Louis Cardinals, with the Colorado Rockies thrown in for variety. I told you that a lot of this blog would deal with baseball).

Situation: Oakland A's 5, Minnesota 3, bottom of the eighth at the House of Horrors in Minneapolis better known as the Twinkie Dome, better known as the Metrodome. A's doing their best to hang on to a 5.5 game lead in the AL West and slice their magic number down in a desperate attempt to fend off their usual September slide and another humiliating choke to the Los Angeles Angels of Orange County California USA. I think they may do it this year, but sure as hell not if what just happened happens again.

Joe Kennedy is somebody who I've never understood Athletics' management's fixation with. Great ERA, because he lets everyone else's runners score instead of his own, sort of like the Jose Mesa of the AL. Terrible WHIP of 1.71, last time I checked. (In case you don't speak Baseballese, this number is an estimation of the number of walks and hits a pitcher permits per inning. In this example, it means Kennedy allows nearly two baserunners per inning). And it just bit him in the ass... I knew we weren't going to get through the meat of the Twins' lineup unscathed, and sure enough, JFK coughs up 3 runs to give the Twins a 6-5 edge.

(Note: I exaggerated. According to Yahoo! Sports, JFK's WHIP is 1.25. Still not stellar).

Now, it's not over yet, and Twinks closer Joe Nathan threw 30+ pitches last night, so there's still hope, but the A's absolutely must end this jackassery of bullpen management. Justin Duchscherer and Kiko Calero are the go-to guys in late, tight, close games that you really need to win late in the season, and Calero was kept in long enough to get a double play in the seventh, then pulled. Duchscherer was brought in to close the barn door after Kennedy had kindly let all the cows out.

Agh... I just can't stand this. September is going to turn my hair gray. Memo to Ken Macha: Use Kennedy if you must. Certainly not in situations like this. I just don't trust him, and I never have.

Update: 7-5 Twins win. Ugh..... wow, there hasn't been a loss that felt so much like a punch to the gut in a long time. I guess I know that I am unhealthily invested in the outcome of baseball games, and I've been trying to lessen my addiction, but apparently it hasn't worked. I feel like crying. The LAAAA can't keep losing on every night that we do.

I guess painting my fingernails green and gold didn't help much. Excuse me, I'm going to go crawl off into my corner now.