Hey, everyone! Sorry this wasn't posted earlier this morning...I've been a little under-the-weather the last few days, and I slept in later than I anticipated...but better late than never, I hope!

Well, a lot has happened since I last wrote. I’ve gotten my first few saves in the big leagues, which is VERY exciting. I’ve enjoyed the late-inning role, and whether I’m closing or not, I hope I can continue to help our team in tight situations near the end of games. I feel like our team still has a lot of confidence in me, even though it’s been something like 12 outings since I’ve had a 1-2-3 inning.

I’ve been on a trend of walking nearly one batter per outing, dating back about 14 outings…which is NOT very exciting. I guess it's just another one of those minor obstacles along the way, and I'm working to correct it while still refining my delivery.

We’re in Detroit to open up a 3-game series tonight against the Tigers. Comerica is my favorite stadium that I’ve been to so far, as far as aesthetics. I love the tigers on top of the scoreboard (brought over from the old Tiger Stadium). I like the ivy for the hitting background, the fountains above the ivy, the statues of the all-time-great Tigers, and the well-lit infield. I just think it’s really pretty, and has everything a ballplayer would like in a ballpark.

I want to say "thank you" to all the fans that supported me when I had the streak going, when it ended, and even to this very day. You all have been awesome, and I really appreciate it. I can’t tell you how bittersweet it was to get a standing ovation after I gave up a run in the 9th inning of a tie game. But when I got the ovation last week when the A’s celebrated the records, I was extremely grateful. Even though this has been a tough 2nd half for our team, we greatly appreciate the continued and loyal support and encouragement you, as fans, bring to the field every night.

That was a fun night during the last homestand when the A’s celebrated the record with a brief ceremony and cheap tickets for the upper levels. I got to have my entire family in town (11 people besides myself) with which to share the moment. Uncle Tony and Aunt Adena, thank you for your help!! And the plaque the A’s gave me was VERY nice…it’ll make a nice addition to my small (but growing) memorabilia room at home.


2008 MLB Stats: 1-0, 6 SV, 0.54 ERA, 37 G, 49.2 IP, 31 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 22 K, 19 BB

2008 AAA Stats: 2-0, 8 SV, 0.37 ERA, 19 G, 24.1 IP, 15 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 20 K, 4 BB


Several of the players the A’s are counting on to be the core of the team a few years from now have been called up recently to get their feet wet and to try to help us win some games down the stretch. It’s a great time to come out and check out these new faces and see a possible glimpse of what the future holds. Enjoy these last few weeks! See ya at the ballpark!

Hey, everyone! Well, I can honestly say my life has slowed back down a little, and I’ve been able to relax a lot more since I last wrote. I’m getting used to the scheduling, and I’ve been able to spend a lot more time with my family, which has been really nice. I’m looking forward to coming back to Oakland and getting to throw in front of the home fans again, but we still have 4 games to go before that chance presents itself.

It’s been a tough stretch since the all-star break, and I’m sure you are all well aware of the team’s struggles. It’s frustrating, because no one enjoys losing. I feel like we’re close to reeling off a stretch where we win 8 out of 9 or something…but we just need a win or two to kick start us and get us over the hump. We have Duchscherer going tonight, and that alone gives us a tremendous chance to win a game.

This is my first time ever in Canada, and I like it. Toronto’s a very clean city, and there is some fantastic architecture here. If you haven’t seen it ever, find a picture of the CN Tower. It’s right next to the Rogers Centre, and it’s absolutely incredible. Supposedly, it’s the tallest, free-standing structure in the world. Standing underneath it, the size is so incredible…it’s tough to fathom the process it would take to build something that big. I’m debating going up in the tower and taking some pictures today, but we’ll see if time will allow for that…

I was informed yesterday that I was back on the ballot for AL Rookie of the Month for July. It’s nice to be mentioned again, but I think the odds of getting picked over a couple of the great rookie hitters in the AL are pretty small. Chris Davis (Rangers) has exploded this year, and I know he had a monster month in July. Counting the minor leagues, he’s hit 34 HR this year…that’s ridiculous. And Alexei Ramirez, the other player on the AL ballot, hit .341 in July. Either way, it’s fun to be talked about among the top rookies in the league.

I want to take a quick second to thank everyone for the support I received as I approached and eventually surpassed the Major League record for consecutive scoreless innings to start a career. I honestly didn’t think the record would be that big of a deal…it’s such an obscure record, and it had been held for so long that I honestly didn’t know that it was something that would be kept track of. However, at Elias, I think they keep track of the amount of sunflower seeds spit in a dugout each night. Consequently, I got a lot more attention with it than I anticipated, and that really surprised me. My teammates have been very supportive, which has been really nice, since they’re the main reason the streak exists in the first place. It’s obvious I’m not a strikeout pitcher, so I rely on my defense so heavily night-in and night-out. And, from what I can recall, I think we’ve made 1 error in my 34 innings so far. And at any point, if there had been an unearned run that scored, the streak would’ve been over. But they keep making the plays, so I keep doing my best to get groundballs.

Real quick, I’ll answer a series of questions by closetasfan from the last journal entry. I know there have been more questions, and I’m sorry I likely can’t get to them, but he reeled off several in a row, and I figured I could answer a few of them pretty quickly…

How have Embree, Foulke, Street and some of the other guys affected you in that they’ve dealt with a lot of success and some recent tough losses?
Those guys, as well as pretty much everyone else, have been great. Anytime I’ve needed to know something, I know I can ask them and get an honest, up-front answer. We have a really young team, especially the pitching staff, and to have those guys to look up to and learn from has been a tremendous help.

How is it dealing with all the national attention?
Like I said earlier, it shocked me how much attention I’ve gotten. I’m a middle reliever on a team that’s fallen out of contention, and I feel like I’m just doing my job: going out and getting outs. But Kristy Fick, who is our Player and Media Relations Manager, has been EXTREMELY helpful in scheduling interviews and coordinating it with our on-the-field schedule. I don’t know if she reads this or not, but if so, "THANK YOU SO MUCH, KRISTY!"

What kind of avatar do you envision yourself getting for some of the MLB based games next year??
Hopefully one that portrays me well! Not one that I have to go in and fix all the attributes on after I get the game! :)

Have you thought about a Brad Ziegler bobblehead at all?
YES!

How much nicer are the travel accomodations in the MLB?
Very nice. We don’t have roommates anymore, the hotels are usually very nice, and we fly first-class charter flights all the time. It’s a long way from the 14-hour bus trips in the New York-Penn League.


2008 MLB Stats: 1-0, 0 SV, 0.00 ERA, 26 G, 34 IP, 19 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 15 K, 9 BB

2008 AAA Stats: 2-0, 8 SV, 0.37 ERA, 19 G, 24.1 IP, 15 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 20 K, 4 BB


It was exciting to see Gio Gonzalez make his debut last night. Hopefully he can give us a little spark in the rotation, and we can reel off a stretch of wins. Duke gets it rolling for us tonight! Enjoy the weekend! See ya at the ballpark!

Hey, everyone! What an exciting month it’s been since I’ve been in Oakland. It’s been such a whirlwind of emotion, as well as a drastic increase in appointments and other things to do over the course of my day-in, day-out schedule. I’ve had a blast getting to pitch against hitters I’ve grown up watching, as well as playing alongside them. And it’s been great getting to share the experience with my family, friends, and the many ANers who’ve come out to the park to introduce themselves.

One of the big highlights for me so far came pretty early in the month. On Sunday, June 8th, I was called on to pitch in the 11th inning of a tie game against the Angels. They had runners at 1st and 2nd with one out, and Garrett Anderson was coming up. I coaxed him into a soft liner to short, and Gregorio Petit snagged it and flipped the ball to Mark Ellis to double the runner off 2nd and end the inning. After we failed to score in the bottom half, I went back out for the 12th, and promptly walked Vladimir Guerrero to lead off the inning. Torii Hunter then grounded into a fielder’s choice, and the Casey Kotchman followed with a groundball to short that we turned into a double play. Then came the exciting part…

With 2 outs in the bottom of the inning, we loaded the bases for Mark Ellis. He smashed the first pitch he saw from Chris Bootcheck off the left-field foul pole for a walk-off grand slam, giving us a big victory and allowing me to earn my first win as a big leaguer. What a way to get it…

Since then, I’ve pitched in a variety of game situations…including a mop-up inning in a blowout loss to the Giants and coming into a tie game in the 6th inning against the 1st-place Angels. One thing that’s been nice so far is the amount of home games we’ve had. We were on the road for 8 games in June, including 3 games in San Francisco. So we essentially had 5 road games all month, which allowed me to get settled in and learn some of the ropes while being in the comfort of the same bed night after night. That, however, is about to change quickly, as we’re about to embark on a stretch of several road trips over the next couple months.

A second highlight is being mentioned in the espn.com insider blogs of Peter Gammons (May 31 & June 27)and Buster Olney. I'm pretty sure I don't deserve the media attention I've received so far, but it's still fun to see.

One more highlight I’d like to mention was the opportunity to catch up with an old college teammate: Ryan Howard of the Phillies. While I didn’t get to pitch in the series, I got to visit with Ryan several times, get a photo with him (click Howard and Me to view the photo), and got to share the spotlight with him in an article written by Jane Lee for mlb.com. I’m glad I was able to be around for a series against the Phillies (the team that originally drafted me and released me less than a year later).

It will be a very intriguing month of July, as the front office and coaching staff will have to decide if we’re going to make a run at the playoffs and possibly acquire a player as the trade deadline approaches or if we are still committed to rebuilding and possibly trade some of our established players for more prospects. Of course, maybe neither will happen and they will let us run with the team we have and see what happens. It’s a very interesting situation, and it’s fun to be right in the thick of everything.


2008 MLB Stats: 1-0, 0 SV, 0.00 ERA, 14 G, 15 IP, 9 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 7 K, 2 BB

2008 AAA Stats: 2-0, 8 SV, 0.37 ERA, 19 G, 24.1 IP, 15 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 20 K, 4 BB


The last couple days have given us tough losses against the Angels in Anaheim, but we’re now in Chicago to hopefully bounce back and get a big series win against the AL-Central-leading White Sox. Tonight we send Justin Duchscherer to the mound in his last start before he’s hopefully named to the AL All-Star team. He’s been lights-out since I’ve arrived (hasn’t allowed more than 1 run in any start since I’ve been here), and his numbers show that he’s been lights-out all season long, holding a relatively large lead on every other big-league pitcher in ERA. Enjoy the weekend! See ya at the ballpark!

Hey, everyone! I get to do a big league diary! Thank you all for the amazing amount of support you’ve shown since I was called up to Oakland last week. It’s been an absolute whirlwind of a week, but extremely exciting! I’ll try to give some details of what’s happened since last Thursday…

After our team scored 5 runs in the top of the 9th Thursday night to beat Portland, our manager, Todd Steverson, called everyone into the clubhouse right away. He proceeded to tell us that 4 River Cats were headed to the big leagues, including 2 for the first time. Travis Buck, Kiko Calero (activated off the DL from his rehab stint), Carlos Gonzalez, and me were all going up.

I was shocked…totally caught off-guard. But I instantly became very excited, and the team congratulated all of us. Then I went straight for my phone to call my closest friends and family. I woke most of them up, since this occurred around 1:00 AM central time, but they didn’t seem to mind.

After getting the logistics figured out, we boarded a plane early the next morning for Dallas, off for a 3-game series with the Rangers. My entire family was able to make it to the series, which thrilled me. So many people have played a part in supporting me to get to this point, and I’m glad many of them were able to make it to my opening weekend in the majors. It felt great to be asked to pitch for one of the top pitching staffs in baseball this year.

Carlos wasted no time getting his first big-league hit in his first AB, doubling to left field that night. The next night, I debuted with 2 outs in the 8th inning. I gave up a groundball RBI single up the middle to Ian Kinsler, but then proceeded to pick him off to end the inning. What a way to get my first big-league out!

Many people have asked me what that feeling was like. I told them the hardest part was the run in from left-center field. My legs felt like jelly, and I just kept telling myself, "Don’t fall down…don’t trip and fall." When I got to the mound and toed that rubber, I was fine. In my head, I said, "I’ve done this thousands of times…I’ve been on a mound before…I can do this"…and I really felt pretty relaxed. I know I still had some adrenaline going, but not as bad as it was when they called down and told me to start warming up.

After returning home, I got to experience my first taste of The Coliseum as a member of the A’s. I’ve since pitched in 2 more games (the last 2 games of our 3-game sweep vs. Detroit), allowing 1 hit over 2.2 innings. My first taste of big league time was in a pretty low-stress situation, which was perfect for getting my feet wet. Then my 2nd outing came with the bases loaded, 1 out, and Miguel Cabrera coming to the plate. He hit a sac fly, but that was the only run they scored, and we came back to get a walk-off win in that game. It’s been GREAT being a part of 2 wins in my last 2 outings. And I feel like each outing has given me a new level of comfort, and I have yet to show my best stuff at this level. Hopefully, with each outing, a greater level of relaxation will occur, and I can continue to improve as a reliever.


There is one thing I would like to say before I wrap up this edition of GZWI. This is something that all athletes feel at times, and I want to try to make sure fans understand this. When you, as fans, come to a game – that fuels us as players. The more fans, the more excitement, and the better intensity we play with. However, as players, we have a greater commitment than just what you see out on the field (in practice and games). We don’t always have time to sign autographs, especially for every single person who wants one. We can’t give away a ball to every single person who asks for one. And we don’t always have time to stop and visit with every fan that says ‘hi’ to us.

We have many things to tend to in the clubhouse. Such things include interviews with the media, lifting weights, injury-prevention and maintenance workouts, scheduling public player appearances for the coming weeks, etc., as well as our focus and preparation in getting ready for the game. We also have scouting report meetings, and, of course, we need to eat when we have time in between workouts.

I guess what I’m asking is that you please don’t get upset if we sign autographs for a few people, but can’t stick around and sign for everyone. Don’t feel offended if we throw someone a ball, but you don’t get one. And when you yell ‘hi’ to us and we don’t acknowledge you, it’s not necessarily because we’re stuck-up jerks – most of the time we’re focusing on the task at hand, whether it’s an actual game or a workout session to get us physically ready for our next game. We have a lot of demands on our time, and we can’t keep every single person happy.

I’m not saying any of that to get you to shy away from asking for such things. But please understand that we can’t respond to every single fan. It’s a grueling job with the long road trips, the time spent away from those closest to us, and the physical demands of the job itself. Please be considerate of that when you attend your next game… That being said, I can’t thank you enough for the support you’ve already provided me!


2008 Major League Stats: 3 G, 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 K, 0 BB

2008 AAA Stats: 2-0, 8 SV, 0.37 ERA, 19 G, 24.1 IP, 15 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 20 K, 4 BB


A 4-game winning streak has kept us within striking distance of the Angels (3.5 GB), as they come to town for a 3-game set over the weekend. The team is resting up today to give L.A. our best shot and let them know our record is not a fluke, as some so-called ‘experts’ are saying – we’re here to contend for an A.L. West title. See ya at the ballpark!

Hey, everyone! It’s good to be back up and running on AN! I’ve had a little extended period of time without much Internet access, and now it looks as if I’ll be good to go for virtually the rest of the season.

The season’s gotten off to an up-and-down start for the River Cats. We’re currently 12-11 (tied for 1st place in the PCL Pacific South) and looking forward to opening up an 8-game homestand tonight.

Our first homestand was awesome! We had great crowds, received our championship rings from last season, and went 5-3 to get our season going in the right direction. This last road trip took us to a couple good hitter’s parks (actually, isn’t most of the PCL that way?!?). Las Vegas (always a fun trip) and Colorado Springs (maybe the prettiest city in America) hosted us for 4 games apiece. Now we’re back home to face Omaha and Iowa for the next 8 nights.

The A’s have already gotten some help from the AAA club, calling up Joey Devine, Kirk Saarloos, Dallas Braden, Greg Smith. Also, we had Chad Gaudin and Justin Duchscherer make rehab starts for us, so the River Cats seem to be doing their part to help the parent club thus far.

The season’s gotten off to a pretty good start for me personally. Dating back to last season’s all-star break, when I really started feeling comfortable with the submarine delivery, I’ve posted a 1.36 ERA over 33 innings. This year, we haven’t really had too many defined roles in the bullpen, so the opportunities have come in a variety of situations. I’ll try to keep the stats updated with each journal entry throughout the year…

My 2008 Season Stats: 7 G, 9 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 7 K, 0 BB


Quick Q & A:

For a guy in your position, how much do Spring Training numbers matter in terms of the club's perception of you vs. how good your pitches were? Does the club keep track of "good pitches" vs "bad pitches" in addition to the results of the pitches? -- WaddellCanseco

I’m sure the numbers didn’t overly excite the coaching staff, but I think they knew (and they told me so) that I pitched better than the numbers indicated. Plus, spring training, while it is a chance to show a little of what you can do, is a time where everyone is still trying to get into mid-season form. So I think a little rustiness from most players is to be expected. Facing hitters 4 times in a 4-week span isn’t going to keep very many relief pitchers sharp, which is why it was important for me to get to minor league camp and start facing hitters more regularly before the season started.


If I'm in town working a game with credentials, is there a good time to say hello before the game? -- Flashfire

I think you found the perfect time. The pictures on your website from one of our Tucson games look great. Thanks for introducing yourself, and feel free to say ‘hi’ anytime you see me when I’m not in the middle of a game.


Hope to make a Rivercats game this year and see you pitch! I hope that I get a chance to meet you too and give you a present for the baby. Will your family be joining you in sac this year? -- IM4Oakgal

That’d be great. Please make it a point to introduce yourself! There are some outside circumstances that have an affect on it, but Kristi and Kaylin have spent some time in Sacramento already this year, and I’ll definitely be seeing them a lot more this year than in the past. Hopefully it will be permanent sooner rather than later.


It’s great to see the A’s doing well, isn’t it? Hopefully they can keep it up and make this an exciting season for at least PART of the Bay Area :-) Have a great week! See ya at the ballpark!

The end of spring training is FINALLY in sight for those us still at minor league camp! The grind of repetitious drills and mostly-meaningless games is nearly over, and opening day is fast-approaching. While I definitely don’t want to take anything for granted, I’m still working out with the AAA team, and I’m hoping that’s the club that I will break camp with. However, there are still many roster moves to be made in the coming days, so we’ll see what happens…

As many of you are probably aware, I had a bit of a rough big-league camp, statistically-speaking. While I feel like I pitched better than my numbers showed, I was never able to find a rhythm in my short time there. However, since I’ve been at minor league camp, throwing on a regular schedule (similar to how it will be in the season), things have progressed nicely. I’ve now thrown 10 and 1/3 scoreless innings, with each outing getting slightly better than the one before it. In a scrimmage last Sunday, I recorded 5 outs (1 K, 0 H) on 10 pitches. Then, the following day against Milwaukee’s AAA team (pitching on back-to-back days for the first time this year), I struck out the side in the 9th on 12 pitches, preserving a 2-1 win. While that one will be tough to top, I feel very confident about where I am mechanically right now…starting to feel similar (or maybe slightly better) than I did in the second half of last season. Hopefully that will continue into the season, and I can play a big role in a winning start to the season for our defending PCL Championship team.

I have two more scheduled outings (today and Saturday, if all goes according to plan), and then we’ll break camp this Sunday. If I go to Sacramento, we’ll play a couple exhibition games against our high-A Stockton club next week (Tuesday in Stockton, Wednesday in Sac – both games scheduled for 6:30 PM), then we’ll head off to Portland for our first regular season game Thursday night.


Q & A:
(In an effort to save some personal time this season, I’m not going to jazz it all up with block quotes, etc…but hopefully it will be obvious where the question stops and the response begins…)

Would it make sense to protect your noggin whilst you're on the mound? Can your skull bones be tested in some fashion to learn whether they're unusually fragile? And if you choose against protection for comfort reasons -- are you well-insured? -- The Dogfather

According to the doctors, any injury I receive to my head (now that the fractures have fully healed) would be no different than any other person receiving a similar injury. So there’s no need to protect my head anymore than any other pitcher…which is probably something that should happen, but also not something I want to be known for. I want to be known as a good pitcher and a good person, not just a guy who’s survived 2 scary accidents and can pitch okay.

My bones could be tested, but they haven’t been. However, I’m quite certain that any other person who received the 2 blows that I did would’ve suffered the same consequences…if not more severe. Those who know me well would probably tell you my head is harder than the average person, and therefore, the blows HAD to be severe to crack my skull. :-)

I am well-insured, just like all minor leaguers, but anything that happens on the baseball field during the season is a workman’s comp issue…nothing to do with my insurance.


Did you know David Forst called you an internet superstar or something at FanFest? Haha. -- gotgreen

I did not, and I’m shocked that my name even came up. But I guess, if nothing else, I’m being talked about in SOME fashion…now I just gotta go and make it to where people are talking about my pitching on the field!


One question: Have you had contact with the kid since? Man, that'd be the kind of accident that would shake a kid to his core, I'd reckon... -- Ozzz

I have – a week after the incident. He was definitely hesitant to approach me, but I made an effort to make sure he knew I was going to be fine, and he didn’t need to be too concerned. Hopefully he’s forgotten about it, and he’ll never think about it again!



I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of you at the games this season…and hoping to make my major league debut sooner rather than later. But there’s only so much I can control, and (cliche alert!) I’m just going to take it one game at a time, one inning at a time, and one pitch at a time. :-) See ya at the ballpark!

Hey, everyone! The 2008 season has arrived (for the players, anyway), and I couldn’t be more excited! It was a very eventful off-season, and I’m excited to be back on-board for another season of journaling for AN…

As most of you know from my post early in the fall, my wife and I celebrated the birth of our first child: Kaylin Brooke. She was born on October 24, and weighed 5 lbs. and 7 oz. She’s been an absolute joy in our lives, and she’s growing SO fast! I feel very blessed to be having such a wonderful experience as a dad.


Also, in mid-January, I suffered a pretty severe injury. I know Blez posted about it, but in case you hadn’t heard, I’ll detail exactly what happened...

I was working a youth camp all day on a Saturday for my college. After the camp was over and all but one of the kids had gone home, I was playing catch with a friend (and fellow Missouri St. alumnus with whom I had worked the clinic) to get my throwing workout in for the day. The kid that remained was standing there talking to me, and as I was reaching to catch a ball, the kid reached in front of me trying to catch the ball, also. The ball deflected off the tip of his glove, hitting me square in the middle of the forehead (I wasn’t wearing a hat at the time). It opened up a sizeable cut on my forehead, and also gave me a skull fracture (my 2nd from a baseball-related injury in a 3½-year span) and severe concussion.

Physically, I didn’t have to alter much (I even completed my next scheduled workout 2 days later). However, I had a little problem with motor skills in the 7-10 days following the accident. I occasionally asked the same question multiple times over the span of a single conversation. Also, I got confused easily and had to slow down the speed of my talking to be sure I would actually say the words that my brain was trying to output (which, my wife would probably tell you was a blessing). :-)

After meeting with a plastic surgeon, we decided it wasn’t necessary to put a titanium plate in my head, and as long as I used some sort of appropriate device as protection for the fractured area, my workouts would continue as normal until the fracture healed.

My recovery has gone extremely well, if I may say so. I don’t feel as if it was a set-back at all, and I feel tremendous so far in the early workouts at spring training. It was such a fluke situation that I haven’t had a bit of apprehension getting back on the mound.


I’m extremely anxious for spring training games to start on Thursday. It appears everyone is healthy and ready to disprove a lot of the “expert’s opinions” about what this team can accomplish. I hope I can contribute to a great season for the A’s this year, but time will tell if I get that shot or not. For now, I’m just trying to focus on every opportunity I get to make a positive impression at my first big league camp.

I hope everyone that makes it down to spring training makes a point to come say “hi” while you’re here…I’m #47 for spring training. Enjoy your week, and we’ll see ya at the ballpark!!

She's finally here!!!

Kaylin Brooke Ziegler was born on Wednesday, October 24th, at 4:58 PM. She weighed 5 lbs, 7 oz. (yes, she's TINY!!) and was 18 and 1/2 inches long. Both Kaylin and her mama are doing very well - 100% healthy. They were able to leave the hospital together on Friday afternoon. We're extremely excited, extremely happy, and extremely tired, all at once! :) It's great being a daddy.

Also, I noticed that Blez mentioned that I had signed a minor league contract with the A's. I'm very happy with the contract, and I eagerly await the opportunity to try to make the big league team out of spring training.

Here are a few of the hundreds of pictures taken over the weekend of my newborn daughter...

RIVER CATS: AAA CHAMPS!

AAA Champions! It has a nice ring to it. Even though I don’t believe you can determine a champion in baseball by a 1-game playoff, the t-shirts we got after winning the Bricktown Showdown said "AAA Champions" on it, so it must be true! :-)

The Showdown was a lot of fun. We jumped out to a big early lead, then cruised to a 7-1 win over Richmond. Game MVP (and team captain) Lou Merloni had 2 hits and 4 RBI to lead our offense. He had a 3-run homer, which started the scoring in the 3rd inning, and Brant Colamarino followed shortly after with a 2-run homer to give us the big cushion. Shane Komine left the game in the 2nd with a little shoulder stiffness, and Kaz Tadano came in and gave us 4.1 outstanding innings of relief to pick up the win. Julio Manon and Ron Flores closed it out the rest of the way to end the year on a great note.

Lots of questions to get to, so answers will be short – I want to try to get to all of them that I haven’t answered so far...

FINAL PLAYOFF STATS...
River Cats record: 6-2 (now 9-0 all-time in the PCL championship series)
My stat line: 5 G, 1-1, 2 SV, 2.45 ERA, 7.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 6 K, 2 BB

FINAL REGULAR SEASON STATS...
River Cats record: 84-60 (PCL Pacific Southern Division Champions)
All-level Cumulative: 12-3, 2 SV, 2.41 ERA, 78.1 IP, 26 R, 21 ER, 65 H, 62 K, 18 BB

AAA stats: 8-3, 2.96 ERA, 54.2 IP, 20 R, 18 ER, 46 H, 44 K, 14 BB
AA stats: 4-0, 1 SV, 1.14 ERA, 23.2 IP, 6 R, 3 ER, 19 H, 18 K, 4 BB


Q&A:

Whose idea was it for you to become a submariner?  Did you take to the idea right away, or did you have doubts? What was your major in college?  Have you thought about what you plan to do after retirement? Have you picked out a name for your daughter? -- ozzman99

The A’s came to me about it at the end of last season. I had doubts at first, but they assured me they’d give me a legit chance for this to work, and I could always go back to the overhand at any point if it wasn’t working. I worked on it all off-season, then tweaked it again right at the end of spring training. By June, it was starting to get comfortable, and at the end of the year, I felt great.

My college degree is in mathematics. After retiring from playing, I’d love to get into front office work in baseball, or maybe coaching somewhere.

Our daughter’s name is going to be Kaylin. :-)

How big of a deal is the September call-up for the AAA team? I guess you haven't gone through it before but does it seem like the organization tries to set up the Rivercats for a championship, or is it mostly trying to make the big league team as good as it can be? It seems like it could really shake up the roster. Also did you ever have a chance to meet Chad Bradford? His delivery seems like the extreme of the sidearmer style you've taken up. Your numbers look pretty good with over 3 to 1 K/BB and less than one hit per inning, I'm sure we'll be seeing you up in Oakland. Do you imagine yourself against guys like Vlad Guerrero? I'd guess the biggest nightmare for you would be an endless lineup of lefties like Hafner, Ortiz, and Bonds. -- niallmack

I think the A’s will call up any players they feel are ready when they have the roster room. They’ll let the AAA team worry about itself, for the most part, which we were able to do this year because of an outstanding coaching staff and a great core of veteran players leading the way.

I did meet Chad. He rehabbed with us in Stockton in ’05 when he was coming off a back injury.

I imagine facing guys like Vlad often, but I figure when it’s on the line, and it’s playoff time, it’s more likely that I’ll be facing A-Rod, Jeter, or Manny. Would love every minute of that challenge. And I’m not scared of any lefty. I retired something like 16 of the last 17 lefties I faced this year (the 1 that reached was on a walk), and I felt way more comfortable against them in August and September than I did in June.

Suppose your daughter wasn't due on October 27th, 2007 ... but, rather, October 27th, 2009, when you are a key setup guy in the 'pen of an Athletics team on it's way to its 11th World Series championship. That would likely be game 3. How would you deal with it? -- devo

As long as the doctor says it’s okay, induce labor on the travel day :-)

Because of the nature of not only maturing as a pitcher, but the changes you've chosen to attempt (i.e. throwing from various arm slots as a starter...and then switching to a submariner full-time), how difficult is it to remember from outing to outing, or month to month, or year to year, how to throw?  I'm talking about the subtle things...grip, posture, arm slot, follow-thru, picking up the target, etc.  Pitching reminds me a little of a golf swing and I marvel at the consistency it takes, especially of the guys who do it best.  For young pitchers, would you recommend keeping notes?
by captainbubblehead

Definitely. Keeping notes is one of the most important things to help me remember what I need to do to be successful. Especially when I’m struggling with a certain aspect...once I figure it out, I go write it down in case I ever run into the same problem again sometime down the road. And as far as the "subtle things" you mentioned, the most important thing is repetition. The more you do it, the easier it is to repeat it without having to think about every little step. That’s why pro golfers hit thousands of balls each day...they can focus on little things then, because the big things happen without thinking.

How about walking us through your outing in game 4 with SLC in the playoffs?  I would love to hear what you were thinking and feeling as you entered the game.  How nervous were you, especially during the ninth? -- alox

I wasn’t nervous at any point. Lots of adrenaline, and lots of excitement, but no nervousness. I wanted to be aggressive, but I didn’t want to get beat by a mental mistake. I was doing everything I could to keep the ball down and get the Bees’ hitters to hit grounders. The crowd was electric that night, and it really fired up our whole team. When Danny hit the homer, the excitement couldn’t be contained. No idea what I looked like jumping around, but didn’t care one bit. Incredible feeling that I haven’t felt at any other point in my pro career.

If you were given the choice to join the big league team while the Rivercats are in the playoffs while the A's are trying to stay out of last place in their division, would you choose to join the A's immediately or stick with the Rivercats until the postseason is over? and why? :) -- gotgreen

I'm curious though about how you guys feel about losing Barton and Blevins to the big league club after they had such an impact in AAA, especially during the playoffs?  On the one hand, you have to be happy for these guys getting their shot in the majors, but isn't it difficult to lose a couple of your big weapons just as you're trying to win it all? -- LoveDemAs

For the record, it’s never a choice. But if I had a choice, I’d go to the big leagues. That’s the ultimate goal. You never know what next year will bring, and while you hope it’s not your only chance, you don’t want to miss out on fulfilling a lifelong dream. Minor league playoffs are nice, but it’s still the minor leagues.

Losing Barton and Blevins was big, because they were integral parts of our success. But they both deserve the opportunity they’re getting, and we had players step up and take their place more than adequately. That’s one thing this team did all year. We had nearly 200 transactions (I’d guess average for a season is 60-80?), and we won the league. That success comes from a lot of unselfishness and guys just understanding and executing what they need to do to help our team win night in and night out.

Looking back, now that the season is over, was the transition to submarine worth it? Did you do better than you would have if you still threw over the top, or did this new style of pitching improve your game enough to stay with it, and perfect it? Will the change make you a Major League pitcher? -- Zonis

At this point, it definitely feels worth it. I’d like to think I’d have still had success overhand, but I can’t for sure answer that either way. Statistically, it was my best season by far, especially in the categories the A’s told me to focus on. I hope I can keep progressing to the point that I become a big league pitcher. I feel like I can pitch at that level, and I hope I get the shot soon.

If I missed a question at any point during the season, I’m sorry. It was totally unintentional, because I tried hard to get to every one.

This will probably be my last GZWI, unless I re-sign with Oakland. I don’t think it’d be right to be regularly posting on a fan website for a team I don’t play for. Plus, my wife and I are expecting our baby girl in less than a month, and I want to spend as much time preparing for that as I can. Whenever I sign a contract, whether it’s with Oakland or someone else, I’ll find a way to let everyone know – probably through Blez. I’ll try to get pictures of our baby girl for everyone to see, too. But if I do sign with someone else, let me say that this has been a great experience for me. I’ve loved the questions, getting to meet ANers at games, and getting fans’ perspectives on various aspects of pro ball. I hope everyone has enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed posting. Even if I’m with another team, please feel free to say "hi" to me at games (preferably before the game starts). See ya at the ballpark!

RIVER CATS WIN THE PCL!!!

That’s right, we did it! We came back from an 0-2 deficit against Salt Lake City to win the opening series in 5 games. Then we carried that momentum to a 3-game sweep of New Orleans in the PCL finals.

We gave up late leads in the first 2 games of the Salt Lake series, losing both of the first 2 games in walk-off fashion at their place. But despite the disappointment, our clubhouse stayed loose as we eagerly returned to our home field. Sacramento fans came out in droves, and they provided an absolutely electric atmosphere all 3 games. Brad Knox gave us a good performance in game 3, and that 7-3 victory gave us some hope. Then game 4 put us over the top...

We were in a tight, neck-and-neck battle the whole game, and you just had a feeling it would come down to who could get one clutch hit. Well, we got it: Danny Putnam hit a walk-off, 3-run homer in the 10th to give us a 7-4 win and put the series into a 1-game showdown. Game 4 was the absolute most-fun game I’ve been a part of in pro ball. Incredible. Great atmosphere, very well-played game, and phenomenal ending. Still get goosebumps thinking about it...

Then, on Sunday, Daric Barton’s 3-run homer was the big blow in a 4-2 win in game 5, sending us to the PCL Championship Series. We got strong pitching, fantastic defense, and the timely hitting needed to win a close series like that. Thrilling, to say the least...

We fed off the excitement from the 1st series, taking the momentum down to New Orleans for games 1 and 2 of the championship series. We played a very solid game in the series opener, coming away with a 5-3 victory. Jorge Piedra had the big hit, breaking a 2-2 tie in the 7th with a 2-run single.

Then in game 2, we trailed 2-1 going to the 9th inning. With 1 out, Piedra came up huge again, hitting a solo homer to tie the game. That was followed by a 2-out single by Brant Colamarino and a clutch double off the left field wall by Brian Stavisky that scored Brant all the way from 1st. After closing out the 3-2 victory, we headed home, needing just 1 win out of a possible 3 games at home.

Sacramento fans were incredible on Friday night, filling the stadium to capacity in anticipation of a league championship. A pitching duel ensued early, as the game was scoreless going to the bottom of the 4th. It was then that we took advantage of a couple New Orleans miscues and put up 4 big runs to give us a comfortable lead (esp. the way Brad Knox was throwing). Knox took a 1-hit shutout into the 8th inning, but gave way to Jerry Blevins after giving up a 3-run homer with 2 outs. Blevins proceeded to strike out 3 of the last 4 hitters, including the final batter in the 9th, setting off a wild celebration.

As a team, we flexed our muscles in the playoffs, hitting 15 homers. Leadoff hitter and PCL Playoffs MVP Nick Blasi was the table-setter for us, just as he was all year. He had hits in all 8 games, finishing 16-for-35 (.457) with 12 runs scored. Blevins was fantastic in the post-season, striking out 20 batters while giving up just 4 hits and 2 walks over 9 scoreless innings of work.

Most of the fans stuck around to celebrate with us, which I hope they enjoyed as much as we did. And I hope we, as players, were able to express through our gestures of gratitude just how much we appreciated the support all year long, and especially at the end when it really mattered. We led the PCL in attendance for the season, averaging just over 10,000 fans a game, and we definitely had the best fans in all of minor league baseball.

I've been very fortunate in my short pro career. This is the 3rd championship team I've been on in 4 years of playing (Modesto '04, Midland '05). I think that's a HUGE tribute to the coaching staffs and players the A's have put in their farm system recently. And with class A, AA, and AAA championship rings, I think we all know what the next step is for '08. :)

We’re now in Oklahoma City, ready to play in the PCL Championship on Tuesday night...the Bricktown Showdown! We play the Richmond Braves (champs of the International League) in a 1-game playoff for AAA bragging rights. The game’s televised on ESPN 2, and it starts at 7 PM central time (5 PM pacific).

If you didn’t notice, I’m not going to answer any questions in this entry. I still have all the Q’s from the last 2 blogs (#’s 22 and 23) ready to go for the start of the off-season. I’ll probably try to get to all of those in the next entry, as well as give a brief re-cap of the Bricktown Showdown. I hope everyone has a great week!

Playoff Stats...
River Cats record: 6-2 (now 9-0 all-time in the PCL championship series)
My stat line: 5 G, 1-1, 2 SV, 2.45 ERA, 7.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 6 K, 2 BB

FINAL REGULAR SEASON STATS...
River Cats record: 84-60 (PCL Pacific Southern Division Champions)
All-level Cumulative: 12-3, 2 SV, 2.41 ERA, 78.1 IP, 26 R, 21 ER, 65 H, 62 K, 18 BB

AAA stats: 8-3, 2.96 ERA, 54.2 IP, 20 R, 18 ER, 46 H, 44 K, 14 BB
AA stats: 4-0, 1 SV, 1.14 ERA, 23.2 IP, 6 R, 3 ER, 19 H, 18 K, 4 BB