TBG Remembers: Cedric Ceballos the Rapper

1994 was my favorite year in music.

The West Coast was still dominating the Billboard charts on the backs of acts we all knew would never fall off like Snoop Doggy Dogg and Warren G. Meanwhile, the East Coast was prepping to reclaim the geographic lyrical crown with seminal releases from Nas and Biggie Smalls. Hell, even Outkast and Bone Thugs N Harmony were still listenable.

1994 was also the apex of the rappin' athlete.

Shaquille O'Neal was still riding the wave of his '93 debut LP "Shaq Diesel", a perfectly acceptable and inoffensive novelty album. History hasn't been kind to Shaq's rap catalog, but it's important to remember just how hot he was as an entertainment entity back then. And, when "Shaq Diesel" went platinum, it opened the door for every jock with a mic.

Speaking of which, the above video ("Flow On") is from former NBA forward Cedric Ceballos. He was part of one of the greatest "so bad, it almost doubles back to being good" music projects in recent memory: the 1994 release "B-Ball's Best Kept Secret". M'man, Nick'a Please wrote a song-by-song review for my old Bootleg column and it pulled in a ton of feedback from readers who'd remembered it well.

A few things to look for:

-The clip opens with that singular staple of '90s rap videos: light-skinned Black women with blown-out curls. Who'd have thought that the girl who gets sprayed with 40s at the end of the "Nuthin' But A G Thang" video would be so influential?

-Ceballos drops the "W" Westside hand gesture almost a full two years before Tupac "invented" it.

-The basketball shorts on Cedric seem awfully short considering Chris Webber and The Fab Five came on the scene in 1993. No one wore shorts above the knee after that. Except, apparently, Cedric.

-My favorite lyric: "It's like bop, bop, bop, bop, baahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

-Nicka's favorite lyric: "Well, it's a Westside thang, mics I slang, winnin' battles ain't nothin' but a chicken wang!"

-Ceballos makes references to Shaq, Hammer and Jodeci. Could someone please ask Machine Gun Funk's Mathan Erhardt to explain the fall of Jodeci? 15 years ago, these guys were on top of the world. No, really…Jodeci.

-Really…whom do we blame for that ill-fated fashion trend of the vest worn over the short-sleeve shirt?

-Can you believe that Warren G. (who produced the song and provided a few lyrics) almost certainly WAS too busy to appear in the video? Hope he saved some of that "Regulate" money.

Mount up! Bankrupt!

The Oakland A's Monday #7

Overall: 24-25 (3rd Place, AL West)
Last Week: 2-4 (1-2 vs. White Sox, 1-2 vs. Orioles)



Has it really been 15 years since the A's traded Jose Canseco? Through the magic and illegal copyright violation of YouTube, we can now relive the original Sportscenter broadcast that covered the story.

Trust me…this was H-U-G-E news back in the day. But, since time hasn't been kind to Canseco, let's just enjoy the five minute video for the following reasons:

It features the old "blue screen" Sportscenter intro and cheesy duh-nah-nah, duh-nah-nah theme.

And, yep, those are the dulcet tones of a young Linda Cohn!

Don't blink or you'll miss a quick highlight of then-Braves OF Ron Gant. How did he bulk up from a scrawny 155 lb. middle infielder, anyway? The world may never know.

Best thing about Canseco: The Cuban Mullet.

More "don't miss": A's GM Sandy Alderson rockin' the receding white man afro…some words from Rangers GM Tom Grieve, who is the father of failed A's phenom Ben Grieve and, finally, a shot of then-Rangers owner George W. Bush, who looks positively adolescent here compared to the withered old fool he'd become. Those 3,400+ American military corpses on his watch have sure aged him, huh?

Ah, Ruben Sierra. Who else could contract chicken pox at the age of 29, but the man who was the very definition of the word "swarthy"? He came to his first spring training with the A's with about 30 pounds of added muscle and no one really knew how. This happened all the time in the '90s, but today the media retroactively claims they knew nothing.

A Lance Blankenship reference finishes the clip, thus making this the greatest clip in YouTube history.

This Week: vs. Rangers (3), vs. Twins (3)

TBG Reviews: Wendy's Steakhouse Double Melt

I wrote this review more than three weeks ago. Then, I walked away from the laptop and forgot about it. Is my material really that forgettable? I assumed this blog stayed with you, like the first viewing of "Faces of Death" or something. Anyways, enjoy the dated references and menu item that may or may not still be available.

So, with the wife and the boy at a Cinco de Mayo soiree, I was left to hunt and kill my own dinner. As stated in this space before, I'm a sucker for effective marketing and the good people at Wendy's have put together an interesting campaign for their new Steakhouse Double Melt. It involves the middle seat on an airplane and two hot chicks on either side. OK, maybe "interesting" is too strong of an adjective, but I was hungry and bought one today.

It's about 10 minutes from the restaurant to Stately Bootleg Manor. I'm not sure if this is indicative of all Wendy's, but my burger was still scalding hot when I pulled the foil-wrapped fat bomb out of the bag. Featuring two of their ubiquitous square patties and…"layered with crisp bacon, Swiss cheese, marinated mushrooms, caramelized onions and tangy peppercorn sauce", Wendy's latest gimmick burger entry is greater than the sum of its parts.

The bacon was nicely salted, but the complete opposite of "crisp". The Swiss cheese had nearly evaporated by the time I got my burger home and what was left had blended with the thumbprint of peppercorn sauce that appears to be doled out by a single teaspoon. The mushrooms (canned) and onions were a nice touch, though, and gave the whole thing kind of a sweet and smoky vibe.

Solid burger, but minus a pair of points for my local Wendy's and their stubborn refusal to hand out packets of ketchup unless you ask for them. The default setting for ketchup in the drive-thru should be "included". Is it wrong for me to assume that the majority of you like the tomato-vinegary goodness of ketchup? Then, goddammit, Wendy's, put it in the bag! I assume it's there, get all the way home and it's not there. Have Wendy's employees tried their fries?

The St. Louis Diaries - Day #3 (Continued)

George Brett struck the same cowardly pose as he

hid on the bench on the final day of the 1990

season, keeping Rickey Henderson from winning the batting title.

5:30 PM - The gates are opened and I make a beeline for the Gates BBQ concession stand. Even before I left San Diego, everyone was telling me that I had to "get to Gates". And, really, how much could be lost in the translation between the real restaurant and the ballpark kiosk variety?

5:40 PM - My BBQ pork (sorry, Mathan) sandwich arrives with a side of Cajun chips and an interminable conversation with the lady behind the counter. One of the greatest things about being Black is the sense of familial community that we can occasionally share with strangers. The worst thing about being Black is finding a faux family member who won't shut the fu…

5:45 PM - The sandwich is stone cold and absolutely saturated under two quarts of sauce. Meanwhile, the chips have been seasoned with the same peppers that are used to make those novelty super hot sauces. Y'know, the kind you buy and use once before realizing that something cleverly called "Satan's Chipotle Acid" shouldn't be ingested.

6:00 PM - We're in our seats, watching the end of the A's batting practice and getting dive-bombed by these neon-green gnats. They're flippin' everywhere. Remember that episode of G.I. Joe where some of the B-Team Joes get blown into a parallel universe? It's the one where someone gets bit by one of Destro's mutated insects on his "proving ground". Yeah, it's kind of like that. Well, I guess it's not. The bugs here are more "extremely annoying" than "mutated and lethal".

6:10 PM - I've been swatting these bugs for 10 straight minutes. They're landing in my beer.

6:15 PM - No sooner do I remark on the abject absence of hotness, than a middle-aged groupie with a fresh-out-the-box boob job sits in the seat immediately in front of us. Seriously, I'd guess the face to be 45 years old and the breasts to be 5 minutes ago.

6:20 PM - Baseball Annie has spent the last five minutes telling us all of the Oakland A's she "knows" and, completely unsolicited (for a change), she offers to get Nick Swisher's autograph for us. Isn't this the textbook child molester modus operandi?

6:25 PM - Sure enough, A's OF Nick Swisher pops out of the dugout and starts signing for the assemblage of adults still lame enough to lug Sharpies, gloves and card sheets to games. Our groupie gets up and moves in Nick's general direction, stopping to sit about 50 feet from him.

6:35 PM - Swisher (kinda not pictured, behind rent-a-cop) signs for just about everyone except the whore (bottom left, surrounded by empty seats), who then returns to let us know that, "Nick said he'll sign after the game." Never mind that none of us could avert our eyes away from this car wreck of silicone and lies and at no point did ol' Nick even acknowledge her. Wow…if you can't believe in bitches…

7:30 PM - There are only about 10,000 people here, but the fans are just as passionate, if not as plentiful, as Cardinals' fans. Very underrated stadium, too, with the outfield fountains and wide open architecture. Worth the drive? Ask me again, if we win.

8:30 PM - We went in knowing that we couldn't stay for the whole game. Two hours or seven innings, whichever came first, was our limit. And, look…here come thunder and lightning to make my decision even easier.

8:45 PM - With the score tied 2-2 in the top of the sixth, the heavens open up. From what I remember in watching CNN during the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe, this appears to be a storm of similar strength and intensity. I don't really do rain, so I'm not certain.

8:50 PM - It's starting to look like the climactic scene in that awful Wesley Snipes/Robert DeNiro movie The Fan. Did I just see a funnel cloud? Someone tell my wife and son that I…hey, it stopped raining.

9:00 PM - The Royals go down in the sixth inning and, with the score tied 2-2 and a full day of work/travel in front of us, we opt out early. It'll be the Royals radio team the rest of the way.

9:10 PM - We finally find the freeway and are about five miles down the road, when the radio feed starts to fade. Did the hamster pull a hamstring while running the generator wheel?

9:15 PM - The original plan was for me to drive to Kansas City and the other two to split the drive back to St. Louis. Three guesses who was behind the wheel on our road east. And, under the circumstances, I'd been polite long enough. I went straight to the iPod car stereo adapter, baby. Please let one of them say something about it.

9:45 PM - The Game, Redman, Crooked I, Xzibit and Mobb Deep have come n' gone. They either know I'm purposely annoying them with music they'd never willingly listen to or…

9:46 PM - …they're pretending to be asleep.

11:00 PM - I figure I'll need to gas up, both to ensure we get back to our hotel and so I can drive to work and the airport tomorrow. I pull off the freeway and find a gas station about a ½ mile down the road.

11:02 PM - You know the routine: pop the gas cap, insert ATM card, etc. Except in this instance, nothing happened when I tried to pump the gas.

11:04 PM - The pump accepts my ATM card/PIN number for the second time and directs me to "begin fueling", again. And, again, nothing.

11:06 PM - On the third try, one of the sleeping fools opens the door and says, "Dude, they're closed." How the hell is a gas station closed? Y'all know I never play the "California" card, but in California this kind of small-town Podunk bullsh*t is inconceivable. Even if the cashier has been gunned down in one of our all-too-rare robbery/homicides, the ATM access for gas is never turned off.

11:10 PM - I find an open gas station another mile down the road. Unbelievable.

12:30 AM - We reach our hotel and it's all I can do to trudge upstairs in anticipation of a whole five hours of sleep.

12:35 AM - I'm on the phone with Mrs. Bootleg, still trudging towards my room, when a door opens down the hallway. My Program Manager emerges in sweats and a wife-beater with an empty ice container. He sees me and quickly retreats, which can only mean he's hosting a hooker. I assume she enticed him with the promise of Nick Swisher's autograph.

1:00 AM - Good night, everyone!

1:10 AM - I just realized that I still don't know if the A's had won the game. The bottom line on ESPNews tells me… Ah, f*ck. Screw you, Mike Sweeney. It was still worth it.

1:12 AM - Good night, everyone!

The St. Louis Diaries - Day #3

The above height requirement would've meant free admission for my wife and son.

7:00 AM - I've been in Missouri for two days and the weather forecast for Monday was "scattered thunderstorms". Same for Tuesday and…yep, same for today.

7:05 AM - The local news has "live, team coverage" of the rising Missouri River waters and continues to reference some "great flood" that apparently washed away the state in 1993. I found more information on this disaster right here, but you know what they say: If it's on Wikipedia, it's probably worth checking a second source. I can't be bothered at the moment, so let's assume this is true. Maybe.

7:15 AM - Fifteen minutes into the news and I've heard the words "state of emergency" often enough to seriously reconsider my planned cross-state trip to Kansas City to see the Royals play my beloved A's. Ah, f*ck it…it's the A's, I'm in a rental car and Mrs. Bootleg gets six times the insurance payout if I die on travel (ten times if my death-on-travel is due to an "act of God"). Cha-ching!

10:00 AM - After two hours of repeating meetings, speakers and the hardship of holding my head up, it's break time. I head for the head, close the stall door behind me and am shocked at what I find…or, more specifically, what I don't find. Do they not use those tissue toilet seat covers out here? I actually have to put my ass directly on the seat that everyone else's ass has assed, without protection?

10:05 AM - I finally finish…covering every piece of exposed porcelain with meticulously torn toilet paper. Now, we can poo.

10:30 AM - Outside the conference rooms, the early morning array of donuts has congealed into a collectively sticky, yeasty mess. (TBG Note: I spent the last five minutes staring at my computer in an ill-fated attempt to tie this comparison to Lil' Kim. In four years of Bootlegging, have I exhausted all my Kimberly Jones jabs?)

12:00 PM - We break for lunch and I break for my hotel room, while warily eyeing the partly cloudy skies. In California, any kind of AM cloud cover has burned off by now. Here…it seems to linger. I've got to get some local midday news.

12:30 PM - Back in my room and every station is saying the same thing: "Scattered thunderstorms". Unfortunately, since I'm in St. Louis, I'm only getting the forecast for…St. Louis. I think it's quaint how in a state that's about the size of Southern California, the meteorologists treat St. Louis and Kansas City as if they aren't just suburbs of Chicago.

1:00 PM - So, throwing caution to the rapidly increasing wind, three grown men pretzel themselves into my rental Mustang and head west on I-70. This…can't end well.

1:05 PM - I probably should mention that the car came equipped with Sirius Satellite Radio, which quickly became a blessing and a curse. One of the passengers requested "anything '80s". The other quickly spit out, "F*ck that". I briefly considered testing the white-boy waters with Backspin, but settled on Dan Patrick, instead.

1:10 PM - I learn that Curt Schilling has apparently apologized for some comments directed at Barry Bonds. Both of my guests use "douche" to describe Schilling in what I'd later discover would become a continuously running radio commentary on anything playing on my radio. (In hindsight, I should've put the dial on Backspin. If only in the hope to hear one of 'em say, "That MC Serch. Whatta douche! I hate Hammer, too, but 'Pop Goes the Weasel' was weak. Weak!")

1:45 PM - In the last 15 minutes, we've passed the following three billboards: "Embryos Are Alive!", "ADOPTION!" and "Embryos Are Babies Before Babies Are Born." That's all each of them said…and that last one literally hurt my brain.

2:30 PM - Time to fill up the ol' gas tank, so the three of us stop in scenic Sweet Springs, MO. I pull in behind a red pick-up truck that appears to be hauling small farm equipment.

2:31 PM - Two good ol' boys approach the pick-up after exiting the convenience store/diner/port-o-potty combo that all gas stations seem to be connected to in these parts. They're both eyeballin' me pretty good, which can only mean…racists. Or, as they prefer to be called in the red states: "politically incorrect".

2:45 PM - We're back on the road and passing the off ramp that leads to Louisiana. Not the state, but the city. Louisiana, Missouri. I am not making this up.

3:15 PM - And, look…now we're just a few miles from Mexico. Yes…Mexico, Missouri. I don't have a map, but I assume the whole city sits just outside of a Home Depot. (Do they only do that in California? If so, have a friend on the west coast explain it to you.)

3:30 PM - Nice try, Missouri, but "Houstonia" is just as bad as "Louisiana" and "Mexico". These aren't cities. They're new-age ethnic names. Just add a "La" in the front to change the gender.

3:45 PM - We're 25 miles from Kansas City when the first raindrops fall. Five minutes later, the drizzle has fizzled out. Wayyyyyyyy too late to turn back now.

4:15 PM - KANSAS CITY~! After three hours and 15 minutes, my original plan to drive the additional 10 miles into the state of Kansas just to add it to the 24 states I've already been to (halfway to 50!) is quickly scuttled.

4:30 PM - Stadium parking is $9.00. For comparative purposes, on-site parking in Oakland is $14.00. In Oakland! The only city on earth where you're guaranteed to get robbed whether you go to a game or not.

4:40 PM - OK, I'm not kidding: We paid for parking 10 minutes ago and we're still driving around the complex to find a parking lot that's not chained off. The traffic attendants seem to be directing us into Kansas, after all.

4:45 PM - We've now driven past the Kansas City Chiefs' Arrowhead Stadium, which is part of the same complex, and we've looped back around to the same guy who took my $9.00 fifteen minutes ago. "Did you guys leave?", he asked. "Just park in Lot B.", he replied to my non-response.

4:45 PM and 30 seconds - Of course "Lot B" is about 50 feet from where he's standing.

4:55 PM - Lots and lots of A's fans are out in force, which is always awesome to see on the road. It's almost like the late '80s, back when Oakland was the choice of both casual fans and flash-in-the-pan rappers alike.

5:00 PM - The ticket windows are a little less, uh, "crowded with people" than in St. Louis the night before. Two hours before game time, we ask for three "best available" and end up with three tickets, on the aisle, three rows behind home plate. Small crowds, swarming with opposing fans & great seats always available? Quit stealing Oakland's style, Kansas City!

5:15 PM - While the skies continue to darken, I overhear one usher telling another that storms aren't expected in the area until 8:00 PM. Let's see…7:00 PM start…in the American League…that means "the top of the 2nd inning". Ruh oh.

Adventures in Babysitting

So, Kid Bootleg's been around for three years. In that time, you could count the number of "dates" that me and Mrs. Bootleg have been on with one hand. (Preemptive posting of guaranteed unfunny first comment: "And with your OTHER hand...") Anyways, the wife thinks it's time we spent more evenings out, which means we need a babysitter.

Mrs. Bootleg posted an online ad and, much to my surprise, the responses rolled in. For your review is an email from a prospective sitter:

My name is David, I am 16 years old, and I LOVE to babysit. You might think that I am a little bit too young, but I give you my word that I am very responsible, friendly, and reliable. I am CPR and First Aid certified, I have babysit for many families in the past and I have lots of contacts you can reach as references upon request. Your child’s safety will be the most important to me and I will never ever let your child out of my sight. I can babysit up to 3 kids at any age. I babysit only nights and weekends, and usually can do last-minute calls. I live in San Diego and most likely would be able to provide my own transportation if nearby. Please give me an opportunity to babysit your kids and I promise you that you will not be disappointed. I do this mainly because I LOVE kids and also because I want to show my parents how responsible I am and so I am open to babysit at any reasonable rate you prefer.

When I was 16, I collected baseball cards, wore Reebok Pumps and didn't date. It's taken nearly two decades, but at last I can abdicate the crown along with the accompanying "Kingdom of Losers" sash.

Long Live King David!

The Oakland A's Monday #6

Overall: 22-21 (2nd Place, AL West)
Last Week: 3-4 (1-3 vs. Royals, 2-1 vs. Giants)

First Quarter Grades

Jason Kendall – C: Has TWO extra base hits in 144 at bats. He's hitting .188 with a .234 OBP and .201 SLG. By any metric, he's the absolute worst hitter in baseball. 15 years ago, a music video was made in honor of his swing. Anyone that tells you Kendall has "value" because he's "good with the pitchers" is an idiot. Grade: F-

Dan Johnson – 1B: Missed most of the season's first month with a torn labrum in his hip. He's put up a .358/.476/.617 line since his April 25 return. Finally producing like his promising 2005 campaign showed he was capable of. Currently the best AL first baseman none of you have ever heard of. Occasionally sports "Teen Wolf" beard. Grade: A

Mark Ellis – 2B: Finally starting to heat up after a slow start. Ellis had a fluky career year in 2005 (.316/.384/.477) that most A's fans don't realize he'll never, ever repeat, but he's well on his way to approaching his career OBP/SLG numbers. He's one of those gritty little midgets that everyone tends to overrate. Grade: C

Bobby Crosby – SS: He's been healthy all season, which is about "all season" longer than anyone expected. At 27, he pretty much is what he is: decent pop and lots of strikeouts. He's been hitting well over the last week or two and building up just enough momentum for his inevitable __________ (body part) injury that'll keep him out _______ (a number between 4 and 6) months. Grade: B-

Eric Chavez – 3B: You know why you think you hate Alex Rodriguez? All those imaginary faults you've come up with for one of the greatest players of this era? Save 'em for Chavez. Still swings at everything. Still looks like he couldn't care less. Still collecting on the ONE long-term, market-value contract the A's have handed out. Still a Gold Glove defender, too. Grade: C-

Shannon Stewart – LF: For the last two years, the A's employed OF Jay Payton and played him too much. Stewart is this year's inexplicable everyday player. OK, the explanation is "injuries to everyone else", but Stewart is clearly a 4th outfielder at this point whose defense has eroded to the point of either "awful" or "glacial". Your choice. Grade: C+

Nick Swisher – CF: Despite losing a week to a hamstring injury, he's been the A's best player in the early going. His "pretty boy redneck" schtick drives the squealing teenagers to distraction and the front office is positioning him as the face of the franchise when/if the team ever moves into a new stadium. Just 26 years old and currently hitting .275/.407/.473, he had a hot first two months of 2006, too, before struggling for the next four months. Grade: A

Travis Buck – RF: Injuries forced the A's hand with their top prospect. Buck's been up all year and contributed to several early season highlights, including a game-tying home run off Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth inning earlier this month. He's been ripped by A's fans who still think batting average means anything by itself. .364 OBP and .510 SLG hint that he's ready for the show. Grade: B

Mike Piazza – DH: Last year, Frank Thomas really skewed the appearance of the A's recent (shaky) record with veteran free agent signings. Piazza isn't quite Eric Karros (2004) awful, but the supposed "DH revitalization" that many thought Piazza would experience hadn't happened before an f'd up shoulder sent him to the DL. There's talk of him going back behind the plate when he's ready to go. Grade: C-

…And the Rest: All Jack Cust does is hit home runs…or take a walk…or strike out. If he was doing this (.283/.468/.848) on the EastcoastSPN, Tom Daniels would go back to writing weekly columns. Milton Bradley has nursed a sore hamstring for several weeks. He's very good when healthy, but his last full season played was in 2004. Marco Scutaro hit a walk-off home run off of Mariano Rivera, thus buying the Lilliputian Venezuelan another full season in the sun. Deserved or not.

Danny Haren – SP: That's a 1.74 ERA next to his name and an obscene 0.932 WHIP to go with it. Just 26 years old, Haren is already better than the (chuckle) "ace" he replaced in Barry Zito and the one he was traded for in Mark Mulder. Not sure why any grown man wants to be called "Danny", but whatever, kid. You just keep on winnin'. Grade: A

Joe Blanton – SP: I can't lie…I've never been a fan. His 16 wins in 2006 were due in large (pun intended) part to an insane amount of run support. His K rate was also nothing to write home about and his conditioning was what I'd call "half past Hurley". But, if I can't lie, then I've got to admit that Blanton's been solid this season in improving almost every aspect of his game. He's still fat, though. Grade: B+

Chad Gaudin – SP: 3-1 record…2.94 ERA…just 2 HRs allowed in 52 innings. He works a lot of deep counts, a la Zito, so he'll be susceptible to the occasional long inning, but he's been sent from Allah so far this season. He'll likely fade as his innings pitched count climbs, but he's averaging less than six innings per start, so they'll ride this horse until he "Barbaros Up" on us. Grade: A-

Joe Kennedy – SP: Once again, this time with feeling: spring training stats don't mean sh*t, kids. Kennedy's ERA was about a billion in March and now it's 2.70. Sure, he's not that good. His BB/K numbers are almost equal and he's always pitching with men on base, but for a fifth starter he's better than whatever corpse the Yankees are exhuming this evening. Ooh, and you can do that "Kennedy…Kennedy" thing with his name. Grade: B

Huston Street – RP: Was off to another strong start (9 saves, 2.50 ERA) before a potentially serious elbow injury shut him down. One account speculated that he could be out anywhere from two weeks to 12 months. The A's bullpen has imploded in his absence, but I'm OK with this squad getting a little uglier. All these pretty boys bring out too many girly fans in pink hats. Grade: B+

…And the Rest: Here's a good sign for a healthy, productive life after baseball: Justin Duchscherer is 29 and suffering from an arthritic hip. Fans are suffering from his 4.96 ERA. Rich Harden is hurt again. He looked good in three starts, but this is getting ridiculous. He was accused of having no heart by an anonymous teammate in ESPN The Magazine and I'm inclined to concur. Kiko Calero can turn a 1-run game into a 5-run blowout like nobody's business.

Overall: With all the injuries this team has endured, they'll have to continue to tread water against some of the AL's weaker teams this month. Still, the A's are in a surprisingly strong position to keep winning while getting healthy. A closer look at the schedule shows that the A's will avoid any sustained rough spots until a June 22-July 1 run at New York(N), at Cleveland and at New York(A). I'll be in New York to see them on June 30. I will give them strength.

This Week: at White Sox (3), at Orioles (3)