A’s Young’uns Shine in Split-Squad Action
The A’s played two split-squad games on Sunday, and of course I went to the one that ended up being less dramatic.
Fortunately for me, the win over the Angels was still fairly compelling, especially since Oakland won — the first time that’s happened at a games I attended this year.
My feeling after leaving the game was that Oakland either has some pretty talented kids waiting in AAA, or the Angels just aren’t very good.
Dallas Braden, the screwballer out of Texas Tech, pitched three innings and struck out three while only giving up one hit.
Daric Barton, above, the top first-base prospect in baseball, went 3-for-5 to raise his spring average to an even .500.
Barton also made a couple of nice plays at first base, even making a good stretch to beat out a runner bearing down on him. I’m not convinced that he can’t play first in the majors.
Shawn Kohn, pictured above, pitched well in the 1/3 of an inning he was given. Kohn has put up some good numbers throughout his minor league career, and I think he can succeed as an MLB reliever.
Kohn: 3.05 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 9.18 K/9, 354:69 SO:BB ratio
Also of note is that I enjoyed sitting in a section full of wonderful Angels fans, and I’m not being facetious. The family that I spent most of my time chatting with was a pleasure to talk to, putting in stark contrast the antagonism and bile spewed daily over at Halos Heaven.
I’d like to think that even though we may be rooting for different colors, we all love the same game. When I go the the ballpark, I enjoy having a friendly chat with whoever sits next to me, no matter the jersey on their back. Have I watched too many relaxed Spring Training games, or is this how it should be at the ballpark, instead of the culture of taunting and hatred that some people espouse?