I don't care what one might think about Beane/Moneyball, or the fact Oakland is a division rival now ... the A's are fun as hell to watch. They've got Cespedes and Moss and Donaldson and Reddick and all that power, but they can play other ways, too. What they did to Garza yesterday was a classic mind-fuck. Thanks to the insightful commentary of McCarver on the FOX broadcast (a statement I make in all seriousness), one could watch it all unfold. The A's bunted against Garza, they bashed against him. The coup de grace was after Garza had spent a considerable amount of time and effort reforming the mound and his landing spot the way he wanted it between pitches in the bottom of the sixth, I think it was. The A's reliever came out in the top of the seventh, stomped around a bit during his warm ups, then called the grounds crew out. They brought out shovels and a tamping tool and buckets of sand and completely undid Garza's work, then tailored the mound to the A's pitcher's preference. Then the umps gave the him several extra warm up tosses to try the new landscaping out.
By then, Garza was going crazy on the Rangers bench. By the time Washington came out to protest, it was too late to do anything about it.
Garza's a solid pitcher, and he pitched a very good game yesterday; but he is known for having a self-destructive temper. I'm convinced the A's were trying to fuck with his mind, and push him toward the edge a little. They'll no doubt face him and the Rangers again this season in important games, and I think yesterday - if nothing else - they were laying some psychological groundwork.
It was beautiful.
