Reporter David Waldstein cites a Oakland-Toronto series in May 2001, during which Tejada and Blue Jays third baseman Tony Batista, a friend from the Dominican Republic, both hit well. Tejada went 4 for 10 with three home runs; Batista, 6 for 13, with a home run.

More significant in the eyes of some of the players was an incident in the second game of the series. Tejada did not get to an easy ground ball Batista hit off reliever Mark Guthrie with the Athletics leading, 8-2. When the inning was over, A's players fumed on the bench.

Tejada, now 35, said his teammates were skeptical because Batista dropped a foul pop-up he hit in the previous game.

Lacking any hard evidence, Waldstein places the accusations in the mouths of some of Tejada's former A's mates, whose suspicions were further aroused in July 2001 when Tejada "failed to catch what appeared to some as a soft line drive off the bat of Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Adrian Beltre," a teammate of Tejada's in the Dominican Winter League. By the middle of the month, some A's players had grown so wary of their shortstop that manager Art Howe was forced to shake himself from his seasonlong nap and convene a team meeting:

Not surprisingly, several people who attended the meeting, in the A's home clubhouse, described it as contentious and ugly. Frank Menechino, an A's infielder at the time, said the veteran Ron Gant took control at the first hint that it might turn nasty.

"I think Ron Gant calmed it down before it snowballed into anything big," said Menechino, now the hitting instructor for the Class AA Trenton Thunder. "Like: ‘Hey, man, we can't worry about what the other teams are doing in this league. But we can't pull the Dominican guys out of our team and suspect them of anything until we catch them.' He basically calmed everything down. Everything was fine after that. I seriously can't prove, say, yes or no, that guys were doing it. But who knows?"

[...]

Johnny Damon, who played for the Athletics then, absolved Tejada by saying observant opponents had been interpreting Tejada's inadvertent cues.

"Miggy was telling guys there was no way he would be doing it," Damon said. "I think what we concluded was that the hitters were seeing him move on certain pitches. That happens, you'll see a young player move closer to the hole on a fastball away, you'll see him creep a little toward the hole. I think that's what it all came down to, Miggy not being able to hide the extra steps. But it seemed like all the Dominican guys were killing us."

And with that last bit, the team meeting sounds less like an airing of well-founded suspicions than an exercise in a sort of clubhouse McCarthyism. There's a persistent and especially odious stereotype in baseball that suggests Latino players lack a certain loyalty to their teams, that they act as a sort of free-floating junta within the game. Many years ago, the former Giants skipper Alvin Dark famously questioned their "mental alertness," adding, "You can't make most Negro and Spanish players have the pride in their team that you can get from white players," and, "One of the biggest things is that you can't make them subordinate themselves to the best interest of the team." (This has a political corollary in the longstanding notion that minorities, and especially blacks, are insufficiently patriotic.) Nearly a half-century later, you find no less than Keith Hernandez accusing the Mets' Latino faction of conspiring to get Willie Randolph canned. There's a vast and fetid history of this, and it has never been more than a lot of racist hooey, and so forgive me if I'm a little skeptical of a Times story whose every paragraph rings with echoes of Alvin Dark.

Friendship or Betrayal From Inside the Lines? [New York Times]

The A's took their former MVP back this spring with semi-open arms, even after Giambi bolted for New York, confessed to juicing, grew a hellacious mustache, then came crawling back seven years later looking for work. But now he's batting .193 with only 24 extra-base hits in 83 games, so they gave him his outright release today. Door, split ya, etc.

It might appear that if even the A's are fed up, Giambi won't be back in a major league uniform anytime soon, if ever. But we've been here before. In 2004, after the BALCO scandal broke—and he was also diagnosed with a tumor—he turned in the worst season of his career. (Remarkably similar to this one, actually.) Many thought then, that minus the 'roids his career was over. The next season, he bashed 32 home runs. In 2007 and the beginning of 2008, he struggled mightily and it looked like his body was failing him again. But he finished last season with 145 games played (his most since '03) and was second on the Yankees in slugging percentage.

Now he stinks again. So will he again find some miracle tonic to rejuvenate his 38-year-old body, or will he slink into the twilight of baseball card shows and Viagra commercials? Only his unlicensed Dominican "barber" knows for sure.

A's release Jason Giambi [San Jose Mercury News]

Of course, on super lucky fan got it all on tape. This was allegedly shot at the A's-Rangers game at the Coliseum last night, and here's the play-by-play for those of you who are tube-blocked at work. It begins with Oakland police trying to remove some old belligerent man from his lower-deck seats. He didn't immediately get up and run for the exists when they told him to go, so naturally, they tased him. (Yay, for reasonable crowd control!)

Then another concerned citizen, camera phone at the ready, comes charging up to document the scene. But before he can lend a hand to the police brutality, an usher boxes him out like Charles Barkley grabbing the last seat at a $5 blackjack table. That dude goes a-tumblin' back down to the box seats. And if all that excitement wasn't enough, just seconds later a foul ball comes flying directly at the combatants, who call a truce just long enough to grab a souvenir. Quite a half-inning, huh?

Man, last time I went to a baseball stadium all I got was a free promotional bag of popcorn. Do the Ballhawks have a category for tazings?

You can watch the full video here, until it (probably) gets taken down. [YouTube, via SportsCentr Tumblr]

When it launched on the Web in 1997, Baseball Prospectus was a gadfly that hadn't yet caught the ear of the major leagues. Nevertheless, it became a gathering place for sabermetrics' brainy hobbyists: The site laid out the concept of value over replacement player, pushed for teams to do a better job tracking pitch counts, and ran Voros McCracken's breakthrough study that pitchers have little control over the hits they allow.

By the time Moneyball came out in 2003, major-league teams had figured out the value of BP's writers. In 2002, the Blue Jays hired BP's Keith Law as a consultant. Keith Woolner, who invented VORP, left in 2007 to join the Indians, James Click and Chaim Bloom joined up with the Rays, and Dan Fox quit to work for the Pirates. Last year, the entire world realized that Nate Silver was an undervalued asset when he started devoting his genius-power to politics. Two months ago, he resigned as BP's managing partner and announced he'd likely "not be able to write about baseball with the frequency that [he] once did."

Kevin Goldstein, the site's new lead business guy, says the departure of the site's top analytical minds is "a real pain in the ass." He says there are now more than 10 people working for major-league clubs who have BP on their resume. "If someone's really valuable to you, you can usually keep them if you play the money game," he says. "We can't do that because working in baseball is their dream."

Unlike a baseball team, BP doesn't get talented youngsters back in trade when its veterans leave town. The need to find new, cheap, unknown talent explains something as bizarre and seemingly un-wonky as the site's current Prospectus Idol contest, in which 10 finalists are competing to become a columnist.

Along with getting raided by the big leagues, BP also has to compete with a bajillion other baseball-wonk clearinghouses—and the other guys don't charge a subscription fee. One quantitative analyst who does work for several major-league teams told me that BP has less path-breaking statistical material these days than sites like Fangraphs and The Hardball Times. Fangraphs has done more and better work than BP using Pitch f/x, the amazingly rich new data on pitch types, speeds, and location. (BP's former Pitch f/x guru, Dan Fox, is one of the guys who left for MLB. Another f/x expert, Eric Seidman, is now writing for BP along with Fangraphs.) I also heard from several different people that Dave Cameron, who writes primarily for Fangraphs and the Wall Street Journal, is the closest thing on the Web to a proto-Silver—the most-promising young sabermetrician writing today.

Goldstein says that, while he believes BP's writing is better than the competition, Fangraphs has moved the ball when it comes to tech-y tools. He doesn't see it as a problem, however, that BP is no longer the lone port of call for spreadsheet lovers: Joe Sheehan is one of the best baseball columnists anywhere, Will Carroll is the industry's leading injury guru, and Goldstein himself is a respected prospect evaluator. "I don't want [statistics] to be only what we do," he says. "I don't want to be pigeonholed as that, and that's ticked off a lot of people. … There is a certain subset out there who wants us to stick to our roots and talk about the numbers and be more hardcore."

While Prospectus might be losing stathead mindshare, it does still have PECOTA, the player-forecast system invented by Nate Silver. Goldstein emphasizes that the site's subscriber-base and traffic are bigger than ever. The BP gospel has also spread to mainstream publications like ESPN.com and Sports Illustrated, and the Prospectus brand has now extended to include a basketball site and a hockey site. Inspired by Silver's political work, Goldstein and co. are now thinking about moving beyond sports. "I don't want people stealing our ideas, but we've got things in our cooker for the next couple of years," Goldstein says. One clue: "We wouldn't do data on the plumbing industry, because there's not a lot of plumbing fans."

As you all know, Brad Pitt has signed on to play Billy Beane—a hilarious concept in its own right—but now some of the other characters are filling out the picture. Dimitri Martin, who has slightly less star power than Pitt, will play Beane's assistant and future Dodger GM, Paul DePodesta. (The opening of DePodesta's Wikipedia entry is a master stroke, by the way.) Rick Peterson, a former A's pitching coach featured in the book will be played by ... Rick Peterson. David Justice and Scott Hatteberg have also been tabbed to play themselves. Obviously they are digging very deep into the talent pool for this one.

So Brad Pitt, a dude who has been Comedy Central-famous for like 10 minutes, and a bunch of former ball players will somehow attempt to make a book about nerds working in an office a compelling family-friendly box office draw. This should go about as well as the last three games of the 2001 ALDS did for Oakland.

Demetri Martin Cast in Steven Soderbergh's Moneyball [IFilm]
Brad Pitt in no way resembles Billy Beane; nobody apparently resembles Rick Peterson except for Rick Peterson [Big Picture]

On Tuesday A's owner Lew Wolff officially squelched a proposed 32,000-seat, $500 million ballpark plan in Fremont, which is about 20 miles south of Oakland, in part because of the warm and welcoming folks in the photo here. Will the A's end up playing in a trailer park outside of Reno? Suddenly they're vagabonds: They don't want to stay in Oakland because of the antiquated facilities and fickle fan base, and their plan to move to Fremont has met with enough resistance (residents there don't want the stadium expense or the traffic) for the A's to say forget it.

Next up: San Jose, that jewel of Northern California that is home to the Sharks, AFL SaberCats and estimable San Jose State (which gave us Jeff Garcia and Dick Vermeil!). But there's trouble with that plan as well. Although San Jose would like nothing better than to welcome the Athletics, Santa Clara County — where a new stadium would be built — is considered San Francisco Giants territory. The A's would need permission from Major League Baseball to move in and compete for South Bay fans. It's a range war!

Baseball has solved territorial disputes before to allow teams to move. In 2005, when Montreal moved to Washington, D.C., and became the Nationals, the team struck a deal with the Baltimore Orioles, using television revenue to compensate the Orioles for the team's loss of territorial exclusivity. It is unclear whether a similar plan could work in the Bay Area.

It would take a bold decision on Bud Selig's part to make that happen ... ha ha ha, never mind. Forget I wrote that.

So the next alternatives for the A's would be Sacramento, Las Vegas and, of all places, Portland. My proposal is to make them a barnstorming team like the 19th-century Cincinnati Red Stockings; then you won't need a home base. Also, I hear that Shelbyville may be interested. If your town would like to get in the mix, give them a call.

Purdy: Come On Major League Baseball, Find The Way To San Jose [San Jose Mercury]
San Jose Could Be On Deck Next For The A's [San Jose Mercury]

Trade Manny Ramirez and Alyssa Milano for Joba Chamberlain. Sell your franchise to The Netherlands. Order Bronson Arroyo to wear the Mr. Redlegs costume. You can do it all with MLB Front Office Manager, the video game whose chief spokesman is, no surprise here, Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane.

By bringing in Beane as the game's celebrity spokesperson, 2K Sports is making a big bet that the baseball stat-heads out there will jump at the chance to impersonate Beane, instead of the more common video game proposition of taking on the role of big league players and swinging for the fences.

MLB Front Office Manager is all about trying to navigate the millions of little details that go into the operational side of running a baseball team. From scouting amateur players to drafting them to making trades to figuring out what to do when stars get injured to sucking it up after a losing season and trying again next year.

Unfortunately I can never find the sucking it up button until it's too late.

But my favorite part of the game is changing the toner in the copy machine because it's after 5 and everyone else in the office had gone home.

Billy Beane's Video Game Pitch: You, Too Can Be A Baseball GM [CNet News]

• We were living in Southern California, so it was an hour flight to go to Northern California. When I went to see Mark in the summer of 1987, his rookie season with the Oakland A’s, I hung around the clubhouse and met all the players, including Jose Canseco, who never did get the story straight about Mark. That’s just part of what I’m here to tell you. Jose was different than my brother, obviously. I thought he was funny. He always had something to say about everything. Jose’s the kind of guy who dresses in the nice clothes. Mark dressed in jeans and plain button-down shirts—simple, conservative. Jose’s a more flamboyant guy with an outgoing personality. I never had a problem with him, but I know Mark never really cared for him that much or hung out with him. I think a natural rivalry, complete with jealousy on both sides, existed. Given their ages and talents, it was inevitable. Neither knew at the time which one of them would be the best of the Bash Brothers.

• Steroids promote muscle growth and healing, just what Mark needed. So I began selling the idea to Mark that steroids would boost his career. Major League Baseball did not have testing back then, and using the right combination of drugs would add muscle and aid his recovery power from the many dings and bruises of being a professional athlete. Clearly the use of steroids would allow him to avoid the injuries while adding the right amount of strength. I went to him and I said, “Mark, you have to do something about this.” I wasn’t thinking about altering baseball history; I only wanted to help my brother. I told him, “Mark, it’s no problem to get the stuff. All you need is some cash and I’ll get it for you.” He definitely wanted to look into it.

• Training Mark challenged me. And the way I trained him was kind of dangerous, using a hardcore blood-and-guts power routine that dates back to the Schwarzenegger days. Great things can be accomplished with this routine, but the possibility of injury is also great. Among those risks are pulled muscles or tears if you don’t know what you’re doing.

• However, Mark did gain the confidence you get from using steroids. There’s an invincibility factor that comes into play—nobody talks about that; they just talk about the physical results. But let me tell you: when you’re using, you feel indestructible, which is a great attitude to have when you step into a batter’s box and prepare to look at 90 mph fastballs. Steroids did that for Mark. When you get stronger and you put on muscle, you feel good about yourself. You feel good physically and emotionally. That applied to Mark’s swing. He literally grew into his status as a home run hero, which I don’t think would have happened had he not gained that confidence.

• As far as I know, Mark last did steroids prior to the 1998 season. He didn’t need to get any bigger and stronger after that. He didn’t want to look like a bodybuilder out there. He wanted to be a baseball player. So I switched him over to androstenedione, which kept the testosterone levels up. If you keep the testosterone levels up, even though “andro” is not steroids, it allows you to release more of the testosterone in your body. Even though andro could be purchased over the counter at the supplement stores, the discovery of andro in Mark’s locker by a member of the media caused a big stir in 1998.

Graphic via Bob's Blitz

Even though he last played in the majors in 2003, and spent 2005 with the estimable San Diego Surf Dawgs, Rickey Henderson insists that he's ready to help a major league team. And can still steal bases. New York Post:

"I believe today, and people say I'm crazy, but if you gave me as many at-bats that you would give the runners out there today, I would out-steal every last one of them," Henderson said with typical bravado. Rickey got specific, noting, "I can go out and steal as many bases as [Jose] Reyes steals." Reyes stole 56 bases last year.

"I might have lost a step or two, but I learned a step or two in knowledge that I can pick a pitch and walk to second base," Henderson said. Satchel Paige pitched in the majors when he was 59. Rickey's just a kid.

Henderson isn't kidding, by the way. In 2007 Billy Beane offered him a roster spot with the Oakland Athletics for one game, so that he could officially retire with the A's. But he turned that down, saying "I don't want no one day. I want to play, man."

Fun Rickey Henderson facts:

• Also played for the Navojoa Mayos of the Mexican Pacific League in the winter of 1978-79.

• Was born in the back seat of a '57 Chevy on Christmas Day.

• Was named for singer Ricky Nelson.

Calls to Corky Simpson were not returned by press time.

Rickey To Big-League GMs: Don't Lose My Number [New York Post]

Henderson, baseball's all-time stolen base leader, got 94.8 percent of the vote, missing being elected to Cooperstown unanimously by 28 votes (we call that the Corky Simpson factor). Meanwhile, scrappy roustabout Jay Bell barely missed the cut, sparking much earnest debate among our commenters. One sample:

• The two writers who gave Jay Bell a HOF vote should be stomped, tattooed, hanged, and then killed. — MikeSmrek

But this is Rickey's post. I've encountered Rickey on several occasions, but have no delicious stories involving his time with the San Diego Surf Dawgs. So let this excellent David Grann piece in the New Yorker serve as your Rickey background material. Key quote:

Earlier, Henderson had confessed to me, “Last night, I dropped down on my knees and I asked God, ‘Why are you doing this to Rickey? Why did you put me here?’ ”

Referring to yourself in the third person when talking to God ... you get my Hall of Fame vote for that alone.

The complete list. Hey, who voted for Jesse Orosco?

Henderson Elected To Hall: Rice Too [San Francisco Chronicle]
Stealing Time [The New Yorker]

• The Eyes Of Texas Are Upon You. Of course, losing Bradley means that the Rangers need to find another head case impact player, and Manny Ramirez pretty much fits the bill. [All Headline News]

• Former Alaska Goldpanner Headed To A's. Everyone welcome the prodigal son, Jason Giambi, back to Oakland ... hopefully sans certain banned chemicals and ointments. The only thing we want to see in that suitcase is underwear and a mustache, Jason. [San Francisco Chronicle]

• RIP, Carl Pohlad. Billionaire Twins owner passed away on Monday at age 93. Fun fact: Played football at Gonzaga, where he was recruited by alumnus Bing Crosby. [MLB]

• How Many Times Do I Have To Say No?. Andy Pettitte rejects Yankees latest one year, $10 million offer, but Brian Cashman continues to stand beneath his bedroom window holding a boom box over his head. [New York Daily News]

Ziegler, a reliever, pitched two scoreless innings on Sunday at the Coliseum to take sole possession of the record, with 27. That passed this man, George McQuillan, who by the look of things had a pretty odd delivery himself. McQuillan set the mark at 25 with Philadelphia in 1907.

Ziegler vital statistics:

• Has had two skull fractures; by a line drive in 2004 and again by a thrown ball last offseason.

• He was released by the Phillies in 2003 and signed with the Schaumburg Flyers of the independent Northern League. He played there one season before moving to the Class-A Stockton Ports. The Phillies only gave Ziegler six innings in the minors before releasing him.

• Even though he ranked second in strikeouts (144) in the California League in 2005 and second in ERA (3.37) in the Class-AA Texas League in 2006, minor-league pitching instructor Ron Romanick asked Ziegler to become a sidearm pitcher in 2007. "No, I absolutely was not open to it," Ziegler said. "I had just posted good numbers in consecutive seasons and was like, 'If that's not good enough, what do I have to do?' "

• He's a blogger! Ziegler has authored "Getting Ziggy With It" at Athletics Nation since Jan., 2007.

• Lived in the same dorm as the Phillies' Ryan Howard when both attended Southwest Missouri State, and also roomed with Howard at spring training in 2004.

Too bad the Athletics can't keep any of their other quality pitchers around for more than a week.

A's Ziegler Took Hits On Way To Bigs [SFGate]
Ziegler Sets Record In A's Win [SFGate]

The great Lajoie didn’t have fans charting his every move before he turned professional. The marvelous Wheat was allowed to develop at his own pace. Even the greatest of them all, King Kelly, wasn’t burdened with Gibraltar-sized expectations when he commenced his career. So it is little surprise that The Cape Cod God, Evan Longoria, whose unfortunate nomenclatory resemblance to the Latina Mary Pickford (and honorary First Lady of the Cagers) has caused much jocularity in the dressing room, has struggled since joining the big club.

Consider the hitlessness and the doubting as forgotten as the Rosewood Riots, for the Man With The N delivered a two-run Trump Card for the Mantas as they continued their recent dominion over the Oaklands, 7-6 in a baker’s dozen of innings. Longoria’s Long Sock was a Stop’N’Stare job that, had the game been played not in a stadium but in an open field (as it is meant to be), would have traveled the proverbial country mile. This Bakerian Blast gave the Saint Pete Saints their fourth straight left-columner over this left coast nine—a stunning development considering the no longer Satanic Rays were once as feeble as the U.S. dollar in the East Bay, losing thirty of the first thirty-six times they took the ill-maintained McAfee Coliseum terrain.

The Decidedly Not Saucy Longoria’s savage slug gave the Sunshine Staters a cushion they would need, for the Athletically Inclined Ones declined to go quietly into the darkness. Dynamite Daric Barton smashed an offering from Tampa anchorman Troy “Gold Watch” Percival that went 374 feet, though it needed to go 375. The initial sacker with the Slavic-spelling legged out a three-bagger that plated Emil “You’ll Put Your Eye Out” Brown, and poised to sheepshank the contest. But the retiree on the rubber induced a foul pop off the ash of the Wailuku Wonder, Kurt Suzuki, and the Oaklands bid aloha to another V.

The dramatics capped a dizzying doozy, one with more twists and turns than a Sidewinder (the reptile, not the missile). It appeared for much of the day’s doings that the lead in the drama would be awarded to The Big Ouch himself, Frank Thomas. The Whacking War Eagle bullied a brace of balls over the planking, both off James “One Is Enough” Shields. The Injurious One hadn’t cranked a Long Sock in over a century’s worth of abdominals, coming up 102 times before getting hold of one. The new homerless streak ended at the loneliest number, as Thomas completed the brace with another cannonade toward the Bay Bridge, equating matters at four apiece. Thought to be a candidate for the woodpile after his unceremonious departure from the Northern Territories, No Doubting Thomas has been a veritable Dudley Do-Right since returning to Tupac Town.

With an octet of scores evenly divided between the two clubs, both made a dash for the tape. Akinori “Faster Than The Rising Sun” Iwamura stroked a screamer in the seventh innings to get the Gator Staters’s noses in front, but an innings later, it was a draw once more, as Ryan “The Goblin” Sweeney sliced a safety to starboard, plating the tying tally. Five-all, and nary a soul enjoying their refreshments in the grandstand dared depart their seat, leading to a multitude of crossed legs throughout the ground.

An unlikely Ulysses emerged during the ensuing stretch of scoreless base ball—Jason “Tender Tucchus” Hammel, who is more accustomed to spectating from the best seat in the house than actually crossing the White Lines. Indeed, the High Pocketed Observer hadn’t hurled in anger in nearly a fortnight, but there was no rust buildup despite the long stretch on sentry duty. Hammel handcuffed the hitters who dared wave an ash his way, allowing a single safety in a three innings tour of duty. A pleasant surprise for skip “20-200” Maddon, and a third V (against two Ds) for the twirler, who complained of exhaustion afterward. The troika of innings encompassed the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth, and set the stage for the denouement in the hard luck innings.

After a duo of spine-snapping heartbreakers to Middle America’s Team while the nation took a break from toil, the tweeners from Tampa celebrated being on the side that didn’t surrender its colors after an epic struggle. It is a leap of Knievalesque proportions to proffer that these base balling elasmobranches are a threat for Octoberfest, much less make it to the Last Banquet of Fall. Given their persistent ineptitude since inception, however, it is gladdening to witness a potent heartbeat from the downtrodden Sunshine Boys. The Renaissance comes after shedding any Beelzebub overtones from the franchise. Coincidence? More like an exorcism. Getting first choice from the larder has stocked the spread with an epicurean’s delight of prime beef talents—and even more, like David “The Vandy Vapor Trail” Price, await promotion to the First Battalion from the reserve corps on the farm. Optimism Unbound in Tampa—if this keeps up, one will have to acknowledge the presence of another Crack Committee of Base Ball People in the region, one that has no Steinbrennerian affiliation.

Much credit to the ink-stained wretches of the Bay Area, many of whom have stepped up to give it a shot. So far, the winner, from the Oakland Tribune, is Pat Craig. His booty:

Four dogs, one order of nachos, a bag of peanuts, an ice cream sandwich and a bag of popcorn

(Actually, Eric Louie of the Contra Costa Times did knock down 12 hot dogs.)

Not bad, but surely, someone out there can do better. Though eating a full bag of peanuts is quite the underrated endeavor. We salute all those who undergo such a physical challenge.

Top Dog! Journalism All-You-Can-Eat Leaderboard [Busted Coverage]

Most toilets in China are still of the squat rather than sit-down variety, as spectators and competitors at recent test events in otherwise state of the art venues like the "Water Cube" aquatics centre discovered. "In my personal point of view, there are cultural differences between Chinese and Western people. Chinese are more used to squat toilets," said Yao Hui, a senior official responsible for the management of Olympic venues. "Toilet alteration projects at the Bird's Nest (National Stadium), the Water Cube and National Indoor Stadium are ongoing and if technical conditions permit, all the toilets in these stadiums will be changed."

Meanwhile, in Japan, toilet technology is light years ahead of that in China. The Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics came home from their two-game series in Tokyo raving about the toilets. They practically could talk of nothing else. Said Oakland's Emil Brown:

"The toilets are the best. Do we have those? I mean, they're, like, way ahead of us as far as putting stuff out there."

Best feature, according to Brown: The heated seats.

But when he says that Japan's toilet technology is ahead of ours, I have to laugh (photo below from Dave Barry's blog).

A's Turn Up The Heat On Red Sox [Yahoo Sports]
No More Squatting In Water Cube Toilets, Beijing Says [Guardian UK]

Not that anyone should be having a big pity party for the Red Sox or anything, but they now have to fly to Los Angeles for a three-game set in the L.A. Coliseum. A nifty idea, sure, but more schedule goofiness to deal with. Real games with much pomp, then fake games with much pomp, before heading to Oakland for some muted pomp, then to Toronto, then, finally, back to Boston on April 8.

The Red Sox are the signature franchise in baseball now, and to the winner goes ... well, a completely spoiled start to the season. But hey: Manny homered today, and, as we all know, he never knows what city he's in anyway.

A's 5, Red Sox 1 [Boston.com]

So, here goes:

1. Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim: We actually never like picking these guys, and not just because of their name. But they still seem to be the class of this division over here.
2. Oakland Athletics. We will always, always pick these guys one spot higher than they actually should be. Damn you, Michael Lewis!
3. Seattle Mariners: Put us in the camp that believes last year was an overperformance, rather than the start of something exciting, Bedard or no.
4. Texas Rangers: Hopefully they'll be able to overcome the loss of Sammy Sosa. We're not sure we have, not yet.

We would love to hear justifications as to how a team other than the Angels win this division. Tomorrow, the National League Central.

Manny Ramirez was the main hero, with four RBIs, including a two-run double in the 10th, but you have to admire Brandon Moss, who, filling in for an (amazingly!) injured J.D. Drew, hit his first major league home run in the top of the ninth. In Japan. At the Tokyo Dome. That seems like a difficult ball to get back.

The A's made a little run at Jonathan Papelbon — who looked awful, we might add — in the 10th, but Emil Brown stupidly run into an out after an RBI double, and Joe Morgan smiled a little.

So, the Red Sox grind out a win, and the A's got a lot of walks but didn't hit much. (And Jack Cust struck out four times.) We're obviously well on track.

We're not gonna do anything stupid and try to live blog the game tomorrow — we leave that to