Tag: Oakland Athletics

Rutgers baseball: How is former-Scarlet Knight Ryan Lasko shaping up in the MiLB?

Ryan Lasko is going through an adjustment in the Oakland Athletics minor league system.

After getting drafted by the Oakland Athletics in Round 2 of the 2023 MLB Draft, former Rutgers centerfielder Ryan Lasko is very much finding his feet for Stockton Ports.

In his first season with the Athletics’ single A team, Lasko has registered a .138 batting average throughout his 29 at-bats early on this season. In seven games, the 6-foot, 190-pound outfielder recorded four hits, two RBIs, four walks, and one stolen base, logging a .242 on-base percentage.

[lawrence-related id=37399]

While with the Scarlet Knights, Lasko tied Rutgers’ single-season doubles record (24) in 2022 and received All-Big Ten First Team honors in 2023. In three seasons with Rutgers baseball, he registered a .314 batting average throughout his 641 at-bats. Lasko started 154 games for Rutgers, logging 201 hits, 38 home runs, 47 doubles, seven triples, and 135 RBIs.

[lawrence-related id=37437,37421,37426]

It is common for players to struggle early on in the minor leagues and the season is still very young. Lasko certainly showed the potential at Rutgers to take the next step and play at this level.

 

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol grabbed an A’s security guard during a bizarre challenge moment

What a weird series of events here.

You don’t see this every day.

In Monday’s St. Louis Cardinals win over the Oakland A’s, Cards manager Oliver Marmol was thinking about challenging a play in which Brendan Donovan may have been safe after being apparently tagged at second. But an Athletics security guard wandered over in front of Marmol, who was trying to figure out if he wanted to challenge.

Marmol missed the deadline to challenge it, so the security guard may have accidentally helped the team that employs him, even though the Cardinals ended up winning the game.

What a weird series of events. Here you go:

Every Major League Baseball team’s best promotional giveaway in 2024

What is the best giveaway your favorite MLB team is doing in 2024?

The Orioles’ Austin Hays blasted an HR ball that bizarrely got stuck in the Athletics’ foul pole

“He LITERALLY stuck it into the foul pole!”

Any true fan of the sport knows that baseball is a weird game often dictated by random chance. And as we learned during the Baltimore Orioles and Oakland Athletics’ matchup on Saturday, it’s also bound to show us things we’ve (probably) never seen before.

At the top of the fourth inning, Baltimore’s Austin Hays blasted a monster of a home run into left field. It hit the foul pole. The story does not stop here. As Hays began rounding the bases, the ball was actually stuck in the fencing of the foul pole. A fan sitting nearby would eventually retrieve the ball.

In all my years of watching this silly sport, I can’t say I’ve ever seen something so bizarre, as this video from NBC Sports California shows:

The Orioles — who lead the American League standings – wound up casually pummeling the Athletics with a final score of 7-2. And Hays gave us a weird baseball memory from a tune-up for one of baseball’s best teams.

A’s Ryan Noda responds to ump’s borderline strike call by marking it in the dirt, gets tossed

You can’t do that.

Having a bit of deja vu?

You should be. It was just a couple of weeks ago that Miami Marlins infielder Jean Segura didn’t like a call from an umpire on a strike and drew a line in the dirt to show where that pitch was, indicating it was outside. He was tossed immediately.

On Monday night, it was Oakland A’s first baseman Ryan Noda who saw a strike called — to be fair, it looked like it JUST hit the outside corner according to the broadcast, but we’ll see it’s borderline — and then took his bat and swiped some dirt.

BOOM, he was thrown out immediately, just like Segura.

Yep. Can’t do that.

MORE: 

A’s broadcaster Brodie Brazil heartbreakingly choked up trying to discuss the team’s importance to Oakland

What a gut-wrenching speech.

Despite their ownership actively trying to push fans away, the Oakland Athletics are clearly a beloved sports institution in the Bay Area. That makes every successive step the organization takes toward a move to Las Vegas in the future all the more heartbreaking.

Especially to the broadcasters who love the team, the fans, and the area.

During a Wednesday night studio broadcast on NBC Sports California, host Brodie Brazil discussed the fallout of the Athletics taking a major legal step toward moving to Nevada. After Brazil finished sharing the news with viewers, he couldn’t help but cry and choke up about what losing the Athletics will eventually mean to fans in Oakland who just love baseball.

Every second of this speech is gutting. Kudos to Brazil for dropping the “serious” analyzing pretense and just speaking from the heart about something that matters so much to himself and his audience. You can tell the situation is just as frustrating for him as it is for any other Athletics fan, and that’s what makes it even more heartbreaking.

10 awesome moments (planned silence!) from the Oakland A’s ‘reverse boycott’

From planned silence to “STAY IN OAKLAND!”

For so long, Oakland A’s fans have mostly steered clear of attending games, a protest of sorts meant to show the displeasure they have with the team tanking and then potentially being moved to Las Vegas.

But on Tuesday, fans tried something different. They packed Oakland Coliseum for a planned “reverse boycott.”

It was pretty awesome. Nearly 28,000 Athletics die-hards were there, with planned chants, incredible signs and messages for ownership. Funny enough, they were there to see the a team that’s struggled mightily win its seventh (!) straight game.

Here are some of those awesome moments, in no particular order, including photos and videos:

[affiliatewidget_deal1]

A’s fans are planning to pack the stadium in a reverse boycott to protest the team’s possible relocation

A’s fans plan to show that they’re NOT the problem.

The Oakland Athletics have been making history this season for all the wrong reasons. Before a recent five-game winning streak, the A’s were looking bound to have MLB’s worst 162-game season while attendance figures were reaching historic lows.

None of this was the fault of A’s fans, and on Tuesday, they intend to prove as much at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. They’re planning a reverse boycott.

A’s fans have largely avoided games this season in protest of owner John Fisher’s pursuit of a publicly funded stadium in Las Vegas. It’s been a rough situation for A’s fans, watching their beloved franchise desperately try to leave Oakland (and possibly failing in multiple attempts with Vegas).

So, for Tuesday’s game against the Rays, the fans hope to take a stand against Fisher and the possible relocation.

The plan is for A’s fans to try to pack the stadium, show the MLB world that they haven’t abandoned the team and loudly protest Fisher.

Right now, it’s unclear what impact a reverse boycott will have given Fisher’s shamelessness. But as a gesture, MLB fans will certainly take notice to a packed Coliseum.

A’s security made almost no effort to stop a fan from running around the field before a game

What’s worse? The A’s or their stadium security?

As an organization, the Oakland Athletics are a complete mess. Ownership has alienated the fanbase and appears set to relocate to Las Vegas. In turn, attendance has been awful, so we can’t really blame security at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum for not caring. After all, nobody associated with the team seems to care either.

But this was still wild to see.

Ahead of Sunday’s game between the Athletics and Astros, a fan ran onto the field from the left-field stands, ran towards second base, rounded first base, stomped on home plate and returned to the section without any member of stadium security posing much resistance.

The best effort was made by some member of the groundscrew who tried to trip him around third base. But for the most part, he was allowed to run around the field freely.

This wasn’t the first time A’s security had failed to stop a fan from running on the field and escaping either. It happened back in 2019 with a fan climbing over the right-field wall.

Yet, this lap around the field seemed different. Security had no interest in intervening at all.

No wonder fans had jokes about that pregame scene.