A’s-related things that have happened since the last time I watched a game:

1. The A’s have gone 4-0. When I last saw them, they were a game under .500. Now, they’re three games over. I have always noticed that the A’s tend to win a lot when I’m on vacation or not paying attention due to various non-baseball life events, and this is no exception.

2. Rich Harden and Justin Duchsherer have gone on the DL. No surprise on either, but some definite disappointment.

3. Dan Johnson was DFA’d. I’m actually surprised he’s not already a San Francisco Giant. In time though, I’m sure.

4. Mark Ellis stole two bases. I swear, last time I looked, Kurt Suzuki had the team lead with a whopping one swiped bag. Now Ellis leads with two!

5. Dana Eveland continued to be better in 2008 than Dan Haren. He’s got an 0.68 ERA and an 0.98 WHIP in 13.1 innings and two starts, while Haren has a 3.00 ERA and an 0.92 WHIP in 12 innings. Haren has given up 3 homers to Eveland’s zero. Eveland has also struck out more batters (13) than Haren (9). We’ll be keeping our eye on this.

6. Travis Buck, who was hitless in ‘08 the last time I watched a game, has three multi-hit games in a row. He’s got the batting average near Mendoza at .189.

7. Joey Devine, Fernando Hernandez, and Greg Smith appeared in baseball games as Oakland Athletics for the first time. Hernandez’s and Smith’s were their Major League debuts.

It’s amazing what can happen in baseball in a just a few days. Hopefully this is the longest stretch of games I miss this season. Looking forward to extending the winning streak this weekend as Lenny DiNardo brings his 54.00 ERA to his first start of the year against the Tribe’s newly signed extension man, Fausto Carmona.

Go A’s!!

So it’s not pitcher-attacking bugs, walkoff home runs, or playoff sweeps, but the A’s actually did a few thing in the last few days and gave us a few things to talk about.

1. A few changes - no firings - were made in the A’s medical staff. Basically the team has added one, by promoting Larry Davis to a newly created position and promoted Steve Sayles to head trainer. Walt Horn comes up from Sacramento as will act as assistant trainer.

Clearly, something needed to be done here, and adding a guy can’t be a bad thing. Larry Davis is now the Coordinator of Medical Services, which is a new position in which he will keep an eye on things. The A’s are also going to be monitoring the guys more in the offseason, so hopefully we’ll see less DL time in 2008.

One thing I want to know though - does that mean Larry Davis won’t be wearing those tie-dyed shirts anymore? And even if he is, will we ever see them? Important things to keep in mind, indeed.

2. Eric Chavez is going to have back surgery tomorrow. The surgery is described as a microdiscectomy, which is similar to what Mark Kotsay had at the beginning of the season.

Chavez has already had shoulder surgery, so is he going to be fixed up like new for 2008? He should be ready for spring training, and I’m still holding out hope that he can regain form, albeit defensively and not offensively. I think Chavez can get back to his Gold Glove self, but the days of 30 home runs and 100 RBI are likely over. He is best-suited as a #6 or #7 hitter, and, with the presence of Jack Cust, I don’t foresee the A’s sticking him in the cleanup spot again. Thank goodness for that.

3. The A’s canned three of their coaches - Rene Lachman, Brad Fischer, and Bob Shaefer. This is supposedly so Bob Geren can get his own peeps in there. Who are Bob Geren’s peeps, you ask? Supposedly Texas’s Don Wakamatsu is Bob’s BFF (next to Billy Beane, of course) and could join the staff. We might also see Tony DeFrancesco, the Sacramento manager, on the staff.

So Tye and Ty get to stay, as well as Curt Young. I’m not surprised, as Curt has one of the league’s best pitching staffs and both Tye and Ty were new and late additions to the 2007 team.

Here’s a question: first base or third base? As in coach, I’m talkin’. I think being a third base coach would be fun because you’d get to flail your arms around a lot. Plus, you’d get to give the signs to the runner. But the first base coach gets a lot more fist bumps and company.

I’ll take third, because life is more exciting on that side of the diamond. The plays there affect that game more than they do at first base.

What would you pick?