Well, it’s over now. The A’s were outplayed by the Tigers and their season is over. Milton Bradley was one of the few bright spots for the A’s in this series. He batted .500 in the four-game series, had 35 % of his team’s total bases (17 of 48), and he played hurt during the final game (strained quad). Tip of the cap to the Tigers who played great fundamental baseball, had outstanding pitching, and got the timely hits. And they did all of that with a low payroll.

The A’s were smacked around again by the Tigers today and they are on the verge of being swept out of the playoffs. This quote from A’s third baseman Eric Chavez really bothered me:

“We’re running into a better team, and they’re knocking down everybody in their path,” A’s third baseman Eric Chavez said. “It’s not frustrating, they’re better than we are.”

That is absolutely the wrong attitude, even if you are down 3-0. Save the concession speech for when the series is over.  Eric, you should be frustrated with the way that your team has played.  Very frustrated.  There’s some heated discussion about this ridiculous quote on Athletics Nation.

I went to ALCS Game 1 on Tuesday. More photos on Flickr.