Game 5

Still gotta love those road teams! For the games on Monday I would lean towards a bet on the road teams again, although the momentum is clearly against both of them.


The M's price is way too high, but once again the matchup of Finley and Moyer is very advantageous to them. Indians lineup is full of fastball hitters so Moyer's success against them this year should be no surprise. Thing is when you throw with that kind of stuff you better be on perfectly, the line is very thin. However I think Cleveland has to be emotionally down. A veteran team that has blown many chances in the playoffs before, I can't help but wonder what kind of effort will be coming here. Despite the game being overpriced, I will pass because I worry too much about the Indians pressing too hard against a great control pitcher that won't give them much to hit.


The Yankees are lower priced than I expected. I don't think the A's will share the Indians mindset though, they strike me as being a carefree team that can come up with a breakout game or a dud at any moment. They still have the talent edge and the pitching edge here. I really wonder just how fit Clemens is to pitch here. If he isn't healthy, that fastball won't be effective and the A's will pound him. You can't be a pure gas pitcher with a bum hamstring. The A's are a fastball hitting team like Cleveland and if he is even 2-3 mph off they will get him. I worry a bit about how much emotional help the Yanks will get as they were playing in a pretty listless Yankee Stadium to open the series, but now the place should be charged. Home edge usually manifests itself only when its a tight game down the stretch and a young pitcher gets rattled by the crowd. There could be situations like that so I will proceed with caution, but take the A's. Further I also like that total at 8 to go over. I am looking for the A's to possibly jump on Clemens or the Yanks to lay it on a young pitcher in the pressure cooker.

....how bout them Oakland fans?? As some 12,000 LESS turned out for game 4 than game 3. What a bunch of bandwagon jumpers! Or are the Raiders playing a regular season game more important than, what could be, the last home game of the year for the A's? Talk about small market mindset! Very sad support for a team that has been excellent (17 in a row at home coming into Saturday) - at least up until last night. Maybe the fans who stayed away knew something??


Hey WB!! How bout that sweep you were talking about?? I guess someone forgot to tell the Yankees and the Indians they were supposed to roll over and take it for the big, bad western conference teams and their gaudy records. Fat chance.

Actually word is that the problem was the lack of YANKEE fans! The A's have a hard time selling out against anyone and when they charge $30 for lousy third deck seats, its even tougher to convince them to come out. Realize that the A's are in a bad spot in the market. Having lived in the Bay Area for 5 years I can tell you no matter what, the Giants are always still king there. Its just like in LA and San Diego, the Dodgers will always have a following despite there being teams in Anaheim and SD.


The A's have always drawn good crowds when the Yankees play, but of course then half the fans are idiot Yankee fans. My buddy went to both games and said there were many more Yankee fans on Saturday than Sunday, maybe they are the ones that truly gave up.