I received the shock of my life on Sunday afternoon. While firmly planted in my recliner with a full stomach my sporting world was rocked to the foundation. Scrolling across the bottom of the screen was news of Marco Scutaro's trade from the Oakland Athletics. I didn't believe it at first. cried out for someone to tell me I was having an acid flashback or something. No such luck. Upon running to the computer to verify this outrageous claim I was met with two names that will draw my venom for years to come. Kristian(I can't believe a man has this name) Bell and Graham Godfrey. These are the two minor league pitchers received by Oakland in the trade. It pains me that Billy Beane felt that 2 pitchers were all he could get for the best utility man in the game. I would've at least asked for some cash or maybe a 12-pack of Molson(since they were trading with the Toronto Blue Jays). Even if these guys become 20-game winners or save 40 games I will never forgive them for aiding and abetting the departure of Marco. He epitomized the heart that typical Oakland teams have come to show over the years. Nobody embodied the underdog spirit more than Scutaro. His clutch at-bats when the game was on the line will be sorely missed in the Biggity Biggity-O. On more than one occasion I have come within a breath of crashing my car while listening to Marco win a ball game for the A's. His finest moment that I witnessed at the Coliseum came when the A's battled the Twins in the 2006 ALDS. With the game on the line he served a 2-out 3-rbi double down the RF line to put the game on ice. I still remember him posing like spider-man with his hands stretched out in a safe-call motion as the play developed at the plate. I also remember the bruise on my knee when I slammed the cupholder jumping up and down. It was well worth it. Plus the look on my girlfriends face while I high fived the guy next to her who had the worst case of BO I have ever encountered will be etched in my mind until the day I die. Another fine moment that will stand to prove his clutchness happened early in the 2007 season when he took a 2-out 0-2 fastball from Mariano Rivera and clanked it off the foul pole to win the game in the bottom of the 9th. My buddy and I greeted Rivera during batting practice at PacBell Park later that year with the "Marco....Scutaro" chant. He even turned to give us a glare which we took as success in our attempt to get under his skin. He also cemented his place in my heart when he changed his number from 49 to 19 after his 1st season with the Oakland. All in all this proves to be the biggest offseason move, in my mind, prior to the 2008 season. With all the talk of A-hole and the Yankees this will fly under the radar, but I will secretly be rooting for Toronto to rise up in the AL East and slay the Yanks and Red Sox this coming season. I know Mariano Rivera will lose sleep over his next encounter with Scutaro.
