A's Manager, Bob Melvin, Finalist for BBWAA's AL Manager of the Year

A's manager, Bob Melvin has been named as a finalist for the BBWAA's American League Manager of the Year. This was an expected and well deserved decision after the season in which he led his team to 97 wins.

In their first winning season since 2014, Melvin led the A's to a win of the second AL Wild Card and a second place finish in the AL West behind the Astros. This came as a happy surprise to A's fans who assumed this would be another rebuilding season as per usual. Although the A's ultimately lost in the Wild Card game to the Yankees, the team and their fans have a lot to be proud of as well as a lot to look forward to.

If Melvin deservingly wins the BBWAA Manager of the Year award, it will be his third overall. He won this award in 2012 after the A's miracle season as well as in 2007 when he led the Diamondbacks to a NL West title. 

Melvin has already won Sporting News' 2018 MLB Manager of the Year. He was also recently signed to a contract extension through 2021 along with A's General Manager, David Forst, and A's Vice President of Baseball Operations, Billy Beane.

The other two finalists for BBWAA's AL Manager of the Year include 2018 World Series Champion Red Sox manager, Alex Cora and Rays manager, Kevin Cash. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, Nov 13.

Photo: ABC 10

The Matt's are Green and Golden

The corners are not only green, but double the gold this season. A's first baseman, Matt Olson and A's third baseman, Matt Chapman were both named American League Gold Glove winners last night.

This comes as no surprise. Olson's fielding percentage this season was .995%. Chapman's fielding percentage this season was .959%. Both Matt's were incredibly key to the A's 97-65 wild card season both defenisvely and offensively.

Olson and Chapman's Gold Glove's mark the first time an A's player has received the award since 2012 when outfielder, Josh Reddick won the award. Olson and Chapman are the first Oakland infielders to win the award since prized A's 3rd baseman, Eric Chavez in 2006. The Matt's are the first A's duo to both win Gold Glove's in the same season since Dwayne Murphy and Alfredo Griffin in 1985.

The fact that two of Oakland's bright young stars won this award in their first full year of playing in the Big Leagues is incredibly promising. A's fans have so much to look forward to after a surprise winning season and so much homegrown talent coming to light.

Photo: Mercury News

Nacho Average Catch

We may think we have seen it all when it comes to foul territory catches. From Josh Donaldson's tarp catches in Oakland, Derek Jeter's bloody head first dive into the stands, to a casual beer spill every once in a while. But, last night in the Padres 4-1 win over the Giants, Padres third baseman, Yangervis Solarte made an outstanding play that we haven't seen before. Everything seemed pretty normal as he dove into the stands in foul territory to catch a pop-up off the bat of Angel Pagan. As he got out the ball to show the umpire that he had in fact made the catch, he discovered the ball and his glove were covered in a fan's nacho cheese. That's something you just don't see everyday. A literal cheeseball.  

The fan may have lost his nachos, which is a travesty, but the play Solarte made was nacho average catch. Sorry, that was cheesy.

Video:
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:17087032



Photos: 
San Diego Union Tribune
CBS Sports

Patrick Marleau's Family Adopts Jo Pawvelski

Ever since the mysterious black cat of SAP Center ran across the ice prior to a Sharks playoff game against the Nashville Predators, fans have been curious as to where she would find a place she could call home. She was given the name "Jo Pawvelski", after Sharks Center, Joe Pavelski; and she provided a decent amount of good luck to the team during their Stanley Cup Finals run.

Now that the NHL season has concluded with the Sharks making it to their first Stanley Cup Final in franchise history, Jo Pawvelski has finally found a home. She has been adopted by Sharks Left Wing, Patrick Marleau, his wife Christina, and their children. Christina took to twitter a couple days ago, to announce that her family had adopted Jo and her sister, Stanley.

I personally am very happy that Jo has been adopted by a Sharks player. I know there was a waiting list of hopefuls trying to adopt the "Rally Cat of the Shark Tank"; and sure it would be cool to adopt her as a lifelong Sharks fan, but this situation is only right. Marleau, having been on the Sharks squad since 1997, can always have Jo and Stanley to remind him of this season and the history he and his teammates made. Plus this means Jo's namesake, Joe can come visit her whenever he wants.
I do think maybe they should consider renaming her Catty Marleau or Patrick Meow-leau though... Just a suggestion.

Photos:
sportingnews.com
Christina Marleau (@c_marleau) on twitter

Adam Wainwright Nearly Pulls a Randy Johnson

Last night, St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher, Adam Wainwright struggled in his outing against the Kansas City Royals. Although he was not on his A game, he did channel a bit of his inner Randy Johnson. Most baseball fans can recall the infamous Randy Johnson pitch from 2001 Spring Training that hit a bird on its way to the plate. It was a one in a million instance that is very rare in the MLB. 

One of Wainwright's 102 pitches almost had the same encounter with a bird as Johnson's. Yet, in this instance, the bird flew by just in time to miss the ball coming its way. Luckily for the Kansas City bird, its feathers stayed intact, unlike the bird who was hit by Johnson. 

It only makes sense that Johnson, as a Diamondback actually hit the bird; because if Wainwright, a Red Bird would have? That would have been barbaric. 

Members of the San Jose Sharks Throw Out First Pitch at A's Game

Although the San Jose Sharks did not win the Stanley Cup this season, there is still definitely a lot to celebrate about their historic 2015-2016. Throughout their 46-30 regular season record and their fantastic playoff run, they showed just how good the underdog can be. Although this team was not on the top of many people's Stanley Cup Final predictions at the beginning of the season, this group of guys showed that making it as far as they did was no fluke. Offseason changes, like naming Peter DeBoer as their new head coach, acquiring Joel Ward as well as goalie Martin Jones, and naming Joe Pavelski team captain were huge keys to this year's success. They defeated their rival Los Angeles Kings, the Nashville Predators, and the St. Louis Blues to make it to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in franchise history. What better way to celebrate "25 Years of Teal" than to make it to the final round of the NHL Playoffs for the very first time. In the end, the Sharks lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games. The Sharks fought hard, but did not get the result they were looking for. Even though a Stanley Cup Championship would have been amazing for us Sharks fans who have waited years for this, there is still a lot to be proud of. Looking at the bright side is so important in this type of situation. The team will learn from this experience and will now know what to look forward to in the future. When you look back on how well the Sharks truly played this postseason, you can't help but be proud.

To celebrate the San Jose Sharks' historic season, the Oakland A's invited five of their players to throw out the first pitch before yesterday's game against the Anaheim Angels. Logan Couture, Martin Jones, Justin Braun, Brenden Dillon, and Barclay Goodrow stood near the Coliseum mound in their white home A's jerseys and A's hats and threw to A's players; Sean Doolittle, John Axford, and Liam Hendriks. It was great to see my favorite Sharks player; Logan Couture in A's gear, not Blue Jays gear for a change. It was also great to be able to show the Sharks players that although they did not win the title, they have made the Bay Area incredibly proud. I was also very pleased that Martin Jones was one of the players asked to throw out the first pitch. His incredible 44 saves in Game 5, to avoid elimination, was one of the most stellar performances by a Shark this season. I love when my teams come together to support each other & I am very thankful that the A's showed their love by giving a few members of the Sharks this opportunity. Here's to next season, Sharks.

Photos: Oakland Athletics on Facebook

             San Jose Sharks on Facebook

GIF:     MLB.com

Niall Horan & Louis Tomlinson Participate in Soccer Aid 2016

Last Sunday, One Direction bandmates, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson took part in Soccer Aid 2016. Soccer Aid is a charity soccer game held at Old Trafford in England every two years to benefit UNICEF.  Louis was a part of "Team England", while Niall (being Irish) was a part of "Team Rest of the World." Other notable celebrities/athletes that took part in this special day were: Olly Murs, Matthew Morrison, Robbie Williams, Marvin Humes, Michael Sheen, Jack Whitehall, Cafu, and Ronaldinho. Jose Mourinho and Big Sam managed "Team England", while Claudio Ranieri and Niall managed "Team Rest of the World." Even soccer legend, Pele showed up for the festivities as the guest of honor.

The teams spent the whole week prior to the event practicing for the big match. They were given the full professional footballer experience through trainings with professional soccer managers, team bonding sessions, trash talking with their opponents, suit fittings for the bus ride and pregame, and to top it all off; a kit with their last name and number waiting for them at their locker at Old Trafford.

Niall was subbed into the game with about 20 minutes left of play time; Louis was shortly put in after that. Even though they were trash talking to each other due to being on opposite teams, they stayed close to each other on the pitch, one second being competitive and the next laughing and hugging like they usually do. This was a breath of fresh air for us One Direction fans who are missing interaction between the boys on their current break.

In the end, Team England won the match by a score of 3-2. Competitive Louis was all smiles drinking his bottle of champagne and holding his team's trophy. We all know he won't be letting Niall live this loss down for a long time, though the real winner of this event was UNICEF. Soccer Aid this year, raised an amazing €5.4 million.

I am so proud of both Niall and Louis for being such amazing people, using what they have been given to benefit others. They could have spent that week and night out partying like most celebrities their age, yet they choose to dedicate it to raising money for UNICEF. Not only did they get to live out their boyhood dreams of being football players, they also saved lives while doing so. 

Photos: Soccer Aid

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