Oakland Coliseum

Quote: "The outfield is very bumpy. It's like a billiards table." - Athletics manager Art Howe on playing conditions at Oakland Coliseum after a Raiders exhibition game It's a fact: The Tigers are assured of a winning August, giving them three straight winning months for the first time since 1988. Who's hot: The Yankees are 33-19 since July 1, the best record in the AL. Who's not: The A's lead the majors with 117 errors. On deck: Chuck Finley makes his first start in Anaheim today since leaving the Angels to sign with the Indians.

Throwing a game away - literally - doesn't usually sit well with teams, especially when they are attempting to establish themselves as consistent winners. So when the Orioles dropped a 9-8, 10-inning loss to the Oakland A's Sunday afternoon on consecutive poor throws following sacrifice bunt attempts, it would be understandable if the players were chewing nails in post-game interviews. For the most part, that was not the case - not after the Orioles (15-10) took three of four in their personal pain chamber, the Oakland Coliseum, to kick off a brutal, three-city, 11-game West Coast swing.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Oakland A's pitchers get to see how the other half lives and dies when the World Series opens tomorrow night in Cincinnati. They'll bat for the first time this season, and they're not happy about it.Normally congenial Dave Stewart, the A's starting pitcher for Game 1, didn't even want to talk much about hitting as he sat in the clubhouse yesterday while his teammates worked out at the Oakland Coliseum."

Wei-Yin Chen said he was “speechless” after throwing eight shutout innings Friday. He has now faced the Oakland A's three times, and is 3-0 with a 0.44 ERA in  20 2/3 innings against them. He was truly dominant on Friday. The A's hitters were completely lost. Watching Chen pitch in a chilly Oakland Coliseum, with all that extra space in foul territory and the ball not traveling well, he just looks tailor-made for this place. He throws strikes, the hitters swing and make plenty of contact.

Operators of the Oakland Coliseum, home of the NFL Raiders until they fled south in 1982, yesterday offered to provide temporary quarters for the team if its earthquake-damaged stadium in Los Angeles can not be repaired in time for the coming season."

OAKLAND, Calif. - When Orioles center fielder Adam Jones came off the Oakland Coliseum field after the bottom of second inning Thursday, he threw his glove dejectedly into the dugout and then made a pronouncement: "I'm going to pick us up. I got it. " A few batters later, Jones doubled to give the Orioles a 3-2 lead in a game in which they won 10-2. It was important for Jones, who was hitting .359 heading into Friday, to come up big with the bat. Because the two-time Gold Glove outfielder has been uncharacteristically shaky in the field since the season started.

OAKLAND, Calif. - The majority of Wei-Yin Chen's Orioles career has been watching his team's offense take a breather whenever he pitches. The lack of offensive support has been well-documented - in 20 of his last 29 starts the Orioles scored three runs or fewer while he has been in the game. On Friday night, Chen didn't leave things to chance in a 3-0 Orioles' victory over the Oakland A's. OK, so he did leave the ninth to closer Jim Johnson, who picked up his ninth save of the season.

When the Stallions and Calgary Stampeders meet for the Canadian Football League championship Sunday (5:30 p.m.), ESPN2 analyst Mike Mayock says they'll bring their respective nation's football philosophies to the Grey Cup in Regina, Saskatchewan.Mayock, who will be joined in the booth by play-by-play man Gus Johnson, says the Stallions bring an NFL sensibility to the CFL, in that they feature a tailback, play tough defense and have great special teams.Meanwhile, Calgary, behind freewheeling quarterback Doug Flutie is, in Mayock's opinion, the "prototypical" Canadian team with backs and receivers spreading the field with a wide-open attack.

OAKLAND -- Dave Stewart, the iron man of the Oakland A's pitching staff, pulled a rib cage muscle yesterday and will likely be placed on the 15-day disabled list.The righthander suffered the injury while striking out Sam Horn in the second inning and was forced to leave after throwing one pitch to Dwight Evans. "It felt just like I'd been stabbed," said Stewart, who is off to his slowest start with the A's, a 2-2 record and a 5.58 earned run average.In a little less than five years with the A's, Stewart has never missed a start, answering the bell 166 straight times.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Oakland A's announced yesterday that smoking will be banned from all seating areas of the Oakland Coliseum."We have always tried to make the Coliseum the most pleasant environment for the majority of our fans," said Andy Dolich, the Athletics' vice president of business operations. "We realize that this decision does have some negative implications for our smokers, but we have tried to make it fair to them."Dolich said the team has received some complaints from fans about smoking in the stadium.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Orioles rode eight strong innings from Wei-Yin Chen and a key hit from Steve Pearce to a 3-0 win over the Oakland Athletics on Friday night . Here's what some of the key figures had to say about the victory: Pearce on being able to contribute: “It was huge. Personally it feels great to do that, but when you can do something for yourself and help the club, it feels awesome.” Pearce on the tight contest: “It was a tough game. (A's starter Tommy Milone)

OAKLAND, Calif. - The majority of Wei-Yin Chen's Orioles career has been watching his team's offense take a breather whenever he pitches. The lack of offensive support has been well-documented - in 20 of his last 29 starts the Orioles scored three runs or fewer while he has been in the game. On Friday night, Chen didn't leave things to chance in a 3-0 Orioles' victory over the Oakland A's. OK, so he did leave the ninth to closer Jim Johnson, who picked up his ninth save of the season.

OAKLAND, Calif. - When Orioles center fielder Adam Jones came off the Oakland Coliseum field after the bottom of second inning Thursday, he threw his glove dejectedly into the dugout and then made a pronouncement: "I'm going to pick us up. I got it. " A few batters later, Jones doubled to give the Orioles a 3-2 lead in a game in which they won 10-2. It was important for Jones, who was hitting .359 heading into Friday, to come up big with the bat. Because the two-time Gold Glove outfielder has been uncharacteristically shaky in the field since the season started.

Quote: "The outfield is very bumpy. It's like a billiards table." - Athletics manager Art Howe on playing conditions at Oakland Coliseum after a Raiders exhibition game It's a fact: The Tigers are assured of a winning August, giving them three straight winning months for the first time since 1988. Who's hot: The Yankees are 33-19 since July 1, the best record in the AL. Who's not: The A's lead the majors with 117 errors. On deck: Chuck Finley makes his first start in Anaheim today since leaving the Angels to sign with the Indians.

It wasn't fair, really. Left-hander Doug Johns came off the disabled list and made the most of a very difficult situation, but was the hidden victim of the ugly bean brawl that marred Tuesday night's game. His solid performance in place of injured Mike Mussina got lost in the scuffle."I think that was my deepest disappointment," said pitching coach Mike Flanagan. "We prepared as best we could. He took his game out there and he made big pitches when he had to. If we win that game for him, it's a big mood setter.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Designated hitter Harold Baines hasn't exactly knocked the cover off the ball since he rejoined the Orioles on Wednesday, but he still has a great sense of timing.Baines hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh inning and it turned out to be the difference in a 7-5 victory over the Oakland A's at the Oakland Coliseum.It was only his fourth hit in 16 at-bats since the deal that brought him back to Baltimore, but he said afterward that he was not feeling any pressure to make a big contribution during his first week back with the club.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- If most of Orioles ace Mike Mussina's starts are filet mignons, last night's at Oakland Coliseum was a Sloppy Joe.Messy, messy, messy.Yet neat enough to earn the victory, 5-4, over the Athletics before 20,212 at the Oakland Coliseum.Mussina matched a career-high by allowing six walks. He struck out only two and allowed four earned runs in eight innings. He allowed one home run among seven hits, but that didn't count the three that had home run depth but landed just foul.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Oakland Coliseum was ready to rock by the time the American League Championship Series arrived here last week. But much has changed since then.The aura of invincibility that surrounded the Oakland Athletics when they were host to the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of the playoffs will not be visible when the erstwhile Bash Brothers take the field tonight for the third game of the World Series. The Cincinnati Reds have a disarming way about them, and it has left the A's with more bruised egos than bashed forearms.

When the Stallions and Calgary Stampeders meet for the Canadian Football League championship Sunday (5:30 p.m.), ESPN2 analyst Mike Mayock says they'll bring their respective nation's football philosophies to the Grey Cup in Regina, Saskatchewan.Mayock, who will be joined in the booth by play-by-play man Gus Johnson, says the Stallions bring an NFL sensibility to the CFL, in that they feature a tailback, play tough defense and have great special teams.Meanwhile, Calgary, behind freewheeling quarterback Doug Flutie is, in Mayock's opinion, the "prototypical" Canadian team with backs and receivers spreading the field with a wide-open attack.