Casilla Later??

Going into Spring Training, after some winter clearance, everyone knew that the A's would be "rebuilding." For the fan, rebuilding is a great concept, but after 27 or so outs, often still means losing. In fact, many people - myself included - were preparing themselves for a 100 loss season. But to date, losing hasn't happened.

As of May 2nd, the A's were 2nd in ESPN.com's Power Rankings. As of today's play, they are tied for 1st in AL west; in addition to being in a 3-way tie for best record in AL, w/ Angels and Red Sox; and just a game behind Arizona for best record in baseball.

A thing I noticed when I went to my first game of the season is that the bleachers were nearly devoid of catchy banners placed by the fans - i.e. Kotsay's Korner (now a Brave). Swisher and Haren are gone, Chavez is on the DL for a while longer. It was pretty apparent that the fans were struggling to find a player to get behind.

But now we're killing it - Santiago Casilla hasn't given up a run all season, Jack Cust was last week's AL Player of the Week, the Big Hurt was picked up on clearance. Things are working really well, while it doesn't totally make sense. The pitching is good, as is often the case, and even the hitting is pretty solid. The runs are often going on the board en masse, and they are coming in the clutch - uncharacteristic of even recent years' successful A's teams.

The A's fans have plenty to root for - just look at today's 6-5 victory, completing the sweep of Baltimore. The A's aren't giving up and are getting contributions from througout the lineup. I think it's time for new signs to garnish the bleachers. I am no sloganeer, but I humbly offer the title of this post as a suggestion.