Trust me, I feel your pain and this is simply gallows humor from one fan of a horrible team to another. It wasn’t all that long ago that the A’s were mired in a 10-game losing streak while players in Oakland and across the nation were coming out of the woodwork to blast manager Bob Geren.

Former Athletic Huston Street delivered the best line during that whole fiasco when he called Geren the “least favorite person I have ever encountered in sports from age 6 to 27.” I’d love to meet the biggest jerks he met from the ages of 0 to 6 and 27 to Whenever just to compare them to Geren. The former A’s skipper appears to be the president of a very exclusive club. He’d probably call that a coincidence but I’ll tip my cap to Bobo anyway.

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An open love letter to the Seattle Mariners - Swingin' A's - Swingin' A's - An Oakland Athletics Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More

The A’s were shut out for the 10th time on Thursday night, the first of a crucial four-game series with the AL West leading Rangers.  They followed that up with being shut out for the 11th time on Sunday, and the A’s fell to 39-53 and are now 12 games back of first place.

Under normal circumstance the opportunity to face the division leader with a chance to end up four or six games back at the All-Star break is more than enough to get excited.

But it’s not. Not even close.

These A’s provide a different set of circumstances, making the talk of “contending,” or buying as opposed to selling, during this series somewhat laughable, leaving me either feeling intellectually perplexed or fighting off salty discharge from my eyes, depending on what kind of mood I’m in.

The A’s—and their dwindling fan base—are made to believe they are still contenders by way of their relatively close proximity to first place, a complete and utter farce directly attributable to MLBs absurd division alignment that has left one division with four teams (the AL West), while all other divisions have either five or six teams.

This commitment to mediocrity by all four teams in the AL West obscures the monumental shortcomings of this year’s A’s team, and thus the front office’s shortcomings for years.

Indeed, winning 7 out of 9 games will get the A’s right back in the thick of things, but the A’s team—evident to anyone who has a pulse and is breathing—has shown nothing that offers a scintilla of evidence to presume such a streak is on the horizon.

Though A’s fans—including myself—would have preferred taking three out of four, or goodness gracious a sweep, of the Rangers so that we could enter the All-Star break feeling good about the team and the rest of the season, it perhaps only would have prolonged the inevitable (that the A’s are not good enough to stick around and contend, even in the AL West), prolonged the agony for fans, and been detrimental to next year’s team.

After the team’s struggles in April, Beane told Joe Stiglich of the Mercury News that there was no need to be concerned—unless it continued all year.

“These guys have a track record,” Beane said  “I don’t think you press any panic button in April.  If you were asking me this question in June, I might have a different answer.”

It’s July, Billy.  And your team has not gotten better.  It’s gotten worse.

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2011 Oakland A’s Not Worth Watching After Texas Series; Blasting Billy Beane, Franchise is Past Due - Swingin' A's - Swingin' A's - An Oakland Athletics Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More

The A's play in a pitcher-friendly ballpark, how will that affect their newest offensive additions? (Photo Credit: Swingin' A's)

A’s Fans Are Limited To Home Games Against Yankees And Red Sox - Swingin' A's - Swingin' A's - An Oakland Athletics Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More