Bleacher Report - Articles by Edgar Martinez

Golden State Warriors: Know to Keep On Believing

Edgar Martinez — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:59:22 -0400

In the NBA's Western Conference, the Golden State Warriors know it's going to be tough keep a playoff position.

Fans of the Warriors still believe and know the experience it takes be a playoff team, as mentioned in a blog called Golden State of Mind.

The Denver Nuggets are high scoring and exciting.

Even though Denver lost to the Phoenix Suns last night, they shouldn't be counted out.

The Dallas Maverick have a losing record against winning teams. Having Jason Kidd—but without Dirk Nowitzki—should give Warriors fans some hope, but anything is possible.

The Warriors and the fans believe and know what is coming in this stretch.

It will be drama to watch.

Oakland A's-Boston Red Sox: Split in Japan

Edgar Martinez — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:36:40 -0400

Oakland Athletics and Boston Red Sox opened the 2008 MLB season in the Land of the Rising of Sun this week.

When it was first announced, I was against the trip to Japan because it didn't make sense to have the defending World Series Champion Red Sox play the rebuilding A's. I held the opinion that a Boston versus the Seattle Mariners and Ichiro would be a better match up in the terms of marketing the game.

After Oakland and Boston splitting both games, my opinion about this trip has changed little.

The positives of this series were the games against the Japanese teams and the Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka being a rock star in his homeland. In addition, as an A's fan, Oakland splitting the series, Rich Harden pitching great, and the homers of second baseman Mark Ellis and outfielder Emil Brown were highlights, as well.

The negatives were the 3:00 a.m. start time, ads on uniforms and helmets, the A's being the "home team" even though the stadium played "Sweet Carolina," and the national media's complete focus on the Boston Red Sox.

From the Associated Press to ESPN, it seems like Boston's owner John Henry was writing their checks. On this point, Boston is the defending champs and deserve all hype from their local media and fans, or The Nation.

The national media should be objective in these kinds of events.

Matsuzaka's story was great, but an interesting story would have been about the A's catcher Kurt Suzuki, a Japanese American from Hawaii, experiencing Japan—which a lot of Americans would be able to relate to.

Now, I should get off my soapbox before I say something stupid like Hank Steinbrenner.

The true winners of this series weren't MLB, the United States, or Japan. Instead, the winners were the Dominican Republic and Canada.

The Dominican Republic wins for Manny Ramirez of Red Sox being the MVP of game one—and for winning some gas money and a copier.

Canada gets the win by having their countryman, A's pitcher Rich Harden, pitch a great game, eh!

Overall, my opinion about this trip is still torn from positive to negative, but hopefully the players from both teams can recover quickly from this trip and not affect the regular season.

Oakland Athletics offer Ticket Pack with San Jose Earthquakes Games

Edgar Martinez — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 13:13:46 -0400

Below is a reaction to an email sent from the Oakland Athletics about Major League Soccer, which I wrote about on the Oakland Athletics Fan Coalition (OAFC) website.

The email was about MLS’ San Jose Earthquakes playing four games at the McAfee Coliseum this season. Here are other reactions from fans about this issue:

http://www.oaklandfans.com/discus/messages/21/9659.html?1206162233

First of all, baseball fans don't care about soccer (futbol/football), and soccer (futbol/football) fans don't care about baseball.

Second, South Bay fans would have to travel so far to get to McAfee Coliseum to watch their beloved Earthquakes.

Third, please no more complaining about Raiders games.

Last, no thank you, Mr. Wolff.

http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/oak/ticketing/as_quakes_form.jsp