A's First Half: Einsteinian Insanity

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Given all the injuries the A's suffered in the first half, it's amazing they're hanging around. Of course, beating up on bad teams helps.

Jul 16, 2010 - Albert Einstein is often credited as defining insanity by "doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." The A's first half in 2010 looked unsettlingly like the three seasons that preceded it: Hopes of strong pitching overcoming weak hitting, all derailed by an avalanche of injury -- many to players with a well-chronicled history of being hurt.

This year's wounded soldiers were Justin Duchscherer, Dallas Braden, Brett Anderson -- so just 60% of the rotation -- Michael Wuertz, Joey Devine (if he even counts), Coco Crisp, Mark Ellis, Kurt Suzuki...Heck, two of the A's better hitters, Daric Barton and Ryan Sweeney, have been playing with a grand total of just 19 fingers and 3 knees and they're the ones in the lineup.

The end result on the field? A team that could beat bad clubs and could not beat good ones, the very essence of a .500 team. What to expect in the second half? The rotation could still be good, especially if Anderson comes back healthy and stays healthy, the offense should still be poor, with an OF that threatens to combine for fewer than 10 HRs, the bullpen might be a little more solid with Wuertz finally back on track, and the defense should continue to be a strength. This looks like about an 80-win team which, sadly, would make it the best A's team in four years.