The Oakland Athletics travel to face the Milwaukee Brewers at 12:05 p.m. pacific in Coco Crisp’s first game since he was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence on Tuesday. Crisp spoke to the media this morning upon arrival at the stadium and apologized for his actions. Thankfully it wasn’t one of the forced fake apologies, but seemed a bit more heartfelt:
“I can say how I feel about the whole situation and I guess, obviously embarrassed is one of the main feelings. And sorry….that’s genuine,” he said. “A lot of people look up to me, and the decision was not the right decision.”
….
Crisp has talked to team officials, and, he said, they provided him with some advice. Knowing how the A’s feel about driving while impaired, I would imagine that this “advice” was fairly forceful and possibly not too pleasant to receive.“Obviously, this is a big deal,” Crisp said. “They’re not my parents, but they’re here for me.”
Crisp is expected to be a key table-setter for the 2011 Oakland A’s given his ability to get on base and his base-stealing capabilities. This still has to go through the legal system and it sounds like the A’s are waiting to see the results of that process before acting further.
In the meantime, the A’s send out Trevor Cahill to make his second 2011 spring training start. The A’s starters have been up and down thus far and will look to settle down as we move further into March. Cahill surprised a lot of people with a monster 2010 campaign and will be looking to build on that and show he isn’t a one-year wonder. In his first start against the Cubs Cahill lasted 1/3 of an inning and gave up four runs on five hits and a walk. It’s nothing to be concerned about at this point, but he’ll be looking to settle down in his second start of the Cactus League schedule.
The A’s will send out the following lineup:
1. Coco Crisp, CF
2. Daric Barton, 1B
3. Josh Willingham, LF
4. Conor Jackson, DH
5. Andy LaRoche, 3B
6. Matt Carson, RF
7. Wes Timmons, 2B
8. Josh Donaldson, C
9. Eric Sogard, SS