By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
OAKLAND — The great thing when the game doesn’t count, because when the A’s play the Giants, even in an exhibition it very much counts, is each team finds a reason to feel good.
Copyright 2019 The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
MESA, Ariz. — They’ve been at it for weeks, as Bob Melvin reminded. But with the temperature rising, the stands filling and the mood as perfect as the weather, for the Oakland A’s this glorious Friday, March 1, was the first day that spring training 2019 felt like spring training.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
A's, Bob Melvin, Rockies, Stephen Piscotty Email Article By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
MESA, Ariz. — The game meant little. At least the game on the field. The other game, the battle for Bryce Harper, might mean a great deal. Then again...
Copyright 2019, The Maven
A's, Bryce Harper, Dodgers, Giants Email Article By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
MESA, Ariz. — The oft-repeated idea is that the final score of spring training games is irrelevant. The late Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver said what happens in Florida in March — where the Orioles played their exhibition games — didn’t mean anything at Fenway Park in July.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
MESA, Ariz. — The view was rare — and fantastic. There beyond the centerfield fence, the wonderfully named Superstition Mountains, glistening white from a snowstorm, stood like sentinels.
Copyright 2019, The Maven