Game 1: Seattle @ Oakland (In Tokyo)

The day finally arrived... After 6 months of agonizing anticipation the Oakland Athletics resumed their usual duties and returned to the field in a game that would directly affect their W/L total at approximately 3:10 AM (PST). The absurdity of the hour can be contributed to that of Oakland's agreement to participate in a two game series with Seattle in Tokyo to usher in the 2012 baseball season. Oakland threw an intriguing opening day lineup at Felix Hernandez to begin the season: 2B Weeks, SS Pennington, LF Crisp, DH Smith, C Suzuki, RF Reddick, CF Cespedes, 1B Allen, and 3B Sogard (Melvin opted to chose Sogard over Donaldson in this instance to capitalize off of Hernandez's splits vs lefties).
McCarthy began the game with his statistical brilliance that endeared him to sabermetric fanatics worldwide, retiring 5 of the first 6 Seattle batters via groundout. His lone blemish came in the 4th as Dustin Ackley slammed a solo HR to center and put the Mariners ahead 1-0. Oakland would respond in the bottom of the inning however when Suzuki drove Pennington home on an RBI double to tie the contest. McCarthy would continue to dazzle finishing with 7 IP, 82 pitches (58 strikes/24 balls), 0 BB, 3 K, 6 H, 1 ER, 12/2 GB/FB. The shortness of his outing, considering his pitch count, could most likely be attributed to his injured fingernail and shortness of spring (decreased stamina). Cook, Balfour, and Fuentes all had successful debuts, but the stagnant nature of Oakland's offense would thrwart any notion of victory for the green and gold. The Athletics went an appalling 1-14 with RISP and left 7 men on base. They got men on and couldn't convert no matter what strategy they adopted. In a controversial moment, after a Yoenis Cespedes double for his first MLB hit to lead off the 7th (Cespedes finished 1-3 with a double and a HBP), Melvin elected to have Brandon Allen attempt to bunt Cespedes to 3rd. Allen, clueless in a bunt situation, popped up and any momentum built immediately deflated. Oakland would take the game to extras where Carignan would be charged with 2 runs after consectutive Ackley and Ichiro (Who went 4-5 in Tokyo) RBI singles. Oakland's only multi-hit contributor was Cliff Pennington, who went 2-5 with a double and single. Jemile hit the leadoff single and stole a base in the first, but then went 0-4 with 2 K's afterwards. Josh Reddick, while hitless, had two possible XBH stolen from him by Mike Carp which could've been the difference in the game.
Overall, the pitching seems legitimate as does the bullpen, but Oakland must locate some shread of offensive rhythm if they intend to compete in future contests.
It was a bittersweet result for most A's fans, as it was to myself, but actually having Oakland back fills a long vacated void that needed to be addressed. It isn't a cruel charade, Oakland Athletics baseball is finally back
Oakland had now lost 8 consectutive opening days, the longest such streak since the Phillies of 1985-1992. The MLB record is 9 owned by the Braves.
Oakland elects Bartolo Colon as their representative in a 2:05 AM (PST) game in the Tokyo Dome opposing Jason Vargas as the Athletics receive their first glimpse of the 39 year old in green and gold.