Oakland

A’s closing the gap with win over Tribe

Published

11 years ago

August 17, 2013

Oakland, CA – Eric Sogard doubled in a run and the A’s regained the lead bottom of the seventh frame. No better way than to start the series and stay ahead four and a half games over the Cleveland Indians in the Wild Card race.

Oakland’s 3-2 victory over the Tribe also cut the Texas Rangers lead to a half a game ahead in the American League West. The Rangers remain atop the division. But no worries, there’s still a lot of baseball to be played.

A.J Griffin scattered four hits over five innings, surrendering one run, walked five and struck out three. Not his best work but the bullpen came in and backed him for the win. Griffin has allowed 11 free passes over his past two starts.

“I had a tough time getting in a groove there,” said A.J. “I was missing with my location just a little bit, referring to the walks. I just tried to battle through it and give us a chance to win. I feel like I did a good job of keeping us in the game and the bullpen did a great job coming in.”

“Seeing him throw 104 pitches after five innings is a little against the grain for him,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “The ball was up in the zone at times which you don’t normally see from him, either. He battles himself but still ended up getting the big out for us to end the fifth with the bases loaded.”

Cleveland finished 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, stranding 13 along the way. Oakland’s defense was excellent in backing good pitching. The Tribe scored one run unearned in the third when Carlos Santana singled to right fielder Josh Reddick who over thew third base for the error.

Nick Swisher delivered a one run single off Sean Doolittle in the seventh to tie the game 2-2. But once again with the bases loaded Cleveland failed to rally a comeback. Asdrubal Cabrera hit a flyout to left field to end the inning.

“We’ll, always grind,” said Indians manager Terry Francona. “They just have a talented bullpen. Normally, if you get to the starter, when you get that many pitches in the fifth, you feel pretty good about yourself. But they have some depth in that bullpen.”

Oakland got a great start when Yoenis Cespedes hit a two-run homer to left field. His fifth home run in the last 16 games and 20th of the year. Cespedes hit five home runs earlier in batting practice. So, it was fitting to get those two runs early in the first.

Sogard’s play came up big in the seventh when he doubled on a line drive to Drew Stubbs and scored Stephen Vogt. Trying to advance an extra base, Eric was out at third on Stubbs throw from right field. Sogard’s batting .315 with 12 RBIs in 22 games since the All-Star break.

“Vogt got a good at-bat there,” Sogard said. “To get that single and get the inning going, that gave us a chance to score on them. I put one down the line and eased his wheels, he can run for catcher.”

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Faces Around the Bay: Jim Brosnahan, Esq.

James J. Brosnahan, ESQ, an international trial lawyer and trial advocacy teacher, has remained unshaken in his fervent belief in the power of the law to right injustices. Brosnahan has fought to open the legal profession to those previously excluded and worked to provide lawyers to the millions who go without.

Published

3 hours ago

May 3, 2024

Oakland Post

By Barbara Fluhrer “Isn’t this what old men are supposed to do… sit on a bench in the park?”

By Barbara Fluhrer

James J. Brosnahan, ESQ, an international trial lawyer and trial advocacy teacher, has remained unshaken in his fervent belief in the power of the law to right injustices.

Brosnahan has fought to open the legal profession to those previously excluded and worked to provide lawyers to the millions who go without. He has argued for the administrators of justice to represent the whole community. He’s tried 150 cases to conclusion and is ranked among the top 30 trial lawyers in the U.S. (Legal 500 US). He’s been called “scrappy,” “a lion in the courtroom,” and “ultra- liberal.”

One of his earliest cases (1962) involved two Navajo children shot by a White man on a reservation in Arizona. “The legal system needed to work as well for Native Americans as for White people,” he said. “The defendant was found guilty of second-degree murder.”

In 1963, U.S. Attorney Cecil Poole hired him as U.S. Attorney from a list of 200 applicants.

He and Poole, as federal observers, led the Vietnam protesters as they marched. The purpose: to avoid violence.

“Poole taught me preventative law in a chaotic situation and became one of my strongest mentors,” remembers Brosnahan.

In 1964, Brosnahan served on the NAACP’s Housing Committee in S.F., when 70% of the city’s housing was not available to Blacks. They sued racial discriminators, fought for reform and opposed the displacement of minorities in the Western Addition. They won and they lost, but they became the racial conscience of San Francisco in the fight for fair housing.

In 1969, two Black community workers in Oakland were indicted for stealing federal money.

“My two clients were activists in Oakland. I believed there was an element of racism running through Washington’s decision to indict two Black men who worked every day to help the poor,” he said.

The case was eventually dismissed. In the early 70s, he responded to a subpoena and testified against Judge Rehnquists’ confirmation hearing for the Supreme Court. He had witnessed Rehnquist obstructing voting at a polling place. Amid threats on his life, he was the chief defense lawyer for the American who joined the Taliban in 2002.

Brosnahan, his wife Carol and three children moved from S.F. to Berkeley in 1964, in part, to participate in the Berkeley school integration program. She is a retired Alameda County Superior Court judge.

Brosnahan, 90, checks in to his San Francisco firm, Morrison & Foerster often. He paints, reads, walks a mile a day, journals, and lectures, while writing another book: “Cultural History of Trials over the Centuries.”

His last book “Justice at Trial,” published in 2023, details his life and battles.

He reflects, “Over my career I have come to realize that one secret for enriching your own life is trying to help others. What better way to do that than to represent them in court.”