Sorry about the lateness of my first blog entry today. Obviously with the tragic Cory Lidle news, it’s been a busy day for everyone wearing a media credential. It’s just a brutal story.

The A’s and Tigers come to the park today ready to play ball, thinking about how big the game is, and then everyone gets hit with this. A wife lost her husband today. Just like that. A young boy lost his father. Awful, awful news.

But I guess the beauty of sports is that it can be a diversion. Maybe the game can take everyone’s mind off a tragic story, even if it’s just for a few hours.

My first game-related thought of the day is this: Who the heck is Alexis Gomez? He is the Tigers DH tonight. I honestly had never heard of him until about 20 minutes ago, when I checked out the lineup. Does this make me a less informed baseball person than i try to think of myself as? Leyland’s reason that he wanted to get another lefty bat in there against Loaiza, who was hit at a .319 clip by lefties this year. It’s an anonymous left-handed bat at that.  And Marcus Thames will watch the game on the bench.

Milton just belted one. I enjoy Milton Bradley. He’s an exciting player and a great quote. While the rest of the A’s were tipping their caps to Nate Robertson, Bradley said that "smoke and mirrors" were the lefty’s best weapon in Game 1. Love the honesty. Keep it coming Milton.

3-1 A’s in the fourth. More later.