Genuine Oakland A's baseball commences today, as the A's take the field against the Milwaukee Brewers at 12:05 this afternoon at Maryvale Baseball Park in Phoenix.
Josh Outman -- great name for a pitcher -- will get the start for Oakland, then expect the also awesomely-named Gio Gonzales to be called to the mound as well. Incumbent number one guy Justin Duchscherer has a sore elbow and won't play for the first few games, but they're just being careful with him. Edgar Gonzalez threw a gem in an intra-squad scrimmage yesterday, so look for him to challenge that starting rotation.
Newcomer Matt Holliday from the Rockies has had a great Spring Training, hitting balls out of the park and almost into street traffic. No, he really has been hitting balls out of the park and almost into street traffic, according to the eyewitness guys over at the A's Chin Music blog. There's promise for a lot of pop in this line-up, putting Holliday with Jason Giambi and Jack Cust whenever he comes back from the flu.
The Brewers will debut their brand new manager -- none other than old Ken Macha. You'll recall the A's fired him two years ago, and he's been calling Boston games on the radio since.
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who will have the headphones on and not be taking calls starting at 12:05 this afternoon.
