What kind of name is that? Who in their right mind would name their kid Huston Street?  You might hear people ask those questions, but to myself and A's fans around the world: it only means success. The A's have a long line of tremendous pitchers: Rollie Fingers, Dennis Eckersly, Catfish Hunter, and many more. But of these three, they seem to, also, have a "bizzarre name." I myself do not think any of these names are bizzarre, for they have a place in history. Obviously, the A's have had a history of contrevorsy, but they seem to always be in the race for the playoffs, and always have a pitcher in contention for Cy Young. I'm not saying that only A's with strange names can win the Cy Young award, but I am saying that Huston Street is only 22 and a top contender for the overall saves leader in the MLB.

The last time the A's actually won a World Series game was in 1988, when they played the Dodgers. Everybody should remember game 1 of the Series, with Kirk Gibson's walk-off home run, and everybody knows that Dennis Eckersly was on the mound when it happened. But, what everybody doesn't know is that Eckersly threw his slider to Gibson. Eckersly's slider was arguibly the nastiest sliders to have ever been thrown, and, in coincidence, Huston Street's slider happens to be his best pitch, and is, too, one of the nastiest sliders in the league. The difference between the two pitchers is that Huston Street is a righty. I am not trying to say that if Eckersly was a righty, then the A's would have won the game. But, Street is still developing, and with two bad knees it is hard to hit a low slider breaking towards you rather than away.

Unfortunately, Street has been out with a strained muscle since the middle of August, so his numbers aren't as up to date as the Red Sox's Jonathan Papelbon. Fortunately, he did return today for an inning against the Angels, and I can almost guarantee that if the A's make the playoffs this year, Huston Street will be a deciding factor in whether or not the A's lose by another walkoff, or win by a pitching duel.

You can just tell by the name.

Being a thirteen year old, I know what it is like to play little league baseball. And from seeing the A's for the first few weeks of this new MLB season, I would have to say they would struggle against my 3-13 team. But, the A's have won 5 in a row without Huston Street, Esteban Loaiza, and have seen much less of what was expected from Bobby Crosby. Fortunately, Huston Street returned to the mound today for one inning, and Crosby has been in the lineup for a few days straight. Esteban Loaiza's replacement, Brad Halsey, started for the A's against John Lackey.

In astonishment, the A's jumped to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning due to Eric Chavez's tenth home run of the season.In the top of the sixth inning, Lackey and Jason Kendall got in a fight, which led them both to ejections after Kendall through a chair at Lackey (if only it had been Vlad).

Also in amazement, Halsey maintained only one run until the sixth inning when Vlad hit a two-run shot. The next inning Huston Street was called from the bullpen for the first time since straining a muscle back in the middle of August. He struck one out and gave up no hits (Huston Street for Cy Young- and president for that matter).

In the top of the ninth, Bobby Crosby added his third home run of the year in a six run inning to seal the deal.