For all the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth one has seen from A's fans of late, you would think the team was a cellar dweller, approaching only the Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates for prolonged futility. But, following a two-game winning streak, the team has opened up a minute 1/2 game lead over the charging Los Angeles Angels, and continues to be atop of the American League Western Division.

The A's, who had a horrible May and an outstanding June, have treaded water in July, but somehow managed to never let go of first place, holding it solely or tied for the spot for the entire month, if memory serves. And this has happened despite not having the team's best pitcher practically all year, and despite lingering injuries to key players including Eric Chavez, Bobby Crosby, Milton Bradley and Frank Thomas. The team's offense hasn't really wowed anybody of late, but for some odd reason, they are still managing to outscore the other team more times than not.

I've seen this phenomenon in person - most recently on Wednesday, when I played hooky from the office to see the A's beat the Red Sox 5-1, in a mixed partisan crowd, of whom approximately 40 percent were Boston fans. I also attended Monday night's game, which the A's lost, and am set to be at the Oakland Coliseum through the weekend before traveling to Boston myself (for work, not baseball).

In a screed on Athletics Nation, I wrote Tuesday that fans' need to be negative derives from their need to be first to make a claim, but if we could all exercise patience, one will see the A's don't intend to go quietly, and they'll be in a race for the playoffs all season long.

Listening to ''Another Woman'', by Moby (Play Count: 7)

Not too long ago, I wrote that Amazon.com's best times had come and gone, that the online retailer didn't offer too much value in a world where iTunes and others offered immediate satisfaction. With recent rumors that Apple is looking to provide eBook support in iTunes and on iPod going forward, that could eliminate yet another media where Amazon has traditionally had the lead.

But even beyond Amazon, the entire concept of the US Postal Service at times seems to defy the space-time continuum.

On July 21st, I broke my 'No Amazon' policy, ordering a few titles on business, PR and marketing for the office. For some reason, I wasn't alerted until July 25th that the shipment had been configured and released to USPS. The next day, July 26th, it was said that my shipment had left the USPS facility in Richmond, CA on its way to our San Jose, CA office. Should be a snap, right? I could drive that in less than an hour.

But the shipment didn't arrive Wednesday. And the shipment didn't arrive Thursday either. In fact, checking on the USPS site simply reminds me that the shipment left Richmond two days ago, without any progress. You mean to tell me it hasn't been assigned to somebody to just pick up and take down to the South Bay? That makes no sense.

In dramatic contrast, UPS and FedEx tell you exactly where your shipments are, and you know when you'll get them. With the US Postal Service, it's one great mystery in the sky.

Listening to ''Cyborg'', by M83 (Play Count: 5)

It's been a full year since the ANtics showed up and became a weekly feature on Athletics Nation. On July 24, 2005, Episode 1 of the ANtics: "Focus on Fundamentals" debuted, and the A's young stars tried to teach us a thing or two about the core elements of the game.

Since then, in the subsequent 30+ episodes of the ANtics, we've learned that Ken Macha knows Kung Fu, that Eric Byrnes so hates his old team that he's cursed them to sweeps against his current team not just once, but twice, that Stomper prefers warm-weather climates and wants to be assistant GM, that Ellis's shrink calls Crosby "Source of Pain", that Zito needs to keep his hair short in order to play well, that Barry Bonds has a certain attraction to our shortstop's rear, and that Swisher would seriously kill in order to defend his new buddy, Frank Thomas.

Of course, there's been a lot more than just those highlights. I thought you'd enjoy a trip down memory lane, celebrating one full year of the ANtics. You can even flip page by page, just like a real comic book!



ANtics 2005: A Flip-book for last year's comics.



ANtics 2006: A Flip-book for this year's comics.

Nearly 100 games into the season, three teams are within a game of the lead of the AL West, with the A's leading the pack. As things heat up (pretty much everywhere, including on the field), the ANtics has some words of advice for the green and gold.

Click to See Larger Comic

ANtics Archive: 2005/06 ANtics | Hi-Res PDF (20 MB)