So it's been kind of a weird season for the A's, and it has never been weirder than last weekend, when the trading deadline came and went without incident at the corner of 66th and Hegenberger. The A's made no deadline moves; Billy Beane, who says he spends April and May figuring out what the A's need, June and July going and getting it, and August, September and as much of October as possible watching the best team he can put together play, wore "a yellow flowered shirt, khaki shorts and sandals" to tell Sports Illustrated (registration required) he was "very
happy with this team as it is."

OK, so it would have been an even weirder trading deadline if SI hadn't mentioned Beane's laid-back California wardrobe, but still. When even the mad genius is content to sit back and watch the team play ball in prime going-out-and-getting-it season, you know there must be something on the field worth watching. There is.