ARLINGTON -- In 2004, Travis Blackley dressed up as a Hooter's girl for the Seattle Mariners' rookie dress-up day. In 2012 when the A's were deliberating about who was to dress up for rookie hazing, of course, Blackley's name didn't come up. He wasn't a rookie.
Or so we thought.
Then Wednesday, Elias Sports Bureau announced that Blackley's service time mistakenly included a full year from when he was on the disabled list -- in 2005. He entered this season with 34 and two-third innings, and one year and 42 days of time -- making him a rookie. As he walked around the clubhouse he was ribbed by his teammates. He won't be forced to dress up in the green wrestling singlets that 17 other A's players had to wear on the trip to New York, though it was up for debate briefly. "When we were talking about it in the outfield I was saying 'If you need me to do it I'll do it.' I would have done it with everybody but by myself, that's a bit wrong." Blackley, 29, took the news in stride. He doesn't think it's worth making a big deal about. He was far more concerned with his Thursday start against the Rangers in Arlington. "I don't see what the big deal is we are here to play playoff baseball. I'm not really caring too much." Now 12 of Oakland's 19 pitchers are rookies which ties an Oakland record set in 2009. The A's have used 19 rookies overall which is the second most in Oakland history (21 in 2008). Rookie pitchers have now combined to set an Oakland record with 49 wins, and rookies have combined for 94 starts which is second-most in Oakland history.
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