<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '');   ga('set', 'title', 'Athletics come clean after Paul Blackburn flight fiasco ahead of MLB All-Star Game');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article><header><figure><img src="https://clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Athletics-Paul-Blackburn.jpeg"></figure><h1>Athletics come clean after Paul Blackburn flight fiasco ahead of MLB All-Star Game</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2022-07-22T05:25:11-07:00">July 22nd, 5:25am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2022-07-22T05:25:11-07:00">July 22nd, 5:25am</time><address><a>Sam DiGiovanni</a>Marist College '22 | earned my stripes at TheKnicksWall.com and CenterFieldMarist.com</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Oakland Athletics garnered some real attention during the MLB All-Star Game, but it was not for the best reasons. Their All-Star, pitcher Paul Blackburn, got a ride to Los Angeles with the Houston Astros <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/astros-drop-rivalry-with-athletics-and-rescue-paul-blackburn-from-cheap-franchise-ahead-of-all-star-game/">on their charter jet</a>.</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/athletics/article/Why-the-A-s-Paul-Blackburn-flew-on-Astros-17321262.php?utm_campaign=CMS%20Sharing%20Tools%20(Premium)&amp;utm_source=t.co&amp;utm_medium=referral">Jon Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle</a>, Athletics traveling secretary Mickey Morabito booked Blackburn a first-class ticket but also reached out to the Astros to see if they had any room on their plane. Houston general manager James Click, manager Dusty Baker and Blackburn himself were all good with the plan.</p><p>“This happens all the time,” Morabito told Shea. “This has nothing to do with the Oakland A’s. All we do is facilitate the travel. This is in conjunction with Major League Baseball. If you call all 30 major-league teams, you’ll find more examples of this. Other teams have done this in the past.”</p><p>Shea notes that this arrangement has been done before in the past. The Athletics even provided a ride themselves to Daniel Vogelbach, the 2019 All-Star for the Seattle Mariners. Oakland had played the Astros in Houston before the All-Star break began, hence the plan to have Blackburn hitch a ride with his division rivals.</p><p>Although the Athletics’ ride situation is within MLB rules and is not unheard of, it’s a terrible look for one of the cheapest teams in the league. Their team’s entire payroll rivals that of some individual players. To show for it, they have the worst record in the American League.</p><p>The 28-year-old Blackburn has a 3.62 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 97.0 innings this season, his sixth in the big leagues, all of which have come in Oakland.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Athletics come clean after Paul Blackburn flight fiasco ahead of MLB All-Star Game

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '');   ga('set', 'title', 'Astros drop rivalry with Athletics and rescue Paul Blackburn from cheap franchise ahead of All-Star Game');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article><header><figure><img src="https://clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Athletics_news_Astros_drop_rivalry_with_Oakland_and_rescue_Paul_Blackburn_from_cheap_franchise_ahead_of_All-Star_Game.jpeg"></figure><h1>Astros drop rivalry with Athletics and rescue Paul Blackburn from cheap franchise ahead of All-Star Game</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2022-07-19T07:44:31-07:00">July 19th, 7:44am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2022-07-19T07:44:31-07:00">July 19th, 7:44am</time><address><a>Karl Rasmussen</a></address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Oakland Athletics are pretty much an afterthought in MLB this season, owners of the worst record in the American League. Despite the abysmal season, Paul Blackburn has been a rare bright spot for the A’s, pitching phenomenally and earning his first-ever All-Star Game appearance. While fans were delighted for Blackburn, it seems that the Athletics’ ownership couldn’t care less about his accomplishment. The renowned stingy organization had planned to send Blackburn to LA (from Houston) via a commercial flight. That is until the Astros swooped in and offered him a spot on their charter, <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkBermanFox26/status/1549205357720772608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1549205357720772608%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fclutchpoints.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost-new.php">via Mark Berman</a>.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">.<a href="https://twitter.com/Athletics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Athletics</a> All-Star pitcher Paul Blackburn was set to fly commercial from Houston to LA. The Astros found out &amp; offered him a ride on their charter: “It shows within Baseball it’s like a brotherhood. Everyone respects each other..I’m greatly appreciative of their organization” <a href="https://t.co/uH5ejNLL87">pic.twitter.com/uH5ejNLL87</a></p><p>— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkBermanFox26/status/1549205357720772608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 19, 2022</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>This is both an awesome move from the Astros and a downright disgraceful move from the Athletics. Rather than reward their team’s lone All-Star with comfortable travel accommodations to represent the franchise at the All-Star Game, the Athletics, who have a $1.18 billion valuation, opted to let Blackburn fly commercially.</p><p>When <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-all-star-game-news-al-manager-dusty-baker-drops-ridiculous-truth-bomb-on-shane-mcclanahan/">Dusty Baker</a> and the Houston Astros caught wind of this, they offered the left-hander a spot on their charter bus alongside them, something Blackburn said he was grateful for.</p><blockquote>“It was fun, they made me feel very welcomed and comfortable. We had some good conversations and laughs, it was a good time,” said Blackburn.“It just kind of shows that within baseball, it’s kind of like a brotherhood. Everyone respects each other and tries to help each other out, so I’m really appreciative of the organization for letting me tag along.”</blockquote><p>It’s an awesome gesture from the Astros, putting aside their division rivalry in order to help Blackburn get to the All-Star Game.</p><p>Still, it’s worth wondering why the Athletics couldn’t show a lick of support to their lone All-Star and take care of him the way other MLB organizations do their stars.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2024 SEASON STATS
IP	ERA	K	WHIP	WINS
73	5.18	21	1.56	1

2024 SEASON STATS
IP	ERA	K	WHIP	WINS
73	5.18	21	1.56	1

Paul Blackburn

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Athletics come clean after Paul Blackburn flight fiasco ahead of MLB All-Star Game

Astros drop rivalry with Athletics and rescue Paul Blackburn from cheap franchise ahead of All-Star Game

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