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2B Daily News – Friday, May 25, 2012 BY MARK PURDY San Jose Mercury News (MCT) This autumn, the guy calling plays for the Raiders will not be getting pedi- cures or manicures. I learned this exclusive piece of information during a recent interview with Greg Knapp, the team's new offensive coordinator. Last season, you may recall, now- departed head coach Hue Jackson also handled the play-calling duties but also gained fame in a magazine feature about his weekly trips to the nail salon as a relaxing way to release stress. Knapp will not follow this particular strategy. won't." "No," he said softly with a grin, "I Instead, it seems, Knapp will release stress the good old-fashioned NFL way: By embracing it and taking on even more stress. Knapp has not received much atten- tion in the regime changeover of the team, which has focused on new gen- eral manager Reggie McKenzie and new head coach Dennis Allen. But in truth, Knapp is as important to the reboot as anyone. Knapp important to the Raiders' reboot All-NBA team named Why? Because teams must score points to win. Sounds obvious. But the Raiders need to score more points than most NFL teams. under coaches Steve Mariucci and Dennis Erickson and was nominally the offensive coordinator for the Raiders during the bizarre Lane Kiffin- Tom Cable transition. Not many coaches, after experienc- ing the strange vortex of Raiders weird- ness, sign up for another tour of duty with the team. But Knapp did after see- ing how McKenzie was restructuring the organization to be far less weird. Allen also had worked as an assistant coach alongside Knapp for two sea- sons in Atlanta, where he had juiced up the Falcons' offensive numbers. At the time McKenzie and Allen reached out to him, Knapp didn't need a job. He was doing just fine as the quarterbacks coach with the Houston Texans, where he helped the team win last season's AFC South title even after quarterback Matt Schaub was injured and Knapp had to coach up rookie T.J. Yates to finish out the season. There were also personal factors: Knapp's daughter was in her junior year of high school. Knapp and his wife wanted her to graduate there, so Knapp knew if he moved to Oakland, it would mean leaving behind his family for one season. Last season, with an overworked Jackson taking on a myriad of other duties in the wake of owner Al Davis' death, the Raiders averaged 22.4 points per game. That was 16th best in the league. It wasn't enough to overcome the league's 29th-rated defense and the 27.1 points allowed per game. That's one reason McKenzie hired Allen, a defensive specialist in his pre- vious jobs. Allen's track record shows he will improve that side of the ball. But the Raiders' defensive roster make- up is still, shall we say, not 100 percent playoff quality. That's where Knapp comes in. If his name is familiar, that's because this is not his first Bay Area football rodeo. He worked for the 49ers Becoming a coordinator again intrigued him, though. So he agreed to an interview. McKenzie and Allen put on the full-court press. "They knocked my socks off," Knapp said. "The new infrastructure here, the way they're setting it up for not just now but long term, the philos- ophy to get players that are football players and not focus as much on the speed and size components €| it wasn't hard to make up my mind." McKenzie and Allen knew what not in third-and-long situations. Three, if we're getting explosive passing gains — and the barometer we use for that is 16 yards or more." It's a way of playing football that seems to earn the trust of players, said Mike Brisiel, the offensive lineman from Houston whom the Raiders signed as a free agent this spring. "It's an offensive-line friendly scheme," Brisiel explained after a Raiders workout. "Greg works the ball around. It's not all seven-step drops and passing. You know, offensive linemen always like running the ball, and not all of us like the pass-first mentality." The rushing part of the zone-block- ing scheme should be the easiest part to implement with the Raiders, especially if running back Darren McFadden stays healthy. "He's going to be perfect for it," Knapp said. they were getting. Knapp has a definite philosophy. He believes in the zone- blocking scheme and in bashing the ball forward with the running game to set up the passing game. Knapp listed three ways we'll know if his game plan is working. Athletics in dire need of an aging Manny "One, if we are not having negative running plays," he said. "Two, if we're helped build it back up," Leinart said of Knapp. "He was always positive." That doesn't mean Knapp was lenient. Leinart said one of Knapp's favorite phrases is: "Stay on schedule." In other words, stick with the program. "He knows physical errors are going to happen," Leinart said. "But he wants to minimize the mental errors." That's always an issue with the Raiders, given their penchant for silly penalties and inconsistent play over the years. If you see Knapp headed toward the nail salon, you'll know things have gotten off track. The guess here is that he won't go near any paraffin wax. should work. Raiders quarterback Car- son Palmer already has bought in. His presumptive backup, Matt Leinart, worked with Knapp the last two sea- sons in Houston and doesn't need to be convinced. One of Knapp's other qual- ities, Leinart said, is an ability to keep players' attitudes in the proper gear. Leinart arrived on the Texans' campus after a troublesome stay with the Ari- zona Cardinals. "My confidence was low, and he And if the run works, the pass San Francisco's victo- ry came at the start of a four-game series. Miami swept three games in Manny Ramirez will play along the shores of the Sacramento River on Friday night with the River Cats, but his steroid-tainted hitting skills are desperately needed here. BY MARCOS BRETON McClatchy Newspapers OAKLAND — prepare Ramirez with 40 at-bats with the Cats — even if taking them pushes his return back. OK. But how much more of this can they take? A 3-1, 11-inning Athletics loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday was further proof why Ramirez is employed by Oakland though he's about to turn 40 and hasn't played big-league ball in a year. they aren't going to rush Ramirez as he plays Triple-A ball while coming off a 50-game suspension for testing positive last year for performance-enhancing drugs. Though he is eli- gible to return to the majors May 30, the Athletics' brass wants to The Athletics say NASCAR (Continued from page 1B) something like, this because they don't come along too often.'' watch Hendrick kick back and revel in the achievement. ''I'm really proud of him to sit and enjoy the 200th win and savor it and spend some time in the moment,'' John- son said. ''It's not like him to do that type of thing.'' That's for sure. Johnson said it was fun to In the bowels of this old football stadium the Athletics call home, the team must be burning candles for Ramirez to spray balls all over Raley Field this week- end — and for the return of injured slug- gers Yoenis Cespedes and Brandon Inge. Without them, the bats in the current Ath- letics lineup are largely decorative. Melvin, the A's manag- er, was asked afterward what was most needed within a team of groundouts, pop-ups and fruitless swings at pitches in the dirt. "More hits, more runs," said Melvin with a pinched smile and a reddened face. Aside from a Seth Smith solo home run in the sixth inning, 11 innings of A's offense can be summed up with mind numbing econo- my: A Johnny Gomes single in the second. A Jemile Weeks single in the third. Thanks for coming. A frustrated Bob set before the season that he wanted all four of his cars in the season-ended Chase for a Championship. They've got some work ahead for that to happen, though. Johnson recalled how during the Darlington cele- bration two weeks back, Hendrick told him that now they'd gotten to 200, ''let's get 250.'' It's a focus that's kept Hendrick Motorsports click- ing off the wins since Bodine collected the program's first victory at Martinsville in 1984. Hendrick's far from done this season. He expects to follow through on the goal he NHL PLAYOFFS CONFERENCE FINALS (Best-of-7) Today's game N.Y. Rangers at New Jersey, 5 p.m. New Jersey leads series 3-2 Other series Los Angeles beat Phoenix 4-1 Earnhardt's No. 88 sits third behind points leader Greg Biffle and second-place Matt Kenseth. Johnson is fifth. Then comes Kahne, 54 points out of 10th place. The one struggling most this sea- son is Gordon, the usually steady former champion stung with a several prob- lems that have him way back in 24th and most likely need- ing a couple of race wins to claim a wildcat sport to the year-end shootout. Hendrick said he's never had so many races get away from such tal- ented group like Gordon's No. 24 team and Kahne's No. 5. ''Between Kasey and Jeff Gordon, probably the rottenest luck I've had in my racing career,'' Hendrick said. ''I mean, I can't even remember as many flat tires NBA PLAYOFFS CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS (Best-of-7) Thursday's result Miami 105, Indiana93 Miami wins series 4-2 Other series Boston and Philadelphia tied 3-3 Oklahoma City beat L.A. Lakers 4-1 San Antonio beat L.A. Clippers 4-0 er, who has a bargain- basement club playing with spirit, said his hit- ters go into each game prepared and with a plan. Yet Angels starter Jered Weaver pretty much toyed with them. Most frustrating of all was that A's starter Jar- rod Parker pitched even better than Weaver. He was downright domi- nant with crisp fastballs at hitters' knees and fan- tastic breaking balls that made those knees buckle. The laudable manag- But for a Macier Izturis RBI single in the third, after a walk and a or wrecks or Kasey is run- ning third on the last lap and gets shoved into the wall. We have had some freak things break on the car.'' positive through the prob- lem. ''You can only do that for so long, but we're still doing it,'' he said. ''So hope- fully, we'll see the results.'' Gordon has tried to stay have combined for 14 victo- ries at Charlotte. Earnhardt looked like he'd make that 15 last May until he ran out of gas while leading the race on the final lap to finish seventh. WNBA WESTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB Minnesota San Antonio 1 0 1.000 1 Sparks Phoenix Seattle Tulsa 3 0 1.000 — 2 1 .667 1 1 1 .500 1.5 0 2 .000 2.5 0 2 .000 2.5 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL Pct GB Connecticut 2 0 1.000 — Chicago Indiana Atlanta 1 0 1.000 .5 1 0 1.000 .5 0 1 .000 1.5 Washington 0 1 .000 1.5 New York 0 3 .000 2.5 —————————————————— Thursday's results Minnesota 92, Los Angeles 84 Today's games San Antonio at Connecticut, 4 p.m. New York at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m. Indiana at Chicago, 5:30 p.m. Saturday's games Tulsa at Washington, 4 p.m. Los Angeles at Phoenix, 7 p.m. Current Hendrick drivers bloop hit, the Angels wouldn't have scored on Parker. Too bad the A's wast- ed it and more outstand- ing stuff from Ryan Cook – who followed Parker, blanked the Angels for an inning and now has 222/3 scoreless innings of relief this season. But for one mistake by Weaver — a hanging changeup that Smith crushed to center field — no A's hitter would have reached second base. are at the bottom or near bottom in every significant team-hitting category. No A's hitter reached second base in a 5-0 loss to the Angels on Tuesday night, when Oakland managed only one single. The A's have been one-hit three times this season, which matches a franchise record. They have scored the fewest runs in the American League, have the lowest team batting average in baseball, and The way things are going for Hendrick Motorsports, Johnson wouldn't be sur- prised if he and his team- mates were all fighting for the win come Sunday night — just like Rick Hendrick wants. ''I'm sure we will be reminded of that here before long,'' Johnson said. MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA QUAKES 82 3 27 26 15 Salt Lake 8 3 2 26 19 12 Seattle 7 3 2 23 15 8 Vancouver 5 3 3 18 12 13 Colorado 5 6 1 16 17 16 Chivas USA 4 6 2 14 8 13 FC Dallas 3 7 4 13 13 21 Portland 3 5 3 12 11 14 Galaxy 3 7 2 11 14 19 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA New York 8 3 2 26 26 18 D.C. 7 4 3 24 25 17 Kansas City 7 3 1 22 15 9 Chicago 5 3 3 18 14 13 Columbus 4 4 3 15 11 12 N. England 4 6 1 13 14 15 Houston 3 3 4 13 10 11 Montreal 3 6 3 12 13 18 Philadelphia 2 6 2 8 8 13 Toronto FC 0 9 0 0 7 21 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. —————————————————— Saturday's games Los Angeles at Houston, 11:30 a.m. Philadelphia at Toronto FC, 1:30 p.m. Chicago at Columbus, 4 p.m. New England at D.C. United, 4:30 p.m. FC Dallas at Real Salt Lake, 6 p.m. Montreal at Colorado, 6 p.m. Vancouver at Portland, 7 p.m. Seattle FC at Chivas USA, 7:30 p.m. Sunday's game San Jose at Kansas City, 1:30 p.m. "It's not like we're a bad team," Gomes said. "We're not getting run out of stadiums every night." Fair enough. The A's are 22-23, second place in the A.L. West and two games better than the Angels. When you consider that the Angels' payroll dwarfs the A's by almost $100 million — $154 million to $55 million — the A's are downright over- achieving, or so the argument goes. built a reputation for success without actual- ly succeeding for some time in actual wins and attendance. They do so by This franchise has exceeding expectations that are scraping on the ground. MLB West Division Texas A's Seattle Angels East Division Baltimore New York Boston American League WL Pct GB 27 18 .600 — 22 23 .489 5 21 25 .457 6.5 20 25 .444 7 WL Pct GB 28 17 .622 — Tampa Bay 27 18 .600 1 Toronto Central Division Cleveland 26 18 .591 — Chicago Detroit 20 24 .455 6 Kansas City 17 26 .395 8.5 Minnesota 15 29 .341 11 —————————————————— Thursday's results Chicago 11, Minnesota 8 Cleveland 2, Detroit 1 Los Angeles at Seattle, late Today's games New York (Nova 4-2) at Oakland (T.Ross 2-4), 7:05 p.m. Kansas City (B.Chen 3-4) at Baltimore (Hammel 5-1), 4:05 p.m. Tampa Bay (Cobb 1-0) at Boston (Lester 3-3), 4:10 p.m. Toronto (Morrow 5-2) at Texas (D.Holland 3-3), 5:05 p.m. Cleveland (J.Gomez 3-2) at Chicago (Danks 3-4), 5:10 p.m. Detroit (Smyly 1-1) at Minnesota (Swarzak 0-3), 5:10 p.m. Los Angeles (E.Santana 2-6) at Seattle (Beavan 2-4), 7:10 p.m. Saturday's games New York at Oakland, 1:05 p.m. Detroit at Minnesota, 11:10 a.m. Toronto at Texas, 12:05 p.m. Kansas City at Baltimore, 1:05 p.m. Cleveland at Chicago, 1:10 p.m. Los Angeles at Seattle, 4:15 p.m. Tampa Bay at Boston, 4:15 p.m. Sunday's games New York at Oakland, 1:05 p.m. Kansas City at Baltimore, 10:35 a.m. Tampa Bay at Boston, 10:35 a.m. Cleveland at Chicago, 11:10 a.m. Detroit at Minnesota, 11:10 a.m. Toronto at Texas, 12:05 p.m. Los Angeles at Seattle, 1:10 p.m. WL Pct GB 23 22 .511 3.5 24 21 .533 4 23 21 .523 4.5 22 22 .500 5.5 Consider the resumes of the players the A's NEW YORK (AP) — LeBron James was the leading vote-getter for the All-NBA team, while Kobe Bryant earned his 10th first-team selection, tied for second on the career list. Bryant, a first-team pick for the seventh straight season, joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Bob Cousy, Michael Jordan, Bob Pettit, and Jerry West with 10 selections to the first team. Karl Mal- one is the leader with 11. James, who won his third MVP award, received 118 of a possible 120 first-team votes Thursday from a panel of writers and broadcasters. Joining him on the first team were scoring champion Kevin Durant, Clippers point guard Chris Paul and Magic center Dwight Howard. Guards Tony Parker and Russell Westbrook were selected the second team along with forwards Kevin Love and Blake Griffin and center Andrew Bynum. GIANTS (Continued from page 1B) Consecutive two-run doubles by Brandon Crawford and Cabrera in the eighth put the Giants ahead 12-3. first player to homer into the beer garden beyond the 427-foot sign in left- center field some 50 feet above the playing field. It was his 10th homer this season and gave Miami a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Stanton became the On Monday, a grand slam by Stanton knocked out a cluster of scoreboard lights. He had a shot at his third grand slam of the season in the fifth but fouled out to end the inning. San Francisco early this month. Notes: Vogelsong struck out three times and is 0 for 15 with 13 strikeouts this year. ... Omar Infante had four hits and improved to 7 for 11 (.636) against Vogelsong. ... Giants LHP Javier Lopez caught a pop foul near the backstop after C Hector Sanchez was slow to react. ... The game took 3 hours, 54 minutes. struggling aces meet Friday when ... Two Tim Lincecum (2-4, 6.04 ERA) pitches against Josh Johnson (2-3, 4.82). ... Friday marks the anniversary of Giants catcher Buster Posey's season-ending leg injury last year. He was hurt in a collision with the Marlins' Scott Cousins, now playing in Triple-A. That kind of cast is more "Major League" than "Pride of the Yan- kees." saw in offense from the A's on Wednesday after- noon, Oakland's unlike- ly saviors can't return soon enough. But after what we MLB West Division Dodgers GIANTS Arizona Colorado Padres East Division Washington 26 18 .591 — Atlanta Miami New York Philadelphia 23 23 .500 4 Central Division Cincinnati 25 19 .568 — St. Louis Houston 21 23 .477 4 Pittsburgh 20 24 .455 5 Milwaukee 18 26 .409 7 Chicago San Francisco 14, Miami 7 Cincinnati 6, Atlanta 3 Philadelphia 10, St. Louis 9 San Diego 11, New York 5 Today's games San Francisco (Lincecum 2-4) at Miami (Jo.Johnson 2-3), 4:10 p.m. Chicago (Dempster 0-2) at Pittsburgh (A.J.Burnett 2-2), 4:05 p.m. Colorado (Friedrich 1-1) at Cincinnati (Cueto 5-1), 4:10 p.m. San Diego (Bass 2-4) at New York (Gee 3-3), 4:10 p.m. Washington (Detwiler 3-3) at Atlanta (T.Hudson 3-1), 4:35 p.m. Philadelphia (Cl.Lee 0-2) at St. Louis (Lohse 5-1), 5:15 p.m. Milwaukee (Gallardo 2-4) at Arizona (I.Kennedy 3-4), 6:40 p.m. Houston (Harrell 3-3) at Los Angeles (Kershaw 4-1), 7:10 p.m. Saturday's games San Francisco at Miami, 1:10 p.m. San Diego at New York, 10:10 a.m. Washington at Atlanta, 1:05 p.m. Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh, 4:15 p.m. Colorado at Cincinnati, 4:15 p.m. Philadelphia at St. Louis, 4:15 p.m. Houston at Los Angeles, 7:10 p.m. Milwaukee at Arizona, 7:10 p.m. Sunday's games San Francisco at Miami, 10:10 a.m. Colorado at Cincinnati, 10:10 a.m. San Diego at New York, 10:10 a.m. Chicago at Pittsburgh, 10:35 a.m. Philadelphia at St. Louis, 11:15 a.m. Houston at Los Angeles, 1:10 p.m. Milwaukee at Arizona, 1:10 p.m. Washington at Atlanta, 5:05 p.m. 15 29 .341 10 —————————————————— Thursday's results WL Pct GB 25 20 .556 .5 WL Pct GB 26 20 .565 1 24 21 .533 2.5 24 21 .533 2.5 National League WL Pct GB 30 14 .682 — 24 21 .533 6.5 20 25 .444 10.5 16 27 .372 13.5 17 29 .370 14 are depending upon for offense in the future: Ramirez has 555 career home runs but retired five games into the 2011 season after get- ting popped for using PEDs. Cespedes is a Cuban defector who had played only a few stel- lar weeks of big-league ball before hurting his hand. And Inge starred for one week with the A's and then strained his groin after being dumped by the Detroit Tigers.