Nolan Ryan seems to be getting crotchety - or at least a lot more outspoken than usual - as his days as a major league pitcher dwindle down to a precious few.

The 45-year-old Ryan made more commotion with his mouth than he did with his arm against the A's Friday night.And when did you think you'd read that?

Ryan, who had thrown a no-hitter the last time he pitched at the Coliseum two years ago, had to struggle like crazy just to survive five innings against the A's this outing.

And Ryan failed again to win his first game of the 1992 season and 315th of his 26-year career.

But the biggest buzz around the corridors of the Coliseum came before the A's come-from-behind, 6-5 win, in a 14-inning game that took five hours and eight minutes to complete.

The buzz centered around Ryan's recent comments to a Dallas columnist - comments that were reprinted in the Bay Area Friday.

In his Texas talk, Ryan took on both the A's and their manager, Tony LaRussa.

Of the A's, baseball's greatest strikeout pitcher said: "Their talent is obvious, but there are too many individuals on that team to suit me. There are too many people going in their own direction."

Of LaRussa, he said: "I don't like him, but then I've never played for him. The people who have speak highly of him, and I probably would, too, if I'd played for LaRussa.

"But my perspective of LaRussa is from the other dugout, and he's a bit hard to take. If there's a TV camera anywhere in the park, he'll put himself in front of it."

LaRussa didn't hesitate to respond.

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"He knows me pretty well," the A's manager said. "He's got me pegged right. That's my attitude tonight. Find that red light on a camera and jump in front of it."

Asked if he was being sarcastic, LaRussa said, "You figure it out."

Ryan, who was still in the dressing room, said about his performance, "I just didn't have very good command tonight. My legs felt fine but I didn't do my job. I should have been able to keep us in the game better than I did.

"One time I looked up at the scoreboard, it was 9:30 and I was still pitching - in the fourth inning."

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