IT’S A MADD MADD WORLD...

In case you haven’t noticed, this season has already been a referendum on two of the worst owners in baseball — John Fisher in Oakland and Bob Castellini in Cincinnati — both of whom need to sell their tanking teams for the good of the game. The situation in Oakland has gotten particularly ugly with the A’s strong arming the community to provide the necessary financing for a new ballpark in the Howard Terminal area on the water – at the same time they’ve gutted the team, trading away Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Chris Bassitt and Sean Manaea. They also made no effort to re-sign free agents Starling Marte and Mark Canha, and allowing manager Bob Melvin to leave for San Diego for no compensation. On top of that, they raised ticket prices in the dump that is the Oakland Coliseum an average of $25 and more than double for season bleacher tickets, from $456 to $840. Under Fisher, the A’s epitomize the inflation in this country and the fans have had it. The boycott is on. In the final three games of their recent homestand, the A’s drew 2,488, 2,815 and 4,838. Meanwhile, in Cincinnati,

one of the best baseball towns in the country, the Reds’ 3-22 start was the worst for 25 games in their history but was really no surprise after Castellini ordered a tear down of last year’s 83-79 third-place club. The Reds traded away popular catcher Tucker Barnhart, outfielder Jesse Winker, third baseman Eugenio Suarez, and right-hander Sonny Gray, and waived No. 2 starter Wade Miley — all for financial reasons. What made it worse, however, was the absolute arrogance of tone deaf Phil Castellini, the owner’s son, a couple of weeks ago in response to the fans’ cries for Castellini to sell the team. “Be careful for what you wish for,” he said, before adding that he and his father have been absolutely committed to winning. Say what? …New baseball book of the week: Newly-minted Hall of Famer Jim Kaat’s latest memoir, “Good as Gold” (Triumph) is a really fun and informative read of his 25-year playing career and his even longer broadcasting career. Particularly interesting is Kaat’s recounting of his time in the Yankee broadcast booth — his way of deflecting the whims of George Steinbrenner, his prickly interaction with Rodriguez, and the valuable lessons learned from