How can the kids play if the parents keep getting mad at the kids for playing?

In this analogy, A's center fielder Ramon Laureano is the kid and Rangers starting pitcher Adrian Sampson is the parent.

In the bottom of the sixth inning on Saturday night, Laureano crushed a 412-foot homer and admired his work. Sampson did not appreciate that.

Well this could definitely get interesting before the game is over #Athletics #Rangers #MLB pic.twitter.com/e11K0SRIki

— Ben Ross (@BenRossTweets) July 28, 2019

Once Sampson was done being mad at himself for giving up his fourth home run of the night, he quickly turned his anger to Laureano, who was walking out of the batter's box while watching the flight of the ball.

The two exchanged words before the home plate umpire got in between and forced Sampson to retreat.

Sampson reportedly stepped on Laureano's bat after the Canha incident in Arlington. Laureano appeared to say: "you want to step on this one."

And we were off to the races.

— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) July 28, 2019

Both benches were ready to storm the field, but cool heads prevailed ... for the moment.

Two innings later, Rangers reliever Rafael Montero hit Laureano on the shoulder. This time, the bench did clear, though no punches were thrown.

Montero kept throwing inside to Laureano and got him with a fastball on the fourth pitch pic.twitter.com/YzM4OdRNli

— Martín Gallegos (@MartinJGallegos) July 28, 2019

Montero was ejected while Laureano was allowed to remain in the game.

[RELATED: Diekman gives A's another late-inning option]

If this is anything like the Madison Bumgarner-Max Muncy kerfuffle in early June, there should be some good postgame quotes. Stay tuned.

November wasn't the first time A's pitcher Mike Fiers blew the whistle about the Houston Astros' sign-stealing nature.

After the Astros won the 2017 World Series thanks to a lot of help from trash cans, they returned to the American League Championship Series to face the Boston Red Sox. But if the Astros still were cheating, it didn't matter because the Red Sox knew it was coming. And not just because then-manager Alex Cora was part of the Astros' scheme the year prior.

"Alex Cora never influenced us and never told us about that thing," Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez told WEEI's "Ordway, Merloni and Fauria." "The only way I ever found out was in the playoffs was when Fiers, who is a really good friend of mine, reached out to me and said, ‘Hey, make sure you’re doing this because this, because this is what these guys are doing in the playoffs.' I was like, 'What? How is this a thing?' And then I mentioned it to (Cora) and he told kind of me about the whole system and everything like that. That was kind of why it was so crazy. (Cora) was so relaxed going into those playoff games because he knew and we were ready for it."

Fiers also alerted the A's to the scheme in 2018 and they brought it to the league. It was only when nothing was done that Fiers went public to make sure the playing field was leveled.

That's why David Ortiz's comments Thursday in which he said he disagreed with Fiers outing Houston two years after he won the World Series with them were so misguided.

Fiers tried to go about the matter quietly and even helped make sure Ortiz's old team was prepared for what awaited them in the ALCS. He could have spoken up in 2017, but he tried to right those wrongs in 2018 before making sure the Astros had their trash cans confiscated.

[RELATED: Projecting A's 26-man roster]

The Astros were able to bang their trash cans to one title, but Fiers made sure they wouldn't be able to repeat using the same old tricks.

For the last week, 64 players have been executing three-hour pre-planned morning workout sessions with the precision of a symphony.
 
The composer and conductor of all this is not A's manager Bob Melvin, but his bench coach Ryan Christenson.
 
“I was amazed on the second day I had it planned to end at 11:20 am,” Christenson said. “And we finished literally at 11:19, so it was a good day.”
 
With spring training games starting Saturday, the clock has been ticking to get pitchers, fielders and hitters to a certain readiness. Meticulous planning and monitoring are scattered between four fields, an extended bullpen and additional batting cages.
 
“I look around. I watch him running around sweating, he’s got that worried look on his face, I know that feeling,” Melvin, who used to run these camps when he was Phil Garner's bench coach, said.

Being tasked with getting everyone ready to hit the diamond is an important responsibility for a club that wants to get out of the gates faster this season than in years past. 
 
“This is my big chore you could say for the year, a little grindy,” Christenson admitted. “I find myself working on the schedule for a few hours even after the day is over.”

Christenson's meticulousness makes him the perfect man for the job. 
 
“He’s very attentive to detail,” veteran outfielder Stephen Piscotty said. “I just don’t think things slip by him, he’s on top of things, very organized.”
 
In near-identical fashion to Oakland’s current core of young, home-grown players, Christenson has been a manager at every level of the A’s minor league system, starting in 2013.  At one point or another, he has crossed paths with almost all the A’s who recently have arrived at the big league level.
 
“The timing of him getting here with the players he had in the minor leagues is a nice resource for me,” Melvin, who is beginning his 10th season with the A's, said.
 
“You get up in here and you already know what makes them tick, how they operate, what they’re like in the clubhouses, and that goes a long way,” said Christenson. “If you don’t have the relationship of trust with the players, and try to do some coaching or instruction or criticisms or compliments, it doesn’t have the same resonance.”

[RELATED: Projecting A's 26-man roster as spring training starts]
 
The A’s not only are lucky to have Christenson, but they’re also lucky to have kept him. This past winter, the former Oakland outfielder interviewed to be manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
 
“If they had happened to choose me, it would have been a difficult decision,” admitted Christenson, who said enjoyed experiencing the process.
 
“I’m not in a big hurry to jump in that [manager] chair. I love where I’m at. The opportunity I have here to be around guys that I know, guys that I pull for and know are great individuals. We have such a good nucleus here, great momentum going. Right now this is really where I want to be. I love sitting next to Bob Melvin.”