January 27- Oakland Athletics 1989 WS

Today’s hat was truly the perfect choice for the events that took place. The 1989 World Series Oakland Athletics cap was an acquisition I made a little over a week ago for 1. My collection. 2. Just for Fan Fest. Throughout the 2012 season I had been asked several times by fans, media outlets and executives what may favorite moment, let alone favorite season in the team’s history is. Until the start of this last season I was always pretty staunch on the 1989 season being my personal favorite. I was six-years-old and vividly remembered watching all four games of the Series on the TV at my old house in Bakersfield, California. Watching the team celebrate after sweeping the San Francisco Giants never left my memory as the #1 spot… that is, until the 2012 season started.

Within the first few days of being in New York for the MLB Fan Cave we were asked to make our postseason predictions. After crunching the numbers and deeply analyzing what had happened during Spring Training, I picked the A’s to finish in the newly added second Wild Card spot. I felt good about it. If I had put them to win their division I would have gotten a lot more flack than I received for putting them in a Wild Card spot. I was called a “homer”, “idiot”, and a slew of other negative names for my decision, even though no one really took a constructive route of criticism. Even the Fan Cave had lost faith in the team after they were written off by every critic in the business at the end of May, which was “coincidentally” the same time I was asked to pack my bags and hit the bricks. Injuries and close losses had been a contributing factor in the team’s lack of success, but I wasn’t ready to write the team off. There were still plenty of games and opportunity for the A’s to climb back up the ladder. So, with a couple thousand dollars in my pocket, I hit the road and caught the A’s on the road and at home. In fact, the A’s marketing team contacted me to throw out first pitch for them on July 17^th. The team had caught fire before the All-Star break, and didn’t slow the momentum when regular season play was rekindled. When I took the mound and lobbed out my pitch to Josh Reddick, I felt a sense of positivity in the air. Being so close to the team near the dugout, I could sense that they weren’t thinking about their place in the standings too much. They just wanted to get out and play. The A’s dominated everyone in their path, no matter which stadium they played in. And sure enough, they caught back up to the Texas Rangers, tied their record on the second to last day, and over took and won the American League West division on the last day of the season. Looking back on ’89, all I could think about was how I watched all of their games on TV. In 2012 I watched every game, whether on TV or in person. Most importantly, I was present for all of the big games, with all of my friends. The success of the season was amazing on the field, but even more special in the stands doing the Bernie Lean and Balfour Rage in the right field bleachers. Although we won the World Series in ’89, watching a team, counted out so many times throughout the season, dig deep and play to the best of their abilities and be successful was legendary. I would take the 2012 team over any team the A’s ever put on the field.

4-0: I think it’s pretty obvious what these numbers mean. The A’s swept their Bay Area rival in four games and the Giants hardly put up any kind of a fight. Throughout the Series the Giants never had a lead, and were outscored 32-14. There’s not really much else to add to this without coming off as rude, but let’s face it, the Giants really had no business being there.

5:04- I added this number to the opposite site as a reminder of what was most important through the series. On October 17 at 5:04 PM PST a 7.1 magnitude earthquake ripped through the Bay Area prior to the start of Game 3. Everyone inside Candlestick Park knew what had happened, but no one knew what had taken place on the outside. A large piece of the upper portion of the Bay Bridge had collapsed. A massive portion of the I-880 freeway crumbled, killing 42 people. Experts had estimated that hundreds were killed; however, due to the game set to start at 5:35 PM PST, most cars and people were off the road, ready to watch the game. The timing could not have been more perfect.