Only one time in my 27 years of being a baseball fan have I
ever been present for an Opening Day; April 4, 2000 when the Bakersfield Blaze
had their season opener at Sam Lynn Ballpark. I want to say they were playing
the Lake Elsinore Storm, but I can’t confirm that. I only remember a few
details as the game took place 13 years ago, but I was the bat boy for that
game. On Monday, April 1 I was lucky
enough to catch my first MLB Opening Day with two of my really good friends
Tommy Bentley (@RealTomBentley) and Vanessa Demske (@vdemske), both of whom I
met through our experience with the MLB Fan Cave. I had been meaning to get
down to Oakland
for years to catch Opening Day at the Coliseum, but school and other schedule
conflicts always got in the way. This year, having graduated from the University of Oregon, I didn’t have an excuse.
I’ve been an Oakland Athletics fan for sure since May of
1987. My father and brother Adam are both San Francisco Giants fans; however,
the first game I ever attended live came on May 23rd when the A’s
took on the Baltimore Orioles. I had only been really paying attention to
baseball since October of the previous year, so I was still a bit hazy on the
rules and what exactly was going on throughout the game. None of my questions
seemed to bother my father. Like a lot of dads, as long as the kid has a vested
interest in what’s going on, the questions won’t matter. It’s when the kids
keep jibber jabbering about all the additions that have nothing to do with the
game that cause problems. Every year my father did his best to get us to at
least one MLB game a season, which unfortunately meant way more Giants games.
No matter. I always had a great time going to Candlestick, except when the fog
rolled in at the end of the night. Being cold as a kid sucked. That was, and
is, still a consistent difference about the Coliseum; the sun is always
shining.
I’ve had this hat since 2007, but I can’t, for the life of
me, remember what day I picked it up. I do know that it was some time after my
24th birthday. This hat was first introduced at the start of the
1993 season and has served as the A’s home cap ever since. Now, you’re probably
thinking that the A’s have been using this color scheme and cap for much
longer. Yes and no. The color scheme, dark green panels with gold bill, first
came around in 1973 to compliment one of three uniform styles the A’s wore at
home; however, as the years progressed through 1993 the “A’s” logo took on
different shapes and styles. Therefore, the particular look for the logo has
been in use for the last 20 years, and this year it its 20th
birthday. Yay!
Last night was an especially great night despite the fact
the Seattle Mariners won 2-0. This marks nine years in a row that the A’s have
lost their season opener at home, and based on last year, I’m not too worried.
The day started with a ritualistic run to In-N-Out Burger
1. Because we were hungry.
2. Because Tommy is from the Seattle area and hadn’t enjoyed its
deliciousness in a number of years.
Then it was off to a convenience store so I could grab my 40
ounce bottle of Mickey’s Fine Malt Liquor which has somehow become a part of my
pre-game routine. At the tail end of the 2012 season, including the playoffs,
the parking lot over by the Coliseum Bay Area Rapid Transit station didn’t
charge for parking, and it served as kind of a secret spot to be able to just
park and walk over without worry. This year: $10. I felt pretty bad for
suggesting that idea. How was I supposed to know they started charging?
The pre-game action stared in section A4 of the parking lot
on the north side of the Coliseum. Van was all ready acquainted with a lot of
the right field crew after they met at the World Baseball Classic at AT&T Park, but Tommy hadn’t. And if Tommy was
to sit with us in right field, I had to get him on everybody’s good side. It
really didn’t take long. Even though almost all A’s fans are Oakland Raiders
fans as well, the whole violent stigma that has followed over the years is
merely a myth. They’re all good people. After polishing off my Mickey’s we
headed to the B lot to meet up with some other friends including Jessica
Kleinschmidt (@RedBottomCleats), Wes Crisp (@RFWes), Hailee Miguel
(@Hailee_miguel) and Justin Lopez (@GearsOfLopez) who had won tickets from A’s
third baseman Josh Donaldson for creating the best sign for the game. After
some chatter and photos we headed over to the south side entrance so we could
get into section 149 without any problems.
Since the bleacher tickers are general admission trying to get
into section 149 has become a bit of a problem after the intense popularity the
regular crew stirred up. Even the season ticket holders have to pull rank at
times as they’ve clearly been there for years when most people wouldn’t give
the A’s the time of day; something I really admire about everyone. The A’s were
just finishing up their batting practice session as the Mariners pitchers were
taking the field for warm-up. Tommy had met a number of the Mariners players
during Fan Fest back in January, as well as during his Top-52 campaign in which
he received full support from the Mariners; it’s still a mystery why he didn’t
move on. Equipped with his King Felix crown and cape, Tommy shuffled down to
the front and hailed to some of the pitchers. Most of them waved and said hey
to him, Charlie Furbush, of all people, spotted me and gave me the total bro
full-extension finger point hello… which I of course returned. We have a
history…
Batting practice for the Mariners was rather entertaining. Michael
Morse, one of my favorite players in the league, was hitting absolute bombs
during his session. One of which was crushed to dead center and off the grim
trim about 25 feet above the wall and could have easily kept going had it not
been in the way.
But overall, it was great to be back in the Coliseum. Things
of course didn’t end so well the last time I was there as the A’s had
unfortunately lost Game five of the American League Division Series against the
Detroit Tigers, but none of that really seemed to matter as the Tigers
celebrated their victory. All of the fans rose to their feet and gave the A’s a
standing ovation for all the hard work and dedication they had displayed
throughout the 2012 season. That night was the only time I had ever cried when
leaving a sporting event. I, and especially my friends, didn’t want the magic
to end. Not for our sake, but because last year’s team had been so valiant. Critics
and baseball fans alike had counted the A’s out of contention well before the
season had started, but none of that seemed to get to the players.
Back on July 18 the A’s invited me to throw out the
ceremonial first pitch, something I longed to do since I was a kid. Granted, my
desire had always been to take the field for the A’s as a starting second
baseman, but my life took a different path after I took a fastball to the nose
when I was 16. Regardless of that, I was more than honored to be asked to
partake in such a prestigious event in the stadium, and for the team I fell in
love with almost 26 years ago. Leading up to that night Josh Reddick had hit me
up on Twitter and volunteered to catch for me, a more than kind gesture in
response to the All-Star campaign video I had created for him during my time in
the Fan Cave: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lZgFvPBGuo
A lot of my friends on Twitter had been asking me what pitch
I was going to throw in the days leading up, and when the idea of a Chad
Bradford submarine pitch came into the discussion I knew that was the right
thing to do. The day before I practiced for a solid hour, trying to get it
locked in. When I was younger I could throw submarine without much issue, but
the years without practice had clearly set me back quite a bit. When the moment
came, things took a different direction.
I was actually the second person who was going to be
throwing out the first pitch. A woman, whose name escapes me, was the first to
go. I remember hearing that she was a local Emmy Award-winning news
broadcaster, but everything else is lost. She was way more nervous than I was,
mostly because she would be throwing to Reddick, her favorite player. She asked
me if I wouldn’t mind warming up with her, I obliged needing the practice
myself. What I wasn’t expecting was having to do three interviews with a few
people on the field before my throw; thus, I wasn’t able to get loose. Jonny
Gomes, who I had become acquainted with a few weeks prior in Seattle, came over and chatted it up with me
while the first lady took the mound. We both watched in awe as she threw a
laser right down Broadway into Reddick’s glove. Gomes then turned to me, nudged
my arm and said, “Well… don’t fuck it up.”
Gomes’s words resonated through my head as I took to the
mound, making sure to jump over the chalked third baseline on my way (I’m very
superstitious). I wasn’t allowed to throw until they finished with my
introduction, which was long, but rather touching. BY the time it was time to
throw, my mind was firing in all different directions and I just tossed the
ball to the plate with little-to-no form. Had there been a right-handed batter in
the box, I would have hit them in the thigh. Thus, it was a little outside, but
I didn’t throw it over or bounce it. I was relieved. Reddick then popped up to
shake my hand and the first words that came out of his mouth were, “I thought
you were going to throw submarine.”
I’ve always made sure to wear this hat to any home games I
attend, in keeping with the A’s uniform style. For that, I marked it up with
the two guys who influenced me the most throughout my 26 years of going to the
Coliseum to cheer on my team.
#25- Mark McGwire is still, hands down, my favorite player
of all time. During that fateful first game back in 1987 I witnessed him hit
his 14th home run on the season off of Mike Boddicker which ended up
being one of his record 49 that season as a rookie. That season McGwire also
finished with a .289 batting average and 118 RBI, yet he only managed to pull
the Rookie of the Year award and finish in sixth place for the AL MVP. Finish
in second or third place I could understand as George Bell of the Toronto Blue
Jays had won the MVP that year with a .308 average, 47 home runs and 134 RBI. But
sixth!? C’mon! It seemed like every game I attended at the Coliseum it was Big
Mac’s moment to shine. I think I witnessed 15 of his 583 career home runs at
the Coliseum, all of which look all the more magnificent with the Oakland Hills
in the backdrop. I never say him play after construction of Mt. Davis,
which was probably for the better.
McGwire was the 10th overall pick in the 1984
draft out of USC (as an Oregon
grad I really hate USC). He made his debut in 1986, but obviously made his
rookie campaign in 1987, as I mentioned above. McGwire’s Major League career
with the A’s lasted from 1986- the trade deadline of the 1997 season, which
still leaves a bit of sour taste in my mouth especially since he made the AL All-Star
team that year. McGwire made nine All-Star Game appearances throughout his Oakland career, won two Silver
Slugger awards and won his only Gold Glove of his career at first base in 1990.
No matter what transpired during or after his career, I
honestly don’t care. While I know I preach a lot about the purity of the game,
the performance enhancing drug discussion is usually one I tend to remove
myself from. After all, as a lot of writers and comedians have discussed, “Wouldn’t
you take something that you knew would help you make more money?” McGwire was a
hero in Oakland
to a lot of kids, even with his one World Series ring aside. And that’s all
that truly matters.
#16- In my younger years I was a big Jason Giambi fan;
however, I never actually witnessed Giambi play in person. I felt I needed to
point this out before I start my praise of the man, the myth, the beard.
Reddick is by far one of the coolest guys I ever had the
opportunity of meeting last season. He and I first became acquainted while I
was in the Fan Cave and I had hit him up on Twitter to
let him know I was going to make a video on him. I then (awkwardly) asked him
to follow me so I could bounce ideas off of him. He didn’t. Thanks to the
trusty internet and the New York Oakland A’s Fan Club we were able to pull our resources
and knowledge together to put together one of the best videos I’ve ever
created. Once I got it finished and out on the interwebs Reddick approved. Not
only that, but Jim Ross, the former voice and talent scout for World Wrestling
Entertainment also passed it along.
Last season Reddick hit .242 in his first full season;
however, he cranked out 32 homers and 85 RBI, both of which were tops for the A’s.
He also had 14 outfield assists, which were tied for second best in the AL. This was one thing
that I made sure to tout about in the video I created because most All-Star
votes are usually based on offensive prowess. Reddick is the prime definition
of a five-tool player. Because of his cannon I was inspired to create a logo
and hashtag which I dubbed: #DontRunOnReddick. There is a fair chance you saw
these after my video was published…
Clearly without his help, and without his talent, these
wouldn’t have been possible. Like Travis Blackley and Gomes, Reddick didn’t
have to do any of the things he did, but that, in my eyes, is what takes him
from being just a ball player to a superstar. He’s a fan favorite throughout
the league, and he’s very social with fans on Twitter and throughout the Oakland community. As for
the beard…
Money!
Even more, this shot captured by Root Sports at the end of
yesterday’s game.
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