July 27- Oakland Athletics

Unlike a lot of my other posts, this one I have to jump forward to the date that I’m actually posting the story as opposed to when the story takes place. It sounds confusing, but you’ll get where I’m going as you read on. I promise.

This story starts back in Buffalo, New York back on June 24^th on Day 2 of the #CrewEra13’s trip to New Era headquarters. On of the highlights of our trip came during one of the focus group sessions when we were given a sneak peak on some of the Turn Back the Clock caps they were introducing for the 2013 season. One or two of the ones they had shown had already been worn; however, there were still about 10 more that hadn’t. The feeling that we all shared was the closest to getting presents from Santa Claus on Christmas. I could see one cap of a Kelley green variety deep inside the box and my mouth began to salivate more and more as one of the members of the marketing team drew closer to it. In a heartbeat, the moment this cap hit the table shifted my attitude shifted from curiosity to lust. 

I know I’m talking about a hat, but this is a thing of beauty. The design team at New Era did a fantastic job bringing this baby back to life, but with a modern touch. From 1968-1969 the newly located Oakland Athletics wore this cap for all of their home and away games. The only difference between then and now is that the logo on the cap back then was a bit skinnier…

Another cool thing about this time period is that the players and managers wore different colored hats, one of the only times in Major League history in which such a uniform difference occurred in the modern era.

But getting back to Buffalo, I didn’t care how much it was going to cost, I wanted this hat. The unfortunate part is that they didn’t have it for sale down in the Flagship Store; otherwise I would have made it my first purchase. Instead, I just took pictures with my new friend and reluctantly slid it down the table for the other guys to take a peek at. 

At the time I didn’t know what we were allowed to post on social media so I kept most of these photos a secret until after the game in which the A’s wore these caps were played (July 27th). Well, not too long after we got back from Buffalo one of the premier New Era Cap selling Web sites, Hat Club, posted them up. I was broke at the time with a paycheck coming in three short days. I also owed fellow #CrewEra13 member Chris Cornolo (@ccornolo) the cap after he had purchased and shipped out a Milwaukee Brewers cap I had been trying to track down. So, when the time came and I got the money into my bank account I went straight to the Hat Club site to make my purchase, or so I thought. Turns out this cap was a little bit more popular than anyone expected as EVERY 1969 A’s on the site had been sold. I was befuddled. I searched around on other sites keeping up the hope that I would be able to find it somewhere, if not just for Chris since he wears a size 8. No dice.

Weeks would go by before the caps appeared on another site, Lids and New Era. But like the previous time I didn’t have any money to purchase Chris’s size 8. And once again, as soon as I got the money into my account, they were gone. My frustration was near a boiling point if for no reason other than I just hate being in debt to people. Money-related matters is a much easier thing to be in debt to a person about as money is everywhere, but a specialty item? Good luck. I was fortunate to come across one on the MLB.com/Shop site in Chris’s size, but it’s on a 2-4 week backorder. Well, getting it order is better than anything I suppose. As for myself, I didn’t really matter as much. I held faith that more would be released down the road, but I also knew that I could pick an original one up off of one of my favorite Web sites if I wanted to. It was in this moment of acceptance that I got an email from Erin, our New Era host, saying that she had a gift for me and needed to know where to send it. This was in the middle of August, right around the time that I was packing up my stuff to move to Florida to be with Angie, so I gave her the address there. Erin said no problem and sent it out. She never told me what it was, just that it was a sample cap that happened to be lying around and she thought I might like it.

The day after I arrived in Florida there was a knock at the door in the early hours (11 AM). Angie had already gone to her rotation at the hospital so I was left to myself to look presentable and see what the commotion was about. As I opened the door a man in FedEx uniform asked if I was Benjamin and handed a small box over. All the sleepiness was washed out of my body by the surge of adrenaline that now coursed through my veins as I feverishly signed for the package, closed the door and sought out a knife to open it. As soon as I removed the tape and pulled back the flaps I achieved the biggest “hat boner” (yup, just made that up) of my life.

Not only was it the 1969 A’s cap, but it was the same one that I had fallen in love with back in Buffalo. You know that old expression “If you love something, let it go; if it comes back to you, it was mean to be?” Well… :)

When coming up with marks for this cap I decided to stick within the parameters of when it was used. Since this cap was specifically made for the “Turn Back the Clock Night” on July 27^th I made sure to highlight those who truly shined, as opposed to going back in time an writing about the older generation who wore the original cap. Those guys/moments I intend to write about when I get the original cap.

#36- Some people are meant to have mediocre careers, others become superstars, some fade into obscurity and then there are some who come through in the clutch. Derek Norris’s career has been too short to really establish which type he will become; however, one thing that has been a constant is that the man knows how to play in front of a nationally televised audience.

Norris was originally drafted by the Washington Nationals in the fourth round of the 2007 amateur draft out of Goddard High School in Goddard, Kansas. From 2007-2011 Norris climbed through the ranks of the Nationals minor league system, playing his best ball with the Class-A Hagerstown Suns of the South Atlantic League. A catcher, Norris had a hit of a challenge in front of him with the likes of Ivan Rodriguez and Wilson Ramos ahead of him in The Show, but his fortune changed two days before Christmas in 2011 as he, AJ Cole, Brad Peacock and Tommy Milone were dealt to the A’s for Gio Gonzalez and Robert Gilliam. Norris started out in AAA with the Sacramento River Cats, but impressed everyone enough to get called up to the Majors as veteran catcher Kurt Suzuki wasn’t displaying the hitter power he had in previous seasons. When Suzuki was finally dealt to the Nationals on August 3^rd, Norris became the team’s full-time catcher.

There are times when Norris really shines offensively, while in other moments it’s his ability to gun would be base-stealing jabronies out with ease that show off his talent. Either way, he has become a pivotal member of the American League West Champion A’s system. But hey, I was talking about being clutch a little bit ago, so let’s just stick to that. Someone I regularly talk to on Twitter, a San Francisco Giants fan named Joseph Canino (@CiNDER_JOE), had asked me after the “Turn Back the Clock” game about Norris’s numbers during nationally televised games. So, as soon as I got home and onto my computer I took to the stat sheets. The numbers were surprising to say the least: in six regular season nationally televised games in which he has played in he is batting .352 with three home runs, a double and six RBI. That’s pretty damn impressive, especially since on July 27^th his one an only at-bat was a pinch hit home run which ended up being the difference maker in the game. Clutch!!!

57: The man to get the start for the A’s on July 27^th just so happened to be the man who traveled to the West Cost with Norris in the Nationals trade, Tommy “Machine Gun” Milone. Milone was drafted by the Nationals in the 10^th round of the 2008 amateur draft out of USC. He made five starts for the Nationals in 2011, going 1-0 with a 3.81 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 26 inning of work. But, as business goes, Milone and the gang were sent to Oakland with little-to-no expectations on the season other than to be an arm. Not being one to lay by the roadside, Milone displayed a strong presence on the mound in 2012, going 13-10 with a 3.74 ERA and 137 strikeouts. He also had one of the strongest outings of the American League Division Series in Game 2 against the Detroit Tigers. He pitched six solid innings, only allowing one earned run off of five hits while still striking out six.

Milone has been up-and-down in 2013, but he will still remain as a key component to success if the A’s wish to finally get that World Series trophy that has eluded them since the start of the 1990 season. Milone’s strongest start of the 2013 season did in fact come on July 27^th against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim as Milone tossed seven innings of four hit, one earned run ball, while still striking out six. The Athletics won 3-1 and the day ended with the A’s maintaining a five-game lead in the AL West.

Oh! And these were the uniforms they wore in the game. F---ing Amazin' A's!!!

 

July 23- Eugene Emeralds

If you’ve been keeping up with these blog posts I merely need to refer you to my Eugene Emeralds post from March 7^th to have an understand of how this story began. Due to the fact that I was living and working in Portland, Oregon from October through the first week of January I had missed the Emeralds’ new logo/merchandise release party in Eugene on account of me having to work. I remember making some comment about “how I wish I was there” when the next thing I know I had a DM from whomever was running the Twitter account that day; I’m pretty positive it was General Manager Allan Benavides. Anyway, it was a reply to my comment which basically said that they wanted to know my hat size so that they could put aside and hook me up with one of their new caps. I wasn’t really sure to what I owed the pleasure, but I’ve also never turned down a free New Era Cap so I made sure to note when I would be back in Eugene for winter term.

When I finally had a free moment to get down to the office of the Emeralds I made sure to give plenty of notice, not to mention I made sure to get directions because I had no idea where I was going. Everyone in the office was especially friendly and excited to meet me, which I totally wasn’t expecting, and everyone had questions about my season-long Major League Baseball stadium tour and my time in the MLB Fan Cave. All of them had been supporters of my time which is what had started the vested interest in getting out to the games upon my expulsion. Besides the alternate Emeralds cap, Allan also hooked me up with an Emeralds pint glass which I ended up leaving in Eugene with my roommate Reed. Totally unintentional. One-by-one I shook hands and thanked everyone for their kindness for not only the hat and glass, but for taking good care of me when I was able to get out for Emeralds games at the start of the 2012 season. Near the end of my visit the subject of my tattoos was finally brought up and, like always, I showed no hesitation in showing them off. This was the lead-in Director of Corporate Events Tyler Tostenson needed to ask, “Have you thought about getting Sluggo tattooed on you?” For those who don’t know, Sluggo is the big neon green bear mascot for the Emeralds. In fact, the person who had been inside the outfit, who was also the man in the suit for Puddles, the University of Oregon Duck mascot, happened to be standing next to me as I answered Tyler question. My response, “To be honest, I have been mulling it over. The only problem is that it doesn’t fit with the theme of MLB logos and mascots so I would have to think of a location of where to place it.” But in short, yes, I was deeply considering it. I said my goodbyes and thank yous once again and headed back to campus to get some writing done. What I wasn’t expecting was to get a call from my tattoo artist a little less than a week later.

Flashback

Felix “The Tat” Epperson and I have known each other since April of 2011, but the first time we met was on September 6, 2008. I wasn’t at all surprised that he didn’t remember me as the situation that put in the same room together involved my girlfriend at the time getting her first tattoo done by him at Black Lotus Tattoo in Eugene, the same shop where he works today. The only reason why I remember the date so well is because I was originally going to go to the Oregon versus Utah State football game that morning, but put it off to be there while the work was getting done. Also, I had to work at the Hilton that morning from 5 AM to 10:30 AM, which led to me falling asleep in the waiting chair while she was getting tattooed which then led to one of our first arguments in our relationship. I should also point out that I paid the $250 for the tattoo as a birthday present for her. God, I’m such an asshole! Moving on; when the time came for me to finally commit to getting my two-sided MLB showcase tattoo he was the first person who came into my head. Actually, that’s not entirely true. My good friend Nick Porter, who did both of the tattoos on the outsides of my forearms (the quote and the lumberjack/shark) had recommended Reed, my future roommate, to do it as he was a big baseball fan and would probably better understand a lot of the concepts I was throwing out. Not having a problem with that bit of honesty, I hit Reed up and emailed him everything I wanted to do. Originally I wanted only a few of the mascots and I wanted to put it on my left arm as a half-sleeve, something that he quickly shot down because I didn’t have enough canvass to work with. During the time when I mulled over what he his comments I came down with a near fatal case of “what the f--- is wrong with me?” I phrase it like that because I had strep throat, my kidneys were shutting down, I was dehydrated and a staph infection had broken out underneath my belly button which then spread to my neck and both of the tattoos I mentioned above as I had just gotten them done about two weeks prior. In short, I looked like hell. I wrote a much longer piece about this in my other blog, so I’m trying to keep this short. Here’s the link to it if you ever want to read the full detailed account of what went down. What I will tell you is that when I was lying on the hospital bed all I could think about was baseball and how happy it made me. It in these fleeting moments that I came up with the placement and design concept for what I eventually got tattooed on me.

Once I recovered I emailed Reed with a new plan and ideas which was eventually shot down a few weeks later for two reasons: 1. Reed was pretty booked up. 2. A lot of what I was asking for was a bit too confusing. The latter part made a lot of sense because trying to relay what I wanted via email was not an easy concept for anyone to understand. Had I gone in person to discuss it with him, things might have been different, but because I was itching to get this started, I moved on. It’s something I still feel bad about because there were a few other artists in the shop who would have loved to do an extravagant piece like this, but I didn’t think about that. For some reason the first thing that popped into my head was to go to another shop; which is how I ended up at Black Lotus on a Sunday evening about five minutes before they closed.

Felix happened to be the only person left in the shop when I cracked open the door and walked inside. Hey greeted me and politely told me that they were just closing up. I told him I didn’t have a problem with that and that I was merely there to get a recommendation on an artist. He told me he might be able to help, so I asked him if he was a baseball fan. He quickly responded with, “totally.” It’s kind of a useless question for an artist, I suppose, but my focus was on making sure that he or someone else would have an understanding of what I was after. I then rattled off the concept I was going for and that I would be coming back with a ton of notes, etc., etc. Felix was hardly miffed by what I was saying and told me to come back with photos, notes and anything else he needed to get a sketch up.

For a week I toiled. Searching everywhere for pictures of mascots dating back to the 1960s, collecting important historical stories that could be told through cartoonish shapes that wouldn’t mind carving into my body for the rest of my life. At the end of my research campaign I had about 15 total pages worth of material to hand over. All of which he assembled perfectly in two pieces on the first take. To make a long story short it took roughly six sessions of four to four-and-a-half hours per session to get the first wave done.

 

Since then we’ve spent another four sessions of four hours each adding more including additional mascots, my Major League Baseball heart piece and the totally badass bowtie right below my neck. 52 hours worth of bloodless, sweat, a few tears and hard earned dollars later my canvas has become a remarkable tribute to the game I love… and we still have a lot more work to go.

Over time Felix and my friendship built and I even went out to take a few photos of him carving pools during the mornings when the weather was fair in Eugene before he had to go to work and I had to go to class.

Without him I wouldn’t be where I am today. It’s kind of crazy to think that tattoos helped me achieve some sort of position of providence, and for that, I will always be in his debt.

Back to reality

I was working in the library on the campus of the University of Oregon when I got a message over Facebook from Felix. Apparently Tyler had hit him up and presented a promotional idea that the Emeralds were curious if he wanted to take part of called “Bats and Tats” Night (clever). The promotion in a nutshell was discounted tickets for anyone who came with a tattoo as well as a tattoo competition for local artists on who could come up with the best Emeralds-themed tattoo. Based on everything we had collaborated on together it was a no-brainer for Felix. I of course said yes as well. Felix and I had all ready had an appointment set up near the end of January (the bowtie tattoo) and we decided to mull over some ideas when I dropped by.

The only problem that arose with this promotion, in my head at least, was trying to figure out a way to add original elements to an incredibly clever, but brand new logo. When Felix and I talked it over during my ink session I still couldn’t come up with anything. Of the three logos that the team had affixed to their hats, two of them were ones that I wasn’t considering. This one. And this one. Nothing personal against them, I just felt like we could do more with a different design. After the session wrapped up I told him I would do some research and try to find something that we would both like, because; after all, the other part of this assignment was to get Felix as much business as possible, something I have been very dedicated to since I was first getting interviewed for the MLB Fan Cave.

The promotion wasn’t slated until July 23^rd so I had a bit of time to finish up my last term of school, fly out to Florida to visit Angie as well as have some time with her in Portland as well. Before I graduated for the U of O I had pieced together a design concept based on two photos I had come across on the internet. The first part was the alternate logo which, at the time, was not featured on any of the team’s hats.

This, of all of them, is hands down my favorite based on the historical context behind it. The Emeralds are a short season-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres and the company that designed their new logos, Brandiose, took a classic Padres concept and perfected it.

The second part was that I wanted to somehow incorporate Sluggo into the design as well. So, I did the best, funniest thing possible and made Sluggo the tree in which Sasquatch is swinging.

In all of my hat-related exploits I came across a cap on the Hat Club Web site which happened to feature the Swingin’ Sasquatch logo with an original color scheme to back it up, this one. With little hesitation I scooped up and kept it away from being worn until the big day. Meanwhile, Angie ended up paying me a visit in the middle of June before she headed to Wisconsin to see her family. Angie had never seen me get a tattoo so I made sure to hold out on the piece until she arrived to sit next me. Tyler dropped by Black lotus to get some video and some photos together for the event and was blown away by what we had come up with. He had also mentioned that he saw the logo on the hat on the Hat Club Web site, but I made no mention as to whether or not I had seen it, even though it was kicking it on a shelf in my closet. It didn’t take us too long to get it done (roughly two hours), but it was finished, and set to be fully-healed by the time July 23^rd came rolling around.

7/23/13: Due to the fact that I didn’t have a car I ended up footing the bill for gas to get my friend Sean Davis to roll down to Eugene from Portland with me for the game. Felix had an extra ticket for me to use and couldn’t think of anyone better to spend the game with than one of my really good friends. Felix greeted us near the first plate entrance and we hugged it out. The tattoo had healed perfectly, I made sure to give it a good shave and the weather was spectacular. Felix had ended up snagging a suite, as did the other tattoo parlors involved in the contest. All that was really left to do was see how many people would come out for the event.

Tyler greeted a little ways up the stairs and noticed that I was rocking the Emeralds hat he had talked about back at Black Lotus. He also asked for a peek at the finished product which I had no problems with. “That’s sick!” he exclaimed, a pretty common response I’ve gotten from everybody. Tyler had to bounce, as he was still coordinating a few things, but Felix, Sean and I headed up to the suite to meet up with Felix’s friends and family.

One of the really cool perks of the night was that all of the artists were called down to the field to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Felix got the honor of going first and lobbed one up and across the plate.

Contrary to the arch of the ball in the photo, he was the only one to find the strike zone. Another thing to point out with this is that, like myself, Felix plays baseball/softball regularly. Throwing out a first pitch without warming up is not a picnic in the park. Trust me; check this out if you don’t believe me.

With food and beers in hand we all settled out on the patio to watch the game. The Emeralds were hosting the Boise Hawks which was cool because the Chicago Cubs’ 2013 first round pick (second overall) Kris Bryant had just signed his contract and was making his professional debut for that game.

On the other side of the plate, the Padres’ first round pick (13^th overall) Hunter Renfroe had already been digging it out for the Emeralds in the outfield, so it all made for a rather compelling game.

As the game went on the Emeralds showed the photos and videos for all the artists, tattoos and canvases who were in the running for the Best Emeralds Tattoo. Of all the ones shown Felix and I had the only one that looked spot on to what the actual logo looks like, while the other artists took to their own creative devices. Fans voted on Facebook for the winner, in which we finished in second place by the time everything sorted out at the end of the week. Winning wasn’t really the objective as much as it was about more business for Felix.

One thing that I definitely have to tip my cap to is the Emeralds’ front office for putting this night together. PK Park was borderline sold out, and the crowd was definitely into the game. Sluggo came up and paid us a visit

And Felix and I toasted our accomplishments.

Sadly the Emeralds lost 0-6, but the loss certainly didn’t spoil an amazing night.

July 21- Portland Rockies

It’s time to get a little bit old school on y’all. Follow me as we whisk away back to the year 2000. Ok, so it’s not that far back, but it was certainly a life-changing time for me as I had just moved to the Pacific Northwest which I captured so beautifully in my first Portland Beavers post back on March 6^th. It was a harsh reality coming face-to-face with the fact that the only professional baseball team within my proximity happened to be a short season-A club named the Portland Rockies. Portland’s population back in those days hovered in around 530,000 people; however, with Vancouver, Washington to the north (where I lived) there was an added 147,000 people, and another 137,000 people to the south in Oregon’s capital city, Salem. Mix that with all the surrounding towns within a 75-mile circumference and you could probably have over 1 million people. My point with this is that Portland was just too big of a city to be stuck with only a short season-A club, and they did it from 1995-2000.

Now, if you read my previous Beavers post you’d know that the former AAA Beavers were packed up and relocated to Salt Lake City, Utah by then-owner Joe Buzas at the end of the 1993 season. Luckily for Portland there was another team within the state that was having a difficult time drawing crowds and wins who was in the market for relocating themselves. So, at the end of the 1994 season the Bend Rockies, who had only been in existence since the 1992 season, made their way north and set up shop in the desperately-in-need-of-renovation Civic Stadium for the start of the 1995 season.

Had I moved up there prior to their final season I probably would have given a bit more care to the team; however, even in that final year I still made it to 10 games in which they went 4-6 and finished the year with a 32-44 record. For a city of over 500,000 people they were lucky to pull in 1,000 people per game. It was pathetic, especially considering the fact that the stadium is in downtown Portland and pretty easy to get to. Either way, I was one of the few to see the up and coming careers of the likes of Brad Hawpe, Garrett Atkins, Clint Barmes and Cory Vance before they all moved up and on to bigger and brighter futures. But this post isn’t really about them; it’s about the one year in which a team full of nobodies led by then-manager Jim Eppard did the unthinkable in 1997.

In the team’s third year in Portland, Eppard’s first, the Rockies had two players that would touch the Major Leagues even for just a few games, pitcher Justin Miller and first baseman Todd Sears. Sears’s Major League career would last only 40 games in two years with the Minnesota Twins and the San Diego Padres while Miller’s went seven years with Toronto Blue Jays, Florida Marlins San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers and a brief stint in Japan. Both of their minor league careers stretch for more than 11 years each and neither were that big of a factor for the Rockies in 1997; however, both were a part of the team that went 44-32 which was good enough for their first division title as they then went on to win their only Northwest League title. After that, the only bit of success the Rockies found was in their second division title in 1999 under then-manager Alan Cockrell.

This cap, which lasted all six years, is one of the last relics from a team that only exists through records and memorabilia. Like a lot of teams whose name is derived from their Major League affiliation, the Portland Rockies logo was designed in the same styling as the Colorado Rockies, but with a few personal touches. Obviously the “PR” is the same as the “CR,” but the added rose is a tribute to the city which is known as the City of Roses which got its name from the perfect climate to grow roses as displayed in the International Rose Test Garden, one of the city’s most famous attractions. The other added feature is the mountain backdrop which could be said is Mount Hood, which can easily be seen from Civic Stadium; however, it is the same pattern which has been featured in the Rockies logo since their inaugural season in 1993. The thing that is most interesting about the use of the mountain is that the Colorado Rockies have only used this graphic on their twice in the team’s history. The first came in 1999 on their Turn Ahead the Clock jerseys, which were used for one game on August 18^th, which the second came this season with the team’s Diamond Era batting practice cap. The only time any team used the graphic before this came before the Colorado Rockies took the field for their first official game. That’s right, the 1992 Bend Rockies. 

Due to the fact that most of the people I listed above had mediocre careers with the Portland Rockies I decided to roll with two guys who actually had profound careers whose talents then translated to the Major League level. The only problem is that I can’t find any record of what jersey number they wore. And while I could assume that the first number they wore in the Majors was in fact their number in the minors, in this case that assumption doesn’t fly as they both played in Portland in 1998.

???- A fourth round draft pick by the Rockies out of Brandon High School in Brandon, Florida in 1997, Chone Figgins had the makings of being a superstar in the Major Leagues. Figgins only played one season in Portland and had a pretty successful season. In 69 games Figgins hit .283 with nine doubles, three triples, one home run, 26 RBI and 25 stolen bases. His three triples led the team and his 25 stolen bases were the second best. Figgins was traded to the Anaheim Angels in 2000 and made his Major League debut on August 25, 2002.

Contrary to popular belief Figgins is not a bust. While his time with the Seattle Mariners (three years) was rather lackluster, the eight years he spent with the Angels were incredibly productive. He made one All-Star Game appearance in his final season in Anaheim in 2009 when he led the league with 101 walks along with his .298 average, 30 doubles and 42 stolen bases. Figgins led the American League in stolen bases in 2005 with 62 and cracked the top-25 in AL MVP voting four times (2004-2005, 2007 and 2009). When Figgins made his debut he wore the #6 all the way through the end of the 2003 season.

???- The other mystery guest was drafted three times, twice by the Mariners in 1995 and 1996 in the lower rounds and then a third time by the Rockies in the 13^th round in 1998 out of the University of South Alabama. 

Juan "Pornstache" Pierre’s first year as a professional came that season in Portland with Figgins, with Pierre having a borderline Hall of Fame first season… for the minors. In 64 games Pierre hit .352 with 93 hits, nine doubles, two triples, 30 RBI, 55 runs scored and a team-leading 38 stolen bases. How the Rockies didn’t win a NWL title that season as well is beyond me.

Pierre only spent two more successful seasons in the minors before getting called up on August 7, 2000 where he finished in sixth place for the National League Rookie of the Year Award batting .310. The following season Pierre would swipe a NL-leading 46 bases and hit .327 in 156 games, but get no love outside of that. Just wrong. Pierre’s Rockies career would only last until the end of the 2002 season as he and pitcher Mike Hampton were traded to the Florida Marlins right before the Winter Meetings. Pierre would end up leading the NL in stolen bases again with 65 while leading the Marlins to their second World Series victory in their 11-year history.

Pierre, somehow, has never made an All-Star team. His two best season came with the Marlins in 2003 and 2004 as he finished in the top-16 in NL MVP voting both of those years behind batting averages of .305 and .326 respectively, a lot of stolen bases and a ton of runs scored. Basically he was the prototypical leadoff hitter of the 2000s.

What’s really interesting about Pierre and Figgins is that they both elected to go with the #6 in their first year(s) in the Majors and then they both changed it to the #9 right afterward. I’d like to think that there is some kind of connection between the two of them to make them do that, but wouldn’t know unless I asked them. Until I get that opportunity, or until a reader has photos of either of them playing in Portland, I’ll have to keep this cap blank and update it accordingly.

July 9- Bakersfield Blaze

A full year has come and gone since I last set foot inside of Sam Lynn Ballpark in Bakersfield, California, where I attended my first Bakersfield Blaze game as a spectator since 2008 along with my friend, and fellow Oakland Athletics fan Toni Taylor (@Condorsfan06). Prior to the Blaze’s final game of the series against the Lake Elsinore Storm it dawned on me that it was slowly approaching 12 years since I had left my post as bat boy some time near the end of July in 2000. 12 years. Wow! Where does the time go? I know I’ve gone on about my bat boy days in a few posts all ready, but I don’t plan on doing much of that with this post. My fourth, and final Blaze post I have set for August will fill in a lot of the gaps I’ve left, as well as rekindle a few of the connections I had with players who have since faded into the record books and moved on to bigger and sometimes better things. But for this post, it’s all about the game which took place on July 9, 2012.

Toni and I had been talking since my campaign for the MLB Fan Cave kicked off in February of 2012. What started it was when the Bakersfield newspaper, The Bakersfield Californian, ran a reworded story about me and my time in Bakersfield based around the reel I had down for KEZI in Eugene, Oregon. Since the two of us were both A’s fans it became sort of a natural grown for conversation through Twitter and Facebook. When I made it to New York City Toni hooked me up with a Rollie Fingers bobblehead which she had gotten from her trip to the Coliseum early into the 2012 campaign. 

What’s funny about this is that until I received that Rollie bobblehead I never owned, nor had any desire to own a bobblehead. To me they always seemed like a very fragile space waster, but I have since changed my tune about that after other A’s loyalists joined in on the fun and hooked me up with their spare bobbleheads as well. I just can’t complain against that. Toni and I had chatted about catching a Blaze or an A’s game some times during the 2013 season as neither of us expected that I would ever be sent home from the Fan Cave to be able to make either teams’ games during the 2012 season. Well, as lady luck would have it, I was suddenly given a plethora of time around Memorial Day and I made sure to stick to my word once I figured out when I would be headed down to Southern California.

Toward the end of June I had started my Major League Baseball road trip, but also made to sure to include as many minor league games as I possibly could, which, at the time, meant a lot of Eugene Emeralds games. My original ballpark tour plans were only supposed to be relegated to the West Coast. It wasn’t until partway into July that I decided to expanded into Canada and the East Coast. Nevertheless, all of the stops on my West Coast tour were plotted out perfectly. After I made my run in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Anaheim and then San Diego I would have a week off in Bakersfield to relax before I made my way back to Oregon through a couple day stop in San Francisco and Oakland.

Originally I was supposed to make it from San Diego to Bakersfield on Sunday, July 8^th in time for the Blaze game that evening; however, I ended up going back to Anaheim for the final game of the Los Angeles Angels/Baltimore Orioles series with my friend Matthew James (@MattyJay27) which I’ll go into more detail in a not-too-distant post. But alas, I finally made it back home to Buck Owens country and made it to the game with Toni.

Now, I had at least two opportunities to catch the Blaze at home had I left Eugene like two or three days in advance. One of the biggest draws for me to get back to Bakersfield in good time was to be able to see their star player Billy Hamilton tear up the base paths as he was well on his way for setting the Minor League single-season stolen base record held by New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals great Vince Coleman. Before I had left Oregon Hamilton was still on the brink of triple digits and the Major League All-Star break was rapidly approaching. But since the MLB All-Star break didn’t affect the MiLB schedule I figured I was in the clear. Nope! What I forgot to take into consideration was that Hamilton might get called up for the MLB Futures Game, which takes place the day before the All-Star game and right before the Home Run Derby. Guess where Hamilton was when I pulled my car into the parking lot of Sam Lynn. Yah, Kansas City. Needless to say, I was in a pretty sour mood with myself once I became privy to that information. I mean, it was all ready bad enough that I wasn’t at the All-Star Game with the Fan Cave, a decision I’m still beyond confused about.

When I met up with Toni I did my best to keep all of my frustration from the day’s events inside; however, I was still pretty heated about being kicked out of the Fan Cave in the first place so I was a bit crabby for bits and pieces of the game. Some of it was brought up in casual conversation about my experience in New York; other bits came as a result of seeing fellow Cave Dweller Ricardo Marquez’s face on the top of the home run slide during Angels’ 3B/OF Mark Trumbo’s turn at the plate for the Home Run Derby.

The Blaze had gotten off to a hot start by building a 3-1 lead over the Storm which started with a RBI-double from current Cincinnati Red Donald Lutz who I wrote about back on May 6^th. But alas, the Blaze squandered the lead in the fourth, but got it right back in the fifth. It was around this time that Toni and I made our way to the team store to pick up some caps. I only had two of their caps at the time, one from my bat boy days and the other that I wrote about on January 16^th. Most New Era Caps start at about $34.99 no matter if they’re MLB or MiLB; however, in some rare cases quite a few MiLB teams will sell their caps for less than that. In the case of the Blaze caps they had their 2011-present home and 2011-present alternate cap (this one) for $25 each. Sold!!! They also had their Stars & Stripes cap available for the same price, but I said no to that one for some dumb reason. AAAAARRRR!!! 

After snapping a quick shark photo we watched the rest of the game from the comforts of right behind home plate. I’ve always been more of a right field bleacher kind of guy in Oakland, but at other parks I’ve always fancied sitting on either sides of the dugouts; rarely do I ever sit behind home plate. The Storm tied the game up in the top of the sixth inning, but the Blaze countered again by notching one of their own off of a Theo Bowe single. From the seventh inning on the game turned into a pitchers duel as the Blaze were able to maintain their 6-5 lead until the Storm succumbed to their final out.

After the game Toni and I shot the breeze for a bit while I walked over to the clubhouse entrance to snap a photo of Blaze manager Ken Griffey signing autographs for kids. Yes, that Ken Griffey.  

 What I wouldn’t find out until the middle of November of 2012 is that the red-headed kid on the left is the nephew of a regular customer of mine from when I worked at Just Sports (@JustSportsPDX) over the holidays. It was one of those “small world” moments for sure. Toni and I made our way back to my car where I had quite a few A’s hats for her to choose from as payback for the Rollie bobblehead she had hooked me up with. I definitely felt like the right thing to since she had been so generous to me.  And especially for spending time with me as I made the trip back to one of my favorite and most cherished places in the entire world, Sam Lynn Ballpark. 

#12/4-104: Back on March 24^th I wrote the what is technically part two of this story, but every now-and-then I like to get all Quentin Tarantino on y’all and write my stories out of sequence. Some of you might cite the film “Memento” as well, but this isn’t exactly backwards storytelling as it is foreshadowing. You know what, I’ve gotten way too technical with this, so let me steer this back on course…

Hamilton was drafted by the Reds in the second round of the 2009 amateur Baseball Draft out of Taylorsville High School in Taylorsville, Mississippi. With such a high draft position under his belt he went straight to the Rookie Leagues for two seasons: 2009 with the Gulf Coast League Reds and then in 2010 with the Billings Mustangs of the Pioneer League in Montana. In 2011 Hamilton found himself with the Class-A Dayton Dragons betting leadoff to the tune of a .278 average and .340 on-base percentage. Oh, and 103 stolen bases to boot while only getting caught 20 times. Hamilton also managed to muscle three home runs over the wall and leg out 18 doubles and nine triples that season. With such impressive numbers he was a guaranteed promotion to advanced-A Bakersfield in 2012.

Hamilton started out the year wearing #12, but switched it to #4 throughout the season, hence the 12/4. The Reds wanted Hamilton to lower his strikeout numbers from 133 the previous year with the Dragons, as well as raise his batting average a bit. Hamilton did both with ease. In 82 games with the Blaze Hamilton hit .323 and raised his on-base percentage to .413. Hamilton also managed to match his total number of doubles and triples as he did in 2011, but the one thing to look at is the fact that Hamilton played in 135 games (53 less) than what he was at in Bakersfield. Oh, and just because he could, Hamilton swiped 104 bags, one more than he did in Dayton. You want to talk about the next great base stealer? Talk about the next great leadoff man. And to reiterate what I had said earlier, I missed seeing this kid play live by about two days. If this post has a lesson to be taught, it’s definitely that you should support your local Minor League Baseball team. You never know when you might be able to say, “Wow! I remember when I saw him before the Majors.”

The rest of Hamilton’s 2012 season is featured in the Pensacola Blue Wahoos post linked here or above.

July 6- Eugene Emeralds

March 7^th was a pretty spectacular day. It was the day when the Eugene Emeralds were selling all of their brand new 2013 caps for $20 outside of the bar (@TheWebfootBar) my friend Justin owns. Having all ready scored the alternate cap back in January, and seeing how $20 is too good of a price to pass up, I bought the remaining two I needed to round out my collection. It’s days like this that cap collectors like myself love and hate as we all love to get new caps, but hate how quickly the money evaporates from our pockets. No matter. Down the road we are all happy for our purchase when we don our newly purchased caps and hear the ever-familiar, “Hey! Where did you get that cap? It’s awesome!” In the case of this cap, the fine folks at Brandiose in San Diego deserve the most credit.

For those of you who don’t know, Brandiose, or Plan B. Branding as they were formerly known, have been at the forefront of team logo design for the better part of the last decade based out of San Diego, California. The founders, Jason & Casey, started out in their college dorm room designing logos for high school teams and eventually were given their big break by the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx as they were the only team to respond to the 150 letters they sent out to every minor league team. After their first success, many more followed. They are responsible for many of the logos I have all ready written about for teams such as the: Everett AquaSox, Pensacola Blue Wahoos, Stockton Ports, Lakeland Flying Tigers, Casper Ghosts and even revision for the oldest team in Major League Baseball, the Cincinnati Reds. In 2012 Jason & Casey were tapped by Emeralds General Manager Allan Benavides.

"When we started this process, we wanted to end up with something fun that fans could really associate with," said Ems General Manager Allan Benavides. "Sasquatch gives the Emeralds a face for the first time in our long history." Sasquatch biting the tree will be the emblem on the home hat while the foot-shaped "E" will serve as an alternate. The road uniforms will feature the "Eugene" script with feet on each end. Home, away and alternate uniforms will be released in the spring.

The new identity pays tribute to America's greatest urban legend, the legend of Sasquatch in the Pacific Northwest. The primary logo features a Sasquatch unearthing trees behind "Emeralds" lettering. Fans will also enjoy the iconic "E" Sasquatch foot logo, and several other Sasquatch and foot related marks. A number of different options were considered including themes that involved forests, trees and various woodland creatures. "Ultimately, we felt that sasquatch was the best fit to represent the mystique of the Northwest woodlands," said Benavides.

The development process began last June when Jason and Casey met in Eugene with fans, staff and community members to learn about the stories, history, and personality of the Emeralds and Eugene. Brandiose developed the logos, uniforms and is dreaming up enhancements for the 2013 fan experience. "Eugene is a hotbed of countercultural ideas," said Brandiose's Jason Klein. "From Sasquatch sightings to hippy culture, the Ems are honoring Eugene's eccentricities with a few of their own." – MiLB.com

Back in November of 2012 when the Ems unveiled their new logos I was stuck in Portland for the holidays and working as was unable to attend the event. But that didn’t stop Benavides from hitting me up asking me if I wanted any of the new caps later that night. I of course said yes and they made sure to hold the alternate cap aside for me until I moved back to Eugene to finish up school this last winter. As I’ve mentioned in my previous Ems articles, they run a pretty solid program and I’m always happy to share the love in my blog posts. Kudos!

Now, as I’ve mentioned in a lot of my other “new to 2013” posts it’s hard to tell a story about a hat or player who wore that if it hasn’t been used on the field. In this case I figured it would be a cool time to share a random, but true story about Eugene that only a few people know about in keeping with the theme of Eugene’s oddball history. Since this cap is the team’s road cap, it kind of makes for an appropriate discussion piece as most of my 2012 was spent on the road; only a few weeks were actually spent in or around Eugene.

So… it was July, only a few days after I had returned to Oregon after the West Coast leg of my MLB road trip. I still had until the end of the month until my roommate and my lease expired on our apartment in Eugene so I made as much use of that as I possibly could on any random nights when I felt like going back home to visit and catch up with friends. Since my apartment was only about five blocks from the campus of the University of Oregon and about a 9-iron shot away from the bar I worked at (Max’s Tavern), I rarely ever strayed far from that area. It was some time around 9:30 PM when a few of my friends who worked at the tattoo parlor across the street rolled in and saw me drinking a few beers and enjoying whatever game was on MLB Network that night. None of them knew I was in town so they were all especially excited to see me, as I was excited to see them. Everyone had questions about my experience in New York and why I was home so early, all of which eventually was made worse by the fact that the MLB tickets commercial I was featured in was blaring on the television in the background. Most of the people I knew from the tattoo parlor weren’t fans of baseball, but all of them had grown a particular interest on account of me. At the same time, most of them didn’t have MLB Network so seeing me on TV as I sat in front of them blew most of their minds. To me, it was really uncomfortable as more people around the bar started taking notice to the fact that “the guy from the commercial” was sitting in their midst. Luckily my friends quickly realized how embarrassed I was to be “that guy from the MLB Fan Cave” and they all suggested that we head somewhere else for a few drinks and to catch up. This was something I was more than happy to oblige.

The bar they chose was a bit of a metal/punk rock/anything goes type bar called John Henry’s, which also serves as the 80s night hotspot for all of Eugene on Thursdays and a burlesque house on Sundays. In other words, the place is pretty rad. The only problem that I ever had with it is that it sits in the “Barmuda Triangle,” an area in downtown Eugene where to larger hub of popular bars reside. I’ve never been a huge fan of going to ridiculously jammed up bars, so this was definitely a pole vault out of my comfort zone. My friend Brendan got me a 32 ounce bottle of Miller High Life; yes, they serve those there, and it’s awesome. The group of five us shot the breeze, talked about what we had all been up to and I made sure not to be the centerpiece of the conversation. I just wanted to have a normal night back in the reality I was used to before I left for New York. As my MHL emptied I headed back to the bar for a refill, but ended up staying for a little bit longer than expected due to a conversation I got myself into with someone who seemed really out of place.

When I got to the bar I could see the bartender was busy so I took a seat on the only open stool and waited until I could flag them down. Just as I sat down I felt a hand upon my right shoulder and a voice ring out, “Excuse me, but you’re in my seat.” Not being the jerk who takes seemingly open seats, I got up and said I was sorry. I then followed it up with the routine, “I didn’t know it was taken, I’m just waiting to get a drink.” In all of this time I still didn’t look over my shoulder to really see who I was talking to, a constant theme in my life as I’ve always been the kind of person who does reasonable things on command like duck when someone shouts it, as opposed to looking to see what’s about to blast me in the face right before it happens. Just as I finished my comment the stranger replied, “No worries young man… what are you having? It’s on me.” At this point I chuckled and was about to say, “No worries, I got it,” but all that came out was “Nnnnn…” as I finally looked to see who I was talking to.

Dave Chappelle.

At this point I just froze and laughed some more, but then muttered out what I was originally trying to say. He then said, “No really, I’m buying.” I half-expected him to follow that up with yelling, “It’s a celebration!” in his Rick James voice, but he didn’t. Not wanting to be rude I told him what I was drinking and sure enough he put it on his tab… after he made fun of me for drinking a “32 ounce bottle of urine.” To which I replied, “You know, kids are going hard these days. And when I drink piss, I make sure it’s the finest the great city of Milwaukee has to offer.” He laughed and said, “I’ll have to remember to think of that if I find myself passed out in a bathroom stall in Milwaukee.” We then shook hands, said goodbye and I walked back over to my friends. I never bothered to find out why he was in town, but for that moment, it made me feel better about everything. I figured that at the end of the day, if I can make one of the best comedians in the game laugh, life isn’t so bad.

#50- When I marked this cap up I did under the guise that I was writing down the number on the roster for the 2013 season. Nope! It ended up being someone from 2012; however, the name alone is well worth the acknowledgement.

Goose Kallunki was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 27^th round of the 2012 amateur draft out of Utah Valley State University in Orem, Utah. The son of collegiate athletes, Goose prepped at Orem High School and helped the team make it to the Region Championship in 2006 and a fifth place finish at State Championship in 2008 as a four-year starter for the Tigers. He was also a three-time All-Region and two-time All-State selection. He also played basketball and golf at Orem, earning All-Valley, All-Region and All-State honors in basketball.

At UVSU he played first and third base, becoming the first player from the school to receive All-America honors during his senior year by Louisville Slugger, National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and CollegeBaseballInsider.com. He was also named third-team All-America by Baseball America and Perfect Game, was one of three finalists for 2012 Dick Howser Trophy, honor nation's top collegiate player, a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award, which goes to top amateur baseball player, District VIII Player of the Year (NCBWA), ABCA First-Team All-Region selection, Great West Conference Player of the Year and First-Team All-Great West Conference Selection. He was quite the busy boy.

Goose’s time with the Emeralds only lasted one season for 53 games. He hit .254 with two home runs and 13 RBI in which 51/53 of those games came as the team’s first baseman. This year Goose has been moving around to various Independent League teams such as the Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings, the Joliet Slammers and the Roswell Invaders (minor league teams always have the best names). Between all three teams he is batting .286 with two home runs and 32 RBI.

July 5- Salem-Keizer Volcanoes

It sounds cliché, but there has been one constant in my life that I almost always share with anyone who has made an impact in my life for the better or worse; at some point in time down the road, we will meet again. I assure you, this is one of those positive moments.

Whether you have been actively reading my posts or just getting introduced to them, there is a two-year time period that I still hold as one of the best times of my life. From 1999-2000 I served as the bat boy for the then-advanced-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants the Bakersfield Blaze. Over the last few months I’ve gone back into my vault of stories and unearthed experiences and encounters that, for the most part, I never really shared with anyone. Most of it had to do with the fact that I never really had a platform or a reason to share these stories, but most of all; I never really thought anyone would care about them. During my second season the Blaze shook things up on the field by bringing in a brand new managerial crew led by former Baltimore Orioles shortstop and World Series champion Len Sakata. For those playing at home, Sakata was the original starting shortstop for the Orioles before Cal Ripken, Jr. stepped in and started his Ironman streak of 2632 consecutive games started; keep this in mind for later in the story. One of the members of Sakata’s crew included a former minor leaguer named Bert Hunter who was serving as the Blaze’s batting coach and outfielders coach.

Now, I’m going to do things a little more unorthodox than usual by jumping around which you’ll soon realize has great purpose.

BH- Bert only served as an assistant coach from April until early June as he was only doing extended coaching work with the Blaze until the short season-A season started in the Northwest League as he had been serving as the batting coach for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes since 1998. Since the Volcanoes season was getting started, it was time for him to head back north to Oregon. Little did he or anyone else know, but I soon followed him up north in July when I made the move to live with my mother in Vancouver, Washington roughly 165 miles north of where Bert was. From 2000-2002 in lived in Vancouver with my mother. Only six times during that time period did my mom and I drive down to the Salem-Keizer area or southward, at which Volcanoes Stadium rests just off of I-5 around mile marker 160 and a couple hundred yards north of the 45^th parallel. For those of you who don’t know, the 45^th parallel is the degree of latitude directly between the equator and the North Pole. The reason I bring all of this up is that in all the times we passed by the stadium we never once stopped for a game.

That was a pretty sad move on my part because Bert and I got to be decently close during the two-and-a-half months we worked with one another. After the third game of the 2000 California League season Bert dubbed me with the nickname “Spread Killer.” The story behind that has to do with an unfortunate reality of minor league baseball; it’s really not that glamorous. Before every game the team provided a food spread for the players which consisted of bread, peanut butter and grape or strawberry jelly. That’s it. Unlike the Oakland Athletics in “Moneyball,” sodas from the fountains in the concessions booths were free to the players and staff. But, before every game I always made myself a PB & J sandwich without ever asking any of the coaches or players permission. Because of this, I became the “Spread Killer.” To pay penance for all of the sandwiches I had enjoyed before every game I provided the team with entertainment from my house which consisted of my Nintendo 64 and an electronic dartboard that I happened to have lying around the house. Both of these gestures went very far with the guys, but they still called me “Spread Killer,” except this time they didn’t have a dickish tone about it. After almost every game Bert and I rolled a best of three series of 301 on the dartboard. Of all the guys in the clubhouse, he was the only one who could contest with me.

June 2013

It was a rather boring Saturday at work at Just Sports (@JustSportsPDX) alongside my former co-worker Bradley. I say former because he had put his two weeks notice in and would be moving on to another job shortly after this date. Bradley was about an hour away from clocking out for the day and on the sales floor while I was behind the counter picking up a pile of stocking caps that had been knocked onto the floor by a customer. As I reached for the last one I heard Bradley say, “Hey, how are you doing?” to someone who had just walked in. Within a matter of seconds I recognized his first, but I couldn’t pinpoint why. Rather than be a jerk and ask where we might have known each other, I held back, played it cool and let Bradley do all of the talking. The two gabbed about baseball for a few seconds which gave Bradley allowed Bradley to chime in about the “black and orange” since he’s a Giants fan. The man then mentioned that he was a black and orange fan himself, but his allegiance falls with the Orioles. I had a feeling of déjà vu wash over me as Bradley and I had talked about the Orioles almost days prior, mainly about Ripken, Jr. and September 6, 1995, the day Ripken passed Lou Gehrig on the consecutive games played list. Bradley, being the big Ripken, Jr. fan that he is, brought that moment up. The man then talked about how awesome that night was from his perspective, which he followed up with, “and I was there.” Somehow Bradley didn’t hear that part, but that was all I needed to hear for everything to finally come jarring loose in my brain.

“You played professionally for a few years, didn’t you?” I asked.

“Yes I did. Nine years,” he said.

“You used to coach the Bakersfield Blaze back in 2000, right?” I followed up with.

He looked at me with a slightly puzzled look and then said, “Yaaaaahhh… but I spent most of my coach years with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes.” At this point I had to ask his name as I had forgotten it. Sure enough, it was Bert. Bert was still a bit confused as to how I knew him and he didn’t know me, so I asked him, “Do you remember a spiky blonde-haired kid who worked as the bat boy back in Bakersfield?” He said, “Yaaaahhh… I kind of do.” I then helped him out a little bit more, “We used to play darts after all of the games and you always called me “Spread Killer.”” As soon as the last syllable escaped my mouth his eyes widened and he let out a boisterous, “Oh my God!!!” and chuckled.

In about 10 minutes, the time it then took for his wife and kids to come into the store, we caught up on 13 years of lost time. Bert managed for six years in the Arizona League, still within the Giants organization from 2002-02. The Rookie League club won four league titles and he was named manager of the year in 2004 after the team went 37-19. After that he went home to Keizer and got on with Willamette University, a private and solid baseball school in Salem where he has been the team’s third base and outfielders coach since 2009. One of his daughters plays basketball at Oregon State University. I told him about graduating from the University of Oregon, the MLB Fan Cave, my baseball tour and how I’m trying to break into baseball as a writer. My only regret from our conversation was that I didn’t get a photo with him before he left, but I still find it funny that very little had changed with him and so much had changed with me, yet we were both still doing our thing in the environment that we both have a kinship for, baseball.

In the 14 years that I’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest I for some reason only made it out to a Volcanoes game once, and that happened by chance in 2005. I had a brief (one week) internship with the local newspaper, The Statesman Journal, working as a stringer for their sports page. On my second night I was sent to Volcanoes Stadium to shadow their Volcanoes beat writer, whose name escapes me, as the home team took on the visiting Tri-Cities Dust Devils. I don’t remember too much from the game other than the fact that the Volcanoes won. After the game we headed to the clubhouse for post-game interviews with a few of the key players, both of whom I decided to write about and mark my cap with. What I didn’t know at the time, like Bert above, we’d have quite the reunion a few years down the road. But first…

In 1996, Bellingham Giants co-owners Jerry Walker and William Tucker announced that they were moving the NWL franchise to Keizer, Oregon, a city of 22,000 located immediately north of Salem. The Bellingham club, short-season Class A affiliate of the Giants, had the NWL's lowest attendance figures during each of its two seasons. Keizer had striven to assert itself as an independent, thriving city for 12 years since the former Salem suburb had become an incorporated municipality. City officials, led by Mayor Dennis Koho, and civic leaders worked toward getting a new baseball stadium located and built in Keizer. The area had lacked a suitable facility for pro baseball since the early 1960s, when the Salem Dodgers vacated historic Waters Field (which burned down in 1966). Volcanoes Stadium was built in less than a year, on a tract of land adjacent to I-5 just northwest of the Keizer interchange. The 4,252-seat facility was ready for the debut of the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in 1997. Two years later, the American Institute of Architects honored the Volcanoes with a design award for the stadium. This cap, according to Chris Creamer’s Sportslogos.net has been around since their inaugural season.

Well, I suppose there is a little bit of truth to that. This particular card was from the 1998 season and features the “V” with the baseball blowing its dome out like a smoke stack; however, this particular panel shading on the cap was first introduced for the 2003 season. Prior to that, all of the caps featuring this logo were a very light grey. Even funnier, when trying to track down photo of players wearing this cap, I this was the first photo that came up.

What’s unusual about this photo is that Tim Lincecum only pitched in two games for a total of four innings for the Volcanoes. In my opinion, I think someone with a bit more history with the team should have been higher on the search criteria. You know, someone like these two knuckleheads below. And one thing I need to point out, I couldn't find photos of either of these guys wearing this hat.

#20- Sergio Romo was born in Brawley, California. He graduated from Brawley Union High School in 2001, having played shortstop and third base on the baseball team. With no scholarship offers from four-year colleges, Romo nearly signed enlistment papers to follow his father in the U.S. Navy, but opted to play baseball at junior college instead. Romo first went to Orange Coast College before transferring to Arizona Western College. Romo was named to the All-Region I second team of the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference in 2002 and 2003. In 159 innings, Romo earned a 16-4 overall record with a 2.79 earned run average (ERA).

For his junior and senior years, Romo played NCAA Division II baseball at two colleges: the University of North Alabama (2004) and Colorado Mesa University (formerly Mesa State College) (2005). He was named First-Team All-Gulf South Conference in 2004 while playing for North Alabama and was 10-3 with a 3.69 ERA in 97.1 innings. In his senior year with Mesa State (2005), he was the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year. That same year Romo was drafted by the Giants in 28^th round of the Major League Baseball amateur draft.

Romo only played one season for the Volcanoes in… you guessed it, 2005. In fact, it was the first of two years as a professional that he pitched as a starter. That year he took to the hill for 15 games, 14 of which were starts. He went 7-1 with a 2.75 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 68.2 innings pitched. Impressive.

#38- Playing third base for the Volcanoes that season was an 18-year-old kid from Puerto Cabello, Carabobo, Venezuela who was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2002 and goes by the nickname “Kung Fu Panda.” Yup! Pablo Sandoval lit up the NWL that season with his bat, hitting .330 with three home runs, 15 doubles and 50 RBI.

On the night I was in house, July 4, 2005, Sandoval went 2-5 with one of his two triples on the season and two RBI. Romo was equally a s brilliant throwing five solid innings, allowing only two hits, one walk, one earned run and struck out five. At the time Sandoval didn’t know much English so Romo did a bit of the translation work for him during the interview. From what I can recall they were both incredibly pleasant guys, both of whom had the potential to break out further down in their careers. How right that statement turned out to be.

Now, as I mentioned above, we did meet years later, last year to be exact in the Fan Cave.

As sharp as my memory is I had completely forgotten about that night in Keizer just as much as they probably did as well. The day in the Fan Cave was rather interesting for more than just the video and premise that they were brought in for. If you haven’t seen it, check it out. The concept was pretty clever; Sandoval and Romo had a little booth in Washington Square Park and the two would give out custom handshakes to people who dropped a quarter in their jar for charity. Before we left Sandoval and Romo kept calling me B-Weezy on account of my beard and how I looked like closer Brian Wilson, but they were also giving me smack for wearing an Oakland Athletics shirt that day. Not being one to be a “Buzz Killngton,” I told them to wait a second while I went to my cubby box to throw on my sweatshirt. I dropped my hat in, tied my hair back, put on my favorite black hooded sweatshirt, threw up the hood and rocked some shades before turning around to greet them again. Both of them lost their minds and rallied for me to be a part of the video because I looked the part so much.

As much as that last little bit sounds like BS, here’s the proof. 

This sketch was put together two days after Wilson had gotten his second Tommy John surgery and I did my best to play it off the whole time they were there as if I was actually Wilson. My impression, despite saying little-to-nothing, was so successful that I got requests for pictures and autographs the entire time we were out in the park. To everyone who asked I repeatedly told them that I WAS NOT Wilson; however, all of them thought that I was just saying that as a rouse. It wasn’t until I took off the sunglasses, removed the hood and moved my arms around that people finally believed me. Romo and Sandoval had a good laugh about it, but all of the scenes with me were edited out, more than likely because I made Ashley Chavez, the Giants fan, seem irrelevant. This happened a lot, and not because of anything I purposely did, but because everyone thought I looked like Wilson so often, they all assumed that I was the Giants fan of the group. In fact, there was another sketch that was supposed to be filmed the next morning with only me. The concept was that Giants pitcher Barry Zito and I were going to walk around Times Square for an hour to see who would get more photo and autograph requests. An hour before I had to be at the Fan Cave the next morning Zito backed out. Funny.