July 31- Tampa Bay Devil Rays

I had a lot of illusions going into the 2012 Major League Baseball season, especially considering how naïve I was thinking that my MLB Fan Cave experience was going to be all gumdrops and puppy dogs. While there were certainly a lot of moments of positivity from my experience, it was certainly met with a lot of heartbreak. I’ve focused a few of my prior New Era Cap posts on the darker sides of my experience and I assure you that this is not going to be another one, but there is one moment in particular that I need to get off of my chest, man up and admit to as it plays heavily with the story.

Flashback

It was March 29^th, the second game of Opening Day Series in Tokyo, Japan between the Seattle Mariners and my Oakland Athletics. The first game of the series didn’t exactly go as I wanted I it to, but things were certainly starting to look optimistic. In the bottom of the seventh inning the Athletics were down 0-1, but the bats were finally coming to life as Yoenis Cespedes clubbed a two-run shot to give the Athletics a 2-1 lead which was then followed by a solo home run by Josh Reddick immediately after. With a solid lead I was feeling a bit more at ease about things, well… until Jonny Gomes came up for his fourth at-bat in the bottom of the eighth inning. Jonny had struck out twice and flew out in his third at-bat, so I wasn’t really expecting much from him. In fact, I even turned around and said, “Here comes another strikeout to Tyler Hissey, the man who runs all the social media content for the Fan Cave. We talked for a quick moment about this as he was a bigger fan of the deal the Athletics had made to bring him in than I was. Of course, I was basing a lot of my knowledge about him off of his time with the Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals. Just as I said, “Yah, just not sure he was a good pick-up,” Jonny crushed the deepest home run of the series into left-centerfield. As stoked as I was to take the trip down the Home Run Slide for the third time in the early hours of the morning, I couldn’t help by look back at Tyler with a facial expression saying, “Yup! I screwed up on that one.” I’ll never forgive myself for that moment of ignorance. I’ve never been the kind of guy to look at a person’s negative qualities on the ball field as opposed to focusing on the things I know they’re more than capable of. Thus, the theme of the 2012 season; rather, the theme of my baseball fandom was established right then and there.

Jonny was born and raised in Petaluma, California, about an hour outside of San Francisco. His parents divorced when he was a toddler. His father was around, but not engaged. His mother raised him and his older brother Joey, who I wrote about on January 16th, on a home health-care worker’s salary. Times were so tough that he and Joey used to scavenge camp sites to retrieve beer and soda cans to recycle them for any cash they could. When it came to baseball, their mother was the biggest supporter, giving them the choice of basic needs like electricity or new baseball cleats. In almost every case the boys chose baseball. After all, candles work just as well, and when you have something to help keep you motivated in succeeding at life, that will always trump. Most of the Gomes’ lives were spent moving from house to house, sometimes staying with friends or their mother’s patients when they were evicted for not being able to pay rent, something Jonny never forgot.

He attended Casa Grande High School in Petaluma and quickly became one of the standouts on the team, right behind his best friend 16-year-old Adam Westcott. On May 23^rd, 1997 Westcott and Jonny, as sophomores, were playing for the Sonoma County League Championship. With the score tied in the top of fifth inning with the bases loaded (Jonny on third) and two outs, Westcott came to the plate. As Jonny described in an interview for ESPN’s E:60, “Adam’s up. Best player, best hitter, the game is on the line, what’s going to happen? It was like a movie, all you have to do is press play.” With the swing of the bat Westcott lobbed a single into shallow left-centerfield which allowed Gomes and the runner on second to score. The championship was theirs.

The next night the two boys went out with a few female friends joyriding. Both of them wanted the back passenger seat and ultimately decided to leave it on a coin flip to see who would be riding on the window, and who would be stuck in the middle. Westcott won the toss. That night on a usually deserted stretch of road know as “the roller coaster,” the teens almost hit head on with a car coming in the opposite direction, in an attempt not to hit one another the driver swerved and lost control of the car on a gravel bed on the side of the road. Due to their speed the car juked ferociously into a telephone pole. Most of the passengers walked away with a few scrapes and bruises, Westcott took the full force of the impact. He died two days later. To honor his friend Jonny got his first tattoo, Westcott’s initials (APW) wrapped in barbed wire.

After graduating from high school in 1999, Jonny attended Santa Rosa Junior College where he continued to play ball. His hard work and dedication to his craft paid off as he was selected in the 18^th round of the 2001 amateur draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. From 2001-2004 Jonny moved through the minor league ranks, even making a stop in my old home town of Bakersfield, California for a full season with Joey in 2002. Jonny played in 135 games that season in heat that is borderline the closest one can ever come to playing in the first ring of Hell. He crushed 30 home runs for the Bakersfield Blaze that season and hit .276. On Christmas Eve of that year Gomes experienced persistent chest pains, which he was originally going to try and sleep off. Instead, he checked himself into the hospital. A cardiologist charged a deliberator just in case and explained to Jonny that he was suffering a heart attack, an anteroseptal myocardial infarction (widow-maker) to be more specific. As a result of the heart attack, the Rays' team doctor had to keep nitroglycerin pills on-hand in case Gomes suffered a second heart attack.

In 2003 and 2004 Gomes got called up for a total of 13 games, but spent the majority of his time in AAA with the Durham Bulls routinely hitting dingers. In 2005 Gomes was finally called up for his longest stretch and played in 101 games that season, the highlight of which took place on July 30, 2005. This cap was only used for that one season as an alternate style, mostly Sundays. The July 30th game happened to fall on a Saturday. Close enough.

7/30/2005: The Devil Rays were hosting the Kansas City Royals that day with future American League Cy Young-winner Zack Greinke on the mound. Gomes was already having an exception July, the kind that any rookie would love to build a career on. In Gomes’s first at-bat in the bottom of the second inning, he went down on three straight pitches, Greinke’s first strikeout of the game. This would be the last time Gomes didn’t make contact with the ball. When Gomes’s came up in the bottom of the third inning he worked a 2-2 count on Greinke. When Greinke threw the hanging slider, Gomes turned on it, knocking it into the far corner of the left-centerfield stands at Tropicana Field. In his next at-bat, same results. For his fourth, and final at-bat of the game the Royals put in reliever Mike MacDougal and; sure enough, it was gone. Gomes had become the first player in franchise history to log three home runs in one game. The rest of the season went pretty well for Gomes. He finished with a .282 average, 21 home runs and 54 RBI which was good enough for a third place finish for the AL Rookie of the Year Award.

Jonny’s career became a bit odd after that as he and Devil Rays/Rays battled over what his role would be with the club. Gomes was immediate fan favorite, he hustled every game and always came to the defense of his teammates; however, his playing time diminished as players like Carl Crawford and Ben Zobrist were called up. He was sent up and down from AAA numerous times, but could never string enough hits together to keep face and stay up in The Show. At the end of the 2008 season Gomes and the Rays parted ways. He was immediately picked up by the Reds on a minor league contract, was cut after spring training, but stuck in AAA with the Louisville Bats where he was called up in May. Jonny spent three years with the Reds. During his time he had another three-home run game on August 13, 2009, the first two of which came off of former Nationals’ pitcher, my friend Colin Balester. Gomes also played 148 games in 2010, the most in a  season of his career, but he was also one of the lowest paid players at $800,000. I know that seems like a lot in terms of baseball dollars, but reflect that upon his skill level and the road he took to get there. In the middle of the 2011 season the Reds traded Gomes to the Nationals where he hit .204 with eight home runs and 12 RBI in 43 games. At the end of the season he was granted free agency where a hopefully Billy Beane was waiting with a $1 million contract.

Back to reality

Sorry, had a lot that I needed to cram in about the man before I could continue, it’ll all make sense in the end. In the month after I was eliminated from the Fan Cave I had two choices:

1. Wallow in my misery and not watch baseball.

2. Get my ass on the road and watch as much baseball as I possibly could.

Needles to say, option two was way more satisfying. The first leg of my tour took me to Seattle to meet up with my friend, and Mariners fan Tommy Bentley (@RealTomBentley). 

He allowed me to crash with him for a few days so I took care of all the tickets and beer (fair trade). On the first game of the series we each grabbed a beer and crushed them during batting practice, then we headed over to the Athletics’ side dugout for batting practice so we could grab a few pictures. A few of the guys were stretching, a few were in the cage, but the one thing I wasn’t expecting, nor was I paying attention to, was Jonny walking over to me. “Hey!” he said. “What the hell are you doing here?” Not ay any point in time before this moment had I ever met Jonny, nor did I have any clue that he knew who I was, but for the next few minutes we talked about why I wasn’t in the Fan Cave anymore, how my time was and what I was up to now. He didn’t have to do it, I certainly wasn’t expecting it, but I was truly appreciative of the fact that he took the time to get to know me as I was the Athletics representative in the Fan Cave.

The next day Tommy and I kept to the beer chug and batting practice routine, and sure enough Jonny came back over to shoot the breeze until it was his time in the cage. The thing that I never took into consideration that he finally mentioned was that he became genuinely interested in me because of the articles that Yahoo!, Deadspin and NBC Sports had written, as well as the MLB Tickets commercial I was featured in. If you haven’t noticed, Jonny has a lot of ink, and much like myself, people with ink generally like to talk to other people with ink. At the time I hadn’t planned on sticking around for the last game of the series, but I did mention that he would probably see me in Oakland. We shook hands and he went back to practice, but only after making a pit stop behind the cage  to play catch with one of his friend’s kids.

When we met up in Oakland it came on the afternoon when the Athletics had invited me to throw out first pitch, July 18, 2012. I wrote about this portion back on April 1^st, so I’ll try to keep in succinct. I was actually the second person who was going to be throwing out the first pitch. Roberta Gonzalez, a local Emmy Award-winning news broadcaster, was the first to go. She was way more nervous than I was, mostly because she would be throwing to Josh 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 then spotted me, 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. Jonny then turned to me, nudged my arm and said, “Well… don’t fuck it up.” Truly inspiring.

We saw each other again in Toronto when the Athletics took on the Blue Jays, you may remember this series as the time that Reddick did his Spider-man impersonation and the A’s dealt the Jays their worst home defeat in the franchise’s history, 16-0. I was only able to make it to the second game (the 16-0 game) and the final game of the series which the Athletics ended up losing despite home runs from Reddick and Brandon Inge. Prior to the game Jonny had spotted me as my seats were right behind the dugout, so we chatted it up again. It was at this point I had asked him about his version of “The Shark” he had been doing which I wrote about in my post from June 24^th. For him it was called the Mahi-Mahi, and it was something that he and Kurt Suzuki were doing. Even with that, I still needed a photo.

I touched on quite a bit of this in my post on Travis Blackley and the Australia World Baseball Classic cap, but I left a bit out. Prior to the first game in Cleveland against the Indians almost all of the pitchers had spotted me and came over to say hello and thank you for being so supportive of the team. There was a rain that had pounded down throughout the day which was looking like it might postpone the game so batting practice was canceled. But, as luck would have it, everything cleared up and the game was on. My tickets were a few rows behind the Athletics dugout and I really had nothing to do before the game so I kicked it in my seat. Shortly thereafter Jonny and the gang emerged from the dugout for warm-ups and stretching. At one point Jonny and I locked eyes and I gave him one of my “wink and finger point” hellos, he then became very animated and summoned me over to the rail. “Dude! I’m so glad you’re here, “ he said. “There’s someone here you have to meet.” He then walked with me headed toward home plate and called out to a dude named JJ. Like Jonny is Seattle, I wasn’t expecting JJ to know who I was. Jonny gave us a quick introduction before he headed back to the field, and I immediately knew this was somebody I needed to get to know.

JJ, a die-hard Reds fan, is a tattoo artist in Cincinnati at Doll Star Tattoo. Jonny and JJ had become acquainted during his time with the Reds and built a string relationship from it. In fact, most of Jonny’s ink that has been featured was done by JJ, including Jonny’s American History tribute piece on his leg. JJ was even featured in the E:60 piece. JJ knew who I was because

1. He’s a tattoo artist.

2. He’s a baseball fan.

In my travels I soon found out that reason number one was way more prevalent as tattoo artists love to talk and show off their creations. Anyway, JJ and I kicked it together and watched the game. Jonny unfortunately didn’t get any playing time that night, or throughout the series. The conversation started out about the Fan Cave, but it then led into all of the work that he had done on Jonny as well as a anti-Chicago Cubs piece he was doing for a Milwaukee Brewers fans which featured Bernie Brewer with an assault rifle blowing the Cub away. And people think my tattoos are weird. 

We grabbed some beers, some hot dogs and I also grabbed a cup of this buffalo chicken macaroni n’ cheese which was legendary. The Athletics won the game 3-0, which made for their third straight win. There wasn’t a very big crowd at The Jake that night, but there was a father and son who were sitting right behind us that we talked to occasionally throughout the game. The kid was about nine or 10 and kept hollering for a ball in between innings. I was a bit surprised that he never got one, seeing as there weren’t that many kids around, but I assured him that he would get one by the end of the game. When that time came he was a bit bummed out, so I reached into my backpack and pulled one out for him. For some reason Ryan Cook developed a tendency to throw baseballs at me anytime we met up, I’ll go into more detail in a future post about that, so I had one on me to give to anybody who wanted one. JJ and I thought this kid had been super cool so I was more than happy to give it to him.

JJ and I swapped numbers and said he would hit me when the two of them headed out. What they and I weren’t expecting was that in the hour between when the game ended and when I ran into them I was going to be four beers and a shot it. Long story short, I ran into a few of the TV crew for the Athletics who I had met randomly up in Toronto as well. So, we caught up. When I met up with JJ and Jonny they were only about two beers in, which was totally fine with me as I needed to stop or I would be sleeping in my car as I had to drive back to Pittsburgh that night only to have to drive to Buffalo, New York the next morning for a visit to New Era Headquarters only to then drive back to Cleveland for the next game and finally drive back to Pittsburgh again. Yah… so I enjoyed another beer on the next round, of course! Jonny and JJ had been talking about a design for another tattoo that Jonny was going to get at which I asked if I could sit in on it. I think it was the alcohol that gave me the courage to ask. Both of them were totally cool with it and said that they would be doing it the next day. In the meantime, since the bar was pretty dead we just chilled and engaged in conversation with the waitress which somehow broke out into a discussion about a party that she was going to head to where a “Jungle Juice-type” concoction was going to be served, except she didn’t call it Jungle Juice, but all three of us called it that. For the life of me, I can remember every detail of that conversation, venue, etc, but I can’t remember what she called it. No matter. It was late and they needed to rest so we parted ways until the next day. At this point I was sobering up significantly and felt that I needed to get something greasy in my belly. What I wasn’t expecting was to run into the TV crew again which of course ended with more beer and eventually some pizza. Needless to say, it was a miserable drive to Pittsburgh and Buffalo when I woke up in my car the next morning.

Jonny had left tickets for me at Will Call for the next game, and I was still in a bit of a cloudy mood after somehow making it to New Era in Buffalo 10 minutes before my meeting. Not wanting to let those tickets go to waste, as well not wanting to leave Cleveland without saying good-bye to everyone, I forged ahead and drove the two and-a-half hours to the game and kicked it with JJ. The A’s won 7-0 despite being struck out 16 times by Indians pitchers. This only aided my theory on strikeouts: Strikeouts don’t matter as long as they’re not all consecutive. 27 outs will happen, as long as you’re able to put runs on the board and get the win it shouldn’t matter how they occur.

I had to go run and meet up with a friend before the game ended so I regrouped with JJ and Jonny after the game. The hotel was only a few blocks away so Jonny elected to walk back with the two of us with a sack of Bud Lights rather than take the team bus. When we arrived JJ had the valet bring his truck up so we could get his tattoo gun and other supplies out of the back. Right at about the time the valet returned, the A’s team bus arrived. For some reason the feeling of “I want to be anywhere but here” washed over me. It’s not that I was nervous about being there or anything, I just felt out of place, like I was intruding. I had touched on this in my Blackely piece in that I’ve always done my best to not violate the line between the fans and the players. Tonight, I was clearly pole vaulting over it. JJ had his hands full with his equipment so I brought up the chair. Based on the time it took us to get everything I thought all of the players would have been up the elevator by the time we strolled inside. Nope! We caught the next elevator with winning pitcher Tommy Milone, Derek Norris, Coco Crisp and Evan Scribner. Norris elected to stand at the back of the elevator with his face against the wall; it was hard not to laugh. What I also didn’t know about this hotel was that the elevator only takes you to the sixth floor. From there you have to take another elevator to get to the floor that your room is on. Sooooooo… when we got to the sixth floor the entire team was milling about, waiting for their next elevators. That feeling of not wanting to be there grew stronger. I did my best to keep my eyes on the prize and not acknowledge anyone’s presence when JJ and I both heard Josh Donaldson yell, “Hey! Aren’t you that guy from the Fan Cave!?” I slowly turned my head, smiled and said, “Yah!” To which he responded, “Sick!!!” That was the extent of any conversation I had with anyone in that room. It took one more elevator with Chris Carter, Milone and Scribner and a walk to JJ’s room before I could let out my laughter from Donaldson’s reaction. “Sick!” has thus been incorporated into every conversation JJ and I have had since that night.

A few minutes after we got in the room Jonny rolled in with the bag of Bud Lights and passed them around before turning on he TV to MLB Network. We all chatted for a bit while JJ set up his machines, I did what I could to make myself useful. The commercial I was in for MLB Tickets came on at which Jonny, with a swig of beer in his mouth, pointed at it, swallowed and said, “This is how all of us first found out who your were.” Pro ball players watch MLB Network as often, if not more often than the fans do, and the first time most of them saw the ad was in the clubhouse of the Coliseum when someone noticed that hat I was wearing, the tattoos and yelled out, “I saw that dude in Deadspin!” This then evolved into “Fan Cave guy” after everyone finally saw me in person on July 18^th (redundant, I know). Regardless, it was still a weird feeling. Jonny then put all of the beers in the fridge and called room service to bring us up a few more. For some reason I asked him, “What about all the beers in the fridge?” To which he responded, “What happens when we run out of those?” You really can’t argue with that logic. It was in this time that I got to know him a little bit better. I asked him about his time in Bakersfield, to which he told me the story about the new guys and the bridge that I mention in my Hank Aaron piece from April 13th. He also told me about how Dusty Baker looks out for every one of his players and that Jayson Werth is one of the smartest, most dedicated players in the game; so much to the point where Werth has used his own money to help make that a winning ball club. He then had to take time out to give his wife and kids a call back home. Everything I ever felt that I needed to know about the guy had occurred within a 24-hour time frame: He’s loyal to his team, his family, his friends and especially his country after he showed off his “Tribute to the USA” tattoo that JJ had done for him. Tonight they were working on a piece for the inside of his right arm above the elbow of a heart with the date of his wedding inside. 

Seriously. How could you not love this guy?

 About an hour in I realized what time it was and also remembered that I had to drive back to Pittsburgh as to drop off my rental car and catch my train to Detroit the next morning. I said my good-byes, thanked both JJ and Jonny for their time and walked back to my car. I grabbed some food, took a light snooze and hit the road. I never saw the finished piece, as something as personal as that really isn’t my place to be nosey. When I rolled to Cincinnati in the middle of September JJ was unfortunately too busy to make it, but he was still able to pull some strings and get me a ticket for the game. One of these days I’ll get back and pay him back for that.

As for Jonny, I’ve only seen him once since that night; October 3, 2012, right after the A’s beat the Texas Rangers on the last day of the season to win the AL West Division crown. One of the guys from the TV crew, the ones I met up with in Toronto and Cleveland, had hooked me up with a media pass for that game. I’ll save most of the details for a later post, but I hung around until Jonny came out so I could tell him congratulations in person. We hugged it out, bro-style, and wished each other well. He had his family with him and plenty of celebrating to do, so I didn’t want to slow him down on that front.

I was both sad and happy for him when the offseason came around. The A’s had offered him a nice one-year deal, but the Boston red Sox upped the ante and gave him a two-year $10 million deal. For a guy who made roughly $1 million per year on one-year contracts, not to mention having gone through all the experiences that life had thrown at him, I didn’t once question why he signed that deal. The man has literally given his heart, and almost died in the process because of it, to play this game. He has always been at the forefront of local charities in and around the Bay Area, and wherever he has played professionally. He was the biggest supporter and mascot for the Petaluma baseball team who almost won the Little League World Series. While it’s a bummer that we couldn’t have his presence in the A’s clubhouse anymore, we all couldn’t be happier for him that he has moved on to greener pastures and still gives his all for the team, the fans and the city he plays in.

July 30- Oakland Athletics

This is one of the few articles I’m writing in which I’m writing in real time as opposed to the date that I am specifically writing for. I realize how far behind I am in these posts, a little more than 70 days if my count is correct, but this is an important post that lies heavily upon the game that’s about to take place, Game 5 of the American League Division Series.

There comes a time when the people play the game transcend themselves into something beyond what takes place on the field. Some guys do it more publicly, others in private. No matter what the motivator is the important thing to remember is that they are putting in the effort as often as they can. That’s what I see when I look at this cap. When New Era released the 2013 Memorial Day cap I immediately fell in love with them. If you recall my posts back in May I was a huge fan of the 2012 models witch only featured the digital camouflage on the logo, leaving the panel the exact colors of what the teams normally wear on the field. Prior to that all the caps were red, white and blue and featured some variety of the Stars and Stripes despite the fact that the colors may not have corresponded with the teams’ uniforms. Thus, the 2012 did a better job of that; however, like in years passed each hat used was worn on both Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, another thing I really didn’t mind. In 2013 New Era introduced caps specifically for each holiday. The Oakland Athletics Fourth of July cap is one I currently have waiting in the wings to write about as the approach that New Era took was original and fascinating. In the case of this cap, the Memorial Day cap, I love the approach with the all-digital camouflage panels; however, I’m a little confused about the color choice for the “A’s” logo. For the Fourth of July caps New Era went back to the Stars and Stripes motif, but they made the panels for each teams’ cap in the color which corresponded to where each team was playing: grey for the road, white for home and even a Canada Day cap specifically for the Toronto Blue Jays. The reason I bring this point up is because the Athletics played their Memorial Day game at the Coliseum against the San Francisco Giants; however, the “A’s” logo is in yellow which has been the traditional color scheme for the road cap. I know this is something that very few people think about, but for some reason it jumped out at me. I assure you that it isn’t a complaint; in fact, the color scheme actually works better for the cap and perhaps the traditional white “A’s” logo would have been lost within the rest of the cap. My only point of reference I have with this comes with my post from June 30th about the misprinted Texas Rangers caps in which the “T” logo was done in white as opposed to the red as it was intended.

The one constant in all of these caps is that the proceeds benefit Welcome Back Veterans, a program to help returning veterans get treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome as well as to create awareness for others who may not understand it. To date Welcome Back Veterans has raised over $17 million to make a difference in the lives of our courageous veterans and their families. While they may not seem like much, these caps are a great way to show your support as well as a way to give back to the brave men and women who serve their country to provide stability for our freedom and ways of life. As a cap collector I’m proud to add it to my collection. As a baseball fan I’m proud to wear it to show support for the game. As a citizen of the United States of America I’m proud to support those who serve.

I’ll do my best not to butcher this portion of the post as there is a lot of history behind it. Like my Memorial Day posts back in May I did my best o focus on how the military played a part in the history of each team. In a few cases I hit the nail on the head, while in others I focused more on people who served but were still living which really wasn’t the way I should have approached it if I were staying true to the holiday and its meaning. Rather, in most cases I treated it more like a Veteran’s Day piece. I don’t regret those decisions for the sake of their importance and the importance that the men and women I shared stories for still deserve the recognition they may never have gotten as quite a few of my stories dated back to World War I. Since I only own two of the three caps from last season I made sure to do a write-up on each, which I did on May 21^st and May 30^th. When it comes to this cap I’m focusing more on the veterans’ side of things so please don’t call me out for it as I’m well aware of what I am doing. So, without further ado, the story.

#62- If there was one player on this current Athletics team who I feel truly exemplifies what it means to be an Oakland Athletic as well as a great human being, I would have to nominate relief pitcher Sean Doolittle. In the last two years I’ve run into Doolittle four times, in every case he’s popped The Shark before he says hello. I realize that’s a personal thing to me, but the action goes a long way when it comes to character. We all know him as the jokester of the team, follow his Twitter account and you’ll see what I’m talking about. His comedy skills cover a wide range of topics, even his tweets about the Athletics always hit home as he comes off as a real fan of the game, but more important the teams and the fans who support them. His signature right arm extension and curl under the chin before he throws has become a phenomenon with fans called “Doolittling.” It’s much like “Tebowing,” except it’s awesome. I for one call it “What I do Every Night and Day When I Sleep,” but I’m a rare case. Seriously, I actually make that same motion in my sleep. See…

His bushy red beard has become a near iconic representation of the team itself; scrappy, rugged, but 100% Green Collar Baseball. He gets fired up when he comes off the mound after a great inning and cracks jokes amongst his teammates when he’s sitting in the bullpen or chillin’ in the dugout. But the one thing that many tend to forget about is that he’s a fan just like every one of us. Not necessarily a fan of the game, but a fan of the team that suits up and takes the field for. He has been since he was old enough to pick up a ball, much like the rest of us, while he was living in the Bay Area when his family was stationed nearby.

 Sorry for stealing this.

During this time of his life his family had season tickets to the Athletics before moving on to Tabernacle Township/Medford, New Jersey where he went to school at Shawnee High School before attending the University of Virginia.

I bring all of this up for a bevy of reasons, the first of which has to do with the amount of grief I’ve seen him get, direct or not, on social media. People make mistakes. It’s not our job to point them out, complain about them or rub in the person’s face. Yes, we all have the right to do so, but there is a fine line between being a fan and being a jerk. When I see Athletics fans blast him or any other player it upsets me. How can anyone call themselves a fan if that’s what you’re going to do to your own guy? I guess it’s one thing if a particular player is vocal about not wanting to be on the team and that he “plays for himself,” but all I need to do is direct you back to the picture above, mostly the kid on the left who is cheering on the team he loves much in the same way that we do. I don’t think he would do the same.

Like all of my other Memorial Day posts there is some connection that I try to keep with the team and the holiday. In the other posts I listed each teams’ record on Memorial Day; however, I have already done that in a previous post for the Athletics; instead, it just so happens that Doolittle came into the game played on this year’s Memorial Day, May 27^th. Doolittle pitched two shutdown innings, taking over for starter Dan Straily who had gone a solid six, only allowing one run to the Giants. Doolittle pitched perfectly, literally, striking out two and not allowing a single base-runner as he locked up his ninth hold on the season. Grant Balfour came in for the ninth inning and closed the door for his 11^th save on the year.

When I originally bought this cap I had no idea what I was going to do with it, from a writing perspective. I had already touched most of the military/Memorial Day history with the other two posts, but with this I had found myself in a bit of a jam. That is, until I caught a commercial on Fox Sports 1 right before Angie and I left to run errands. I tried to find the video online with no success, so hopefully a few of you have seen it by now. The commercial starts with Doolittle walking out from around a corner saying something to the tune of, “Hi, I’m Sean Doolittle, pitcher for the Oakland Athletics.” To be honest, which I saw this I almost laughed out loud as, for some reason which lies more heavily on his Twitter account and the station it was on, I thought something funny was about to happen. Nope! Instead, Doolittle was doing a public service announcement for the United Service Automobile Association (USAA), the service that provides insurance and benefits to veterans and their families. In the commercial Doolittle talked about his father and stepmother, both of whom are veterans. His father is retired Air Force and teaches ROTC back in his home state of New Jersey while his stepmother is still active duty Air National Guard stationed at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. This was the point where I started to get a rough idea of where I wanted to take this piece.

I conducted quite a bit of research and came across an article written and published by the Associated Press from late August, right around the time when I moved to Florida. In it, a writer followed Doolittle to the USS Hornet, a decommissioned US Navy aircraft carrier that was converted into a National Historic Landmark in 1998 where it has serves as a museum open to the public in Alameda, California. Doolittle’s visit came at his own inquiry which started as a photo of a patch from the Doolittle Raiders. 

Forever Into Danger

The patch set Doolittle on a quest of his lineage as the man behind the Raiders was Lieutenant Colonel James “Jimmy” Doolittle of the US Army Air Forces who planned and led the first air raid bombing of the Japanese Home Islands on April 18, 1942, six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The raid was not necessarily intended to win the war, but to boost morale throughout the country in stir up more support for the cause. They succeeded. Because of the surname Sean wanted to better understand the connection to see if there was any relation, especially considering that he comes from a military family. After many twists and turns it was determined that the late General was in fact Sean’s seventh cousin. On his cleats and under the bill of his cap Sean has a written tribute General Doolittle and the Doolittle Raiders, not necessarily because of the family ties, but for everything they did for their country.

Doolittle's contributions to the military have been widespread. This season he was one of the finalists for the Branch Rickey Award which is given annually to an individual in Major League Baseball in recognition of his exceptional community service. Doolittle has meets with veterans at the VA Hospital in Palo Alto and has invited them to games on numerous occasions, speaking with them in the dugout before home games. In August he went to Walter Reed in Washington, D.C. to meet with veterans and wounded warriors when the Athletics visited Baltimore to play the Orioles. He and his teammates started “A’s Relief” this season to honor local heroes from the Bay Area who are Good Samaritans and providing relief. The Reliever-of-the-Month receives four game tickets, food vouchers, onfield recognition and a chance to watch batting practice with the bullpen staff. The heroes also receive a donation to the charity of their choice. He also supports Freedom Alliance, an educational and charitable organization that honors service members and their families.

I know I haven’t talked much about baseball in this post, or really much about his playing career even though he has a truly extraordinary story of how he got the Majors, but that’s the story that everybody seems to know now. Everything I wrote above wasn’t exactly new information, but I felt that it was the right story to tell under the theme of this cap. I guess the thing that I mostly wanted to do with this piece was share a bit more humanity rather than just focus on his job. That is the part that I think a lot of people tend to not separate when talking about Doolittle the person, or any other player for that matter. Sometimes, and coming from me I know how ironic this is, there’s just more to life than baseball.

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 18- Oakland Athletics

Two-and-a-half months of staring at a television; day-in and day-out, watching EVERY Major League Baseball game during that stretch. Sounds easy, right?  Well, imagine doing that with the same eight people for all of those days. Then try to imagine that a few of those people will “befriend” you and backstab you until you’re sent home. Not going to lie, I had a lot of really amazing moments during my time in the MLB Fan Cave, but none of it compared to when I took to the road and started catching games in person. I idea of being a celebrity never appealed to me, not so much as just relaxing in the sun, drinking a beer and talking shop in every town or city that houses a professional baseball team. Yesterday I touched on my first game at the Coliseum in Oakland since being let go from the Fan Cave. No matter how many games I went to prior or after, the game between the Texas Rangers and the Oakland Athletics on July 17, 2012 is by far the most memorable.

I picked this Athletics cap up through the Lids Web site well before I ventured to New York; however, I did it under the guise that the Athletics had worn it some time during the 1970s. Not too long after I got it the mail I realized I had made an egregious error. I suppose it was an easy mistake to make. After all, the Athletics wore a variety of uniforms throughout the 1970s and 1980s, but the hat was the same no matter what they wore; this one to be exact. Outside of the Pittsburgh Pirates there has yet to be another team to wear a cap with yellow panels, so as far as a collection perspective I decided to hang onto it. Plus, I think it looks pretty cool.

I think during my time in New York I may have worn it once, twice at the most due to the fact that I flip-flopped between the home and road caps regularly. When the time came for me to hit the road I found that my habit of not wearing the cap stayed pretty much the same. I wore it once during Game 2 of the Super Regional’s between the University of Oregon Ducks and the Kent State Golden Flashes, which ended with a Ducks victory.

And I also wore it up in Seattle for the second game in the Athletics series at Safeco Field against the Seattle Mariners which I caught with 2013 Fan Cave hopeful Tom Bentley (@RealTomBentley) on the first leg of my Major League Baseball tour. 

The old school Vida Blue jersey really tied the outfit together. Actually, from what I recall this photo came from the Athletics Tumblr page. But alas, I just never felt compelled to put it on at any other point in time.

When the time came for me to hit the road down south I ended up packing it along with the home cap which I ended up getting a lot of mileage out of all last year. The Athletics had arranged to have me throw out the ceremonial first pitch on July 18^th which I ended up writing about on April 1st along with my home cap. I had gotten to the Bay Area a few days prior as I was meeting up with some friends of mine and taking them to a San Francisco Giants game on July 16^th. Yes, I realize I betrayed some of you for writing that; however, my friends as Giants fans and I was treating them to the game for being so kind as to give me a place to crash while I was in town. Even though the tickets I bought were ridiculously priced, it was still cheaper than paying for one night in a decent hotel. Anyway, July 17th… Everyone in the right field bleachers knew I was coming to the game on the 18^th, but I made sure not to tell a soul about going to the first game of the series. So… decked out in some jeans, my grey “Swingin’ A’s” shirt and this yellow Athletics cap I sojourned across the Bay Bridge all the way to my home away from home, the Coliseum. I arrived a little bit early as I had a 40 ouncer of Mickey’s Fine Malt Liquor to put down before going inside, but I’ll admit that it was a little bit sad to crush that all by myself as to not blow my cover. With a slight buzz and stumble in my step, I walked up to the ticket kiosk at the base of the team store, made my purchase and found my way to section 149 in right field.

Prior to my visit to the Coliseum I had been spotted by a few fans and players at the other eight MLB stadiums I went to who had recognized me from the Fan Cave. What I didn’t expect was that almost every single person walking from one side of the stadium to the other knew who I was. Having been kept away from the outside world for so long, you tend to lose touch with everything else that’s going on around you. Namely I really didn’t know how well most Athletics fans knew about the Fan Cave, let alone who the hell I am besides the regular folks I talk to on Twitter. That day I shook hands, took photos with and swapped stories with dozens of fans who only knew me as “Shakabrodie.” As flattering as the experience was there is also something to be said about how unusual it is to be known by your twitter handle as opposed to your real name. This little bit still continues to this day, which I guess goes to show just how influential a fake name can be.

When I finally approached section 149 my heart was racing. In some weird way all of these people I had befriended online were turning into some weird blind date. Yah we always talked about the Athletics, and we always swapped videos and shoutouts back and forth to one another, but who knows how well actually meeting in person was going to work out? After all, I’m pretty sure from the moment that I was selected to go to the Fan Cave every single one of them was thinking, “Who the hell is Benjamin Christensen?” Due to the sun setting behind third base I was blinded as I walked through the tunnel and down to the seats. I had my video recorder rolling on my phone, but I was too blinded to actually see what I was capturing. Not to sound arrogant, but for a moment I thought I was going to get some kind of ovation; however, I was more than relieved with the “Hey Ben” reaction that I got from everyone. It honestly felt like I had known everybody in the crowd all my life. Yes there were some handshakes, hugs and “great to finally meet you’s,” but overall it was just another game. 

Everyone who had a question about my time, I answered. Anyone who wanted a photo, I took. Anytime we tried to get inside Nelson Cruz’s head, we failed. Sadly that night the Rangers won by the final score of 6-1, but we didn’t let that spoil any of our fun. Before we all retreated out to the parking lot for more beers and chatter I had this photo taken.

Most of you might recognize this photo from my Twitter profile. I could have swapped the photo up to something more current, especially in beard length, but I have yet to come up with a valid reason to. I like this photo too much. It tells more of a story than just me at a game; it tells the story of where I’d like to be when all the troubles of the world are falling down upon me. When I got let go from my dream job I never wanted to be anywhere else but the Coliseum. Seriously, from the bottom of my heart I can’t thank the Athletics, my supporters and especially my friends out in right field enough for your friendship and making me feel like I’m part of the gang. Everything I have ever done to promote or support the Athletics has all been done with y’all in mind:

Anson (@AnsonCasanares), Will (@RFWill149), Tony (@TonyTwo_Tone), Ross (@roscoe), Omar Gonzalez (@OmarInTheOF), Omar G (@omar01), Dennis (@Denny149), Quintona (@Wiggi_Marley), Drew (@DrewMartin6), Justin (@the_toots), James (@EastBay_Sports), Erica (@MissOakland), Taylor (@Taylorfernandez), Ralliney (@Ralliney), Andy (@RFDrummer149), Kara (@Karashotcorner), Spencer (@OakFoSho), Amanda (CheerBabyGrl410), Jorge (@Jorgeleon17), Charlie (@CharliesTheorys), Jennifer (@KiddoYoung), Adam (@ItsOpeningDay), Vanessa (@vdemske), Matt (@Norcalbowler), Sam (@Samligosky), Jess (@JessBeNotorious), Alex (@AlexEspinosaIV), Casey (@CaseyPrattCSN), Tyler (@RF_BLCHRS_No34), Bridgett (@Bridgett_Haney), Chris (@MrChris80), Kevin (@kjmendez3), Michael (@Dehlman1), Tom (@PandaYeung), Sniff (@Sniff009), Eddie (@Eddie_S510), Liza (@HilmLiza_) and everyone else who I may have forgotten. I did this all off of memory as best as I could. Thank you all very much.

72-73-74: Due to the fact that I had originally thought that this was a cap worn in the 1970s I marked it up as so. If there’s one thing that frustrates me most about being an Athletics fan is that the franchise is never really given its due. The forgotten dynasty, as it has been called, is all you really need to know. The Athletics won three consecutive World Series titles from 1972-1974, merely five years after then-owner Charlie Finely moved the team from Kansas City to Oakland. This of course was also after he bought the team from Arnold Johnson in 1960 after Johnson had bough the franchise in 1954 and moved them to Kansas City.

Prior to 1972 the Athletics had won five World Series titles during their time in Philadelphia; however, the last one came in 1930. In 1971 and 1975 the Athletics made but lost in the American League Championship Series, losing to the Baltimore Orioles the first time and the Boston Red Sox the second. In order the Athletics took out the Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Reds would go on to win it in 1975, the Mets had won just four years prior in 1969 and the Dodgers would go on to win it in 1981. Actually, the case of both the Dodgers and Reds they would both go on to get their revenge on the Athletics in 1988 and 1990 respectively (Jerks!).

The reality in all of this is that it would be fair to say that the Athletics OWNED the 1970s. Having won the AL West title in five (in a row) of the 10 years as well as winning the most World Series titles that decade, it’s hard to argue that anyone else dominated like they did. One could make a case that the Reds or the New York Yankees were close having won two times each; however, the Athletics obviously beat the Reds and the Yankees only triumphed after having acquired two of the Athletics’ best players, Jim “Catfish” Hunter and Reggie Jackson. All I’m saying is that the Athletics deserve their due.

July 15- 2013 American League All-Star

I almost didn’t buy this cap. I’ve never been too keen on All-Star Game paraphernalia and I pretty much had cast this into the same bucket, even though I thought it was pretty cool. At the time when I was in a position to pick this cap up they had been released to the public only about a day or two before #CrewEra13 got to Buffalo, New York for the New Era Cap Fan Appreciation event I wrote about on June 23^rd and June 24^th. I found myself in a weird position. I totally thought the All-Star caps were awesome, especially knowing that they came in the Diamond Era styling, but I hadn’t reached that point in my mind where I was planning on buying any of the batting practice caps. After pondering around the New Era Cap store in the lobby of their headquarters I saw John (@Interstate19) and Derick (@LeKid26) each buying the National League version, and John with the American League version as well. I just stood back grimacing at each hat which store manager Billy looked on wondering if I was going to call out a size. Sure enough, his patience and my weakness for cool hats combined as I picked up both caps as well. Well played Billy.

2007 was the first year in which uniform specific caps were introduced to the All-Star Game. By that I mean in previous years the participants wore their own teams’ caps during batting practice and for the Home Run Derby. In 2007, 2008 and 2010 the AL and NL each wore caps that said “American” or “National” across the front panels while in 2009 each cap was outfitted with just the starting letter of each league. With no real tie-in to the city/stadium that was hosting the event. At the All-Star game in 2011, 2012 and this one here (2013) the caps took on the color of the team/city/stadium that was hosting. Personally I thought this was a great touch/addition to the event as opposed to years passed when everything looked rather generic.

As I mentioned above I really didn’t know what I was going to do with these caps nor did I have any specific date intended for when I would write about them or how I would mark them up. The answer to that question came in the form of a direct message I got from my friend Jeff Sammut (@JeffSammut590), a radio show host for 590 Sportsnet in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

On the morning of July 14^th I checked my inbox before I scuttled off to work only to find that Jeff had hit me up to ask if I’d be available to do an interview on the radio some time after the Home Run Derby which would be taking place the next day. According to when the show started and would presumably end, it meant that Jeff and his producer would be giving me a call around 10:00 PM Pacific. This worked out rather well as I would getting out of work and heading to the train around that time. I got back to him immediately, told him I’d love to and we had everything set for the following evening. The only bad thing about me agreeing to this is the fact that I would be at work during the Derby and not be able to watch it or really know what’s going on except for each participant’s score at the end of each round… or so I thought. See, back on June 29^th I had detailed one of the cool features of the phone that I won during my time in the MLB Fan Cave, the master key. Due to the fact that I always had to be watching the games in the Fan Cave the powers that be made it so that I would never have to deal with blackouts no matter which games were on in whatever region. Well, what I didn’t discover until late into the 2012 playoffs is that special events like the World Series and even the All-Star Game are included in this prize as well; however, I still forgot that I could have watched the Home Run Derby. No matter, I was at work and still had the option of check everyone’s progress on my MLB At-Bat application. Things had started off like as I expected. Both captains (David Wright and Robinson Cano) were completely useless for their teams and the average round came in at about six or seven. So far it had the making of another lackluster home run derby. Well, this is until “La Potencia” came up to the dish.

In the week leading up to the 2013 All-Star Game Oakland Athletics fans, including myself, had become especially restless about the last of a presence from the former AL West champions who were now leading their division going into the break but getting no love from anyone outside of our fan base. Josh Donaldson, the well-worth third baseman had been shafted by voters and manager Jim Leyland, much in the same way that outfielder Josh Reddick had the screws put to him by the voters and then-manager Ron Washington in 2012. Like every season since 2004 the only All-Stars the Athletics have been able to muster have come in the form of pitchers. Not since catcher Ramon Hernandez is 2003 have the Athletics been able to have a representative come in the form of a position player in the mid-summer classic. And I assure you, it’s not for a lack of talent. So, with our only representation going to pitchers who potentially weren’t going to see any action after having pitched on Sunday, Bartolo Colon and Grant Balfour, all that remained was a spot or two on Cano’s team for the Home Run Derby. With a stroke of luck and a pretty fair share of begging from MLB and the fans, I’m sure, Cano called upon Yoenis Cespedes with his final selection.

#52/32- I’ll never forget the moment when I found out that the Athletics signed Yoenis to a four-year $36 million deal. I hadn’t been sleeping much due to the fact that I was balls deep into my Fan Cave campaign so my reaction hovered around the realm of not really caring and saying, “Who the f--- is this guy?” when the news broke. Well, I wouldn’t go as far to say that actually, it was more like, “Wait… we just shelled out money for an unproven player? Damn… he must be good.” Being an Athletics fan for so many years, especially under Bill Beane’s tenure as general manager has taught us a few things:

1. If Billy throws money at a player, they’re probably really good.

2. If Billy sees potential in player who has never really been given the chance in MLB, they’re probably going to have a career season.

I think it’s fair to say that both parts came true last season as Yoenis finished in second place for the AL Rookie of the Year award and 10^th for the AL MVP after batting .292 with 23 home runs and 82 RBI. As amazing as those numbers are, those are merely what they are, numbers. It’s not often that fans are given the chance to see a player come up from out of nowhere to crush a ball like Roy Hobbs in The Natural, but Yoenis may certainly be the closest Athletics fans have come to seeing the real thing. Very little was known about the Cuban defector, but at the time, all that mattered was what he could do on the ball field.

I have to admit, I was a pretty skeptical when I first heard about Yoenis back in January of 2012. Like a lot of you, I watched the highlight video “Yoenis Cespedes: The Showcase” that bounced around YouTube, but I was left feeling way more confused than anything. If you haven’t seen, or even if you have, watch it again so that you might be able to see where I’m coming from. The opening plays like Star Wars, I mean literally plays like the intro. Keys words like “new hope” and even the flattened-out text are a dead ringer. Then comes a bevy of dingers and stingers during games, all the while “Sailing” by Christopher Cross is playing as the soundtrack. Now, I’m pretty savvy when it comes to music, but Christopher Cross would be the last thing I would have playing in the background of an action-oriented highlight video. But after that, things get real. The Chris Brown gets kicked on and we’re given a wild display of wind sprints, 45-inch box jumps, 1300-pound leg presses and 4.3 second T-Drills. And it keeps going. Switch it up to Jay-Z and watch Yoenis put on a hitting clinic. I can’t exactly say that the video is the best-edited highlight film on the market; however, it certainly helped get the job done as the 26-year-old was able to land a contract. All there was left to do was prove himself in The Show.

The timing really couldn’t have been any better, all though I’m pretty sure I was chosen for the Fan Cave for the sake of having an Athletics representative in the house for the Opening Day series in Japan and in case Yoenis was going to end up being the real deal. It only took two days for Yoenis to go deep off of Shawn Kelley in the seventh inning in the 4-1 win over the Seattle Mariners, but it was his next home run off of Jason Vargas on April 6^th, the official Opening Day in Oakland, where the legend of Yoenis became a reality. Here’s the video in case you forgot. The Coliseum at night is not an easy place to knock a ball over the fence, but in the case of Yoenis the wall wasn’t so much the issue as it was trying to knock it over Mount Davis in centerfield. It is still one of the most amazing home runs I’ve seen hit at the Coliseum. Granted, I saw it on TV; I can only imagine how awesome that would have been in person. After that night though, Yoenis’s numbers started to dwindle, big time. His average was around .245 with five home runs when he hit the DL with back issues after their game against the Tampa Bay Rays on May 6^th. With as violent as his swing is, and his inability to shy away from breaking pitches, very few thought that he was going to help the club. Boy, were they ever wrong.

Whoever worked with Yoenis during his rehab phases did a remarkable job. His patience was better, his swing looked more natural and his ability to hit for extra bases was effortless. The $36 million man had been rebuilt and was ready for action. Down the stretch he proved to be a key figure as the Athletics won their first AL West Division title since 2006 in probably the most ridiculous, yet amazingly historic way possible; on the last day of the season.

Going into the All-Star break this year Yoenis had tagged 15 long balls, the last six of which had come in pairs. When Cano called Yoenis to the team we (Athletics fans) all knew that he was going to walk away with the trophy. And he certainly didn’t disappoint.

If you recall above I had said that the average score was coming in around six or seven; well, that was before Yoenis came to the plate. I was helping customers at the time of his at-bat so I was a bit surprised to see the number 17 next his name. I mean, I knew he was going to move onto the second round, but I thought he all ready had and that was his continued score. Good Lord! It was all made even more hilarious by the fact that he technically didn’t even need to take his second round at-bats on account of still having a higher score than everyone else with just his first round numbers. It was also at this point in time that my brain kicked on and I watched the final round on my phone. The bat flip at the end with five out left to burn is pretty much all you need to know about how that contest went as Yoenis finished with a score of 32. At the end of my shift I got the call from Jeff who, in his Nostradamus-like infinite wisdom, picked this day, of all days, to have me on his show.

The most interesting part of Yoenis’s victory on the night is that it came on the heels of the San Francisco Chronicle article written by Susan Sussler that was published earlier in the day about Yoenis and his family’s journey from their native Cuba to the United States. If you haven’t read it yet, here it is. All I can pretty much add to it is that Yoenis is one of the most strong-minded, big-hearted players in the game. How he was able to have the season he did while separated from his family is beyond comprehension.