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.

July 11- Oakland Athletics

I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve written an Oakland Athletics post; May 30^th to be exact. Somewhere in my constant hat shuffling and not wanting to over-saturate my posts with just my team I became a bit too wayward. Time to remedy that lapse of judgment.

Up until today this cap was just chillin’ in my closet with all of the stickers still on it. I scooped it up a few days after this last Christmas along with about 10 other caps on the last day of my holiday run while working at Just Sports (@JustSportsPDX). For some strange reason this cap was never really been much of a priority for me to add to my collection even though it’s one of the harder ones to pick up in the correct color scheme and without the MLB and New Era Cap logos on the panels. Luckily there was still one cap left in my size… which I hid in the backstock room until I was finally ready to buy it.

The Athletics first wore this cap at the start of the 1970 season under then-manager John McNamara, who was replaced that the end of the season despite the fact that it was his first full season in which he led the team to a record of 89-73. To add insult to injury, McNamara managed the last 13 games of the 1969 season in which the team went 8-5 under his leadership. Just to do the math for you that’s a record of 97-78. For those of you who aren’t too familiar with McNamara he was actually a coach for the A’s for the previous two seasons, which also happened to be the first two seasons in Oakland. Prior to that McNamara was a manager in the AA system for the Athletics and won back-to-back Southern League championships with the Mobile Athletics (1966) and Birmingham A’s (1967). Oh, and before that McNamara had been playing in the Athletics farm system from 1960-1967 during their days in Kansas City. And before that he was just some kid growing up in Sacramento, California with dreams of making it big in the Majors. So basically what you have here is a kid who grew up in the Bay Area, became a man in the farm system for the A’s before they moved to the Bay, became a leader and won championships for the A’s before they moved to the Bay, then became “The Man” not too long after they moved to the Bay, had a pretty successful first season which ended with a second place finish in the American League Western Division, only to be canned and replaced with Dick Williams. Oh wait… Dick Williams? Weeeeellllll… I guess I don’t feel so sentimental toward McNamara anymore. Williams was “The Man.” No, I don’t really feel that way. I do believe that McNamara got a bit of a raw deal by the A’s, but the move to bring in Williams as manager proved to be one of the boldest, most successful moves in franchise history. But I’ll discuss all of that in a not-too-distant post.

From 1970 through the end of the 1982 season the A’s rocked this cap with a flurry of uniform combinations that inadvertently inspired my alma mater, the University of Oregon Ducks’ dozens of football uniform combinations. Or so I’d like to think. I mean, green and gold… AND AWESOME!!! Sometimes stealing from others is flattering, and the A’s teams of the 1970s and early 1980s were definitely worth stealing from. One of the key components of this cap was the ushering in of the new “A” logo which inevitably and perfectly morphed into the “A’s.” Prior to 1970 the Athletics caps were either blank, had a “KC” or feature only the “A” as shown here in my post from January 1^st during the Philly days. Oh and trust, I have many more Athletics caps to come to break down and discuss all of these little variances. One thing to keep an eye on that has a tendency to change over the years in the bottom-left leg of the “A.” In some years and locations the extension at the bottom is small, sometime it’s long. Sometimes it has a sharper curve going off to the left; or in this case, sometimes the right extension is sharper. For some reason that has primarily been the only real difference in the logo throughout the 112-year history of the team; well, besides width, but I don’t consider that to be a dramatic difference. Also, the particular shade of Kelly green used for the hats changed to the most current, darker style that we're all used to today. The old shad of green had been used since the old Kansas City days dating back to 1963.

#35- Despite the fact that my father is an ardent San Francisco Giants fan, his favorite player growing up in San Leandro was Vida Blue. As a kid he used to tell me stories of all the games he caught at the Coliseum when he was a youngling, watching Blue and the Mustache Gang dominate in the 1972, 1973 and 1974 World Series. Actually, everyone except Blue was dominant. In the four games he pitched in at the Coliseum during all three World Series Blue went 0-3 with a 4.05 ERA and a blown save. I’m not sure if my father neglected that information on purpose or if he just blocked it out over the years. Kind of like how I’ve always elected to not care about the six years that Blue played for the Giants.

Blue wore many numbers on the back of his jersey, but it was when he wore the #35 that he had the most success from 1970-1973. In 1969 he wore #21 and #28. In the early bit of 1970 he wore #17. And from 1974-1977 he wore #14. Unlike most southpaws, Blue was a power pitcher who worked fast and blasted the strike zone. He possessed a stunning curveball and an above average change-up, but his signature pitch was a blazing fastball that could dial up to 100 miles per hour. For that time period it was unheard of for a lefty to clock that fast. In The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers, all-time hits leader Pete Rose stated that Blue "threw as hard as anyone" he had ever faced, and baseball historian Bill James cited Blue as the hardest-throwing lefty, and the second hardest thrower of his era, behind only Nolan Ryan. At the same time Bill James is also a tool and completely forgot about JR Richard when making that comment. Sorry, I’m not a fan of James.

In 1969 Blue made his Major League debut, going 1-1 with a 6.64 ERA in 12 games. Needing more help with his control, Blue started out the 1970 season in the minor leagues with the Iowa Oaks of the American Association. Blue was then called up in September, making two starts that provided a glimpse of what was to come. On September 11, he shut out the Kansas City Royals 3–0, giving up only one hit, to Pat Kelly in the eighth inning. Ten days later he no-hit the Minnesota Twins 6–0 at the Coliseum with the lone baserunner being Harmon Killebrew, who walked in the fourth inning. Not bad for the first month of his career.

In 1971 Blue dominated the American League with a force that no one could have ever predicted including his teammates. He posted a 24-8 record with a 1.82 ERA and 301 strikeouts. Detroit Tigers pitcher Mickey Lolich had 25 wins and 308 strikeouts and pitched in six more games than Blue, and proved to be the only factor in preventing the Triple Crown for Blue. Nonetheless, due to the fact that Blue was so dominant and because the Athletics won the AL West title for the franchise's first postseason berth since the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1931 World Series, Blue was awarded with the AL Cy Young and the AL MVP award, becoming the third player in MLB history to win both awards in the same season and the second person in the AL to do so. That season he also became the only player ever to be a starting pitcher in the league opener (against the Washington Senators), the All-Star Game and the playoff opener (against the Baltimore Orioles) in the same season.

After Blue's breakthrough season in 1971, he and Athletics owner Charlie Finley clashed over his salary. Blue held out, missing much of the year, and ended up with a 6–10 record. He didn't make the Athletics' post-season starting rotation, instead pitching mainly in relief. Against the Cincinnati Reds in the 1972 World Series he made four appearances, including a save in Game 1, a blown save in Game 4, and a loss in a spot-starting role in Game 6.

Blue returned to form to win 20 games in 1973, 17 games in 1974, and 22 games in 1975, as an integral member of the Oakland Athletics' five straight American League Western Division pennants from 1971 to 1975, and three consecutive World Championships in 1972, 1973, and 1974. In the cases of 1973 and 1975, as well as in 1976, he only managed to crack the top-seven for AL Cy Young voting and the top-29 for the AL MVP. Perhaps his finest postseason performances were four innings of shutout relief work against the Tigers to save Game 5 of the 1972 American League Championship Series and a complete-game 1-0 shutout against the Orioles in Game 3 of the 1974 ALCS.

On September 28, 1975, Blue, Glenn Abbott, Paul Lindblad and Rollie Fingers combined to no-hit the California Angels 5-0. The no-hitter is, as of 2012, one of only two to be pitched on the final day of a regular season, the other being Mike Witt's perfect game in 1984. Blue also became the first no-hit pitcher to also pitch in a combined no-hitter; he has since been joined by Witt, Kent Mercker and Kevin Millwood.

In 1976, baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn vetoed an attempt by  Charlie Finley to sell Blue to the New York Yankees, and in 1977, Kuhn cancelled a proposed trade of Blue to the Reds. In both instances, Kuhn said the trades would be bad for baseball because they would benefit already powerful teams without making them give up any significant talent in return. At the end of the 1976 season, nearly the entire A's roster of star players from Oakland's championship teams left with baseball's new free agency, or were traded off by Finley, leaving Blue, who was still under contract with Oakland, to mentor a new team of primarily rookies and other young players. In 1978, Blue was traded to the San Francisco Giants. Overall he finished his A’s career with a record of 124-86, an ERA of 2.95 and threw 1315 strikeouts.

Even though he is arguably one of the most accomplished pitchers of all-time, even by Bill James’s standards, Blue only managed to get 8.7% of the vote from the Baseball Writers Association of America in 1993 for the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Blue was never eligible for a vote from the Veteran’s Committee due to the fact that he only made it four years in the voting process. Pretty God damn ridiculous if you ask me.

.118- One of my favorite MLB trivia questions I was asked as a kid and I now ask to anyone who challenges me at overall knowledge has to be, “ Who was the last switch-hitter to win the AL MVP award?” Two names will generally ring out in even the most casual of baseball fan’s heads: Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray, but both answers are wrong. Murray is wrong for the sake that he never won an MVP award in his career, but he did finish in second place twice in 1982 and 1983 while with the Orioles. Mantle would technically be correct if it wasn’t for another player winning the MVP after he last did in 1962. So? Who is it?

The only thing you really need to know in this case to help you remember is that up until 1973 the designated hitter rule didn’t exist. Therefore, any pitcher who won the MVP award before then gets to be thrown into the mix. It just so happens that Blue is a switch-hitter and batted a legit .118 on the season in 1971 with one double and two RBI to his credit. Pretty crazy eh?

May 30- Oakland Athletics

I’ve finally come to the end of this journey, but I assure that this will not be my final Stars and Stripes post. I still have a few more teams to go, but I still need to track them down. Some day soon I’m sure it will all come together.

This was the first and only hat of the 2012 Stars and Stripes collection I ever intended on picking up. I bought it a few days before Father’s Day when I was hanging out and catching up with my friend Jason at Just Sports (@JustSportsPDX) in Clackamas. I was originally going to scoop it up while I was in New York during my time in the MLB Fan Cave, but unfortunately there was a “disagreement” between the powers that be and myself over retaining my employment. Basically, I wanted to keep my job, but they felt the exact opposite. It happens.

Actually, due to the fact that it’s an Oakland Athletics hat, they were pretty much non-existent throughout New York City. I had popped over the New Era Flagship store a few times as they were being released, but they had the New York Yankees, New York Mets and Boston Red Sox in stock. The Red Sox one was really weird for them to have, but then again I’m sure they sell. The Lids Web site had all three color variations of the cap, but for some reason I didn’t buy any of them there either. Actually, to be honest, the main reason I started collecting of these specific models is because of something I touched on in my post from May 20^th about the Atlanta Braves. 10 of the hats I picked up were being clearanced out for the price of 2 for $22. At that moment the only thing that mattered was that they were worn on the field at some point and I had no reason to not pull the trigger. It is my one rule (which I bend a few times) of my New Era collection, every hat must have been used on the field. There just isn’t that much history that can be drawn out of a custom cap… well, maybe one custom cap, but that’ll be kept a secret until later in the year.

Sorry to break off in a weird tangent, just had to bring everyone else up to speed. Anyway, this was the only color that any of the Just Sports stores had in stock. Since I was able to actually touch it and try it on I didn’t really have any reason to not buy it. It was also within this purchase that I bought my stepfather’s Los Angeles Dodgers cap for Father’s Day as well. Nothing like killing two birds with one stone, I always say.

The second I got home I absconded into my bedroom to do a bit of research and hat marking for this cap. It was interesting to see so many players from the turn of the century who had gone to war during the Connie Mack era, but none of them really seemed to fit my mold of an interesting story. So I combed along, changing my keywords and parameters until I came across one player, buuuuuuut… I’ll get to that in a moment. Sorry, I segued myself to the end a little too fast there. Sorry.

Since 1971, the Athletics third season in Oakland, they’ve gone 21-18 on Memorial Day with five days missed due to travel or off days, the most of any team I’ve written about. I found a feeeeeewww patters within their record, but something that could easily be refuted. In 1971 the Athletics played the Yankees in a double header. They lost the first game, but won the second. In 1972 they played they Texas Rangers in a double dip, winning both games as well as the World Series that season. In 1973 they beat the Yankees and went on to win the World Series that year as well. In 1974 the Athletics played and beat the Detroit Tigers and then went on to win the World Series for a third time. Now, up until this point anytime the Athletics beat a team twice on Memorial Day they went on to win the World Series; however, they only beat the Tigers once. Well, upon further research I found out that the Athletics beat the Tigers the next time they played… in 1977. The Athletics won every game leading up to the game as well. After that, everything falls apart. The Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals twice in 1976 and 1980, but no trophy. In 1985 the Athletics beat the Yankees once again and then followed that up with another victory in 1988, but they lost the World Series that year to the Dodgers. But not 1989. Basically, all these little facts and numbers really don’t mean anything other than what the writer (me) can spin out of the information. I thought this bit of history was fun to break down on a more unorthodox level.

Now, onto the marks.

19-’49: Leland V “Lou” Brissie was born on June 5, 1924 in Anderson, South Carolina. He didn’t play baseball in high school but played, instead, in the local textile league with the ware Shoals mill team. On the day he graduated from Ware Shoals High School, Athletics’ manager, Connie Mack, signed him to a professional contract and agreed to send the 6-foot 4-inch southpaw to Presbyterian College for three years.

Brissie was scheduled to report to the Athletics for spring training in 1943, but enlisted with the Army in December 1942. “I lost a brother in the war so I enlisted in the service,” Brissie explained. Brissie began basic training on March 25, 1943, and was stationed at Camp Croft, South Carolina. In June 1944, he pitched for the Monaghan semi-pro textile team of Greenville. Brissie struck out 22 of the Easley mill team batters in the contest but lost, 1-0, on a home run. The week before, pitching for Camp Croft against the Greenville Army Air Base Jay Birds, he struck out 19.

Later that year, Corporal Brissie was sent to Italy with the 88^th Infantry Division. He served as a squad leader with G Company of the 351^st Infantry Regiment. On December 7, 1944, Brissie's squad was hit by a fierce artillery attack in the Apennine Mountains in northern Italy. "Our unit suffered over 90 percent casualties," Brissie said. "Within minutes we lost three of our four officers as well as eight other men in the barrage," he recalled. Brissie was badly hit. His left shinbone was shattered in more than 30 pieces and his left ankle and right foot were broken. He had to crawl for cover through the mud and then lay there unconscious until he was found hours later. Brissie was rushed to a field hospital where his leg should have been amputated, but somehow he was able to persuade the doctors to ship him to an evacuation hospital where the limb might be saved. He was finally sent to a military hospital in Naples where Captain Wilbur Brubaker set about saving the young soldier’s leg. “Captain Brubaker did a marvelous job,” Brissie told sportswriter Joe O’Loughlin in 2005. “Once he operated on me, I didn’t wonder if I could make it back to pitch but how I could do it. I felt like the good Lord put Dr. Brubaker in my life. I really felt that God put me on the path that took me to all those hospitals over that three-day period to get me to someone who could help me.”

Brissie went through a total of 23 operations and 40 blood transfusions on the road to recovery. “They had to reconstruct my leg with wire,” he explains. “I wound up going to hospitals all over. I was the first guy in the Mediterranean Theater who was put on penicillin therapy.” During that time, Brissie received a letter from Connie Mack who said that when Brissie was ready to play ball he would see to it that he would get the chance. Brissie never wavered from his vision of pitching in the majors. “I’ll play ball again,” he told Scoop Latimer, sports editor of the Greenville News, “but it will be quite a while. I want to play ball. If God lets me, I’ll play it, too. That’s my ambition.”

In 1945, still on crutches and with a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts to his name, Brissie went to Philadelphia to see Mack. But at that time he was not ready to play. “Determination can do it,” Mack told reporters. "I know he'll make good. I'll never forget how he looked last summer, he had just undergone an operation and was about to undergo another one. He was on crutches and I thought ‘poor boy, he'll never be able to pitch again.'” But crutches and all, Brissie could not stay away from baseball. Although he suffered a re-infection of the leg in 1946, he received a contract from Mack for 1947.

He reported to the Savannah Indians of the South Atlantic League and went on to win 23 games that year with an incredible 1.19 ERA. "Brissie has had only one year of organized baseball,” Mack told the press. “But he has tremendous speed and a lot of stuff." 

On September 28, with his leg in a specially designed brace, Brissie was on the mound for the Philadelphia Athletics in his major league debut, donning the #17. Facing the Yankees in their last game of the season, the lefthander went seven innings and struck out four against Bill Wight in the 5-3 loss. "It was a great day," Brissie later recalled. "I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. I lost the game, but it was still a great experience."

Brissie returned with the Athletics for the 1948 season and changed his jersey to #19, posting a 14-10 record with a 4.13 ERA and 127 strikeouts, as Mack’s team finished a surprising fourth in the American League. Brissie finished in fourth place for the AL Rookie of the Year award and 24^th place for the AL MVP. In 1949, he went 16-11 with 4.28 ERA and 118 strikeouts. ’49 would also be the year he’d make an appearance in an All-Star Game. He pitched three innings, giving up a few runs including a home run to Ralph Kiner of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the sixth inning. Regardless, the American League won the game 11-7.

Brissie pitched for the Athletics until the middle of 1951 when he was traded to the Cleveland Indians, where he’d stick it out until the end of the 1953 season.

#30/36 On July 23, 1939 an unknown Athletics player named Harry O’Neill was brought into the game as a defensive substitution at catcher for every day guy Franklin Hayes. The two innings he’d end up recording were the only six outs he’d ever make in his professional career. He never had an at-bat; he also never had a consistent jersey number for the few games he saw from the bench, #30 and #36.

O'Neill distinguished himself as a very gifted college athlete. At Gettysburg College, the 6-foot-3, 205-pounder sometimes called "Porkie," led the school's baseball, football and basketball teams to league championships. After graduation, he was the subject of a bidding war between two American League teams, eventually signing with his hometown A's. After spending two years in the minor leagues, O'Neill enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1942, and rose to the rank of first lieutenant with the 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division. Fighting in Saipan, he was wounded in the shoulder by shrapnel, treated for weeks back in the U.S. Soon after, he was shipped back to the Pacific to Iwo Jima, where he was killed by a sniper. O’Neill has the unfortunate distinction of being one of two MLB players to be killed during the war. In 1980, Harry M. O'Neill was inducted into Gettysburg College's Hall of Athletic Honor for baseball, football and basketball.