July 23- Eugene Emeralds

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

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

Flashback

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

Back to reality

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And Felix and I toasted our accomplishments.

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

May 14- Arizona Diamondbacks

Today was kind of interesting. The newly acquired short season-A club the Hillsboro Hops were holding an open casting call for jobs over the summer and I figured why not give it a shot. It’s been a solid 13 years since I last worked for a professional baseball team at which all of that time came on the field as the bat boy for the Bakersfield Blaze. As cool as it would be to work in a clubhouse again, the title of bat boy doesn’t seem fitting for a man of my age; let alone for the fact that I can grow a manlier beard than any of the guys on the team. I printed my resume off, hiked down the road, caught a bus and I was there. I dropped off my resume, answered a few questions and as quickly as I got there I was on my way out again. It almost feels like it didn’t even happen at all. I had worn a hat inside and made sure to take it off before I walked through the door. Without even realizing it the hat I had chosen to wear and write about today is in fact the Major League affiliate of the team I interviewed with. Since 2001 the Yakima Bears, now Hops, have been an affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks as members of the Northwest League. As I just mentioned, my hat choice today came more out of a spot in the rotation and had little to do with whom I was being interviewed by.

I picked this bad boy up while I was in Florida visiting my girlfriend Angie Kinderman (@sconnieangie). The online shop for Major League Baseball was running a huge sale on the last of the Stars and Stripes hats from 2012 left in their inventory so I made sure to get as many teams as I possibly could. I preferred the black one, but unfortunately they didn’t have my size so I rolled with the brick red to fulfill my goal of obtaining at least one from every team. In the past few years the Diamondbacks have been one the few teams to show a constant deal of support for the troops, which is something I take a lot of pride in considering the fact that my stepfather spent a good chunk of his life in Arizona before and after his time with the Army Special Forces.

At the forefront of all of this attention in paying tribute to the troops is the Diamondbacks’ mascot, Baxter. For those who don’t know, D. Baxter the Bobcat was unveiled to the world on June 23, 2000, at Chase Field. The idea for the mascot came from Brantley Bell, son of former second baseman Jay Bell, who explained to his dad that the team should have a "BOB" cat as a mascot since the team played in the BOB (Bank One Ballpark). Bell informed management about his son's idea and Baxter was born. Pretty cool if you ask me.

As far as Memorial Day games are concerned I was only able to find one consistent pattern in the 15 possible games the Diamondbacks could have played on this date. Their record is a blow average 6-8 with one game off in 2005; however, the only thing that I was able to uncover is that the Diamondbacks are 1-0 I the World Series anytime they beat the San Francisco Giants on Memorial Day. Yah, this stat is a bit farfetched, but not really. The Diamondbacks have played the Giants on Memorial Day four times (2001, 2002, 2004 and 2012). In that span the Diamondbacks are 1-3, but in that one year, with that one win they did end up going on to win the World Series. The one thing I can tell you is that the Diamondbacks are playing the Texas Rangers this year, so don’t go rushing to Las Vegas to lay a bet down just yet. But be sure to keep an eye out for when the Giants and Diamondbacks meet up again on Memorial Day and be sure to have your money ready if the Diamondbacks win.

When trying to come up with numbers for this hat I figured it was probably best to just use the last two paragraphs as a lead-in. So, here they are…

#1: It took me a bit to track this down, but I did find out that Baxter’s jersey number is in fact #1. Kind of an odd thing to try and find a picture of, to be honest. How often does a person take a photo of the back of a mascot? Anyway, back in October of 2012 I had been contemplating a few more mascot-related tattoo ideas when I remembered a conversation I had with the person who runs Baxter’s Twitter account (@DBacksBaxter) from December I believe. The one thing I should point out with this conversation is that it all happened when Baxter went down to an ankle injury during an event. I had sent him some well-wishes and he suggested that I get a tattoo of himself on me since I had the original batting practice logo of the snake tattooed on me. Based on my desire to get all of the mascots inked on me I just couldn’t argue his logic. Kind of weird to get such an insight from a mascot. Hmmmmm… anyway, I scoured through photos trying to find something that was really fitting as every tattoo that I have has some sort of deeper back story to it. Of all the photos that I kept running across the ones that made the most sense was Baxter in military camouflage from his visits to military bases over the years. My stepfather’s time in the Army also played a big part in my decision, but there really wasn’t anything telling me not to do it. So, on a cold Tuesday in January my tattoo artist, Felix the Tat, and I made it happen.

I hadn’t really done anything patriotic with any of my tattoos. Even in the one case where I really could have with Screech, the Washington Nationals mascot, I still put it in a Montreal Expos uniform. I have a great deal of respect for any individual, let alone team, who dedicates so much of their time for the amusement and celebration of others. So to you Baxter, I tip my cap… and have you forever etched on my body in full support the troops mode.

5/27/13: Yes, I have gone into the future and all ready paid tribute to a moment that all of you will finally witness in less than two weeks. Actually, I looked ahead in the schedule and caught something that very few of you probably did. In my previous Stars and Stripes posts I mentioned how a few teams ended up playing doubleheaders on Memorial Days as part of make-ups for missed games earlier in the season. Well, the Diamondbacks have gone and blown the minds of the baseball realm; the purposely scheduled a doubleheader on Memorial Day. This sort of practice, pre-scheduling doubleheaders, is not new. In fact, the Diamondbacks did it last season and had such success with it they decided to do it again; this time with the two-game series they have with the Rangers on May 27^th.

Of all the things in baseball I’ve ever wanted to be a part of, a doubleheader is definitely on my list. I missed the Oakland Athletics double-dip against the Los Angeles Angels back in 2011 and I’ve been patiently awaiting another chance. In the case of the Diamondbacks something like this should never happen. By that I mean they play in a stadium with a retractable roof; therefore, there is nothing to really keep them from playing a regularly scheduled game. But, leave it to the people in charge to find a way to heighten the fan experience on a day in which we celebrate those who have fought and lost their lives for our country. I’m not being sarcastic. I seriously think this is a great activity for the holiday. Because what’s more American, and a better way to celebrate those who we remember for their brave sacrifice, than baseball? Nothing.

March 20- Australia World Baseball Classic

My story starts in New York City on August 22nd in front of the New Era Flagship Store, smoking the last bit of a cigarette. It had been two and a half months since I had been let go from the MLB Fan Cave, yet I was standing across the street from it tapping into their Wi-Fi network as the password was still locked into my phone. It was a little after 10 AM EST and it was the first chance I had to look at what was going on in the social media world; very little from what I can remember. At the moment when I threw my cigarette out Antoine, the store manager, happened to be walking up to pay a visit to the store. We said our hellos, asked how each of us was doing, as it turned out he was just promoted within the company to start to more social media based work. I congratulated him and he told me to keep things positive, that something would come along soon for my future. He then asked if I had seen the new World Baseball Classic hats to which I asked if hey had them in the store. He said yes and I immediately followed him in to take a peek.

They had all of them there, as they had just been released about a day or two prior to my visit. My purpose for my visit actually relied more heavily on a particular Texas Rangers hat that had been discontinued, but which they still had a few left in stock. Needless to say, my 3000 miles journey back was met with equal disappointment on account of them not having my size. However, I did walk out of there with two new hats, but for the life of me I can’t remember which ones I picked up. What I can tell you is that this Australian National Team cap was starring me down the second I walked through the door. I mean, look at it. It’s green and gold and has a big “A” with stars for the logo. Clearly it was fate, and I needed to own that hat… but for some reason, that too also didn’t leave in a nicely packaged New Era bag. That one would have to wait.

Between that day and August 27^th I made my way to Boston, Massachusetts for a third time before moving on to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the next leg of my trip. I got into Pittsburgh on the 25^th and rented a car for the next couple of days. I had been in correspondence with a few good people from the New Era head office in Buffalo, New York about taking a tour and they agreed to let me come by on the 28^th. Buffalo was only three and half hours away from Pittsburgh to the northeast so I figured it was no big deal. Unfortunately, Cleveland, Ohio was also three and a half hours away from Pittsburgh to the northwest and I had to be there on the 27^th for when the Oakland Athletics took on the Cleveland Indians. So in essence Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Buffalo made this very nice equilateral triangle. Feeling good, and very well rested, I didn’t see any foreseeable problems with this plan of going from one place to the other. Yaaaaaaahhhhh…

On the morning of the 27^th I left Pittsburgh around 10 o’clock in the morning. The game wasn’t until 7 PM so I figured I would kill time by checking out the sites and the Rock and Roll Museum about a mile away from the stadium. I got into Cleveland around 2 PM in the midst of a vicious storm. For a moment I remember being really angry that the game would be rained out, but I hadn’t gotten any reports to prove this. Starving, I went and got a sandwich at Subway before heading over and killing time at the Rock and Roll Museum. It was pretty awesome. They don’t let you take photos inside, but it was pretty rad nonetheless. Around 3:45 PM the clouds starting moving out and the rain had stopped. A wave of relief washed over me as I headed back to the car to get a spot closer to The Jake (yes, I realize it’s called Progressive Field now). Around 4 PM they opened the gates and let whomever come through. I think I was one of about 20 total people to be there that early. My excuse was that this was going to be the only game I would attend so I had to get in and take as many photos as possible before the game started. After about 30 minutes of walking around, snapping photos I headed down to the right field wall to take a few more. It’s at the time I realized that the A’s were not going to be taking batting practice, but the pitchers were all out on the field doing warm-ups. About halfway down the steps I heard someone yell my name. I looked around and figured there was someone else also named Ben in the area. Nope! Jerry Blevins had spotted me from a solid 60 yards away at which I realized that about 75% of the pitching staff was now waving at me as if they were my parent who had just dropped me off to school. I of course waved back, some greetings were yelled and that was all I really thought of it. About 20 minutes later Blevins, Ryan Cook, Travis Blackley and Sean Doolittle all came over to the bullpen and called me over. One-by-one each of them shook my hand and told me it was a pleasure to meet me. It was kind of an odd feeling at first as it had been quite some time, excluding the Fan Cave, since anyone within the professional sports realm had opened up and talked to me like a normal person. For years I had been on the journalistic side; always asking questions about their job, not really getting to know them on a normal plane as I always smart enough to discern between one atmosphere and the other. But today… today was the day when jobs and titles didn’t matter. Today was the day when grown men forgot about the barrier and took time to be kind, thoughtful to one another.

Flashback: Travis had been following me on Twitter since the day after I Got kicked out of the Fan Cave. Eddie Mata and I were at Chase Field about to catch the New York Mets versus the Philadelphia Phillies when I checked my Twitter account while we were in line for a pastrami sandwich. Several executives and employees of Major League Baseball that day, and every one of them came up to Eddie and me asking why we were there. It was an interesting lesson in how news does not travel well within the confines of the offices of MLB despite the fact that the entire internet knew we had been given the axe. Anyway, I was checking my Twitter activity when I noticed that Travis had started following me on Twitter. I remember thinking, “Bullshiiiiiiiit, this is probably a fake account.” When I saw the little blue checkmark next his name I was honestly taken aback. Not necessarily because he was following me, but mostly because I felt like a jerk for not following him in the first place. Oops!

Back to Reality: So Travis came over and introduced himself to me and thanked me for everything I had done to support the team. I thanked him back to the tune of I think, “thanks for being an all-around badass yourself,” which is totally something that I would say. A few kids came over and asked for autographs and we continued our conversation. I don’t think we talked about baseball at all beyond those first two sentences, which is a habit of mine I developed from all of my time working with the Bakersfield Blaze: if a player wants to talk about their job, or if you’re job is to talk about baseball with said players, do it; if not, talk about something else. This is a philosophy I have maintained for the better part of the last 13 years (damn, has it really been that long?) as well as during my time in the Fan Cave. (Even though it was our “job” to talk about baseball with the players we met, I never did. There are way more important things to talk about than work, and with that, all of the guys opened up to me, and confided in me. I will never violate that trust.) So, we kept our conversation about tattoos. Shocker, right? We chatted for about five minutes and parted ways on a solid note. After all, he actually did have a job to do.

The A’s won the game that night 3-0 behind a marvelous pitching performance from Brett Anderson and a save from Grant Balfour. One thing of note is that this game was certainly not the first, nor the last time I did Balfour Rage on the road, and especially without the accompaniment of music. It was weird to say the least. 

After the game I went out for a few drinks with some of the guys, but that part of the story will have to wait until later. The only part that you need to know is that I had a three and a half hour journey ahead of me back to Pittsburgh, only to have to do the same trip in the morning to Buffalo to be there by 1 PM for my New Era tour. Not the one to drive drunk, I decided to sleep it off in my car until I was good enough to drive back. I still can’t remember why I drove back to Pittsburgh, but I did incredibly fast and early in the morning. I got to the hotel around 9 AM, laid down for 20 minutes, got up, showered and got out the door by 9:30. Somehow I made it to New Era headquarters with 15 minutes to spare. I’m still baffled by that.

Now, back on January 5^th I had actually written about my visit to New Era HQ when I wrote about my Tucson Padres hat. There will come a time when I write about my visit in more detail, but that, and my nights in Cleveland will have to wait until I write about the A’s road hat. This hat, like the Padres hat, was starring me down even harder than when I ran across it at the Flagship Store. Not being the kind of guy who makes the same mistake twice, I of course picked it up without much of a struggle. When I walked out of the shop I checked my phone for the time: 2:45 PM. Jonny Gomes had left me tickets for that night’s game and I had yet another three and a half hour trip ahead of me. While that story will have to wait, what I can tell you is that I immediately marked this guy up and took an immediate photo to post before I headed west back to Cleveland. This one…

I think there will be little to no argument on my markings of choice.

#54- Travis is hands down one of the coolest guys I’ve ever met, and more importantly, one of the greatest guys I can consider a confidant throughout this whole life changing experience from 2012. I remember watching his early days with the Seattle Mariners back in 2004 at Safeco Field. Unfortunately both games I happened to attend were both games against the A’s. All I’ll say is that neither of them ended well, but I could tell by the amount of games he was getting, as well as how far apart they were, that he definitely had the stuff for a decent career. The biggest problem was that the Mariners didn’t know how to utilize him. A shoulder injury kept him out for the 2005 season, as well as the World Baseball Classic that season in 2006. Travis again resurfaced for two games in 2007 with the San Francisco Giants before bouncing around over the next four years including his 2009 WBC campaign in which he earned a no decision against Cuba, as well as spending the Australian summer of 2010 (December-March) playing for the Melbourne Aces and 2011 with the KIA Tigers in the Korean League. On February 16, 2012 Travis was signed to a Minor League deal by the San Francisco Giants which was picked up and allowed him to make four appearances after May 1. I remember his first outing well because Ashley Chavez and I talked about how much of a badass he is throughout his first game back. On May 13^th he was designated for assignment… only to have the A’s claim him off of waivers two days later.

This was the moment when I knew that all the great things he was capable of as pitcher would come to light. I realize it’s kind of BS to just say that now, but you should go back and look at my tweets from then if you don’t believe me. As expected, Travis zoned in. During his time with the Giants he had pitched five innings and gave up five earned runs giving him a 9.00 ERA. During his time with the A’s, Travis went 102 2/3 innings in 24 games earning 44 runs to give him a 3.86 ERA. For a guy who most critics left for dead, that’s beyond incredible. The two games I will remember most from Travis came one week apart, both of which were against the Texas Rangers.

The A’s had been slowly chipping away at the AL West division lead for the last two months and this was the time when the A’s were ready to swoop in a steal it out from underneath them. On September 27^th Travis got tagged for five runs in the first inning and the A’s lost the game 9-7. I’ll never forget walking back to the hotel and seeing the apology letter that Travis had posted on his Twitter account after the guy. I DMed him some words of encouragement and he thanked me, but in all seriousness, what the hell did I know about being in that position? I was supposed to fly back to Oregon and drive down for the game on September 1, but was too sick to make the drive. Instead, I watched the A’s clinch a playoff spot from home, crying like a little girl. Not one to wimp out, I rested, woke up early the next morning and bought a few boxes of Voodoo Doughnuts before I raced down to Oakland for the that night’s game. I knew in advance that Travis was pitching that night and my main priority was to get him one of the actual voodoo doll doughnuts to him before he took the field. I got to Oakland a little bit after the gates had opened and bolted down to the field. Lucky for me, AJ Griffin was walking around talking on his phone on the field. I flagged him down and handed both of the boxes I had in my hands. His response was, “of course you give the fat kid the doughnuts.”

I didn’t see Travis before the game, but all I could think was that if he was lights out tonight, he definitely crushed the doughnut. Sure enough, he dominated; to the tune of six innings with one earned run, two walks, three hits and five strikeouts. The A’s won the game and Travis received the W. It wasn’t until the next day when the A’s won their final game that I was able to talk to Travis about the doughnut. When we came out of the clubhouse and into the parking lot he gave me a big hug. His first words were, “I crushed that doughnut 15 minutes before I took the mound.”

That moment meant a lot, mostly for a random bit of kindness he had given me in the middle of September. After my tour of the Midwest I had gotten back to Oregon feeling more exhausted than usual. I was supposed to drive to Anaheim the next morning to catch the A’s play the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim the following day, but I was way too sick to make it, so I tweeted to let everyone know. Travis was the first person to hit me up and offered to feed me Thera-Flu if I made it down. Sadly I didn’t, but it was a gesture that went a long way.

#50- I remember sitting in a chair in the Fan Cave, watching a game versus the Kansas City Royals on April 9 when I was first introduced to Balfour Rage. I was completely mesmerized, but laughing my ass off at the same time as the Right Field Bleacher Crew was going absolutely berserk with “One” by Metallica playing the background. It was at that moment, and Bacon Tuesday the following day, that I knew I wanted to be at the Coliseum as soon as I possibly could. Balfour had done well for the A’s in 2011, but served primarily as a late innings relief pitcher that season. Prior to his time in the green and gold he had modest success with the Minnesota Twins from 2001-2004, but didn’t get a lot of innings. In 2005 he was sidelined due to injury, but came back with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2007 before getting DFAed in July, only to then be dealt to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for Seth McClung. He would finish the season out in the bullpen. In 2008 he was DFAed by the Rays after Spring Training, but was called up in May during a series against the Chicago White Sox. He earned a save on 31 May against the White Sox, retiring Brian Anderson to end the game in a Rays 2-0 win. In a series sweep against the Chicago Cubs at Tropicana Field, he was credited with two of the three wins - the first on 16 June, relieving Scott Kazmir with the score 1–1 and bases loaded, pitching 1 1/3 perfect innings in a 3–2 win; the second on 18 June, entering the game trailing 1–2, and pitching 1 2/3 innings, recording three strikeouts, in a game the Rays won 8–3. For the rest of season, Balfour was lights out going 6-2 with a 1.54 ERA and as he and the Rays made the World Series for the first time the franchise’s history.

Balfour hung with the Rays until the end of the 2010 season. In 2011 he signed with the A’s and pitched well his first season going 5-2 with a 2.47 ERA. One thing that needs to be pointed out, that very few people know outside of the Coliseum, is that Balfour Rage made its first appearance during that season by Will MacNeil (@RFWill149). Here’s the proof… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIKWfJ22icI&list=UUQtwMGoIXlkY-wLnTUhXvXg&index=24  While it is true that a little bit of it was to do with Balfour’s behavior on the mound to psyche himself up, almost all of it has to do with randomness off the top of Will’s head. And look what it’s become. Glorious!!!

As I mentioned above my Balfour Rage moment was not the first such incident, nor was it the last. I did many of times in the Fan Cave, as well as on the road in Seattle, but the best night came on September 25 against the Rangers in Arlington. Like a lot of road games I had attended I went with someone I had been in regular correspondence with on Twitter. For this game I went with Mike Gonzalez (@TheTxGonzo). 

We hit it off pretty well, smack talking in person and on Twitter the whole game, even made it on CSN Bay Area late in the game…

Like all the road games I had gone to I broke out the Bernie Lean to massive confusion from the crowd. For Balfour Rage, most people had thought I was insane. I gave Mike my phone to take pictures while every starred on.

The first few moments were in absolute silence, but then, for some reason, the guy running the music at the Ballpark in Arlington kicked on “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns n’ Roses. I looked like less of a weirdo, but barely. Balfour closed it out and Mike and I went out for beers. What we didn’t know is that the bar we were invited to was also the bar the players went to after the game. Coincidentally, the only member of the A’s to roll in was Balfour. Not to drink, but to hang out with a few of his friends who had come in from Sydney, Australia. Mike and I on the other hand, knock a few mugs back. At the end of the night Balfour spotted me and yelled across the bar, “What do you want mate!?” At first I shook him off, having all ready had too much, but then I came to my senses and yelled whiskey. Unfortunately, my request was too late as the bar tender had stopped serving. Nonetheless, Balfour came over and chatted it up with us for a bit at which I showed him the photos from the night. He got a good laugh out of it and thanked me for being there to support him and the guys.

Balfour never got an opportunity to play for Team Australia in the WBC in 2009 because of his contract with the Rays nor this season due to injury, but he still deserves the credit for being one hell of a badass for his country.

The last thing I need to comment on is how big Balfour Rage became throughout the season. It came up at #37 on the MLB Network's Best Fan Moments of 2012. I'm just happy that I could have been a part of it throughout the year. Tip of the cap to you Will!

 

March 14- Baltimore Orioles

To start this post off I first have to thank everyone for following me through this journey. These posts are not just about the hats I love to collect and wear, but a celebration of the people who have enriched my life through baseball. Last night’s post was not only the most viewed post in a 24 hour time frame, but the most of any that I have written altogether. Over 1000 views to be exact; in which I mostly have Gio Gonzalez to thank for retweeting it this morning. Every day is a new challenge; but most of all, every day is a new treat to be able to share these stories with everyone. Without your support, this mission wouldn’t mean as much. Thank you all!

For the last five years or so I’ve slowly gotten back into collecting baseball cards on a more regular basis. When I was three-years-old I was for introduced to the hobby by my older brothers Matt and Adam. Adam is four years older than me and Matt is five years older, but even as young as I was, they both hooked me up with a few of their doubles since I wasn’t old enough to have any means of being able to go out and buy any packs on my own. The first card they gave me? 1986 Topps Jose Canseco rookie card. My father and Adam grew up San Francisco Giants fans, but Matt made sure I got a firm education in being an Oakland Athletics fan; hence the card choice. From that day I was hooked; not just on the A’s, but also starting my own extensive baseball card collection. From ’86 until 1993 I bought packs with whatever birthday and Christmas money I garnered. During those days I ran the gamut, buying Donruss, Upper Deck, Topps, etc., but as I got into my teenage years I maintained my focus on Topps. There was always something nostalgic about it, which I think played heavily on the Canseco card my brother gave me. Today I buy a pack or two whenever I have a few extra bucks in my pocket after picking up my monthly necessities at Target. I’m not particularly focused on getting a complete set; hell, I’m not even that psyched on pulling the inserts. I do it because I love the feeling of opening a pack of cards. It brings back the feeling of opening presents on Christmas, even for just a few moments.

As a youngling the highlight of opening a pack was being able to admire all of the logos printed on the front. I knew who a few of the players I was getting were, but for the most part I critiqued whether I had a good pack or a bad pack based on the variety of teams I got, especially the A’s ones. From what I recall I always enjoyed getting Montreal Expos, Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers, and most importantly, Baltimore Orioles cards. Their logos throughout the 1980s are still iconic pieces of art throughout the history of baseball. The Orioles smiling bird logo always made me laugh because it reminded me of something I would find in a comic book. As I got older and started seeing it less and less until it was finally gone, it made me a little sad inside. It felt as if a small piece of the best years of my youth had been temporarily dispatched from the planet and placed in a time capsule, waiting to be unearthed when I was old enough to appreciate it more. That day finally came in July of 2011.

For years I had seen this hat at almost every sports shop I walked through, especially the one I worked at, Just Sports (@JustSportspdx). For some stupid reason I kept putting it off, and off, and off until the wheels in my head finally kicked on and I dropped the cash down fast than you can say Brooks Robinson. Of all the Orioles hats to collect, this one was the most important as it told tales from years past that will forever live in the infamy of baseball.

It served as the Orioles game cap from 1975-1988. Under its awesomeness the Orioles fielded many greats such as Brooks Robinson, Lee May, Reggie Jackson (one season), Eddie Murray and of course, the Ironman, Cal Ripken, Jr. In the 14 years the O’s rocked this cap they only won World Series in 1983, the same year that Cal won his first American league MVP. But to be honest, as great as their accomplishments were, there was only one specific thing that I always come back whenever I wear or see this cap/logo.

#616- Some of you may have all ready known where I was going with this story from the start, but for those of you who don’t, you’re in for a treat. As I mentioned above, I had always been an avid collector of Topps baseball cards, but there was one year of Fleer that will always be #1 in my book. 1989 was a great year for me; the Oakland A’s dominated the Giants in extreme fashion in the World Series, I had a productive first grade year, and most importantly, I got my first Billy Ripken card. What was originally supposed to be a $.05 common card turned out to be one of the most sought after cards in the history of the hobby. Here it is if you haven’t had the honor of gazing upon it…

That’s right! The infamous “Fuck Face” card. When the cards were first released in 1989 very few people gave it much thought. After all, it’s just Billy Rip with a bat on his shoulder, doing the classic profile pose. Not to mention, the writing on the bat is rather small and hardly noticeable at first, but once people took notice, its popularity soared.

What ensued was absolute chaos and—as the "error" card's price rose to nearly $500—there were some amazing stories. A kid, who happened to be a fan of Ripken, had purchased a huge lot of No. 616's from a dealer for $50. When the curse was found, the new worth of the cards was closer to $20,000. There was the story of one kid who sued another kid for convincing him to sell his Billy Ripken for $1, without knowing the curse was on the bat. And the tale of the Geraldo show entitled "Men who write bad things in public places," when an audience member claimed it was he who wrote the obscenity on Ripken's bat. – CNBC December 9, 2008

I was one of the lucky kids who found an original; however, I was also one of the unlucky kids who grew up in a Mormon house where such words were not allowed. Not too long after my father found out that I had the card he gave me two options:

1. Throw the card in the trash. (Wasn’t happening)

2. Trade it. (Damn you Gevon Gardner!!!) <----- The kid I traded it to for Ryne Sandberg.

I feel bad for any other kid who had to go through the same “punishment” as I did, but looking back on it I find the whole ordeal quite hilarious. I mean, can you imagine something like this going down in professional sports? A trade going down after a player’s parents got involved! Oh my garden! That would be SOOOOOOOO ridiculous. Wait a minute…

Sorry. Had to do it. Anyway, if there was ever any piece of Orioles history that I needed back in my life, it was definitely this card… or at least something like it. When I came up with my baseball mascot/logo tattoo designs I made sure every one of them had an important, historical value to them. For the Orioles I probably could have picked out something more “important,” but that’s really all in the eye of the beholder.

I’ll never regret this decision.