2013

Thursday night marked the end of my season when the Oakland Athletics were eliminated from the post season by the Detroit Tigers.  They lost 3-0 in Game Five, for the second year in a row.  I was there last year, and I was there on Thursday.  It was a painful and felt like deja vu. Last year, after we lost Game 5, all of the fans stayed and cheered “Let’s Go Oakland” and it was beautiful and moving.  This year, it happened again, but I didn’t stay.  I couldn’t do it.  I stood at my seat last year tearful cheering for my team that had proved everybody wrong and shut up all the nay-sayers.  This year, they proved they weren’t just a fluke last year and fought the Boston Red Sox for the best record in the American League.  It was supposed to be our year.  To see it end that way, again, was just too much.  I sat in the car on the way home in shock of what just happened.  It felt like somebody had died, and somebody did- our season.  Our hopes of shutting up the Giants fans that were rooting for the Tigers, the Giants fans that dismiss the A’s as a second-rate team, and the baseball analyst that will always pick the Angels and Rangers over the A’s, saying they have no chance.  This team looked like the one.

Then the post season came.

I wanted the best record for two reasons: to say we had the best record, and to avoid playing the Tigers.  I have now been to three post seasons, and have seen our post season dreams end with losses to the Tigers all three times.  I thought this year would be our chance, especially the way the month of September went.  The A’s played well, including a four game sweep of the Minnesota Twins to clinch the division.  The Tigers, on the other hand, finished their season one game ahead of the Cleveland Indians and were swept by the Miami Marlins, including being no-hit in the final game of the regular season.  The odds were in the A’s favor.  However, the baseball gods thought otherwise.  The bats of the A’s players were silent against the Tigers dominate pitching, producing K after K.  I don’t agree with a lot of the strike calls that were made, and I can only hope that MLB is finally going to do something about that.  My point with that is when the umpire gives one pitcher a large strike zone and the batter is forced to swing at pitches they normally wouldn’t, it’s an issue.  That and having two different strike zones is not OK.

Last year, Game 4 was the best playoff game that I have ever seen in my life.  You couldn’t script a better ending to a game fi you tried.  Coco Crisp had the walk off hit that won that game, and the place when nuts.  I would have said that nothing could ever top that.  Game 2, however, did.  Sonny Gray, the A’s rookie pitcher, got the start against Justin Verlander.  Most people would think the A’s were stupid to start a rookie pitcher against Verlander, but they were wrong.  Sonny Gray showed the nation what we in Oakland already knew, that he is AMAZING.  Gray matched Verlander zero for zero on the board the whole game.  He dominated and it was a beautiful sight.  He deserved a win for the game he pitched, and while he didn’t get the win, the team did.  The bottom of the 9th was going to be special.  You could feel it in the air.  The crowd of 48,000+ was cheering and waiting for a walk off.  Yoenis Cespedes came to the plate, and I was hoping for another bomb, but I took the base hit.  Seth Smith followed that with another base hit.  The crowd was going crazy.  Then the Tigers walked Josh Reddick, who had been struggling badly, to load the bases.  Enter the hero of the night, Stephen Vogt.  I was there when Vogt got his first hit, a home run, against the St. Louis Cardinals, but this single was far better than the homer.  Vogt just singled home the only run of the game to win the game.  My dad, who was sitting next to me, complained that he thought he was deaf in one ear from my screaming, and my throat was killing me the next day.  Signs of a good game.

I had some great memories this season that I will never forget.  Opening Day, making new friends on Twitter (one of the best parts), traveling to see the A’s around the country, watching them clinch that final Sunday at home, and watching them in the post season.  Sure, the season didn’t end the way I wanted it to, but it was a great season.  Plus, we were lucky enough to make it to the post season.  There were fans from 22 other teams that didn’t get to watch their team in the playoffs.

I can’t wait for 2014.

The Oakland A’s rush onto the field after Stephen Vogt singles home the winning run in Game 2 of the ALDS

OAKtober

As you all know, I am a HUGE Oakland A’s fan.  For the second year in a row, we have beaten the Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to win our division (pause for a happy dance).  I’m lucky enough to have my neighbor/faux grandfather, since he is a season ticket holder and makes sure that I always have a ticket for the post season.

My last two post seasons have been cut short by the Detroit Tigers.  I refuse to let that happen for a third time.  After all, the say “Third times the charm” has to hold some clout, right?  All week, my office has been buzzing with excitement for the game and by the time Friday rolled around, us A’s fans couldn’t concentrate on work.  4pm could not come fast enough.  I quickly raced up the stairs in the parking garage, why I chose to park on one of the top levels, I have no clue.  Driving to BART, I did my best Speed Racer impersonation and just barely made it in time to catch the train.  Now, I used to go to school in the city, so I’ve seen the BART train packed, but that was nothing compared to the packed train of green and gold.  It warmed my heart to see so many people going to the game.

The last time there was a sellout in Oakland, full capacity sellout, was in 2004.  Friday night, there was 48,401 fans cheering the team on for Game 1 of the ALDS.  It was loud.  It was so weird to look up and see fans in the third deck.  Weird in the best way.  While Game 1 didn’t go as well as we could have hoped, it was still a great game.  So much energy and excitement.

Last night, there are no words that can do last night justice.  My hands are sore from clapping, my throat is killing me from screaming and my legs are sore from jumping in excitement.  Sonny Gray.  Wow.  He matched Justin Verlander pitch for pitch out there like he’d been pitching for years.  The “Sonny” cheers were well deserved.  If he can keep pitching like that, Oakland is in a very good position to win now and in the future.  The other half of last night, was the guy catching for Sonny, Stephen Vogt.  He’s a great catcher and he was battling last night.  In the 7th inning, that at-bat against Justin Verlander was huge.  It ended in a strike out, but man, that was an intense battle.  That 10 pitch battle, which included seven pitches Vogt fouled off, helped to knock Verlander out of the game.  You could feel he was going to do something.

The bottom of the 9th inning.  2012, the A’s home game two, was Game 4.  Going into the game last night, I would have said that was the best post season game I have even seen.  Coco Crisp had a walk-off single to win the game and the place went nuts.  It was something I thought would never be topped.  Until last night.  I admit that I was hoping Cespedes would hit a walk-off home run, but that was only because the A’s were struggling to get the runners in.  Didn’t want to see more guys stranded on the base path.  Yoenis Cespedes got a base hit.  Crowd got into it.  Seth Smith got a single and Cespedes advanced to third.  Crowd really got into it.  They WALKED Josh Reddick, still think that was stupid.  Crowd is pumped and into it big time.  Stephan Vogt gets a hit over the shortstop.  The crowd goes CRAZY.  It was insane, magical, and amazing rolled into one glorious moment.  As we made our way out of the stadium, fans were high fiving each other, or as I called it, a high-five train.  It was just like last year.

After the game, we were over behind 148 in right field and things were even better.  Everybody was cheering “Let’s Go Oakland” and “Sonny! Sonny!”. So proud to be an A’s fan.

Now, we just need the boys to win the next two in Detroit.  I’m pretty excited for tomorrow, and I’m never excited about Mondays.

LET’S GO OAK-LAND!

A’s win!

Happy girl after the walk-off

My dad rockin’ his Rally Cap in the 9th

Game 2 of the ALDS at the O.co Coliseum

A’s at Orioles

I finally made it to a game at Orioles Park at Camden Yards!  If you’ve checked out my page from my trip last year, Baseball Trip 2012, you know that my first attempt didn’t go well.  For those that don’t know, I was walking to the game when some kid decided he wanted my phone and stole it out of my hand while I was using it.  It took an hour for the police to show up and by that point, I didn’t want to go to the game.  I vowed to make it back there, while my parents voiced their opinions to just forget about it.

When the A’s and O’s both made the playoffs last year, I said if they both moved on to the ALCS, I would find a way to go to a game, no matter the cost.  Well, that didn’t happen as both teams were eliminated from the post season in game fives of the ALDS.  So much for that plan.  I waited patiently for the 2013 schedules to come out to see when my boys were going to be in Baltimore so I could see them and the stadium.  The end of August.  And not just the end of August, but at 4pm.  Do you know that it is impossible to get from Oakland to Baltimore before 4pm?  I do.  The earliest I could get there was 4:15, which was not going to happen.  I started to think the baseball gods hated me and didn’t want me to make it to a game in Baltimore.  I needed a way to get to the game, and that’s where the Marlins game came in.  I was able to fly to Miami, go to the Marlins game, check off Marlins Park and get to Baltimore in time for the game.  Win-Win.

I admit, I was a little nervous walking to the game, even if it was the middle of the day.  Luckily, there was police everywhere and tons of other fans, so that helped.  I got to the stadium early to see the guys taking BP.  I kid you not, the outfield stands were packed with people as Yoenis Cespedes was giving balls away.  If only he did that during games more often!  I made my way to my seat to watch the end of batting practice and enjoy some relaxing time in the sun.  Once BP finished, I started walking around the stadium again, taking pictures and enjoying everything Camden Yards had to offer.  My friend is originally from the Baltimore area, I picked him up a Manny Machado bobblehead because he has a massive man crush on the kid.  As I walked around, I couldn’t help but think it was a really nice stadium.  It has the old feel and design to it, considering that it’s not that old.  Outside of the outfield gates there are all their retired numbers, with #8 right in front.  Speaking of #8, it was Cal Ripken Jr.’s birthday!  There is also a statue of Babe Ruth, who is from the Baltimore area as well.

Cal “The Iron Man” Ripken Jr.
Number 8 was retired in 2001

I left my A’s jersey at home, on purpose.  I think it used all of its magic last season.  Going into Baltimore, I had seen the A’s four times on the road this season, and had only seen one win.  Tampa Bay was a 1-0 loss to the Rays, Milwaukee was a 10-2 win over the Brewers, Seattle was an ugly 7-5 loss to the Mariners, and Anaheim (or is it LA) was a 2-0 loss to the Angels.  With the team’s recent struggles, I didn’t want to chance it, so I left the jersey at home and opted to wear my “Chicks Dig Diamonds” A’s shirt.

Pitching for the A’s was Jarrod Parker, who I saw pitch in Tampa Bay.  I am so proud of Parker.  After struggling the first month and change of the season, he has turned it around and has been lights out.  The start before this one, he had his first career complete game.  You can’t help but wonder what the standings would be like if he pitched this well all season.  The most exciting thing about this game though was the starting catcher.  Kurt Suzuki made his debut for the A’s, well his second debut, at the game!  After being traded to the Washington Nationals last season, Suzuki was traded back on Thursday night and made his first start back Saturday.  Myself and the other A’s fans all loudly cheered when they announced him, with several welcome back comments too.

The Orioles got on the board early with a solo home run by Ryan Flaherty in the bottom half of the 3rd inning.  I was having flashbacks to Tampa Bay when Parker pitched and lost 1-0 after giving up a solo home run.  Oriole’s pitcher, Chris Tillman, didn’t allow a hit until the 4th inning and was matching Parker with putting zeros on the board.  The A’s finally scored in the 6th inning with a double by Suzuki and Jed Lowrie.  Speaking of Jed, that dude is a doubles machine this season.  Both pitchers deserved a win with their pitching performances, but sadly, that’s not how the game works, and I want my team to win.  Just Win Baby!  Oh wait, I’m confusing my Oakland teams….

I love hot Coco, and I’m not referring to the drink.  Coco Crisp.  I am so happy that Billy Beane picked him up in December of 2009.  He’s such a spark in the lineup and makes some amazing plays in Center Field.  Game 3 of the ALDS robbing Prince Fielder was craze amaze, and then to walk it off in Game 4 of the ALDS.  After not playing due to an injury, it was great to have Coco back in the line up, and he was hot.  You knew he was going to make things happen when he came up in the 9th inning, and he rarely disappoints.  He hit the go ahead home run to put the A’s up 2-1.  The Aussie swear jar, Grant Balfour, came in and did his thing.  This would be the only game the A’s would win in their series against the Orioles.

Happy to say, this trip to Baltimore was far better than the last one.  I made it to the game, the A’s won, and I left with all of my belongings.  My next road game will be the end of the season to see the boys wrap the regular season in Seattle.  Hard to believe there is only 28 games left of the regular season.

Fans awaiting another souvenir from Cespedes

Babe Ruth Statue

Me at Oriole Park at Camden Yards with the A’s celebrating their win in the background

Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Happy Labor Day Weekend!  Hope you are enjoying some baseball.

Extra! Extra!

We are just into our third month of the baseball season and we’ve already had some long extra innings games. I love free baseball, but these games have been something else.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Oakland Athletics:
April 29 , 2013. 19 innings

Monday, April 29 was Josh Hamilton Appreciation Night at the Coliseum as Hamilton was making his first appearance since his dropped fly ball in Game 162 last season leading to the A’s winning the AL West. The Angels got on the board early and often, taking a 7-2 lead into the bottom of the 8th inning. Now, the A’s were the comeback kids last season and are looking like that again this season. The Angels major issue this season is pitching, especially their bullpen. The A’s dropped a 4 spot in the bottom of the 8th to pull to within one run before scoring one to tie the game in the 9th inning, sending the game into extras. The teams were locked at 7-7 until the 15th inning when both teams scored a run in the inning. Here we go again. Now the issue for the A’s was injuries. Coco Crisp had to come out of the game, and then his replacement had to come out of the game. We lost the DH spot, so in the 18th inning, A’s relief pitcher, Jerry Blevins, made his first and most likely last, plate appearance. He foul tipped a pitched, but in the end, he struck out. Also in the game, starting pitcher, Brett Anderson came in to pitch 5 1/3 innings in relief. What else can you say but weird baseball. The A’s Brandon Moss, who had already hit a home run earlier in the game was the walk off hero for the night, or morning, as he hit a walk-off home run in the 19th inning to win the game 10-8. It was the longest game, time wise in Oakland A’s history, lasting 6 hours and 32 minutes. I did my best to watch the whole game, but only made it to the 18th inning. 18 of 19 is still pretty impressive!

Chicago White Sox at Seattle Mariners:
June 5, 2013. 16 innings

I love a pitchers duel, but this game in Seattle on Wednesday took that to a whole new level. Of the 16 innings played in Seattle, there was no score for the first 13 innings. That’s right, the game was 0-0 going into the 14th inning. There was a lot ERA’s and BA’s dropping. Then in the 14th inning, things changed. The White Sox plated five runs and looked like they were well on their way to the win. Nice try. The Mariners rallied back to score five runs of their one, with four of those coming on a Grand Slam by Kyle Seager. What are the chances? More free baseball! Luckily, the game didn’t last much longer as the White Sox went on to score two runs in the top of the 16th inning and were able to shut down the Mariners on three strike outs to end the game. Pretty impressive for a game to go with a 13 innings without a run and end up being 7-5 game in 16.

Miami Marlins at New York Mets:
June 8, 2013. 20 innings

That’s right. 20 INNINGS! I thought I misread it, three times. That would have been fun to watch. I love free baseball, so the more the merrier. This was another pitcher duel, to the extreme. The Mets scored one run in the 2nd inning and the Marlins scored one run in the 4th inning. Another run would not be scored until the 20th inning. That’s 16 innings of shutout ball. I love it. For as much smack as people talk about the Marlins and the Astros this season, they have been playing really well lately. You can’t say too much about the Marlins being a bad team after they were able to allow just one run in 20 innings for a win. That’s impressive, I don’t care what you say. Any loss is hard, but to lose a 20 inning game, now that’s brutal and heartbreaking. Marlins were able to scratch a run across in the top of the 20th for the win

Texas Rangers at Toronto Blue Jays:
June 8, 2013. 18 innings.

If it wasn’t for the fact that I hate the Texas Rangers, I would feel bad for them. The Texas Rangers, the team HEAVILY favored to reclaim the AL West this year, have been struggling. The A’s have come back from 9+ games back to move .5 a game ahead of the slumping Rangers. Toronto got on the board first, scoring three runs in the 3rd inning, their only runs of the day. The Rangers scored a run in the 7th inning and then dealt up the blown save in the 9th, scoring twice to tie the game at 3. With the Blue Jays unable to score a run in the 9th, the folks in Toronto got treated to free baseball. Lots of free baseball. Both teams were throwing goose eggs for nine innings. The bottom of the 18th you knew the Blue Jays were going to win. With one out, Emilio Bonifacio got a single. With former Athletic, Rajai Davis batting, the Rangers tried to pick off Bonifacio at first, but the throw got past the first baseman, way past. Bonifacio ended up at third base and Davis was able to single him home for the wine. The Rangers troubles continue as the lose again, 4-3.

Now, while I love free baseball, I don’t enjoy these super long games for one reason. Pitchers. These games were so long, they were long enough to be considered a second game. That’s a lot of pitches being thrown and a lot of pitchers being used for a lot of innings. Other than that, I love extra innings! Hope you all enjoyed those games too!

A’s at Brewers

Yesterday morning sucked. And not just because I got up at 3 for my 6am flight, but that does suck pretty bad. Monday night, the Oakland A’s greeted me and the large amount of other A’s fans to a beautiful game in Milwaukee. The hot A’s crushed the struggling Brewers 10-2.

I love my job, but wish I could have stayed for the whole series. Plus people there are really nice, aside from the several times I was asked where my accent was from. No joke. Somebody asked if that was a California accent I had.

I had planned on making a sign for my beloved Josh Donaldson to get some All-Star Game votes, but didn’t know what to do. Sign making isn’t really my thing. Not by hand at least- I blame my design degree. I also wanted to do a brewery tour while I was there. Sadly, it came down to sign making or brewery tour, and signing making won. I walked to Walgreens for supplies and quickly got started. A pencil would have been smart. Free handing with a sharpie is risky. My sign came out ok, not horrible, but not great. Or so I thought.

I got to the stadium and quickly found the Robin Yount bronze statue. I’ve been lucky enough to have met Robin through the Doug Davis Foundation and even have an autographed bat. While there, I started talking to some Wisconsin A’s fans. Great guys.

Robin Yount statue outside of Miller Park

I hurried inside, hoping to catch a glance of Donaldson before the game to show him my sign. He was out signing stuff for a massive mob of people. Hopefully they all vote for him now! Another A’s fan say my sign and waved Donaldson over to have him sign the sign. His face lit up with a huge smile, I wish I had taken a picture. He signed it and thanked me. My day, ok week, was made. I went to grab food and ran into some A’s fans from the bay that wanted a picture with me and the sign. One of them was telling me he was going to wear his Bringer Of Rain shirt to the game on Tuesday. We’re all trying to get his name out there and pick up some votes.

Donaldson signing autographs for fans

My seat was in row two behind the on deck circle for the A’s. It was AMAZING. It didn’t take long for the boys to get on the board as Coco Crisp took the second pitch of the game out of the yard. I knew it was going to be a good game. With the A’s getting to Marco Estrada early that meant one thing: Donaldson was going to be in the on deck circle and maybe batting. I quickly put my sign up and started getting tweets that I was on TV with my sign behind Donaldson. Month made.

View from my seat

The A’s who have been rolling as of late, looked great, but you know who really looked great? Tommy Milone. Milone was dealing on the mound and at the plate. The bar was officially set. Milone pitched 7 innings, allowing 5 hits and two runs just 2 runs on a home run by Rickie Weeks. His batting line was 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored- even had a beautiful pop up slide at home plate. National League, you’ve been warned. Next time we have an 18 inning game, I nominate Milone to be our DH.

Tommy Milone is batting .286. Not too shabby!

Of the A’s 10 runs in the game, only two were from home runs, the one by Coco in the 1st and one by Brandon Moss, cause Moss is Boss, in the 2nd inning. Something cool to see was in the 9th inning when Brewers second baseman, Scooter Gennett, made his Major League Debut. He grounded out, but received cheers from everybody in the stands, myself included.

Scooter Gennett making his Major League Debut

I have seen the A’s on the road six times since 2011. I’m 3-3 after Monday’s game; happy to be back to .500!

If you have a chance, I recommend that you go to Miller Park. It’s a nice stadium and a great city. The people are really nice and they have amazing cheese products! I love cheese, so I was in heaven. I got cheese fries at the game and they were hands down the best fries ever. Yum-o! I also got a bratwurst and it was hands down the best one I’ve ever had. Ah, I almost forgot! The Sausage Race! I think those races are kind of silly, but they are a lot of fun to watch when I see them on the road. My first race was the Presidents Race in Washington D.C. last season which was pretty cool, so I was really excited for the famous Sausage Race. Italian won! As an Italian girl, I loved it.

A’s vs. Rays

It seems that everybody thinks I am crazy for flying to Tampa Bay just to go to the game last night.  Crazy for the A’s.  I love going on the road to see the A’s, cheering them on in enemy territory   In 2011 I spent two days in Detroit to see the A’s.  I rocked my A’s jersey and took a bunch of flack at both games.  Last year I ventured out to Boston to see the A’s take on the Red Sox at the historic Fenway Park.  Again, in all A’s gear.  There was some trash talking, but the fans there were amazing.  A group of guys bought me a beer and even offered to buy me a ticket for the game the next day to go with them.  I also went down to Arizona to see the boys.  Baxter, the Diamondbacks mascot unloaded two cans of silly string on some A’s fans behind the A’s dugout.  I managed to escape, just barely.  Yesterday, I sent out on the road again.  I hopped a flight to Tampa Bay, Florida at 6am and flew all day just for the game.  That’s right. I flew all the way across the country for one game and I’d do it again.  And I will again later this year when I head back East to see the A’s take on the Orioles in August.

I love baseball and I especially love Oakland Athletics green collar baseball.  These guys are underrated.  They might even redefine the meaning of the word underrated.  No matter what they do, everybody counts them out.  Except themselves and their loyal fans.  The fans that sit there freezing at the coliseum on those cold windy nights until the last out.  I hate when people leave games early.  Why bother coming if you’re only going to stay for half the game.  The people next to me at the game last night showed up as the first inning was ending and left in the 5th inning.  Who does that?

Flying into Tampa you can see this huge white dome.  It stands out so you won’t miss it. That’s the stadium.  There are only two indoor stadiums and Tropicana Field is one of them.  Unlike the Rogers Centre in Toronto though, this is a dome that doesn’t have a roof to open.  It’s completely enclosed.  It’s so weird being inside watching baseball.  I’m so used to the night and playing under the lights.  You’re playing under the lights alright.  It was oddly bright in there, like brighter than you would think and it almost seemed brighter than being at a day game.  That being said, it’s not the worst stadium.  There’s several extremely odd things though that took me back.  The outfield seats are located in a basement type place.  You have to go down stairs into a carnival tunnel walkway thing. And by carnival, I mean like actual carnival.  There are games, circus flags and music down there in what feels like a tunnel or the shortcut paths they would send you through to get around without being seen.  Down there is the line for the Rays Touch Tank where you can touch the string rays  they have in a huge tank out in right-center field.  I was really looking forward to doing that as I went swimming with string rays while I was in the Caymans in November.  That didn’t happen as the line was massively huge, like why are all these people in line because the line is so long you can’t see what it’s for, long. Needless to say, I wasn’t about to miss a large chunk of the game to pet some string rays, so I continued through the carnival madness.  I usually take pictures from all around the stadium so you can see what it looks like from all over, but the seats out in the tunnel area require you to go up a flight of stairs to see the field. I was not really in a mood to be going up and down a bunch if stairs.  My legs would have boycotted me this morning had I done that.

I got lucky with an awesome ticket on StubHub, sitting in the second row behind the A’s dugout.  Crazy enough, Benjamin and his girlfriend Angie had actually sat in my seat the night before.  It was a great seat and I ended up sitting next to an A’s fan that lives near by. It’s always nice not to be the only one cheering- makes it sound a little louder.  I was a little annoyed that a guy in A’s gear was sitting the next section over with two kids because they ended up with almost every ball the guys threw into the seats after each inning.  One day I’ll get a ball!  A’s first base coach, Tye Waller, waved to me, thanking me for coming out.  He’s always pretty cool with that.  Everybody in the organization is pretty stellar in my opinion.

I saw that Jarrod Parker was pitching for the A’s and I admit it, I thought oh crap.  It’s no secret that Parker has struggled this season posting an 0-2 record going into the game last night with an ERA over 10.  I brought my lucky jersey, I say lucky but it’s really not, it’s more my only jersey and I keep hoping if I call it lucky it will happen. Parker looked like Parker again.  Sure he had some long outs, but in his last few starts they would have been home runs.  He allowed just one run in 6 1/3 innings.  His only mistake was a solo home run to Matt Joyce to start the second inning.  He got in trouble in the fifth loading the bases with two outs, but was able to get the final out without giving up a run.  Hopefully this is the start of something good for Parker and he’s able to build off this start.  I’m just bummed that he got stuck with the loss as the A’s got shut out 1-0.  When Parker left the game, he was greeted to a standing ovation and cheers by the A’s fans in attendance. It was great to see and be a part of.  Not too often you see the visiting pitcher get a standing ovation.

The A’s struggled at the plate, not really able to get anything going.  Hell, the Rays center fielder, Desmond Jennings, was able to turn an unassisted double play to end the inning. The center fielder. Just for you Van (@vdemske), when Eric Sogard came up to start the 9th inning, to turned to the guy next to me and did the Sogard rally specs saying it was rally specs time.  Coco Crisp got on after the Rays second baseman dropped his pop up in shallow right field.  I got up to cheer and busted out a little Bernie Lean.  Seemed like a good time.  Speaking of the Bernie Lean, it needs to come back!  We all miss the guys doing it.  Sadly, we lost the game, but I had a great time cheering the boys on at the game.

After the game, I caught up with Benjamin (@Shakabrodie) and Angie (sconnieangie) who are amazing people.  When we saw each other after the national anthem we waved and then did the shark.  If you follow Ben on Twitter, which you really should, you know what the shark is.  We laughed and went back to the game.  While we were waiting for taxis after the game we saw Yoenis Cespedes and his translator come out for their ride.  Dude is huge and ripped like a mofo.  He looks big in his uniform, but in shorts and a tight t-shirt, wow.  Had a brief moment of ‘How you doing’ (best when said in Joey’s voice from Friends).

Something to keep in mind if you go to a game at Tropicana Field, the neighborhood is a little iffy.  My cab driver said the area at night is like the Bronx or Compton.  Just a heads up!

The A’s awaiting the singing of the National Anthem.  Coco looks so short next to Freiman.

Tropicana Field, Home of the Tampa Bay Rays

Payback Time

In baseball, when your team loses to another in the playoffs, you look forward to the first rematch of the following season.  It’s your chance for a little payback.  As luck would have it, this weekend is Payback Weekend, unofficially of course.

You see, the American League Division Series, the Yankees and Orioles are facing off in New York, while in Oakland, the Tigers and Athletics are duking it out this weekend.  As an A’s fan, this series, while early, is very important.  These guys sent us home, ended our season, and crushed out dreams just 6 months ago.  Watching the A’s comeback to win with a walk-off home run by Josh Donaldson in the 12th inning on Friday night was great, and reminded me of Games 4 when we came back to win, forcing a Game 5.  Before the game, it was announced the Yoenis Cespedes had been placed on the Disabled List after injuring his hand/wrist while trying to steal the night before and that Coco Crisp was also injured, but listed day-to-day.  Those were two big blows to the team both offensive and defensively, but luckily, the A’s are the masters of roster depth  Yesterday’s game, gave me flashbacks of Game 5, and that’s not good.  Like that last game of 2012, Verlander was on the mound yesterday, and like that game, he had a very generous strike zone.  Ah the strike zone.  The home plate umpire had the weirdest strike zone I have ever seen.  Pitches thrown back to back in the exact same location were not the same call.  Both Bob Melvin and Jim Leyland were chirping from their dugouts, with Melvin finally getting tossed in the 8th inning after a very questionable strike three call on Brandon Moss to start the inning.  Brett Anderson, who started the game, had issues with either his footing, or leg, it was hard to tell, but he was wobbly the pitches leading up to a massive home run by Torii Hunter in the 3rd inning and never really seemed comfortable out there.  The A’s did manage to get the tying run to the plate in the 8th inning, but were unable to score, as they left ten on the bases for the game.  In the end, the struggles by A’s pitchers was the common theme yesterday and today.  Today, Jarrod Parker, who started Game 1 and Game 5, struggled out of the gates, giving up two runs in the first, the second, and four in the fourth.  Parker lasted only 3 1/3 innings, giving up 8 earned runs, striking out only two, forcing the question of what’s wrong with Parker.  In Parker’s three starts this season, he’s 0-2, and was lucky to get a no decision in Anaheim on Tuesday.  That said, Anibal Sanchez was dealing today, looking like his fellow starts Scherzer and Verlander, striking out 8 in 7 innings pitched.  The Tigers starting pitchers (Scherzer, Verlander, Sanchez) had a combined 25 strikeouts.  Holy crap.  The good news for the A’s is that the Houston Astros are coming into town this week, so there’s a chance for them to get back on track, even though the Astros have been playing pretty good ball the last week.

In New York, the Orioles sadly met the same repeated fate as the A’s did this weekend, losing 2 out of 3 against their division rivals.    Friday night, C.C. Sabathia was very C.C. pitching 8 innings allowing 1 run while striking out 9.  Miguel Gonzalez of the Orioles, went just 6 innings, giving up 3 runs, 2 earned while walking five and striking out four.  Something interesting though, while the O’s only scored 2 runs, they had 9 hits compared to the Yankees having 5 runs on 6 hits.    The difference maker was when Adam Jones dropped a fly ball in the 7th inning with the bases loaded, leading to three runs, all unearned.  The Orioles ties the series yesterday after Phil Hughes struggled, lasting only 3 innings after giving up 5 runs.  Of those five runs, three were from solo home runs.  For those who say solo shots aren’t going to kill you, if you give up enough of them, they will.  The good news is that the Yankees bullpen threw six solid innings, including David Phelps who threw four innings in relief, while not allowing a run for the remainder of the game.  Home runs seemed to be in plenty last night though.  Along with the three hit by the Orioles, the Yankees had two, solos as well, in the game.  What are the chances of there being five solo home runs in one game?  Crazy.  Tonight, the Orioles went for their second win in a row, and a series win, but despite solid pitching by Wei-Yin Chen, the Orioles lost.  Chen is win-less in his last 10 starts, dating back to last season, but pitched well.  He allowed just three runs in 6 innings, with all three runs coming in the 5th inning, two of which were on the home run hit by Jayson Nix off the foul pole.  Meanwhile, Yankees pitcher, Hiroki Kuroda, threw a complete game shutout allowing five hits, no walks and five strike outs.  These two teams will face off many more times throughout the season, and I expect each series will be high pressure, much like last season.

While both the A’s and Orioles had chances to get a little revenge for their playoff eliminations last season, both failed to do so, at least this time.  Hope you all had a great weekend and you were able to see 42.  If not, go!  It’s amazing.

Opening Day 2013

Yesterday was Opening Day, my second favorite day in April (the other is my birthday- April 25th and I like presents).  I was so excited for all the games, and the games did not disappoint at all.

What could be the most exciting thing was Bryce Harper.  He is a beast.  Holy cow.  I think he’s showing not only why he won the NL Rookie of the Year, but that the sophomore slump isn’t going to get him, and I hope it doesn’t.  In his first two at bats, he had two hits, both of which were home runs.  I was excited to see what he would do this season, and now I’m even more excited.  If he keeps hitting well, and Stephen Strasburg stays healthy, the Nationals are going to be a force to be reckoned  with.

Something funny that happened in Pittsburgh, A.J. Burnett, the starting pitcher for the Pirates when he went to use the rosin bag.  It exploded.  The powder went everywhere, and it was awesome.  Was it a genius April Fool’s joke or defective?  I really hope it was an April Fool’s joke and high-five to the master minds.  I hate Burnett.  He made a few unnecessary comments about Dallas Braden after the whole A-Rod mound incident.  So ha ha!

Speaking of pitchers, Clayton Kershaw was outstanding yesterday for the Dodgers.  Clearly, they made the right choice in making him their number one starter and he should be getting a nice contract before next season.  Kershaw pitched a complete game shutout, allowing only 4 hits and even hit a home run in the game.  I love seeing the pitchers hit the long ball, and I really love when the starts can throw a complete game.  Mad props to Kershaw.  That’s right, I said mad props.

Now, to the most important game, in my eyes at least, the Oakland Athletics!  Last night was only my second Opening Night, and sadly, I’m 0-2 in Opening Nights.  The A’s unveiled their American League West Division Champions “banner” on the left field wall, which was amazing and such a beauty.  That just might be the best division championship in team history.

2012 AL West Division Champions

It was great to see the boys back in action, and a little emotional.  The last actual game (I’m not counting the exhibition game on Saturday) I was at there was Game 5 of the ALDS when the A’s were eliminated from the post season by the Detroit Tigers.  They played the video that they had at FanFest and I got all choked up again.  Last season was so unbelievable and I’m still sad that it ended the way it did.  I cried a few times, and still get tears in my eyes thinking about last season.  This season has a lot to live up to, just saying.

I was hoping that this would be the year that the A’s ended their Opening Day losing streak, which was at 8 years, but facing the King, Felix Hernandez, I knew it would be a battle.  Hernandez was very Hernandez.  Ten batters were retired before John Jason, who caught King Felix’s perfect game last season, ripped a double to break up the no-hitter.  A’s starting pitcher, Brett Anderson- who was nothing short of amazing in his game 3 start in the ALDS, started the game on fire.  The first four batters he faced all struck out.  Not a bad way to start the game.  The Mariners were able to string some hits together in the 5th inning while Anderson had some location issues to plate two runs, the only runs in the game.  The closest the A’s got to scoring was in the 7th inning when they had the bases loaded with two outs, but Derek Norris bounced out to the second baseman to end the inning.  Sure it would have been great to see the A’s get a win, but you can’t win them all, and they were looking good in the field.  Seriously, did you see that play by Eric Sogard?  Number one web gem!

After the game I got to meet Ben (@Shakabrodie) who was in the MLB Fancave last year as well as MLB 2013 Top 52 Vanessa (@vdemske) and Tommy (@RealTomBentley).  Some of the nicest people ever.  If you saw the game, or highlights, you more than likely saw them.  Ben and Tommy were the guy with the beard and the guy with the King Felix crown.

Hope you all had as good of an Opening Day as I did, and are enjoying the rest of Opening Day today.  So happy baseball is finally back!

Opening Night 2013: Seattle Mariners at Oakland Athletics

Brett Anderson ready to throw the first pitch of the 2013 season

Felix Hernandez’s first pitch to Coco Crisp

Josh Donaldson! One of my fave A’s players

John Jaso at second with the first hit of the night

Went to take a picture, and before I could snap it, I knew he was going to steal. Hence the running blurred shot

Felix Hernandez night comes to an end

Bernie Cam! Can you Bernie Lean?

Heritage vs True Love

Today I spent my afternoon at the ballpark, so it was a good day.  The Oakland A’s, with a split squad, played Italia (Italy) as part of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) exhibition games.  Being an Italian girl and an A’s fan, I was pretty excited for the game.

When looking at the schedule for the A’s last week while planning this quick trip to Phoenix, I knew I had to go to the this game.  It’s not too often you can see your favorite team and a WBC team play, so I would be stupid not to jump at the chance.  I brought my funny Italian shirt (Everybody loves an Italian Girl) with me, but opted to wear my funny A’s shirt (Chicks dig diamonds), which everybody always loves.

Like I said, the A’s were playing a split squad, which means half the team is playing one game at home and the other half is playing on the road.  Being cursed with bad luck, I figured that I would end up with all the players I wanted to see playing in Surprise against the Royals today, while I was in Phoenix.  Much to my surprise, the team in Phoenix had almost all the guys I wanted to see.  I brought my A’s playoffs 2012 hat and a sharpie with the hopes of getting some of the guys to sign it.  Tried to get Josh Reddick, but the sneaky little devil ducked into the dugout early, but I’m still happy.

2012 Playoff hat signed by: Coco Crisp, Bob Melvin, Brandon Moss and Yoenis Cespedes

Like most of the WBC teams, there is Major League players on the teams representing their home countries, or heritage, but Italy didn’t have too many names we’d know here in the states.  Some names you might recognize: Nick Punto (Dodgers), Chris Denorfia (Padres), Anthony Rizzo (Cubs), Alex Liddi (Mariners), Mike Costanzo (Nationals), and Drew Butera (Twins).  A lady sitting near by said it best, the last names for team Italia sounds like a romantic poem.  Italian names always sound better than what they actually are- my last name, Susini, translates to from the plum-tree, plum or prune.

The A’s got on the board early and played well all day.  The scored twice in the first inning and added two more in the third.  Italy got on the board in the fourth with a booming home run by the first baseman, Anthony Rizzo.  The 9th inning, oh man, was hard to watch as the A’s pitcher, Arnold Leon, struggled to find the strike zone.  After giving up two runs, the final out was recorded with a play at the plate, in which Leon tagged the runner out.  While I love a play at the plate, one involving the pitcher, not so much.

Either way, it was a great game, with the A’s smacking 12 hits and now I’m actually excited for the WBC.  Go USA!

A’s vs. Italia

Team Italy warming up

Josh Reddick and his beard

Eric Sogard batting. The Italia coach that is sitting just to the right is Mike Piazza

Jed Lowrie and Adam Rosales

Team Italy watching the exciting 9th inning

A’s celebrating the win

Brandon Moss after signing my hat

Coco Crisp after signing my hat

Bert Campaneris threw out the First Pitch

Anthony Rizzo coming into home after his home run

I have a minor picture problem in that I took close to 170 pictures at this one game.

FanFest 2013

Today was AMAZING!  I love FanFest, and this year was even better than I could have hoped or wished for.

It was nice to see so many fans out to support the boys and so many players.  I’m still riding the high of last season and can’t wait for April 1st.  I need a fast forward button!  I got there early, 8:15 early, and quickly realized that I:  a- didn’t have a warm enough jacket for as cold as it was and b- there was a massive amount of people there.  As usual, I was rolling solo at the event, so I’ve learned to make friends with people quickly, and had a good time talking baseball with the group of guys behind me in line.

Something cool the A’s did was to hand out autograph voucher cards to everybody as they came in for various autograph times throughout the day.  I was lucky enough to get the slot when Coco Crisp was one of the guys signing, but his line was limited to the first 200 in line and I was #204.  Frickity Frack!  I was able to score autographs from Sal Bando and Eric Sogard so it’s all good.

As usual you could have your picture taken professionally with a player, but it seems that was what everybody wanted as the line started well over an hour before the first player was scheduled to appear, and was always freakishly long.  However, the secret spot to go was just downstairs.  Right by the Coaches Corner, which is always a blast on its own, was Player Meet & Greet.  There was a person that would use your camera or phone to take a picture of you and a player.  There was never too long of line, and you got to listen in on the Coaches Corner while you waited (score!).  Needless to say, the volunteers down there got to know me quickly as I got three photos.   Oh, while waiting in line, I was talking with the people in front of me and they asked if I would take a picture with them.  I was so honored!

Me with Grant Green at FanFest 2013

According to Grant, I have a pretty name.  Big thanks to my mommy for picking it.

Me with Seth Smith at FanFest 2013

Me with Josh Donaldson at FanFest 2013

Josh was too funny with my shirt, hence our laughing faces.  This is our conversation:
Josh: Chicks dig diamonds?
Me: Yup and I dig baseball diamonds.
Josh: Oh good cause that’s the only diamond I can afford.

I’m pretty stoked about the next two things.  They were right next to each other, so it was a two birds one stone kind of thing for me.  I got my picture taken with….. the World Series Trophies!!! Oh, and Curt Young was there too.  I love Curt- he’s an amazingly amazing pitching coach (thank god it didn’t work out with Boston in 2011), but I really was more excited about the trophies.  The other thing was the Comcast SportsNet Bay Area Sportscaster Experience.  I posted about this right after I did it because I was far too excited to wait to tell everybody.  It was a blast, and I wish that was my actual job.  I can’t wait for the video to come!!

Me with Curt Young and the World Series Trophies

The best thing to cap off an amazing day was the Q&A session with some of the relief pitchers.  Sean Doolittle, Pat Neshek, Even Scribner, and All-Star pitcher Ryan Cook (oh I got an autograph from him too!).  Those guys are crazy funny.  I very much enjoyed when Cook stated if he wasn’t a baseball player he would be a “country recording superstar” to which he gave us a little demo after some heckling from Doolittle and the fans.  It was also funny watching Chris Young try to Bernie Lean- Josh Reddick had to give him some pointers.

Sean Doolittle, Evan Scribner, Pat Neshek and Ryan Cook

It was a great day, and it was wonderful to see so many people out to support the A’s!

Great to see so many people showing love to the Green and Gold

Me and Stomper! After all these years, I finally got a picture with him.