A’s at Angels

The West Coast tour continued last Saturday as I made my way down to Anaheim for the A’s and Angels game. I only wish I could have gone to Disneyland while I was down there, but there’s always next time!

Being an A’s fan, I naturally have a strong dislike (or hatred) for the Angels. I like to mock their name, especially since they are not in Los Angeles or even Los Angeles County, and to add to the mocking is the stadium name. It’s Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Again with the ‘of Anaheim’ in there.

All mocking and joking aside, the stadium is actually really nice. Out front of the main gates there are the giant Angels hats and on the stadium walls are pictures of their star players. They had a bunch of booths all set up giving some stuff away and fan interaction, including the Angels All-Star Mickey Mouse which you can get your picture taken with.

Me with the All-Star Mickey Mouse

Outside the main gates

I was excited to about going down there because I have family down there that I don’t get to see too often. They were nice enough to pick me up and give me a ride to the game as they got tickets to the game as well. Aside from the fact that they had on Angels gear, it’s old school Angels gear from the California Angels days so I’ll let it slide. I also got to finally meet my friend Mike (@MyHami) from Twitter at the game. It was great meeting you!!

I should mention that there was a country music concert after the game. I am not really a country music fan. I like some, but not a lot. There were a lot of country music fans there, or at least a lot of people with cowboy hats and boots. The dress entire down there was different from any other stadium I’ve been to, aside from the country western apparel. I’ll leave it at that before I go all fashion major on you. Since I’m not a fan of country music, especially for people I’ve never even heard of, I got out of dodge. Plus, I had just driven 6 hours and had to drive another 6 hours home the next day, so I walked back to my hotel and got some sleep. Also, I realized walking back that I’m still not OK with what happened in Baltimore.

Moving on. We got there nice and early to see batting practice, which was cancelled due to a freak rain storm. Judging by how the A’s played, they needed to take BP. However, the rain had let up enough for them to workout on the field before the game. It was great to see the guys and they were out there signing autographs for everybody, which I always like to see, especially when fans of the other team where over there. The highlight was watching Jerry Blevins, Sean Doolittle doing running exercises with Yoenis Cespedes. He’d beat them and kind of chuckle looking back at them.

The Angels had my least favorite pitcher on the mound for them in CJ Wilson. I don’t hate him for being extremely corny in his Head & Shoulders commercial, but for his comments about Oakland and how much he hates playing there. Good, we hate you too. Sadly, he was very CJ Wilson like, pitching 8.1 innings allowing 0 runs on 3 hits. It was painful to watch. On the flip side, we had Dan Straily pitching, who despite a pretty good start, got the loss. Straily pitched 7 innings allowing just 2 runs, one on sac fly and the other on a solo home run. I’ll take the blame on the home run. I got up to go get my mini bat from the team shop and before I even got to the concourse, Alberto Callspo hit his fifth homer of the year. The employee at the entrance to the team shop felt the need to get all up in my face talking smack, so much so that another employee had to come over to him to tell him to stop. Yeah, an EMPLOYEE of the Angels. I expect that from the fans, but not somebody that works there. Klassy.

I was really excited to see Grant Green play, finally. I met him at FanFest this year and he’s the nicest guy, so I wish him well. I hoped his first hit would be like Stephen Vogt’s first Major League Hit, a home run. That didn’t happen. Clearly. Unfortunately, Green was just sent back down to Triple-A, but I’m hoping he’ll be back and better in the near future.

Some cool things at the stadium, the fountain/rocks in the outfield with a big A in the rocks. Fitting since the stadium is known as The Big A. They also shoot fireworks off from there. I admit, it’s cool. Nearby there is a Jack in the Box. Yes, there is a Jack in the Box in the ballpark. Not as cool as Fat Burger (AZ), but still fun. On the main concourse and to the right of the main gates is something cool. They have the trophy from the 2002 World Series, the one where they beat the San Francisco Giants, on display along with photos and other mementos from that season. Across the concourse from that is a memory wall with photos celebrating their achievements over the years. Pretty cool. I like when teams do that, I know Houston and Philadelphia both have something like that.

The 2002 World Series Trophy

Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim, CA

A’s at Mariners

I have been wanting to go to Seattle for years. It’s not that far away and I’ve always heard great things about the stadium. My grandfather goes every year to see the A’s up there with some friends for a series and I’ve always been jealous. I almost have to laugh at the fact that I’ve seen the A’s all over the country, but not anywhere near where I live. The closest I’ve seen them is in Arizona.

First off, Seattle is really pretty, or at least what I saw of it.  It reminds me of San Francisco.  The guy next to me on the plane made fun of me briefly when I looked out the window as we were coming into Seattle and I saw Mt. Rainer.  It’s a huge mountain.  I’ve been to the Rockies and this pretty much made those look small.  He gave me a list of places to check out that were less touristy than others.  Sadly, that didn’t happen as my friend from high school that I was staying with, took a nap Saturday afternoon.  I had a great time anyway, so it’s all good.

Safeco is beautiful.  I would highly recommend getting up there to see a game, if you haven’t already.  There’ s Pyramid Brewery right across the street that was packed with people living it up before the game.  I’m a big fan of Pyramid, so I was pretty happy to see it there.  There’s plenty of fun places to hang out around the stadium, so I say get there early and have some fun.

I went to the game with my friend and his daughter, which was weird for me.  That sounds wrong and strange, but I’m so used to going to games alone that being with other people is weird to me.  I actually had people to talk to other than the strangers around me, but I talked to them too.  We were surrounded by A’s fans, which was GREAT to see.  There was quite a few A’s hats and jerseys on my flight home on Sunday night.  I can’t wait to go back for the final games of the regular season, it’s going to be crazy.

Our seats were pretty good, down the third base line just past the infield dirt so all the A’s players were stretching and warming up right there.  I brought my ‘Vote 4 Donaldson’ sign from Milwaukee, which my friend’s daughter was super excited to hold up when she saw Donaldson on the field.

The A’s had Dan Straily starting the game, which is usually a good sign.  He keeps getting better with each start he makes, and was amazing in his start against Texas earlier in the month.  Unfortunately, you can’t win every game, unless you’re Max Scherzer, but that’s another topic.  Straily only lasted 3.1 innings before coming out having allowed two earned runs on six hits and three walks.  Not numbers we are used to seeing out of him.  The Mariners scored twice in the 2nd inning, but failed to have a shutdown inning, allowing the A’s to score a run in the 3rd inning.

Now, I try to always walk around the ballpark I’m at to see what they have to offer and see the game from all over.  I guess I picked the right time to go, as the A’s rallied to score two runs to claim a 3-2 lead in the 5th inning.  I was so excited, plus I got to capture the rally from all over the stadium.   They kept the scoring going after I returned to my seat, scoring two more runs in the 7th inning to go up 5-2.  They just needed a shut down inning.

The bullpen, our glorious bullpen that’s been lights out all season, including a 19 inning game and an 18 inning game, struggled.  Big time.  Jesse Chavez, the hero of that 18 inning game, came in after Straily to pitch 2.1 innings of shut out ball.  Then things went south.  Jerry Blevins came in after Chavez, and didn’t have the stuff.  Blevins lasted 2/3 of an inning giving up three earned runs on two hits.  Raul Ibanez hit a three run homer to tie the game, and just like that, the momentum shifted.  Speaking of Raul, he is amazing.  I can’t believe that Yankees let him leave, especially after how he played in the post season last year.  He’s an oldie but a goodie.  Ryan Cook came in after the Ibanez home run, but met the same fate as Blevins.  The first batter he faced hit a ground rule double, but Cooke was able to save some kittens by getting the next two batters out.  Cook went back out for the 8th inning, but was pulled without recording an out while allowing two runs to score.  Sean Doolittle, who had been struggling lately, came in and retired the three batters he faced.  I like to think I helped him out there.  Every time I’m ‘Doolittling” at a game, he pitches like the Doolittle we have all come to love.  My friend laughed at me, but you gotta do what works!  I just wish Doolittle had started the inning, we could have been tied going into the 9th inning, rather than down by two.

I think I need to get a new jersey.  They win just about every home game I go to when I wear by jersey, but on the road, it’s now 4-3.  It has yet to see back-to-back road wins, but that does mean it’s due for a win on the next road game.  That next road game just happens to be in Anaheim, so it better get the job done!

Me after the game

“Doolittling”

Safeco Field
Seattle, Washington

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!

Tweet Up

Last night the Oakland A’s held their annual Tweet Up.  Naturally I was there.  Damn you Twitter for sucking me in and making me co-dependent on you.

It was a lot of fun, Sean Doolittle and Jerry Blevins came to talk with us all first.  Those guys, aside from being amazing pitchers, are funny as all hell.  We were cracking up at their answers to the fan submitted questions.  Plus, somebody suggested making Doolittling a thing, like Tebowing and Kapernicking.  If you have ever seen Doolittle pitch, you know exactly what I’m talking about.  He pulls his glove hand into his neck, almost like he’s playing the violin with his elbow out.  Naturally, we all jumped on board and are trying to make it a thing.  We were then joined by some members of the A’s media and got their take on how Twitter has changed their jobs. It’s amazing what Twitter has done for the world of sports, it’s truly the best way to get information out to your fans right now.

If you bought tickets to the Tweet Up, or the #GreenCollarSocial, as it was also called, you got tickets to the game as well.  You know, I would never miss this.  Twitter event with players and tickets to the game, that’s like a home run of events right there.  The A’s were giving away prizes during the Tweet Up for answers to A’s trivia.  Being me, I didn’t win anything.  If bad luck were a sport, I’d be the champion.  They continued giving stuff away during the game if you were checking their Twitter feed.  The first contest was to tweet a picture of the field from your seat.  I tweeted mine out, finished eating, and went to meet up with my friends that were sitting out in Sec 149.  As I got out there, my phone goes off.  Not only did the A’s start following me on Twitter (yes, I’m beyond stoked about that), but I won the contest for my seat and I needed to provide them my seat location so they could deliver my prize.  I raced back to my seat and within minutes, the A’s delivered my prize- a Scott Hatteberg bobble head from last season. I was so excited that I didn’t care I already had one.  I returned to 149 and finally met up with the cool kids.  Ben, the cool dude from the MLB Fan Cave last year, was in town for the series so I asked if he had the bobble head, in which he responded he’d been trying to find one and really wanted one.  Ta-Da!  I pulled in out and gave it to him.  It’s always nice to make other people smile.

This was my first time ever sitting in the bleachers and it was so much fun.  I was trying not to let them all down with their extreme fandom.  I even Raged with them.  I have never raged ever.  I tried it once and I got funny looks because I was the only person doing it, other than the Right Field crew.  I will definitely have to make it back out there for another game this season.  Top notch group of people out there.  True fans.

Even better was that the A’s won the game.  Tommy Milone was more than shaky to start the game, like 60+ pitches in 2 innings shaky, but settled down.  He allowed up one run in 6 innings of work.  The bullpen did their thing, including Doolittle, who threw a perfect inning while we all were Dolittling it up in RF.  For the second night in a row, the A’s came back from behind to take the late lead.  This is what we have been looking for lately. They’re a comeback team, down but never out.  Today they won again, completing the sweep of the Kansas City Royals and are now winners of three straight!  So excited.

Since I was at a Tweet Up and have rambled on about Twitter, my handle is @_kimms_ so check me out!  I post a lot of baseball stuff and a ton of Athletics stuff.  Plus I’m funny.  Hope you all had a great weekend too!

View from my first seat of the night

My fancy Tweet Up shirt. Jealousy is to be expected

Sean Doolittle and Jerry Blevins during the Q&A session

From the A’s Twitter page: the crowd Doolittling. You can see part of my head in the photo