Old_Tom_Bombadil wrote:I just did something I haven't done for a few years: purchase tickets to attend an MLB game. I noticed the prices have sure gone up! Still, they're not nearly as expensive as hockey tix.
I'm taking my wife to see the Detroit Tigers play in the Oakland Athletics on Sunday, May 13th. After the game we'll cruise over to my mom's house in Walnut Creek for Mother's Day dinner. Not a bad way to spend the day, eh?
Play ball! (Insert bat swinging emoticon)
Oh too bad. If you had waited another month or so, you may have had the chance to see Manny Ramirez in all of his "back from the dead" glory.
I have to confess that I'm following baseball, or at least the A's, more closely than I have for several years. Of course lacking financial resources to pay for big stars they're relegated to the so-called "second division", just as they were for many years after Connie Mack broke up his team in Philadephia during the Great Depression. With Mack's teams, dynasties in the 1910s then again in the late 1920s/early 1930s were followed by very lean periods. It seems as though it was either feast or famine. So has it been in Oakland.
During their years in Kansas City (1955-1967) they were essentially a farm team for the New York Yankees. Among the players the A's sent to New York was Roger Maris, who set the single-season homerun record of 61 in 1961 for the Yankees before it was broken by a trio of steroid-injected sluggers in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The megalomaniacal Charles Oscar Finley (aka Charlie O) purchased the team prior to the 1961 season, then moved them to Oakland for the 1968 season. It was Charlie who changed the colors of the A's from blue to kelly green and gold. His team of young players eventually jelled and, under the guidance of skipper Dick Williams, became the kings of baseball in the early 1970s. The team's stars included future Hall-of-Famers Jim "Catfish" Hunter, Rollie Fingers, and Reggie Jackson. All-Stars Sal Bando, Joe Rudi, Campy Campaneris, and Vida Blue also made significant contributions. Dick Williams was eventually elected to the HOF by the Veterans Committee.
It's hard to believe that it was 40 years ago that I joyously followed the A's in route to their first of three consecutive World Series victories, 1972-1974. Alas, the advent of free agency broke that team up, otherwise who knows how many more championships they would have won?
Lean times again followed the championships. The so-called "Triple A's", a team composed of has-beens and never-would-bes, struck bottom in 1979 when they lost 108 games. One of the highpoints of 1979 was the introduction of future Hall of Famer and stolen base king, Rickey Henderson. I knew he'd be a star from the first time I saw him. The A's traded him to the Yankees a few years later for a handful of players, but brought him back in 1989. Rickey would eventually have 4 different tenures with the A's.
Fortunately, after Finley failed to sell the team to owners who'd move them, the A's were rescued by Walter Haas of the Levi's Jeans fortune. Manager Billy Martin brought some short-lived excitement to the Eastbay with his brand of 'Billyball', but after being trounced by the Yankees in the 1981 ALCS they fell back to their also-ran status.
In 1982 the A's went to a darker shade of green on their uniforms. Believe it or not, they even wore black shoes with their road uniforms in 1982. Some years earlier Finley had shocked the conservative baseball establishment by introducing white spikes, then later colorful mix-and-match uniforms. In an effort to appeal to young fans, in 1972 Finley induced many of his players to wear mustaches and long hair. Some even wore beards. The 1972 World Series featuring the A's and the Cincinnati Reds was dubbed 'The Hairs versus The Squares'. If I'm not mistaken, the Reds still do not allow their players to wear facial hair.
A few years later with Tony LaRussa at the helm the A's developed some of their own young stars (McGwire, Canseco, Weiss, Steinbach), acquired a few key pieces through trades (Carney Lansford, Bob Welch, Dave Henderson, Rickey Henderson, Dave Parker), and revived the career of a failing starter (Dennis Eckersley) by turning him into a Hall-of-Fame closer et voila, a new dynasty was born in Oakland. The Bash Brothers were noted for their bats, but, like the teams from the early '70s, they had excellent starting and relief pitching. Dave Stewart had four consecutive 20-win seasons for the A's just like Catfish Hunter had 15 years before.
After the passing of Haas the team was sold to Hofmann & Schott whose only interest was the bottom line. Thus out of necessary were born the Moneyball years. GM Billy Beane, a former player, made a name for himself trying to build competitive teams using SABRmetrics to identify undervalued, and thus low-salaried, players. Once a player becomes too valuable he either flees via free agency or is traded before he can do so.
Since he purchased the team in 2005 Lew Wolff has been looking to move out of the Oakland Coliseum, now the last remaining multi-use stadium in Major League Baseball, into some new digs where they'll generate more revenue. A deal for a new ballpark in nearby Fremont fell through, so now they're trying to find a home in the South Bay. Unfortunately, the San Francisco Giants, who presently own territorial rights, are blocking that move. What's next for the A's? Only commissioner Bud Selig knows. Selig, despite the fact that he is a fraternity brother of Lew Wolff, has been slow to rule on the territorial rights issue, so for now the A's are in a state of limbo.
I believe the A's signed Señor Cespedes to a four-year deal. I suspect that he'll either be traded during the last year of that contract, or after the four years have expired he'll become a free agent and sign with a large market team for an ungodly sum of money. In any case, eventually he'll probably be patrolling centerfield for the New York Yankees. Until then, A's fans get to admire his considerable talent and wistfully dream what it would be like if the team could actually hold on to a few of these guys.
Frelga wrote:Hullo, Tom. I might even see you there.
Frelga, in an effort to save you from fruitlessly combing the stands in search of Tom Bombadil in a green and gold baseball cap, I thought I'd let you know that Tom and his pretty lady will not be in attendance at this afternoon's game. Yes, I have the tickets, however, I am still recovering from the surgery I had on Thursday. Instead I'll be watching from the comfort of my recliner.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
I am sort of half way watching the Series finale.
All of my kids played Little League and I coached and was on the board for ten years. The game has changed a lot since then.
Having 13 years old eligible seems troubling to me. They are just too big for the size of the field. The pitcher for Japan is 13 years old and is 6'0" tall and weighs 206 lbs. Kids have a big growth spurt between 11-12 and 13.
I'm sure no Boston fan want to hear about the 'A's since yesterday.
But really, I am puzzled why the A's aren't the biggest story in baseball right now. The team who even the fans did not expect to do any better than .500 leads the wild card by 2 games, trails Rangers by only 3 and is ahead by 4.5 over Angels who have over 3 times their payroll.
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
Pretty amazing. They even still have a chance (albeit a small one) of taking the division. And yet they still have tiny crowds (fourth worst attendance in the major leagues). Kinda sad.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Yeah. You can't explain that. Not only is the most amazing story in baseball unfolding here, the guys are just fun to watch, with The Bernie, and pies in the face, and last-out heroics. And it's dirt cheap!
On the other hand, I finally made it out there yesterday for the first time this season.( Me boys had gone early in the season, but out summer kinda went splody this year) I've never had more fun at a baseball game. Night was warm, the crowd was going nuts, but in a good way. That tribal high was in the air, the kind that'd blow anyone's blues. Texas has the best record in baseball, and they hit several homers, but it almost didn't matter what they did, A's were going to win.
I wish I could go back tonight.
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
Unbelievably, the A's have completed a three game sweep of the mighty Rangers to not only clinch a playoff spot but win the division (a big deal this year because for the first time the wild card team neads to play a one game play-in game to make it to the division series). In fact, in the unlikely event that the Red Sox beat the Yankees, the A's will tie the Yankees for the best record in the league, win the tiebreaker, and thus be the No. 1 seed in the American League with home field advantage until the World Series (where home field advantage is ridiculously decided by who won the All Star Game).
Unbelievable!
Edit: Cross-posted with Frelga, obviously.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
“Wilbur never forgot Charlotte. Although he loved her children and grandchildren dearly, none of the new spiders ever quite took her place in his heart. She was in a class by herself. It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.” E. B. White, who must have had vison in mind. There's a reason why we kept putting the extra i in her name in our minds!
I just hope if there is another Bay Bridge series that there is no earthquake!
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Not only is the most amazing story in baseball unfolding here, the guys are just fun to watch, with The Bernie, and pies in the face, and last-out heroics. And it's dirt cheap!