Hey Rev, Happy Baseball Season.  C ya at the yard!  What have the statistical models been smokin?......

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How ya been, you acolyte of the Anti-Christ, you?

Let's see - I didn't drink, throw the peanuts, give the finger, or use profanity.  And I still got tossed.  Of course, there was that one little other thing I did.........

Hey, we're visiting family in the horrid SF Valley over the weekend, and are coming out to the Monkey Pen on the 4th.  Section 239, Row A.

Why, of course, I'll have my A's flag.  Thanks for asking!

Turned mine in cuz I thought we were sitting elsewhere.  Turns out we're not.

I have 4 extras for today in the first row behind home.  Sec 116, Row 13,m 3 - 6.

bleacherdave@yahoo.com

408.607.3359

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Sec 122.  $5 to cover Paypal and Ticket Relay fees.

bleacherdave@yahoo.com

word word word word word

I went with my grandparents to my first A's game in 1970.  Uma (my grandma) was born in Louisiana and so was that Blue boy - and she had my grandfather take us to games to see him.   She never learned to drive, so as my love for the game grew, we would catch the 57C to the Coli. for summer afternoon games whilst my grandfather worked as a foreman at that Emeryville machine shop where he worked for 36 years. The same grandmother who was shocked and offended when, one day in the 2nd deck overlooking 3rd base, I (mis)pronounced Jesus Alou's first name as one would the son of God.  I still remember her sharp, hushed correction.     

I was forever hooked when Joe Rudi made that catch at the wall in the '72 Series.  To my 8 year old eyes, that was gonna be a  game losing home run fa sho’. But, then again, don't they all look like HR's when you're 8?

My passion for the Oakland A's takes me right back to those days - Oakland in the mid-'70's: Hoping for the green Campy bat on bat day, the beach at Lake Merritt, Flint's on San Pablo, the smell of the sourdough factory.  The Swingin’ A's, Raiders, and Warriors – underdogs all. And my grandmother.

Soon enough, I was 12.  Old enough to catch the 57C to the Coliseum all by myself.  Unfortunately, it was 1976 and the A's & Warriors were about to get bad.  Real bad.  Really, really bad.  I got to see lots of bad teams, up close & personal.  With a few thousand - a very few thousand - of my closest friends.

But, most of all, I love the A's because they're Oakland.  That then Oakland, and this now Oakland.  Still underfunded, underappreciated, all-inclusive, and (r)evolutionary.  And with a chip on its shoulder for its "San-a-fisco" rivals.

I live 89 miles away from the Coliseum now, but my wife and I make most weekend games.  Get there when the gates open, and sit in Section 139 with the rest of our baseball family.  That reference may sound cornily like that Drew Barrymore movie, but a bunch of folks from our baseball family came to our wedding in Jamaica.  That’s family.  We laze around in the sun, snack on lemonade (and Swiss chocolates when we’re lucky) while rueing the loss of the fish sandwich, and watch the pitch movement from over the pitchers shoulder.  Best value in baseball.  We have the same rituals game after game - "<insert outfielder name> say Hi buddy" and betting on the dot race; waving the A's flag, and heckling the opposing outfielder - after Torii Hunter's ill-fated playoff dive: "If Torii's spelled with two I's, how come you cain't see?" Even he had to laugh.

We get down to Anaheim for one series a year, and inflame the OC crowd.  It's always great good fun despite getting pelted with peanuts.  It was so bad one game, sitting in the first row behind Vlad, that I just stood up, turned round and let ‘em have at me.  I ended up with a couple of unopened bags for the next day’s game.

But, my favorite place to visit is Big Phone.  Had a ball waving the A’s flag behind their plate last year.  Larry Baer – irritatedly bumping into my flag as he passed by - asking me how I got those seats.  His reply: "You’re Bleacher Dave – I’ve left seats for you before!" Thanks, Larry.  Must have been him that sent the guy in the Seal costume to try and jack me for my flag.  Jacked by a seal?  No way.

Isn’t it Ray Ratto that’s responsible for this fiction about the Coliseum’s "lost view of the Oakland hills?"  One column from him and that became the oft-parroted but never analyzed knock on the new Coliseum.  Hasn’t anyone noticed that the best view of the hills was from the press box?  Who cares!  View of the Hills?  Anyone who remembers that view knows that its most prominent feature was the rock quarry at the top of Edwards Ave – a huge scar upon Mother Nature’s bosom.  I gotta think most folk were there for the games, not the view nor the architecture.  But, I bet any new A’s stadium includes a really nice press box.

OK, Mt. Davis is horrendous – I agree.   But, for us, the fans who sit in the open air, Mt. Davis has brought some benefits.  It’s blocked some of the wind that made it so frigid and made it actually possible to hit HR’s at night.  Besides, from where I sit, my back’s to that behemoth.

I won’t buy into the "carpetbagger" phraseology of the OAFC, but these are some of the reasons why the "A’s to Fremont" sickens me.  It’s completely rational for Wolff and Baby Gap to want to add to their fortunes.  I get that, and can’t knock them for it.  What I don’t get, is why so many fans are rooting for the owners pocketbooks instead of their own.

As it is now, it’s easy to park, tickets are cheap and available, concession lines are short, and the team is just coming off a great run.  For a baseball fan, what’s not to like?  High prices and crowds are great for the owners pockets, but not so great for the fans pockets – so why are folks so eager to pay more?

Are we so eager to be like Big Phone – The Place To Be Seen?  A high-priced happening where folks eat garlic fries between phone calls and hope to get erased?

For me, the Coliseum represents the Oakland I loved.  It’s taco trucks instead of tapas, Lake Merritt rather than the Embarcadero, Bay Bridge not Golden Gate.

Forget the Elephant, bring back the mule.  And the 57C.

I have extra Bleacher ducats for today's game.  On my way to their yard now.

831.524.1564  cell                                                                                                                                                                                                

The A's are considering converting the bleachers from general admission to reserved seating.   I think that's a great idea; I don't have to worry about interlopers appearing on bobblehead or other "premium" days and snagging "my" seat or "our" row; and we don't always have to be there when the gates open.  A potential downside may be the break-up of existing "baseball families" in the bleachers.  Whatever happens, I think the most important thing is to maintain the existing character of the bleachers...the funnest (and funniest) place in MLB.

David Rinetti, the A's VP of stadium operations, asked me to solicit feedback from A's fans.  What say you all to the A's idea of making the bleachers reserved seating?

Please add your comments and vote in the poll.

Michael Krasny had Larry Baer call-in.  He's ripping the A's because they didn't make anyone available.  He's befuddled and waxing nostalgic for the Haas era when Roy Eisenhardt would be available, in Roy's words, "In a New York instant."                                                                                          
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I just got off the phone with the A's ticket office.  I wanted to have my playoff strips mailed to my work address, the better to casually flash them to the Giants fans in the office.  (I'll leave it to you witch doctors to offer penance to the Woofing Gods.)  But when I called, the Ticket Services guy told me they started mailing out the strips today.  I bought mine on that first Monday when they went on sale, even before the invoice arrived.  He checked and told me that our strips were in the group that was mailed today!  They should arrive on Monday.

Check in with your seat location when yours arrive.

Now that the strips are going out, can there be any rationale for not putting the magic number PROMINENTLY on the front page?  Heck, look at the voting.  YA GOTTA GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THE WANT!  Power to the People.  Free Huey!

I didn't see any A's flags on the broadcast of the game last night.  We've always had a group of flags flying in past years.  I'm on my way up to the game today (and tommorrow) - is it safe to Wave 'Em High in SF?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Since I haven't quite figgered out how to upload photos to AN yet, I'll link to this site where I was able to post this pic.  I call it "Bonds on Bonds"

http://www.oaklandfans.com/discus/messages/21/8343.html?

The NY press continues to flog this story.  Personally, I think he'd be a great fit in NY.  Give him  a $100M George.  We'll take the draft picks.            

http://www.newsday.com/sports/printedition/ny-spyside054690803apr05,0,5581026.story?coll=ny-sports-p rint
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

As every right-thinkin', kool-aid drinkin' A's fan knows, the saddest sight on the shores of the Frisco bay is watching that team across the way way slowly sinkin' into the stinkin' muck of baseball's steroid investigation. I heard some guy allegedly hit 73 home runs in a season for that team once. Allegedly.

Did we really need the "Game of Shadows' to tell us that the heart of darkness beats over in Frisco? Let's face it; back in the day some former members of our East Side 9 pioneered the concept of better baseball through chemistry. If Oakland was ground zero of the steroid epidemic, Jose Canseco is the self-professed alpha carrier. But, while the A's have consciously rid themselves recently of pharmaceutically enhanced players, including a couple of MVP's - Big G, Miggi (if you believe he's 29, keep puttin' your teefs under ya pillow), Lil G, Byrnesy, Frankie, Velarde - the Giants built the foundations of their ballpark, and their franchise, on the beautifully balanced swing of a guy that just got better as he got older. Older...Better...Older...Better? Nothing suspicious about that, right?

In response, our boy Bud hit a home run the other day with MLB's announcement of the steroid investigation. If I'm in Bud's shoes, I'm trottin' around the boardroom these days with both flaps down, stylin' and profilin'. With a quick flap of his lips, baseball moved from being controlled by the news, to having control of the news. A single afternoon presser, and Bud and the rest of the barons of baseball went from potential targets of a Congressional probe to running the investigation. The inmates are running the asylum - take that Nurse Ratchett.

There was something rotten with the state of baseball, and if I could see it from the cheap seats, certainly Bud Selig and Billy Beane had a much better view. Don't ask, don't tell boys - just keep rakin `em in. Home runs = cash cows. But, now that the '94 strike is a distant memory, there must be a sacrifice to appease the sponsors. As in the days of the Roman Coliseum, the patricians still have a taste for blood.

Let's not get it twisted; MLB didn't willingly launch this investigation. Sponsors were backing up faster than Mark Kotsay on a drive to the wall to disassociate themselves from any Bondsian celebration. In any case, calling for an investigation was a brilliant strategic stroke on several fronts. The timing of the announcement on the eve of the season pre-empts any congressional grandstanding. And by originating the investigation, MLB and its franchises don't have to worry about being subjects of the investigation. The collective bargaining agreement expires this year and an active investigation into the players little black bags (and black books) not only gives ownership the PR high ground, but leverage against the players union in pursuing an even stronger testing policy. Like the comic book superhero Powerman, let's hope they use this power for good. As Eric Chavez said," we all want to see the end of the story. I want the right information."  Not to mention seriously reducing the future potential market for tell-all books from former athletes, writers, and hangers-on about who took what in the butt.

We've been so sucked into the melodrama around the steroids story, we haven't thought as much about the drug policy that's going to make the biggest difference in the game. Amphetamines testing. We're either going to see baristas in all the major league clubhouses, or depth and youth are going to be more important this August than ever before. Guess which one the A's have plenty of? It ain't the espresso beans, my friends. The 2006 Oakland Athletics may not be roasting their own beans, but for the first time this decade they have good depth to go along with their youth.

OK, so the inflammatory headline got you to look.  Byrnesy was more subtle but he definitely implicated Miggi on KNBR this morning.

Byrnes has been co-hosting the KNBR morning show.  In a list of the top baseball stories of 2005, Raffy's dirty test was discussed.  Byrnesy vigorously defended Raffy against being a knowing Winstrol user.  As Byrnes noted, the drug policy is a joke, and needs to be revised.  He mentioned HGH as a substance that a player would take in the drug testing era; a sophisticated high-profile guy like Raffy would never use a steroid like Winstrol.

When asked why Raffy came up dirty, Byrnesy said, " I believe Raffy  !"  (in his assertion that he came up dirty from using Miggi's B-12 syringe.  The (stunned) host asked him again, and Byrnesy repeated his belief of Raffy.  The host did not follow up with the implication, and I can understand why, but I've been listenting all day and haven't heard any  else follow up.

What a bombshell!

Billy and Lew did an hour with Ronn Owens from 11 - 12.  Check it out...........
                                                     http://www.kgoam810.com/Article.asp?PT=Archive&id=49920
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Zito credits the drum beat with giving the A's an extra boost of adrenaline.  CHeck out his interview on the mlb.com.

 WAVE 'EM HIGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

replacing you-know-who.......                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

The A's expect to draw 100,000 or more for the series. That will be a factor, according to shortstop Bobby Crosby.

"They always get us pumped up," he said. "If the crowd is loud and obnoxious, even better. A lot of teams don't like our crowds, and that's good for us. I love that other teams find them unnerving."

"All I know is our fans are nuts, they're crazy," said catcher Jason Kendall, who is in his first season in Oakland. "It's fun to play in front of them. They're kind of like us, they're out there. We relate to them well. They might not be the biggest crowds, but you can't fill up a football stadium. They're loud, and that's how it should be. I think this is a great sports town. "

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/08/09/SPGBPE53TD1.DTL

The clapper fell out of my old, worn, much used cowbell, and I've been mute all season.  Time to spring for a replacement.

This time around I'm going Luxe. I'm going for an engraved Norwegian Moen bell, and I'm looking for a .tif file of an A's related logo to have engraved on the bell.  Anybody have anything that can help me out?

THanks.

I don't know how many of you know Martin from the bleachers, but he had a conversation with Ignacio De La Fuente about Lew Wolff and the stadium situation.  IDLF told Martin that there would be an announcement on 8/14......                                    

http://www.oaklandfans.com/discus/messages/21/7499.html?1123357092                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Heard Michael Cuddyer getting interviewed on mlbradio.com. According to him, Oakland has the worst hecklers in the league because in "Boston and NY the fans know baseball, in Oakland they don't know baseball, they just yell stuff at you."

He'll be here soon. You know what to do....                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Don't get me wrong, I love Mark. But his OPS is 40th among AL OF'ers;lower than both Kielty (14) and Swisher (30). It's his lowest OPS in the last 6 seasons, and his slugging is under .400. The only other year his slugging was under .400 was 2 years ago when he had the back problems. That's also the only other year his OPS was under .800. One year after spending time on the DL with the back, he had a career high in plate appearances last year.

Mark Kotsay went out of his way and made a special trip to BB's office during his contract negotiations to assure Billy that he was signable and he wanted to be here. He may have left major coin on the table by doing so. On the other hand, if he would have been traded, or not had his option renewed and become a free agent, he would have had to pass a physical. Shortly thereafter, BB goes out and gets a guy (Payton) that can backup CF. Coincidence?

Kotsay WAS hitting line drives at guys all weekend.

Is his performance to date this season a statistical fluctuation? or is he playing through back pain?