SB Nation User Blog: BobbyCrosbysGirl

Bobblehead Shrine Help!

BobbyCrosbysGirl — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 08:44:12 -0000

Ok Folks, it is that time of year again. The new season is upon us, the winter trades are complete (I hope!), and my bobblehead shrine is in desperate need of dusting!!

There have been so many trades over the course of the last year that my shrine is in need of a major overhaul!

So I am turning to AN for help with this. I could really use some ideas as to how I should display these!

This is my current shrine:

POV 1:

POV 2:

Close up of Bobbleheads:

So AN, I am leaving this in your very capable hands. I need your help! As you can see in the last photo, I only have 5 "active" bobbleheads. I still want to display all my bobbleheads, but I only want the "active" ones as the focus. And I need to make room for the 2008 bobbleheads.

I know I am not the only one with such a collection. So I would really appreciate the help of others who are finding creative ways to display their treasures.

And I would love to see photos of other shrines out there in the AN community. Even if you don't have an idea how to help me, I think it would still be fun to see how people show their devotion to their team.

Tickets Available for Sat 9/29

BobbyCrosbysGirl — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:08:58 -0000

Hello Everyone! I have tickets that I am trying to sell for the Saturday Game this weekend.

They are in Section 127, Row 4. I am looking to sell them for $30 Each. I can't make it to the game and I would rather sell them to an ANer before I sell them to Craigs List or E-Bay cause I don't want any silly Angels Fans sitting in my seats!

So let me know if you want them. First come, first serve!

Tickets for Tomorrow's Game

BobbyCrosbysGirl — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 16:50:39 -0000

Hey Guys!

So I can't go to the game tomorrow. I have 2 tickets for sale if anyone would like to grab them up.

They are for Section 127, Row 4. I am selling them for $30 each. I also have a parking pass I can sell to you for $8 if need be.

I am going to the game tonight, so we can make the exchange tonight if you are going. Or we can work something else out.

Please post here or send me an e-mail. First to reply gets them!

Thanks!!

My New York Trip

BobbyCrosbysGirl — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 22:47:16 -0000

Ok folks, as promised I am bringing you all my pictures from New York! Ok, maybe not all, I took over 1,500 pictures while I was there. Even I get a little bored looking at them all!

I went to New York with the main objective of watching the A’s play the Mets and the Yankees, but since I had a little time in between the two series, I was able to squeeze in some touristy things.

We flew into JFK on Friday June 22nd. My advice to anyone flying into JFK, plan a whole day for travel. After the 6 hour flight we sat on the runway for another hour waiting for a gate and then another hour waiting for our bags, THEN another hour waiting for the shuttle to take us to our apartment. We left the Bay Area at 7am and didn’t get to the apartment until 8:30pm! Not the ideal way to start our trip.

This is our first view of the city!

So on Saturday we had some time to kill so we decided to get lost in Queens for a while looking for a Peruvian restaurant that was closed! That was an unpleasant experience. One I hope never to repeat! But after we discovered the restaurant was closed, we headed over to Shea. We got there a half hour before the gates opened and were able to be very near the front of the line to get in. I saw a small handful of A’s fans walking around. I was wearing my Joe Blanton shirt, cause that is what I wear every time he pitches. So I got a lot of people calling out to me, "Hey! JOE BLANTON!!! YEAH!!" That was pretty cool!

This was my first view of Shea stadium after getting off the Subway:

So once we got in we walked a little ways down to the third base line to watch BP. Here are a few pictures of the stadium from there.

Then we watched a little bit of BP. While we were down there, that was the first time we were really absorbed in the New York Accents. I was having a blast just listening to people talk. There were a couple of insane chicks in the box next to me! They had some cryptic sign for one of the players that apparently was an inside joke for him. He obviously got it cause when he noticed the sign he started cracking up! These same chick apparently met Swish at Spring Training. When they saw him on Friday she told Swish she had his jersey and wanted to know if he would sign it for her. He said, "Only if you wear it!" Good BOY!! Well her response was that it was a kids size and she was a larger woman, so it wouldn’t fit. But she brought it anyway and they were trying to get him to come over like crazy! That woman was LOUD!! I mean, LOUD!!! But it was really kinda cool watching her try and interact with the players. She was hard core!

Anyway, while we were standing there, we started talking to a lot of Mets fans. I got a little razing for being an A’s fan, but it was all in good fun. Every single time the conversation went something like this:

Mets fan: OH!! We have an A’s Fan! Uh OH!
Me: Yup! Proud of it!
Mets fan: So, are you from Oakland?
Me: Yeah, I am from the Bay Area.
Mets fan: Oh that is cool, did you come out for the game?
Me: Yeah, I am staying until next Sunday so I can go see the Yankees game too.
Mets Fan: Oh man! Why would you want to go there?
Me: To see my boys of course!
Mets fan: Well that is really cool! What else are you doing with your time here?
Me: Oh, the typical touristy things, Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, ya know.
Mets fan: Oh yeah, that is good. You really should try and do this.... (Insert suggestion here!)

EVERY TIME! With very little variation. They were all awesome and had TONS of New York advice for me. They were all so friendly and kind. Nobody said a genuinely bad word about my boys or the fact that I was a fan. If anything they complimented me on the fact that I was such a fan that I would follow them around the country!

So we stood around and watched BP. I talked with a woman who was BEYOND in love with Mike Piazza and wanted to meet Alan Embre, cause he apparently did her a favor once upon a time and wanted to thank him. She had a sweet camera so we chatted about that for a while too. Here are some of my pictures from BP:

Yeah... YUM!!

My friend is not the biggest baseball fan in the world, so I tried to make BP short. We headed up to our seats and discovered we did actually have a rather nice view.

Here are some other pictures of views from near our seats:
The outside of Shea, Just above the last S in Express on the sign, you can see the beginnings of the new Shea Stadium.

This is Outside, behind Shea on the other side of the Subway station:

Ok, so what is the deal with Dunkin’ Donuts?? They are EVERYWHERE! And people are obsessed with them!

As the sun was setting over the stadium, I snapped this picture of the flags along the top of the Stadium:

When the game finally got under way, the A’s had Mike Piazza bring out the line up card.

I was very impressed with the reception he got. There was a standing ovation for him the entire time he was out there, and he did the gentlemanly thing and waved his cap to the crowd! It was a pretty neat moment!

The game got going and it was a perfect pitchers duel, like we knew it would be with Blanton on the hill. Oh and he was at bat too!

Mr. Met shot t-shirts into the crowd:

Paul LoDuca lost his mind!

I got up close and personal with David Wright!

Just kidding, this is actually a picture from the Wax Museum... Sadly...

And the Mets won on a walk off hit by Mr. Wright!

All in all, I really enjoyed going to Shea Stadium. It may have been a bit of a boring park, but the fans were nice and it was a good game. I was impressed with my time there.

During the week we had a ton of time to kill between our baseball games, so we decided to do all the typical New York things.

We went to Time Square... A LOT!

We went to Central Park on Sunday

Followed by a circle cruise at night that I would highly recommend. It is called Harbor Lights and it goes around the bottom half of Manhattan at sunset. Super Awesome!

Empire State Building on Monday

Followed by checking out the "Friends" Building! Definitely a highlight of my trip!

On Tuesday we went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. My recommendation: GO EARLY! Mega security checks in that place! Lines like crazy! Get there right when it opens! But it is well worth the wait!

This is a replica of the face of Liberty. My head comes to about her cheek bone.

Then we went over to Ground Zero. This was really hard seeing that and going to the Tribute Center. Absolutely something you must do in New York, but my friend knew a woman who died there and it was hard for her.

This is a plaque that the FDNY made for all the fallen firefighters in 9/11. It is massive! And beautiful.

While I was there trying to take pictures of it, a man stopped in front of it and right into my picture. I thought it was terribly rude until I realized he had stopped to pray. He was obviously on his way to work and it was almost like stopping there to pray was part of his routine. It was rather touching.

From there we went to Grand Central Station

On Wednesday we went to see the Lion King, which is one of the best plays EVER! I am sorry, they wouldn’t let me take pictures inside.

Thursday we spent the day doing a lot of shopping and visiting Museums. Kinda boring really, glad we went, but no exciting pictures to share.

Friday we went to the Brooklyn Bridge and finally got our hands on "New York City Pizza!"

Saturday was spent at Yankee Stadium. We were unsure of the way we would be treated going there, so we opted to put our A’s stuff on once we arrived at the stadium. Not necessarily a bad idea, but one I soon discovered wasn’t necessary. I did not have one single word said to me from Yankee fans. I was impressed. No snide comments, no jokes, nothing. One man did make a comment inside Monument Park, but I don’t know if it was meant to be derogatory or not, and my friend jumped in to defend me so quickly, I didn’t have time to think about it. But I will get to that in a minute.

Entering Yankee Stadium is like going to the airport. Security is tough. They check everything. You even have to turn on your cell phone and show them that it is real. Fortunately we entered through the gate that was closest to Monument Park cause the line got long FAST!

While we were waiting to get into Monument Park I snapped these pictures of the stadium itself.

First a picture of the construction going on with the New Yankee Stadium!

So Monument Park was MUCH smaller than I expected. I don’t know why I thought it would be a big space, I just did. It started out with all the numbers that the Yankees had retired:

Then the actual Monument Park begins:

The park was in a Y shape. You walk in and the first thing you see is this under you:

This explains how the Yankees got their logo. Above this plaque in the cement bricks is the Yankee Logo. It was a little too big and there were too many people for me to get a good shot. But I found this to be VERY interesting.

As you enter, you are greeted by Babe Ruth:

Then you wrap around the plaque to see the rest lining the back wall:

As I was taking this picture, Mr. Yankees Fan Man said to me, "You know, this is a religious experience for most of us!" He didn’t say it in a mean way, but it could have been taken that way. Like I was walking on Holy Ground in my A’s gear basically sinning. I don’t think he meant it that way, I think he meant it in a way as to just point out that it was a big deal, in case I didn’t know. But before I had time to respond my friend whipped around to him and said, "It is to her too! Believe me!" and he stopped talking.

Just before you leave Monument Park you see this:

Which I think speaks for itself.

After seeing Monument Park we walked around a bit. As we were leaving it, I caught sight of the boys warming up, which after a very long week in New York, brought me an UNREAL sense of comfort. It made me way too happy. I knew at that moment it was time to go home!

So, if you think the Coliseum is cramped in the concession area, you obviously have never been to Yankee Stadium. I was down right claustrophobic in there! It was terrible. But as you leave the seat area and head to the concession stands, each little doorway has a photo above it of a World Series winning team. I thought that was a very nice touch. Established a sense of pride!

While we were walking around I was quietly explaining to my friend just how much I hate the Yankees and the 15 reasons why I especially hate Derik Jeter when she has the nerve to say to me, "You know, if you grew up here, you would be a Yankees fan too!" That is when I got loud and didn’t care who heard me! "OH HELL NO YOU DID NOT JUST SAY THAT!!! I would NOT be a Yankees fan, I would be a METS FAN!! I can’t believe you just said that to me!!" Several Yankees fans turned to look at me, but fortunately once they saw the A’s gear on, they just went back to their business.

Once we got to our sweet seats in the outfield, I caught a picture of Huston smiling that freakishly white smile of his!

Then Chad Gaudin came out to warm up for the game IN HIGH SOCKS!! WOO!!

Kotsay and Swisher warm up, this is the view from my seats in the outfield.

So when Kendall came up to bat, I decided to crack a little joke. I quickly said, "Ok Kendall, Home Run!" I turned to my friend who wasn’t laughing cause she didn’t get it and said, Man that would have gotten a good laugh in Oakland! Just then, BAM!! Off the Foul Pole! Kendall Home Run!! I couldn’t believe my eyes! I thought all that New York heat had finally gone to my head! Holy Cow! I stood up and cheered like a crazy person. Fortunately no food was thrown my way!

Later in the game when things started to unravel for the Yankees, I was SHOCKED at how rude the fans got, to their own team!! They were booing and being cruel! I couldn’t believe it. When another Home Run was hit, they were not booing the Home Run, they were booing the pitchers. The woman near me would curse up a blue storm every time a ball was thrown! I couldn’t believe it! We will stand up and give our pitchers a warm reception even when they have given up a few too many runs, cause we KNOW that they are better than that and just had a rough day. We show our team we are still behind them and care about more than just the one game! The Yankees fans are by far the WORST fans in baseball. Yes, I said it! They are the WORST FANS IN BASEBALL!!

So after Chad came in and did a stellar job pitching, I got to see Rich Harden on the mound which is always a bonus, yet scary, moment in baseball for me!

Yay! Love those One Hitters!!

Yay taking two of three from those horrible Yankees!!

We left for home the following day. We left the city in style. The guy at the front desk of our hotel arranged for a limo for us to the airport. This was our last view of the city:

After a 4 hour delay leaving New York, I finally made it home to the Bay Area. I have never been so happy to be back in Cali! Not that there was anything wrong with New York, other than the fact that they don’t recycle, it is dirty, and loud, and way too crowded, it is a good city, for about 3 or 4 days. I discovered that I was very ready to go home after Wednesday. If it wasn’t for the tickets to the Yankees game on Saturday, I probably would have hopped on a stand by flight on Thursday morning.

I am certainly glad I went. I saw some amazing and moving things, things I will never forget! But it is going to be a very long time before I go back. Maybe once the new stadiums open, I will head back that way, but I know for sure that I will only stay for about half the time I was there this time. 10 days is just way too long! When Ray Fosse said, "It is good to be home!" On Monday night, I knew EXACTLY what he was talking about! I love California!

New York, NY

BobbyCrosbysGirl — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 18:25:35 -0000

As I have mentioned before, I am heading out to New York this weekend to see the A's take on BOTH New York Teams. First they hit up Shea Stadium and then the following weekend, Yankee Stadium. And like a good A's groupie, I will be following right along.

I will only be going to the Saturday games, and I really want to be sure I get everything in at each Stadium. I don't want to miss an inch of those stadiums because this will be my only opportunity to see them before they are replaced in 2009.

So, I would really like to hear from anyone who has gone to these two stadiums. I know that the Yankees have their Monument Park, and I fully intend to visit it. My question is, is there anything along those lines at Shea? Is there anything historical or special I should make a point to check out once I am there? Any food recommendation?

Same for Yankee Stadium, anything you would suggest making a point to see? Any food that is classic Yankee Stadium?

Basically I want to hear, "If you can only go once to Yankee/Shea Stadium, you absolutely can't miss ..." (fill in the blank)

This would be very helpful. I really want to get the full experience of each stadium, but because I am only going to one game each, I am terribly afraid of missing something. So any advice, tips, or suggestions would be very welcome!

Thanks for the help!

Tickets for this Weekend Available

BobbyCrosbysGirl — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 20:27:21 -0000

Hey All!

Well, It looks like I won't be able to use my tickets for this weekend. I am really sad about this because I was really looking forward to a nice long weekend of baseball between two of my favorite teams. But it looks like I am only going to get one day. =(

Anyway, so I have some tickets for Friday and Sunday available. Both are in section 127, Row 4. I would like to sell them for $30 each seat, which is a tiny bit more than I paid for them, but less than you could buy tickets in that section. So that would be $60 per game.

I would really like to sell these to you guys at AN cause I know there will be A's fans using my seats, which is as it should be!

So if anyone is interested, please let me know. Either post here or send me an e-mail. First come, first serve!

DLD 6/6/07 - Happy Birthday MaEl!

BobbyCrosbysGirl — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 17:13:51 -0000

I figure, I haven't done a birthday diary in months, so I might as well do the DLD on the day of our Favorite Unicorn's Birthday!

So TODAY is Mark Ellis's Birthday!

Chavey is trying to drum up some more votes for the All Star Game. So Get out there and VOTE!!

I Heart DiNardo!

And just cause it is Ellis's Birthday, and I think it is funny... HERE!!

Happy Birthday Ellis!!

Dump Away!

My Trip To PETCO

BobbyCrosbysGirl — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 22:30:06 -0000

Memorial Day weekend I made the trip down to Southern California. I was staying in the horribly red Angel territory, but I made a day trip down to San Diego on Saturday to see the Padres play. My super awesome boyfriend wanted to show me his home town team, the team he grew up watching and rooting for, and knowing how much I love baseball, he knew this would be a totally special treat for me. So we made the trip down for the day. Some of you expressed some interest in seeing the pictures, so here you go!

First we walked through a bit of downtown. We parked few blocks a way from the park cause it would be cheaper and I would get to see some of downtown, which was just lovely by the way. Felt like a cleaner version of downtown San Jose. So we ended up walking in what we found out later was the back entrance to the park, if there really is such a thing.

This was my first view of the park!

We walked a little ways and we stumbled across the "Park at the Park" area. I thought this was super cute! There was sand out there and grass. It was so nice, I would have been perfectly happy sitting there for a game!

While we were down peering through the chain link fence, these were a few things I saw:

Once we got in, we decided to look around a bit and find a bar. We went up to the top of the Western Metal Supply Company Building and found a lovely little bar that was practically deserted when we got in there. We pulled up a seat near the TV that was showing the A’s game, Bay Area feed =) and had a couple of drinks. I thought the bar was fabulous! I really enjoyed spending time there. It was cute and friendly. There was memorabilia on the walls and a wonderful view from the balcony of the whole field. I hope we have something along these lines at the new ball park!

After Witasick threw up 3 runs to make the score 8-1, I took that as a sign that we should just start enjoying the Padres. So we headed on up to our seats. The view from our seats was gorgeous. My boyfriend had made a very direct point to get seats on this particular side so we would have this amazing view, and he was totally right!

First we stopped at the front of the stadium to take a few pictures.

This picture is a panoramic that he was able to paste together from the pictures I took.

Before the game started, the bull pen walked across the field to their hang out for the game! Trevor Hoffman waved to the crowd.

Then the Friar came out to get the first pitches rolling.

They had guys from the Navy there to throw out one set.

And it was Extreme Sports Night, so they let the riders throw out another set.

Time to Play Ball

The Sun Setting over the park was just wonderful.

Then it was Trevor Time. It almost wasn’t Trevor Time. They were winning 6-2. But at the last minute in the 9th, the reliever that came in just before him coughed up some walks, so I got really lucky!

GAME OVER!! WE WIN!!

One thing that really impressed me was that they posted a full game Summary on the score board after the game. Yet another thing I hope they do at the new stadium!

After the game they had fireworks. They were no where near as good as the Coliseum’s fireworks, but they were still fun. They started 5 minutes after the game ended and nobody was allowed down on to the field, so it just wasn’t the same, but I love fireworks! So I was very happy we went on a night when they had some!

All in all, I really like PETCO Park. It was very lovely and comfortable. It just felt like baseball. I look forward to going again! Hopefully next time when the A’s come to town, so I can wear the right colors! ;)

Pictures, Pictures, and More Pictures

BobbyCrosbysGirl — Mon, 21 May 2007 19:43:15 -0000

Well, it has been a while since I have posted pictures for ya’ll, so I guess now is a good time after the weekend we have had.

I am posting a few pictures from the last two weekends of baseball. I went to all three games for the Indians series and Giants series. I am not taking as many pictures these days. I have kind of been in the mind set of wanting to enjoy the game not behind the camera lens. But every so often there are things that are just begging to be caught on film, such as a Bobby Home Run, a Jack Cust Walk Off, and a Mrs. Kendall Home Run! So here are some of my favorite shots from the last two weekends!

First off, Rich is Not Dead! Yay!

But Dallas Braden might be... This was the last official sighting of him.

On Mother’s Day, we had a bit of Pink Bat Magic. Bobby certainly did when he hit a SWEET Home Run! So here for your viewing pleasure, the steps to a Sweet Home Run:

Gear Up for Contact on a ball right down the middle:

Be sure to follow through after contact:

Admire the beautiful sight as you begin to run the bases:

Be sure to touch Home Plate:

Let Swish Smack your Ass as you head into the dug out:

Be Congratulated by the rest of the team, no Ass Smacking required:

Not to be out done, Jack Cust had to go and show some Walk Off skills!

This Past weekend we faced the Giants. And even though I would have loved to take a sweep from them, I will settle for a series win any day!

Of course, knowing that Swish was going to cut his hair on Saturday, I had to get a few final shots of his beautiful hair! I will miss it, so very much!

I think Swish will miss them too... He took a minute to play Cousin It for DJ.

But the bigger story of the night was the return of Zito...

There were a few... Strong... Opinions about it.

I am sorry, I am going to rant for a moment. In the first inning, Bobby hit a foul ball right to me...

Well, technically it was to the ball boy sitting in front of the bull pen. Well, I was wearing my Bobby T-shirt that night and the ball boy saw me and tossed it right to me. He looked me dead in the face and tossed it to me. There was nobody in the two seats next to me and a Giants fan broad in the third seat. Well, as the ball boy tosses it to me, she reaches out and knocks it out of my hand. It lands in front of her friend sitting next to her. EW! I was so pissed! I just looked at her and was like, "Thanks, I appreciate you practically hitting me to get a foul ball that was intended for me!" and she says, "That’s the game babe!" UM! Rudeness!! I was so pissed!! This was the second weekend in a row I was trampled for a foul ball. Last weekend the guy sitting in front of me pushed me over to get the ball that landed in the seat next to me that Chavey had tossed into the crowd. Then, when he was recounting the story, he sounded positively PROUD of knocking me over when he told his buddies what had happened! People are unbelievable!

Anyway, back to the game!

I caught a glimps of the newest Chavey on the staff

Ellis hit a sweet Grand Slam

And the Ump tossed Bochi!

But in the end... It was so Beautiful!

But on Saturday, there was a bit of Giant retaliation...

Too bad it was the wives who had to stand up for their men!

Here are some shots of the ladies I got. I am not entirely sure who everyone is cause I got there a little late and didn’t hear the announcements.

Mark Ellis with his VERY pregnant wife Sara... I really like her name!

And at least one Kendall has some Pop!

The Boys and their Babies:

DJ with Mini DJ

Duke with Mini Duke... He wanted to go play with Daddy on the outfield, but Big Duke told him to go sit with Mom. He didn’t like that idea very much.

And Um... Joe... Didn’t Michael Jackson get in some big trouble for doing that to his kid a few years back? You may want to be careful!

Following the Wives Softball Game, a tragic moment took place. I know, I know, it was for a good cause, but I did shed a tear when the first cut was made!

I think even Swish was a bit perplexed. I could almost hear him saying, "Oh man, what have I done!"

Ok, well that does it for this weekends pictures. I am in the middle of 9 solid weekends of baseball. This coming weekend is the only weekend of baseball that does not include the A’s. My Man is taking me to a Padres Game. I have never been to that field before, so I am really excited. I don’t know if any one cares about the Padres, but let me know if you would be interested in seeing my pictures from the third deck! The next 6 weekends I will be back to A’s baseball, including a road trip to New York. Those I will definitely post!

I hope you enjoy!

New York Road Trip

BobbyCrosbysGirl — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 21:04:17 -0000

So this local A's groupie will be following the A's to New York in June. I am super excited cause I will get to see them play at Yankee Stadium AND Shea Stadium!! I will be staying for a whole week!

My friend and I have been trying to work out a trip to New York for years, and finally saw our opportunity when I picked up the A's schedule for 2007.

So why am I posting this? Simple, I am in need of some advice and tips.

First of all, we are still in need of a hotel. We have a few in mind, but they are all rather expensive, and when you are staying for a week, you need to cut some costs. So if anyone knows of a hotel, that is safe and clean, that is under $200 a night, please point me in that direction!

Second, I am hoping those of you who live in the New York area may be able to give me a few spots of interest there, places that only locals would know about.

And finally, any helpful hints about the stadium or tips on how to brave the Yankee crowd while wearing A's gear, would be super awesome!

Oh, and anything else you think I may need to know about traveling to New York would be great too!

Thanks a bunch!!