SB Nation User Blog: Rickeyfan

Poker and Root Beer Floats

Rickeyfan — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 08:53:48 -0000

This diary is two-fold ...

I have an extra bleacher ticket for Wednesday's game. It's up for grabs (unless it gets snagged earlier via craigslist). I'm going to sleep shortly, but I'll check around 9:30 tomorrow to see if anyone wants it. I'm planning on getting to the stadium between 10:30 and 11 for heavy beer drinking.

I didn't get to the stadium in time for Poker Set tonight :( On the other hand, we won, so that was fun. If anyone has extra poker sets, I'm willing to trade away Big Hurt, Uncle Milty, Piazza, or No Heart/Not Mexican Enough bobbleheads, 1 for 1, for 4 bobbleheads for 3 sets. I might even have light-hitting SS, and gritty ex-catcher, too.

Thanks!

A's Biggest Rivals are ... ?

Rickeyfan — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 17:09:43 -0000

So over on the Chronicle Drumbeat, they have quite a lengthy thread (by Drumbeat standards) going about who the A's biggest rivals are and who we A's fans would like to beat the most. I figured us, being us, could have our own discussion (mostly because I'm too lazy to register to comment in their thread). I did a search for 'rivalry' but didn't find any devoted threads, so here we are. So here's my question - who's our biggest rival? who do we want to beat the most? are they the same team?

Prime Candidates
Yankees - The Evil Empire. Buys divisions championships. Tries to buy the pennant/title (unsuccessful for a little bit now) The Goliath of the AL. Plenty to despise (Jeter, Giambi). Some to begrudgingly admire (Rivera, ARod) Their fans are frickin' everywhere when they come to town and incredibly obnoxious (Random question - are there Yankee fans that don't come from New York? If yes, why?) Knocked us outta the playoffs twice this decade.

Boston - The Evil Empire, Jr. The Yankees ugly kid brother. Win one title after a drought of 80something years and their fans get a big head. Knocked us outta the playoffs once.

San Francisco - The cross-bay rivals. A sorta new park with an empty trophy case (still). Plenty of casual fans that hang out until Bond's last at-bat. The dominant team in terms of media coverage in the Bay Area. The only team/city that loves Barry (roids!) and Barry (overpaid! haw-HAW!). Pretty evenly matched in terms of head-to-head games since inter-league.

Anaheim / OC / Los Angeles - The neo-rival (in the last 5 years or so). Very evenly matched despite differences in offensive philosophies. Plenty to hate (Scoscia, KRod) Also uses home-grown talent. Most impact on our success as a division rival. Has celebrated on our turf.

I've left out other teams like Texas, ChiSox, Twins, Seattle because they're just not disliked on the level as the four teams above.

Poll

Who do we want to beat the most / 2nd most?

Boston, Anaheim

1 votes

Anaheim, SF

33 votes

Anaheim, NY

41 votes

Anaheim, Boston

15 votes

SF, Anaheim

8 votes

SF, NY

0 votes

SF, Boston

2 votes

NY, Anaheim

5 votes

NY, SF

0 votes

NY, Boston

3 votes

108 votes | Poll has closed

DLD 3/23/07

Rickeyfan — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 17:58:43 -0000

Hey, someone's gotta do this .. even the last kid picked gets a charity at-bat.

Kots has evolved to walking uprightKots has evolved to walking upright

"Kotsay's one of the biggest leaders on the team so it gives you a little extra boost at the end of spring training to see him walking around without a walker and joking around,'' starting pitcher Joe Kennedy said.

Personally, I think JFK needs to do a little less joking and a little more focusing on not giving up a run per inning. Just sayin ...

Kennedy allowed seven hits and four runs, three earned, in 31/3 innings and the conditions affected play. He felt better about his outing than his previous starts because he was pitching more ahead of the hitters.

I'm at a loss for words ... moving on ...

On the road again ...

Highlights
Chavez misses Diego

"It's hard," says A's third baseman Eric Chavez, whose only child, Diego, was born in August 2005. "And the older he gets, the harder it's going to be. You just have to accept that, as a Dad, you're going to be missing stuff. Like this year, I know I'm probably going to miss Diego talking for the first time, because he's really close right now.

Kotsay uses tech

"I got an Apple computer with iChat, so when I'm on the road, at least they can see me and I can see them," he says.

The Gamer sucks it up.

"I deal with it fine," he offers. "I'm not one of those people who gets homesick and misses things. I just try to lock into the task at hand of playing baseball as well as I can play it."

Glenn Dickey says what we were thinking all along.

Prediction: There will be many times this season when a batter hits a fly ball that Zito expects to be caught. But, ohmigawd, there it is falling in for a double or triple.Zito’s second problem is that he’s extraordinarily dependent on the umpires. When they won’t call his 12-to-6 curve a strike, he has no out pitch — and he piles up the walks, 99 last season. Since he won’t adjust his pitching to the umpiring, his pitch count soars and he comes out early, explaining, "I was trying to be too fine out there."
His third problem is that the velocity on his fastball has declined.

And finally, your obligatory random news
Apparently, I left my detachable enispay in the City.

police shut down part of the thoroughfare for about an hour because of a suspicious package. ... The suspicious device was determined to be harmless, authorities said.

Yeah, that's what I've been told. (sob)

"Really baby, I promise I'll pull out. Just give me a little more time"
Personally, I'm waiting for The Onion to do a story about how withdrawal is a very poor method and how we should've penetrated with more reliable protection.

AN day in Anaheim - post details here.

Rickeyfan — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 18:42:10 -0000

Update!

Where - Katella entrance (north side of stadium).

When - 5:30 PM Saturday.

Update Part II - Rickeyfan has officially arrived as of 15 minutes ago. Scutaro spotted in hotel lobby. See ya'lls tomorrow. Alrighty, I just got the instruction sheets for the card stunts finalized (I have to hit up the local Kinko's to get 70 copies printed up - between the paper, copy fees, and my time, that'll be my contribution :) ). I am driving down today (late afternoon) from the Bay Area to the Anaheim/OC Doubletree just south of the stadium. I should be in some time tonight between 10 and 12. In case some sort of calamity befalls me between now and then, I will email a copy of the file to Poppy and BBG (It's all formatted for easy printing)

Poppy (with the cards) is at the Anaheim Hilton several blocks west of the stadium.

Among the things to coordinate
-The picking up of the cards from Poppy (where and when) This has been settled.
-The pre-game meeting of AN at Angel stadium north(Katella) entrance has been chosen. All we need to do is setup a time (This has been settled - 5:30). Are people going early enough to watch BP? Should we rehearse in the stadium or in the parking lot?

As more details come in, I'll update this diary in the next couple hours. Otherwise, I'll be off the grid (ok, not really, BBG and Poppy can reach me by cell)

If possible, we need AN volunteers that are sitting elsewhere at the stadium to take pictures of the stunts. We'd greatly appreciate it. :)

FYI
'There are three entrances into the Angel Stadium of Anaheim parking lot, via Douglass Road, State College Boulevard, and Orangewood Avenue. The parking lot opens two and a half hours prior to the start of the scheduled first pitch. Please follow the directions of the parking staff upon entering the lot. Day of game parking is $8.00 and oversized vehicles (greater than 20 feet in length) are $16.00.'

Today's the day (a.k.a this is my fault)

Rickeyfan — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 07:52:21 -0000

12 days ago, while we were middling through a .500 start to the month and the Angels were gaining ground, a diary was posting apologizing to the woofing gods. In that diary, I posted the following comment

'my 'lucky' A's sleep-in shirt must run outta luck
into the wash it went tonight. Tomorrow will be a fresh beginning.'

http://athleticsnation.com/comments/2006/9/13/0339/24516/9#9

Immediately afterwards, we swept Chicago. In fact, the next time we lost, was the day after I forgot to wear the shirt to sleep. I made it a point to wear it since, with full knowledge that clinching this weekend was within our grasp. All I needed was for the magic # to be 4 or 3 going into the series, and the Angels accommodated with the right number of losses. And wearing it during gametime, appears to be irrelevant, all that has mattered is that I have it on before midnight, and go to sleep in it. That's right, since the washing, our guys have been undefeated when I sleep in the shirt the night before ... and 0-2 when I don't.

On Thursday night, I wore the shirt to sleep again. Friday night, I went to the game, to watch our guys win, Zito's last regular season home start, and meet Athleticsgirl24 (She came out all this way, right?). I had other plans on Saturday, but I'm going to today's game, which coincidentally, happens to fall on my birthday. For those who haven't picked up the foreshadowing, I did not wear the lucky shirt to sleep Friday night - purposely. Yeah, that's right, for my own selfish reasons, I wanted them to clinch today on my birthday (and as a Cal alum and a superstitous sports fan, if I have one win to use for the day, I want it to be for the Bears ... mission accomplished).

It's just past midnight now - and the lucky shirt is back on. In about 15 or 16 hours, we're gonna party like it's my birthday. I'll be there in section 134 and bringing green and gold cupcakes (real ones, not Blanton) for the crew there. Let's Go Oakland!

P.S. BBG - read your bit about leaving your luggage at the airport - you go, that's hardcore. Hope to see you this weekend, and definitely next.

Poll

If the A's clinch today, what does Rickeyfan do with his shirt?

Wear it starting next weekend and all the way through October (is there only a finite number of wins left in the shirt?)

3 votes

Keep wearing it, but wash it the next time we lose X in a row (what should X be?)

2 votes

Do not wear it again until the playoffs?

4 votes

Do not wear it again until we lose two in a row?

0 votes

Keep wearing it, ya stinky bastard! (Thanks for causing the loss yesterday)

7 votes

16 votes | Poll has closed

AN weekend in Anaheim

Rickeyfan — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 07:04:51 -0000

I have booked my hotel room at the Doubletree Hotel Anaheim/Orange County where the team supposedly stays during trips to Anaheim. I used Priceline and was able to reserve 2 nights (Friday and Saturday) at $55 a night (+taxes = $132ish total), which is at least 50% off the listed price (Doubletree's website starts at $99 a night).

If you need a room and want to chance this method, choose the name your own price and Disneyland area and bid $55 per night. Odds are, the Doubletree will get selected as your hotel (I've used Priceline for my last couple vacations and have a pretty good idea of where I'll end up based on the bid.)

Secondly, if people are still interested in doing card stunts, I'll need someone to volunteer to order the cards (green on one side, yellow on the other). I believe we'll need about 65-70 cards (5 rows, 13-14 seats wide) that are, 30 or 36 inches square? (I'm not sure what the dimensions should be). I can take care of creating the stunts themselves. I think the team will be juiced to see us showing our love and appreciation for the team - and really, who does card stunts in the opposing team's stadium? Crazy!! Only AN ...

C) if you've received your postseason tickets (I picked mine up today - yay!), remember to check in here.

Finally, I'm hoping that we clinch this weekend, after all, athleticsgirl24 is making the trip all the way from Arkansas to see our guys. I think 2 out of 3 should do it, which could put the clinching day on the 24th, my birthday :D. The fat lady hasn't sang yet, but she's doing her scales, and the audience is filing in ...

P.S. I'd like to give thanks again to Baseballgirl for organizing this event. It's fans like her that make these things possible, and make AN a great place to be a part of.

P.P.S. The gauntlet has been thrown down by a fan at HH

see how the ?ber-nerds debate the PAPER QUALITY of the signs they plan to bring to Angel Stadium

I smell a challenge.

Poll

Which series will we clinch the AL West?

This weekend vs. LA-ay-ay

31 votes

Next week vs. Seattle (will the streak continue?)

30 votes

Next weekend, all up in their kitchen, tracking our dirty shoes everywhere, putting our feet up on their coffee table, leaving dishes in the sink, not flushing, wiping ourselves with their 'rally' simian ...

12 votes

Hell freezes over. (<--- option for RevHalo)

11 votes

84 votes | Poll has closed

AN Day in Anaheim - hotel inquiry

Rickeyfan — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 22:04:56 -0000

We're only three weekends away from the last series in Anaheim. I'm probably gonna attempt to make reservations in the next couple days, but it'd help to know where I need to make them at.

Does anyone have contact information the the A's travel director, Mickey Morabito? I was wondering which hotel the team stays at. I've heard it usually is a Doubletree right down the street, but according to my research, there are two nearby ...

Doubletree Hotel Anaheim/Orange County
http://www.doubletree.com/en/dt/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=SNACCDT
and
Doubletree Guest Suites Anaheim Resort/Convention Center
http://doubletree.hilton.com/en/dt/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=SNADCDT

Ultimately, I'd like to find out if Mickey has connections to hook up a good rate if there are enough of us non-NRAFs that need lodging.

Poll

Do you need lodging for AN in Anaheim weekend?

Yes - Thursday night only

0 votes

Yes - Thursday + Friday night

0 votes

Yes - Thursday + Friday + Saturday night

2 votes

Yes - Friday + Saturday night

2 votes

Yes - Saturday night only

1 votes

No - but I want to know where, maybe we can party with the team

5 votes

Other - list combination of nights

0 votes

10 votes | Poll has closed

RickeyFan gorges self on Root Beer Floats

Rickeyfan — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 07:20:13 -0000

Thanks to Kaiser99, I was able to play hookey on Wednesday (hence, you will not see any pics of myself in this thread to avoid incriminating myself). I took copious pics of the Wives and Girlfriends of the Green and Gold (or pink as the case was).
Lacey Larson (Street's GF), Brandi Payton, Michele Duchscherer. I told Michele we were glad to have him off the DL (she said 'thanks') but forgot to mention I thought he got squeezed by the ump the night before.

The scoop needs to be this fuzzy ...

Brandi instructs Lacey on the finer points of float construction. 'You scoop out the ice cream like so ...'

'Focus Lacey, just like Huston'

I had to keep my distance from Zito and Swish to stay out of the range of their heat vision.

Alexa Chavez sans Diego (who was down in the kids zone) and a rapidly moving Jamie Kotsay

Jamie is much hotter when she stays still for a picture :)

Kristin Sarloos, Sarah Ellis, and Megan Thomas

For the record, it wasn't easy trying to figure out who was who. I mentioned to Alexa and Megan that there was probably a market out their for a calendar of the A's Wives and Girlfriends. Amusingly enough both of them cracked a joke about Anna Benson and her proclivity towards being scantily (if at all) clad. I did say though that it didn't have to be a swimsuit calender, that their pink jerseys would be just fine (I kinda like the pink jersey look).

I bought the $25 32oz unlimited refill cup signed by Crosby (unsigned was $15, regular cup was $2 + $2 per refill) I think I refilled 3 times on the floats until I couldn't handle anymore. I had the mug signed by Gina (Crosby's girlfriend), Alexa, and Stomper. Kaiser99 and I sat in the second row in the bleachers seats in the far left section (I pinch-flag waved several times).

The most memorable part of the game was (and Kaiser99 can back me up here) in the bottom of the fifth when up strolled Big Hurt with 2 on after Bradley walked (who walks Bradley to get to Thomas?!) ... I called audibly to the regulars around me - 'Stairwell shot' ... A couple pitches later, Thomas launches one high and DEEP, headed right towards us ... hoooking slightly ... right into the stairwell between the bleachers and the left field field level seats. :D All ended great with the A's winning and it was a good time out.

Poll

What theme do you want for an A's Wives/GFs calendar?

Swimsuits

19 votes

Pink Jerseys

7 votes

Pillow fight

11 votes

Action shots of the A's/Giants softball game

0 votes

With their kids / pets / Stomper

4 votes

With their men (and the men are wearing towels)

12 votes

What kinda fan wants a calendar of the wives and girlfriends?

9 votes

With interviews with behind-the-scenes info about their men

9 votes

71 votes | Poll has closed

RickeyFan goes to Petco

Rickeyfan — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 06:25:49 -0000

So last week I was on vacation down in San Diego, so I figured it'd be great to watch my first every baseball game at a non-Bay Area ballpark. And I took pictures, because I'm jealous of the Pads shiny newish park.

We bought 'lawn section' tickets, which is basically a large patch of lawn out beyond center and right fields. It's a great place to chill out on a blanket and have a picnic and watch the game. Here's a couple pics of the view from that section

Notice the sand pit down beyond the right field fence.

The bleacher section is separated from the lawn by a walkway ... you can see the Omni Hotel behind the left field line. Apparently the top floors are condos. Must be a nice deal, buy a condo, get to watch Padres games.

A shot of the scoreboard, as well as a big screen behind the box in center.

Right Field stands

The view from Right Field foul stands

These great flat panels and mini scoreboards were everywhere around the stadium.

Speaking of scoreboards, we won that day ... and the Angels would eventually lose.

Swing and a miss from behind Home

What's great about Petco is the way the stands are constructed, there are a lot of open spots on the walkway behind field level to watch the game (unlike the Mac which has the green fencing around most of its walkway).

A view from LF foul ground.

Kicking myself for not catching video of his intro with Hell's Bells, but here's a shot of 'Trevor Time'

Trevor warming up ...

Before he blew the save. :P
There's also a cool exhibit in the park of the area historically

Poll

Do you wish for ...

Contention until the last week of the season and a downtown park in Oakland

4 votes

A first round exit and the spec'd park across the Mac parking lot?

2 votes

A World Series title and a ballpark in Fremont?

12 votes

18 votes | Poll has closed

Anyone going for Root Beer with an extra bleacher ticket?

Rickeyfan — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 16:55:09 -0000

So I've made the spur-of-the-day decision to go to today's game if possible. (Read-play hookey from work). I am a season ticket holder (fielder's choice, LF bleachers are my area of choice). My problem is that I don't have a ticket to the game today. Is anyone local (Berkeley/Oakland) planning on going that ...

a)has an extra ticket for $10-$20
and
b) is planning on going early enough to admire Streets madscoopingskillz?

If so, please reply within the next hour or so (yeah, I'll be checking, like I do everyday). Thanks in advance!