SB Nation User Blog: Wes7

OT: This week's issue of The New Yorker

Wes7 — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 20:21:43 -0000

This fanpost is going to be off-topic, short, and not a little nonsensical. Still, it's AN-related all the same so I encourage you all to pick up the magazine referenced in the subject line.

Yes, it has several enjoyable cartoons and yes, its political coverage remains perceptive. But what really caught my eye in this week's issue of The New Yorker was one of the feature pieces. I never thought that I would find myself reading about the creator of Gears of War in the magazine, but that too is one of its charms. Especially when the piece is as well-written and as informative as this one.

I guess what I'm really saying, though, is more of a request than a statement: Dude, Blez, can I come to one of your family reunions sometime?

Into the belly of the beast....Angel Stadium

Wes7 — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 07:26:56 -0000

On the surface, it makes no sense at all. Why would I, an A's fan for more than half of my twenty-six years on the planet, choose to enter the belly of the beast that is Angel Stadium? Am I a masochist and take perverse pleasure in surrounding myself with fans who have to rifle through their programs to remember the names of their players? Or am I merely naive enough in my love of baseball to find the thought of setting foot in a new stadium, any stadium, to be a rewarding possibility? Or might I just be an idiot?

Actually, I think it makes more sense than it may have initially appeared to. A dear friend of mine is attending a conference in Anaheim this weekend. She invited me down as well, both as a way to spend some time with her as well as a way to get out of Dodge for a few days. And really, when it comes down to it, what better way is there to cap an extended weekend in Orange County than by donning an A's shirt, my weathered cap, and screaming my lungs out for my beloved green and gold on Monday night?

Honestly, I can't think of a better way at all. :-)

Before I head down, though, I was hoping to get some tips from any and all of you who have made similar journeys of your own. Things such as where are good sections to be surrounded with other A's fans and what, if I must give Arte Moreno some of my money, are the best food options at the stadium? (Also, would the stadium police be willing to look the other way if I paraded around the stadium with a Rally Monkey impaled on a shish kebab skewer?) Even if the intro to this diary is tongue-in-cheek, the question behind it is not. So if anyone has any wisdom of any kind as to how make a trip to Angel Stadium (as an A's fan) a successful one, I'd love to read it here.

Thanks in advance, folks, for any help you pass my way. I definitely appreciate it. And if any of you are planning on coming to Monday's game, shoot me an email (wes_mize at yahoo.com) and maybe we can meet up.

Anyone need a ticket for Wednesday?

Wes7 — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 04:02:23 -0000

So I know that I'm not exactly unique in this little dilemma, but I figured I should say something all the same. I mean hell, if I trust the masses at Craig's List, I might as well mention it to our wonderful little experiment in democracy here.

I have a ticket for Wednesday's game. A ticket I won't be able to use since the Red Sox whined to Selig and company and got the start time of the game moved forward. It set me back $28, but I'm more than happy to pass it on below its value. Maybe not for free, but I'm definitely flexible. If anyone's interested, let me know either here or via email (my address is in my profile) and I'll find a way to get it to you before the game. And if you're not interested, well hey, what do I care, you're still an A's fan so chances are you're still good people. :-)

Anyhoo, thanks for putting up with this rather shameless plug. Here's to a great season!

Who's going to the game tonight?

Wes7 — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 21:41:54 -0000

All right, I'll be the first to concede that the subject of this diary is a bit, shall we say, rudimentary. But there is a point to it and it goes deeper than just Blanton facing off with Bedard.

You see, this is my first weekend as a Bay Area resident. I moved down to Oakland last Sunday, after spending the past year (my first year out of college) back in my hometown of Arcata. I still have no idea what I'm going to be doing in terms of a job or where I can find some good falafel, but the important thing is that I'm here and here I will stay.

Perhaps most importantly, I now have a chance to put my money where my mouth has long been and that's become the die-hard A's partisan that I should be. Don't get me wrong, I've loved this team for a long time (for nineteen years, since I was a lad of six to be exact), but I've never had the chance to be an A's regular. I would come down and go to a few games as a kid, but in the end, of course, my brother, my folks, and I would have to pack up and head home.

Now, though, I'm in it for the long haul. Yeah, this season looks lost and yeah, it sucked to lose nine in a row, but dammit I'm just glad that I'll have a chance to be there from here on out. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I look forward to seeing the guys in person on a consistent basis. And just as importantly, I hope that in doing so, I get to know more of you (Poppy, monkeyball, Bobby Crosby's Girl, etc) on a closer level.

So, um, there's that. Anybody going to be there tonight?

The downlow on Spring Training tickets

Wes7 — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 17:37:34 -0000

I'll keep this short and simple, my friends:

I'm going to Spring Training for the first time next week. To say that I'm excited is an understatement. Sure I'm bummed that I won't be able to Kotsay, just as I'm bummed that I'll miss Duke's video game challenge (I arrive the day after said challenge), but c'mon, it's Spring Training. The fact that I'll be there at all makes me smile and smile wide.

Now, however, I've run into a bit of a problem. I was planning on going online today, scoring the tickets for the games I'll be attending, and leaving it at that. A quick check of the A's website, though, and I find that the only tickets available are standing room only. Perhaps it was naive of me to think that quality tickets would still be available at this stage, but, well, I did and now I've been proven wrong.

While I would go with standing room only if that's what I have to do, I figured I'd pop on here and see if anyone who has been to Spring Training before has any advice. No, I'm not looking for a scalper, I was just curious if people knew if any tickets tend to be released prior to game time. Should I go ahead and just book some standing room only tickets or should I buy a few tickets off of, say, Stub Hub and have them delivered overnight? (Something I'm loath to do considering the add-on in price, but would consider all the same. It doesn't help that I fly down to Phoenix on Monday morning.) Really, if anyone has any feedback at all just let me have it.

Thanks, folks, I appreciate any insight you may have.

The A's And Their Outdoor Sale?

Wes7 — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 23:14:00 -0000

Forgive me, folks, if this subject isn't particularly diaryworthy, but it is something that I'm genuinely curious about.

I have heard from more than a few of my friends that the A's have, in the past, held an end-of-the-year outdoor sale. Apparently it's a bazaar of sorts, with all sorts of A's merchandise and memorabilia available for sale. I say apparently because my knowledge of the event is strictly secondhand. Or at least it has been up to this point.

I intend to change that this year. I am committed to making it to the A's sale this year, both simply to see what exactly is available and also to hopefully bolster my A's merch collection.

The reason for this diary, then, is to ask any or all of you if you know when this sale might happen? I've already made plans to attend the last three home games of the year and while I would think that would be a logical time to have the sale, I don't know for sure. Thus, I figured I'd turn it back to all of you to see any of you know for sure when the sale is. Even if it's not next weekend, I'd still appreciate knowing when it goes off as I'd be more than happy to drive down to attend (I live in Arcata, up in Humboldt County.)

Thanks in advance for any reply, folks, I do appreciate it.

Why These A's Are Fun To Root For...Reason 41,972

Wes7 — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 05:56:47 -0000

Having come up to the Pacific Northwest to finish my time as an undergrad (at The Evergreen State College in Olympia) I can often feel rather separated from my beloved team. All of you at AN sure help, as does Gameday Audio, but still, I frequently miss my days back home in Northern California. It's only natural, then, that when the A's come into Seattle, I dip into my student loan money and snag some tickets at Safeco.

The past four days were no exception to this rule. I drove up to Seattle on Thursday afternoon (what could be better than skipping class for baseball?) and promptly bought four tickets for each of the games. And while I did, of course, love seeing Blanton, Zito, and Harden dominate the M's bats, while I did cherish Kotsay's homer and triple last night and Chavy's 2-run shot this afternoon, my favorite moment of the weekend took place before the second of the games had even started.

Being as devoted as I am to the green and gold, there was no way that I was going to show up ten minutes before game time and find my seat. Oh no. I had to get to Safeco two hours beforehand each night, both to see The Big Hurt work his magic in BP as well as to hopefully snag some autographs. Anyhoo, I was down the left-field line on Friday night when Rich came out of the bullpen. He was immediately bombarded by the calls of fans to come over and sign. He was more than happy to oblige, signing everything from the commonplace (a lot of baseballs were handed over) to the cockamamie (why, oh why, would Mariner fans want him to sign the M's calendars that were given out that night? Do they really want to be reminded that King Richard's our star, not theirs?)

At one point, I handed him a ball of my own and as he was signing, I told him that I still got goosebumps thinking about his game against the Rangers immediately after the All Star Break last year. It was a random comment, and I really didn't expect much of a response, if any. Instead, Rich momentarily stopped signing my basebal and looked up at me. A huge smile crossed his face. "That was fun," he said. "That was just a lot of fun." He proceeded to audibly run through the game again, telling me of his favorite moments, and just how excited he was to be on the mound that night. All the while, he kept smiling.

I'll tell you, AN, I'm pretty friggin' stoked to see our guys boasting a 5-2 record. They were amazingly fun to watch and while there were moments of concern (I do hope Esteban's okay, just as I hope the bullpen's hiccup today was a one game only experience) they looked like every bit the contender we expect them to be.

Be that as it may, I'm even more stoked that the guys on our team are as good guys as they are. I know a lot of you were at FanFest so perhaps this is old news, but these A's have a genuine graciousness to them that is both exciting and enjoyable. I hope you're proud of this team, AN. You have every right to be, both on the field and off.

A's fans and A's jerseys

Wes7 — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 11:10:35 -0000

One of the first things a visitor to my apartment will notice is the sheer amount of A's-related gear that I have. From fleece jackets to hooded sweatshirts, T-shirts to caps, a sizeable amount of my clothing options can somehow be tied back to my beloved team (yes, several AN shirts are included in my wardrobe as well). And yet, even in as cluttered a dresser as mine, I've made it to my 24th year (and 17th year as an A's fan) without owning an official A's jersey. Perhaps it's because I've never wanted to commit to the cost that jerseys inevitably carry. Or perhaps it's more a case of sheer laziness. Whatever the case may be, I just haven't felt the need to buy an A's jersey.

Until now.

But now I find myself with a predicament of another sort. I'm genuinely torn whether I should go for a genuine player jersey (a Harden 40 would be great) or opt to make a customized one with my own last name. The player ones are amazing, no doubt about it, but it would feel rather sad in a few years to be wearing a name that departed for greener pastures (thank god I didn't get a Giambi jersey back in high school, as my buddy did back in '99). Similarly, while the customized ones are nice, I've always found them kind of corny as well. Yeah, it's your name, but the number usually belongs to an actual player and it kind of takes the focus off of the team and places it onto you.

I don't know, this entire diary is essentially an exercise in me thinking out loud (and maybe I'm just too narcissistic for my own good). But there is a point behind it and that's just my own curiousity as to what all of you think of the jersey options. What do you think of the different possibilities out there? Do you personally prefer player jerseys or the customizable ones? Do you even care?

Thanks, folks, I appreciate any thoughts you might have.

A question of AN's ethics...kind of

Wes7 — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 09:52:04 -0000

This might strike some of you as a bit of an odd query, but I'm genuinely curious to see what you all think.

As you might expect of someone who frequents this blog, I am a huge baseball fan. Huge. It is true that my blood is of the green and gold variety, and that it flows most effectively when thinking of Zito's curveball, Kotsay's range factor, and Kendall diving into the spikes of Michael Young. The A's are my one and only and I can't imagine ever choosing (much less wanting) to cheer for another team.

At the same time, though, as much as I love this team, its management, and its players, my true affection is reserved for the game of baseball itself. It's the reason why even though it bothers me to no end that the A's haven't won the World Series recently, I remain glad that the Series has been won by six different teams in six different years. It's the reason why even though the coliseum is my home, I see no problems with taking in a game at Fenway or Camden Yards when I'm back east.

As a part of this love, I've begun the process of collecting World Series DVDs. I have both the 2001 disc (which is actually quite nice, seeing Mo Rivera blow Game 7 to Gonzo time after time) and the 2004 and 2005 discs. Now, however, I'm faced with an ethical conundrum of a sort. I'd like to expand my collection further, but I think I'd be committing a form of treason against our A's if I pick the 2002 disc. I'm not kidding at all when I say that the Angels have just about replaced the Yankees as the team that I hate the most. They strike me as smug, selfish, and truly impossible to root for (and don't get me started on their fans, seriously where the hell did their sense of entitlement come from?)

But there's no denying that the 2002 Series was a pretty exciting one. And there's also denying that while I hate the Angels considerably, it is kind of nice to be reminded of the Giants losing. So while the A's fan in me hates the Angels, the baseball fan in me appreciates their road to winning, if not their win as a whole. And so I ask you, AN (and yes, partially in jest, don't think I'm really this pretentious): Would you consider it to be turning my back on the A's if I bought the 2002 World Series DVD? Taking me at my word that the green and gold are the only colors I could ever truly fly, that the Angels are my least favorite team in all of baseball, but the baseball history geek in me was entertained by the 2002 Series, could I justify picking this disc up?

I haven't done so yet, so don't think I'm looking for a way to justify a potential transgression. I'm truly just thinking out loud here and wondering what you folks think. So what do you say?

Our A's on DVD

Wes7 — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 13:21:29 -0000

All right, folks, this may come across as faintly ludicrous but I'm truly in rather dire straits here. After spending the past two hours browsing around any online sports store that I could find, not to mention a healthy amount of time over at eBay, I've come to a rather depressing conclusion:

I will never locate anything A's related on DVD.

And this kills me, kills me more than you might believe, because I'd love to have as many A's memories as possible on my favorite format. But it just doesn't seem to be in the cards. The World Series collection (you know, the one with the '72, '73, '74, and '89 films on it that they used to sell at the coliseum?) has apparently been discontinued by its manufacturer. What's more, DVDs related to The Streak (much less the Beane era as a whole) seem to be either nonexistent or if they are out there, no-one has them for sale.

And so I come to all of you, asking with the utmost sincerity if anyone, anyone at all, knows where I could possibly track down any A's DVDs. Maybe you've just seen a few in a store somewhere in the Bay Area or maybe you know that I just need to become a season ticket holder to get some of these goodies (rather difficult considering I live in Olympia, Washington right now, but I digress.)

The point is, if anyone out there could help me track down any A's DVDs of any sort, I would be exceedingly grateful. I don't care whether they're unopened copies of these titles or if you could somehow burn copies of your own (or your friend's) A's DVDs. I just know that I would love to get my hands on any of these in any way that I could and so I figured I'd turn to all of you for some help. Obviously I would be happy to pay for any help that could be given if it involves burning copies.

My genuine apologies if this seems too self-serving for its own good or even just overly annoying. Nevertheless, know that I do appreciate anyone who might be able to help in any capacity.

Best regards to one and all,

Wes