Since the A's moved here in 1968 there have many changes, some good, some ugly. The Gold vest and gold pants come to mind. Charlie Finley gave the A's the green and gold in Kansas City and it turned the baseball world on it's head.

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Yes it's expensive, but if you love baseball, good at it or not. It's something you should do before you can't.  You will have the time of your life. One week of being a "Major Leaguer."  Not to mention hanging out with the guys you watched play for the Green and Gold.

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Since Billy pulled the trigger on rebuilding the team, let's look to the past when perhaps the A's should have pulled the trigger and did not. The end results were dismal.

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As the championship series begins, I was thinking back to the Bash Bros, era. It was a game that was on Saturday night, the A's were playing Boston (feh). I really wanted to see the game, but a nag of an old girlfriend demanded that I attend the wedding of her cousin, whom I could not stand. After he many threats I sadly said I would go. I thought since the wedding was to be held at the Claremont Resort, surley there woud be a television tuned to the game....Nope.
  But being a good planner, must be how I became a CEO, I brought a Sony Watchman with me. So I slipped the 2inch wide screen TV into my suit pocket, and turned it on. The wedding started, I watched the ballgame. Man, was my girlfriedd mad, who cares? It was the freaking playoffs. Well during the ceremony, and after, I had a large crowd of guys around me watching the game on my TV. We were all so happy we got to watch the A's kick some butt..funny though there were several unhappy spouses/girlfriends that night.
  Later, when I finaly married, no not her, I told this story to my wife. She laughed, and said, "If the A's were in the playoffs, we would'nt be going to any stinkin wedding" ain't love grand.

Early this morning I learned that Yankee broadcaster, and former Outfielder Bobby Mercer has a brain tumor and will be going under the knife. I met Mercer before an A's Yankee game a few years ago. He was very cordial and I enjoyed speaking with him. Even though I reminded him about ruining a 1980 game when he hit a pinch hit home run in the 9th inning off of Matt Keough to beat us 2-1 on the NBC game of the week. He remembered the blast, and thanked me. Even though he is with the hated Yankees, I am pulling for him to beat this thing, as I am sure the rest of AN will. Good luck Bobby.

I am a "old timer" member of AN, and recently have been longing for some of the good ol' days when....
   Pitchers would have to bat, pitch deep into the game, and not worry about pitch count.
   No steroids, nobody knew about "greenies", or cared.
   There were just two divisions, an American league team in Washington to beat up on. Playoffs were one series, best 3 out of 5.
  Music provided by an organist, not blasting tunes out of $100,000 sound systems.
  No commercials between innings, and NO dot racing.
  Do any others miss these things, or have I turned into Abe Simpson.

Since the A's were purchased, plans for a new ballpark seems to have been thwarted by a paralytic city council unwilling to make a decision. Should we be suprised? I think not.
So for those who lived through the Charlie Finley years, it seems to be happening again.
1.)Closing of the upper deck
2.)No radio contract, leaning towards a weak end of the dial station.
3.)Relations with the city decaying.
4.)The threat of moving to another city rearing it's ugly head again.
Is this just posturing by both sides or a prelude to an excuse to move the team from Oakland? It is no secret that the "Commissioner" does not, nor ever has liked the fact that the A's were moved to Oakland.

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