Last weekend was extremely exciting not only because the Athletics swept the Red Socks but also because I go to be at one of the games.  On Friday I took Amtrak to the game and I must say that all the ads they play on the radio lie.  You cannot go to the game at your own convenience as the ads claim because there is only one train running that will get you to the game on time.  While on the train I noticed a fair number of Boston jerseys but no other Athletics clothing aside from what I was wearing.  The train let's you off in beautiful Oakland right below the BART station and coliseum near a restaurant aptly named Coliseum Burger that I would never in my life eat at.  As I walked over the BART overpass with my father I checked the estuary for dead bodies (now a ritual thanks to me neighbor), and as usual was surprised at the number of Boston fans I saw.  Once inside the stadium it was very apparent that the game would not be a sellout. I am amazed that the Athletics once again have the best team no one watches.  The biggest drawing team can't even fill the stands, which is very sad.  The game as so much fun and the Athletics hit 2 homeruns in the game. Now that I am of legal drinking age my father loves to send me to get his beers so he doesn't have to leave his seat.  When asked what kind he wants his reply will always be "No ****** beer please." I know far better than to come back to the seats with Miller Lite, or Budweiser.  In my house ****** beer is blasphemy. 

Harden was pitching and he looked so good. He is an amazing player because he is either hurt or 100%.  I don't see him having the interim struggling period. He seems to just come off the DL throwing smoke.  All the years of waiting for him to get healthy now seem worth it because of how amazing he is currently pitching.  I always was an advocate for putting him in the bullpen but I am glad he proved me wrong.  Huston Street is starting to look better which makes me happy.  I don't like it when he struggles because he is one of my favorites on the team.  The funniest moment of the night was when on the jumbotron there appeared a hat trick game for the Red Socks.  One hat appeared on the screen and a ball went inside it.  Instead of the usual 3 hats one was all that appeared and after it moved around the screen said "Which one?" The hat poped up and low and behold there was nothing there. The announcer said something about still not being able to get it right.  It was so funny.  Very creative on the Athletics part I must say.   All in all it was a truly amazing night.  I simply just love going to games more than anything!

Thomas is now on the DL, which doesn't make me happy one bit.  Chavy was brought up from Triple A to take his place, which will eschew his rehab plan to get him back fielding.  Chavy can hit just fine but he is still tentative when it comes to his fielding.  I hope he is able to get back to the Gold Glove Chavy we all know and love.  When he is on he is the best 3^rd baseman but after back surgery I wonder if he will ever be 100% again.  Lets hope so.  

Yesterday's game looked extremely promising with Harden looking like the Harden he had always promised he could be.  It made the past few seasons of disabled list stints all worth the wait.  Harden not only pitched exceptionally well but he recorded his first major league hit, and off of Hudson no less.  Cust hit a solo home run, walked and struck out using every one of his skills.  (He hardly does anything other than those 3 things.)  Sweeney hit a 3 run home run and this game got the bad taste of loosing 4 in a row out of my mouth. The reliever Casilla is on the Disabled List, Ellis is injured and not playing, while Chavy and Buck are playing in Triple A. All of these things did not matter tonight as the Athletics beat the Braves. Street looked dicey tonight.  It feels like you never know which Huston Street is going to come out and pitch. He could be lights out or the other team could hit everything he throws.  He almost blew the game tonight but luckily the Braves only scored 3 runs against him. Still those 3 should not have happened.  

Yesterday was my father's Birthday, which we celebrated in true baseball style.  The day started with a college baseball game of UC Irvine versus UC Davis.  My brother attends the first school and I the second.  The weather was a force to be reckoned with reaching  102 during the middle of the game but being tried and true baseball fans we stayed.  I gave my father the films Bleacher Bums, and Bang the Drum Slowly as presents and he loved them! After the college game we drove to Sacramento for dinner and a River Cats game.  I have always wanted to go to a River Cats game  and this was the perfect day to do so with several big league guys rehabbing there.  Our car tells the temperature outside and at one point on our way to Sacramento it read 108! Yikes!

We ended up at the world's strangest and possibly most awesome restaurant, Joe's Crab Shack.  There is the most bizarre amalgamation on the ceiling of sharks, fish, crabs, lights, TVs, records, beer signs, and other oddities.  Halfway through out meal strobe lights came on and the waiters proceeded to perform a country line dance in the middle of the restaurant. It was very funny but hard to concentrate on your food or conversation.  Since it was my fathers birthday they told the restaurant he was turning 21 (yeah I believe that) and that he had always wanted to be a cow boy.  They put a cowboy hat on him and as we sang Happy Birthday wanted him to ride around on a horse*.  (It was really a kid's toy of a horse head on a stick) My dad gave me the most evil look and slowly got up swinging the horse around like it was a bat and he was a ball player.  After the song he came back to the table and proceeded to playfully hit me with the horse.  This lead to many promises of getting me back on my birthday. Next year.

We walked back to Raley field and they were playing out song Glory Days by Bruce Springsteen! It was meant to be.  The outside of the stadium is landscaped and is so beautiful as is the inside.  It turned out to be Daric Barton bobble head night so it was exciting to get something so awesome for free!  Once inside it truly felt like a minor league park and I loved it.  The stadium was just the right size and they had good food! The field was so pristine and the announcer had an extremely funny way of announcing players.  In between innings there were the most campy, silly and absurd events going on.  They had an American Idol type contest, a hit the water balloon contest, a catch the fly ball contest, and a stroller race.  It most certainly felt like a minor league park.  Eric Chavez, Travis Buck and Lenny Dinardo were al playing in the game and it was fun to see some of the big leaguers.  Chavy hit 2 doubles which was exciting! It was also military appreciation night and the River Cats had camo print jerseys.  My father and I kept score as usual the entire game and just enjoyed each other's company a lot.  All in all it was an amazing magical night and as alays it reminded me why I love baseball so much.  

Since it is Mother's Day this is a post about the women that have helped shape my life personally and in a baseball sense.   My grandmother was an amazing woman.  She was one of 12 children whose father was an Arkansas Minister.  She embodied beauty, strength, courage, passion, and love.  I believe there isn't anything my Grandmother Bobbye could not do.  She was a wonderful cook, an amazing seamstress, loved birds, had a fantastic garden always had a full cookie jar and loved baseball.  When I was younger I remember her making hot dogs, pickles, potato salad and the whole family sitting around the TV to watch the Mariners play. She lived in Seattle and got to witness some of the best Mariners teams.  They had A-Rod, Griffey, The Big Unit, Edgar Martinez, John Olerude, Brett Boone and my Grandmother's personal favorite Joey Cora.  It said so much about her character that on a team laden with superstars she loved Cora, a player not many people probably remember today.  One season we got matching Cora jerseys and there are pictures of us smiling so happy supporting Cora.  I still have mine to this day and I think of her whenever I wear it.  She was the first woman I knew that truly loved baseball and in the latter years of her life she moved to Oakland and we got to watch many Athletics games together.  While I never got to go to a game with her we had many great times in front of the TV or radio and for the World Series we bought baseball designed paper plates and threw a World Series dinner.  The year Bill King, the famed Athletics radio announcer passed away was also the year my Grandmother passed away.  I remember that season's opening night when they paid tribute to Bill King I wept not just for the loss of King but also for the loss of my Grandmother. There was a moment of silence as Kings broadcast chair and microphone sat on the pitchers mound and I openly wept tears of sorrow and joy.  For me the game will always be tied to my Grandmother. 

My Mother is of course the most important woman in my life.  While it was my father that initially started taking me to games my mother has endured and helped my obsessions for as long as I can remember. My mother much like her mother is a fabulous cook, seamstress and nature enthusiast.  She is a nurse and has always been the most caring and giving person I know.  The year I turned 16 my mother and I took a road trip to Seattle even though my grandparents no longer lived there.  Why might you ask did we go there? To see the Athletics play the Mariners for 4 games of course! My amazing mother drove all the way from Oakland to Seattle with me in the passengers seat for a girls baseball road trip.  I was knee deep in my Barry Zito obsession at this time and it was on this trip that my life changed forever when I got to meet Zito not once but twice.  My mother and I arrived at the ballpark so early that  we were the first ones in the stadium and we got to know all the local baseball card collectors, fanatics and crazies.  I taught my mother to keep score on this trip and we bonded in ways I will never forget.  While eating at Pike Place Market we saw Cory Lidell (RIP) and his family enjoying the nice day.  We waited outside the Athletics Hotel for a glimpse of a player and trailed Zito for several blocks before he went into a restaurant.  It was a crazy trip and the most fun I have ever had on vacation.  Since my mother is very handy with a sewing machine she made me a sundress out of Athletics fabric and when I out grew it turned it into a bag to hold my scorebook and pencils.  She simply is the greatest mother a girl could ever ask for and has been outstanding in accepting my love for the game. 

My Aunt is the third woman that has really had an impact upon my life. While I never saw her as frequently as I did my grandma and mother I was always so excited when she would come to visit.  She lives in Arizona, works in the photography field and is a huge Diamondbacks fan.  When my favorite player Eric Byrnse was traded to the diamond backs she gave me a Byrnse shirt, which I love to wear.  We always talk on the phone about our two teams and each week she sends me clippings from the Arizona papers about Byrnse and his stats.  Now the Diamondbacks have Dan Haren as well so I get lots of updates on my favorite former Athletics from my aunt.  

It has been really wonderful to grow up with so many amazing women surrounding me and especially ones that love baseball the way I do.  I am the woman I am today because of them.  While my father instilled in me a love for the game the three strong women in my life constantly remind me that baseball is a sport for women and not just men.  Diamonds are a girl's best friend after all.  So Happy Mother's Day to not only the three women I love but to mothers everywhere.