The Sox and the A's

One of the nice things about San Francisco, particularly if you like baseball, is that it is a large enough city to host two baseball teams, one in the each of the leagues. We went to a Giants game against the Reds earlier in the spring (which Cincinnati won 10-9), and last Saturday we ventured across the bay to go to an A's game in McAfee Coliseum. To get to Oakland one must cross the bay bridge, and then fight the traffic through Oakland to head south to the stadium. We decided to use the metro system instead of fighting the traffic and then the parking lot at the stadium. So we started with a bus that we could catch about 2 blocks from our house. Once off the bus we descended into the metro rail system to take BART (Bay Area Regional Transportation) across the bay.

All in all, we got there quicker and the cost was a good bit less than bridge tolls, parking costs, and gas not to mention the frustration of fighting traffic. Last year we went to the Boston versus Oakland with Brandy and Will (before we had any idea that we might be living here for a while). It was a celebration trip- to celebrate the safe return of Brandy and Will from Iraq. Brandy bought us Boston hats- and we were all decked out for this game. One big difference though- at this game there were as many Boston fans as there were Oakland fans- we definitely not alone!

The BART station is right next to the stadium, and we had great seats on the 3rd base line to watch the game. The last time we were at the stadium it was between these same two teams. That was last summer and the Boston pitcher, Beckett, came within one out of pitching a no-hitter and except for that one hit and an error, it would have been a perfect game, a very rare event. Beckett was pitching again, but he just didn't have the same stuff and lasted only 6 innings.


Both pitchers did well and Boston only got one hit in the game, so it was nearly an opposite game from last years since the A's won this one.
The first baseman for Boston, Kevin Youkilis, is a hometown boy-A Cincinnati hometown boy! Youkilis graduated from Sycamore High school and then played 4 season at the University of Cincinnati where his batting average was .627. So cheering for Boston- is cheering for the home team.

I bet everyone is pretty impressed that I was able to get such a good picture with my little Sony Digital- from way up high in the stands.

I must say that at both games we noticed that A's fans are a little different than what we have experience in other parks. These fans are noisy and rowdy.

This is a picture from last year when we were with Brandy and Will-

We didn't see fans quite so "colorful" as these two- but we certainly did find fans as noisy!
Sitting next to me was a "lady" with a large voice. Every time an A's player did something (regardless of whether it was an infield pop up, a home run or a strike out) she yelled "way to go baby" in a somewhat shrill voice. And in the event of a home run, she did a rather interesting dance (that I won't try to describe) right there at her seat that I believe was an expression of her joy about the event. Then after the last out and a win by the A's she did it again while we just stood there and waited until we could leave our seats. Nonetheless, it was entertaining, although also a bit annoying. But we were the visitors (we had on our Sox hats) so we were in no position to complain about it. We were certainly not the only Sox fans there. This Red Sox Nation thing is real. I do believe that there were about as many Sox fans in the Stadium as A's fans, and they were just a loud, but just didn't have much to cheer about.

We did enjoy the park,

The food concourse is dark- with a heavy concrete feel- crowded- and dark- But boy do they have the food!

While Don waited in the seats for the first pitch I wandered about looking at the food- and beer- and of course the "official" clothes.


I hope Don is appropriately appreciative of his "Big Hot Dog"- monster of a hot dog- a Saag's Atomic Hot. And it took me over 2 innings to wait in line- don't think there is ever a lull in the food lines at his ballpark.

And of course the hot dogs (Max did attempt to make sure I had another mustard/nose event).


I like the peanuts- where else but a ballgame can you drop the shells at your feet-


and the game before catching BART for a ride back across the bay and onto home.

A great way to spend a Saturday night!