Missing the old days

by billyball1981 on Aug 28, 2006 3:06 PM PDT Comment 12 comments

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.

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Howdy Abe! Find yor teeth yet?

"The Matt Watson/Chiba Lotte Marines Fan Club"-Through Aug 27th: GMS-53,AVG-.285,OBP-.367, SLG-.418, 9 doubles, 4 homers, 17 RBI

by bigelephant on Aug 28, 2006 3:32 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I have most of my teeth, but

I do spend my free time yelling at clouds.

by billyball1981 on Aug 28, 2006 5:57 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Naw, they just drank alot and did a ton of:

BLOW!!!!

"I think we just feel that now is our time." - Nick Swisher

by saint on Aug 28, 2006 3:33 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

By the time there were 2 divisions

in each league there were definitely greenies in the majors.

"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s

by Nick on Aug 28, 2006 3:47 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Aw.

Now I'm sad. I wish I were old enough to remember those days so that I could miss them too. It makes me sad that one day I'm going to pine wistfully for today: "I remember back when I was sad that I had no bittersweet memories to reminisce fondly about. Now I don't even have that."

Day to day

by oblique on Aug 28, 2006 4:39 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

In the old days, I used

to walk 5 miles uphill, through sleet and snow to find a place that had Internet access.

by southofcruiseamerica on Aug 28, 2006 10:22 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

with your brother

on your back and barefoot?

by smasfan on Aug 28, 2006 11:25 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

and

it was a dial up connection.

by billyball1981 on Aug 29, 2006 9:04 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I miss the old days too

But not really any of those things (at least not in a big way). I miss the iceplant and the real bleachers. I miss the view of the hills. I miss having a beautiful outfield all season long. I miss having the Coliseum rocking with a full house of 40-something thousand fans, almost all of whom were A's fans. I miss going to the World Series three years in a row (that's our god-given right, right?). And perhaps most of all, I miss Bill King on my radio.

All that said, I'm enjoying this season immensely.

A's 2006 record when I attend: 9-7

by peanut gallery on Aug 29, 2006 9:30 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Things missed

Yes the old ball park was nice. The ice plant, bleachers where you could see the whole field.Three world series in a row. Now, I got to see that twice. If you missed, or were not around then, the 72-74 run was a thing of beauty. The atmosphere here in Oakland was magic, cow bells ringing throught the neighborhoods, A's stuff was everywhere, were the Giants still here? NOBODY followed them. I can remember listening to the playoffs in class, school stopped for the game, mere words could not describe the feelings we as baseball fans had. This year the feeling, at least to me is close, I can't decribe it but it feels right. This could be it. Lets hope so

by billyball1981 on Aug 29, 2006 2:59 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I remember it well

At least as well as anything from when I was 6-7-8. Good times indeed. And you're dead-on about the atmosphere (actually winning all three certainly didn't hurt). I wasn't in Oakland, but even in Campbell you saw A's stuff everywhere. Really, until Pac Bell and Bonds came along, the A's had as high a profile across the Bay Area as the Giants (with the singular exception of KNBR).

Interesting that you mention the feeling of this season. I had actually written-out a similar thought before shortening my comment down. There's something about this team this year. I hesitate to say more, but I'm definitely on the same page as you.

A's 2006 record when I attend: 9-7

by peanut gallery on Aug 29, 2006 3:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The feeling

What I think the difference between this team, and say the 2000-2003 team is like the team of the 70's was they, at first had to fight to win the games. Good pitching, and really a so-so offense.As time went by they began to think they could win every game, then they believed that they could win every game. Soon the other teams knew that the A's would win every game. A swagger,if you will has seemed to return to the team. Having met some of the guys from the 70's team they all said it boiled down to everyone knew what their role was, and doing the job they were supposed to do. Also having a team leader in Bando, reminding the players what their role was. Do we have this missing element in Thomas? I think so.

by billyball1981 on Aug 30, 2006 7:41 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs