So yesterday I am in the Walmart garden center with my wife and two sons waiting to purchase a bicycle for my daughter...as well as a bunch of other stuff I do not need.

I look behind me and see an A's cap.  I ask my older son if he sees it - he is turning into a huge A's fan.  While it is not uncommon to see other A's fans in SoCal, it is still nice to run into one nonetheless.

I say to the A's fan behind me, `Still up 5 ½,'
Now, I am not the most social person in the world, however it sure helps when there are common interests involved - baseball...and the A's.
We talked about where we grew up - he in Livermore and me in San Jose.

I mentioned that I have be lucky enough to attend quite a few games this year - just about every game in Anaheim, a game at Petco, a game in Seattle a few weeks back with my son, and a few games in Oakland when on business.  

I can see his eyes light up, `I miss going to games in Oakland,' he says.

I mention in the last series that I was fortunate enough to get to sit with the drummers in the left field bleachers (thanks again Saint and Duke).  I told him it was one of my best experiences ever at a game in Oakland.  It is so nice to be able to talk to someone in person who knows what I am talking about.

I ask if he is going to any games in the final series in Anaheim.  I said I had tickets to Friday and Saturday.  He had tickets to all four.

Well, before I knew it, 10 minutes, a line of about 10 people, and a lot of A's discussion had passed.  We paid for our purchases and headed off in our separate directions...but with the same team in our thoughts.

My wife said it was nice that I had an A's fan in line to talk to.  Yeah, it was.

The only thing I forgot to ask was if he knew about AN....or if he was a member.  Maybe I will see Dude at SoCal AN Day.

<goes to check FormerHuntsvilleStars's map site for ANers who grew up in Livermore and now reside in Huntington Beach>

So, a lot of you may be thinking, `So what, you talked A's baseball with another fan.'  Well, I guess it is just the realization that most of my A's discussion is online.  Most of the time I talk baseball with live people is with Angel fans.  It was nice to have a discussion with one of my own.
Then again, maybe a lot of you do know what I am talking about.  Quite a few of us `ANers' are not in the Bay Area...but our hearts are...with the A's.