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Around SBN: The End Of Sabanball: Details, Barbarians, And Precision

The Coliseum

    I am posting this question out of curiosity. I am from Vermont and have never been to the west coast. So in turn I have never been to the Coliseum.
    I am wondering what AN member's fondest or best memories are of the Coliseum. My favorite moment watching on TV was watching Henderson steal his record breaking base then rip it out of the ground. I wish i could have been there.
    Seeing as soon the A's will be calling Cisco Field home please share some memories good or bad of the Coliseum. Or even your opinion of the new stadium.
    Winter is almost over folks, April is just around the corner. Let's go Oakland. Think Spring

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Hmm...
upper-deck handjob, May 1 - 1991, or the last day of the streak.  Any of those bring back great memories.

by azagtooth on Jan 13, 2007 11:03 PM PST reply actions  

Just what i was looking for
I would never forget that that either. I might have even seen the video online.
Oakland A's 2007 World Champions!

by CrackBaby on Jan 13, 2007 11:07 PM PST up reply actions  

ok..
someone's gotta start a sex at the stadium diary.  Since it's only happened to me in my mind, i can't do it...

side diary: sex i didn't have because i decided to go to an A's game instead.  or worse: because i decided to watch an A's game on TV.

side diary2: blind date at an A's game.  discuss, along with post-game show.

by danh on Jan 14, 2007 9:39 PM PST up reply actions  

Yeah,
I admit it wasn't pretty, beer and nacho cheese were involved.

by azagtooth on Jan 13, 2007 11:17 PM PST reply actions  

I believe this topic is complete now.
Good work.
"You're just jealous. You wish you had a rally animal..." -CardinalWraith

by Boonee on Jan 13, 2007 11:25 PM PST reply actions  

Fondest memory
when the Coliseum looked like this:

by calgbear on Jan 14, 2007 12:06 AM PST reply actions  

man, that's a pretty view
funny how a concrete mountain landing in CF can completely change/destroy a place
--Nebraska--

ThePastime

by Ryan Armbrust on Jan 14, 2007 12:08 AM PST up reply actions  

absolutely gorgeous
When I first went to a game at the Coliseum in the eighties it was the most beautiful ball park I'd ever been in.  It was love at first sight.

by Brian in 317 on Jan 14, 2007 7:57 AM PST up reply actions  

<sigh>
Al Davis deserves to rot in Hell.

Oh, wait, he still owns the Raiders. Same thing!

This guy is dead! We'll list him as day-to-day for possible reincarnation.
A's Medical Staff, 2006

by grover on Jan 14, 2007 10:27 AM PST up reply actions  

Thanks for the new desktop wallpaper!
BTW... anyone know what that excavation lookin' area in the hills above the Jack in the Box sign is? Every time I drive down 880 I wonder what that is.
"I guess more players lick themselves than are ever licked by an opposing team." ~ Connie Mack

by Flyin As on Jan 14, 2007 10:37 AM PST up reply actions  

That's not 880...
it's 580.  (Or did you mean you see it from 880?) Anyway, that's the Leona Quarry, or at least it was.  Now it's a subdivision.

Extreme makeover Leona Quarry to get a new life as Oakland's biggest subdivision (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/30/REGGAFDTSD1.DTL)

 

"The bigger the game, the better he pitched."

by Catfish27 on Jan 14, 2007 11:23 AM PST up reply actions  

Yeah, you can see it from 880 too.
I know its bigger now than when that picture was taken.

They're going to make that a subdivision? I can just imagine the landslides.

"I guess more players lick themselves than are ever licked by an opposing team." ~ Connie Mack

by Flyin As on Jan 14, 2007 1:32 PM PST up reply actions  

Leona Quarry
Not going to, they did make it into a subdivision.  No, I wouldn't want to live there, either.
"The bigger the game, the better he pitched."

by Catfish27 on Jan 14, 2007 2:12 PM PST up reply actions  

Now THAT is a beautiful park. :-(
"This must be heaven," he says.
"No. It's Oakland."

by Kyli on Jan 14, 2007 1:42 PM PST up reply actions  

Wow...
Hadnt seen that in a while....Amazing how much the Raiders ruined a great place to watch baseball.
Bring back Hammer.

by OaktownPower on Jan 14, 2007 7:53 PM PST up reply actions  

That picture right there
sums up more than words ever could, of why I hate the traitors, er Raiders.
"I Will Not Relent, I Am Driven"... Clutch
Bring Back The Bash!!!

by Shippee33 on Jan 14, 2007 8:35 PM PST up reply actions  

What a great place to watch a game...
...that was.

Nearly all my favorite Coliseum memories involve sitting in the old left-field bleachers in the 1980s, most often with future ANers Nick and Nico.

If nothing else, he knew how to chew a stick of gum.

by GreenNGoldSooner on Jan 14, 2007 11:03 PM PST up reply actions  

Don't forget
The bleachers were $2.00, you could see the entire field, and you could by a pitcher of beer for $4.25. Even if you were 18!! Those were the day's.

by billyball1981 on Jan 15, 2007 6:04 PM PST up reply actions  

Stunning
Makes me wish I was born 10 years ealier

by SkipT on Jan 15, 2007 3:50 AM PST up reply actions  

It was better then
Thanks for sharing this wonderful photograph.  I had forgotten just how nice it really was before Mt. Davis.

by cowman on Jan 15, 2007 7:43 AM PST up reply actions  

Miss that
Miss that view.  Loved watching the sun set on the hills during a game.  There is a special hell reserved for Al Davis for building that concrete beast.
Tear down Mount Davis!

by polytician on Jan 15, 2007 3:44 PM PST up reply actions  

I dont go too far back
but my favorite memory of the park will always be those impromptu dates with an old GF when I used to live in Berkeley. I would get home from work at Blondie's, stinking of pizza and I would ask her if she had a lot of homework to work on that night, she would say yes, but I would suggest we go catch a game anyway. We where always late, but not alone, because the BART ride on the way there was full of people headed to the game. When we got there we bought a pair of tickets for the third deck.  The third deck was tons of fun, so it broke my heart when a year after moving away, they closed the third deck off and up came the tarps.

by Amnesiac727 on Jan 14, 2007 12:41 AM PST reply actions  

I love the Coliseum.... still
The first game I ever saw at the Coliseum was Rickey's first game in Oakland as a Yankee.  I watched the game through the slats in the fence beyond the old bleachers in left.

My favorite memory is simply that wonderful pregame feeling walking in to the ballpark to my old season ticket in section 317.  Individual game memories abound, but the high point would have to be the walk off bunt by Ramon vs. the RedSox in the playoffs a couple of years back.

I love the way you say "winter is almost over folks" - and you live in Vermont!?!  That's some heavy denial you've got going on (and you've gotta get through "Mud Season", too)!

by Brian in 317 on Jan 14, 2007 7:55 AM PST reply actions  

"winter"
we have not even gotten a winter here yet. It snowed for the first time last week and we had a week where it was in the 50's and 60's. pretty messed up.
Oakland A's 2007 World Champions!

by CrackBaby on Jan 14, 2007 9:38 AM PST up reply actions  

yeah I heard
My brother lives in Lyndonville.  

Though I love VT, I pity you for being surrounded by all those RedSox zombies.  More power to you!

by Brian in 317 on Jan 14, 2007 12:12 PM PST up reply actions  

Lyndonville
I'm from the Ville i went to LI graduated in 2003. Boy what a shit hole.
Oakland A's 2007 World Champions!

by CrackBaby on Jan 14, 2007 7:28 PM PST up reply actions  

Used to Spend My Summers in West Burke
I love the Northeast Kingdom.

Then again, I didn't have to spend winter, let alone mud season there.

If nothing else, he knew how to chew a stick of gum.

by GreenNGoldSooner on Jan 14, 2007 11:05 PM PST up reply actions  

West Burke
I have caused some trouble in that town. When i was younger a bunch of my friends lived right in the center of town. Got to love the kingdom. I especially love Lake Willoughby.
Oakland A's 2007 World Champions!

by CrackBaby on Jan 14, 2007 11:12 PM PST up reply actions  

Norwich going on Chelsea for 2 years.
Winter snow-shoeing to a bar and (eventually) back under a wolf moon :-)

Ever read/see "Letters to my mothers early lovers" ?

"Even if you know the deck is stacked in your favor, you still have to have the discipline to trust the math and the cojones to go to the ATM." BB

by green star oakland on Jan 14, 2007 11:49 PM PST up reply actions  

Definitely watching Rickey Henderson from
the third deck as a kid; wasn't the game where he broke the record, but it was right during the lead-up to that, and the place was just electric. He was my favorite player in my youth, and is still my sentimental favorite as far as A's players, past or present, go.
Oh, and almost getting shoved over the rail scrambling for a foul ball that came straight back into the third deck there, too, during that game... (certainly a vivid memory, at least)
I don't think anything can match the excitement you feel at the ballpark as a kid- you might not have as great a grasp of the nuances of the game, but you're more awed by the experience. That's why I hope we all chip in and do the Sports 4 Kids tickets again this year- it felt great last year to contribute to some kids getting to have that experience possibly for the first time. It's one I don't think they'll forget, and one that every kid should have.

by still bills kingdom on Jan 14, 2007 11:18 AM PST reply actions  

Lots of memories
I saw my first game at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in August of 1972 when I was 10 years old.  My mom took one of my brothers and me to the game.  It was t-shirt day: I got a t-shirt with Vida Blue's #35 on it while my brother got a t-shirt with Joe Rudi's #26 on it.

That game was quite memorable.  The A's were neck-and-neck with the White Sox for first place in the AL West.  John "Blue Moon" Odom pitched that day for the A's.  Knuckleballer Wilbur Wood was going for his 20th win for Chicago.

A few notable names were not in the lineup that day for the A's.  Brant Alyea, some guy I had never heard of, started in rightfield for the injured Reggie Jackson.  I was also surprised to see some guy named Gene Tenace playing first base.  "What happened to Mike Epstein?" I wondered.  Tenace would make a name for himself that Fall when he hit homeruns in his first two World Series at-bats.

The game was a real pitchers' duel, with Chicago on top 1-0 going to the bottom of the ninth.  The first two batters made outs as some of the Oakland not-so-faithful started filing out of the park.  Alyea, who had the A's only hit at that point, came to the plate hoping to somehow keep the A's alive.  So what did Alyea do?  He homered to send the game to extra innings!

Unfortunately, Rollie Fingers yielded a two-run homer to Ed Spiezio in the top of the 11th as the A's lost 3-1.  However, the A's had the last laugh as they won their division, beat Detroit in the ALCS, and beat the heavily-favored Cincinnati Reds in the World Series.  

Gene Tenace was the World Series MVP, and Reggie Jackson didn't play after injuring his hamstring stealing home in the ALCS.  Brant Alyea didn't make the World Series roster, and never played another season in the major leagues, but on that day he was the only one who could hit Wood's baffling knuckleballs.

"The bigger the game, the better he pitched."

by Catfish27 on Jan 14, 2007 11:41 AM PST reply actions  

I had Alyea's card
when he was with the Senators.  It's funny, I haven't seen it in thirty years, but I totally remember that card!  That homer you saw him hit was his only one with the A's.

by Brian in 317 on Jan 14, 2007 12:16 PM PST up reply actions  

I can go even one better...
I saw Craig Minetto's only career win.  It came on his 25th birthday against the defending World Series champion New York Yankees, April 25th, 1979.  It was a miserable rainy evening, but the A's won 1-0.  The A's would win only 54 times that season.

The lone run came in the bottom of the sixth innin.  Glenn Burke, an Oakland native, led off the bottom of the inning with a triple.  After "Tarzan" Joe Wallis walked, "The Rage" Mitchell Page drove Burke home with a fielder's choice to second base.

Minetto was pulled in the top of the 7th after the Yankees rallied.  Jim Todd pitched 2 2/3 innings of perfect relief for the save.

One of the best things about the Oakland Coliseum is the incredible climate, particularly for day games.  (It does get a bit cool in the evenings.)  The weather was terrible that night.

"The bigger the game, the better he pitched."

by Catfish27 on Jan 14, 2007 12:45 PM PST up reply actions  

Did you know
That MLB has that game on tape, you cab purchase it. I bought it last year. Larry Murray is the hitting hero that day.

by billyball1981 on Jan 15, 2007 6:07 PM PST up reply actions  

Little known fact
Aleya homered in his first major league at bat!

by billyball1981 on Jan 15, 2007 6:08 PM PST up reply actions  

another little known fact
His full name is Garrabrant(!) Ryerson Alyea.

by Brian in 317 on Jan 17, 2007 7:10 AM PST up reply actions  

best days at the Coliseum
I was at the game where Ricky Henderson broke the stolen base record.  That was good, but there were better.

The 7th game of 1973 World Series where the A's beat the Mets.  That was a goody!   And the fifth game of the 1974 series against the Dodgers was another good one.  Dick Green was almost MVP of that series and he never had a hit, but he was fantastic in the field!

That first game of the playoff with Boston a couple of years ago where the A's won with a extra inning bunt was a good one.  Last years third game with Minnesota in the playoff's was a high energy day at the old ball park.  

There were many good days there.  It was a lot more enjoyable before Mt. Davis.  The park was almost "pretty".  It certainly was relaxing.  The decision to let Davis build that monstrosity is what cost Oakland the A's.  If you want to blame someone for the move to Fremont, find out who the folks who bought into that decision were, and you'll know where to pin the donkey's tail.  

by racodd on Jan 14, 2007 6:36 PM PST reply actions  

Game three against Minnesota
What a great game that was. I still go back and watch it on MLB.com sometimes
Oakland A's 2007 World Champions!

by CrackBaby on Jan 14, 2007 7:32 PM PST reply actions  

One of my fondest memories
was when the A's were playing the Royals, I think it was either 89 or 90, I was about 9 years old. And during the game Bo Jackson went 0-4, and in his last at bat in the top of the 8th he struck out, and broke his bat over his leg. I was fuckin awestruck, it was the most amazing thing to see when your 9 years old. I could hardly swing a major league type bat, and here was this dude breaking it in half over his leg. Snaped it like a matchstick. Unreal....
"I Will Not Relent, I Am Driven"... Clutch
Bring Back The Bash!!!

by Shippee33 on Jan 14, 2007 8:44 PM PST reply actions  

The walk off Bunt for me...
I was at the game with my daughter.

When Ramon pulled that off, it was incredible.

The feeling in the stands, everyone high fiving and giving out hugs.

And then on the way out everyone chanting "Let's go Oakland lets go!!!"

The place was electric.

by Mike Heath on Jan 14, 2007 9:15 PM PST reply actions  

agree
That was an amazing game, with Durazo coming thru in the clutch.
You know I'm so Bay wit' it Athletics A's fitted

by drummer510 on Jan 15, 2007 10:54 AM PST up reply actions  

true
you just gotta love Ruby D
Oakland A's 2007 World Champions!

by CrackBaby on Jan 15, 2007 11:04 AM PST up reply actions  

Mine isn't as great as some of yours...
but it was the game against LAA in September . Marco Scutaro walk off hit. Great game but the best part was leaving the Coliseum. It was about 11 o'clock leaving, due to extra innings, and my dad has a intercom thingy in his truck and there is a speaker outside my dads truck so on are way out, of course there was a ton of traffic, and my dad started the chant "Lets Go Oakland" and all the car horns went crazy!!! Everyone was honking like crazy to the sound of Lets Go Oakland!!! It was so awesome!
"We do it a little different here in Oakland" -Jay Payton

by iloveoakland on Jan 14, 2007 9:44 PM PST reply actions  

Game 3 of the '07 ALDS
My birthday, skipping school, MARCO..SCUTARO.

Pure Ecstasy.

by SkipT on Jan 15, 2007 3:49 AM PST reply actions  

A's hit six homers and lose 7-6
I will never forget the day Dave Henderson hit three home runs and his teammates hit three more before they lost the game 7-6.

Seeing a non sliding Jeremy Giambi being thrown out homeplate against the Yankees in the playoffs will also not soon be forgotten.

by cowman on Jan 15, 2007 7:49 AM PST reply actions  

I was at both those games too!
Hendu was great that day. If I remember correctly Hendu hit the three homers in his first three at bats and got two more shots at hitting his fourth.

by gojohn10 on Jan 15, 2007 9:41 AM PST up reply actions  

That is how I remember it as well
Sitting in the LF bleachers that day we were rooting for him to hit number 4, but unfortunately it did not happen.  

by cowman on Jan 15, 2007 10:37 AM PST up reply actions  

My favorite (forgive the typoes)
My memories are really personal more than anything people would understand.

Primarily they deal with my Uncle Kevin, who everyone called Pigden, and my brother Kevin, who everyone calls Weevil, laughing at stupid things going on around us.

One that really sticks in my brain is the time my uncle said... "If Dave Henderson doesn't hit a home run here he is a fairy pumice." Pay no attention to the fact that the put down he had bestowed upon Dave Henderson is something only my uncle recognized as a put down. Dang if Hendu, 2 pitches later, didn't send a rocket the heck into those old left field bleachers.

He pulled the same thing with Canseco later, and Jose hit one out. By the end of the game, he had evoked the dreaded fairy pumice curse 4 times and only McGwire was stuck with the name. When he failed my uncle blurted one of his famous lines, "Trade 'em!" They got around to it eventually Pigden.

At the final game of this years LDS, I must have been channeling him, because I turned to my brother and said, "Chavez is going to hit the front of the second deck this at bat" or something like that. Dang if he didn't crush one that didn't quite make the second deck, but went directly below where I pointed!

I am all smiles thinking about my uncle right now.

by jeffro on Jan 15, 2007 9:55 AM PST reply actions  

I remember
Water fights at the water fountains above the old bleachers. I was about five years old and my parents would always take us out to the park. on hot summer days all the kids would run around dumping water on eachother. Those were the best times. Sometimes the whole family would be out there. We stopped going for a while, but toward the end of high school baseball peaked my interest again and I beagn going often with friends. That led to another favorite memory. Games 16-20 of the streak. I was at all of them. I remember the parking toll taker who always had some sort of riddle or rhyme for each game. Game 16 he said something like "Sweet sixteen and Hudson's looking for a date to the dance." I could go on and on I love that place.
"...His energy, preparation, his thoroughness, his word choice---he is without peer." Greg Papa on Bill King

by westsideclubbin on Jan 15, 2007 10:49 AM PST reply actions  

Just a few months ago
Scutaro's bases-clearer in ALDS Game 3. Hooray!
"You can throw your cocks if I don't care!" - Iggy Pop

by AlamedaAphid on Jan 15, 2007 11:19 AM PST reply actions  

Definitely never been to a better game than
the 20th win of the streak.  By chance we got some tickets to go.  We got there and teh A's started piling on run after run and all my friends were relaxing and saying we had won it already.  I just kept saying, "you never know" and "it's not over yet".  Sure enough the Royals came back to tie it and then Hatteberg (my favorite player at the time) hot the walk off homer and sends the crowd into a crazed mob.  I have never had so much fun at a game.

by Daddo on Jan 15, 2007 3:39 PM PST reply actions  

1980 game vs. Tigers
The A's ran wild that day, they pulled a rare triple steal that day. And a couple of double steals. Detroit catcher Lance Parrish was so pissed after the triple steal he beat up the water fountain in the dugout with a bat. Water was spraying all over...Ha Ha

by billyball1981 on Jan 15, 2007 6:11 PM PST reply actions  

Joaquin Andujar 1987
The Athletics had acquired Joaquin Andujar, and the game I went to in 1987, he got wild, kept walking guys and arguing with the ump.  LaRussa pulled  him, and put in Dennis Eckerseley.  I got the feeling that Eckerseley thought that -he- should be starting games, not Joaquin.  The fans booed JA that day, I think.

That was early D E, and I never thought it would turn out so good for Eck, considering that game.

I also got a call from a buddy at work once, saying he had found playoff tickets.  One hr to gametime!

They were way out in right field, but it was a memorable game...Roger Clemens got thrown out for arguing balls and strikes.  My buddy wasn't much of a baseball fan, and he couldn't understand what inthewidewideworldofsports is going on here!

Another memorable walk-off home run, home game, was when Randy Velarde homered off Billy Koch, to beat Toronto.  Who'da thought Koch would play for us, later on???!!!

Another game, Mulder was pitching versus Cleveland, and gave up back-to-back-to-back (isn't that "front to back"??!!) doubles.  The A's were behind 4-0, but you felt they would gut it out. Sure enough, Dye and Chavez hit back to back homers in the bottom of that inning.  July 31st, 2002  ... they really needed to win!  Omar Vizquel committed a rare error on an easy chance, and that was the diff in the ballgame.  Koch saved it.

2003 Zito win versus Boston in the ALDS.  Great performance!  Tons of Boston fans, all silent all day. GRRRRRRRRREAT!

Day games are 2x better than night games

Rename Fremont to Philadelphia, and all's well.

by One won lost won on Jan 15, 2007 8:49 PM PST reply actions  

Andujar-Eckersley May 25th 1987
I finally found that game on Baseball-Reference.
Wow.  Eckerseley lost that one, gave up some home runs. Behind 4-3 in the 9th, the A's loaded the bases with no outs, with Canseco, McGwire, followed by Polonia.  << Those three k'ed, left the bases loaded!

Cal Ripken playing SS for Baltimore, his dad managing. Eddie Murray at 1st base. Ron Cey was the Athletics DH!  Didn't do well at all, retired a few weeks later. Canseco, McGwire, Carney... Mickey Tettleton caught that game!

Rename Fremont to Philadelphia, and all's well.

by One won lost won on Jan 15, 2007 9:37 PM PST up reply actions  

August 1, 2000, Velarde hits walk-off 3-1
Wow! A pitcher's duel in that game.  

And who was it?  Barry Zito versus...Esteban Loiza!

1-1 and into extra innings.  Velarde hits a two-run dinger off Koch in the 10th. Isringhausen wins it!

Chavvy was batting 8th, and hitting .267!  Giambi was having his monster year, batting .329....

Them wuzz th' times!!

Rename Fremont to Philadelphia, and all's well.

by One won lost won on Jan 15, 2007 9:52 PM PST up reply actions  

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