Today's game was one of those games that remind me of how much I hate Yankees fans.

Instead of my usual seat in the cheap seats, today I had a special treat from my mom's boss; field level, section 106.  Unfortunately, section 106 is also Yankees central.  You had all types of Yanks fans there.  You know, your bandwagoners who've never been to New York, some über-trendy types that look like they're dressed for Killers concert rather than a ball game (one guy even had a murse).  I don't have anything against the Killers per se, they're alright, but wearing torn up acid wash jeans, $70+ t-shirt and a blazer?  You're at the Oakland Coliseum, not at some club.  This is a place to see a ball game, if you want to go to a place to be seen, go to AT&T Park.

The person who got under my skin was your "real Yankee fan."  This was the guy who really was from New York, you could tell by the way he talked.  I can't duplicate a New York accent unless if I'm singing a number from West Side Story.  This guy was legit New York, I can respect a guy like that...but...

...But he was heckling the A's.

I'm not going to begrudge any visiting fan's right to root for their team.  To root for your team in a hostile environment is commendable, it's hardcore and that's a sign of a true fan.  Besides, it's fun to get into those "LET'S GO OAK-LAND/YANKEES" shoutfests.  But please don't heckle the home team and disrespect our house (or, as some Cal fans would say, "our domicile").

That guy was talking a lot of trash the entire game.  It got worse when the Yanks tied it up, it got even worse when they took the lead and worse still when they got their insurance run.  I felt like crap, Harden was taken out of the game after three visits by Larry Davis and  we all know the state of the A's offense.  I was fearing that the Yankee heckler would not shut the hell up when Mariano Rivera started to warm up in the bullpen.

I know I'm mangling the phrase, but it is darkest just before the sunrise.  At the bottom of the ninth, with two out and Todd Walker on first.  Jason Kendall was at bat and I thought to myself that the only way to keep the game going was for Kendall to draw a walk or take one for the team.  Kendall did draw a walk, at that moment I looked up to the scoreboard and I saw this:

>2B 19

Yep, it's Marco Scutaro.  I knew something big was going to happen, I leaped to my feet, flipped my cap inside out for a true rally cap and shouted, "IT'S MARCO SCUTARO MAGIC TIME!" and started the "Marco...Scutaro" chant with the other A's fans in 106.  All the while, Yankee fans was muttering something along the lines of, "strike him out, he's garbage."  That did not stop us, then on an 0-2 pitch Marco just hit one off the foul pole and all of the Yankee fans shut up and started to leave.

Although I would have like the A's to show an ability to score in an inning that was neither the first or last, I'm a satisfied with our boys in green and gold taking their first series of the 2007 campaign.  On our way out of the Coliseum, we didn't chant, "Yankees suck."  We were too good for that, it was all about Marco, Oakland and Scutaro.