Hey Brothas and Sistas:

How are you?

It's been a while since I've been here on AN and I have to let you know that things are beautiful on the Hor-A's-In.

There have been seasons when we were the upstarts that COULD beat the HEAVYWEIGHTS, and others when our LITTLE TEAM THAT COULD were actually favorites...Isn't THAT a hoot!!!

What I loved most were the days of the wooden bleachers and the crowds of the 80's...those teams were built from within...Quite like my second favorite time...And PERHAPS my third favorite!!!

I LOVED the last time the A's were rebuilding...In retrospect they weren't just rebuilding...They'd turned to a young core when the rest of baseball was turning OLD.

The thing is that Eric Chavez was there...So were Tim Hudson and Miguel Tejada...1999 was a fantastic year to be a BASEBALL fan in OAKLAND...There was hope in a circle of doubt.

On display were two future MVP's...One a converted third baseman and the other a converted   catcher...And a 17th? round draft pick that threw darts on the outside corner and took Tom Candiotti's spot..Giving us hope...

From there sprung the Fountain of A's...Zito, Mulder, Hernandez, Crosby...Players that we wanted to be FANS for, because they were US...They were A's!!!

This year COULD be a year unlike many in Athletics history and I cannot wait to be out there smelling the green grass and rooting for "OAKLAND!!!"