I had a pair of tickets to tonight’s game.  Great seats, Section 119.  They went unused, still sitting on my nightstand.  Maybe you’d have left them there, too.

I went to Mom’s instead for a little going-away party.  Except it wasn’t really a party.  My oldest nephew Ernie III has gotten his orders, and come Independence Day, he will be in Iraq.  So we gathered, my ever-growing family, to say our goodbyes: some tearful, some fearful, all proud.

Before they were soldiers: Ernie the Third and my niece Stephanie, 1987

I have six nephews and ten nieces, plus two great-nephews.  Three more babies will be born to us before the year is over.  Though some of them like to think of themselves as the "favorite", I love them all the same.  Every one of them is awesome and wonderful in their own way. 

Ernie III was the first nephew, falling in line behind three nieces, including his two sisters, Christina and Kimberly, and taking the name of my father and oldest brother.  He was born on December 19, 1984, exactly 100 years after my great-grandfather Tobias Martinez.  That same day, the A’s signed Dave Kingman as a free agent, and although we have never referred to Ernie as "Kong", he was surely a large specimen at birth.  When my brother asked if it was a boy or a girl, the doctor gushed over the eleven-pound baby, "It’s a linebacker!"  (Well, it was actually an offensive lineman, but let’s not get carried away over details).  Ernie played ball for my alma mater San Leandro High, who for three straight seasons had the privilege of being the biggest threat to De La Salle’s record winning streak. 

The first six nephews & nieces in their new World Champion tees, 1989

My nephew followed the other two Ernie’s into the military: Sr. was in the Navy, Jr. was in the Air Force, so naturally, The Third chose the Marines.  Like most of the men in the family, he has a sense-of-humor that is somewhere to the left of normal.  He makes me laugh because even though he is all grown up now, he still has such an innocence about him.  I remember the time he showed up at my house one evening to ask for fifty bucks.  Not a little cash or some spare change, but fifty bucks!  He had gone to Circuit City down the street to pick out some music, but he forgot his card at home.  It was his lucky night; I almost never have cash on me.  The way he showed up and asked though, not in a spoiled tone, but in a naïve manner like a voice told to him to go to Uncle Don’s house because uncles are the answer to everything, well, I probably wouldn’t have cared if he never paid me back.  (He did).

The three Ernie’s: Sr. (Dad), Jr. (brother), and III (nephew), 2000

The boy can eat.  Another trait of the males in our family.  Only it hasn’t caught up to him yet.  Time has caught up to me.  It happened some five or six years ago, before he even left for the military.  I had always beaten him in basketball.  Always.  But he finally beat me, and my pride kept saying, "Run it back", even as my body was telling me to take a hike.  And he’d beat me again, even allowing me to jump out ahead early before patiently taking control.  Toying with me.  The last time we played, I turned my ankle.  He asked, "Want to stop?"  It wasn’t an option.  We played on, the result the same as before.  Damn ankle still gives me fits.  But we will play again some day.  Count on that. 

We go to A’s and Raider games together.  He brags about the game that he went to against the Red Sox in 2006, a win that "turned our season around".  He’s gone to two of the last three season openers on my tickets.  We’ve lost both games.  I tease him about being a jinx.  When he comes home in March, the A’s will be gearing up for the 2009 season.  Both his sisters will have new additions to their families.  And I’ll be saving that first game for him.  We can lose 15-2 (like we did in ’06) and it won’t matter.  What matters is getting him home safely.  A’s fans, after an off-season of waiting, will count down the days to March.  I will be counting too.  Only this time for a completely different reason. 

Hurry home, Ern.

Ernie with sisters Kim (left) and Christina. When he returns in March, their babies will be waiting for him.