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Pictures: Floating on Root Beer (now with *more* Swooney!)

I'm slowly recovering from the fifteen root beer floats [belch] I had yesterday, as well as my weird sunburn (I think I need that colored sunscreen that shows you where you already put it, so you don't get random fingerprints on your shoulders...). Here's some pictures from Friday's game debacle vs. the Rangers, and a lot from Root Beer Float Day yesterday.

Star-divide

So, Gallagher pitched both of these games. And strangely enough, each time he got a lead, he gave up exactly the number of runs needed to tie it in the next inning. How convenient. 
 
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I needed photographic evidence that this 5-run inning actually happened. Fortunately, I took the picture before the lead magically disappeared.

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Ellis summons his unicorn--"Get me out of here!"

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And some discontented fans in the bleachers. Not really sure what to say about this sign.

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Anyway, on to happier, more sugary times: the 9th annual Root Beer Float Day! There were lots of people there.

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Huston was the first player out there, as far as we could tell.

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There was a Stomper sighting...

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And also a DiNardo sighting...

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Eveland was out there for a while too. As I was taking a picture, a couple people asked me who he was. Guess he doesn't quite have the star factor yet.

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After a half-hour or so, those players left. We also saw Dallas Braden and some of the coaches, and Glen Kuiper and his family (super cute little kids). So then we waited... and waited... and eventually Swooney and Carlos came out at the same time. It was a split-second decision: whom do we follow? Well, of course, we went for Swooney. I figured after I got his autograph, I could go get some pictures of Carlos, but that didn't really work out.

So this whole thing wasn't planned very well, because instead of putting Ryan at a table where a manageable line could form, they put him at one of the bars next to the KTVU (?) people, where a mob quickly formed. I think I need to get better at elbowing my way through crowds--it took us forever to get up to the counter. Carlos was ushered out while we were still waiting (sigh), but all that time in the mob gave me plenty of picture opportunities. And I did get his autograph, barely--I was the last one he signed for before he had to leave.

Ryan actually didn't make any floats, since he was taking pictures with people and signing stuff the whole time. But he was wearing an apron... sorry, Jennifer, not the kind you wanted.

Enough of that--on to the Swooney pics!  There will be more coming; I took a bunch more on my sister's camera, which is nicer than mine, so there should be some good ones. Unfortuantely she disappeared with her camera before putting the pictures on the computer, so I'll edit this later tonight with more Swooney.

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They were also selling old promo items, like the A's poker set and a Chavez puppet and some other stuff. I got the Chavez figurine (which, according to the "Different Brand of Baseball" packaging, is from 2005); appropriately, on the sample figurine on the table, Chavy's arm was broken off. It was his left arm, I think, so hopefully that figurine doesn't have voodoo-like powers, because then Chavy might find himself suddenly arm-less.

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He kind of looks like he's flying. If he could learn how to do that, maybe he could play 3rd again--instead of throwing the ball to first, he could just fly it over there. You think Ellis would lend Chavy his unicorn?

Okay. Phew. That took forever. I forgot how much work it is to make one of these things, considering it's been like a year and a half since I posted a diary.

I'll try to add the rest of the pics soon. Now, if you'll excuse me, I suddenly have a craving for a root beer float...

EDIT: more pictures!

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He was taking a picture with some random person, so I took the opportunity to get a picture of him smiling. He didn't do a whole lot of that when he was busy signing his name a zillion times...

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Pensive.

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Signing Jennifer's mug, perhaps?

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He looks sad. Or bored. Or maybe both.

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A bit happier.

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And, last but not least, the amazing Ziggy! Double-play machine (in a good way)!

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Comment 35 comments  |  2 recs  | 

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You rock!

Thanks for sharing your experience and pictures! :-)

30 and counting...

by ZigFan31 on Jul 31, 2008 1:46 PM PDT reply actions  

AHHHHHHHH!!!!

Mark Ellis: sent down from Heaven to rob Evil of hits and hand out rainbows

by Jennifer on Jul 31, 2008 2:09 PM PDT reply actions  

awww

wonderful pictures. thanks for sharing. and wooooooo that Ryan Sweeney. What a beaaaautiful man! I am wearing my Sweeney shirt to Fenway Saturday. :)

by ilovegregsmith on Jul 31, 2008 2:15 PM PDT reply actions  

They make Sweeney shirts??!!

You’re going to Fenway on Sat and I’m not?!!

Life is unfair!

by schmifty on Jul 31, 2008 7:54 PM PDT up reply actions  

Sweeney Shirts YAY

I actually just had one cutomized on the mlb.com website 2 weeks into the season lol I knew he’d be someone worth wearing ;0)

by ilovegregsmith on Aug 2, 2008 6:30 AM PDT up reply actions  

Yeah

Where’d you get your Sweeney shirt? I’ve been wanting to buy one for my girlfriend for a while but I didn’t think they had any yet.

"Their batters are patient to the point that it's annoying." -Ryan Franklin

by Helloooo 1st on Jul 31, 2008 10:59 PM PDT up reply actions  

You can order them online. The customized tshirts, they have all the players.

by justarebelheart on Aug 1, 2008 9:35 AM PDT up reply actions  

how much did the giveaway items cost?

and where have they been storing them for 3 years?

"Don't be an ass!" --Bill King

by batgirl on Jul 31, 2008 3:05 PM PDT reply actions  

They were $5 each...

and I have no idea where they’ve been hiding. Maybe it’s time for a raid on the Coliseum.

by whiteshoes40 on Jul 31, 2008 3:52 PM PDT up reply actions  

MAN I MISSED RYAN!!!

i thought he wasnt there.. all i seen was street, eveland, fosse, and dinardo
dang!! sigh

by vooya40 on Jul 31, 2008 4:07 PM PDT reply actions  

highlight of the season so far for me

game photos and especially the root beer float day stuff…always a crowd pleaser in the ak_A household…me and the cat just go nutts.

alaska A

by ak_A on Jul 31, 2008 5:13 PM PDT reply actions  

no player wives?

"Do you know that the guy really doesn't like baseball all that much?" - J.P. Riccardi

by black beane on Jul 31, 2008 5:52 PM PDT reply actions  

Sorry.

I saw them from a distance, but my must-find-Ryan-Sweeney mission was primary.

by whiteshoes40 on Jul 31, 2008 9:08 PM PDT up reply actions  

Awesome pics

Sounds like you enjoyed a few root beer floats for the NRAFs who couldn’t make it. Which players were featured on the mugs?

Have they been selling the old giveaways anywhere else? I’m hoping to make it back up to the Coliseum once more before the fall semester starts and it’d be nice to see what’s left.

by JLaff on Jul 31, 2008 6:23 PM PDT reply actions  

Ellis was on the mugs,

and of course they had the humongous ones with Ellis’s autograph that you could buy for like $25. Back in the day, the mugs were just boring clear plastic (no player pics), but I remember them as being taller then than they are now… hmm.

I haven’t noticed the old giveaways other places, but then again I haven’t really been looking. Maybe they’re in a store somewhere… I dunno.

by whiteshoes40 on Jul 31, 2008 9:08 PM PDT up reply actions  

My first thought upon seeing the Swooney pics:

omigod he wore the wrist tape to sign omigod omigod!!!!!

;-D

THANKS so much for sharing!

by schmifty on Jul 31, 2008 7:53 PM PDT reply actions  

Thanks so much for the photos!

I forgot my camera and I got there too late to see any of the players, although did catch a glimpse of Ricky Henderson signing autographs and he looked like he was enjoying himself. It was a totally fun day!

by luvsmrZ on Jul 31, 2008 8:31 PM PDT reply actions  

It was my first RBF day experience

And by the time I got up there it was 11:45 and they had run out of the $25 Mark Ellis autographed mugs and the $15 super souvenir mugs. I was surprised to find out that even for $2, you got a mug to take home—I had assumed for that price it was root beer and ice cream in a paper cup. The players and wives were already gone, the tickets for Rickey were all sold out, and I had no interest in having some commercial TV person fill my mug so I went to the Dreyer’s booth and had it done by ice cream professionals.
But just because I knew certain people would be interested:

BTW, NRAFs, this is a fairly good selection of player shirts available:

There were a lot of camp and youth groups there, so various sections of the plaza were brightly colored:

by Englishmajor on Jul 31, 2008 10:10 PM PDT reply actions  

Jaymee Sire ...ooohh

Oh what I would give to be the ice cream in her root beer float.

by Amnesiac on Jul 31, 2008 10:44 PM PDT up reply actions  

Reminds me of that joke from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

“You’d better be prepared for the jump into hyperspace. It’s unpleasantly like being drunk.”
“What’s so unpleasant about being drunk?”
“Ask a glass of water!” ...
[ship jumps to hyperspace]
“I’ll never be cruel to a gin and tonic agaaaaain…”

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Aug 1, 2008 12:12 AM PDT up reply actions  

I can't wait for Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster Float day in Cisco Field (on Mars possibly)

drink’s effect is similar to having one’s brains smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped around a large (green) gold brick.—a la Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

top with vanilla ice cream

Green Hulk Fists

by oaklandSMASH on Aug 1, 2008 12:39 AM PDT up reply actions  

NOM NOM NOM

I went to see the stage show of HHGTTG in 1980. Not that I had any idea what was going on - I wouldn’t hear the radio series until that fall. But I was walking around London on breaks from my summer school course, and kept seeing these posters that said “Don’t Panic, Go To The Rainbow Theater”. So I thought, why not? It was like being at a panto - everyone in the audience but me was familiar with all the jokes, the actors would address asides to the crowd, the audience kept yelling “Look out for the Vogons!”.
Anyway, Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters were on sale in the lobby at intermission, served in test tubes from trays filled with smoking dry ice. They involved a lot of vodka, apparently.

by Englishmajor on Aug 1, 2008 8:55 AM PDT up reply actions  

several years back, my roomies and I threw a "Welcome to the Future" theme party ...

... we served all the drinks in lab glassware, and all of the food was presented in 1” cubes—tofu, cheese, Jell-o shots, vegetables, polenta.

Greed and fear cause over-reactions in both directions. @('.')@

by monkeyball on Aug 1, 2008 12:39 PM PDT up reply actions  

Who is the lady in the white polo?

Mark Ellis: sent down from Heaven to rob Evil of hits and hand out rainbows

by Jennifer on Aug 1, 2008 9:30 AM PDT up reply actions  

Two questions:

1. WTF is Huston wearing on his pitching arm? Should I be more concerned about him than I already am?
2. Why does Ry Bear’s apron fit so much better than Huston’s or Lenny’s?

Mark Ellis: sent down from Heaven to rob Evil of hits and hand out rainbows

by Jennifer on Aug 1, 2008 9:29 AM PDT reply actions  

I'll take a stab at answering your ??'s

1. I think it is a compression sleeve. Nothing major most likely, kind of like wearing a bace on your knee when you run/play sports even though you are really not hurt. They are worn by NBA plays all the time on knees and such as a preventive measure.

2. As a dude I dont often speak for the ladies but I think most of the women here on AN would say that if they could get that close to him, they would fit him as good if not better. So it must be a female apron.

by A'sfaninNC on Aug 1, 2008 10:04 AM PDT up reply actions  

Because a real man knows how to wear an apron.

Among other reasons that I will not mention.

Clearly Eveland couldn’t be bothered as it looks like he just threw his over his neck and was done with it.

30 and counting...

by ZigFan31 on Aug 1, 2008 10:17 AM PDT up reply actions  

Ryan must have known he was going to be photographed.

Wanted to look his best.

And I didn’t even notice that thing on Huston’s arm. Yikes.

by whiteshoes40 on Aug 1, 2008 10:41 AM PDT up reply actions  

Less players, more wives!

When’s softball day again?

Notes From The Nat has a new home: http://www.natnotes.com

by Ozzz on Aug 1, 2008 10:34 AM PDT reply actions  

Already happened

Sorry, I don’t live in the Bay Area anymore, so, sadly, I can’t be AN’s player wife photog anymore.

by JLaff on Aug 1, 2008 11:12 AM PDT up reply actions  

No non-demonic pictures of Lenny, eh?

There's no textbook for how to treat a geriatric tapir.

by Poppy on Aug 1, 2008 11:22 AM PDT reply actions  

By special request...

You can’t see the demon eyes in this one.

by whiteshoes40 on Aug 1, 2008 11:31 AM PDT up reply actions  

It's burning my soul.

Mark Ellis: sent down from Heaven to rob Evil of hits and hand out rainbows

by Jennifer on Aug 1, 2008 11:40 AM PDT up reply actions  

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