I jumped up screaming and knocked a TV tray down spilling soda on the carpet. I had to pay for new carpet for the living room but it was worth it.

Chavy update?

I lived most of my life in Minnesota, and hope to move back home someday, so I’ll always be a Twins fan. That said, when they’re playing the A’s, I root for the A’s.
The first game I saw was in 1967 at the old Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, just south of Minneapolis. Neither of my parents were particularly interested in sports, but they thought it would be a fun experience for me (aged not quite ten) and my little bro (aged eight). We were seated in the upper deck, facing toward the west, and several times during the first couple of innings I drew my father’s attention to a line of threatening thunderclouds moving in our direction. My dad explained to me that the clouds only looked dark like that because the sun was shining right on them, and not to be such a worrywart. Somewhere before the point at which the game became official, BAM! the storm rolled in, the clouds opened, and suddenly we and everyone else in the stands were not only drenched but rocking back and forth in 40-mile-an-hour gusts that whipped the upper deck of the old wooden park around like a roller coaster. My dad and my brother thought this was the best possible outcome to what had otherwise been a fairly dull evening; my mom and I were convinced our end was near. Eventually we got out of the ballpark, only to find the most direct routes home were all flooded and many of the surface streets blocked by trees that had fallen down. So, although I did get to see Harmon, Tony O, and Zoilo, it’s not the part that stuck in my mind.

It took me a long time to get back to the ballpark after that; in fact, not until 1978 when I started hanging out with a bunch of public radio people, as I have continued to do for the intervening 31 years. (Jesus, I’m old.) My boss wrote a song about the Twins’ outfielder Bombo Rivera which gained a certain amount of local attention and got us some free tickets.

Bombo! Bombo! Bombo Rivera!
What other guys just hit one of, that Bombo, he hits a pair a’!
It takes two to tango and two to mambo but you can do it all with just one Bombo;
Bombo Rivera will carry us to victory.
Now all the men love Bombo, ‘cause he’s a guy who came to play;
And all the women love him, ‘cause his name ends in E-R-A….etc etc.

outside of the A’s because I just really love the sport. However, I do know that when a pitcher is given a standing ovation, rookie or not, they tend to acknowledge the crowd in some way. I realize that this was Vinny’s first encounter with this type of situation and judging from his post-game quote it had to be incredibly overwhelming so I’ll give him a pass. I would like to see him and our other guys really work on that because without the fans there is nothing. I just hope we can keep talking about this because then that means we’ll be seeing a bunch more excellent pitching performances from our young guys!
Go A’s!!

From the ovation. He said he’d never before gotten an ovation. He was probably too surprised to react much.

I’m writing with the phone and it’s hard for me to link, but the story is easy enough to find — probably SF chron.

In the same story about Vin’s goosebumps, Slusser writes that Bittiger is the scout that is responsible for landing Vin Mazzaro, Andrew Bailey and our own Brad Ziegler.

Not too shabby.

I’m sure he’s also responsible for plenty of flame-outs, but he obviously knows what to look for in amatuer pitching.

Feel free to use this space for whatever is on your mind until game time.

I love playing Monopoly and I love how Roseanne is on TV Land into the wee hours of the night.

Doug Jennings, 1988. Big Hr early in the season, vs. The California Angles. His Hr in the top of the 8th seemed to start the team winning. Fox’s Hr broke the back of the Twins.

I think the youngsters just didn’t know better, but I hope someone teaches them. It’s basic etiquette, and it’s classy. I assume they want to be classy.

I love the story where the Twins congratulate their rivals and root for keeping the championship within the division. I guess I must be old school, but that’s how I feel about the AL West. Seems like nowadays everyone is just the opposite, rooting for anyone but our AL West rivals in the playoffs in years when we don’t make it.

Coming into this month the A’s were just 5-6 in games in which they led after the first inning. They’re 4-1 in such contests in June.

That means that in the six games played in June, we actually had the lead after the first inning in five of them. Whereas in the 49 games played before June, we had the lead after the first inning in only eleven.

Really? Is this really what is important with all the good vibes going this week? You must’ve been the people who were mad that Obama didn’t wear a flag pin.

Maybe he was concentrating on remembering the moment.
Maybe he was saying a prayer.
Maybe he was nervous.
Maybe he’s insecure.
Maybe he is a recluse.
Maybe his neck hurt and he couldn’t look up.
Maybe somebody was holding up a cue card in the dugout that he was reading.
Maybe he hates people.
Maybe he had to piss and was holding it in.

WHO CARES? HIS PERFORMANCE HAPPENED ON THE MOUND, NOT ON THE WALK TO THE DUGOUT. JUST BE HAPPY HE’S ON THE GOOD GUYS’ SIDE!

I always have “special” or odd feelings about the Twins because of an old stepfamily connection.

In the mid 70’s my parents divorced. My father then married the sister of Twins-then-Brewers-then-Pirates-then-Padres outfielder Steve Brye. An East Bay native and then a resident of the Oakland Hills, Brye is best known as being part of an ugly controversy that took place at the end of the 1976 season.

On the very last day of the ‘76 campaign, Hal McRae and George Brett were nearly tied for the batting title. Brett hit a soft liner to uncle Steve, who appeared – to many – to weakly go for the ball, letting it take a bounce. Brett took the batting title. McRae accused Twins Manager Gene Mauch of ordering Steve to let it bounce, and by the middle of the playoffs and end of the season Mauch and Brye were both being labeled as racists who didn’t want to see African American McRae first in batting average. The Twins did not offer ol’ Uncle Steve a contract that fall.

Brye, never a super great hitter but definitely one of those “serviceable major leaguers” and a pretty good outfielder, then bounced from team to team, finally retiring from the Padres organization in mid-1979.

My father and Steve’s sister bounced from argument to argument and finally retired their marriage in 1983.

reminds me of this game, the best and most exciting pitcher’s duel I’ve ever seen in person: Stew and Frank Viola both threw CGs, with Stew allowing 8 hits and 1 BB, and K’ing 14. The A’s led 1-0 from early on, the Twins took a 2-1 lead in the 8th, the A’s tied it in the bottom of the inning, Stew K’d the last 2 hitters in the top of the 9th and Carney won it with a homer leading off the bottom of the 9th.

40,929 people at the Coliseum on a Saturday afternoon in August. Pandemonium.

they’re just air and softness.

Because while setting up my office I opened a box of memorabilia including my ’A’s fan parking only’ signed by Matt Stairs, David Justice, and AJ Hinch. I used to try to catch A’s when they came through work but we always got more Giants than A’s coming by and I certainly didn’t want any of THEIR autographs. It also has all my all game tickets and baseball cards (mint McGwire and Canseco rookie cards, anyone? Chavez draft pick card? Signed Huston Street rookie cards? No one?), A’s helmets, pennants, Rickey souvenir jersey, etc. Aah, good times…

Man I love Yankee Stadium. Everything goes over that right field wall. Sonnanstine has given up four home runs, all to right field. Funny stuff.

The A’s could sign Jimmy Edmonds so that by the time Sween’s back, his DL spot can be filled by Edmonds.

Just gifted the Rangers 2 runs.