Baseball Randomness, Part 2

1) Greatest A’s (player) surprise? (Someone you never expected to do anything, and they came out of nowhere to be great)

Maybe I wasn’t paying attention, but I was really surprised by Dan Haren’s success. Pleasantly surprised, of course.

2) Do you remember attending your first MLB game? (Doesn’t have to be an A’s game)

What I remember… 1972, A’s vs Orioles, day game, A’s won 3-2, sat in 2nd deck. I remember nothing else.

3) Do you have a 2nd favorite team? If so, what team?

Don’t have a 2nd favorite tea, but I do like the Twins and Tigers. Have thought about adopting the Twins offciially as my 2nd since I live semi-close to them now. Used to like the Red Sox until their fans started being such pricks about a decade ago.

4) If not for baseball, what would be your favorite sport?

Would have been football in my younger days, but probably hockey now. Nothing else really comes close, though.

5) In your opinion, what is the #1 problem plaguing MLB right now?

I want to say how they treat the average fan in general, but am not sure. PEDs doesn’t seem as huge an issue right now. They sell tickets well. My personal issue with them is the assinine black-out rules, and I think they are shortsighted and discourage local fandom in that regard.

6) Name a former or current A’s player you liked, and would always root for more than just any A’s player, even though you knew they weren’t a great player.

I was a big Glenn Hubbard fan in 1988/89. Loved him as a Brave and was excited when he signed with the A’s. I always thought LaRussa didn’t like Hubbard personally, and favored Mike Gallego. I felt Hubbard got a raw deal when he got hurt in 1988 spring training, and never got an honest chance from there on out. I still have an admittedly unfair and irrational dislike for Mike Gallego to this day because of it.

7) Tell about the worst time you’ve ever had at an A’s game.

May 1991 (I think, might have been 1987). Twins/A’s Sunday double-header. A’s were shut-out both games, and clearly stopped even trying the second half of the 2nd game. Lead-off hitter Dan Gladden hit a HR off the first pitch of the first game (off Curt Young, IIRC), which I knew was a bad omen. I got such a bad sunburn that my entire nose scabbed and peeled for two weeks afterward. Yes, there’s a baseball memory I’d like to erase.

8) Most favorite and least favorite (non-A’s) radio and/or tv announcers?

I’m a big fan of Bob Costas and Jon Miller. I detest Joe Morgan and Ken Harrelson.

9) Are you a “fair-weather” fan of any team? (Can be in any sport)

I am a fair-weather fan of the Cal Bears in college football and the Sacramento Kings in basketball.

10) Ignoring the teams involved, and the ensuing biases, for pure baseball excitement, what is the most exciting World Series you have ever watched?

1991, Twins over Braves. For pure baseball excitement and suspense, the best I have ever watched.

1) Greatest A’s (player) surprise? (Someone you never expected to do anything, and they came out of nowhere to be great)

Honestly, Dave Stewart probably comes to mind even if I was too young at the time to really know what to expect. It’s a little tough to think of anyone too recent, though I think Andrew Bailey could be up for debate. I don’t remember him being talked about all that much and he was primarily a starter until 2008. He’s only had two MLB seasons so far but they’ve both been great.

2) Do you remember attending your first MLB game? (Doesn’t have to be an A’s game)

I do, to an extent. I know it was the A’s and the Brewers, we sat in the second deck a little past third base, and Dusty Baker homered for the A’s to left-center. It was in 1986. I think Joaquin Andujar pitched for the A’s.

3) Do you have a 2nd favorite team? If so, what team?

Not really, no. I might pay a little attention to a few others but there’s not exactly a second favorite.

4) If not for baseball, what would be your favorite sport?

Basketball, though hockey’s climbed my personal ladder a bit.

5) In your opinion, what is the #1 problem plaguing MLB right now?

Bud Selig. I’m ready for him to retire already.

6) Name a former or current A’s player you liked, and would always root for more than just any A’s player, even though you knew they weren’t a great player.

That’s a difficult one. I’m probably biased because of the personal interaction I’ve had with them from interviews and in general but right now I’m going to say Brad Ziegler and Bobby Cramer. I know Ziggy’s a situational specialist (though a very good one when he’s on) and Cramer’s ceiling is probably going to be nothing more than an occasional call-up and bullpen guy and/or infrequent 5th starter, but that’s kind of the definition of someone who’s not a great player.

7) Tell about the worst time you’ve ever had at an A’s game.

I’d say any of the playoff losses to the Yankees off the top of my head, but there’s one game I remember from the 1989 or 1990 season because I was living in Alameda at the time. I went to the game and I think it was against the Rangers. It happened to be flashlight night, and they gave you the batteries with it (yeah, probably not gonna see that now). We were supposed to go to church in Hayward the next morning (we’d been going there before moving to Alameda) for my confirmation and my father was going to pick me up when I called him after the game. It would have been a Saturday.

Game ends, I call home, it just goes to voicemail. I call a couple more times and he doesn’t pick up. I didn’t have enough money for a cab and I didn’t think about just getting one and having my father pay when I got back home, so I walked home from the Coliseum and took that frontage road along 880 that goes from the Coliseum exit to High St. I called again from a pay phone on the Alameda side of the High St. bridge and he still didn’t pick up.

I don’t remember just how long it took but it was probably around 5 miles and I definitely got home well after midnight. Turns out dad fell asleep and forgot to turn off the answering machine so it would only ring a few times before going to voicemail. He apologized and apologized and we still went to church the next morning. That flashlight came in handy walking along the frontage road, at least.

8) Most favorite and least favorite (non-A’s) radio and/or tv announcers?

Favorites..hmm. I really don’t have any that I just HAVE to listen to, truthfully. It’s easier for me to remember the ones I don’t like and that includes Ken Harrelson and Joe Morgan like UncleLeo mentions, and I also can’t stand Bob Fitzgerald for the Warriors.

9) Are you a “fair-weather” fan of any team? (Can be in any sport)

Not really, unless starting to tune some things out when the team’s pretty bad counts.

10) Ignoring the teams involved, and the ensuing biases, for pure baseball excitement, what is the most exciting World Series you have ever watched?

Off the top of my head, the 1991 Twins/Braves series.

2) Do you remember attending your first MLB game? (Doesn’t have to be an A’s game)

Yes, it was only 2 years ago :)

3) Do you have a 2nd favorite team? If so, what team?

No. There are a few teams I would root for if I had to but there isn’t one I could put my heart into like I do for the A’s

4) If not for baseball, what would be your favorite sport?

Football I guess

6) Name a former or current A’s player you liked, and would always root for more than just any A’s player, even though you knew they weren’t a great player.

Daric Barton. Shocking, I know.

7) Tell about the worst time you’ve ever had at an A’s game.

It was July of last season. My appendix was in the process of blowing up so I felt absolutely terrible.

9) Are you a “fair-weather” fan of any team? (Can be in any sport)

Unpossible for me.

10) Ignoring the teams involved, and the ensuing biases, for pure baseball excitement, what is the most exciting World Series you have ever watched?

I’ve only watched two. The Yankees and Giants won them. Not very exciting.

1. Jack Cust in May 2007 (6 digglers in 7 games)
2. Oakland A’s vs California Angels, 7-28-86. Canseco doubled.
3. Not in baseball.
4. football.
5. blatant mistakes by umpires
6. nick swisher. yeah, even now.
7. 2 years ago the A’s were several games out of first in September, I was at an A’s/Jays game with a business contact and my sister’s boyfriend.

while in the bathroom I witnessed two drunk, belligerent A’s fans berating 2 jays fans for no other reason than “the blue jays suck”, “fuck y’all” and “y’all are some faggots”. being the realist that I am, I quipped back to them “hey, the A’s kind of suck right now”. a moment went by as they processed this, and then it seemed to register. Evidently the homies didn’t tolerate any respect on the A’s.

All of a sudden I was walking backwards, smelling alcohol and these 2 guys start jabbering something about Watsonville and nortenos and fucking with the wrong dudes. From the side, a security guard appeared, and I flagged him over, telling him these gays are starting shit. he sequestered them and I went back to my seats.

an hour later, the A’s lost (calmly and predictably) and I was walking my colleague out to her car. from behind I heard yelling and turned around to see the 2 guys at about 20 feet away and 2 other guys, much closer. the guy wanted an apology for the disrespect of his “little cousin” earlier.

at this point my patience had worn pretty thin, and it would have been 3 guys on 4 guys if it had to come to blows. on the other hand, i was with an important work contact, someone who I could not afford to alienate with stupid, random violence at a baseball game. I apologized.

This seemed to empower the dude, who was about 5’6" (I’m 6’1") and now he wanted more, we were starting to walk away and he started following us, calling me bitch and whatnot…. that built up to him then wanting me to tell him how I was a little bitch. we tried to keep walking, avoid the conflict. it wasn’t going to happen. he followed us, still yapping. so I figured my last option here was to stand my ground. I stopped, turned to him and said if we were going to fight, then to bright it on.

that’s what he wanted to hear. he pulled his jacket off and reached into his back pocket. he pulled something out and looked like he was hiding it. I jumped to my side and saw the light from the parking lot light reflecting off a blade about 5 or 6 inches long. he saw that i saw it, and knew I was startled. now he was telling me he was going to stick me, and I was backing up, scared. this was really happening. my friends just stood there in disbelief/fear and said nothing. this was me vs homie and I didn’t see a way out of it.

when out of nowhere… up rides a coliseum bike cop. immediately i turned my attention to him, waving my arms and yelling. I got the cops’ attention and started running towards him. my friends followed behind me and all of a sudden the dudes are nowhere to be seen. I start to tell the cop my story and then spot the guys running. the cop radios in to his cop buddies and they send some officers after him.

the cop tells us to stay right where we are and then bikes off, yelling into his radio. he comes back after about 5 minutes and asks if i can identify the suspect. hell yes. he brings me and my sister’s boyfriend to the side of a van where 3 guys are handcuffed… fucking larry curly and moe. that’s them. ok.

the cops arrested all 3 of them.

they took my statement, got my information and told me they would be in touch with updates. three weeks later I was called by OPD to confirm my statements.

it went to court and turns out pokey violated parole. he went back to jail.

needless to say, this was the worst time I have ever had at the coliseum.

8. I don’t like mike krukow.

9. fuck fair weather fans,
10. best WS ever (ignoring bias): dbacks over yankees… 2001
  

1) Greatest A’s (player) surprise? (Someone you never expected to do anything, and they came out of nowhere to be great)

Cust, Jaha, Berroa.

2) Do you remember attending your first MLB game? (Doesn’t have to be an A’s game)

Yes, it was A’s/Texas in 1987.

3) Do you have a 2nd favorite team? If so, what team?

I like the Indians. I tried to have a NL team but that league is just so brutal to watch and follow. There’s this very odd lack of intensity in NL games, like they are all just playing out the schedule and neither team really cares. Most AL games dont have that quality.

4) If not for baseball, what would be your favorite sport?

I only like MLB & NBA. I guess I’d probably get into NFL again if there was no MLB.

5) In your opinion, what is the #1 problem plaguing MLB right now?

Bud Selig changing the game too much and Bud Selig not handling the A’s San Jose move in a timely manner. Also too many bad commentators in the various booths. Divisional baseball is a mess, there shouldnt be any divisions it should just be the 2 leagues with each team playing each other equal times home and away. interleague sucks. Making the ASG count sucks. The game since about 1993 or so has sucked.

6) Name a former or current A’s player you liked, and would always root for more than just any A’s player, even though you knew they weren’t a great player.

I really wanted Kouzmanoff to succeed here and hit like he did in the minors.

7) Tell about the worst time you’ve ever had at an A’s game.

Going to a baseball game is like pizza and sex, it can fundamentally never be bad if you are doing it.

8) Most favorite and least favorite (non-A’s) radio and/or tv announcers?

Least: pretty much everyone, especially the national guys. McCarver+Buck are awful, hawk needs to catch layngitis forever, Kruk+Kuip are terrible, Fosse acts like he just came out of a coma that he’s been in since 1971 etc etc

Most: Vin Scully and Bob Uecker.

9) Are you a “fair-weather” fan of any team? (Can be in any sport)

Probably for the NBA playoffs i’ll try and rationalize supporting a team that isnt the Warriors.

10) Ignoring the teams involved, and the ensuing biases, for pure baseball excitement, what is the most exciting World Series you have ever watched?

1993. With 87, 91, 01 & 97 right there. There hasn’t been a truly exciting WS in 10 years. I blame the wild card. The season is long enough to not have a lot of teams in the playoffs. We know who the best team was, but we also know any team can beat any team, so why add these lesser teams hoping they will upset? I’d rather just let the best play the best.

1. none

2. Angels @ A’s, May 1989

3. My second favorite team is the Rays. I also pay a lot of attention to the Royals, Pirates, and Giants.

4. professional wrestling and other TV sports-entertainment spectacles

5. professionalism. MLB would be better as a cult religion than as a public profit spectacle.

6. Frank Menechino, Kirk Saarloos, Lenny DiNardo, Bobby Cramer

7. I had a panic attack one time at a game and left before first pitch and got on the train home

8. Most favorite- Bob Uecker & Vin Scully, Least favorite- Mike Krukow & Ken Harrelson

9. Sports is entertainment. If a club sucks with no hope of getting better, fans shouldn’t follow them. I dislike casual fans who don’t know anything about the game, but knowledgeable fans who like winning and aren’t asses about it are fine with me.

10. 1986

1) Honorable Mention to the entire 1980 team. Remember the late 1970s, and that putrid stench wafting over the Coliseum? Lord, those were some awful teams, and if you were around then, it seemed like some asshole Gnats fan was always reminding you that your team sucked. Sucked, and would be leaving for Denver any day now, just as soon as Marvin Davis fished out his checkbook. Now, I’ve always thought Billy Martin was a prick. But in 1980 he was our prick, and it warmed my heart to see everyone playing over their heads (Well, not Henderson. He was always that good). It was as though they’d gotten a contact high from Billy’s arrogance…damn, that was a great year. My friends were all Giants fans, and it shut them right up. I was especially happy for Mike Norris, after all the injuries and all the mediocrity, and Tony Armas, who started crushing that year. Surprised the hell out of me. Also, I remember not thinking much of Eck when he first got here…another Bill Travers, I thought. Another Moose Haas, another Ed Figueroa. Boy, was I wrong. I also thought that Cahill and Anderson were rushed to the majors, and were gonna end up being a couple of Todd Van Conroys. Wrong again.

2) Padres vs. Astros, 1972. My parents were divorced, and I spent a week in San Diego that Summer visiting my Father. I remember gimme shelter playing on the stadium p.a.
between innings, and me telling my Dad that it was my favorite song. “Your Mother lets you listen to the Rolling Stones?!?”, he sputtered. I was 6 at the time, And Dad was well on his way to turning into a total square.

3) I moved from the Bay Area to Portland in the Summer of 1988 (timing is everything, eh?). When I got here, I was starved for Major League Baseball. As a result, I started listening to Mariners games, developing a bit of a man-crush on Dave Niehaus in the process. Dude was no Bill King, but still…I remember this crappy job I had washing dishes, and those games saved my sanity. To this day, I always root for the Mariners…to finish 2nd. And to lose every game against the A’s.

4) The NFL, I guess. Even though the Raiders are like a girlfriend who cheated on you once, and you find that you can’t entirely forgive or forget.

5) The revenue disparity between the small-market and large-market teams, although it cracks me up whenever my friend Dell the Yankee Fan bitches about the free agents the Yankees didn’t sign. “Why didn’t Cliff Lee sign with the Yanks?” Oh, boo-fuckin’-hoo. “Why didn’t we get Adrian Beltre?” Dude, you already have a 3rd baseman! Okay, I made that last one up, Dell’s not insane.
Oh, and tell Selig and his lackeys to quit dicking around with the post-season…tell Selig to quit dicking around, period.

6) Bob Lacey. A little off-center, not afraid to speak his mind. Art Fowler hated him. Loved that guy.

7) UncleLeo, are you sure that A’s/Twins doubleheader from hell wasn’t in 1988? I believe we have a miserable experience in common! Adding to your recollection, I believe the A’s lost 11-0 and 9-0, I think Stew started one of the games (Curt Young sounds right for the other one), and I got the worst sunburn of my life. Seriously, I could peel my arms like freakin’ bananas. Gross. I sat in the bleachers that day, and watched all 18 innings, because I was moving to Portland in a couple of months, and I wanted to spend as much time at the Coli as I possibly could until then.

8) Vin Scully is a national treasure, and Jon Miller has grown on me over the years. There’s a station in Portland broadcasting Dodger games this year, so in addition to Scully, I’m starting to appreciate Charley Steiner. To echo the sentiments of many others, Morgan and McCarver suck all the joy out of any game they work, and Hawk Harrelson is horrible beyond comprehension. I loved Red Rush when I was a kid, and was bummed out when Bill King replaced him. That didn’t last long, of course. Already mentioned Niehaus. The late Skip Carey was the master of deadpan genius hilarity. Way back when, the Braves sucked and Carey was brilliant. Root around on the Internet for Skip Carey quotes sometime. It’s worth it.

9) Bandwagon-jumpers are annoying. GO BLAZERS! Just kidding. The last time I gave a shit about the NBA, the Warriors’ center was either Robert Parish, or maybe Clifford Ray.

10) Gotta go with 1991. Even my girlfriend at the time, who hated baseball, got sucked into that last game. She didn’t understand why the Braves’ outfielders were playing so shallow at the end, and was not swayed by my multiple explanations. “He didn’t even try to catch the ball. What’s up with that?” The relationship didn’t last.

Thanks again, that was fun.