AN Day 4: A Helluva Weekend (Photos!)
by JLaff on Aug 6, 2007 9:45 AM PDT
Email
PrintFirst off, it was great seeing you all again. Now that I've become a NRAF (San Diego), anytime I go to the Coliseum is just an amazing experience. It was really nice to see a lot of the people I've never met, like grover and salb918 and his wife (congrats on the baby, by the way!) and others.
My trip started out in Los Angeles, where I made my first trip to Dodger Stadium. This was pretty special to me, as it was the only MLB stadium in California I haven't seen yet.
On a side note... I really don't like LA. It took me an hour (granted it was on Friday night) to get from Anaheim to downtown Los Angeles. I'm not a big fan of traffic.
Photos!
Dodger Stadium:
The view from our seats. This stadium is freaking huge, but I really liked it. We sat in the right field pavilion, which is the all-you-can-eat section. I love this idea and I wish more teams would do it.
Another cool thing was that we were basically right on top of the visitor's bullpen, so I got cool pictures like these, of Arizona's Doug Davis and Jose Valverde:
I've also now seen the Diamondbacks in three different stadiums (Coliseum, Dodger, Petco).
I couldn't really get a great picture of it, but they spelled out "LA DODGERS BASEBALL!"
That was a great way to start off the AN Day roadtrip. My friend and I saw a GREAT game and stuffed ourselves full of hot dogs.
The drive up wasn't too bad. Somehow, I missed the 5, so we took the 101 up to Oakland. Once we hit San Luis Obispo, I just figured we might as well stick with the 101. It took a bit longer than we wanted, but we arrived to the Coliseum early and in time to stake out the sweet tent sale. After I scored a fitted black A's hat for $10, I had a feeling this day would be pretty good.
And now, for the photos you really care about, AN Day:
ANers chowing down on burgers and brats
Louismg and Ken Korach (one of the special guests) seem really interested in something in front of them
Billy Beane speaks:
After a while, he just went Randy Johnson on me.
Blez thinking "You don't think there's ANY problems with our medical staff!?!?"
Beane faces "The Nation"
ANers listen to the panel of Beane, Blez and Korach:
Blez calling on someone during the trivia game:
RBVchick (right?) and GreenNGoldGirl, signaling to her 2nd husband:
All in all, it was another great game to watch. Imagine, going to 2 games and only seeing a total of 4 runs scored. The drive back down to San Diego was long, but 10000000x more enjoyable, since I got to take my new car with me!
130 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Great pictures
Target number of Milton Bradley diaries today:
There might be a tad bit of bias ...
in Telecom to be named later park not getting any votes ... though I do honestly prefer Petco
Oh man
Now I'm even sadder not to have an AN Day 4 badge to hang next to my AN Day 2 and AN Day 3 badges. Alas, alas, this year it was not to be. Glad you had fun and thanks for posting the diary.
He thought Ellis' injury....
...guaranteed an A's loss in the playoffs last year.
by baseballgirl on Aug 6, 2007 10:03 AM PDT up reply actions
That's, um, interesting.
It certainly didn't help, but there sure was a lot of good pitching in both series.
some more pictures
I am a crappy photographer, using a mediocre cameraphone, so these pictures are truly terrible. Nonetheless, they are better than nothing...
(Somehow I missed saying hi to JLaff... oh well. Hi JLaff!)
First, here is a very murky picture of (L-R in back) monkeyball (about to fling poo), ??, Blez (looking like he's about to ascend to heaven), and grover (who had just bitten the head off a dove... actually AN cropped him out, but open in new window to see him):
Many ANers gathered around The Billy (I'll let people ID themselves):
More ANers Billyside. Nico is standing in the foreground, face melted by glare, waiting to ask Billy whom he turned down for Blanton at the deadline:
sslinger and partner chat about their great road trip:
The backs of GnGG and friend's signs:
salb918, taken with the help of scanning tunneling microscopy:
And Hopey, blessedly, was actually quiet through the whole Q&A session. A record amount of restful silence for her. Here she adjusts her A's cap:
It was nice to finally meet Poppy, Mike Heath and monkeyball, LAXile, and to re-meet Melody (hey are you really going to get me into Google cafeteria?), Englishmajor, Mrs Salb, baseballgirl, Blez and others.
Really?
You mean, it was actually nice to meet Poppy?
Were you feeling well that day?
by kaweahkaweah on Aug 6, 2007 10:18 AM PDT up reply actions
It was better than Cats.
The key was right away we staked out some seats at the twilight zone twixt shade and burning sun. In that delirious oasis, sated on hot dogs and Melody's smuggled cookies, yes it was nice to meet Poppy. The surprising thing was that her real name wasn't Poppy... it's Mon Keyball. Weird.
I forgot to also say what lives of the party McFood, Ice Cream and the foodlets and creamlets were, along with their charming partners. We collectively terrorized Upper Sect 235 and even discovered a mysterious quarantine seat in the top left corner.
It was nice to meet you & your family, too :)
And I thought maybe kaweah^2 was in that 235 time-out seat, that's why I stayed away from it.
I have a picture of you
I just figured posting it would provoke you to go on a murderous rampage looking for me. It's one of the AN group shots I took at the Q&A.
At one point, during Q&A,
I saw you across the way, positioning yourself to take a picture, and actually wondered if you were intentionally trying to leave me out of it. One of the pictures kind of looks like you were... LOL
Are you sure she wasn't a Poppy imposter?
by kaweahkaweah on Aug 6, 2007 11:03 AM PDT up reply actions
hmm
I hadn't even contemplated that. Maybe I should have taken a DNA sample. Then we could have put it in a dish with your DNA to see if they would fight.
Fighting is ok
Mixing my DNA with hers to see if some mutant offspring would form--NOT ok!
by kaweahkaweah on Aug 6, 2007 11:39 AM PDT up reply actions
now that's a hybrid
"It's a lovely enough child, but every now and then it punches itself in the face."
< cue Ichiro joke >
for those of you who have not seen her in person
I can guarantee Hopey is the cutest little girl ever. Who else goes to an A's game in a snappy pink vintage top?
for what it's worth
I'm identifying myself. That's me in the yellow dress in the 2nd picture, and my dad is in the orange hat. I don't talk much here on the website, and I don't talk much in person, but in both instances I like just being around other A's fans
hi feeba!
That green vest/yellow dress combo is such a gorgeous take on the A's colors!
If I see you next AN Day, I'll be sure to not take offense when you don't talk to me.
I was going to make my own diary
But I decided that your pictures were just too good and you did such a good job on this diary, mine would not be worthy! So I am just tacking my pictures on to yours!
Maybe this can be the Official AN Day Photo Diary!!
Anyway, Here are my pictures from the day:
Food was good, here are ANers lined up to get grub!
Here are ANers eating their Grub!
Here is Melody, unhappy that I actually took a picture of her.
But now she is happy to take a pic with GnGG!
Then I spotted out Special Guest Speaker!
Everyone headed in to see our Special Guests and settled in for an interesting and informative hour.
I saw Nebraska, Ohtobe21likehuston, and Salb918 standing near me, so I had to take a pic!
Then the Q&A began! I think Billy and Ken caught me!
And yes, I think Billy is HOT!
After the Q&A we went out to our seats. I had never sat that high before in the outfield, so this was a new view, but it had its charm!
Here are some pics of ANers enjoying the game!
And Woo!! We won!!
It was an awesome day! I am super glad I finally went! I will definately be going next year!
by BobbyCrosbysGirl on Aug 6, 2007 10:39 AM PDT reply actions
PS
I wanted to just say, I thought the Q&A was really good. Everyone asked intellegent questions, ones that forced Billy and Ken to think! I know some of the answers we got were of the packaged variety, but we didn't have anyone asking them ridiculous questions that left the rest of AN hiding their heads in shame for them.
I am proud that AN showed just how special and intelligent this group is!
by BobbyCrosbysGirl on Aug 6, 2007 11:00 AM PDT up reply actions
Yeah, no "Will you marry me?" LOL
You just didn't notice me whispering
over in the corner.
Oh, I just thought you were saying...
"Boxers or briefs?"
You can see me and the wifey all alone at the
edge of the section in the third pic from the bottom. (Hint: I'm not the one knitting.)
yup
my dad and i are in that one as well, to your left in the same row.
i'm so glad i decided to go at the last minute. thanks to Marlene (longtimeAsfan) again for the tickets.
well let me say a belated howdy
Ah, so it was Mrs. LAXile who was the crafty one
Well in that case, here's a shot I took near the beginning of the game. I found myself rather intrigued that someone would be knitting during the game so out came the camera. Alas, it looks as if I framed in such a way that you're not part of it, but hey, the thought is there. (I would post the picture itself here, but as with SSlinger's shot below, the edges would be clipped off, so much so that your wife wouldn't even be visible. And that would kind of kill the point of the shot, wouldn't it?)
Anyway, follow the link below to see it. And my thanks to Poppy for helping me find a way to make the entire shot visible.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...
Sorry I didn't see you
I would have said hi. Apparently I was too interested in what Sal was saying to notice someone taking my picture...
by Ryan Armbrust on Aug 7, 2007 1:58 PM PDT up reply actions
Burning question:
Was Billy wearing "man-pris," or were his pants just a little short? A girl's gotta know...
LOL
I was wondering the same thing!
I think it was just the way he was sitting
The pants we a little too short for him to be sitting with his legs crossed.
by BobbyCrosbysGirl on Aug 6, 2007 10:54 AM PDT up reply actions
at least there was no
socks with sandals
I personally think that
well air-conditioned Converse All-Stars are better than sandals.
Now, there's two ways to air condition your Converse...
You can wear them and wear them until they get a bunch of holes in them...
...or you can troll online until you actually score some (hard-to-find) individual shoe air conditioners... but it's a real pain in the arch to try to walk with all those condenser tubes rubbing against your corns...
by The Pilots Dared Me To Die on Aug 6, 2007 11:32 AM PDT up reply actions
compare to korach in bobbycrosbygirl's photo
"Q&A began": same length, it just looks worse because he's not wearing socks.
Post game
a few of us made it over to Pacific Coast Brewing Co.. It was nice to hang with the midwestern crowd, and a good time was had by all (despite the surly waitress). Here's a photo of the gang - too bad I didn't get Blez in it.
I also don't know
why it's cutting off the whole right side of the photo - sorry to the rest of you who were there!
it's the new AN
just open the picture in a new window and all is exposed. IDs for the people in the picture?
I'm the fat woman in front with Haren jersey
ohtobe21likehuston's behind me in the classic A's cap. Pam already ID'd herself. Wes in the right corner with gold T-shirt.
by Englishmajor on Aug 6, 2007 11:43 AM PDT up reply actions
That's
Englishmajor in front, followed by Ohtobe21..., sorry I forget the next guy's name (from Wichita), Pam as stated below, Wes in the yellow shirt, and Nebraska cut off.
others
ICTShockers, Nebraska (cut-off), myself, bandcampluvr (She like DJ...gag), and Blez, and I believe longtimeAsfan, if I am not mistaken. Hopefully the other portion of the picture shows up sometime, cause quite frankly, I like seeing myself online.
Hello, Tech Support?
Poppy, could you enlighten me as to how you were able to make the picture larger when you click on it? I have a few photos of my own that I'd like to share, but they, like SSlinger's, are clipped off on the edges when I try to upload them. I've tried tweaking the settings in my own photobucket account, but so far, nothing seems to work. Any thoughts?
Well...
I right-clicked on sslinger's picture, went to "properties," copied the URL address, and made it into a link so you'd see the whole picture if you click on my link. I'm afraid I don't have any tips on how to make New AN show a whole image if it's not inclined to do so on its own... :(
thats me...
behind Ohtobe21. AN day was a blast. The group at Pacific Coast was enjoyable. I hope to be able to make it out to the bay area more often.
It was good to meet
Cute pic!
That's me in the far back in the visor, with friend yet-to-be-converted.
Because I made her buy it
(a while ago, in her defense) but I told her to read up on AN before she came with me on Saturday as to not be completely overwhelmed. She still likes that team across the Bay which-will-not-be-named but she's on the A's fast track for sure. She just doesn't believe it yet.
Ohhh well good luck.
Oh yes,
nice to meet you AGAIN, sslinger :)
That *is* a nice pic
Even if I have my eyebrows raised as if I'm attempting to mimic Jack Nicholson. Which, admittedly, can be fun (just try saying "You can't handle the truth!" without smiling. You can't do it!), but I'm sure that wasn't my intention at the time. Maybe I was still just agog over the guy across from us eating his chicken wings with a knife and a fork.
But more importantly than any of that, I can't say enough about how wonderful a day it truly was. JLaff, your pictures do a great job of capturing the atmosphere of it all and I'm glad you posted them. I especially like the one of Blez pointing at somebody. A truer portrait of a true Blogfather could not be taken. And your shot too, SSlinger, can't help but make me smile. I had a great time at AN Day, I did, but I think it was just as much fun at Pacific Coast getting to talk with everybody there. It was a nice mini-community within the larger community of AN as a whole. And for the record, I can't imagine a better group of people to watch Barroids hit 755 with. It cracked me up to have all of us in there (okay...*most* of us in there) jeering the man and the moment.
Just some clarification
The sign says "Buck is Beautiful". Not "Eautiful".
:)
AN day was amazing. Beyond amazing. The best one I've been to. :)
Can we get more melody into this song-n-dance?
I was concerned that she was taking lots of photos but wouldn't get pic'd-up herself, so here's a cellphone version.
Yeah, sure I was.
(pre-emptive post)
by The Dogfather on Aug 6, 2007 11:43 AM PDT up reply actions
Yeah, but not in a Nico's-into-goats kinda way.
by The Dogfather on Aug 6, 2007 11:59 AM PDT up reply actions
We had a blast. MrsLAXile was knitting a
beautiful green n gold scarf for me during the game and she was happy to get some complements on it. Nice meeting RickeyFan, Louis, Nico, baseballgirl, pam, BCG, and salb and Mrs. salb. It was baseballgirl who prompted me to ask Billy about Milton, and I wasn't too surprised to get a deflection on that hot topic. Sorry to have missed a lot of folks, though, like the Popster, munk e-bawl, PhreeCeatUpgrade, etc.
No -- I actually wanted to say hi, but I was
under the influence of vicodin and bbq and was a bit out of it. Okay, truth be told, I was avoiding you, but only because I thought you might have brought some cats with you.
Now that I think about it...
Some of the people you listed meeting were also avoiding me. I think someone in that group must have been saying mean things about me...
Sat and talked with
Mrs. LAXile for a while outside since I was running late. Enjoyed meeting both her and you - maybe one day you can get her over her fear of computers and get her on AN.
her general aversion for sports is another issue.
thank god she loves going to the ballpark for the atmosphere. she does know the difference between the NL and the AL.
Maybe McFood got it
when he wasn't running around like a diva, insisting on having his & Ice Cream's picture taken in 93 different places.
LOL
He was being quite the artiste, wasn't he?
(He'll post his pics when he gets back from the McFood Santa Cruz mini-vacation.)
I'm glad he didn't like the pose...
in front of the glass doors. I think my reflection was in that one. :P
I'm trying to load my camera pics
Of that Athletics Nations Rocks name-in-lights segment....and hey, I'm kinda particular to using DIVA as a negative-sounding noun. LOL
Next year
We should have:
-- more time -- I'm sure the Coliseum wouldn't mind opening a few hours early for us!
-- microphones for the special guests
-- a session where everyone who's willing gets up and introduces themselves
and afterward an extra drinking/mingling session
set up before hand so we can all keep hanging out! (drinking optional of course)
Meet in the parking lot
And maybe post a list of everyone attending on AN the day before or something.
ANer Bingo
Bingo cards with people's screennames. Collect 5 signatures in a row to win Billy Beane's capri pants.
At the very least
Have the doors LOCKED so they can't bang and clang as randoms come in and out. That was the most distracting thing ever! The fact that we couldn't hear was made significantly worse because of that. I finally got up and moved to sit on the floor in the front.
by BobbyCrosbysGirl on Aug 6, 2007 5:14 PM PDT up reply actions
uhh
you realize the doors on the other side are used by people to get to their seats, right? are they supposed to wait outside?
Yes!
;)
by BobbyCrosbysGirl on Aug 7, 2007 10:07 AM PDT up reply actions
a little church picnic PA system
would solve that problem.
by The Pilots Dared Me To Die on Aug 7, 2007 4:41 PM PDT up reply actions
Oh, also!
On everyone's nametags, if they're cool with it, their real first name along with their screen name...it feels weird to call someone by their screen name in real life.
I don't have a problem with it
If you want to call me Wes in real life, I think that's fair.
Out of respect to internet/privacy things ...
I won't do so now ...
but it was great meeting you ... you were a little younger and a lot less grumpy than I imagined ...
Oscar's the grumpy one
But I'll admit, you caught me on a good day. Hey, I was hanging out with GNGG, how could I not be in a good mood?!
And I didn't realize I came across as older in my posts.
Hopefully our paths will cross again soon. Until then, cyberspace will have to be enough.
the age is probably linked to the grump ...
it's certainly not maturity ; )
I think we discussed this at AN day.
Your day had to have been good because you finally met me in person, so it would be okay to jump off the third deck because you had fulfilled your life goal of seeing an A's game with me.
Hello.
by GreenNGoldGirl on Aug 7, 2007 10:15 AM PDT up reply actions
Not everyone was privy to our chat
I didn't feel the need to discuss the private part of our conversation, I figured saying I was in a good mood was descriptive enough.
i too thought you would be grumpier
good to finally meet you.
Good to meet you too
And you would have seen my grumpy side if you and mkt(or was it mdl?) had kept talking about a certain individual.
You couldn't be grumpy if you tried.
by GreenNGoldGirl on Aug 7, 2007 10:15 AM PDT up reply actions
You know better than that
Their topic was one sure to put me in a non-friendly mood.
Well now I know yours
so I don't have to call you grover the next time I see you. Screw everyone else.
Convert your friend
Then you can use my real name when you meet me at a game. You said you were going to bring her over to the side of Good. If you can't follow through on that than you're unworthy.
(All this and I bet you wouldn't recognize me if I bumped into you.)
Dude
I am totally worthy, she's coverted even if she won't admit it. Though it looks like I am going to have to get her to sign up on AN just to prove it to all of you! And I'm so not only calling you by your real name next time I see you but I'm gonna run up to you and give you a big hug. Just cause you're grumpy and that would be fun.
Right... and the check is in the mail
By the time you see me again you'll have forgotten what I look like and what my real name is. And I am not grumpy. I'm a ray of fucking sunshine and don't you forget it.
Why give him that satisfaction?
He's just trying to get hugs out of this by pretending to be grumpy. He's really a big ol' ball o' fluff.
by GreenNGoldGirl on Aug 7, 2007 10:18 AM PDT up reply actions
I have it on good authority ...
... that grover actually loves Jason Kendall, and his 2.5-year charade has been nothing more than a desperate cry for help.
We need to get him help.
He needs to come to terms with his inner demons.
by GreenNGoldGirl on Aug 7, 2007 10:38 AM PDT up reply actions
he tried to come to terms with them ...
... but they demanded too high of a signing bonus, so they're all off to Demon University.
And I know for a fact
that you slathered yourself up in zinc-oxide so it would be easier for you to pull poo out of your ass for flinging onto the field.
no, no, no
I reserve all my poo for flinging at my fellow A's fans.
Ball o' fluff?
Only to you sweetie.
Pam5981 still got to earn that right.
You did, or are you suggesting that Pam is a better person than you and I should waive the waiting period and grant her instant access to my kinder side?
Nope.
I feel privileged to be in your inner cirle.
by GreenNGoldGirl on Aug 8, 2007 4:48 PM PDT up reply actions
Hugs are cool
I don't have a problem with hugs.
Calling me something other than grover...
Yes that's me next to GreenNGoldGirl
I had just gotten a call from my mom saying that Murphy was looking for my poster (currently not being shown but is up many times later) during his warm up because I'd had it the past two days in a row. I was soo pissed I missed him. I moved from that seat a litter later on. Thanks for it.
by RBVchick on Aug 6, 2007 7:46 PM PDT reply actions
I knew it was you, silly
I just didn't know that you were on AN, so I didn't really know what your screen name was. I thought it was something like that.
what a nice sig line.
I wonder who thought of it :)
by GreenNGoldGirl on Aug 7, 2007 10:17 AM PDT up reply actions
Despite what you said, the poll was motivated....
....by fandom. Look, the A's are, and always have been my favorite team. There was a time until the those damn Raiders moved back to town in the 1990's that the Coliseum and Dodger Stadium were probably neck and neck for the best ballparks in California, and were certainly the best of the superstadia built in the '60's and '70's. However, Mt. Davis ruined not only the view of the Oakland hills, but also the ivy and view of the BART trains that gave the park a bucolic feel right in the heart of the 'hood. Plus, San Francisco and San Diego built wonderful throwback stadiums that have surpassed even the still-beautiful Dodger Stadium. Even rat-infested Angel Stadium (seriously, I read a story about it last week) underwent a much better makeover than the Coliseum, which in my opinion, has now fallen to 5th place in California stadiums.
And some of my photographic contributions...
I took quite a few pictures over the weekend, and most of the game photos (along with my stories of the weekend) can be seen at Catfish Stew or The Pastime, but I have plenty of non-game, AN related shots, too. Without further ado:
Billy, Blez and Ken
AN intently listens, when the racket is quiet enough to make out Billy deftly dodging questions
View from the AN section in left field
grover bringing a peace offering of cookies
Garrett Anderson subjected to the LF bleachers and their flags
AN's section from across the stadium
Flag wavers don't waver in waving
Wes7 with his brand new AN shirt, won in the trivia contest
And... the A's win.
hey! you can see Poppy!
in the "AN from across the stadium" picture. Expect sudden retribution from Poppy's minions.
I met her too,
and I'm still not completely convinced that she's not a 50 year old Mexican guy...
by The Pilots Dared Me To Die on Aug 7, 2007 4:43 PM PDT up reply actions
Poppy is *definitely* not Mexican enough
Ken Korach looks really angry.
by GreenNGoldGirl on Aug 7, 2007 2:30 PM PDT up reply actions
He overheard somebody mutter that he has ...
... a great face for radio.
by The Dogfather on Aug 7, 2007 3:07 PM PDT up reply actions
That was no peace offering
I was being socially aware by not wasting food.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
