I was generously given tickets to Thursday’s A’s game, it happened to be the rubber game in an important series with the Angels. Originally I was getting 2 tickets and taking one of the kids with me, but it soon turned into an opportunity to take both kids, and before you knew it, there was the prospect of all 4 of us, Mary Ann included, landing some fat seats right behind the Angels dugout. I made sure my week’s work commitments were fulfilled as Thursday approached, this was going to be a true day off. But, ‘tis the nature of being self-employed, something always seems to come up at the last minute, and I found myself cranking out revisions to a project early Thursday morning.
11:15 rolls around, peanuts in hand, kids in tow, I’m off to pick up the tickets from Claire’s house. I pick up 3, the plan at this point is for Mary Ann to connect separately with Claire and meet us at the game. It’s the perfect day for baseball: sunny and about 75 degrees, the crowd is growing as we are shown our seats, just out of spitting distance from where Mike Sciosia and Bud Black stand making small talk with well wishers wearing field passes.
The satisfaction given by unsalted peanuts wears out well before the first pitch, and the kids are getting hungry as the game gets underway. “We’ll eat when mom gets here,” I offer.
Eric comes back with, “but what if she doesn’t get here?”
“Don’t worry, she’ll get here.” Next comes my attempt to distract him from a growling stomach. “See the guy with the real dirty helmet?” I ask. “Vladimir Gurrero. Very dangerous hitter. After he bats we can go get something to drink.” The Angels are retired 1-2-3 in the top of the first, the A’s go quietly in their half, even as Jason Kendall leads off by getting hit.
Bottom of two, Guerrero, leading off absolutely mashes Joe Blanton’s third pitch and the Angels are up 1-0. OK, I explain, he’s not going to do quite as much damage with nobody on base this early in the game. As he’s rounding third, we’re already on our way up to the concession stands for a soda. Blanton puts a couple runners on, but gets out of the jam, and the game goes on.
A few phone calls later, we learn that Mary Ann won’t be making it after all, she and Claire had trouble connecting, and in the interest of not letting a ticket go to waste, Claire gives it to her neighbor Gustavo, a true A’s fan from way back. As soon as I find this out, I take the kids up for food. Mmmm, coliseum chicken and fries. $20 later, we’re back in our seats.
Our seats are in section 114, row 16, right on the aisle. Great vantage point, and a pretty good spot for foul balls. But it seems that there are a lot of lefties batting today, most balls that have a chance of making it into the stands are either hit into the screen or sprayed over to the third base side. There was one towering popup off the bat of Dan Johnson that came to our section, unfortunately, the lady who tried to catch it was escorted by coliseum staff to first aid to treat a pretty serious bruise with ice. It’s exciting, and a little bit scary for the kids, when a ball like that just seems to hang in the air when you think it has a chance of coming down near you. I had just enough time to put on Natalie’s glove, which was sitting on the ground. I doubt if I’d have enough time had it been Eric’s, given his smaller hand. Nevertheless, it came down about 6 rows in front of us and about a dozen seats to the right, someone else’s souvenir this time. I would hope that the lady who sacrificed her thumb would be the one to go home with the ball, but my attention was directed to the on-field action.
The game goes on, and the A’s find themselves down 4-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning. Each time I listened to Bill King and the A’s broadcasters this week, they emphasized how difficult it was to come back against the Angels bullpen when they held a lead after 6 innings. Brendan Donnelly has a violent and explosive delivery, regularly hitting the mid 90’s on the radar. Jay Payton was in far less awe than I was, he sent Donnelly’s first pitch over the left center field fence for a solo shot. Enthusiasm and hope begins to swell among the 35,000 at the ballpark. The untouchable Angels bullpen had been touched up for a loss last night, why not today as well? Mark Ellis promptly hits a soft liner to left, and Kendall reaches base right after him. With 2 out, Eric Chavez sends the ball arcing majestically into the right field bleachers and suddenly we have a tie game. The stadium is delirious, as soon as Chavez connects, the volume shifts from rumble to roar while the ball is still traveling over the infield dirt. I can’t really say this because the tickets were given to me, but right there, my money’s worth.
Justin Duchscherer looks crafty way beyond his 26 years, he mixes speeds, comes with a nasty curve ball and generally fools the Angel hitters and we’re tied coming into the bottom of the ninth.
I’ve been to a lot of games at this stadium. In fact, I got a little misty prior to the game when the jumbo screen showed highlights of the A’s dynasty days of the early 70s, an era afforded to me by the generosity of my dad, who made it possible for all of us to attend world series games. But coming back and winning in the bottom of the ninth on a freak play was about the last thing anyone expected. Our seats provided a clear sight line between home and third base, we seemed to have been situated perfectly to witness Jason Kendall alertly sprinting down the line as Francisco Rodriguez muffed the return throw from the catcher. Now the crowd is really going crazy, players are mobbing Kendall on the field and for the first time all year, the A’s are in first place.
A day I hope my kids remember a long time from now.