Oakland A’s 5, Boston Red Sox 0
Randy's Perspective
I grew up following National League baseball. My “home team” was the Atlanta Braves. My second favorite team was the Reds. I throw out that little piece of trivia to say that I have a more historic love of and familiarity with National League teams. But like any baseball fan in America, I understand and appreciate the mystique of the Yankees and the Red Sox. And, add to that, I’ve been watching baseball and football games from the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum (now known as O.co) since I was a kid.
So our trip to Oakland was definitely a cool thing from my perspective.
Penny and I had the opportunity to see the A’s because we were on vacation in San Francisco. With no Giants home game during our Bay Area visit, we decided to venture to Oakland. And we discovered what we’d always read and heard about the dichotomy of quaint San Francisco versus “earthy” Oakland. We left the trendy restaurants and shops near our Fisherman’s Wharf-area hotel for a BART trip under the bay and directly to O.co Coliseum.
Shortly before we went on vacation, I had seen a comedy special from San Francisco. It was a Dave Chappelle one-man show. He described the trip from San Francisco to Oakland. Paraphrasing, it started with friendly, enlightened people waving and shouting “Good-bye, good-bye, we hope you enjoyed beautiful San Francisco!” Next stop: “Hey! Welcome to Oakland, bitch!”
Well, the contrast was almost that stark. And maybe that wasn’t a bad thing. We needed a few hours break from San Francisco.
I should mention something about the San Francisco trip while we’re at it. I thought it was terrific. Penny and I did a ton of touristy things. We…
toured the bay (on the water), including a couple of trips around Alcatraz
crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, on foot once, by bus another time
spent an evening in Chinatown
took in all the sights and sounds of Fisherman’s Wharf, including the noisy but fascinating sea lions
took a bus tour that included the famous winding streets, Haight-Asbury, Kezar Stadium and the corner apartment where Mario Puzo allegedly wrote The Godfather
Now, I say all that because Penny, who seemed to be having a good time AT THE TIME, suggested that perhaps we were a little too touristy and busy in San Francisco. She wasn’t a baseball fan, but she likes the baseball experience – if you know what I mean. So we were off to Oakland. … And I will admit that it was a nice dose of reality.
I’ll also add that I said San Francisco was chic and trendy and beautiful – but I never said everyone was friendly. I mention that because I have a warning for you: If you take the BART to and from Oakland, make sure you know exactly how to make switch from the BART to the correct cable car when you get back to San Francisco. It’s not as easy as it sounds. And neither Penny nor I ever met a surlier bunch of employees than the cable car operators we encountered in San Francisco.
So back to Oakland. We got a late start on our trip, but we were still able to walk up to the window and get decent seats. The crowd, by the way, was 25,000 and change, not bad for an April school night. But we got seats halfway down the third base line, about 25 rows up.
Those tickets would be fantastic in most of the newer, baseball only parks. But in Oakland - a 1960’s-70’s style baseball-football park - we were a good piece back from the action. Oakland features wide foul areas and gently sloping seats. Not awful, certainly not great.
Baseball people understand the legacy of Oakland. It’s a smaller market, lower budget franchise that has squeezed every ounce of success possible out of its franchise overall, its management and its players. From Reggie Jackson and Catfish Hunter in my days to the Billy Beane era today, the bottom line is, baseball has a good history in Oakland. And from the other side of the country, I’ve admired it.
The game was nothing special. The Red Sox weren’t clicking. The A’s won 5-0. Oakland pitcher Brett Anderson was solid. The Red Sox never got anything going.
The Red Sox are one of those teams with a definite national following. The crowd seemed to be about 25 percent Red Sox fans. They were noisy early, but a 5-0 loss kept them mostly quiet.
What I remember, however, was not so much the game as the Oakland experience. I highly recommend it.
I forgot to mention that if you're going to stadium, it seems that the train is the way to go. The BART drops you right at the stadium. You exit the train, walk a breezeway, and there you are.
I mentioned that there were a lot of Red Sox fans. I'll have to say that Oakland didn't disappoint in that regard. Starting in the parking lot and continuing through the game, there was plenty of heckling directed at Red Sox fans. Well, what do you expect wearing a visiting team's jersey into an Oakland home game. My guess is that had it been a Raiders game, and the fans were wearing Patriots jerseys, blood would have been spilled.
As I sat there with Penny during the game, I spent a good portion of the game just taking in the stadium. It was a little odd at first to see tarps covering almost the entire upper deck, but I guess you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to meet the payroll. It didn't really take away from the memories that jumped in my head as the game wore on.
I tried to visualize those players from three and four decades ago wearing the green and gold uniforms: Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Rickey Henderson, Rollie Fingers, Dennis Eckersley. and maybe most of all, "maverick" owner Charlie Finley.
I also have to admit something else. While I was trying to visualize all the history in front of me, I also conjured some images of black and silver and Oakland Raiders. I saw Al Davis, John Madden, Kenny Stabler, Fred Belitnekoff Ronnie Lott and Marcus Allen. And George Blanda.
I really liked that Oakland trip.
Penny's perspective
Randy and I were visiting San Francisco for spring break and decided it would be fun to take in a baseball game. Actually, he drug me all over San Francisco and the idea of sitting down for a couple of hours was very appealing. The Giants were not at home and Randy convinced me a trip across the bay to Oakland would be fun and it really was! The BART stopped right at the ballpark and it was a short walk to the stadium. As we were walking in I noticed a lively tailgating crowd. They were actually calling out to folk who did not have on Oakland team colors.
The rowdiness of the tailgaters did continue in the park, I really liked the excitement of the crowd, especially since Oakland beat the Red Sox.
Thumbs up
Crowd enthusiasm
Convenience to BART
Thumbs down
Food
Scoreboard
Helpfulness of staff
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