I love my Coliseum
Except for the horribly lopsided loss, my first game of the season at my beloved Oakland Coliseum went beautifully. I ended up going by myself, but in Oakland you're never really alone at the game. As soon as I got in, I ran down to the visitors dugout and got a big hug from Nick, who works that area all the time. Turns out he's not working weekends this year, so it's a good thing the Tigers are coming during the week, huh? He does A's games and Raiders and bunches of concerts too. He said I should definitely see Akeelah and the Bee--Nick is a huge movie buff. He's the first one who told me to see Mad Hot Ballroom, a fantastic film. Anyways, down by the dugout I met two guys who had just decided to come to the game half an hour ago, and one was (I think) a Michigan alum. So we talked some Tigers.
Nick asked where I was sitting, and when I said the bleachers, true to form he shook his head and said, "Stay down here, Papa Nick'll take care of you." So I went up to the concourse, got my five dollar-dogs and pop, and watched the game from the $40 seats behind the Indians dugout. These three guys, co-workers, sat behind me and we chatted through the whole game. They were just marvelous. This is why I love Oakland so much--stuff like this ALWAYS happens. I can't tell you how many neat people I've met in the course of my seasons at the Coliseum. These three immediately decided to befriend me when they saw my scorebook. I taught Oscar some of the symbols and got quizzed by Don. Happily he didn't ask anything I didn't know the answer to. Phew. When he found out I was a Tigers fan in disguise (properly attired, I was wearing all my A's gear), he told me about how when he was a kid in Minnesota, his dad would always take him to Twins-Tigers games and the Tigers would always win on a pinch hit by Gates Brown (or at least it seemed that way). Oscar had no idea who Gates Brown was, and Don and I looked at him in mock horror. We had a really great time especially when Bobby Crosby hit a homer to pull the A's to within one and we all got to celebrate. Then there was that ugly nine-run inning and that was pretty much the end. The A's lost 14-3.
But in good news, the Tigers beat the Angels 2-1, the Astros beat the Cards 5-4, and the Giants beat Milwaukee 2-0. Woohoo!
Nick asked where I was sitting, and when I said the bleachers, true to form he shook his head and said, "Stay down here, Papa Nick'll take care of you." So I went up to the concourse, got my five dollar-dogs and pop, and watched the game from the $40 seats behind the Indians dugout. These three guys, co-workers, sat behind me and we chatted through the whole game. They were just marvelous. This is why I love Oakland so much--stuff like this ALWAYS happens. I can't tell you how many neat people I've met in the course of my seasons at the Coliseum. These three immediately decided to befriend me when they saw my scorebook. I taught Oscar some of the symbols and got quizzed by Don. Happily he didn't ask anything I didn't know the answer to. Phew. When he found out I was a Tigers fan in disguise (properly attired, I was wearing all my A's gear), he told me about how when he was a kid in Minnesota, his dad would always take him to Twins-Tigers games and the Tigers would always win on a pinch hit by Gates Brown (or at least it seemed that way). Oscar had no idea who Gates Brown was, and Don and I looked at him in mock horror. We had a really great time especially when Bobby Crosby hit a homer to pull the A's to within one and we all got to celebrate. Then there was that ugly nine-run inning and that was pretty much the end. The A's lost 14-3.
But in good news, the Tigers beat the Angels 2-1, the Astros beat the Cards 5-4, and the Giants beat Milwaukee 2-0. Woohoo!