In Response to Jon Heyman at CBS 's Tweet Last Night!

Well it all started out like this: (in all fairness this response is written from an A's fan's perspective, I could get a little heated we'll see ... lol)

@JonHeymanCBS: A shame the a's and giants have to play these games at the coliseum while ATandT sits empty. #shame


EXCUSE ME? A shame, huh? Oh really. The Coli isn't worth people's time when it has hosted many historic players and games? Oh poor snobby AT&T park sits empty quite often during the season (when the gnats are out of town or pretty much anytime after the 6th or 7th innings!) and it won't be empty the next two days. For one know your baseball (and that begins with understanding the SCHEDULE!) before you tweet, obviously the next two games are going to be at AT&T. I know at least two people who will stay all nine innings - myself and my friend - we are not bandwagoners or lame "fans" who will abandon our team because they are down a run or don't have the best record or because we are bored by the 7th. WE ARE A'S FANS! (ya know those ppl who sit till 2am through 19 innings win or lose, yeah, that'd be us!) Secondly, how much first hand knowledge do you have of our beloved Coliseum? When was the last time you were there, if ever? Don't judge what you do not know! Third, please learn how to spell and use capital letters ... it just looks pathetic!

A's fAnAtics Are A fAnily and also happen to be if not the most then one of the most die hard,vocal, creative group of knowledgeable fans in ALL of baseball! Try asking Jeff Franceour, Torii Hunter or the entire Detriot Tigers team who tipped their hats to the fans as we gave our A's a five minute long standing ovation after a 6-0 loss in game 5 of the ALDS last year. Ask 'em who the craziest, coolest fans are and they'll tell you - yup! Only in Oakland! Ask the A's players and while they may be a bit biased I don't see other fans getting organized and getting personalized shirts for their players, coaches and announcers or being as remotely loud and creative as we are (Josh Hamilton Appreciation Day? Bacon Tues/Fri?)! That tweet was a slap in the face to the people who live and breathe Oakland baseball and call the Coliseum "HOME"! What kind of  "journalist" does that? Would you have said it about other historical parks like Fenway or Wrigley? Before Mt. Davis our park was as beautiful or even more beautiful than those two!

The fact that we have to deal with Mt. Davis blocking the gorgeous Oakland Hills does not diminish the history that has taken place in Oakland! Not only does the Coliseum house the best fans in baseball, in it's over 40 year history of hosting A's baseball games it has seen some of the most important moments, players and games in MLB history! In the 70's it hosted three World Series, in 88-90 three more! The earthquake games were played here, a 20 game win streak was concluded at the Coliseum, MLB's 19th Perfect Game witnessed here, we won the West just last season being 5 games out with 10 games to play!! I could go on ... and so many great players have played on the Coliseum field as Oakland A's from Reggie Jackson to Catfish to Rollie Fingers, Rickey, the Eck, McGwire, Stewart, Welch, Giambi, 6 time GG winner Chavy, Miggy, Huddy, even the greats who we had for only short periods - Nomar, Big Frank, David Justice - to the guys we have now that I know will make history one day! The Coliseum is EPIC. To imply or in this case openly state that the Coli isn't GREAT is the statement of an ignorant person who should NOT be a journalist, esp a baseball journalist!!

(On a side note: Yeah, it's probably not the best idea to piss us off. I mean Angel Hernandez is gonna have a hell of a time if he works a game at the Coliseum. By your obvious lack of baseball intelligence you probably have no clue why I'd bring him up and even further because of what you said you might just have it worse if you ever were to visit Oaktown. We are by NO means violent fans but we are darn good at welcoming people to what we consider "our home" and we can just as easily make them feel unwelcome. Maybe Jon Heyman you should consider what comes outta your mouth or from your computer a little more carefully in the future!)

A's vs. Rangers 5/15/13

No real time to blog ... not a great day for the A's but a fun day out in my new socks, hanging with my mom! Sure, we were both planning to do laundry and organize our closets (mine is seriously out of control!) but I called my mom about 45 min before game time and said simply "What are you thinking?" Her reply, "That we should go to the A's game!" of course those were my thoughts exactly so we jumped in the car and went on autopilot to the Coliseum! Overall it ended up being a pleasant day filled with beer, rally socks and fandom out at the yard! Gotta love an afternoon behind the A's bullpen at the Coli!!

Bullpen Blast: Things Baseball "Fans" Need To Stop Doing

Bullpen Blast: Things Baseball "Fans" Need To Stop Doing: They invade ballparks. They invade social media. They're easy to find, hard to get rid of. They claim to be "baseball fans" ...

Great blog! Even though the author is primarily a giants fan! (*insert collective "ewwww" here*)! Seriously though I have been talking about writing a book on baseball fan etiquette for years. I'm always whispering to my mother (also an A's fAnAtic) about this behavior over here or that fan over there, who just ruins the experience for everyone else! I've always said I'd write a book but as the queen of not only socks but procrastination I haven't even tried. This may (or may not) inspire me to start. He makes great points and it is a fantastic, well thought out list but I have definite suggestions/ideas that could push that list into a book! Definitely worth the read baseball fans of any team!

*Attn: OAKLAND FANS - I need ideas on this whole "Wave" controversy. Personally I don't like the wave, I think it is distracting to players and other fans as well as shows that a good part of the crowd isn't into the game. However the wave was created IN Oaktown ... so I was actually thinking earlier today, would be possible for us to embrace it yet use it at an appropriate time? ... Ideas are certainly welcome! Thanks*

First Post, First Pitch

So, here my blog begins ... because of my social media presence & (unbeknownst to me) influence I was picked to throw out the Ceremonial First Pitch for my favorite team, The Oakland Athletics, at one of my favorite places in the world, The Coliseum on April 16th 2013 before the A's vs. Astros game! I got the  invite via a direct message to my Twitter account @OaklAsSocksGrl.  My immediate reaction was literally "what is this bullshit? It's a joke" but I emailed the girl anyway and lo and behold it was not a joke.

Of course the request was, is and will always be a HUGE HONOR and a once in a lifetime opportunity! But it couldn't have come at a more inopportune time! I had only a couple days to get the day off work, I was struggling with a corneal ulcer (meaning I couldn't wear my contacts) AND I couldn't wear denim or anything too short yet they still wanted me to wear my signature socks! Plus I had to at least try to practice! Too much to do, too little time ....  

For those of you who know me, my signature style ALWAYS includes what I call simply, "socks w/ pictures" and I'll usually tell you "white socks are only for the gym!" ... My signature A's game style is usually an A's shirt, jean shorts or skirt w/ a pair of knee high A's socks!

(Even though I have been attending A's game since I was 5 years old, I began the socks tradition towards the end of last season and it kinda took on a life of it's own at Spring Training '13. I even got comments about my socks from Billy Beane and Bob Welch! Crazy! I know!)

So I started a second twitter account which led to other accounts and consequently this blog but I digress .. Basically my "signature style" included short denim attire which was not acceptable for throwing out the first pitch! So I had to also find time to go shopping for something appropriate that didn't look too horrible ... Found some random black shorts at Nordy's, meh.

Needless to say I was not happy with my appearance that day but it's that kind of opportunity that only presents itself once so I rolled w/the punches ... not like they were horrible punches in the grand scheme of life but they were just added stresses to an already nerve wracking situation. You don't wanna look stupid or "throw like a girl" - sure there weren't gonna be a lot of people there early on a Tuesday night in April against the Astros - but at any Major League game the number would still be in the thousands, then of course all your baseball friends are there and everyone's gonna want to see the DVD they sent you, etc, etc.

I get there, go in the STH entrance straight to the Executive Offices (which I wish I'd taken more pictures of because the stuff they have in there is hella cool) and met with the crew who would be taking me on the field. 

They helped calm my nerves a bit! Apparently (and I won't name names) some people have fainted and others have vomited before heading out to the mound so according to them I was ahead of the game! Then I met Ryan Cook, who I am a HUGE fan of! Having season tickets in row 2 behind the bullpen I could tell Ryan was a nice guy, always smiling, happy to interact with the fans plus I follow him on Twitter so you can kinda tell a bit about someone's personality that way too! I was stoked, he was taller than I thought but otherwise one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet! He above everyone helped me remain semi calm. But the moment he put that ball in my hand, I heard my name announced and began walking out to the mound all the thoughts completely flew right out of my head!

I just wanted that ball out of my hand! Any practicing I had done meant nothing. I was supposed to wait for one lady to point at me but I forgot about that too! I got to the mound and got rid of that ball as fast as possible! It's hilarious now because it really wasn't a huge deal and it only took about two minutes! The throw wasn't great but I made it to the plate and didn't "throw like a girl" so I am taking it as a success!

Afterwards I got to chat with "Cookie" and he signed my baseball.

Heading back to the seats was interesting as a couple of Twitter followers came up to introduce themselves but since then I've met many of my followers and people that I follow on Twitter so it's a fairly normal occurrence! That night the A's prevailed over the Astros and while I may have been extremely nervous it's one for the history books of my life! Thank you Oakland A's for the opportunity! It was A-mAzing!