Idol Features Interview with Chris Charles

 I know I haven't blogged in hella days! Kinda lame of me, been a little busy with the A's kicking ass and being 6 games up on the Rangers! Such a great comeback win today as the A's took 3-4 from the Angels! After being down 5 runs in the first inning Oakland came back to win 10-6! Those are my boys! They never say die! Let's Go Oakland!

So I met a friend via mutual friends on Facebook who has a webstie called Idol Features! He interviews as the site puts it "ladies that are worthy of a double take" - apparently I am a local lady worth one! I would disagree but was flattered and took a moment to talk with Chris about well my fave thing in the world A's baseball and about my AmAzing socks! LOL! Chris also has interviewed a true local celeb who I am a huge fan of - Roberta Gonzales! She's a big A's fAnAtic and will be throwing out the first pitch for her - *gasp* - 5th time, on August 13th against the Astros! My first pitch was also against the Astros! :-) Anyways here is the interview ... hope y'all enjoy it!

‬Idol Features - Jen Rainwater - Oakland A's Socks Girl http://www.idolfeatures.com/2013/07/jen-rainwater-oakland-as-socks-girl.html

History of OakAsSocksGrl & #OaklandSockSwag till now!

You might wonder why I go by @OaklandAsSocksGrl right? Well obviously I wear a lot of A's inspired knee socks! There's a pretty decent chance you've seen me ~ a crazy brunette running around the Coli in even crazier socks! But really it all started years ago. I'm a girl with OCD and one day I decided that "white socks are only for the gym" but all other socks had to have "pictures or designs on them." Sure it's a bit strange but hey! It has made sock shopping a lot more fun! I have ones with princesses, hello kitty, flames, skulls, polkadots, thigh high #Throx (http://www.throx.com/) - you name it and I probably have it!

The real deal start last baseball season in 2012! There was a give away of yellow socks for kids. Yes, I "borrowed" my friend's son in order to get these but I love them and it has been well worth it! So I started wearing them every few games in the second half of the season last year!

For Christmas as a tradition my mom always gets herself, my sister in law and me crazy matching socks! For Christmas 2012 they were argyle A's socks! I was over the moon about these! I now had two pair that I could wear!!

At Spring Training the socks kinda took on a life of their own! I wore both pairs on alternating days (washing them at the hotel of course!!) and people - random other smokers (yes I smoke, it's bad I know!), the staff and the vendors all started referring to me as the "Socks Girl" and remembering me each day. Even guys like Bob Welch, the A's team photographer Michael Zagaris and Billy Beane took notice! Billy said I should take it and run with it. Being that he is THE Billy Beane who am I to go against his advice?! That'd be crazy!!

Upon returning home I started not only this blog (I still have a ton of unpublished drafts but they will be up shortly at least I hope so!) but a second Twitter Account @OakAsSocksGrl and began posting pics and promoting them on Facebook, Instagram and Google+! Honestly, I have become A LOT more Social Media savvy and internet savvy! I have been able to make new MANY new friends at the games, gain followers, start somewhat of a trend (one group of girls I saw on BART actually called it the "#SocksMovement!" Whoa!) and was even contacted by the Oakland Athletics and asked to throw out the Ceremonial First Pitch at the A's game! A dream come true for any Die Hard A's Fan!! (my first post on this blog is an account of that experience! http://oakassocksgrl.blogspot.com/2013/05/first-post-first-pitch.html) It has even inspired me to begin working on a book idea that I have had for the past decade but never started because it seemed like such a pipe dream that would never come to fruition  until now!

A Twitter follower of mine, Jamey who is now a close friend, came up with the hashtag #OaklandSockSwag which is my signature hashtag!! And I became the Oakland A's Socks Girl! Since then I have gotten and used other hashtag suggestions such as #OaklandKoozieSwag, #OaklandShoeSwag, #CC (for Celebrity Chick but I don't really consider myself to be a celebrity), #IHellaLoveOakland and #CCDiva. But my mainstay is and always will be #OaklandSockSwag so big shout out to my good friend, Jamey VanDyke!

I even had a meme or two made for me! This is the funniest because I never even noticed the dude on the right there! LOL!

At games I've gotten compliments, had people run up to me introducing themselves, shouting my real name and my Twitter alias, made a TON of really A-mAzing new friends and have an even bigger A's fAnily! (yes, fAnily, I spelled it correctly!) Twitter and Facebook friends can easily become REAL LIFE FRIENDS! I was tweeting these two, Mitch and David, who came and found me sitting in the RF Bleachers one afternoon! More than likely though you will find me behind the A's bullpen in Sect. 128 Row 2 Seat 8! That's my second home!

I also noticed (and purchased a few pair myself) that the Coliseum began selling knee high socks for both women and men! Which I thought was kinda random at first but apparently they're now in demand! I don't take credit for this fact but it's certainly cool to have people wearing them and tweeting/facebooking me pictures of them!! I've even found other pairs online, at sporting goods stores and at places like Target that are not officially A's gear but are still green and gold!

And I see and meet more and more people who are wearing them to the games and even out on the town!
Kinda cool that people are not only wearing their #OaklandSockSwag but they are liking it and Tweeting about it! I was a bit surprised!

Just this past homestand (Yankees and Mariners) alone I was strolling around the Coli and the Coli parking lot, sipping on some beers and I kept running into people with socks and some with crazy #OaklandShoeSwag and #OaklandKoozieSwag as well!

There are even men getting into the action!! I've seen them at the Coli and had pics both Tweeted and Snap Chatted to me by guys who rock their #OaklandSockSwag!! In fact the last pic was just posted on my Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/JenRainH20) today by a friend and Twitter follower named Nic! Thanks bro!

Well that is the story of how #OaklandSockSwag came about! And explains part of the reason why you are seeing more and more Oakland A's Green and Gold socks in the world! I can't take all the credit but it's a fun "#SocksMovement" that's starting! What happens next is anybody's guess!

Oh and this is the #OaklandShoeSwag I intend to have made! You can design your own at http://www.converse.com/?CSID=62308_kwid/#/home Have fun kids! Gotta love fun, funky socks and shoes! And as always, LET'S GO OAKLAND!!!!!

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!