A's Appreciation Week Begins!

Coliseum or bust

I’m making a pilgrimage on Friday. It’s the first ballpark destination trip I’ll take since leaving professional baseball.

There are a handful of big league cities in which I’ve never seen a game. Toronto, Detroit, and Seattle have all had two home ballparks in my lifetime; Atlanta has had three — never been to any of them. I still haven’t been to Fenway. But come first pitch this Friday, Oakland will no longer be on the list.

Before the Oakland Coliseum is stripped of Major League Baseball, I want to bear witness. I want to sit in the stadium that Reggie, Rickey, and the Bash Brothers once called home. I want to breathe in the birthplace of Moneyball. I hope to pay homage to the possum that occupied the stadium press box only a couple years ago. (We’ve been dealing with a possum situation lately at WTP headquarters. Two nights ago, in fact, I fell for it when the uninvited animal knew it was overmatched by the Warning Track Puppy and, indeed, played possum.)

I need to lay eyes on the Athletics in their natural habitat.

With the trade deadline falling this Tuesday, the Oakland A’s roster may look slightly different than it does today. Brent Rooker has followed up his All-Star 2023 campaign with an even better season that, somehow, did not result in him flying to Texas for the Midsummer Classic a few weeks ago.

He’s coveted by several teams, and — or is it but — he’ll only become arbitration eligible for the first time next year. Most teams would be thrilled to have a star outfielder under control for a relatively tame salary for each of the next three years. For A’s ownership, however, the threat of a player making $5 million might be enough to inspire a trade.

That said, the team on the visiting side on Friday will definitely undergo some changes to its roster between now and then. If I could have had it my way, the A’s wouldn’t be hosting the Dodgers this weekend. I’d love to have experienced the Coliseum in all its glory. You know, with about 3,500 fans for a game against, say, the Rays. No doubt that Dodgers fans will turn Baseball’s Last Dive Bar into Chavez Ravine North.

It’s an odd week on the baseball schedule. Both the A’s and the Dodgers are off today and Thursday. It allows teams to skip a starter if they want to, and it makes it tricky to project who will be starting on Friday. Walker Buehler and Clayton Kershaw are slated to face the Padres in the middle of the week. Is the Dodgers’ Friday starter even on their roster today?

Regardless, I’m happy to be visiting the field where Joe Rudi won three World Series and twice finished second in the AL MVP voting. As I wrote about two years ago, his signature was across the palm of the first baseball glove I ever became one with. I haven’t taken a glove to the ballpark in 35 years, but it might make the trip with me.

Don’t Subscribe At Your Own Risk

The most recent WTP cautioned against the Pirates baserunning tactic in which the runner forced at second intentionally does not slide. Well, Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo isn’t a subscriber!

On a force play yesterday, he was left confused, if not frustrated, over the baserunner’s ability to go into the base standing. In the top of the sixth inning, Connor Joe singled with nobody on and nobody out. The next batter, Joshua Palacios, hit a grounder to D-backs first baseman Christian Walker.

Walker threw to Perdomo, covering second, and got the lead runner. Let’s take a look at the still frames.

You can see how Joe stays on his feet as he nears second base. In frame four — my favorite for a few reasons — you see Joe in Perdomo’s kitchen as the shortstop is making the return throw to first base. You also see second-base umpire Ben May leaning back as if Perdomo’s lower arm slot has caught him by surprise. Does he fear he may be in the line of fire?

The remaining frames detail the affable Perdomo inquiring to May. I can only imagine the infielder is asking if Joe’s behavior qualifies as obstruction.

May tells Perdomo to read Warning Track Power, and Perdomo, who has no home runs in 163 plate appearances this season, doesn’t understand that the ump’s reference is not intended as an attack.

Another day in the big leagues.

It’s Your Week, Oakland!

I’ll be back tomorrow — and every day this week — with a vignette about an A’s player or a story about the Coliseum. Given the A’s limited financial resources over time, it’s not too surprising that many great players have passed through the organization on their way out. Willie McCovey, Mike Piazza, and Tim Raines each spent one year in Oakland. I can’t wait to spend one night there later this week.