Game #24-Oakland Coliseum-Oakland Athletics vs. Philadelphia Phillies

It is a perfect afternoon for a ballgame this Saturday, June 17. We arrived at Oakland Coliseum about 11:00am for the 1:10pm game between the Oakland Athletics and Philadelphia Phillies. This game comes with a plethora of history for Jim as his family attended games here many times in the late 1960's and early 1970's. He remembers those times fondly sitting in the third deck waiting to catch a foul ball, it never happened. To this day Jim can name every player of the Athletics team and even give you their positions and some of their stats. This is where Jim's love of baseball began which makes today's visit extra special. As you are probably aware the Oakland Athletics have been trying to build a new stadium and have been unsuccessful in their efforts. To date the team is set to move to Las Vegas with a plan to vacate the Coliseum at the end of the 2024 season. The new stadium in Las Vegas is estimated to be complete by 2027. Therefore it was an important pilgrimage for Jim to visit the Coliseum before the Athletics leave. The Athletics baseball team began in 1901 in Philadelphia, fitting that today they are playing the Philadelphia Phillies. In 1955, the Athletics moved to Kansas City for 13 seasons before moving to Oakland in 1968. Since the Athletics have been in Oakland they have won four World Series titles with three of them being consecutive; 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1989. Speaking of 1989, who remembers the World Series that year between the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics? It was the third game of the World Series on October 17, 1989 just before the first pitch when a 6.9 earthquake shook the Bay Area causing massive destruction and power outages. It was 10 days before the World Series would resume and the Oakland Athletics ended up the World Champions. Today we entered the stadium through the Catfish Hunter Gate as that had such meaningful significance for Jim. He remembers Catfish Hunter pitching along with Rollie Fingers, Lou Holtzman, Vida Blue and Blue Moon Odom. As we walked the hallway of the concourse area, the walls were covered in the Oakland Athletics history. Jim really enjoyed the walk down memory lane and told me story after story of "the good old days." Along the way we met a very nice man who works for the Athletics, Victor, who we truly enjoyed talking with about the history of the Athletics and baseball. He told us that he also works with the Giants and he would look for us at Oracle Park on Monday night. While on our walk of the Athletics history both of us learned a few new things we thought were interesting. Did you know "The Wave" originated at the Oakland Coliseum? A man by the name of "Krazy George" Henderson invented "The Wave" and first performed it in 1981. Check out the pictures on our Instagram @ourfieldofdreams2023. Another fact we learned was that Athletics owner, Finley, hired ball girls in the 1970's to sit on the foul lines and field balls. One of those ball girls was Debbi Fields. Debbi would bring homemade cookies to the game and give them to the umpires. It wasn't long before she began her business. Anyone heard of Mrs. Fields Cookies? We also visited the Athletics Hall of Fame which was a little disappointing with only a few banners and no real memorabilia. Retired number of the Oakland Athletics are: #34 Dave Stewart, #24 Rickey Henderson, #43 Dennis Eckersley, #9 Reggie Jackson, #34 Rollie Fingers, #27 Jim "Catfish" Hunter, and #42 Jackie Robinson. While walking around we saw in center field on the wall a light up sign that reads, "Holy Toledo." This is to pay homage to the late Athletics broadcaster Bill King who would shout this out when the Athletics got a home run. We hope to see the sign light up today. After a long walk up and down and around the stadium we located the hot dog/sausage for Jim's review. I have to say the variety of food at the stadium is dismal. Many stands are closed and the ones that were open had very little to choose from. Jim decided on the bratwurst and he gave it a 5.0. After the review he did not even finish the bratwurst stating it was pitifully dry. We ended up getting chicken strips and fries to share. I mean who can mess up chicken strip and fries? I have to say they were average and I am glad we shared them because they were $22.00. Yes $22.00! So if you go to the Coliseum we recommend you tailgate in the parking lot like we witnessed many people do. When we reached our seats we talked with our wonderful usher Bobby about our Field of Dreams Tour. Bobby was so very kind that he worked with another usher to get us better seats. We were moved just 15 rows from the field on the first base side. The usher in that section, John T was additionally very kind. Of course we thanked both of them with one of our usher gifts. We settled in our seats and enjoyed a few pregame shenanigans by the Oakland Athletics mascot Stomper, which is an elephant. As the announcer was introducing the players Stomper had many funny interactions with the players. He definitely had his caffeine this morning! The stadium has a capacity of 46,847 and today's attendance is 12,015. We were surprised by the number of Phillies fans in attendance. First pitch by James Kaprielian at 1:10pm was followed by three quick Phillies outs. When the Athletics came to the plate it was quick as well with Esteury Ruiz grounding out, Ramon Laureano called out on strikes and Ryan Noda striking out swinging. Ramon Laureano had a few choice words for the third base umpire after Ryan Noda's strike out and got ejected. The game would remain scoreless until the bottom of the 5th inning due to excellent pitching and defensive play. In the bottom of the 4th inning Phillies pitcher was hit in the pitching hand by a ball hit by Esteury Ruiz. In an injury delay it was determined he would continue to pitch that is until the 5th inning when the Phillies brought in Matt Strahm. First to the plate was Carlos Perez who hit a smashing homer to left center field. Score Phillies 0 - Athletics 1. In the top of the 6th inning it looked as though James Kaprielian had run out of gas. With a single by Trea Turner and Alec Bohm it put two runners on with only one out. Athletics manager made the walk to the mound and turned it over to Sam Mott. Mott would strike out the power hitter Bryce Harper. Important to note that Harper is getting $330 million in a 13-year contract with the Phillies. Way to go Mott! With two out and runners on 2nd and 3rd Sam Moll intentionally walks J.T. Realmuto to create the force. Bryson Scott hit a single scoring a run. Score Phillies 1 - Athletics 1. Fortunately the next batter Kody Clemens would ground out to first base to end the inning. The Phillies and Athletics would both go without scoring in subsequent innings sending the game into extra innings. During the 9th inning Jim and I had a good laugh as Phillies pitcher Craig Kimbrel was called for taking too much time. If you have ever seen Kimbrel's pitching stance he swings his arms like an ape. I told Jim, "He shouldn't be monkeying around on the mound." LOL. The 10th inning neither team would score. Then in the 11th inning Bryce Harper was the lead off hitter with Alec Bohm starting the inning at second. Harper grounds out but advances Bohm to third base. The Athletics intentionally walk J. T. Realmuto in the hopes of a double play. Bryson Stott hit a sacrifice fly and Alec Bohm scored. Score Phillies 2 - Athletics 1. The Athletics finally got out of that inning when Cristian Pache grounded out. The Athletics had their work cut out for them in the bottom of the 11th inning. Seth Brown starts the inning at second base. Tony Kemp was out on a sacrifice bunt advancing Brown to third base. Then Carlos Perez came to the plate, remember him he hit the home run in the 5th inning. Carlos Perez hit a double scoring Seth Brown. Score Phillies 2 - Athletics 2. The Athletics would receive the final two outs of the inning with a pop out by Tyler Wade and a groundout by Jace Peterson. Now on to the 12th inning. Talk about getting two games for the price of one! Phillies Cristian Pache started at second with Edmundo Sosa flying out advancing Pache to third. Next up Kyle Schwarber would hit a single to score Pache. Score Phillies 3 - Athletics 2. That would be all the damage for that inning with a strikeout by Alex Bohm and groundout by Bryce Harper. What are they paying Harper???? We held our breath as the Athletics came to the plate. Jace Peterson starts at second when Shea Langeliers hit a sacrifice bunt advancing Peterson to third. Unfortunately for the Athletics Esteury Ruiz would strike out swinging and JJ Bleday would ground out. GAME OVER. Final Score Phillies 3 - Athletics 2. Game time was 3 hours and 27 minutes. Next stop will be Oracle Park on Monday evening as my beloved San Francisco Giants play the San Diego Padres. Until next time, PLAY BALL!