Inside Bay Bridge Baseball: The Pen Remains Mighty

When was the last time you put a pen to paper and wrote a letter? And when is the last time you received a missive in the mail? in print? Although letter writing might feel like a practice of the past, two recent events in Bay Area sports have reminded how and why writing a letter is important. 

History reveals this truth. Go to any Presidential museum in this country and you will find countless letters on display. By one estimate, Teddy Roosevelt penned 150,000 letters. Furthermore, letters serve as primary sources. The book All the Best, George Bush: My Life in Letters and Other Writings taught me a great deal about American history, culture, art and more. Who knew that saving all those cards and handwritten notes could and would prove invaluable? Letters are passed down and passed on. They are both personal and private, sometimes public, often revelatory.

The first chapter of On the Eighth Day:A Catholic Theology of Sport —the required text for Sports and Spirituality—is entitled "From Saint Paul to Pope Francis." Saint Paul is important in this course because he "invokes the motif of running as a metaphor for discipleship on multiple occasions" through his letters to different communities. His wrote to inform, persuade and encourage others (of the love of Christ). These letters are recorded in the New Testament. Though they were written nearly 2,000 years ago, we write letters for similar reasons today. Such is the thought that came to mind when I saw that the Oakland Athletics' owner, John Fisher wrote a letter to A's baseball fans. I knew it was something I needed to share.

I posted Fisher's missive in my presentation but offered to read it to the class. I reminded my students that in the past athletes have written letters to their fan base when they retire or move on. Others, like Kobe Bryant have written letters to a game. Though you might not be an A's fan, I'm curious to know what you think.

Fisher notes the franchise's 123 year history. It has moved before and it is moving again. The list of accomplishments is so impressive. The characters who contributed and colored their story are legion. I got to the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the Bay Bridge Series and the 20 game win streak and I got so choked up, I paused. I told my students, "I'm sorry, this is harder than I thought it would be." I finished reading the letter and let them unpack its meaning, their reactions and responses. Many sat in silence. Others noted how hard that might be for those fans. I told them I had no idea I would feel this way. 

Although I grew up in Walnut Creek, California—the East Bay—I am not an A's fan. People who have met me away from my home want to know how or why I am Giants fan instead. Easy. The Giants had a Triple-A farm team in Tacoma, WA, so my dad saw the genesis of some Giant legends. My mom grew up in San Francisco, which is where I have lived for the past 20+ years. No further explanation needed. 

That being said, I grew up with and among A's fans. Several of my dear friends from high school donned the green and gold. I can still recall getting into an argument during my freshman year over who was the better franchise: the Giants or the A's. We were sitting in the back of the bus. One girl couldn't let it go. She defended the orange and black. I respect her to this day for that.

It was so moving to see many of those friends return to the ballpark for the final games. A's fans are both angry and sad. I don't think it would be too much for John Fisher to acknowledge this. Instead he wrote what a local announcer, Larry Beil deemed a "great work of fiction." His pronouncement went viral.Watch and you will see why.

One announcer said "that statement does nothing for any A's fan." Beil responds, "you sort of have to release a statement but what would be nice would be a news conference where you take questions, but we haven't seen that. Why start now? It's only been 18 years." A good friend Dan, added

I believe that no fan needed or wanted to hear from Fisher. It’s amazing that the hearts of an entire fanbase and city are in the hands of one human being. And it’s unfathomable that he could not make it work in one of the country’s largest media markets.  Its all so disappointing.  I enjoyed my farewell on Saturday vs the mighty Yanks.  You could feel the love in the building and the respect for what that franchise accomplished in Oakland.  The titles, the characters and legends, the grit, inspiring a major motion picture, the fan support throughout…I feel fortunate to have grown up with A’s and grateful to my family for getting to so many games.

Dan's words remind me—for the fans, baseball is so much more than a business. It's just not entertainment. I knew what this loss would mean to him and his family. A team binds friends and family, our community and makes a place home. It affects our lives and livelihoods in ways big and small. My brother was a paper boy for the Contra Costa Times—a news source that proudly featured the A's.  He threw out the first pitch of an A's-White Sox game on Saturday, June 16, 1984, a nationally televised game on NBC. He said, "I was among a group of seven or eight paper boys who sold the most subscriptions and was picked to throw out the first pitch after winning a contest." Great job, Mark! In sixth grade, I got free tickets to an A's game because I read ten books in the summer. Incentives do work! I wrote a letter to my Great Aunt, my Aunt Dottie. In our regular USPS exchanges, I told her about that prize!

Personally, I think it's important that Fisher wrote this open letter. Yes, his director of communications likely wrote it. Yes, it feels more fiction than fact but the written word gives all of us a place to stand. It is from this message we can respond and react, retort and reply. It could have been different. It should have been different. Silence in this instance would be deafening and damaging....and furthered the defeat so many people already feel. A meeting, a question and answer session, a press conference with the fans and for the fans isn't too much to ask. They deserve so much more. They got an open letter and lost a team. This story is a sad one.

No one is sure of what is to come for sports in and around Oakland the larger Bay Area. I can however report this week, my students were privy to letter with a different tenor. Speaking about the San Francisco Giants ten years ago felt a whole lot different. Loyal fans like me are hopeful that the words from our All-Star and three time World Series champion, Gerald "Buster" Posey will deliver the promise he offers. 

The fact of the matter is feelings, hopes and desires, dreams and dreams deferred need to be written and shared. A letter is an important place to make a record of that. The pen is mighty... Shakespeare said so himself.

Photo Credits
Buster Posey—is he getting better looking or what
A's in Line
Double Trouble

Dear A's Fans: How do you do it? And Why...?

The Athletics have a long and colorful history. The team, founded in 1901 in Philadelphia, relocated to Kansas City in 1954 until 1968 when the franchise moved west. When the owner, Chuck Finley decided to take his team out of KC, Stuart Symington—a US Senator (Missouri) called Oakland "the luckiest city since Hiroshima." 

In a small way, it bothers me that reading that quote made me laugh out loud. Today marks the 70th anniversary of the US bombing of Hiroshima. The United States is the first and only country to use atomic weaponry during wartime. It is also the Feast of the Transfiguration. I find some symbolism in a shared date of infamy and of glory. If there's an American City in need to transfiguration, Oakland is high on that list. Would it be too bold to believe that a Major League baseball team could play a role in another transfiguration? I think not. But that's not my question for this blog posting. 

I grew up in Walnut Creek, but 20 miles from the Oakland Coliseum—or O.co Coliseum, the home of the Oakland A's. Most people figure me to be an A's fan. I love the East Bay and still wax poetic about it as often as I can. But my team always has been and remains a ball club that resides across the Bay—the San Francisco Giants. It's very easy to be a Giants fan these days. But for many years, and on the "even" years of late, not so much. So when I ask my question, please know it is not from a place of pity—I've been there. I don't mean to sound pedantic, but I am genuinely interested: Why would anyone be an A's fan?

It has to be frustrating to follow a team knowing that your star players more likely than not will be on another team next year....if not next month. I think about athletes like Josh Donaldson, a 2015 All Star, who played in Oaktown but last year. Or David Kazmir....do you think twice before buying a jersey like his? Does it bother you that the General Manager, Billy Beane, keeps the payroll among the lowest in baseball because of something other than Moneyball? Revenue sharing among owners in the league takes on a new perspective when you own one-third of the team. Granted, the A's don't have the worst record in MLB, but they are in last place in the AL West. And no one is singing praises about their "ball park experience" at the Coliseum. Tell me A's fans, what's up?

Two men names Josh...neither of who wears the Green & Gold in 2015

But to know about the Athletics is to know they have a strange, though interesting history. Perhaps this what A's fan love about them. As written in "The Meaning of Sports," Michael Mandelbaum states,

The team's leading personality was its owner, Charles O. Finley, who had made a modest fortune selling insurance. He believed that baseball had become too stodgy. To enliven it, he paid his players bonuses to grow mustaches and assigned them colorful nicknames...He proposed a number of innovations, some of which, such as night World Series games and brightly colored uniforms to replace what he called "eggshell white" and "prison grey" of the standard home and road baseball wear, were widely adopted. Others, the idea of coloring baseballs orange for better visibility, for example, were not. Finley was what sportswriters have traditionally called colorful, but like the other highly visible owner of the period, the Yankees' George Steinbrenner, he was not lovable. 

I have to admit when I hear the song "Celebration" by Kool N the Gang, I think of the A's. They earned it with three World Series titles IN A ROW (1972-1974) It is still something to marvel at! I'm fascinated by those clubs—evidently they hated one another, but they sure looked bitchin' in their white cleats.

Your story adds to the narrative that only baseball can afford. You've had win streaks of 20 games when your team had no business pulling it off. You beat us in the 1989 Bay Bridge Series. The Bash Brothers reigned supreme. In a recent issue of the Athletic magazine, I was entertained by the questions for your fans. Keep telling your story Oakland. I'm listening. And should you move to Jack London Square someday, I will be there to witness what I would love to see as another sort of Transfiguration. 

The Oakland A's have featured some of the biggest names in baseball, but they've also featured some of the best name. Let's test your knowledge of the A's most memorable monikers.

1. Coco Crisp has one of the catchiest nicknames of all time. But do you know his given name?
2. Which former A's infielder went by his middle name, and which was spelled as the reverse of his father's name, Ramon?
3. Name the famous outfield trio who played for the A's in the 1970s.
4. Charlie Finley concocted an entire backstory for which nicknamed hall-of-Fame pitcher—born James Augustus—in 1965?
5. Which "weather" related pitcher was scheduled to start Game 4 of the 1989 World Series for the A's prior to the earthquake?
6. Which former A's All-Star once got onstage at the Fillmore theater to join a jam band that uses his name?
7. Which A's reliever won the nickname "Mud cat" on his jersey in 1970?

Photo Credits
And answers to questions forthcoming
Former Athletics
Old School Logo
Simpsons
Icon

Moneyball: Not Spiritual

"Moneyball," a drama film starring Brad Pitt as the Oakland A's General Manager, Billy Beane premieres in theaters on Friday, September 23, 2011. The film, based on Michael Lewis’ book by the same name, features the story of Billy Beane's success in using data analytics to draft players and create a winning team, specifically during the onset of the 2002 season.

The opening scene features Beane sitting solo inside an unlit Oakland Coliseum. He looks upon the now empty field, where ghosts may roam, dreaming about winning “the last game of the season” as a cheers from World Series game are broadcast in the background. The lighting, his pensive gaze, the palpable desire in his stance, would suggest you are about to embark on a story—a true one—that is very spiritual. It’s not.

These days I watch every sports story through a spiritual lens. Although "Moneyball" presented themes that resonate with spirituality such tenacity, commitment to a dream, vision and creativity—I left the world premiere thinking, What happened? Why did it fall flat?

Perhaps it is spiritually vapid because the story is one of economics; it is a tale of one man’s plight to create a competitive baseball team at a fraction of the cost of the large market teams. Perhaps I am asking too much…and yet, I don’t think so.

Billy Beane is a complex character. He played in Major League Baseball for five years but as the GM he is "all business;" he does not watch the game. He tells his assistant to text him with the ball scores. Rather than sitting in the not so cheap seats, Beane works out in the gym underneath the Coliseum. The dark lighting, the dated, inadequate equipment leave you questioning why he chooses the world he has created.

You might ask Does the protagonist find redemption? What could be more spiritual than that? Yes and no. Beane claims that he “hates losing more than he likes winning.” The movie ends as it begins. Perhaps his spiritual journey is incomplete. The quest continues…I suppose it does for all of us.

The evening however had spiritual offerings. I was fortunate enough to attend the world premiere at Oakland’s Paramount theater as a benefit for the Oakland A’s community fund. It was obvious that everyone in attendance had a deep familiarity and affection for the Athletics. The packed house was filled with the actors—yes even Brad Pitt, but also former and current A’s players and their loyal fans. The fans, like those who fill the seats during the 20-game win streak were electric. Their passion for this team was revealed as the movie relived every great game, good hit, and big win. This crowd knew the losses but they also knew the sweet taste of victory. I think it was enough for all of us....at least on this night.

Go see Moneyball and put on your spiritual lenses. I welcome your thoughts!

Photo Credits
Moneyball Poster
Moneyball Poster II
Paramount Theater--my iPhone!