With the Right Field bleacher section in Oakland getting some attention in recent years for being loud and supportive fans* I can't help but recall my days of sitting in those same seats and rooting for the A's. From 1987(my first game) through 2004*, 90% of the games I attended were in the right field bleachers*. The bleachers were always a festive way to watch a baseball game and being a simple, working man meant that they were a great value as well. So here are a couple of my memories of that specific, glorious section:
My first Oakland A's game. The year was 1987 and the A's were starting to make some noise with players like Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire. All I remember from the game was Jose Canseco standing like a baseball god less than 50ft. from me and the whole section having fun with the name of the Detroit Tigers outfielder, Chet Lemon. "Hey Chet, you are full of Chet!" "BullChet!" "You play like Chet!" Good times? Nay, great times.
Any deep fly ball hit in Jose Canseco's* direction. During games Canseco was generally doing one of three thing; day dreaming, trying to wink or flirt with certain fans, or even better yet, flexing in front of an imaginary mirror. So when a deep one was hit Jose went through the 6 stages of the catch. 1) Get an "Oh Shit!" look on his face ever so briefly. 2) Start to go back like you are not quite sure where the ball might be going. 3) Finally get a reading on the ball. 4) Raise your glove and hope it goes in. 5) Sometimes it helps if you close your eyes right at the moment of impact. 6) Smile your cocky smile because you knew you had it all along.
1995-1997. Dark days, very dark days. These were not fun teams to root for but we(some of us) tried rooting for them anyways. I swear, there were games when there might of been like 12 people total sitting in any section. We rooted for guys like Ruben Sierra(gulp!), Geronimo Berroa, Matty Stairs, and Jose Herrera! Jose Herrera??? Yeah, 1996 was especially painful.
Paul O'Neil striking out. To me no other player represented yankee pretentiousness like Pauly so whenever he struck out we in the bleachers got to watch him stew over it in the field. He would mimic the at bat he just had, faux-swinging to try and figure out what went wrong all while turning occasionally to give some bleacher denizen a dirty look or turn his nose up at us. His strike outs were a small victory but a victory none the less.
The day they brought out Jerry Rice in an A's jersey. Rice had been a San Francisco 49er legend up to this point so when the cross bay Raiders signed him what better time to show him off in an A's jersey than when the San Francisco Giants were in town, on WAGs softball day too! When they announced him and brought him out in the A's home whites riding around in a convertible the crowd went nuts. A's fans naturally cheered but the Giants's fans in the bleachers went ballistic. I never seen so much hate poured onto one player for just waving at fans as I saw coming from Giants's fans. Here was the greatest 49er ever and arguably a top 5 player of all time and Giants fans were treating him like garbage. Memory bonus pints: The game also marked the 2nd closest* I have ever been getting into a fight at a game. Later on in the game, some real tough, grown-up Giants's fans tried to pick a fight with some kid(I think he claimed he was 12 or something) sitting in the first row of the bleachers. Security cooled them down but me and my buddy Paul followed them up to the concourse and as things were about to get ugly security stepped in again. We were told to go back our seats, they were asked to leave.
No matter where you sit at the Coliseum it is always a great seat to watch the game from. I really enjoy sitting field level from dugout to dugout, you can get a better feel for the game there, but the bleachers will always be the place where I grew to love the game.
fans*- They look like they are having fun out there so more power to them.
2004*- I got a promotion and pay raise at work so I started sitting field level and have been there ever since, although part of me wishes he could go catch a game in the bleachers now and again.
bleachers*- Why right field? Two words, one legend: Jose Canseco! When I was younger I had to sit as close to the man as possible and eventually it just became a habit.
Canseco's*- With the exception of Rickey(and quite possibly Pedro Martinez) Jose Canseco in his prime remains the most entertaining, fascinating, and physically dominating player I have ever watched.
2nd closest*- 1st closest? Opening night, 2006. A lot was going on that night; it was my birthday, Frank Thomas looked absolutely stunning taking Randy Johnson deep while wearing the Green n' Gold, and the yankees were killing Barry Zito and the A's. As A's fans were sitting in a little shock and awe some drunk, loud mouth yankee fan was walking up and down the aisle taunting everybody. He got near me and I jumped up into his face letting him know that it was about to go down. As I puffed up my chest, the crowd behind me was chanting "hit him, hit him!", and the guy, smelling like a brewery shut down due to a rat infestation, staring at me wide eyed, I couldn't help but think about if I really wanted to get thrown out or worst yet, locked up on my birthday because this guy was in no condition to fight back hard. I decided to back down, sit down, and the guy quietly went his way. I think I made the right call.
