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MLB ROAD TRIP 2001
2001.7.18 <VOL.24> Days 89-94
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*We are in San Francisco
Index
1. Coastal Commute
2. Press Box
3. Oakland
4. San Francisco
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Coastal Commute
The second half of our trip began with 3 days of driving down the west coast. There are a couple of routes between Seattle and San Francisco, the most commonly used one being lovely I-5. But we had already spent some time on the I-5 drive, and decided to head west and take US101 south. This is a great drive and we highly recommend it. Northern Oregon has lots of quaint seaside towns that are great for a short weekend vacation, but as you enter the southern part of the state, the ocean scenery becomes more rugged and the towns are more oriented to fishing than to tourism.
In Northern California, we passed through the stunning Redwood Forest and then took Highway 1 back to the coast. This was the best drive of the trip, with a winding, hilly road for about 20 fun miles before you suddenly hit the coast again and are confronted with beautiful views. We wish we had more time to explore this area, but 3 days without baseball is plenty, so we drove into San Francisco over the Golden Gate bridge, which is a sight in its own right. Check out the route maps section of the website for some pictures from these three days.
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Press Box Observations
For Monday's game in Oakland, we were fortunate enough to get media passes from Akira Onozato, who is the president of BaySpo, a Bay Area Japanese sports newspaper. A big thanks to Debbie Gallas of the A's for helping us out as well!
We met Akira in front of the stadium and he handed us our press passes. First stop: the field, to get a close up look at batting practice. It is amazing to stand right behind the cage and watch the batting practice fastballs come in and then sail over the fences far away. We watched the A's do B.P. and it was a lot of fun. After that is was up to the press box to watch the game. We found a couple of seats (the press box was pretty empty on this night) and read through the copious amount of game notes. Page after page of trivia and baseball stats - I was in heaven!
At that time, Akira returned to his office and left Aya and I alone in unfamiliar surroundings. It was amusing to watch the other press box personnel, who obviously knew each other from being there every day, wondering who we were. The press box has free hot dogs and popcorn from the 3rd inning on, but most of the media bring their own food, as eating hot dogs 81 nights a year is apparently not good for your health. But I was happy to indulge as I have limited my hot dog intake to one every 3 days on this trip. The dogs here were OK, but the popcorn got thumbs up from Aya.
For me, it was most interesting to listen to the other occupants of the press box talk to each other - cynicism is the order of the day here. After Oakland starter Gil Heredia, who had just had a terrible first half, gave up a single to the first starter of the game, one wag indicated that it was time to call the bullpen again. (Ironically, Heredia pitched quite well and won the game). These guys are still fans at heart, but they are very professional about their jobs. It was cool to listen to the ESPN radio guy phone in his updates every couple of innings.
After the game we went to the A's clubhouse. This was very interesting - most of the team was watching Fox Sports and eating the postgame meal. We felt out of place as we followed the media scrum, which only consisted of about 10 reporters, trying to get quotes from the players. Heredia was interviewed first, and then Ramon Hernandez (who had hit 2 homers). I listened to the questions and answers, but there wasn't much other than the usual cliches. I would have liked to enter the Colorado clubhouse, but the Rockies are mired in a horrible slump and we didn't think we would be too welcome in there.
This was a great experience, and from a fan's point of view, I learned a lot about the game and the people who bring it to us every day. It seems like a tough job for the media who have to hang around the park for an hour or so waiting for the players, but I would bet that none of them would trade it for any other job in the world - it must be great to show up for work at the ballpark!
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Oakland and the Network Associates Coliseum
We didn't spend any time in Oakland itself, but did see two games at the Net. The stadium is located close to a BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station, so it only takes about 25 minutes to get there from downtown San Francisco.
There is nothing remarkable about this park; it is a multi-use stadium that also houses the Oakland Raiders football team. There is not a lot around the stadium, but inside there is a good variety of food choices. With the largest foul territory in the major leagues, even the good seats are a bit far away from the action. The field is in excellent condition, but the best thing about the Net is that the tickets are reasonably priced - even the club seats are only $30, and this includes a meal. The lower deck seats are $19 which is a bargain to watch the Giambi brothers and the other A's who make up one of the better teams in baseball. Unfortunately for them, Seattle is having a monster year, but the A's are still an exciting team to watch and they still have a chance in the wild card hunt. If you live in the Bay Area, head on out to the Net sometime - especially if Tim Hudson is on the mound.
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San Francisco
We are staying in San Francisco for a full week, which is a nice change from some of our previous whistle stops. This is a great city; there is so much to do and see here. To me, there are two sides of San Francisco that are completely different and both should be seen to appreciate the city as a whole. First there is the tourist part of the city (Fisherman's Wharf, Cable Cars, etc) that is crowded and lively. But I think it is the different neighborhoods that give the city its unique culture: North Beach, Chinatown, Nob Hill, and the others are all distinct yet blend together seamlessly. We still have three more days here, so we hope to see a lot more and update you on Pac Bell Park and the best of the city in our next e-mail.
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We leave San Francisco this Sunday and after checking out a couple of California League games, we hit LA for a week during which we will see 4 major league games, including a cross-town doubleheader on the 28th. More on that next time as well. Hope you are all enjoying your summer as much as we are!
Talk to you later,
Sean and Aya
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