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| The wharf, the dwarf, the decay on the Train to Athletics |
By the Editor
(pictures by Donna Copeland Fuller)
Way out
west on Oakland's wharf
You can
smell the rotting dwarf
We dress
the part with synthetics
We're on
our way to Athletics
Passing
ships in strange decay
Left for
dead along the bay
We
adjust our prosthetics
On the
train to Athletics
Where
they don't know nothing
No they
don't know nothing
Because
there ain't nothing
That
they can know
Hear the
sound of someone's song
Donna's
face is looking long
Sings of
baseball and aesthetics
We're on
our way to Athletics
Train is
filled with trails of smoke
Pennant
dream is filled with hope
Will
wailing song be prophetic?
On the
train to Athletics
There's
little that can usually shatter the sublime pleasure of a day at the
ball park, but this twist of fate did, at least for awhile. I think
it was very well put by Sacramento Bee writer Marcos Breton in
today's Sports section: “I've been going to baseball games for 40
years and they've almost always been joyful experiences. But that
changed Wednesday with the crack of a bat and the sickening sound of
a baseball striking a human head.” I've seen pitchers get hit and
batters get hit and guys colliding in the field, but never anything
so dramatic as this. When A's starter Brandon McCarthy went down in
the top of the fourth inning, it felt like all the oxygen in the
Coliseum was sucked down with him in a horrible, startled communal
gasp. With great pleasure we watched him sit up, probably too early
for his own good, and eventually walk off the field with a little
help from the trainer. Word is he's doing okay. Get well soon
McCarthy!
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| Pre-Game Ricky Henderson |
So you
may or may not know that when three outs occur and the first baseman
goes back to the dugout, someone from the dugout always throws him a
baseball on his way there. Check it out if you don't believe me.
But why? From straightdope.com: “As
you know, one of the first baseman's principal responsibilities is
throwing a ball around the horn to warm up the infielders when the
team takes the field each inning. Naturally that means the first
baseman has to scare up a ball somewhere to start with. In the early
days of the game, many first basemen were evidently so dense they
could barely find the bathroom much less a baseball. Hence the
practice of handing them a ball as they entered the dugout, lest they
delay the game looking for one later. Today, of course, most first
basemen have advanced educational training that renders such
precautions unnecessary - but the tradition lives on. Such reverence
for the past is what has made baseball great.”
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| Spontaneous variation on The Bernie |
Towards
the beginning of this season, I noticed on TV that sporadic fans at
A's games would seemingly be seized with a spontaneous urge to stand
up and start dancing in a bizarre, stiff, almost zombie-like manner.
I considered this one of the greatest things to hit baseball in
years, but since I don't usually listen to the sound when a game is
broadcast, I had no idea what was going on. A few weeks ago, Oakland
had a special “Weekend at Bernie's” promotion and I finally
figured it out: it was the Bernie dance! WTF? Who thought this up
and why was it happening? It seems there's a rap song “Moving Like
Bernie” released in 2010 that Brandon Inge started using as his
walk-up song this year. And it sent a dance fever shock wave through
the team and fans, so people are doing it all over the stadium! I
fully endorse this spasmodic show of affection, and must confess that
a few weeks ago at the A's Triple A affiliate River Cats game, before
I even know what was up, I did the dance myself. And will probably
do it again.
Oh, and
the A's were humiliated by the Angels 7-1.
TO BE
CONTINUED: SONGS IN A MINOR LEAGUE
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