The Boy with the drums and the flags in the outfield

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

OAKLAND–Actually the faithful that attend A’s games go for the baseball, they have to, that is what happens there, ‘the boys with the drums and flags in the outfield’ – there is no pretty park like across the bay, there are no home runs balls going into the bay waters, with fans with fancy kayaks waiting for them, there are no expensive souvenirs and corporate luxury boxes.

I am not crying for A’s owners Lew Wolff/John Fisher, according to Forbes Magazine, they are the fourth richest owners in Major League Baseball. But there is a great contrast between the two teams by the bay.

In AT&T it is a: “we’re here for the party dude” atmosphere,even when the team finishes a disappointing third place after winning the previous World Series, they can’t wait for the last game of the season to cheer Barry Zito. While at the O.CO, a.k.a Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, there is not much in the form of outside the field of entertainment, players are not marketed, caricatured to the limit, there is no gourmet food in the stands, there is no quiche, or salads, but your basic hot dog and beer and hamburger and fries and an occasional bar-b-q. and yes, the Athletics play in a place were three times this season, plumbing has made the news, as an old antiquated plumbing system needs repair and acts up in an embarrassing fashion.

And no, the A’S have not won two World Series during the past three years, but they still have won four World Series since 1968. And three in a row, and how many teams have done that? For starters nobody in the American League Western Division can say that.

I know, it is not recent, but baseball is part of our history, it is a day to day grind, it is not a quarterback controversy every Monday and then you wait six days to see what happens.

Friday, for the first game of the American League Divisional Series against the Detroit Tigers, the Oakland Coliseum will be rocking, like PNC Park in Pittsburgh, a few days ago when the Pirates took the field, and then again Saturday, in Oakland, ‘the boys with the drums and the flags in the outfield’ will be there supporting their baseball team. They will have to fight the Tigers again…It’s simple, not complicated.

It’s A’s baseball.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for Oakland A’s baseball and does News and Commentary each week for Sportstalk Radio