Major League Baseball
Michael Taylor is encouraged when Oakland A’s team owners agree to terms proposed by city officials to extend their lease at the Oakland Coliseum. But he is superstitious and decides not to break out the champagne – yet!
The bottle of champagne in my refrigerator is still there. I’m superstitious, and I don’t want to jinx things. So I decided not to break it open and celebrate, not yet. Things could still go wrong. But . . .
For the first time in a VERY long time, there ARE signs of hope. The owners of the the baseball team have accepted terms proposed by Oakland City Officials … which means that my baseball team will likely remain in Oakland at least for 2 more years, maybe even for 10 more years, forever perhaps???
I don’t want to push my luck, but I’m hoping for forever!!!
Once Upon a Time …
A long, long time ago, in what seems like another life, I was one of more than 50,000 sports fans that packed the then relatively new (and the then state of the art) Oakland – Alameda County Coliseum for the first A’s game in Oakland.
The year was 1968, it was early spring, and the air was crisp …
How proud we were that early spring night! We already had the baddest team in football. And now we had a baseball team, to boot!
Could any of us have imaged on that crisp spring’s night that in a few short years our newly acquired baseball team would win 3 consecutive World Series championships?
(Or, more painfully, that in a few more years after that our dearly beloved football team would go south?)
Memorable Moment
I can only remember 3 things about that early spring’s night in 1968.
First, I went with my buddy, Terry Lee, whom I lost contact with decades ago (if you’re out there, Terry, please get in touch!).
Second, we lost (I don’t even remember who we were playing that night; it didn’t really matter).
And three, when we entered the Coliseum, we were handed lilttle boxes of matches.
When they played the national anthem that night, all of the lights in the Oakland Coliseum were turned off, and we were told to light our matches … And when one went out, we lighted another … and another … and another …
A flickering sea of lights … in 3 massive donut-like circles … Does anyone else remember that magical moment?
I thought it was magnificent! And it remains one of my 10 most memorable memories of all time …