BANG’s Joe Stiglich reports that the A’s have moved a Thursday night (7/14) game to Saturday (7/16), setting up a classic doubleheader. Which. Is. Totally. Awesome.
It’s the first time the A’s have staged a planned doubleheader since 1995. The first game will start at 1:07 p.m. with the second game to follow after a short break.
There’s nothing in the CBA that expressly disallows classic or traditional doubleheaders, but both MLBPA and MLB have frowned upon the practice for different reasons. The players don’t like the disruption to the schedule’s rhythm and the extended wear-and-tear a DH can bring. The owners see it as leaving gate revenue on the table.
My favorite moment as an A’s fan was a midweek doubledip in July 1990 between the A’s and Indians. The A’s were in top gear, mowing down everyone in their path. Bob Welch pitched the first game, Dave Stewart the second, and Eck closed out both. The starters both went 8, no need to tax Rick Honeycutt or Gene Nelson. I sat in the sun-kissed bleachers for six hours, never wanting to leave. Both games were tidy affairs, running around 2:30 each. It seems so long ago. I look forward to reliving this 21 years after the fact. If anyone wants in, we should set something up.
newballpark.org 
Interesting. I wonder why the A’s would break with modern tradition and do this? What motivation could they have for getting rid of a Thursday game where very few people ever show up anyway… oh wait.
why not, the stadium’s there. thursday’s not a big crowd anyway.
My first visit to the Coliseum was for a Labor Day doubleheader in 1977 with the White Sox – – my 11th birthday. They’ve been my team ever since.
Mark me down, ML.
Crister could be onto something. As a doubleheader and something seen as special, you may draw more people than the sum of two separate dates. Plus, it might cost less to staff than two separate dates. Could be a tryout for more doubleheaders the next year.
I AM IN!!!!!!!!
The key here is to extend the all-star break by a day… players prefer not to be scheduled on Thursday after the break and increasingly that’s being done by MLB.
create a taxi squad spot or two for extra pitching that won’t burn up a player option and wont’ go against the 40-man roster on those dates and away we go. free up more travel dates for teams. reduce the over all season without having to eliminate games and cut down on how long the playoffs last. no more november world series… maybe one dh a month. may through july. i would have to imagine that preseason football with the raiders would present problems for the final two months otherwise.
Those were some great teams. I loved how Stew just walked in and owned the Coliseum. You could see it in his eye, he knew he was the best pitcher. Didn’t matter who the opponent was. He knew it and that’s all that mattered. The confidence was palpable throughout the stadium. One of my sisters had season tickets right behind the A’s bullpen at the time and it was fun watching him warm up down there up close — watching Eck walk down and do his thing too. I haven’t thought about it in a long time but that’s a really good place to sit. Might look into it for that doubleheader.
I met Dave Stewart in Cooperstown, when Rickey was being inducted into the Hall of Fame.
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I said, “Mr Stewart, can I get a picture?”
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He said, “‘Mr. Stewart?'”
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I said, “Smoke, a picture?”
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He said, “That’s more like it!”
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I walked up to him, nervously, while my brother got ready to snap a shot. I asked him, “Do you think all these Red Sox fans remember your record against Clemens?”
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He smiled and said, in a near yell, “These people remember how often I kicked Roger in his butt. They just pretend they don’t!”
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GREAT TIMES!
stew was the bomb. i grew up across the street from saitn liz. i can’t count the number of times i was told that he went to school there. it never got on my nerves though since he and rickey be rickey were and are probably my favorite a’s players.
will never forget stew putting the quick one-two smackdown on what’s his face from cleveland. have never been able to find a video clip of it though. good times baby, good times.
I’d almost forgotten about his nickname. Smoke is one smooth handle.
But I thought that ownership was trying to skew attendance downward…
Throwing some doubleheaders in the mix would be a way that MLB could expand the playoffs AND maintain a 162 game schedule. Not sure of the motivation to maintain 162 vs 154 since gate receipts would be the same, but who knows. You think they could get away with charging a modest premium to attend a doubleheader? Maybe they’re floating this out there as a test, doubtful but who knows. Just thinking out loud.
One thing that is really lacking, in Oakland, is an “event mentality.” It is glaringly obvious, when you head to other places to watch a game, that the game is not the only draw. Extreme examples are Yawkey Way in Boston and Waveland Avenue in Chicago. Going to the game is about a lot more than the actual 9 innings (or 18 innings in this case).
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A Double Header is a way to try and drive that. It would be very cool if the A’s used this opportunity to throw a giant tailgate, sponsored by Kingsford and Costco (or something). Make it about the experience outside of the ballpark, like everywhere else, in anyway possible.
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I think they should be doing this every Saturday, but one Saturday is a good start.
OT:
Rhamesis, did you get a new email address? I sent you a message earlier but it was sent back.
Anyhow, check out todays Op-Ed section of the SJ Merc for my latest letter. Thanks to Tracy Seipel for that one!
Hey everyone. I just finished an interview for KQED’s The California Report on the Giants WS win’s impact on the A’s. It should air next week. I expect they’ll have someone else on too, perhaps Neil deMause.
@tony d. – Same email address as always.
Pat Corralles was the Cleveland coach that tried to kung-fu Stew.
Athletics Nation has a poll on the Big Bad Wolff.
Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Lew Wolff’s stint as owner of the Oakland Athletics?
32% Unfavorable
67% Favorable
http://www.athleticsnation.com/2010/11/1/1788671/quick-poll-on-lew-wolff-as-the-as-owner
Interesting. AN is the ultimate A’s fan site with no real bias either way towards SJ or Oakland. The true fans have spoken and they don’t like this guy. I wonder why? Hold the same poll on here and it would be 98% Favorable, 2% Unfavorable. The A’s ownership has been ranked towards the bottom of all owners by several major sites for the last 5 years. I wonder why (II)? Local press and national press don’t think too highly of them either. I wonder why (III)? I’m embarrassed and downright pissed we got these evil carpetbaggers running our team.
Oops, I messed it up, it’s reversed!!
32%Favorable
67% Unfavorable
Jk,
Just let it go brah…just let it go.
I know it’s pointless engaging in a rational discussion with you jk, but it’s been a few days, so why not?
I honestly think you’re just assuming any fan that approves of San Jose approves of Wolff. I approve of San Jose but that’s not to say I’m opposed to Oakland. Be careful about putting words in people’s mouths. That always immediately transforms a constructive discussion into a mindless rant.
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Could Wolff be doing a better job with the fans? Absolutely. There are definitely things he could be doing to foster a better relationship with the fans. The Coliseum could definitely use a minor make-over to freshen’ the place up ad improve the overall fan experience. I’d definitely go to a natural double header if there was a better museum, display, eye candy, etc. That said, Wolff could also be doing a much worse job. He’s taken on the task of privately financing a ballpark for a small market team in a very expensive… there’s no point in finishing this thought.
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Other note: I’m gonna hold off on deciding about the natural double header until the date gets closer. If the Halos & A’s are neck and neck for 1st, I’m there. Speaking from my California bias, I prefer the AL West when it’s Southern vs. Northern California. I’d like to see Texas sink back into mediocrity.
jk-usa, problem with a poll like that, is that the A’s are coming off a bad season. If you’d had the Giants fans rate their ownership two years ago they’d have been rated equally as bad. Rate the same team and ownership today and they’d likely get huge props. If the A’s won the World Series next year you could be sure it would skew the other way very quickly. I’m sure it’s the same across the board. Having fans rate owners is about as subjective a poll as you can run.
You know what polls actually matter? Election results. And it’s looking more and more like Don Perata will be the next mayor of Oakland. Maybe Perata will have a backroom ballpark deal in his back pocket? Maybe not.
If I were a hard core East Bay guy, I’d hate Wolff as well. I mean, he had Stomper show up at a great walk-to-school event! Where was this event? Willow Glen in San Jose. Not Oakland.
My dream? Wolff and Fischer build a shiny new ballpark in San Jose, then Mark Cuban buys the team.
@Zonis – Come on, you know that Billy Beane and Mark Cuban wouldn’t last 5 minutes in the same room with Cuban’s hands-on managing nature.
My dream? Wolff and Fischer sell TOMORROW to Bob Piccinini, who should of had the team back in 1999, and make the Victory Ct. park a reality. He’s increased his wealth several times over the last 10 years through all the growth and acquisitions of his Savemart mini empire. No doubt he would be a quality owner like the Haas family, and unlike W & F.
jk, you are priceless. I hope Warren Buffet buys the A’s TOMORROW and builds a ballpark on the Moon. Then they’d in the Interstellar Athletics. Then I hope he rebrands the green & gold with ultraviolet light to discriminate against those who just see visible light. Without air and with weaker gravity, a typical home run would travel a mile. It’d be the most hitter friendly place in the universe.
@jk : That’s quite a dream, considering MLB voted 28-2 against Picchinini because they figured he was out to milk the revenue sharing system. (The Cubs, weirdly, voted with the A’s, probably as a screw you to Steve Stone, who was in the rival bidding group).
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1999/09/16/MN87352.DTL
@Briggs–My dream is semi-realistic, because both of them were/are in play. Your’s is just plain silly.
@baycommuter–that’s BS about Piccinini wanting to milk the revenue system. He’s a huge baseball fan, wants to win and, like I said before, his wealth has increased with his grocery empire. And Schottmann and W/F haven’t miked the revenue sharing? They made more money than the Haas family ever did.
@jk-usa – Your dream is not in play, just like Briggs’ faux-dream isn’t in play. Otherwise, the Oakland lobby would’ve been clamoring for Piccinini to be the white knight, not Larry Ellison. BTW, Ellison is going to have his hands full renovating the SF waterfront in prep for the 2013 America’s Cup.
Oakland Mayor race is over – It’s Perata by 11 points. There goes Oakland’s chances:
Mayor – Oakland (RCV)*
Vote for One (1) Only
Total Precincts: 254 Precincts Reported: 254 Percent Reported: 100.00
Contest # of Votes % of Total
NP – Don Perata 26348 35.20
NP – Jean Quan 18109 24.19
NP – Rebecca Kaplan 15639 20.89
NP – Joe Tuman 8882 11.87
NP – Marcie Hodge 1820 2.43
NP – Terence Candell 1353 1.81
NP – Don Macleay 994 1.33
NP – Greg Harland 664 0.89
NP – Larry Lionel ”LL” Young Jr. 542 0.72
NP – Arnold Fields 442 0.59
Write-in 55 0.07
re: Oakland Mayor race
Note – I’m not sure if this counts the absentee/mail in votes though. i’ll have to check it again tomorrow.
isn’t there supposed to be a run off if no one reaches 50%?
@ST–uh, sorry to burst your bubble, but the mayor’s race hasn’t been decided just yet. More ballots to count and you need 50%,so the rank choice voting kicks in with the 2nd and 3rd choices factoring in from the other candidates. It may not be enough for Quan or Kaplan to catch the sleazy crook Perata though.
Dellums is still in there till January and most of the city council supports an A’s stadium, so it’s not over yet. Having Wolff and Fischer contribute to Perata’s campaign just adds more to the collusion by the A’s to sabotage their chances in Oakland.
jk-usa, Dellums no more supports a true ballpark plan then Perata does. Unless Quan wins it’s over. And according to most news sources while the result isn’t official, it is a foregone conclusion based on the lead Perata built up in the 1st place votes.
Collusion?
Perata is a “sleazy crook” just because he doesn’t support an A’s ballpark in Oakland?
A vast majority of ACTUAL Oakland citizens beg to differ with yah jk. Let’s see; tackle a $50 million deficit and hire back police officers, or make jk like me?
Back to original topic, moving the game from Thursday 7/14 to Saturday 7/16 extends the All Star Break to 4 games. I like the idea. The doubleheader would be against the Angels:
http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=oak&m=7&y=2011
@TonyD–It’s not just the A’s ballpark, but do you even know the history of Don Perata? Please do some research, I have. I’m very familiar with him and he’s sleazy. Oakland loses again. With Dellums, now him. Quan and Kaplan were kind of weak and Perata has name recognition and that’s why he won, or will win. Poor Oakland can’t get a break for nothing. I hope the streets are quiet tonight after the sentencing.
jk, if it makes you feel any better Quan may have pulled off a miracle. She’s taken a small lead in the computer model voting due to the ranking, however a large chunk of absentee ballots are yet to be counted.