Saturday’s double-dip truly had an event feel. It’s hard for the A’s to wring value out of a game when tickets are so cheap and frequently discounted. There were no bobbleheads or fireworks today, which made the game itself the real attraction. When the preliminary schedule was released, there was no doubleheader and the series was a typical post-ASB four-gamer. Even though combined attendance for typical Thursday and Saturday games would have eclipsed the 27,379 posted today, today’s number was a better number. From the look of the crowd and the parking lot, 27,379 is more reflective of the actual attendance than the regular paid figure. That feeling of fullness multiplies the sense of energy within the crowd and the venue.
Despite the good vibes, the day was not without hiccups. I didn’t arrive until the bottom of the first inning, which means that I didn’t experience the service debacle that Bryan Cauwels (Hey Bud, PleA’se stop the TeA’se) did. According to Cauwels, many of the concession stands were not fully staffed or ready to serve until 1:30 PM. If this was a strategic plan by the A’s and Aramark to work with a late-arriving crowd, it backfired as many were left standing at concessionaires that normally would’ve been open at that time. Cauwels also went to the West Side Club, where he tried to get sandwich, only to be turned down because the sandwich vendor ran out of bread. I’m not sure how a vendor runs out of bread before a game starts, but it doesn’t make much sense.
By the second and third innings, the lines cleared up and nearly every stand along the original concourses was open. Both stands in the value deck were also open. Lines were short or non-existent, except in the West Side Club. That’s where, in between games, I hung out with a bunch of AN regulars. While in the Club I got an impassioned plea from Josh “emperor nobody” Chase Fields, which was centered on protecting the A’s legacy and progressing to something better (a new ballpark), then an assault on baseball’s antitrust exemption, and finally, a polemic. Since I don’t do polemicizing on the blog, I’m going to try to distill what he said into something with a little less heightened rhetoric. That’ll take some time, so that’s for later in the week.
Once the second game started, I roamed around the Coliseum as I’m wont to do from time to time. Seagulls hovered over the seats, confused about the crowd that was not abandoning the birds’ rightful dinner (their Pavlovian cue is the seventh inning stretch). After taking in the sun for several innings in Section 205, I walked around to the other side of the Coli and met up again with the ANers in 229.
All the while, I was keeping tabs on something statistical. I have a passing interest in the Bay Area’s microclimates, hence my nom de plume (partly). Since we were guaranteed at least six hours of baseball from first pitch to last, I figured I’d jot down the temperatures in both Oakland and San Jose during the game. These are according to AccuWeather, which has in its data a statistic called Real Feel. Real Feel is a trademarked, not publicly codified measure containing a composite of ambient temperature, humidity, sunlight, wind, and other factors combined to approximate the actual feeling on skin. For the period when the sun broke through, there were times when the sun brought the temperature inside the stadium well above 70. When the low clouds reformed, temperatures felt as though they dropped considerably. Saturday was unseasonably cool, so to compare the two cities properly I’ll run this again next month, when the region hits its seasonal highs.
Dew point - which is closely tied to humidity - in the region is usually between 50 and 58 degrees Fahrenheit, which is one reason why the Bay Area is so comfortable year round.
In future comparisons, I’ll probably use data from both AccuWeather and Weather Underground for greater granularity and accuracy. Let me know what you’d like to see in this. What I’m most curious about is the effect of humidity on a baseball’s flight. We on the West Coast have a good idea of what the marine layer can do to a fly ball, especially at night, but there hasn’t been much written or said about why. I think it’s really important to understand this, so that we can know what the right-sized ballpark is in Oakland, San Jose, etc. As much as I love 1-0 pitching matchups, I also don’t want our developing hitters in the farm system to feel that they’re condemned to a life of singles and doubles if they don an A’s uniform. There’s a lot more coming on weather and climate throughout the second half of the season.
newballpark.org 
It was a great Sat. at the ballpark. The double header is a great tradition that really should be brought back to prominence by MLB. The crowds were energized and boisterous, it was like a shadow formed in the late 80’s was placed over today. Awesome day. As for the weather, it was a bit chilly, but as someone who deals with Concord heat, I’ll take it. Oakland sports some of the best weather in the bay, in my opinion. It’s never freezing and never too dry, hot, miserable. It also makes for growing fantastic gardens, which in turn is a great place to listen to ball games.
I have to point out, some of the energy and excitement in the ballpark Saturday was due to the tarps. With them, it felt like an event and near-sellout (which it was). Without them, those 27,000 would have been scattered through a cavernous stadium, dissipating the energy.
@bartleby–some people like it up there, with few others around them. Time to light up another doobie!
@bartleby – it was a positive day at the ballpark. Why throw water on that?
@jk – old school. I remember going to Warrior’s games as a child and the upper part of the arena bowl (pun intended) was almost too cloudy to see the court below!
Debated back and forth whether to go to today’s game. I went. Was that the right call or what? 8-0 in the first. I left wishing like the A’s could stay in Oakland but of course there’s no way for that to happen unless some very rich Knight in Shining Armor or MLB decides to fork over a lot of cash for a new ballpark. Neither scenario is likely
re: tarps. Same deal as yesterday. 26,000+, looking like a good crowd. Uncover those 10,000 extra empty seats and it doesn’t look like such a good crowd.
“I have to point out, some of the energy and excitement in the ballpark Saturday was due to the tarps. With them, it felt like an event and near-sellout (which it was). Without them, those 27,000 would have been scattered through a cavernous stadium, dissipating the energy.”
Dude, seriously…
I think one thing the tarps prove… No matter where the next joint is, 36k is the right number. Maybe Fenway proved it first, but whatever.
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Second, I was supposed to be at the game yesterday, but my kids were all sick on Friday night. We went today instead. I think my oldest daughter wants to marry Connor Jackson.
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How sweet were those uniforms today? I love the old block letter “Oakland.” I wish they would bring those back as an alternate, except have them say “Oaktown.” Hot cakes. As int hey would sell like them.
Saw the game today, but missed the DH yesterday due to work. Great time, incredible 1st inning.The 80’s theme was pretty cool. Taylor Dayne looks good for 49–my age too! I loved the old commercials they showed form the Billy Ball era. Great memories of that time. I think the 2nd half for the A’s will be much better than the 1st, possible getting to .500, but Texas is on fire and will be nearly impossible to catch IMO.
…looks like MC Hammer was not such a big bobblehead draw. It used to be I had to get to the Coliseum by 8:30 am and take my place on line. Today, I got there at about 12:15 and there were plenty of MC Hammer bobbleheads still available (of course, I did have someone make an offer to buy mine by the 8th inning.) If MC Hammer bobblehead days mean 8-run innings, lets have a few hundred more of them. (So why was MC Hammer, a star in 1990-91, the main attraction in a 1980s-themed event?)
re: Taylor Dayne. Completely agree. She has to be pushing 50 but didn’t look like it. Still sounded like she did on the record, too.
It was an awesome day at O.Co. Taylor Dayne did look great! She should sing all of our National Anthems!
@pjk, Even Rickey didn’t run out until about 12:15. We got there for that one at about 9:30 remembering the old days and were about 20th on line. Bobbleheads aren’t the big draw anymore.
My wife and kids went to today’s game…they ran out of bobbleheads and didn’t get any. My daughter and other relatives went to the double header and had a great time. I think the A’s are on to something and should schedule a double header every year.
As for the general low scoring games in Oakland, my wife and I had a discussion about the park. With the number of fly balls that come just short of being homers, what is the possibility at O.co that the outfield wall could be brought in? It certainly isn’t unprecedented for a ballpark to alter their outfield distance. We think that bringing the wall in a few feet could certainly increase the score count and add a little excitement to the game. Crowds do love those homers.
Well it’s ok. I didn’t want a sandwich anyways…just kidding, but man, Aramark is such a joke at the Coliseum. And it is not so much about quality of food but the management of it. The Prime Rib Dip sandwiches in the Westside Club are great, the Cheesesteaks behind 117 are very good, The Chicken Nachos are good, the chicken nugget/fry meal is good and good value…so my point is that there is some decent food at the game but the lines are often painfully long with employees working incredibly slow, even when there are not many people in attendance. The run out of stuff way too often, last year they ran out of Hot Dogs on a $1 dog night, then they ran out of hot dogs on a family pack friday night, they are frequently running out of SAAGS behind 117, they ran out of bread in the sandwich stand before the game even started yesterday (They did get more bread later apparently, but they should not be out before the first pitch is thrown), they run out of the meatball sandwiches at the Round Table stand a lot.
I go to every home game, so I have a good idea of what goes on there and Aramark is such a HUGE part of the problem and the game day experience. I don’t want to miss one or two innings of baseball just because I want to get something to eat , I’m sure that to the casual fan it makes them want to never come back.
I went to Philadelphia a couple of weeks ago when the A’s were there. Guess what, Aramark is also the food provider at Citizens Bank Ballpark. The lines there move very efficiently, the employees are all wearing NICE uniforms, the stands are brightly lit and the operation just seems to run much better. The lines were long but moved fast, there were over 45,000 fans at all 3 games when I was there. How is it that they can be so unorganized and unprofessional in our venue, where, if we are lucky, we draw half the crowd that they do in Philly, and seemingly not able to handle our small crowds. I don’t get it!
Hey Marine Layer!! It’s me, EN. Just wanted to apologize for the polemic, sorry if I got carried away. Oh yeah! And I’m Josh Chase, not Josh Fields…. although I like the name, maybe I should change my name to Josh “Elysian” Fields or something. Anyway let’s talk this week, I have an idea.
@en – My bad! Name corrected.
Yeah, I wish it was a sell out for the DH and MC BHD day, but it’s been a rough year baseball wise and all this other crap going on. I’m surprised were actually up a little from last year and averaging 19k.
To Marine Layer:
how about posting two articles from Sunday’s newspapers:
1) Dave Newhouse interview with Rebecca Kaplan re: Oakland sports teams including the A’s. I know you’re not a fan of Newhouse but I think the article is relevant to this website.
2) Chronicle story re: Carmen Policy.
Both discuss the future of Oakland sports albeit Policy discussing only the Raiders. He suggests that the Raiders should play/market the team anywhere but Oakland. (The Chronicle article may not be up until later today or Tuesday).
Thanks.
A’s observer.
You can blame aramark all you want, But the problem is up top.
You can blame Aramark(HQ in Phili) all you wan’t, but the problem still remains that it’s a lot easier to plan for 45,000 every night, than it is to have 10,000 one night(6,500 actual) and then go to 25,000 the next day. You can plan based on ticket sales, but who the hell knows anymore. We just got swept into 2012, and we have one of our best attendance weekends!?! The A’s should give out happy meal toys with every ticket, and attendance would probably triple. You can cook dinner for your family of 4, but if your kids show up with 12 extra friends, everyone can not expect to eat enough, or in a timely manner. When you go to the store, you don’t shop for a family of 30 just in case. Despite all the conspiracy theories, this is why they closed the upper deck.
Comparing the Coli to a brand new park in Phili is not realistic. I can’t believe that place runs more efficiantly. Really!?! They’re team is a little better too. Must be the hot dogs. Hey, maybe you’ve noticed, but cars are getting a little better mileage than 40 years ago. Let me guess, they have nicer suites in Phili too. What, the players clubhouse can’t get some of this?
The problem with the wait at the concessions is a UNION problem. When you have such a low attendance, and you can only schedule the highest 10% of tenured employees, you’re left with the poeple who have worked there for over 40 years. You get the picture. In other areas of industy, Union members who are more “expirienced” may eaqual faster and more productive, but that’s not the case when it comes to pouring beer, and handing out hot dogs. I could stand the wait, if I could get a little carbonation in my soda. How abou some high def monitors, oh yeah, then you need a signal.
If it makes you feel better, it’s a different company at ATT, with the same crappy food, and most of the same employees work there too, and higher prices, of couse.
@A’s observer I would be curious to read the Chron article. Carmen Policy is a sleazeball and has an axe to grind with the Raiders, I wonder what jerkoff spin job he’s selling.
On the Dave Newhouse article with Rebecca Kaplan:
Kaplan brings dynamism as well as smarts to the table. Maybe she can persuade Wolff, the A’s lead dog publicly, that Oakland is his best, and only, choice.
“I get along well with Wolff,” she said. “We’ve been out for beers together.”
http://www.insidebayarea.com/dave-newhouse/ci_18492979
Curious what ML’s or Jeffrey’s take on the Newhouse article? Thoughts?
@daveybaby–ML’s most recent post covers the Newhouse article and his thoughts. He said he admores Kaplan’s gusto, but the Coli plan for the A’s is not what MLB wants, and RDA’s demise makes it just as hard there to build as the downtown sites.
@ David “it was a positive day at the ballpark. Why throw water on that?”
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It was a positive day at the ballpark. I was just pointing out one factor which helped make it so. How is that throwing water on anything?
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@jk “some people like it up there, with few others around them. Time to light up another doobie!”
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I understand that perspective; however “stoners buying $8 tickets” are not the target demographic. Anyway, it’s not hard to find a private corner of the Coli even with the tarps on.
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@eb
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Yes, seriously.
Newhouse not too long ago referred to San Jose as “Prune City,” reducing his credibility so something on the order of absolute zero. He wants a new ballpark in Oakland, only, and is not interested in the massive economic barriers to such a project.