That’s right. The A’s announced today that Terry Kiser, the veteran actor who played the titular dead boss Bernie Lomax in the Weekend at Bernie’s movies, will throw out the first pitch at Saturday’s game as part of “Bernie Weekend“. The versatile Kiser’s film and TV career goes back to the late 60’s, with guest spots on Golden Girls and The Fall Guy among his many credits. Personally, my favorite work of his was his repertory role in Carol Burnett’s short-lived, long-form sketch comedy show, Carol & Company. The rep cast also included Richard Kind (Spin City), Peter Krause (Sports Night, Six Feet Under), and Jeremy Piven (Entourage). Anyway…
If you’ve been under a rock, you may have missed the team’s homage to the Bernie character. The craze was inspired by the song Moving Like Berney by rapper ISA and started on the team by Coco Crisp, Jerry Blevins, and Brandon Inge. Several players can be seen doing the Bernie dance in the dugout after a home run or while celebrating a walkoff win. What is the Bernie, you ask? It originates from the sequel, Weekend at Bernie’s II, and a momentous scene where a reanimated (yes, reanimated) Lomax leads a conga line.
Frankly, I don’t know why the A’s are even doing this. I thought ownership was a bunch of soulless bean counters who only own the team to leverage real estate. Reveling in the team’s winning? Selling tickets to boost attendance? Sharing some fun with fans? Inconceivable. It’s almost as if Lew Wolff enjoys owning a baseball team. Nah, that wouldn’t fit the evil owner narrative. Silly me. /s
Side note – The A’s are pretty good at cashing in these movie tie-in’s.
newballpark.org 
This is the third best thing Wolff has done this year behind getting Carter to move closer to the plate for better plate coverage and teaching Cespedes to play left field. Is there anything Wolff cant do? Oh yeah, build a new stadium for the A’s.
Wonder how many people on this board are not old enough to remember the “Weekend at Bernie’s” movies.
Kudos to the A’s sales and marketing staff. They have really upped their game and learned how to interact with the fanbase (70’s celebration, 20 game win streak reunion, Bernie, etc). Such a dramatic change from a few seasons ago.
Let’s see: The East Bay and Frisco columnists tell us Wolff: won’t promote the team, alienates the fans and wants the team to lose. Looks like they’re dead-wrong on all three counts.
What, no bobble head giveaway?!? Damned cheapskate owners…
The highlight of the last 4 seasons was rocking out to Taylor Dane.
You laugh about Taylor Dayne but my here daughters left that game newly obsessed with Taylor Dayne. 80’s Day was also a fantastic promotion. AND it DID include a bobblehead!
Here=three… iPhone autocorrect is my nemesis
@ Kevin: That’s probably been the highlight of the past 4 years for Taylor Dane too.
I was at that Taylor Dayne game – the 80s’ Day that featured a bobblehead of MC Hammer – who was a big star in 1990 (not in the 1980s). The A’s had something like 8 runs in the first inning, though.
Speaking of Taylor Dayne, check out “This American Life” episode called “Invisible Made Visible.” There is a great story about Taylor Dayne in there, hilarious.
A nice touch, but there’s still ways to go. The very fact that this ownership is viewed by some as being cheap and evil is a product of failed marketing.
Or successful propaganda
By whom? Besides, propaganda or marketing, they’re pretty interchangeable. Either way, the A’s don’t have the upper hand, which is disappointing as a fan.
Bernie throwing out the first pitch! All is forgiven! I love Lew Wolff!
Screw the tarps! We got bernie!
Propaganda by people like Monte Poole, Lowell Cohn, Dave Newhouse, Ray Ratto, Greg Papa… etc. The A’s owners do what every other MLB teams owners do, they spend about 50% of their revenue on payroll. Forbes numbers, even if they are not directly provided by the teams, show this pretty clearly. It’s the single funniest thing to read in NYC and other East Coast papers… “X team just doesn’t spend money like the Yankees.” The Yankees spend half of what they earn on payroll, just like everyone else.
Not being facetious, seriously asking… What do you guys think the attendance er game would be without the tarps?
Attendance would be the same, but revenue would be down. People would buy the cheap tickets and move down, and the team would still have to staff the area.
I say up.
by how much, d jr. Thtas the question.
We would have drawn over 2 million in 2006. Easy. The other years I dunno, but i’m still going higher for the main reason that un-obstructed UR seats are much better than obstructed view plaza reserved seats and would have sold better on higher demand games.
Propaganda implies a cohesive and deliberate effort by these media members to present a cause at the expense of Lew. Who are they doing this work for? I find it hard to believe that a significant amount (if not the majority) of the bay area sports media are secretly Giant shills or they have been influenced by those cagey Oakland politicians. A bias, maybe. Owners who preside over franchises that lose regularly, trade popular players, grumble about moving, don’t provide a positive front, usually get criticized. Look at Dr. York as an example. Or Al (who at least had history to fall back on), or Cohan. It also doesn’t help that a segment of the team’s own fan base is dissatisfied with ownership, that just adds fuel to the media fire. It seems highly unlikely that their’s an anti-South Bay/Wolff conspiracy. I would even wager that if the team keeps winning and a stadium situation pans out, the media would complete an about face. See Jed York.
Who are they doing it on behalf of? Have you read the articles?
I have read the articles. You are honestly suggesting the majority of the sports media are secretly writing muck pieces about Wolff for some sort of benefactor? Why is that more plausible than they simply haven’t liked how Wolff has handled his ownership, however misguided their thoughts may be?