Chillin’ with the A’s bullpen
We’re back from our annual Phoenix trip! More pics to come & more stories to tell about my awesome time with my cousins & the wife, but I wanted to share this story with you before my horrible memory betrays me.
The last day of our weekend trip, we went to an A’s Spring Training game at the Phoenix Municipal Stadium. In my research, I read online that the best place to sit is right behind the A’s bullpen because fans can literally sit about a foot away from the players.
As we walk to our seats & even before we sit down, A’s setup pitcher Jerry Blevins turns around & greets us:
Jerry Blevins: How are you guys doing?
Me (in awe & surprise): We’re…fine.
Jerry: Awesome seats, huh?
We both look around. There is absolutely nobody sitting in our section. The A’s had a split-squad day, & the other half of the team was in Scottsdale playing the Giants. Just like in the Bay Area, the A’s vs. Giants games usually have a huge turnout.
Jerry: You scored some nice seats in the family section.
I guess it was a tongue-in-cheek joke. I appreciated the effort, though. Again, still in shock. Me & Mel sit close in the first row. Cindy was a bit shy, so she moves a few rows higher.
It was an experience like none other. You can actually hear conversations amongst the bullpen pitchers. It’s mostly talk about the players on the field & making clubhouse runs for cold drinks. Anyway, TV broadcasts or regular season games can never emulate this experience.
A few innings pass. I excuse myself to the bathroom. Coming back & walking down the steps of the metal bleachers to my seat, Cindy & my cousin were trying to tell me something, but I can’t hear over the clanging of my footsteps. Maybe a foul ball was hit & landed in our section. I even brought my baseball glove just for that reason. Bummer.
“You missed it,” they say as I take my seat. Apparently, the bullpen guys saw Mel playing around on her Blackberry, so they asked her if she had any games on it. She said she didn’t, but she gave them my iPhone which she was using while I was using the can. They tried to find games on it, but only opened an app called Speed Download, an app that measures broadband speeds on a network. They couldn’t figure out how to play that game.
Geez…I missed a lot in the two minutes I was away. I get my iPhone, lean into the bullpen & said, “I have Street Fighter IV, if you still wanna play.” Grant Balfour, another A’s bullpen pitcher from Australia, takes the phone from me.
Grant: Aww man! I haven’t played that [game] in such a long time!
He tries to play, but hands the phone back to me. With his Australian accent:
Grant: I’ll play with your phone later. You can ask me again during Game 7 of the World Series.
Me: Sure! I’ll make sure to buy tickets behind the bullpen for that game.
Grant: You know what? I’ll get you those tickets for that game if it means I can play Street Fighter again.
Me: Thanks! I’ll give you my business card so you can get my info.
Of course, no business cards were exchanged, but he came off as a super cool guy. In between innings, the bullpen guys would sometimes get up & play catch with the outfielders. After the catch session, they usually toss those balls into the crowd for a fan. I gesture with my glove toward Grant & asked him for a ball.
Grant: Sorry, man. I can’t give you this ball. It would break the streak & Dallas would get mad at me.
Dallas Braden, Mr. Perfect Game, was the starting pitcher & was throwing a few scoreless innings. Baseball players tend to be superstitious, & I guess they believe that balls shouldn’t leave the field during a scoreless streak, or something to that effect. Totally understandable.
Anyway, as I was looking around the park, my back was to the field & the bullpen. I keep hearing, “Hey, Rudy!” from the field. I turn around, & Grant tosses me another ball he found. I was wearing my bright yellow Joe Rudi throwback jersey that day.
Here’s Mel modeling next to my new souvenir:
Such a grand ol’ time! More weekend stories coming soon!
