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Last Call for the Coliseum

by James Finn Garner

As the sun sinks low over East Bay,
We savor the memories of when they’d play,

That team from Oakland in yellow and green
And some of the greatest we’ve ever seen.

Leading off, of course, the immortal Rickey,
Powerful, swift, determined, tricky,

Then lanky, mustachioed Rollie, and who
Can forget Catfish and Vida Blue?

Campy Campaneris and Sal Bando
Thrilled the nascent East Bay fandom

The Swingin’ A’s and Charley O
Kept things jumping, three rings in a row.

Dave Stewart, imposing on the mound,
And Reggie Jackson! Too big for this town

Dennis Eckersley, Jason Giambi,
Dwayne Murphy, Joe Rudi, Rick Monday

A franchise always hurting for cash
Still grew Bob Welch and the Brothers of Bash

And a World Series paused by an earthquake?
These are the things that diehards make.

Rowdy! Joyous! Full-bore! . . . Buzzed?
They didn’t always win, but then who does?

For a snapshot of what it means to be an Oakland A’s fan, check out this article from the SF Chronicle, which is also posting an oral history with players from different eras of the team.

 

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Nap Lajoie

by Michael Ceraolo

I once was quoted as saying
no one gives you anything in baseball,
but that isn’t correct
Morgan Murphy gave me and other Phillies many hits
when he stole signs from the stands
and relayed them to a coacher through a buzzer system,
and the coacher then relayed them to us
And the St. Louis Browns gave me half-a-dozen bunt hits
during a doubleheader to end the 1901 season,
enabling me to win the batting title and a car
I took those gifts without apology,
though I often wished that the Browns
would have given us the ’08 pennant instead

 

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White Sox Strategic Planning

by GM Chris Getz

If you would have told me
we were going to end up
flirting with the record,

I would have been
a little surprised.

Now if you would have told me
prior to the year
that we would have ended up
with over 100 losses,

105,

110,

I wouldn’t have been
as surprised.

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Richard “Dickie” Kerr

by Michael Ceraolo

Because of my small size,
it took several years of minor-league excellence
for me to finally make the majors,
but when I did I had success,
including those two World Series wins
you’ve read about or seen on-screen
(though I was actually left-handed, not right-)
Having leverage with the Black Sox suspended,
I held out before the 1921 season,
and Comiskey and Grabiner had little choice
but to pay me the higher salary,
though they grumbled about being taken advantage of
When before the next season I asked for a multi-year contract,
Grabiner refused to even negotiate with me
(you always dealt with Grabiner,
never sure if he was following Comiskey’s orders
or taking the hardline on his own),
so I played for a Chicago semi-pro team
and was banned by Landis for almost four years;
when I was reinstated I didn’t last long
Years later I made a big contribution to baseball:
while managing in the minors
I helped a struggling young pitcher greatly improve,
though I didn’t think he would ever reach major-league caliber
I thought his hitting was major-league caliber,
so I played him in the outfield between starts
When he hurt his shoulder diving for a fly ball,
that effectively ended his career as a pitcher,
but Stan Musial proved my judgment about his hitting correct