Kim and I went to Oakland last night to see the A’s take on the one and only Tiggers. If MFYankee Stadium is nicknamed “The Toilet” then McAfee/Oakland Coliseum should be “The Outhouse.” I’ve never seen the place so excited. It was like going to a game at Fenway when they’re playing the Devil Rays and the season is already sewn up.

Our seats were out in the bleachers, a little to the left of the guy with the giant drum set. I’ve been to The Outhouse a couple of times, and these are the first seats I’ve had with cushions. I assume they’re the nice ones for football which is pretty sad.

Oakland fans are like Pavlovian dogs, they only cheer when they’re told to. It could be bases loaded with a 3-2 count, the place is silent. But if they flash “NOISE!!!” on the message-board with nobody on and a 1-0 count, the place goes apeshit. This reinforces one of my theories in life…people are stupid.

Good game, great ending. The A’s had the lead twice, 1-0 after the first and 3-1 after the third but couldn’t hold on either time. The Tiggers took the lead for good in the top of the fourth on by “hitting them where they aint” (and one where they are, but Chavez couldn’t hold on).

The real excitement for me both was a result of Tigger pitching. First you’ve got Justin Verlander, who had major control issues. But when you hit 103 MPH (yes, that’s one hundred and three miles per hour) on the gun, it’s pretty incredible. I could hear the glove pop a few times from over 400 feet away. (Quick side note: On July 4th, Kim and I also went to see the Tiggers play the A’s in Oakland. Both Verlander and Zumaya pitched that day, Verlander getting up to 100 and Zumaya 103. We didn’t know much about either pitcher, so we just thought the gun was acting wacky, especially since Zumaya also threw a few pitches at 91 MPH. Turns out, the gun was right. The 91 MPH pitch is just Zumaya’s changeup. Sick.)

The other excitement was courtesy of Todd “I have no right to be closing with Zumaya and Rodney both on this staff” Jones. He strikes out the #8 and 9 batters in the bottom of the ninth and the proceeds to give up three straight singles to load the bases for Frank Thomas. I was rooting for the Tiggers, but part of me thought “how cool would it be for the Big Hurt to go deep and win this on a walkoff grand slam?” He instead popped up to center, but it certainly made things interesting. I also realized that had he hit a home run, we might have been in the middle of a riot, so it’s really a good thing he popped that sucker up.

Go Tiggers!