Over the last 25 years, I've attended hundreds of +Oakland Athletics games. From 2005 to 2008, +Kristine Gray and I had season tickets that saw us attending as many as 40 games a season. We've seen dramatic home runs, 20-2 blowouts and plenty of controversial calls and tough losses. But before this month, there's one thing I'd never done - stepped onto the field and thrown out the ceremonial first pitch to get the game started. On August 1st, I did, and I'm happy to report it was a quality throw, which will prevent me from being immortalized on YouTube or Sportscenter for all time.

Some of you may have seen my Google+ post on how I got this "Bucket List" opportunity. But if you didn't, I got a surprise phone call at work in late July from +Sunrun CEO Lynn Jurich, who thanked me for my being a good Sunrun customer, and then extended the option to throw out the first pitch at the game on August 1st, where the company was sponsoring that night's fireworks display. After some schedule flexing, I agreed.

In preparing for throwing out the first pitch, one must understand you essentially have one minute of fame, tops, and you only get one pitch, so it had better be a good one. There's no "best two out of three" or do overs. You walk to the mound, throw, and then leave. Not being a regular pitcher from just about 60 feet, I guesstimated the distance in our backyard, and in the week prior, practiced throwing the full length of our backyard, enlisting my kids to act as retrievers, picking up the ball after my pitches, and throwing it back. When the day came to actually do the same in front of what was eventually a sellout crowd of more than 30,000 in Oakland, I was confident I wouldn't make a dramatic mistake.

The game was at 6:35 p.m. that Friday, and I was asked by the A's to be in my seat by 6. At that time, an A's representative would pick me up and escort me to the field. I was given a lanyard that granted me access to the field, and I was awaiting my role by 6:10, standing just off the A's on deck circle. I was given a brand new +MLB ball, and was told that A's relief pitcher Fernando Abad would be playing the role of receiver. As I assumed, and was told, any player in the starting lineup is not going to step in for the ceremony, so it always falls to whomever has nothing to do.

I remarked my biggest concern, beyond making a fool of myself, was possibly injuring the player with an errant toss. My guide said the players were instructed to make the guest pitchers "look good" but not to get hurt. Simple enough. I was also told to throw as if I were playing catch in the backyard, and not to fire it in, as many people end up spiking the grass, not prepared for the ball's descent.

It turns out there were to be two ceremonial first pitches that evening, and I was to go second. As our time came, the first pitcher approached the mound and made his throw, while I stood just off the third base foul line. Then it was my time to stroll up. As I did, despite not being nervous up to that point, I started to be very aware I had a chance to make a mistake. The ball started to feel lighter in my hand, and I didn't want to overgrip or undergrip it, which would send it sailing way beyond my target.


Over the loudspeakers, A's public address announcer Dick Callahan introduced me, as representing Sunrun, his familiar voice drawing out the vowels in my name: "Loooouiiissss Graaayyy..." Then he guided along, "Go ahead, Louis." (Catch the video from +Drew Olanoff on Instagram)

I got the nod from the A's guide on the third base line, and fired a strong throw with good velocity. Instead of it being in slow motion, as you might expect, I simply saw the ball hit his mitt, like I'd seen so many thousands of strikes do before. He barely moved. The throw in reality was much better than I'd even had in my head. Over the speakers, Callahan commented, "Nice pitch." Then I got off the mound, and strode quickly toward the third base line, knowing my moment was up.


Abad, as is customary, came by to sign the ball. There were photos, which I'm told I'll get in a couple weeks. We stayed on the field for the national anthem, and at the song's conclusion, walked past the A's dugout as the players readied for the game, re-entered the stands, and the ceremony was over.


When I got back to my seat, I was just me again. Just a fan, sitting with my wife and parents, watching the A's play a game. And despite my nice pitch, they lost 1-0 to the surging +Kansas City Royals. It was a fantastic event, even though they lost, but like any good fan, I'd have traded it for a win. Thanks a ton to Lynn, +Christa Keizer and the Sunrun team for inviting me for an unforgettable experience.

I became a full-on baseball fanatic around the age of 10 or 11. While I remember watching the 1986 and 1987 World Series with my dad, seeing the chants of "Darryl, Darryl" in the first and the 7 home wins in the latter, 1988 was when I got completely immersed in the national pastime. Being a Northern California resident, the daily paper was full of exploits featuring the Bash Brothers, Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, as the team won 104 games, losing only 58, for a .642 winning percentage. Canseco was the first to hit 40+ home runs and steal 40 bases. Dave Stewart won 21 games and Eckersley had 45 saves. The team was incredible.

After scouring all the boxscores, listening to radio broadcasts and catching the rare televised game, my dad finally took me to a major league game in Oakland. Sure enough, the A's won. Not only that, but Canseco homered, and Eckersley got the save. This same formula repeated three times that year, to the point, for me, only 11, I swore this was the way it always was.

Needless to say, I was hooked. Not just to baseball, but the A's, who I followed to their demise in the 1988 World Series against the LA Dodgers. The next Spring, I got the yearly baseball prediction magazines, and memorized all the stats. They're practically hard-coded now, with Canseco's .307 average, .569 slugging, 120 runs scored, 124 driven in, 24 doubles, 40 stolen bases (against 16 caught stealing) being the most obvious.

Now in the South Bay, and with the A's not exactly being amazing of late, I sometimes get asked why I am an A's fan (and not say... a Giants fan). For me, it comes back to 1988, and the beginning of the A's dynasty that saw them win 4 division titles through 1992, and 3 league championships, crowned by the earthquake-marred 1989 Bay Bridge Series against the Giants.

My wife and I had season tickets for the A's for 3 years until the twins were born in 2008, and we still watch as much as we can. But no matter what happens with this team, who Bud Selig seems to have little interest for, I'm an A's fan and baseball nut for life.

BTW - they are winning 8-0 right now.


/via My Google+ Profile.

I was elated to read overnight that many former Engadget staffers had joined forces to continue their craft in a new home - teaming up with SB Nation, currently home to more than 300 sports blogs spanning professional and amateur teams around the world. The excitement came not because we need yet another technology blog network (as there are a few already), but because of their choice - partnering with a forward-looking company that has harnessed the fervor of sports fandom, giving people a voice, becoming the truest example of people-powered blogging in the world, driving addicting communities and real-world interaction around shared interests. If the same process is followed, but applied to the world of gadgetry, the results could be tremendous.

For those who don't know the history, the first blog to pioneer SB Nation was Athletics Nation, a baseball-centric blog covering the Oakland Athletics. The blog came about as Tyler Bleszinski, longtime A's fan and sufferer (as am I) couldn't find a place online to vent about the team in good times and bad. With powerhouse ESPN suffering from East Coast bias, and local papers having no way to interact with fellow fans, he was pushed by Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas to start a blog - which later spread to a family of similar blogs, beginning with baseball, and later branching out to all manner of sports, from mixed martial arts to cycling, figure skating and golf. If there's a sport that has fans who want to talk about it, SB Nation has been there.

Belatedly (for me anyway), I found Athletics Nation in early 2005, and my first thought was, "where have you been all my life?". The site promised real-time gameday threads to chronicle the day's contest, opinion posts from front page writers and regular contributors alike. Later, "Blez", as was his online moniker, gained access to exclusive interviews with A's general manager Billy Beane, owner Lew Wolff, and other players. Athletics Nation (or AN) was on the map, and started to be noted for its influence among die-hard fans. Bay Area sports journalists including Susan Slusser and Mychal Urban also made appearances, talking with ANers directly.

In July of 2005, fooling around with the Mac comics application Comic Life, I made a comic featuring then-A's player, Eric Byrnes, who would be amazing one play, boneheaded the next. (See comic) This silliness led to another comic and another, to the tune of three in five days, before the A's short-circuited my plans by trading Byrnes to the Rockies. With this void, Blez asked me to make an A's comic a regular feature, and the ANtics were born - posted each Sunday through the season and occasionally in the off-season. I kept this up for a few years, before tech and kids took over the rest of my life.

Meanwhile, due to the ANtics, I gained front-page publishing access to Athletics Nation, and was eventually put in the mix for gameday threads and other weekly posts, along with other unpaid writers who filled out the week. Opinion posts (like this one from 2008) could get 10 comments from the community or hundreds. Game threads always got hundreds, for the community would writhe in pain for every popout and celebrate every run together, regardless of geography.

Where SB Nation differs from all the other major tech sites is that fans have a voice - beyond the comment streams which often become full of vitriol. SB Nation blogs feature fan posts on any related topic, and the community generally does a good job voting up the great posts and highlighting the poorly thought out ones. SB Nation prides itself on linking to third party content and not regurgitating other's articles, even if the blog's main focus is not on break news and reporting, but instead being part of the experience.

SB Nation blogs typically have a pair or more moderators who can manage user accounts, delete comments, promote fan posts to the front page, or send users email to say they are on probation. Users can recommend great comments and posts or flag them for review by a moderator. And over time, since every participant requires a user name and one's history is attached to the user name, you see a real community develop, with people who have history and a shared experience. Blez and the Athletics Nation team celebrated the community through yearly "AN Days" at the Coliseum to take in games, and helped collect money from the community for appropriate charitable causes. AN even featured an online store for shirts and other gear that bear the site's name.

Since the site's start with a single blog, run by a diehard Eric Chavez fan, the burgeoning network now features regional hubs for local teams, a dedicated baseball hub (which I highlighted Friday) and a pattern of success which requires commitment to hard work, fun and community interaction. If the track record of SB Nation is to be repeated in the world of technology, you can expect writers that are accessible, fans who have a voice, excitement about gadgets and software, and a standard look and feel that has you knowing you've reached an SB Nation site upon first visit.

If you're a longtime louisgray.com reader, this shouldn't surprise you. In 2006 I highlighted the growing network. In 2007, I highlighted the home page revamp. In October of 2008, I highlighted their mobile site work and subsequent funding round. I have been a longtime believer in the model of fan-centric publishing and it's clear that it has worked. If the SB Nation Tech team is half as successful as the sports side has been, there's no question the network will be a must-read, go-to, community.

In our home (and blog) we don't celebrate April Fool's Day. But we do celebrate the opening of the baseball season. While for some teams, the season actually started yesterday, true opening day for major league baseball hasn't begun until today - as that's when the A's take the field. Kicking off the baseball season this year, there are some great advances in the world of baseball that every baseball fan should know to start the 2011 season off right, including a new site in the amazing Sports Blogs Nation franchise, a new baseball game for iOS and Android, and the extension of one month's MLB.TV to all MLB At Bat purchasers on all platforms.

In the tradition of baseball's 1-2-3 strikes, here are the three big stories.

1) Baseball Nation from Sports Blogs Nation

Sports Blogs Nation has been the true fans' sports network for almost 8 years, starting with my favorite, Athletics Nation, and first slowly, then rapidly, taking over the world with dedicated blogs for all major sports teams, most colleges and many specific sports globally. The fast-growing network is practically going pro this year, with the higher of former ESPNer Rob Neyer, one of the most respected baseball authors and stat geeks you'll ever see. He is now running a brand new baseball entry page to SB Nation, which pops up the league's top news, runs near-live scores, columns, and deep integration into the dedicated team sites. Every baseball fan has to check this out: http://mlb.sbnation.com/

Sports Blogs Nation's success has me somewhat wistful I didn't double down on my early work with Athletics Nation in 2005 and Sactown Royalty from 2006 on, but I traded in my athletic gear for a slide rule and glasses with tape in going geek. Tyler Bleszinski, Jim Bankoff and team have done an amazing job with the franchise.


2) Free MLB.TV for the month of April from MLB

I've purchased MLB At Bat 11 on both my Android and iOS products. It's the best way to follow games around the country. MLB.com sent me a note today that customers will get access to streaming live video from any game through the month of April. They're hoping they'll get you hooked and you just might.

3) 9 Innings Pro Baseball Hits Android for Free

Com2uS has long made the best baseball games for mobile devices. In early 2010, I told you how 9 innings on iOS kept me from missing real baseball too much after a long and cold off-season. The company's Home Run Battle 3D game is amazing on both iOS and Android, looking fantastic on my Samsung Galaxy Tab, wasting countless hours for me swinging at off-speed pitches. The new 9 Innings Pro baseball game for android comes to Android for the first time, and is free, using the newly released in-app building to help you follow your favorite teams during the baseball season. The game is made in association with the Major League Baseball Player's Association. It also works on iOS.

So there you go. In a few hours, my favorite team takes the field. But before that, I am going to read Baseball Nation to see what's new, maybe catch an out of region game on MLB TV and play a little 9 innings. It's in the name of the real holiday - Opening Day.

Behind only technology, sports, specifically baseball, is my true obsession. I've dedicated a good amount of my idle time and brain power over the last 20 years absorbing statistics and remembering the sport's lore, and for several years, before we had our twins, my wife and I had season tickets to the Oakland A's. In the months when baseball isn't played, it can get very frustrating to not have the regularity of the sport, the speculation on players and trades, and the daily contests. This offseason, I cheated a bit, thanks to Com2Us' game 9 Innings, on the iPhone. Though the game doesn't deliver highest-quality graphics or have the official blessing of Major League Baseball and the Players Association, it features practically every wrinkle of the game and is challenging enough to play again and again.


Like its sister game, Home Run Battle 3D, 9 Innings puts the bat in your hands and expects you to deliver results. But it's not just about hitting balls out of the yard in this game. Whether you choose an exhibition contest or start off a full 126-game season, you are expected to pitch, bat, steal bases, take a walk, and all those things that make the game of baseball a real pleasure.


Any sports games nut knows there are fine lines in the degree of difficulty for a game. You can make it too easy, practically guaranteeing a win every time out and rapidly becoming boring. Or, conversely, you can wrap a game in difficulty and odd combinations that eliminate the fun, as you rack up your losses. Whether on "Easy" mode or "Hard" mode, I have managed to be just good enough to feel competitive, and still growl in frustration as I popped up with the bases loaded, or saw my closer give up a 9th inning bomb to lose the game. And for every game I won by a margin of 5 or more, I have seen the 3-2 losses as well, that slipped away thanks to a misplaced pitch or mistimed swing.


Gameplay on the iPhone is relatively simple and intuitive. Instead of using a gamepad, like the Wii or Playstation, for example, 9 innings leverages a baseball diamond diagram for the up, down, left or right. You can move up or down to select pitches, and toggle left to right to determine pitch location. Hit OK to confirm and again to release the pitch. The better your timing, the better the location and chance for success. Similarly, when batting, you want to swing at pitches that get good wood on the ball and can pass by fielders.


Just like in the real game, there are good hitters and bad, fast and slow, those prone to strike out or ground into double plays. Some pitchers have more stamina than others, and a sometimes annoying manager will urge you to put in a relief pitcher or tell you it's okay to give up one or two runs if you've gotten the bases loaded and nobody out. There are errors and stolen bases, wild pitches and hit batsmen. And practically every activity is being recorded for statistics, by player, team and league-wide. Meanwhile, the game is also tracking your team's record and standings, and there is a short postseason.


In addition to the gameplay, you gain points for specific activity. The more difficult the activity, such as a three run homer, instead of a double play or three consecutive strikes, the more points you get. You can exchange these points to improve your coaches' ability, and theoretically, your winning percentage. This can lead to intentional hit batsmen to strand the bases full and garner points, or pulling a double steal with runners on the corners to rack up a theft of home.


Unlike a real baseball game, a 9 innings contest doesn't take 3 hours. It can take about 20 minutes for a full game, and as you can expect, it can take several weeks or a few months to wrap up a full 126 games, with dedicated playing. What it may lack in perfect management of defense, or cutting-edge graphics, it makes up for in sheer entertainment and bringing the most realistic flavor of the national pastime to the iPhone which I've seen. While I haven't turned my back on the real world of baseball in these cold winter months, it hasn't been that dramatic, thanks to having a methadone equivalent for my fix.

9 Innings costs $4.99 from Apple's iTunes Store. You can find it here, and it's worth the five bucks.

My Batter Poses After A Strong Showing
I knew I was in trouble when I looked at the Apple Web site after their latest iPhone OS update and saw a screenshot featuring Com2uS's Homerun Battle 3D application. Combining two of my obsessions (baseball and the iPhone), it wasn't too long before I had opened up the iTunes Store and downloaded the game, for $4.99. What I found was more than just a simple game that let me swing for the fences, but a high quality video game with built-in social functions, letting me challenge people wirelessly from around the world, and the option to send my scores to Facebook and Twitter.


Hitting A Home Run in the Left Field Seats
The concept behind Homerun Battle 3D is a fairly simple one. In the classic version of the game, the pitcher throws the ball, and you tap the iPhone at just the right time to send the ball on a trajectory that may lead out of the ballpark. If it goes over the fence, you get a point. If it doesn't, you get an out - just like in the real home run derby you can see during every All-Star Break.


Checking My Home Run Records

Seeing How I Stack Up Against Other Players
Homerun Battle 3D is a lot more fun than "see ball hit ball". Depending on the pitch's speed and type (from fastballs to sliders and curves), you need to tilt the iPhone up or down to match the bat head to the ball and then swing away as the ball dives into the strike zone - which can be challenging. And it becomes even more involved when you discover additional options, such as an "Arcade" version that features contests in terms of hitting the ball to all fields, getting double the points on a single swing, or taking away an out if you find a ball with angel wings.


Going Down to Defeat After One Battle
The social elements in Homerun Battle 3D are reminiscent of those on some Nintendo Wii games. You can choose to challenge anybody from around the world who wants to do battle. If somebody of your rank is up for it, you and the opponent will both be swinging for the fences at the same time. If you hit more home runs or get more home runs in a row than they do, then you are the winner, and they are the loser. So far, I've only won once, but assume I may get better with practice. If you win, your ranking goes up, and if you lose, yes, it goes down.


I Can Send My Records to Social Networks
Should you be so inclined, you can send your current rankings on Homerun Battle 3D to Facebook or Twitter, and request that your friends add you as a rival, letting you take on your friends, rather than strangers, and yes, spreading the word about what is a very cool game for the sports junkie in each of us.

At Apple's recent event, Steve Jobs and Phil Schiller highlighted the iPod/iPhone platform's growth as a game device. While I still make plenty of calls and browse the Web from my iPhone, I'm also growing an impressive number of games in my application library. If you want to add Homerun Battle 3D to yours, you can find it on the iTunes Store here.

It's well-known that I am a big iPhone fan. It's almost as well-known that I'm also a huge baseball fan, and have been since I was very small. These two factors contributed to my buying the iPhone application from Major League Baseball a no-brainer before the season started. In addition to getting live "gameday" information for any game, box scores and a post-game recap for any contest, the application also features rich media, such as video highlights and audio coverage from both home and away squads - keeping me up to date to any contest, anywhere my iPhone can pick up a few bars from AT&T's 3G network, or over WiFi.


Condensed Game Recaps In Video Are Available Post-Game
At some point in the last two weeks, MLB updated their application, adding a new feature that is extremely valuable if you want to rapidly get a recap of a game you missed - posting video summaries of the contest after every game, lasting only ten minutes or less.

Instead of some suit in a studio interpreting what they think are the best games to display, or the best highlights from each game for you to consume, you can see practically every play, condensed. If there was a hit, it will be there. A run, it's there. Strikeouts. Big plays. All of it.


This Yankees/Rangers Game Can Take Only About 7 Minutes
This is no three-hour time sink, that an archived game on TiVo would be. Today, I literally watched Saturday's Oakland A's game, from start to finish, as my wife drove to church. And with the abbreviated games, I can watch more than just my favorite team. I can see the Yankees play the Red Sox. I can watch the Tampa Bay Rays play their cross-state rivals, the Florida Marlins, or any rivalry, real or imagined. And I don't have to sit through stretches of well... stretching. Or spitting. Or scratching. I don't have to watch foul balls, or coaching visits to the mound. It's a rapid fire approach to the national pastime.


I Can See All the Plays, Big and Small, Quickly
If you are one of the many who already bought the MLB app for the iPhone, you've already got it. Find the condensed versions in the "Video" section of any game. If you don't have it yet, but love baseball, now would be the time.

For the last two baseball seasons, my wife and I had signed up to approximately 40 games a year. We didn't make all of them, but we made a good amount. We spent a lot of Friday evenings and Saturday mornings going up and down I-880 in the East Bay, headed to Oakland. But when news of the twins hit, we knew we had to adjust, taking the total package down to what we thought would be a more manageable 20 games a year. I even planned ahead by leaving a big gap in our ticket schedule around when the kids are expected to show up.

Even this looks like it may have been optimistic. Now that my wife and I have passed the 26-weeks mark, her fatigue level is very real. The idea of going to games on back to back days is unreasonable now - something along the lines of approved marital torture, with every stair step or stand up/sit down routine. So tonight, we're eating the price of our tickets, and staying home.

But to fill the baseball void, we're going online. I've been chairing the Thursday activity on Athletics Nation (See from yesterday's activity: How Do You Help Convert the Casual Fan? and One Can Be The Loneliest Number). Also, during last week's trip to Florida, I invested in MLB.com's video package, letting me watch any major league game in fairly good quality live, so long as the contest is not blacked out.


A scene from tonight's games (and the available schedule)
Last night, part of why I was up so late, blogging at almost 2 a.m., was due a marathon 22-inning game between the Colorado Rockies and the San Diego Padres. Hearing the game had gone to the 18th, I logged on to MLB.TV and saw the game unfold, inning after inning, stretching deep into the night.

The quality of MLB.TV is remarkably better than the jittery, buffering, versions I remember from previous years. I can stream any game on one side of my monitor, and keep working on the other side, without parallel apps slowing down. With family looking like it just might get in the way of some of our in-person sports, MLB.TV is a great alternative. Soon, hopefully, I can start talking about taking our kids to their first ballgames.

Baseball is a sport with firm roots in tradition. Statistical leaders can be compared across decades and generations, as the rules are pretty much the same as they were more than 100 years ago. There are still three strikes to an out, three outs to an inning, and nine innings to a regulation game. But as the game becomes more of a global sport, not just a North American phenomenon, some traditions are fading into memory, like the once-acceptable spitball, and leaving one's fielders' gloves on the grass instead of taking them back to the dugout.

One such tradition that's passed its time was that the major league baseball season would start every year in Cincinnati, a nod to the Reds' position as the first professional squad, debuting in 1876. Amazingly, this year's season isn't starting in Ohio, or anywhere on the continent at all. Instead, our Oakland Athletics are set to do battle with the reigning World Champion Boston Red Sox in Tokyo, Japan, for a two-game series played when most of the team's fans will be completely asleep.

You see... tonight's game starts not at the familiar times of 1:05, 4:05, or 7:05 p.m., but instead, at 3:05 a.m. Pacific Time and 6:05 a.m. Eastern Time, giving New Englanders some entertainment to go with their morning Dunkin' Donuts. And for those of us on the West Coast, we have the unenviable position of needing to stay up late, wake up early, or just skip Opening Day altogether. Tradition indeed...

While I could simply find the game on TiVo and record it, the true baseball fan in me says that's not right, and that I should be seeing the game live. So, with only six hours separating the off-season with the regular season, we're stocking up on Diet Coke, and preparing for a Tuesday full of fatigue. Hopefully, the A's can make this new tradition one to remember well.

My wife and I are now two games into our four-game stretch this Spring Training season, and if the pair of contests is any indication of how the year will go, I believe a lot of fans of the green and gold will be pleasantly surprised. After today's 10-2 thumping of the cross-town San Francisco Giants, we've now seen the A's outscore their opponents 18-3 in back to back days.

For those who follow the team, the 2008 campaign is one that's attracted a serious amount of uncertainty. Several key players from the last few seasons were traded in exchange for prospects. It's been said the team is rebuilding, and doesn't have a chance this year. But, as I've noted before, I have a more optimistic view. And this week isn't changing my opinion any.

Yesterday morning, we drove the two hours from Phoenix to Tucson in a rented Chrysler Sebring convertible (top down of course), and caught the A's game against the Chicago White Sox. In 80+ degree weather, we saw the A's open up a 2-0 lead after the first inning, tack on 3 more on the back of a 3-run Daric Barton homer, and coast to an 8-1 victory. In addition to the hitting heroics, we were excited to see Rich Harden through 5 innings of one-hit, one-run ball, coming off two injury-plagued years.

Today, we stayed closer to home, and saw the A's make the game no contest in the blink of an eye. After giving up a first-inning run, the team more than batted around against the Giants' starting pitcher, who ended up allowing 8 runs while only retiring a single batter. The team added 2 more runs in the second to push their total to double digits, and again, coasted to victory, winning by a final score of 10-2.

While we were enjoying the sun and the game play, I have to admit it's a good thing we're having Spring Training now, and not, say, in two to four weeks. At nearly 22 weeks gestation, our twins are giving my wife all sorts of fatigue and the occasional pains which have sapped her energy and made any sort of walking or even sitting for long periods draining. So now, I get to play the part of understanding husband, and have opened the door for leaving games early or not going out as much as we had planned in this short vacation. As one good friend from church somewhat jokingly offered, "You're life is coming to an end! It is over!", saying when the twins arrive, it's going to get a whole lot different around here.

But... they're not here yet. The A's hope to continue their hot streak tomorrow against the Texas Rangers, and following a game against the Kansas City Royals on Monday, we'll be headed back the Bay Area and something resembling normalcy.

Excerpted from my post on Athletics Nation:
"At What Point Do They Stop Being 'Former A's'?"

In just about four hours, I'm leaving (on a jet plane) to sunny Arizona, to see the A's play for four straight days, from Friday to Monday, first seeing the club take on the White Sox in Tucson, and then three straight home games, in Phoenix, where they play the Giants, Rangers and Royals. I can't wait. This is the third year in a row my wife and I have been able to see Spring Training, and I hope we'll continue to go for years to come. It's a mini-vacation of sorts, one that wraps around the weekend so I don't miss too many days of work.

But while we're very excited to see the A's play this year, and I'm cautiously optimistic about our chances with a healthier roster, not to mention full seasons of Jack Cust, Kurt Suzuki, Travis Buck and Daric Barton, one of our biggest attractions this week will be seeing the recently-departed Nick Swisher.

While we'd seen Nick play hundreds of times at the Coliseum or on TV, we didn't expect to lose him so fast. One of the young stars of the team, we expected Nick to be part of the A's nucleus for years to come. We never really got to say goodbye, and tomorrow, with equal helpings of lung power and my wife being cute (at five months pregnant... with twins... but still cute), we hope to get the chance to do more than just wave and clap mildly in our seats.

Does this mean the blog will go silent until Tuesday? Absolutely not. But that's because I don't consider blogging work. It's fun! So, I hope to have a little more variation in our posting schedule, and you'll see a good mix of baseball in with the rest of our content for a bit. Go A's!

Though the games still don't count for a month or so, we're excited to know the Oakland A's are getting the spring training campaign started today, with a noon game against the Milwaukee Brewers. It's been far too long to go without baseball, and we can't wait to resume our regularly scheduled obsession with the Green and Gold. My wife and I have a trip planned in the second full week of March to head down to Arizona for our third consecutive year, and that should be a lot of fun. Until we're down there, though, we'll be staying tuned to Athletics Nation for A's news, rumors and game live blogging.

Hope you don't mind our occasional forays into fandom. I was an A's fan decades before I got really into RSS feeds and link sharing!