Tag: Memories

My experience as a Baseball Fan and ultimately an A’s Fan (one thing I want people to remember about me)….

Posted on by anele25

Just a tiny insight into how this NorCal boy became a baseball fan for life:

We are one day away from the official season beginning in this baseball season 2019 for the Oakland A’s.  I couldn’t be prouder that once again another baseball season beginning. From what I can recall, I have been privileged to go to over close to 60 to 70 games in my time as an Oakland A’s and baseball fan. Growing up, baseball or sports for that matter were never interesting for me to watch. I would occasionally watch or hear about the ball players in the bay area. I even remember us coming back from Mexico one year and my dad asking me if Jose Canseco was still playing in the majors (much to my naïve personality, Jose Canseco by this point was close to calling it a career). I remember the first game I attended as a kid was at the young age of 14 years old. This A’s team had Eric Chavez, Miguel Tejada, Scott Hatterberg, and the big Three of Mulder Zito and Hudson. That night it was Cory Lidle’s turn to pitch and I remember during the game in the left field bleachers there were chants for Miguel Tejada and for other players that night. Looking back at some of the stats from that game on July 19th 2002, I’m amazed that back in the Moneyball era players like John Mabry, Mark Ellis, and David Justice were around for some of the best moments in team history. The score that night ended up being 10-0 A’s due to Lidle pitching a one hit shutout against the Texas Rangers. Little did I know, the Rangers had some stars of their own in Alex Rodriguez, Michael Young, and Ivan ‘Pudge’ Rodriguez and yet here I was. I was surprised on how welcoming the fans were that night to the home team and even though it wasn’t the beginning of my fandom for the Oakland A’s I noticed that as I was a teenager my vanity for sports needed to be in something. For one, it gave me something to talk about with other people at school and my brother liked it so why the hell not. Also, my dad was a fan of the game and even though my parents had immigrated from the state of Zacatecas in Mexico in the late 1980’s they cheered on the Oakland A’s in those years when players such as Henderson, Steinbach, Canseco, Lansford, Eckersley, and Welch held the helm. The next season 2003 around when the ALDS started was when I got into the A’s. I stayed up a little bit later than usual and I was not able to catch the end of the game because I had school the next day but I saw the headlines the next morning that Ramon Hernandez the catcher had won on a walk off bunt. We ended up losing the series 3 games to 2 but I knew there was something about this game that I wanted to know more about. The next season in 2004 was when I became a full-fledged Oakland Athletics fan. I ended up attending one game that season but it was because I was still in school and I knew as my years wore on for college there was no excuse to miss A’s games. I have been there for some of the most unforgettable moments as an A’s fan.

 

Some of the unforgettable moments I have seen on TV while nowadays we have the comfort of a screen, we can hold in our hands I remember being there in 2005 when the A’s and Angels were battling for the division after earlier in the season most considered our guys to be out of the race for the division. Barry Zito ended up pitching his heart out and ultimately the bottom of the 7th when Jay Payton legged out a triple was when I just about lost it as the A’s rallied for 3 runs in that inning. The two games that stand out for myself as I was becoming a student at De Anza College in Cupertino were when Justin Duchscherer pitched a two hitter against the Seattle Mariners in 2 hours or so. I also remember in 2007 Mark Ellis hitting for the cycle against the Red Sox even though it took a few extra innings with a test that was looming that next day for my government class.

 

Between 2008-2011 there were A’s games that I attended and in 2010 I wasn’t able to go to any games because my schedule was pretty hectic at that time with school and work. In 2011 things started turning around as management relieved Bob Geren of his duties as manager in May of 2011 and a new era began with Bob Melvin better known to A’s fans as ‘Bo-Mel’ as manager. This season of 2012 started off quite dreadfully with a roster of unknown and I predicted that year that we would end up losing 100 games. I saw a roster with a guy named Josh Reddick and some other guy named Yoenis Cespedes. My brother and myself went to a game around the time of Memorial Day in 2012 with the hometown A’s getting 1 hit against the Angels and with a lineup consisting of Cliff Pennington and Jonny Gomes I thought maybe we could have gotten something better off of the ground as the score that game ended 5-0. That same week, I sat up in the plaza reserved and saw us get shut out twice that same week as this time the damage was done by Joe Girardi and the Yankees as they shut us out 2-0. But then something strange happened as we started winning games left and right with a July record of 19-5 as wins against high powered clubs the Dodgers, Yankees, and the Red Sox had me paying attention even more.  2012 forever holds a special place in my heart. I think my most satisfying experience as an A’s fan has to be when game 162 in 2012 rolled around on October 3rd 2012 that pitted the Rangers against the A’s. I remember walking in and just seeing the sea of A’s fans was like ‘whoa this place is jam packed’. Before this game, there were the rumblings that if we won at least one of the games we would at least take over a playoff spot which in this age was a wildcard game against the other wild card in the American League which is classified as a play in game against one of the division winners. Lo and behold, the A’s pulled off a miraculous comeback to have the division tied up on the last day of the season. That season, I hadn’t won a single game that I gone to that season and I kept telling my friend that I had predicted to that we would lose 100 games ‘dude I think I’m bad luck’. The Rangers scored 5 runs in the first 2 innings and then I just felt that feeling of ‘here we go again with this losing’. But as the innings started piling up for started Ryan Dempster of the Rangers the lineup of Reddick, Donaldson, Moss, Cespedes, Drew, and Crisp brought it against the Rangers and ended up scoring an unanswered 12 runs against the Rangers. I remember after Josh Hamilton dropped the flyball against the Oakland team that Cespedes hit towards him that was probably the turning point in the game.

 

The ball could have been caught and the inning would have been over but who knows what came was a barrage of celebration towards the team and everyone who was a part of it. The game ended 12-5 A’s and I couldn’t have been prouder as my friend had asked me one day before if we should go still as tickets would be pricey but that was probably the best 50 dollars I ever spent on a ticket. This is my story as an A’s fan and this season I will be celebrating my 15th year as an A’s and as a baseball fan. Last year’s 2018 season was unforgettable and I have no doubt with players such as Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Stephen Piscotty, Jurickson Profar, Khris Davis, Mike Fiers, Frankie Montas, and Blake Treinen we’ll see something special for years to come. My one wish is to see my baseball team or any of the other two teams I root for (The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Oakland Raiders) to win at least one championship before I die. I like to think baseball is an everyday man’s game with flyballs, grounders, doubles, walk off homeruns, and pitching duels. I like to see it as a numbers game with psychological mindgames amongst players along with what was previously mentioned.  You just never know what you will see at a ball game whether it’s the game or otherwise. In closing this out, I want to post a special picture we have of that game 162 that I went to in 2012 where we ended up winning in game 162 where victory was finally hitting me like it had not before, cheers to a great team in the East Bay your Oakland Athletics

2012

Writing Prompts #9: Describe the most beautiful sound you have ever heard

Posted on by anele25

The prompt here got me thinking about what is the most beautiful sound you have ever heard and this one for me is easy as I once ran across a song by Riz Ortolnai when I was younger. The name of the song is called “A Blessed Event”. One thing that stands out for this song is that is so simple and it puts me at ease whenever I hear it. I could be driving, at my job, at the house doing chores, and overall I just enjoy the sounds in the song. I liked the sounds at the beginning as it begins with a horn and a little chelo sound. The sound is beautiful to me because it goes so smoothly without interruption of any other instruments and it just goes along and it makes me happy. It begins with a kind of a “do-do-do” instrument and it keeps going along until it hits this special spot in my heart. I feel as if this song was created with the intention of getting you in a good mood. I could be wrong here but having this beautiful sound full of wonder, awe, and hope is all in this song. I feel like I’m walking through any situation in life and feeling as if I can do it. I remember when I used to live in a condo in San Jose and this song would come on. I didn’t have many friends and this song made me feel this beauty inside. The kind of beauty you or anyone else would never hear again. I get the feeling that Ortolani got the idea to make this song so people can get this big emotion inside of them.  I can come with this song and it feels as if I am working on something greater whether its having a family, accomplishing my goals, or getting fit. It’s funny, because I heard this song when I was younger when I was watching El Chapulin Colorado. If you don’t know who that is he is the Mexican superhero who always comes to the rescue of his people that call for help. Roberto Bolanos really did want to show people his talents by busting out this song at the end of some Chapulin songs. I want this blog also to be aware of some other beautiful sounds I have heard. I sometimes go to the beach and pontificate what is going on in the ocean. There is a mystery that goes beyond the greatest realm of what is there. As I hear the waves, I feel this calmness and this ability to breath in new life inside of me. I can be standing on the edge of a rock or at the side of an ocean and I can just hear myself go with one with the waves. The waves also have these calming effects to them that only certain people would be able to describe.

 

The more I see waves and the more I hear them I just want to live freely within that ocean and wonder what is there. It feels as if the Earth is moving at a slow pace and you can just hear everything slow down for a quick second. One of the best times I have ever had in life was when I was younger and we took a late night trip to the beach and the waves were coming slowly that day. This was at a beach in Sinaloa and the waves were coming in rather slowly that night. I was out with my Aunt and her husband and we just went down to the sand. I walked by the waves several times and as they came in I realized the breath of fresh air was coming in to somehow suspend my belief that this was life. The waves kept coming and I could think about how nice and peaceful that was at that moment. I kept walking until my aunt and her husband stopped for a few minutes and just marveled at several things around them. I could tell that they too also enjoyed the waves that night. There is also nothing better than the ocean waves because of how fast they can change once you get inside for a quick dip. I know that once you get inside the water there is a different feeling as well because they can come on top of you in an instant and it doesn’t feel as fast as it used to. The one last thing I enjoy about the ocean waves is that water in general is a very soothing thing to have around you. One last memory I can remember about the waves and how comforting of a sound they are is when I was at a beach in Monterrey and I was standing on some rocks. The water was coming close to the rocks and I could feel that my body was somehow scared to go inside the water. I was standing against the rocks and once you get passed the water hitting you close it doesn’t get all that scary. I went down and I sat against some rocks and I could feel the water coming towards me as if I were one with the ocean at that very moment. There is no better feeling to be amongst something other than the water that comes towards somebody. The sounds that it makes, the whoosh that it makes as it gets closer, and ultimately the overall good feeling it gives. I hope one day many more people can come to appreciate the ocean waves and the sounds that they make for all of us. They say that beauty comes in many forms and this sound of ocean waves gives me comfort, satisfaction, and a great deal of hope. I know as I grow older I can give others the same feeling by integrating my life with there’s and telling them a little more about the ocean waves.

Something to wrestle with and my memories of Bret Hart’s 1996-1997

Posted on by anele25

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The land of wrestling podcasts has recently taken over my life. The craze started not too long ago and needless to say, they help when you are washing the dishes, washing the car, or doing laundry. This is beside the point however; I want to cover today a recent podcast done by Bruce Prichard of something to wrestle with fame. The topic for this recent podcast was Bret Hart. If you don’t worry who that is, do not be alarmed you will by the end of this post. My memories of that time are quite extraordinary and full of joy. First, I’ll go through some major points that Bruce Prichard covered and then I’ll give some of my perspective.

 

The podcast does a very good job of painting Bret at this time as someone who could have an excellent match with anyone during that era. He worked with a who’s who of wrestlers. His matches included excellent storytelling, great selling, good flow, and a way of sucking you in so you could believe it. One of those matches was Bret Hart vs Steve Austin from WrestleMania 13. The match did a good job of telling the classic story of the cocky upstart who is being a rebel vs the proud hero who stands by his morals. Hart of course, was the hero who stood by his morals. The fans at the time were clamoring for a change and wanted something new. In storyline, the idea was to do a double turn and have one guy go ‘good’ and another go ‘bad’. Bret at this time was portrayed as being good and Austin as bad. The fans saw how much Austin clawed and scratched to try and win but to no avail. The fans by the end of the match knew that Austin had given it his all in the match and Bret was just being a bully by beating down on a limp body. That is why that match is (by those days), considered a classic. It works because it was believable and it gives credit to the performers that were out there. The match was bloody, full of hard hitting action, and kept you on the edge of your seat. More on these excellent feuds later on. One of my favorite pieces of the podcast included the insights into how the Montreal Screw job came about. The incident famously known as the Montreal Screw job was orchestrated in 1997 as a way to get the belt off Bret Hart so he wouldn’t walk away from the company with the belt.

 

The scenario was in place so that Shawn Michaels (the incumbent champion) and Bret Hart could have a finish even though one person was not clued in. Essentially, the original plan was for the match to end in a disqualification and there would be members of the Hart Foundation (Bret’s group and faction) that would run in and have the match end in controversial fashion. However, at the end of the match Shawn put Bret Hart in his own hold (the sharpshooter, which is where Bret would put his left leg in between his opponents’ two legs and turn the person around and sit on the person’s back until they gave up). The finish of the match saw Bret not give up and the referee rang for the bell. Needless to say, Bret was very upset at the end of this and realized he had been double crossed. After this, he left upset and even had the guts to punch his former boss, Vince McMahon. There has been quite a bit said as to the different scenarios that would have come into place if this situation would not have happened. I also really enjoyed the 1996 portion of this podcast because you also got an insight into Bret taking a leave of absence for his TV shows and to take a break. I also heard the first time that he got a call to come back in 1996 and he flat out said no. It was almost as if Bret needed time to recharge his batteries at time to be with his families. I also learned from this portion of this podcast that Bret was a very smart man when it came to negotiating for his contract and for what he felt was right. At this time, it was rumored that Bret would jump to the rival company, WCW.

 

He would have been one of the members of the newly formed New World Order. The spot that was originally meant for Hart went to one Hulk Hogan. It’s funny because if that would have happened he would not have as a successful run as he did.  Bret however, knew that he still had an opportunity to work with one of the new stars in the WWF in Steve Austin. I remember at this time also that the podcast mentioned on how Bret was always keen on making his opponents look good and how he worked hard to make sure that everything made sense. One of these times where this was true was where Bret did a USA vs Canada angle and he was very successful at having the USA fans hate him. I have gone off the rails a bit and I am going to just cover what I remember from this time period of 1996-1997. It may be bit scattered but for me it is how I remember it. Anyway, getting back to the USA vs Canada angle. I had a sense at the time that what Bret was doing was fairly interesting because he had fans on one side of the border hating his guts. In another country, he had fans still cheering him as their hero. I still vividly remember Bret saying ‘we don’t shoot each other on the streets and we still care for our sick’. Ironically enough, this was done in Canada. Meanwhile, in the USA the fans still hated his guts for being pompous about pimping his home country. It would be as if I went around from country to country and I would be liked or respected only in one or a few. I also remember the summer of 1997 was awesome because this was where Bret Hart famed one of my favorite wrestling stables in the Hart Foundation. Bret Hart essentially went ahead and gathered his family members to start this group. It was composed of four great wrestlers (actually three) in Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith, and Brian Pillman. The other member was Jim Neidhart. All five men ran roughshod over the federation. The pinnacle of the group came when they ran up against Steve Austin’s team of himself, Goldust, Ken Shamrock, and the Legion of Doom. I still remember this match as being emotional for me because my hero had come back from injury in 1997 after having that great run with Steve Austin. Just to backtrack a bit, Bret Hart had finished his series of matches with Steve Austin (including the classic at WrestleMania 13) and he had run an angle on TV where he was out injured due to some complications with his knee.

 

As he was coming back, I remember this promo Hart was cutting with Shawn Michaels in May of 1997 where Hart was calling Shawn all kinds of names and questioning his manhood. At the time, I was not smart to what was happening and realized that the TV time was running out. As the show was going off the air, I realized that the show did not officially end. Little did I know (according to the podcast with Prichard), Bret forgot the cue and he kept talking. All these later, I still felt that was how the show was supposed to end. Anyway, back to the match where they went up against Steve Austin’s team. The event took place in Canada in Calgary. The crowd that night was electric for the show known as Canadian Stampede. As the match was starting, I was in awe that all these people jammed into one arena to see their fellow countrymen do battle. The Foundation ended up winning after about 20-25 minutes of some hard hitting action. The time during my life at that time was also when my family and I would go to Mexico on vacation. As the time was rapidly approaching for us to leave, Summer slam 1997 was also happening. I remember watching Bret Hart’s championship match against the Undertaker at my mom’s work. Some of these times are priceless as I remember being a little kid and being excited for what was to come next. I think that was one of the magical things about Bret Hart’s 1996-1997 run. I remember after each Bret match, promo, or appearance I would ask myself what was next for the Hitman. One of those that I could remember was when before he left for his hiatus in 1996, he had a one-hour match with Shawn Michaels. The match was famous for going one hour without pinfalls or submissions. I also remember that the match went sudden death and about a minute in, Shawn Michaels was able to get the win with his superkick. After the match, Bret took his time getting back and the cameras followed him back to get his reaction and needless to say he was visibly upset. I know from this incident, I knew from there he was someone who could hook my interest from the beginning of a match or from the end of the match because he made you believe it was real. One of those times where I first got a peak behind the curtain was when the film “Wrestling with Shadows” was released.

 

The film showed us the intricacies of wrestling and how deep his belief went into wrestling. You also saw how much he cared about his family. His immediate family he cared about because you saw that what he grew up was almost like a sport that you had to take into account. If you not have seen the movie, I would highly recommend the film because you see the ins and outs of what it is like to be a wrestler and how one of the best wrestlers ever got to where he was. I’ll leave everything with this as one of my favorite memories of that run in 1996-1997. I remember when Bret had come back in 1996 and Bret came back and said how loyal he was to the WWF and how he wasn’t going anywhere. I was so happy at that time because for one he said he was staying and he also for the first time accepted Steve Austin’s challenge for a match at Survivor Series 1996. The idea for me at that time was that Bret would always be a WWF guy. In 2002, after Bret had officially retired full time from wrestling I wrote a paper about his time in wrestling. I remember I got a decent grade on the paper actually. I also was so happy when Bret Hart returned in 2010 to the now known WWE. He had a memorable run in 1996-97 but I believe here it warmed my heart that he let old wounds heal after the Montreal Screwjob and he was able to show the new generation of fans his skills.

 

Well, there you have it. I just wrote some great memories and some of my favorite times of my favorite wrestler, Bret Hart. Over the next two weeks I will be traveling on some weekends to Los Angeles and then after that I will be having some surgery to heal up some kidney stones. What I want to do for my next blog is include some little journal entries on what these trips were like and I’ll probably write them in my tiny moleskin that I was recently given as a gift. Till next time, everybody be on the lookout!