Friday, December 14, 2012

So, baseball is a business huh?

 Everyone says don't get too attached, baseball business is out of your hands. Where that might be true it is IMPOSSIBLE to not be attached to Oakland and the entire bay area. 
From the start I felt the love in the Coliseum, though I would joke about its cold cement atmosphere, and on those certain freezing nights that the only people there were the right field bleachers and the wives.... I still loved it. I loved those loyal fans, I loved the gritty stadium, I loved the wild players it all made the A's THE A'S!
Never have I seen or heard of such amazing, and positive fans. When a player is down you guys encourage them to get up. You find their family and tell them you are rooting for him to come back, you make signs, buttons, flags all to show that you support and love your players. You guys are seriously amazing, and I think that is what I will miss the most.
There is no easy way to transition into this, but September 5th was a very scary day for our family. I will never forget the love that the A's showed me. To have Billy Beane, Bob Melvin, and Nick Paparesta all drive into the city in the middle of the night to sit with me and wait for Brandon to get out of surgery was emotional and amazing all at the same time. Grown men who I have had minimal contact with for two years prior left their families to sit around telling me stories of their past and get me laughing. They were all there when he came out of surgery, and as fathers and friends they were concerned with Brandon and wanted to say hi to him as he woke up. Baseball business didn't exist that early morning.
The days that followed there were hourly check ups from the entire front office, players, and players families. The sheer love and support we felt was so humbling and it all helped so much. Never will I forgot a moment of all that.

 The outpouring of tweets, emails, and letters was astonishing. They made us feel like we were one huge family. Everyone was concerned, and everyone just wanted good things for us. It makes me smile just thinking about the people who sought me out at the games to tell me how happy they were to see him back on the field. I have never felt so close, and had so much love for complete strangers.
So in closing.. I just want to say from the absolute bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you to the front office for being awesome and putting up with my crazy requests. Thank you to the players for being a family to us, and thank you to the fans for showing us love and support for the entire two years, and lastly, thank you to my little group of A's wives, I know I am a handful :)

Thank you everyone for two of my favorite years in baseball so far.