As the A’s travel south to Anaheim to take on the Angels, they leave
with a 3-1 record, 1st place in the AL West and lots of momentum. From
the fan perspective, we couldn’t be happier!!

Monday’s
Opening Night started off strong. There was serious tailgating action
in the Coliseum parking lot where the excitement for new season was
palpable. After all, we fans had waited 6 long months for this day to
arrive! I visited a few pregame parties, including the one in the
picture to the right, hosted by the fans in the bleachers. That’s Andy,
aka Drummerboy from the right field bleachers showing off his
impressive, homemade beer pong table. It’s a seriously awesome display
of Oakland A’s love!

Amongst the Coliseum staff, we too were
giddy with anticipation, looking forward to another season working
together in the marathon that is 81 home games. To celebrate the day, I
baked some decadent Salted Peanut Brownies, decorated with our colors, green and yellow M&M’s. It’s a fantastic, crowd-pleasing recipe — perfect for hungry fans!

Opening
Night’s final score (5-3 Mariners) was more than a tad upsetting. You
want to win your home opener in front of a packed house to kick off the
season in a positive direction. When we fell short to the boys from Seattle by a
couple of runs, there was a palpable disappointment in the stands.

Regardless,
there were a lot of other great elements of the night to be
proud of. For starters, Stomper looked fantastic!! He was all suited up
in a snazzy, custom-made tuxedo. Wherever he went that night, he set
the tone of a Championship team — it’s truly amazing what kind of
impact he has without saying a word!

Furthermore, that same fan enthusiasm we saw in the parking
lot pregame, we saw in the stands. The fans on the right were part of a
group of a dozen or so friends who all show up to A’s games wearing
crazy, green and gold, zebra striped pants. Love it! Thanks to you guys
from Santa Rosa for keeping it fun! And true fans will of course
recognize the fellow in the picture on the right: Banjo Man! I don’t
know the inside scoop, but he sure doesn’t seem to show up at as many
games as he used to, so his presence was even more appreciated on
Opening Night.