Last night we had some friends in from Michigan and decided to take them to the Coliseum; my friends Steve and Angie and their kids are here on a California journey with their two kids, and one of my wife’s former first grade students, Travis (from a quarter-century ago!) is here on a somewhat delayed honeymoon with his wife Haley. Both families just happened to descend on the Bay Area at the same time, so we grabbed eight tickets to go hang out; everybody had a blast and I had a chance to play Coliseum tour Guide, which I always enjoy. We even made it onto the JumboTron!

Technically, I bought ten tickets, not eight; they were the $10 Treehouse tickets (pro tip: if you buy the cheapest seats, you can still pretty much sit wherever you want without people bothering you). Both of our lovely children decided they’d rather stay home and watch movies and eat brownies rather than trek out to Oakland for the game, so we had two extras. I offered them up on Twitter, thinking SOMEONE out there might grab them.

Nobody, and I mean NOBODY was interested.

So they all missed what ended up being the 24th perfect game in Major League history.

I know, I know: it’s not exactly surprising that people weren’t shoving each other out of the way for a couple of 10-buck tix to see a terrible team lose another game. But you gotta admit it is a little funny that pretty much the only time I’ve ever had extra tickets and wanted to give them away, I literally couldn’t find a single taker. I guess I’m just saying, if I ever offer them again, you might want to consider! 🙂

I also have mixed feelings about going to see the A’s at this point anyway, since all indications are they’re leaving town. I absolutely will NOT root for the team if they’re playing in Las Vegas. I guess I’m still holding onto the fact that it’s not a done deal yet; if a miracle happens and they somehow stay in town, I’ll obviously still remain a fan. But right now it’s this weird purgatory we’re all stuck in. It doesn’t help that the team is historically terrible and it’s pretty hard to root for them.

But it’s still baseball and, despite everything you may have heard, the Coliseum is a genuinely fun place to see a game. I’m not kidding: I know what the national narrative is and I’m not trying to convince you that the Coliseum is an incredible structure or anything. But it’s honestly an enjoyable time, every time. If you haven’t been, you should go. The weather is generally perfect. The field itself is beautiful. The fans are incredibly nice. And on top of all that, you can use a trough urinal. What more could you want? Added bonus on days when they’re giving away baseball cards: Yankee cards in the troughs.

All of our visitors were there for the first time and enjoyed it thoroughly, as far as I can tell. It didn’t hurt that we saw one of the most memorable games of the season; Domingo Germán threw just the 24th perfect game in history. Did I bury the lede here? Kinda, I guess! I’ve never seen a perfect game in person (the last one was by Felix Hernandez back in 2012; I did see King Felix pitch once, though!). I’ve never so much as seen a no-hitter. I have seen a bunch of them go into the 7th or 8th inning; once in Detroit (also in 2012), my wife and I were at Comerica Park to see Justin Verlander take a no-hitter into the 9th against Pittsburgh, but that one was broken up by future Oakland A Josh Harrison. But even yesterday, despite Germán’s dominance and the A’s futility, I never really felt like he’d actually complete the perfecto. Plus we weren’t exactly paying strict attention to the game until about the sixth inning, so there wasn’t a ton of build-up.

In the 12ish hours since Josh Donaldson fielded the final ground ball for out number 27, there’s been a lot written about Germán’s lousy past history. It’s terrible and there’s no defending the fact that he was suspended for domestic abuse (and then, this season, for cheating). I’ve thought about that quite a bit in terms of being there, in person, at an historic occasion completed by a decidedly crummy human being. As a lot of people have already said, it would have been nice for it to have been literally ANY other pitcher in the league. I agree with that sentiment, but it’s not like if we all wish hard enough, we can change it. This perfect game doesn’t count any less because it was thrown by a turd. There’s no condoning Germán’s past, but I suppose we can hope that he’s a different person than he was. And maybe, in a roundabout way, the fact that he’s back in the spotlight can be a catalyst for a higher level of understanding when it comes to the horror and tragedy of domestic abuse. I don’t know. It’s really hard to reconcile. Maybe this is why I buried the lede in the first place.

At any rate, these are the three A’s games that I’ve seen this season:

1. The Opening Night game, where the A’s battled Shohei Ohtani and actually somehow ended up winning the game, 2-1, in an 8th-inning rally. At that point they were undefeated on the season (1-0).
2. The ‘Reverse Boycott’ game on June 13, where 28,000 A’s fans cheered the home team but mercilessly booed owner John Fisher. One of the most emotional games I’ve ever attended, and oh by the way, the A’s won this one 2-1 as well, after another late-game comeback.
3. And the 24th-ever perfect game in the history of the game. The A’s lost 11-0, meaning I’ve got a .667 winning percentage in games I’ve seen in person, but the A’s have been outscored in those three games by a count of 13-4. I’m by no means a Yankees’ fan, and it was a little annoying to see so many of them at the game haha, but it was cool to see how happy they were at the end.

Kinda crazy to think about. I’m guessing we’ll go to another game or two at the Coliseum before it’s all said and done. I’ll need to see a four-homer game or two grand slams in the same inning or a double no-hitter or something to top the lunacy of what I’ve seen so far!