We went back to the ballpark Wednesday afternoon for the series finale of A’s/Royals.  The Coliseum day-of-game window sells $2 tickets on Wednesdays.  The assigned location of those seats is way out by the foul poles and in the upper outfield deck.  Not bad for two bucks.  My Dad and I roved around a bit, sitting an inning here, a couple innings there. 

The sun came out in spots and the predicted rain never panned out.  A chilly wind whipped up late but overall, it was a nice day for baseball by the Bay. 

This contest had a wild ending.  You could see it coming.  After scoring a go-ahead run in the top of the 12th inning, the Royals sent out their 300 pound (plus) closer Jonathan Broxton.  The big guy had been up and down in the bullpen at least four times.  Jacket on.  Jacket off.  For over an hour during the four-hour and ten-minute game, Broxton got hot – and then he sat down in the teeth of cold Oakland gusts.  He threw a bunch of warm-up pitches in the bullpen but never looked comfortable.  The threat of live game line-drives down the first base stripe can create an uneasy feeling for a guy in the bullpen here.  His back is to the action.  Some clubs install a lookout guy with a glove to guard the pitcher. 

Anyway.  Broxton waddled out to the mound in the bottom of the 12th and set down the first A’s batter with his mid-90’s heat.  Young Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar then botched an easy Seth Smith grounder and it all went downhill for Broxton from there.  He walked the next two batters.  It was bases jammed for Coco.  Crisp hit a weak grounder to second, which plated the tying run.  That left men on second and third for new A’s slugger Yoenis Cespedes.  I thought Broxton would intentionally walk the Cuban defector.  Instead, he plunked him.  Same difference.  So, in stepped Gomes.  The first pitch from Broxton was up and in on the bulky left elbow pad of Gomes and the game was over.  Because of the Escobar error, none of the runs were earned.  But this was a big meltdown by the big Royals closer.  

Using data from Baseball Reference, the Yahoo baseball writer Kevin Kaduk reported that this was the first time back-to-back plunks ended a game since 1966.

Broxton’s size is such now that it may no longer work to his advantage.  It may be just a matter of time before Greg Holland supplants Broxton as the Royals ninth-inning guy.   

I kinda thought Broxton would end up as the Met closer when he lingered on the free agent market last winter.  Now I guess I know why he got just the one-year deal for four mil from the Royals.

Attendance was announced at 12390.  It was a spirited crowd despite its size.  Fans are allowed to blow horns and bang on drums.  The counterculture that you see outside the ballpark in these parts very much drifts into its sporting venues.  Especially for baseball at the Coliseum, where cost doesn’t necessarily exclude the 99-percent like it may across the Bay.   

All eyes in Oakland this season are on Yoenis Cespedes, the 26-year-old outfielder from Cuba.  Everyone in baseball was surprised that it was Oakland who landed the 5-10, 210 pound slugger after he defected to the D-R a year ago.  The A’s offered 4 years, $36 mil and that was enough to get a guy with massive power and skill. 

When you look at how Cespedes is built physically, it’s impossible not to wonder whether performance enhancers were part of the equation as he matured as a player in Cuba.  He’ll have to pass MLB drug tests here and I’d think it’s possible Mr. Moneyball may have at least explored the matter during the recruitment process.

As Cespedes settles in as a big league player, he’ll likely be asked to avoid the temptation of swinging at bad pitches.  During the two games we saw him, Cespedes waved at balls way out of the zone.  His swing is really sweet though.  Long and fluid backed by a Sosa-in-his-prime-like frame, Cespedes has been putting on shows during batting practice.  If only the A’s had someone to protect him in the lineup.  With a guy like Gomes batting behind him, Cespedes will not see much in the way of meaty offerings. 

After the game, we hit Shan Dong on 10th Street in downtown Oakland.  The Mandarin restaurant’s “Special Shan Dong Dumplings” were excellent homemade creations filled with pork and cabbage.  Staffers packaged large delivery orders in the center of the dining room and two women prepared buns near the front of the store. 

-Tuesday’s A’s loss referenced here yesterday was the first rain-shortened game at the Coliseum since May 4, 2005 (according to the San Francisco Chronicle).