The Hopp Stop

Go Tigers!…meh

Last night (June 29) I met up with Siedel and his wife Cynthia at the Network Associates Coliseum--or whatever the current name is, there may be a McAfee in there--to catch the Tigers and Oakland playing a little beisbol. The last time that I saw a game with Siedel was Game 1 of the ALCS in 2006, when the Tigers were making their run to the World Series.

Unfortunately, this game was not such a special occasion. The atmosphere at the Net is never great, given the football-centric stadium and the cruddy location (surrounded by parking lots in southern Oakland! yeah!). Last night, it failed to meet even my meager expectations. The claimed attendance was 10,000 fans and change, but I'm not sure they even hit that. Despite closing off the upper deck for baseball, the Net still felt empty. I imagine on a big night (such as when the Giants visit during interleague play), the concourses are abuzz, but last night half of the concession stands were closed.

Tigers fans were out in force, hoping for a good effort after a disappointing weekend series against Houston. Our section in the bleachers was about 50% Tigers supporters. 'Twas not to be, as the hitters left their bats at the hotel and rookie pitching phenom Rick Porcello laid an egg. After the sun set, a cold wind rolled in, such that we could have been across the bay at PacBell. Final score, 7-1 A's.

My evening ended with a BART ride home, made surprisingly interesting by a random old guy that started chatting me up on the Coliseum BART platform, apparently because I had on a Tigers cap. He used to live in Detroit, etc. and loved to prattle on about different cities where he had seen Detroit sports teams play.

Finis.