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"title": "A Farewell to the Oakland Coliseum's Quirky, Lovable Hot Dog Vendor",
"headTitle": "A Farewell to the Oakland Coliseum’s Quirky, Lovable Hot Dog Vendor | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Oakland Athletics are used to the departure of big personalities: Reggie Jackson. Rickey Henderson. Barry Zito. Yoenis Cespedes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yet it’s not always the big-name players whom fans are saddest to see go.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Next season, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13914585/hal-the-hot-dog-guy-oakland-coliseum-hella-hungry\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hal Gordon\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — better known as “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/ashotdog\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hal the Hot Dog Guy\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">” — will not return as the stadium’s most well-known food vendor. Gordon \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AsHotDog/status/1585008321811320832\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">first shared the news on Twitter\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to his loyal cadre of fans last week, announcing his decision to depart from the A’s after six seasons. As a graduate student in the process of earning his PhD in Economics at UC Berkeley, Gordon will transition away from the role that has brought him local fame and adoration: hawking hot dogs and being a friendly jokester.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Along with his well-known shticks, like shouting “Let’s ketchup!” in late innings whenever the A’s were losing, Gordon also cared for the fans and the city, often bringing \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13914585/hal-the-hot-dog-guy-oakland-coliseum-hella-hungry\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">his own array of extra condiments\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that are otherwise unavailable at the Coliseum — such as jalapeño mustard and capers — and supporting local charities by donating a portion of his tips.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Since he’s working to complete his degree, Gordon had been hoping that the A’s would hire him long-term at closer to the salary that a PhD economist would make — \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AsHotDog/status/1585717211489935361\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">perhaps as the team’s in-house data scientist\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. But he knew it was a long shot.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Creating this character and hearing people tell me I’ve become part of their experience [at the Coliseum] was just som\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ething that kept me going during grad school,” Gordon says. “I get it, I understand [the A’s] are in a tough spot. I was never an employee of the team. I’m the employee of a subcontractor. I’m sure the organization is more worried about keeping employees who have been there much longer than me. I gave my all and it just couldn’t be.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fans have resorted to tweeting out their frustration, even asking A’s owner, Dave Kaval, to reconsider.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/MrChris80/status/1585721540506574848\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For those who have no connection to the Oakland A’s community, it may seem farcical to see fans getting so emotional about losing a food vendor. But if you’ve sat in the Coliseum, endured the recent onslaught of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/aug/31/feral-cats-few-fans-and-lewd-acts-is-the-as-era-in-oakland-over\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ridicule and scrutiny in the media\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and ridden the rollercoaster of on-field disappointment that the Oakland A’s have embarrassingly served up, then you’d know how it feels to be losing out on a rare bright spot — even if it’s something as seemingly unremarkable as a fun-loving, community-focused hot dog server.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gordon isn’t the first beloved doggie slinger to win the hearts of green and gold fans. In 2019, Jimmy Graff, whom Gordon praised as his mentor and inspiration, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2019/12/29/giants-athletics-popular-hot-dog-vendor-jimmy-graff-dies-49/2769223001/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">passed away at age 49\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, leaving the A’s community distraught. In his place, Gordon rose in popularity and proudly continued Graff’s legacy as a goofy, carefree and passionate vendor — even dressing up in an old-timey striped uniform that Graff created — at one of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://ballparkdigest.com/2022/06/02/we-knew-things-at-the-coliseum-were-bad-but-the-as-say-theyre-worse/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Major League Baseball’s notoriously “worst” venues\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Despite the many flaws inside East Oakland’s dilapidated baseball cathedral, it’s the diehard fans and workers like Gordon — as well as Graff and many others before them — who have kept the experience vibrant over the years. This season, in particular, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHZR75QjAIA\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gordon’s well-known love for hot dogs and pranks\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> has given attendees something to look forward to in an otherwise dismal campaign that ended with a last-place finish. By going beyond the call of duty to bring extra condiments on BART and creating his own chants, Gordon has gained the undying support of the Bay Area’s underdog baseball team — and those who call its stadium home.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I grew up at the Coliseum, so I’m familiar with hot dog vendors. When Hal came around, he was another one of those Coliseum charms. The position isn’t going away, but I will always remember those moments he gave us as a hawker with the A’s,” says Bryan Johansen. He’s the co-founder of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://lastdivebar.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Last Dive Bar\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, an online A’s apparel shop independently run by him and his two friends, Carl Moren and Paul Bailey, since 2019.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[pullquote size=\"large\" align=\"right\"]“Over time, Gordon’s Twitter feed has become a live photo gallery of real faces at the Coliseum. He is, quite literally, a man among the people.”[/pullquote]In 2020, Last Dive Bar teamed up with Gordon to create shirts with slogans like \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://lastdivebar.com/products/gimme-an-a-tee\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Gimme an A!”\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and “Hal’s My Pal” — all phrases popularized by Gordon and his fans during his tenure. Each tee is illustrated by \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AsFanByDesign\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A’s Fan by Design\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, with proceeds going to the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.accfb.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alameda County Community Food Bank\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s all a reflection of your experiences [at the Coliseum],” Johansen says. “It’s about people’s connection to being a fan of their favorite team and their baseball stadium. Hal is a part of those aspects.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/AsHotDog/status/1585433381122473984\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gordon embodies a sense of organic community that is strong among A’s fans, who’ve arguably endured more suffering than any of the remaining Bay Area sports franchises. Over time, Gordon’s Twitter feed has become a live photo gallery of real faces at the Coliseum in a way that sports media would never be able to portray. He is, quite literally, a man among the people. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/sports/athletics-likely-leave-oakland-las-vegas-mlb-commissioner-says\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">dramatic turmoil surrounding the future of the Oakland A’s\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> has allowed figures like Gordon to become even more noticeable. There’s a reason Gordon was embraced in Oakland and not, for instance, in San Francisco — where Gordon would occasionally vend as well.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The blessing of being an A’s fan and working for the A’s is that there was so much room and oxygen to try new things and do new things,” he says. “I’ve gotten to know so many people there by name and by face, and have made so many friends. I know every single season ticket holder. That wouldn’t have been possible at almost any other stadium. It’s a blessing.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For Gordon, it’s about the friendships he’s made and the good memories he’s been a part of, especially during a time of negativity surrounding sports franchises in Oakland. It fueled him to do what he did during his time behind the proverbial food plate — especially when it came to younger fans.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[pullquote size=\"large\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Hal Gordon\"]“I know every single season ticket holder. That wouldn’t have been possible at almost any other stadium.”[/pullquote]“Hal created lasting moments for my son and for the future generation of fans,” says Johansen. “My son knows his name. He’s not super into baseball, but he remembers names: Ramón [Laureano], [Tony] Kemp, Hal. Hal took the time to make the moment special for him and other kids.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One of the ways he has done that is by gifting homemade prank ketchup bottles that shoot out red string — another Gordon signature — to excitable young fans, including \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/SandLot408/status/1585720636885696512\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Johansen’s son\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Gordon also gives away Hal the Hot Dog Guy trading cards, which kids and adults alike have been known to collect. (I have a few stashed away with my lifetime A’s memorabilia.)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/mushlederman/status/1587117212627742721\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When the games were over and the lights turned off, Gordon was often one of the last workers to leave the Coliseum. Often, he could be found at community events throughout the East Bay, too.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“He helped organize a great Fan Fest earlier this year with the Oakland 68s,” \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AlexEspinozaIV/status/1587537588310589440\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">tweeted Alex Espinoza of 95.7 The Game\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. “Won’t be the same without him!”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID='arts_13914585,arts_13920345']Mike Delia — \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmta.com/blog/transit-driver-appreciation-day-meet-mr-boston\">a San Francisco public transit operator\u003c/a> — credits Gordon as the inspiration behind him creating his own MUNI-themed baseball cards. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Another fan started \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/jstemily/status/1587536959248793600\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">an online petition to keep Gordon at the Coliseum\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that has more than 250 signatures so far.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For every game of the A’s season, there’s a story about Gordon’s kindness or goofball antics to be told. Still, he knows the magic will remain, with or without his hot dogs.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The most important part is that we were just having fun. Those of us at the stadium just had fun together,” says Gordon. “This East Bay community isn’t going anywhere. Those friendships, the people, the fandom — it’s bigger than the politics and whims of any one person.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Who can’t rally around that?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12904247 aligncenter\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A curated selection of photos were submitted by Oakland A’s fans in response to \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/alan_chazaro/status/1587502450436542464\">this Tweet\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13921226\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-kid.jpg\" alt=\"Hot dog vendor in old-timey striped vest poses with a young A's fan.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-kid.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-kid-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-kid-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-kid-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-kid-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-kid-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13921225\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-fans.jpg\" alt=\"Hot dog vendor holds a tray of condiments surrounded by smiling A's fans.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1442\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-fans.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-fans-800x601.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-fans-1020x766.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-fans-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-fans-768x577.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-fans-1536x1154.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13921227\" 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"excerpt": "Hal the Hot Dog Guy won't return to the stadium next season.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Oakland Athletics are used to the departure of big personalities: Reggie Jackson. Rickey Henderson. Barry Zito. Yoenis Cespedes.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Yet it’s not always the big-name players whom fans are saddest to see go.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Next season, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13914585/hal-the-hot-dog-guy-oakland-coliseum-hella-hungry\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hal Gordon\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> — better known as “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/ashotdog\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hal the Hot Dog Guy\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">” — will not return as the stadium’s most well-known food vendor. Gordon \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AsHotDog/status/1585008321811320832\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">first shared the news on Twitter\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to his loyal cadre of fans last week, announcing his decision to depart from the A’s after six seasons. As a graduate student in the process of earning his PhD in Economics at UC Berkeley, Gordon will transition away from the role that has brought him local fame and adoration: hawking hot dogs and being a friendly jokester.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Along with his well-known shticks, like shouting “Let’s ketchup!” in late innings whenever the A’s were losing, Gordon also cared for the fans and the city, often bringing \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13914585/hal-the-hot-dog-guy-oakland-coliseum-hella-hungry\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">his own array of extra condiments\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that are otherwise unavailable at the Coliseum — such as jalapeño mustard and capers — and supporting local charities by donating a portion of his tips.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Since he’s working to complete his degree, Gordon had been hoping that the A’s would hire him long-term at closer to the salary that a PhD economist would make — \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AsHotDog/status/1585717211489935361\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">perhaps as the team’s in-house data scientist\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. But he knew it was a long shot.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Creating this character and hearing people tell me I’ve become part of their experience [at the Coliseum] was just som\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ething that kept me going during grad school,” Gordon says. “I get it, I understand [the A’s] are in a tough spot. I was never an employee of the team. I’m the employee of a subcontractor. I’m sure the organization is more worried about keeping employees who have been there much longer than me. I gave my all and it just couldn’t be.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fans have resorted to tweeting out their frustration, even asking A’s owner, Dave Kaval, to reconsider.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For those who have no connection to the Oakland A’s community, it may seem farcical to see fans getting so emotional about losing a food vendor. But if you’ve sat in the Coliseum, endured the recent onslaught of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/aug/31/feral-cats-few-fans-and-lewd-acts-is-the-as-era-in-oakland-over\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ridicule and scrutiny in the media\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and ridden the rollercoaster of on-field disappointment that the Oakland A’s have embarrassingly served up, then you’d know how it feels to be losing out on a rare bright spot — even if it’s something as seemingly unremarkable as a fun-loving, community-focused hot dog server.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gordon isn’t the first beloved doggie slinger to win the hearts of green and gold fans. In 2019, Jimmy Graff, whom Gordon praised as his mentor and inspiration, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2019/12/29/giants-athletics-popular-hot-dog-vendor-jimmy-graff-dies-49/2769223001/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">passed away at age 49\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, leaving the A’s community distraught. In his place, Gordon rose in popularity and proudly continued Graff’s legacy as a goofy, carefree and passionate vendor — even dressing up in an old-timey striped uniform that Graff created — at one of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://ballparkdigest.com/2022/06/02/we-knew-things-at-the-coliseum-were-bad-but-the-as-say-theyre-worse/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Major League Baseball’s notoriously “worst” venues\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Despite the many flaws inside East Oakland’s dilapidated baseball cathedral, it’s the diehard fans and workers like Gordon — as well as Graff and many others before them — who have kept the experience vibrant over the years. This season, in particular, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHZR75QjAIA\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gordon’s well-known love for hot dogs and pranks\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> has given attendees something to look forward to in an otherwise dismal campaign that ended with a last-place finish. By going beyond the call of duty to bring extra condiments on BART and creating his own chants, Gordon has gained the undying support of the Bay Area’s underdog baseball team — and those who call its stadium home.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I grew up at the Coliseum, so I’m familiar with hot dog vendors. When Hal came around, he was another one of those Coliseum charms. The position isn’t going away, but I will always remember those moments he gave us as a hawker with the A’s,” says Bryan Johansen. He’s the co-founder of \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://lastdivebar.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Last Dive Bar\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, an online A’s apparel shop independently run by him and his two friends, Carl Moren and Paul Bailey, since 2019.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "“Over time, Gordon’s Twitter feed has become a live photo gallery of real faces at the Coliseum. He is, quite literally, a man among the people.”",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In 2020, Last Dive Bar teamed up with Gordon to create shirts with slogans like \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://lastdivebar.com/products/gimme-an-a-tee\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Gimme an A!”\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and “Hal’s My Pal” — all phrases popularized by Gordon and his fans during his tenure. Each tee is illustrated by \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AsFanByDesign\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A’s Fan by Design\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, with proceeds going to the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.accfb.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alameda County Community Food Bank\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s all a reflection of your experiences [at the Coliseum],” Johansen says. “It’s about people’s connection to being a fan of their favorite team and their baseball stadium. Hal is a part of those aspects.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gordon embodies a sense of organic community that is strong among A’s fans, who’ve arguably endured more suffering than any of the remaining Bay Area sports franchises. Over time, Gordon’s Twitter feed has become a live photo gallery of real faces at the Coliseum in a way that sports media would never be able to portray. He is, quite literally, a man among the people. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/sports/athletics-likely-leave-oakland-las-vegas-mlb-commissioner-says\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">dramatic turmoil surrounding the future of the Oakland A’s\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> has allowed figures like Gordon to become even more noticeable. There’s a reason Gordon was embraced in Oakland and not, for instance, in San Francisco — where Gordon would occasionally vend as well.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The blessing of being an A’s fan and working for the A’s is that there was so much room and oxygen to try new things and do new things,” he says. “I’ve gotten to know so many people there by name and by face, and have made so many friends. I know every single season ticket holder. That wouldn’t have been possible at almost any other stadium. It’s a blessing.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For Gordon, it’s about the friendships he’s made and the good memories he’s been a part of, especially during a time of negativity surrounding sports franchises in Oakland. It fueled him to do what he did during his time behind the proverbial food plate — especially when it came to younger fans.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "“I know every single season ticket holder. That wouldn’t have been possible at almost any other stadium.”",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Hal created lasting moments for my son and for the future generation of fans,” says Johansen. “My son knows his name. He’s not super into baseball, but he remembers names: Ramón [Laureano], [Tony] Kemp, Hal. Hal took the time to make the moment special for him and other kids.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">One of the ways he has done that is by gifting homemade prank ketchup bottles that shoot out red string — another Gordon signature — to excitable young fans, including \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/SandLot408/status/1585720636885696512\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Johansen’s son\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Gordon also gives away Hal the Hot Dog Guy trading cards, which kids and adults alike have been known to collect. (I have a few stashed away with my lifetime A’s memorabilia.)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When the games were over and the lights turned off, Gordon was often one of the last workers to leave the Coliseum. Often, he could be found at community events throughout the East Bay, too.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“He helped organize a great Fan Fest earlier this year with the Oakland 68s,” \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AlexEspinozaIV/status/1587537588310589440\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">tweeted Alex Espinoza of 95.7 The Game\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. “Won’t be the same without him!”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Mike Delia — \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmta.com/blog/transit-driver-appreciation-day-meet-mr-boston\">a San Francisco public transit operator\u003c/a> — credits Gordon as the inspiration behind him creating his own MUNI-themed baseball cards. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Another fan started \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/jstemily/status/1587536959248793600\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">an online petition to keep Gordon at the Coliseum\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that has more than 250 signatures so far.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For every game of the A’s season, there’s a story about Gordon’s kindness or goofball antics to be told. Still, he knows the magic will remain, with or without his hot dogs.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The most important part is that we were just having fun. Those of us at the stadium just had fun together,” says Gordon. “This East Bay community isn’t going anywhere. Those friendships, the people, the fandom — it’s bigger than the politics and whims of any one person.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Who can’t rally around that?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12904247 aligncenter\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A curated selection of photos were submitted by Oakland A’s fans in response to \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/alan_chazaro/status/1587502450436542464\">this Tweet\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13921226\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-kid.jpg\" alt=\"Hot dog vendor in old-timey striped vest poses with a young A's fan.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-kid.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-kid-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-kid-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-kid-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-kid-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-kid-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13921225\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-fans.jpg\" alt=\"Hot dog vendor holds a tray of condiments surrounded by smiling A's fans.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1442\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-fans.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-fans-800x601.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-fans-1020x766.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-fans-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-fans-768x577.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-with-fans-1536x1154.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13921227\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-young-fan-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-young-fan-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-young-fan-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-young-fan-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-young-fan.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13921229\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-feelmore.jpg\" alt='Man in a green \"Binding Vote Szn\" t-shirt poses with a woman in a black baseball cap.' width=\"1200\" height=\"1600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/11/hal-feelmore.jpg 1200w, 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"title": "Why This Hot Dog Vendor Is the Oakland Coliseum’s Biggest Hit",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>¡Hella Hungry! is a weekly conversation with Bay Area foodmakers, exploring the region’s culinary culture through the mouth of a first-generation local.\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the Oakland Athletics’ losing record and a ruthless cycle of bashing the team’s paltry stadium this season in \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/15/sports/baseball/oakland-athletics-attendance.html\">national\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2022/06/01/cat-feces-cobwebs-moths-oakland-as-complain-about-coliseum-conditions/\">local media outlets \u003c/a>(sorry, Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, but you’ve been out-bashed), there’s at least one statistic where the A’s remain undefeated: hot dogs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because the A’s, who can’t seem to win back their fans, are currently being sustained by Hal Gordon, an all-star hot dog vendor with an entire lineup of nicknames. He’s Hal the Pal, Hal the Hot Dog Guy and Hal the Hot Dog Economist—\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AsHotDog/status/1519352157308293121\">he even has a set of trading cards\u003c/a> and sponsored pins he signs and gives out to fans. It’s no stretch to say this red-and-white-stripe uniformed food purveyor is more popular than the current players on the field. \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AsHotDog/status/1529963148492476416\">Hal even brings his own extra condiments\u003c/a> like jalapeño mustard and capers to serve fans, since they aren’t provided otherwise, making him a beloved fixture with A’s diehards and first-timers alike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101889374/for-oakland-as-fans-its-not-been-a-field-of-dreams\">Hal recently appeared with me as a guest on \u003ci>Forum\u003c/i>, hosted by KQED’s Alexis Madrigal\u003c/a>, to speak with baseball experts and fans about the team’s dire situation. (He is a PhD student at UC Berkeley studying economics, after all). But besides the drama surrounding this team, there’s a playfulness to Hal and what he delivers—and it’s served from a 53-pound steamer he lugs around for approximately 8,340 steps each game.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I caught up with him while the Boston Red Sox were in town to discuss his favorite style of dogs and his love for Bay Area food. Here’s what baseball’s celebrity food slinger had to say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>********\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KQED: What are your early memories of hot dogs at baseball games?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m from Chicago, so I remember being a kid at Wrigley Field. There are weird rules around hot dogs [in Chicago]. Kids are allowed to have ketchup on the hot dog. But once you turn 13, you’re supposed to get rid of the ketchup.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13914588\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13914588 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/hotdoghal_dog-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"woman holds a hot dog with jalapenos, onions, and ketchup at a baseball game\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/hotdoghal_dog-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/hotdoghal_dog-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/hotdoghal_dog-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/hotdoghal_dog-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/hotdoghal_dog-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/hotdoghal_dog-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/hotdoghal_dog-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An Oakland A’s fan shows off her hot dog with speciality toppings like capers, mayonnaise and more \u003ccite>(Briana Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What differentiates your hot dogs from the concession stands?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hot dog itself starts the same. But when it’s delivered in the steamer, the hot dogs are plumper than when you cook them. Steaming allows water to get into the hot dog and puffs it up as opposed to grilling it. When most people vend hot dogs, they are already pre-rolled. The hot dog is in a bun and rolled up in foil. Those lose their temperature, and the buns also get soggy. Besides that, the differences are mostly the condiments I offer. And bringing the service right to your seat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Hear Hal the Hot Dog Guy in action:\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003caudio controls=\"controls\">\u003c/audio>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Can you list off each condiment and topping you offer? How many varieties of hot dogs can you prepare? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve got ketchup, mustard, relish, mayo, Sriracha, onions, sauerkraut, jalapeños [and] capers. Of the mustards, I have four right now. Regular yellow, golden brown, and on the super secret menu I have two more—one is a hot jalapeño mustard, and the other is called Coney Island mustard, which is honey mustard with chunks of onions and tomatoes. That last one is shipped from Oregon. Oh, and I have sweet relish and dill relish. That’s 13 different condiments. That’s about [\u003cem>takes a long pause, mumbles calculations\u003c/em>] 8,192 ways to serve a hot dog. Right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You bring your own condiments to the games. How did that start?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I started out, I used whatever the Coliseum had. We had yellow and brown mustard, ketchup, sweet relish, sauerkraut, jalapeño and onions. I added some mustards for variety, and one day someone asked for mayo, so I brought that. It grew from there. Last year when COVID hit, the Coliseum wasn’t able to provide any condiments, so I wanted to make sure the fans got what they need. The vending company reimburses me, so it’s not exactly on my dime. But I go to the restaurant supply stores myself and bring big cases of condiments myself. At the beginning of the last homestand I ran out of some ingredients, so I grabbed my backpacking backpack and filled it with the giant gallon bottles of sauerkraut and took BART.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What are some of the less popular hot dog styles you’ve dished out?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rarest thing is when someone only orders toppings and no sauce. Someone once asked me to pile on onions only, all my onions. Another guy only orders the spicy items: Sriracha, jalapeños, jalapeño mustard, with extra of each. One fan brings her own gluten-free buns because she’s gluten intolerant. She’ll pull out a sandwich baggie with a bun and hand it to me. Some of the hot dog pros will ask me to put the condiments first and the dog on top. There’s less spillage. I know when someone knows their way around a hot dog when they ask for that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/AsHotDog/status/1529963148492476416\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You’re famously vegetarian. Why don’t you serve veggie dogs?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m hoping to get veggie dogs soon. The problem is the steamer; it’s a pan with a small flame beneath it and about an inch of water. The steam water gets meaty, full of dissolved hot dog fat. If you put a veggie dog in the same steamer, it would get covered in animal fat. Recently, I’ve been working with a welder to try and design a pan that has a water tight divider. Normally, I can fit 40 hot dogs in my steamer. In this pan we’re designing, I could fit maybe 35 regulars and 5 veggies, with a separate compartment. I’m hoping that I’ll have that pan sometime in the next month. In the Bay Area, I bet I could sell a couple a game. I’d like to offer that because I myself am vegetarian, but also, the whole idea of my existence as the hot dog guy is that this is a fan service. It’s a fan-centered experience. When they ask for something, it becomes my goal to provide it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Where do you go to get the best veggie dogs in the Bay Area?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://topdoghotdogs.com/\">Top Dog\u003c/a> in Berkeley. Instead of a bun, it’s served on a French loaf. That’s such a great touch. They also have at least 10 other types of sausages and dogs and a huge condiment bar. As someone who grew up in Chicago with the dogs there and all the condiments on a Chicago dog, it really taught me that hot dogs aren’t just good, but what’s most fun about the food is that it becomes a canvas for whatever flavors you want. I also want to say: I don’t eat bacon-wrapped Mission dogs because of the meat, but whether you get them near the BART or in San Francisco, it’s great to see. Shout out to all those vendors who work with those flat tops making fresh bacon dogs. It’s a good hustle. It just ticks me off when I see stories about the cops harassing those guys. That’s part of the Bay Area culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Besides hot dogs, what do you most appreciate from the Bay Area’s food spectrum?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13914042,arts_13913985']The burrito is the best food here. Growing up in Chicago, getting a burrito for me meant going to Taco Bell. And I can still remember the first time they opened a Chipotle in my suburb. I haven’t been to a Chipotle since moving here. Fifty years ago, if you were to say what’s the iconic American food, you’d probably say the hot dog or maybe the cheeseburger. But now, honestly, I think there’s an argument to be made that a burrito from the Mission is a more iconic American food. Vallarta in the Mission has a killer eggplant or nopal veggie burrito.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What do you enjoy about serving hot dogs at baseball games?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Going to sporting events is so evocative of all our childhoods. It’s about remembering what we remembered as kids and getting excited about it. A while back there were only two vendors: hot dogs and beer. The steamer I use, it’s definitely older than me. I actually tried looking it up before, and it’s made somewhere in New Jersey; I can’t find any evidence of that company even existing anymore. That makes it fun. It used to be how hot dogs were sold decades ago in this Coliseum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I almost forgot to ask: ketchup or mustard only?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Listen, like any self-respecting Chicagoan, I don’t put ketchup on my hot dog. But like any good server, there’s no judgment from me. Like I said, what’s nice about ordering a hot dog is that you’re always in the driver’s seat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/AsHotDog/status/1525329866698027008\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Find Hal yelling and chanting his way around Ring Central Coliseum on 7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland. Check \u003ca href=\"https://www.mlb.com/athletics/schedule/2022-06\">the A’s schedule\u003c/a> for home games.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>¡Hella Hungry! is a weekly conversation with Bay Area foodmakers, exploring the region’s culinary culture through the mouth of a first-generation local.\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the Oakland Athletics’ losing record and a ruthless cycle of bashing the team’s paltry stadium this season in \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/15/sports/baseball/oakland-athletics-attendance.html\">national\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2022/06/01/cat-feces-cobwebs-moths-oakland-as-complain-about-coliseum-conditions/\">local media outlets \u003c/a>(sorry, Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, but you’ve been out-bashed), there’s at least one statistic where the A’s remain undefeated: hot dogs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because the A’s, who can’t seem to win back their fans, are currently being sustained by Hal Gordon, an all-star hot dog vendor with an entire lineup of nicknames. He’s Hal the Pal, Hal the Hot Dog Guy and Hal the Hot Dog Economist—\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AsHotDog/status/1519352157308293121\">he even has a set of trading cards\u003c/a> and sponsored pins he signs and gives out to fans. It’s no stretch to say this red-and-white-stripe uniformed food purveyor is more popular than the current players on the field. \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AsHotDog/status/1529963148492476416\">Hal even brings his own extra condiments\u003c/a> like jalapeño mustard and capers to serve fans, since they aren’t provided otherwise, making him a beloved fixture with A’s diehards and first-timers alike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101889374/for-oakland-as-fans-its-not-been-a-field-of-dreams\">Hal recently appeared with me as a guest on \u003ci>Forum\u003c/i>, hosted by KQED’s Alexis Madrigal\u003c/a>, to speak with baseball experts and fans about the team’s dire situation. (He is a PhD student at UC Berkeley studying economics, after all). But besides the drama surrounding this team, there’s a playfulness to Hal and what he delivers—and it’s served from a 53-pound steamer he lugs around for approximately 8,340 steps each game.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I caught up with him while the Boston Red Sox were in town to discuss his favorite style of dogs and his love for Bay Area food. Here’s what baseball’s celebrity food slinger had to say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>********\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>KQED: What are your early memories of hot dogs at baseball games?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m from Chicago, so I remember being a kid at Wrigley Field. There are weird rules around hot dogs [in Chicago]. Kids are allowed to have ketchup on the hot dog. But once you turn 13, you’re supposed to get rid of the ketchup.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13914588\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13914588 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/hotdoghal_dog-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"woman holds a hot dog with jalapenos, onions, and ketchup at a baseball game\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/hotdoghal_dog-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/hotdoghal_dog-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/hotdoghal_dog-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/hotdoghal_dog-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/hotdoghal_dog-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/hotdoghal_dog-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/hotdoghal_dog-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An Oakland A’s fan shows off her hot dog with speciality toppings like capers, mayonnaise and more \u003ccite>(Briana Chazaro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What differentiates your hot dogs from the concession stands?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hot dog itself starts the same. But when it’s delivered in the steamer, the hot dogs are plumper than when you cook them. Steaming allows water to get into the hot dog and puffs it up as opposed to grilling it. When most people vend hot dogs, they are already pre-rolled. The hot dog is in a bun and rolled up in foil. Those lose their temperature, and the buns also get soggy. Besides that, the differences are mostly the condiments I offer. And bringing the service right to your seat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Hear Hal the Hot Dog Guy in action:\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003caudio controls=\"controls\">\u003c/audio>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Can you list off each condiment and topping you offer? How many varieties of hot dogs can you prepare? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve got ketchup, mustard, relish, mayo, Sriracha, onions, sauerkraut, jalapeños [and] capers. Of the mustards, I have four right now. Regular yellow, golden brown, and on the super secret menu I have two more—one is a hot jalapeño mustard, and the other is called Coney Island mustard, which is honey mustard with chunks of onions and tomatoes. That last one is shipped from Oregon. Oh, and I have sweet relish and dill relish. That’s 13 different condiments. That’s about [\u003cem>takes a long pause, mumbles calculations\u003c/em>] 8,192 ways to serve a hot dog. Right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You bring your own condiments to the games. How did that start?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I started out, I used whatever the Coliseum had. We had yellow and brown mustard, ketchup, sweet relish, sauerkraut, jalapeño and onions. I added some mustards for variety, and one day someone asked for mayo, so I brought that. It grew from there. Last year when COVID hit, the Coliseum wasn’t able to provide any condiments, so I wanted to make sure the fans got what they need. The vending company reimburses me, so it’s not exactly on my dime. But I go to the restaurant supply stores myself and bring big cases of condiments myself. At the beginning of the last homestand I ran out of some ingredients, so I grabbed my backpacking backpack and filled it with the giant gallon bottles of sauerkraut and took BART.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What are some of the less popular hot dog styles you’ve dished out?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rarest thing is when someone only orders toppings and no sauce. Someone once asked me to pile on onions only, all my onions. Another guy only orders the spicy items: Sriracha, jalapeños, jalapeño mustard, with extra of each. One fan brings her own gluten-free buns because she’s gluten intolerant. She’ll pull out a sandwich baggie with a bun and hand it to me. Some of the hot dog pros will ask me to put the condiments first and the dog on top. There’s less spillage. I know when someone knows their way around a hot dog when they ask for that.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>You’re famously vegetarian. Why don’t you serve veggie dogs?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m hoping to get veggie dogs soon. The problem is the steamer; it’s a pan with a small flame beneath it and about an inch of water. The steam water gets meaty, full of dissolved hot dog fat. If you put a veggie dog in the same steamer, it would get covered in animal fat. Recently, I’ve been working with a welder to try and design a pan that has a water tight divider. Normally, I can fit 40 hot dogs in my steamer. In this pan we’re designing, I could fit maybe 35 regulars and 5 veggies, with a separate compartment. I’m hoping that I’ll have that pan sometime in the next month. In the Bay Area, I bet I could sell a couple a game. I’d like to offer that because I myself am vegetarian, but also, the whole idea of my existence as the hot dog guy is that this is a fan service. It’s a fan-centered experience. When they ask for something, it becomes my goal to provide it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Where do you go to get the best veggie dogs in the Bay Area?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://topdoghotdogs.com/\">Top Dog\u003c/a> in Berkeley. Instead of a bun, it’s served on a French loaf. That’s such a great touch. They also have at least 10 other types of sausages and dogs and a huge condiment bar. As someone who grew up in Chicago with the dogs there and all the condiments on a Chicago dog, it really taught me that hot dogs aren’t just good, but what’s most fun about the food is that it becomes a canvas for whatever flavors you want. I also want to say: I don’t eat bacon-wrapped Mission dogs because of the meat, but whether you get them near the BART or in San Francisco, it’s great to see. Shout out to all those vendors who work with those flat tops making fresh bacon dogs. It’s a good hustle. It just ticks me off when I see stories about the cops harassing those guys. That’s part of the Bay Area culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Besides hot dogs, what do you most appreciate from the Bay Area’s food spectrum?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The burrito is the best food here. Growing up in Chicago, getting a burrito for me meant going to Taco Bell. And I can still remember the first time they opened a Chipotle in my suburb. I haven’t been to a Chipotle since moving here. Fifty years ago, if you were to say what’s the iconic American food, you’d probably say the hot dog or maybe the cheeseburger. But now, honestly, I think there’s an argument to be made that a burrito from the Mission is a more iconic American food. Vallarta in the Mission has a killer eggplant or nopal veggie burrito.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>What do you enjoy about serving hot dogs at baseball games?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Going to sporting events is so evocative of all our childhoods. It’s about remembering what we remembered as kids and getting excited about it. A while back there were only two vendors: hot dogs and beer. The steamer I use, it’s definitely older than me. I actually tried looking it up before, and it’s made somewhere in New Jersey; I can’t find any evidence of that company even existing anymore. That makes it fun. It used to be how hot dogs were sold decades ago in this Coliseum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I almost forgot to ask: ketchup or mustard only?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Listen, like any self-respecting Chicagoan, I don’t put ketchup on my hot dog. But like any good server, there’s no judgment from me. Like I said, what’s nice about ordering a hot dog is that you’re always in the driver’s seat.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Find Hal yelling and chanting his way around Ring Central Coliseum on 7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland. Check \u003ca href=\"https://www.mlb.com/athletics/schedule/2022-06\">the A’s schedule\u003c/a> for home games.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Why Can’t BJ Boyd Get His Shot?",
"headTitle": "Why Can’t BJ Boyd Get His Shot? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>BJ Boyd is soaking up his last few days in Palo Alto on a recent May afternoon. Two-year-old daughter Bria is climbing on daddy while he’s on the phone. When wife Tatiana returns in the evening, the family will enjoy a walk around the neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once he finalizes his dual citizenship documentation, Boyd plans to return to Mexico for the regular season with the \u003ca href=\"http://acereros.com.mx/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Acereros de Monclova\u003c/a>, a team of former MLB All-Stars, Gold Glove winners and castoffs. It’s the first time the Palo Alto High School graduate has ventured outside of the United States during an athletic career that includes stints with the Oakland A’s and Minnesota Twins organizations, broken up by a season playing football at Foothill College in Los Altos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A week earlier, Boyd was playing preseason games in the Mexican League, a rough equivalent to Triple-A baseball. On his Acereros roster were Pablo Sandoval, the 2012 World Series hero for the San Francisco Giants; Chris Carter, the former Oakland A’s prospect who led the American League in home runs in 2016; and Bruce Maxwell, the former A’s catcher who in 2017 was the first MLB player to kneel during the national anthem in protest of police brutality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13910698']After a recent team photoshoot in front of the Monclova stadium, Boyd got a glimpse of the steel town (Acereros translates to “Steelers”) while riding in the back of a truck. Monclova, a three-hour drive south of the Texas border, is a long way from Palo Alto, where Tatiana is expecting the couple’s second child in September. She recently resigned from her job with the school district to care for Bria full-time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It takes a special family dynamic to want to go through this,” said Tatiana, who plans to visit BJ in June and July. “The 2-year-old takes it hard when Dad leaves. I was excited because I wanted to visit and experience something new. You only live once, and why not?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CdeJadEOWxh/\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘I Have to Leave the States to Make More Money’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Mexican League contract is the biggest of Boyd’s career. The team provides players with shared apartments—humble dwellings for professional athletes looking to jump-start careers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I can play with these big leaguers here, I can play with them in the States,” said the burly left-handed hitter who batted .319 with 15 homers in Double-A last season with the Minnesota Twins organization. “Some of my teammates ask, ‘How did you not get a shot?’ It is what it is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The “shot” Boyd seeks is in the majors, where a declining percentage of Black players—from a high of 18% in the 1980s to around 7% last season—leads Boyd wondering if more than stats have kept him from opportunities. He isn’t alone. In 2020, after police killings of unarmed Black civilians led to national protests, a group of Black baseball players formed the \u003ca href=\"https://www.playersalliance.org/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Players Alliance\u003c/a>, aimed at growing diversity and equity in the game. MLB has pledged to donate up to $150 million over 10 years to the organization. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t add up for me as an African American player that I have to leave the States to make more money,” Boyd said. “There’s a reason Bruce is in the (Mexican) league. He took a knee.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13913456\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.TraderJoes-800x571.jpg\" alt=\"A sign mounted at Trader Joe's across from Palo Alto High School in 2012, congratulating BJ Boyd on his signing with the Oakland A's.\" width=\"800\" height=\"571\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13913456\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.TraderJoes-800x571.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.TraderJoes-1020x728.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.TraderJoes-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.TraderJoes-768x548.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.TraderJoes-1536x1097.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.TraderJoes.jpg 1574w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign mounted at Trader Joe’s across from Palo Alto High School in 2012, congratulating BJ Boyd on his signing with the Oakland A’s. \u003ccite>(Nina Thorsen/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A Brush With the A’s, and a Return to Football\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>After being drafted by the A’s in 2012, Boyd proved a consistent hitter during his first five seasons in the lower minor leagues—taking buses from town to town, living with host families. The center fielder’s breakout season came in 2017 when, while playing with Double-A Midland, he was in contention for the Texas League batting title and finished third, hitting .323.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He played in 2018 with Triple-A Nashville, one level below the A’s, and hit .271 with 49 RBIs. But with a crowded outfield in Oakland, Boyd didn’t like his chances of making the MLB roster in spring training. After seven minor-league seasons, and with his college football eligibility intact, Boyd returned to the other sport he excelled at in his youth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a teenager, Boyd jumped at the A’s signing bonus instead of pursuing college football. “The instant money was right there, and I didn’t come from money,” Boyd said. It’s a decision he regrets after years in the minors of getting passed for opportunities he feels he deserved. When the A’s drafted dual-sport athlete Kyler Murray in 2018, Boyd wasn’t surprised when the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback turned down the A’s offer for instant stardom in the NFL.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dual sport athletes were once more common, with Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders setting the standard for NFL-MLB crossovers in the 1980s and 1990s. Jackson is the only player to become an MLB All-Star and NFL Pro Bowl player. Sanders once played in an NFL game and MLB playoff game on the same day. Over the last 20 years, however, as professional teams invest more money in players and athletes become more specialized, the trend has fallen off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even more uncommon is what Boyd attempted. At age 26, the 230-pounder was eight years older than many of his Foothill teammates. He brought “a sense of maturity that the young guys followed,” assistant coach Brandon Younger said. Working as a security guard at night, Boyd took classes during the day. On the football field, the running back totaled 653 total yards and six touchdowns for an Owls team that finished the 2019 regular season unbeaten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13913458\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.night_-800x503.jpg\" alt=\"A young couple holds their toddler daughter on the baseball field at night. \" width=\"800\" height=\"503\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13913458\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.night_-800x503.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.night_-1020x641.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.night_-160x101.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.night_-768x482.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.night_-1536x965.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.night_-1920x1206.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.night_.jpg 2009w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘He’s always made something out of nothing,” says wife Tatiana (left) of BJ Boyd. The couple are currently expecting their second child together. \u003ccite>(Courtesy the Boyd Family)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘Home Run After Home Run’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“He didn’t grow up with a lot,” said Tatiana, who as a child lived blocks away from BJ in north Palo Alto. The two began dating when she returned from college. “He’s always had to make something out of nothing, always looking for the next thing to do to get better as a person.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for Tatiana, “She’s the reason why I get to play,” Boyd said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortly after the football season, Tatiana gave birth to Bria. When the coronavirus struck in 2020, the MLB season was postponed and Foothill’s football season was canceled. BJ and Tatiana got married in September 2020 in Carmel, at a time when Boyd was unsure of his athletic future. He resumed coaching youth baseball teams—Top Tier and Swagger Athletics—in the South Bay, and worked out with a personal trainer to stay prepared for his next professional opportunity. (Boyd continues to work with area youth; in February, he joined Oakland native and former MLB All-Star Tyson Ross in hosting a free baseball clinic at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.riekes.org/athletic-fitness\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Riekes Center\u003c/a> in Menlo Park.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2021, Boyd gave baseball another chance. After a brief stint with an independent league team, the Twins signed him to a minor-league deal. The outfielder established himself as one the league’s best hitters with Double-A Wichita. And for the first time in his career, he was driving the ball out of the park. “He was hitting home run after home run,” recalls Tatiana, who flew to the Midwest with Bria to catch the hot hitting in person. “He knew he was back and he wanted to stay back. He was on fire and it was so much fun to watch.” Boyd’s previous season high for homers was eight; he equaled that total over a nine-game span in August alone. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Boyd was called up to Triple-A St. Paul, where his hitting fell off. Despite his impressive Double-A statistics, coming after two years away from baseball, Boyd didn’t receive MLB calls once the owners’ lockout ended this spring. Then Monclova offered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13913457\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.Acereros.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a blue baseball uniform runs the bases on the baseball diamond.\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13913457\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.Acereros.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.Acereros-160x160.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">BJ Boyd in uniform for the Acereros, in Monclova, where he hopes to join a roster that includes Bay Area favorites Pablo Sandoval and Josh Reddick. \u003ccite>(Courtesy the Boyd Family)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A League in Need of His Hitting\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“For me, going to Mexico, I feel way better,” said Boyd, who hopes to join an active roster that includes former A’s Gold Glove winner Josh Reddick. “People make jokes and say it’s an exile league. They take care of their players better than the minor leagues. They pay better than the States.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the current MLB season rolls along, Boyd can’t help but notice paltry offensive stats across the league. The A’s, who once drafted Boyd, currently have a .199 team batting average. The Arizona Diamondbacks are hitting .203. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/2022-standard-batting.shtml\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">league average is .234\u003c/a>, on pace to be the worst average in its 152-year history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Boyd’s ability to hit for a high average is a skill that, in recent years, has been devalued by MLB teams whose analytics say batters should swing for the fences, or not at all. But with MLB hitters struggling at historic levels—perhaps because of a \u003ca href=\"https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10034259-mlbs-ball-controversy-could-define-the-2022-season\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">controversial alteration to the baseballs\u003c/a>—Boyd could draw the attention of teams in need of a bat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If it comes I would definitely take it,” Boyd said of an MLB offer. “But I’d rather stay in Mexico than go back to the minor leagues. I’ve already been to Triple-A and Double-A. I’ve already proven myself. But why didn’t I get my chance? That’s my question to the MLB.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The Palo Alto-raised outfielder hits well, with good stats and plenty of drive. So why's he playing in Mexico?",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>BJ Boyd is soaking up his last few days in Palo Alto on a recent May afternoon. Two-year-old daughter Bria is climbing on daddy while he’s on the phone. When wife Tatiana returns in the evening, the family will enjoy a walk around the neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once he finalizes his dual citizenship documentation, Boyd plans to return to Mexico for the regular season with the \u003ca href=\"http://acereros.com.mx/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Acereros de Monclova\u003c/a>, a team of former MLB All-Stars, Gold Glove winners and castoffs. It’s the first time the Palo Alto High School graduate has ventured outside of the United States during an athletic career that includes stints with the Oakland A’s and Minnesota Twins organizations, broken up by a season playing football at Foothill College in Los Altos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A week earlier, Boyd was playing preseason games in the Mexican League, a rough equivalent to Triple-A baseball. On his Acereros roster were Pablo Sandoval, the 2012 World Series hero for the San Francisco Giants; Chris Carter, the former Oakland A’s prospect who led the American League in home runs in 2016; and Bruce Maxwell, the former A’s catcher who in 2017 was the first MLB player to kneel during the national anthem in protest of police brutality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>After a recent team photoshoot in front of the Monclova stadium, Boyd got a glimpse of the steel town (Acereros translates to “Steelers”) while riding in the back of a truck. Monclova, a three-hour drive south of the Texas border, is a long way from Palo Alto, where Tatiana is expecting the couple’s second child in September. She recently resigned from her job with the school district to care for Bria full-time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It takes a special family dynamic to want to go through this,” said Tatiana, who plans to visit BJ in June and July. “The 2-year-old takes it hard when Dad leaves. I was excited because I wanted to visit and experience something new. You only live once, and why not?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003ch2>‘I Have to Leave the States to Make More Money’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Mexican League contract is the biggest of Boyd’s career. The team provides players with shared apartments—humble dwellings for professional athletes looking to jump-start careers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If I can play with these big leaguers here, I can play with them in the States,” said the burly left-handed hitter who batted .319 with 15 homers in Double-A last season with the Minnesota Twins organization. “Some of my teammates ask, ‘How did you not get a shot?’ It is what it is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The “shot” Boyd seeks is in the majors, where a declining percentage of Black players—from a high of 18% in the 1980s to around 7% last season—leads Boyd wondering if more than stats have kept him from opportunities. He isn’t alone. In 2020, after police killings of unarmed Black civilians led to national protests, a group of Black baseball players formed the \u003ca href=\"https://www.playersalliance.org/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Players Alliance\u003c/a>, aimed at growing diversity and equity in the game. MLB has pledged to donate up to $150 million over 10 years to the organization. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t add up for me as an African American player that I have to leave the States to make more money,” Boyd said. “There’s a reason Bruce is in the (Mexican) league. He took a knee.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13913456\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.TraderJoes-800x571.jpg\" alt=\"A sign mounted at Trader Joe's across from Palo Alto High School in 2012, congratulating BJ Boyd on his signing with the Oakland A's.\" width=\"800\" height=\"571\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13913456\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.TraderJoes-800x571.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.TraderJoes-1020x728.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.TraderJoes-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.TraderJoes-768x548.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.TraderJoes-1536x1097.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.TraderJoes.jpg 1574w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign mounted at Trader Joe’s across from Palo Alto High School in 2012, congratulating BJ Boyd on his signing with the Oakland A’s. \u003ccite>(Nina Thorsen/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A Brush With the A’s, and a Return to Football\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>After being drafted by the A’s in 2012, Boyd proved a consistent hitter during his first five seasons in the lower minor leagues—taking buses from town to town, living with host families. The center fielder’s breakout season came in 2017 when, while playing with Double-A Midland, he was in contention for the Texas League batting title and finished third, hitting .323.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He played in 2018 with Triple-A Nashville, one level below the A’s, and hit .271 with 49 RBIs. But with a crowded outfield in Oakland, Boyd didn’t like his chances of making the MLB roster in spring training. After seven minor-league seasons, and with his college football eligibility intact, Boyd returned to the other sport he excelled at in his youth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a teenager, Boyd jumped at the A’s signing bonus instead of pursuing college football. “The instant money was right there, and I didn’t come from money,” Boyd said. It’s a decision he regrets after years in the minors of getting passed for opportunities he feels he deserved. When the A’s drafted dual-sport athlete Kyler Murray in 2018, Boyd wasn’t surprised when the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback turned down the A’s offer for instant stardom in the NFL.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dual sport athletes were once more common, with Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders setting the standard for NFL-MLB crossovers in the 1980s and 1990s. Jackson is the only player to become an MLB All-Star and NFL Pro Bowl player. Sanders once played in an NFL game and MLB playoff game on the same day. Over the last 20 years, however, as professional teams invest more money in players and athletes become more specialized, the trend has fallen off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even more uncommon is what Boyd attempted. At age 26, the 230-pounder was eight years older than many of his Foothill teammates. He brought “a sense of maturity that the young guys followed,” assistant coach Brandon Younger said. Working as a security guard at night, Boyd took classes during the day. On the football field, the running back totaled 653 total yards and six touchdowns for an Owls team that finished the 2019 regular season unbeaten.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13913458\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.night_-800x503.jpg\" alt=\"A young couple holds their toddler daughter on the baseball field at night. \" width=\"800\" height=\"503\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13913458\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.night_-800x503.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.night_-1020x641.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.night_-160x101.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.night_-768x482.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.night_-1536x965.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.night_-1920x1206.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.night_.jpg 2009w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘He’s always made something out of nothing,” says wife Tatiana (left) of BJ Boyd. The couple are currently expecting their second child together. \u003ccite>(Courtesy the Boyd Family)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘Home Run After Home Run’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“He didn’t grow up with a lot,” said Tatiana, who as a child lived blocks away from BJ in north Palo Alto. The two began dating when she returned from college. “He’s always had to make something out of nothing, always looking for the next thing to do to get better as a person.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for Tatiana, “She’s the reason why I get to play,” Boyd said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortly after the football season, Tatiana gave birth to Bria. When the coronavirus struck in 2020, the MLB season was postponed and Foothill’s football season was canceled. BJ and Tatiana got married in September 2020 in Carmel, at a time when Boyd was unsure of his athletic future. He resumed coaching youth baseball teams—Top Tier and Swagger Athletics—in the South Bay, and worked out with a personal trainer to stay prepared for his next professional opportunity. (Boyd continues to work with area youth; in February, he joined Oakland native and former MLB All-Star Tyson Ross in hosting a free baseball clinic at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.riekes.org/athletic-fitness\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Riekes Center\u003c/a> in Menlo Park.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2021, Boyd gave baseball another chance. After a brief stint with an independent league team, the Twins signed him to a minor-league deal. The outfielder established himself as one the league’s best hitters with Double-A Wichita. And for the first time in his career, he was driving the ball out of the park. “He was hitting home run after home run,” recalls Tatiana, who flew to the Midwest with Bria to catch the hot hitting in person. “He knew he was back and he wanted to stay back. He was on fire and it was so much fun to watch.” Boyd’s previous season high for homers was eight; he equaled that total over a nine-game span in August alone. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Boyd was called up to Triple-A St. Paul, where his hitting fell off. Despite his impressive Double-A statistics, coming after two years away from baseball, Boyd didn’t receive MLB calls once the owners’ lockout ended this spring. Then Monclova offered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13913457\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.Acereros.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a blue baseball uniform runs the bases on the baseball diamond.\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13913457\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.Acereros.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/BJBoyd.Acereros-160x160.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">BJ Boyd in uniform for the Acereros, in Monclova, where he hopes to join a roster that includes Bay Area favorites Pablo Sandoval and Josh Reddick. \u003ccite>(Courtesy the Boyd Family)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>A League in Need of His Hitting\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“For me, going to Mexico, I feel way better,” said Boyd, who hopes to join an active roster that includes former A’s Gold Glove winner Josh Reddick. “People make jokes and say it’s an exile league. They take care of their players better than the minor leagues. They pay better than the States.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the current MLB season rolls along, Boyd can’t help but notice paltry offensive stats across the league. The A’s, who once drafted Boyd, currently have a .199 team batting average. The Arizona Diamondbacks are hitting .203. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/2022-standard-batting.shtml\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">league average is .234\u003c/a>, on pace to be the worst average in its 152-year history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Boyd’s ability to hit for a high average is a skill that, in recent years, has been devalued by MLB teams whose analytics say batters should swing for the fences, or not at all. But with MLB hitters struggling at historic levels—perhaps because of a \u003ca href=\"https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10034259-mlbs-ball-controversy-could-define-the-2022-season\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">controversial alteration to the baseballs\u003c/a>—Boyd could draw the attention of teams in need of a bat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If it comes I would definitely take it,” Boyd said of an MLB offer. “But I’d rather stay in Mexico than go back to the minor leagues. I’ve already been to Triple-A and Double-A. I’ve already proven myself. But why didn’t I get my chance? That’s my question to the MLB.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Maybe They Should Just Trade Stomper Too",
"headTitle": "Maybe They Should Just Trade Stomper Too | KQED",
"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13910779\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13910779\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/Stomper.MAIN_.jpg\" alt=\"Five different baseball mascots pose around Pen Harshaw\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/Stomper.MAIN_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/Stomper.MAIN_-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/Stomper.MAIN_-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The author poses with Stomper at the 2008 MLB All-Star Game, at the old Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">H\u003c/span>as anyone checked on the A’s mascot, Stomper?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asking because his team, the Oakland Athletics, is at it again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You know their M.O.: trading their star players to top-tier contenders, instead of paying them the big long-term contracts they deserve, \u003cem>and\u003c/em> simultaneously planning an escape route to relocate the entire franchise because their new stadium plan isn’t panning out exactly as they wish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s kind of masterful how this franchise has committed to mediocrity and distanced itself from the claim that it’s “Rooted in Oakland,” again and again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The headlines this week—”\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/shea/article/A-s-ignite-the-mother-of-all-baseball-fire-17001721.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A’s Ignite Mother of All Baseball Fire Sales with Matt Olson, Chris Bassitt Trades\u003c/a>,” to quote the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>—give us long-suffering fans another example of why the team being represented by a white elephant—an unwanted gift—is an all-too-apt, self-fulfilling prophecy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So yeah, someone check on Stomper, and make sure he’s OK.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJCm7ytjA8Q\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s seen this scheme every six or seven years. The team gets some great young prospects and raises their skill levels and name recognition over a few seasons. The team plays well—sometimes even making it to the playoffs—only to fall short and leave fans wondering if it will ever find that one piece it always seems to need to turn into a serious title contender.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But during the offseason, and sometimes even mid-season, instead of buying in, the A’s front office sells out. They get rid of talented players and replace them with more prospects, journeymen, and utility players in order to keep the payroll low. There’s a whole movie about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTTwenD0_9g\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After this offseason, when \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/03/11/1085979676/major-league-baseballs-lockout-ends-after-both-sides-reach-a-deal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Major League Baseball’s owners locked out their players\u003c/a> over labor disagreements, I see things haven’t changed much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just this week, the team got rid of superstar third baseman Matt Chapman, sending him across the northern border to Toronto. His corner-mate over at first, Matt Olson, was sent south to the Atlanta Braves. One of the team’s top pitchers, Chris Bassitt? Sent to the New York Mets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These names follow behind the likes of all-stars Marcus Semien, Josh Donaldson, and many more who came through The Town bearing gifts, only to be passed to the next team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Who could forget when \u003ca href=\"https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2147547-oakland-athletics-yoenis-cespedes-t-shirt-giveaway-becomes-awkward-after-trade\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yoenis Cespedes\u003c/a> was traded just before his T-shirt giveaway game at the Coliseum? [\u003cem>Damn, you’re killing me. This one was heartbreaking.—Ed.\u003c/em>]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yeah, \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/03/14/kurtenbach-dont-give-the-as-your-money-they-dont-know-what-to-do-with-it/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">there’s plenty of reasons not to give the A’s your money\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13910783\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 604px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13910783\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/Stomper.Pen_.2007.jpg\" alt=\"Pen Harshaw with the A's mascot, a giant elephant, poses for the camera\" width=\"604\" height=\"453\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/Stomper.Pen_.2007.jpg 604w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/Stomper.Pen_.2007-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 604px) 100vw, 604px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The author with Stomper at Children’s Hospital in Oakland, circa 2007. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">E\u003c/span>specially when you consider all they’ve done to move closer to downtown—a move that isn’t looking too promising after \u003ca href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/proposed-oakland-as-stadium-faces-setback-from-state-panel/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this week’s vote\u003c/a> by the Seaport Planning Advisory Committee, who recommended that the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission maintain the Howard Terminal waterfront site for maritime use. It’s not the final straw for the plan, but it means that the future of the A’s in Oakland boils down to yet another hearing, this time on June 2.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an interview, team president Dave Kaval told ABC 7’s Casey Pratt of a backup plan: The team is \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/CaseyPrattABC7/status/1504235503645691910?s=20&t=5oaMn6X3cqZaLDx-QEDs5g\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">getting close to picking a site for a stadium in Vegas\u003c/a>, because, you know, this is business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I bet it’d be hot as hell in that elephant suit in Vegas. Really, has anyone checked on Stomper? I’m worried about him. No one has seen more players come and go than my gray pachyderm friend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was there for the crazy joy and playoff heartbreak of the 2012 and 2013 seasons (damn you, Verlander). In 2002, he was in the building for Tejada’s MVP season and the 20-game winning streak. For the evolution of Hudson, Mulder and Zito. And for the emergence of the latest crop of stars the team didn’t hold onto.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/i/status/1111380040124502016\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Stomper is just a youngster in baseball history terms, making his first appearance in 1997—a down period when it really needed his help. But he’s part of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.britannica.com/topic/Oakland-Athletics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Athletics’ history\u003c/a> that starts in Philadelphia in 1901, where the team got the “white elephant” tag soon after its inception.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John McGraw, an early manager of the then-New York Giants baseball team, said the Athletics, who were ironically signing big-name players at the time, wouldn’t make any money and would have a big “white elephant” on their hands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The team flipped the insult, adopting it as a mark of pride, and ran with it as their mascot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID='arts_13839115']\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">P\u003c/span>layers notoriously have pre- and post-game rituals. They eat specific meals or write messages on their cleats. It’s reported that former A’s star \u003ca href=\"https://bleacherreport.com/articles/375113-top-mlb-superstitions-and-rituals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mark McGuire\u003c/a> wore the same jockstrap from his high school days, up until it was stolen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I really think we should get Stomper on the phone. Because if I were that big smiling elephant, I’d feel some sort of guilt about seeing so many players come and go. I’d feel like \u003cem>I\u003c/em> was the reason the A’s have had so much turnover. Not the insufficient, anarchic business model that leaves fans unfulfilled, no matter how hard we cheer for the team. It’s like the Babe Ruth curse. Baseball superstitions aren’t about logical conclusions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nope, let’s address the elephant in the room—we can look past the \u003ca href=\"https://www.postnewsgroup.com/billionaire-john-fisher-linked-to-privatization-of-schools-and-port-of-oakland/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">many issues\u003c/a> of billionaire team owner John Fisher, but we can’t look past the fact the mascot of the team is obviously bringing the A’s some bad energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Check on Stomper. He might be next on the trading block—because it’d be easier to get rid of him than to throw out an owner and president who obviously don’t care about The Town.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "At this point, writes Pendarvis Harshaw, what have the Oakland A's got to lose—besides even more goodwill?",
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"twDescription": "At this point, writes Pendarvis Harshaw, what have the Oakland A's got to lose—besides even more goodwill?",
"description": "At this point, writes Pendarvis Harshaw, what have the A's got to lose—besides even more goodwill?",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13910779\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13910779\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/Stomper.MAIN_.jpg\" alt=\"Five different baseball mascots pose around Pen Harshaw\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/Stomper.MAIN_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/Stomper.MAIN_-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/Stomper.MAIN_-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The author poses with Stomper at the 2008 MLB All-Star Game, at the old Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">H\u003c/span>as anyone checked on the A’s mascot, Stomper?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asking because his team, the Oakland Athletics, is at it again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You know their M.O.: trading their star players to top-tier contenders, instead of paying them the big long-term contracts they deserve, \u003cem>and\u003c/em> simultaneously planning an escape route to relocate the entire franchise because their new stadium plan isn’t panning out exactly as they wish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s kind of masterful how this franchise has committed to mediocrity and distanced itself from the claim that it’s “Rooted in Oakland,” again and again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The headlines this week—”\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/shea/article/A-s-ignite-the-mother-of-all-baseball-fire-17001721.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A’s Ignite Mother of All Baseball Fire Sales with Matt Olson, Chris Bassitt Trades\u003c/a>,” to quote the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>—give us long-suffering fans another example of why the team being represented by a white elephant—an unwanted gift—is an all-too-apt, self-fulfilling prophecy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So yeah, someone check on Stomper, and make sure he’s OK.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/YJCm7ytjA8Q'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/YJCm7ytjA8Q'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>He’s seen this scheme every six or seven years. The team gets some great young prospects and raises their skill levels and name recognition over a few seasons. The team plays well—sometimes even making it to the playoffs—only to fall short and leave fans wondering if it will ever find that one piece it always seems to need to turn into a serious title contender.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But during the offseason, and sometimes even mid-season, instead of buying in, the A’s front office sells out. They get rid of talented players and replace them with more prospects, journeymen, and utility players in order to keep the payroll low. There’s a whole movie about it.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/ZTTwenD0_9g'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/ZTTwenD0_9g'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>After this offseason, when \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/03/11/1085979676/major-league-baseballs-lockout-ends-after-both-sides-reach-a-deal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Major League Baseball’s owners locked out their players\u003c/a> over labor disagreements, I see things haven’t changed much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just this week, the team got rid of superstar third baseman Matt Chapman, sending him across the northern border to Toronto. His corner-mate over at first, Matt Olson, was sent south to the Atlanta Braves. One of the team’s top pitchers, Chris Bassitt? Sent to the New York Mets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These names follow behind the likes of all-stars Marcus Semien, Josh Donaldson, and many more who came through The Town bearing gifts, only to be passed to the next team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Who could forget when \u003ca href=\"https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2147547-oakland-athletics-yoenis-cespedes-t-shirt-giveaway-becomes-awkward-after-trade\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yoenis Cespedes\u003c/a> was traded just before his T-shirt giveaway game at the Coliseum? [\u003cem>Damn, you’re killing me. This one was heartbreaking.—Ed.\u003c/em>]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yeah, \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/03/14/kurtenbach-dont-give-the-as-your-money-they-dont-know-what-to-do-with-it/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">there’s plenty of reasons not to give the A’s your money\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13910783\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 604px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13910783\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/Stomper.Pen_.2007.jpg\" alt=\"Pen Harshaw with the A's mascot, a giant elephant, poses for the camera\" width=\"604\" height=\"453\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/Stomper.Pen_.2007.jpg 604w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/Stomper.Pen_.2007-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 604px) 100vw, 604px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The author with Stomper at Children’s Hospital in Oakland, circa 2007. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">E\u003c/span>specially when you consider all they’ve done to move closer to downtown—a move that isn’t looking too promising after \u003ca href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/proposed-oakland-as-stadium-faces-setback-from-state-panel/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this week’s vote\u003c/a> by the Seaport Planning Advisory Committee, who recommended that the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission maintain the Howard Terminal waterfront site for maritime use. It’s not the final straw for the plan, but it means that the future of the A’s in Oakland boils down to yet another hearing, this time on June 2.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an interview, team president Dave Kaval told ABC 7’s Casey Pratt of a backup plan: The team is \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/CaseyPrattABC7/status/1504235503645691910?s=20&t=5oaMn6X3cqZaLDx-QEDs5g\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">getting close to picking a site for a stadium in Vegas\u003c/a>, because, you know, this is business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I bet it’d be hot as hell in that elephant suit in Vegas. Really, has anyone checked on Stomper? I’m worried about him. No one has seen more players come and go than my gray pachyderm friend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was there for the crazy joy and playoff heartbreak of the 2012 and 2013 seasons (damn you, Verlander). In 2002, he was in the building for Tejada’s MVP season and the 20-game winning streak. For the evolution of Hudson, Mulder and Zito. And for the emergence of the latest crop of stars the team didn’t hold onto.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Stomper is just a youngster in baseball history terms, making his first appearance in 1997—a down period when it really needed his help. But he’s part of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.britannica.com/topic/Oakland-Athletics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Athletics’ history\u003c/a> that starts in Philadelphia in 1901, where the team got the “white elephant” tag soon after its inception.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John McGraw, an early manager of the then-New York Giants baseball team, said the Athletics, who were ironically signing big-name players at the time, wouldn’t make any money and would have a big “white elephant” on their hands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The team flipped the insult, adopting it as a mark of pride, and ran with it as their mascot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">P\u003c/span>layers notoriously have pre- and post-game rituals. They eat specific meals or write messages on their cleats. It’s reported that former A’s star \u003ca href=\"https://bleacherreport.com/articles/375113-top-mlb-superstitions-and-rituals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mark McGuire\u003c/a> wore the same jockstrap from his high school days, up until it was stolen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I really think we should get Stomper on the phone. Because if I were that big smiling elephant, I’d feel some sort of guilt about seeing so many players come and go. I’d feel like \u003cem>I\u003c/em> was the reason the A’s have had so much turnover. Not the insufficient, anarchic business model that leaves fans unfulfilled, no matter how hard we cheer for the team. It’s like the Babe Ruth curse. Baseball superstitions aren’t about logical conclusions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nope, let’s address the elephant in the room—we can look past the \u003ca href=\"https://www.postnewsgroup.com/billionaire-john-fisher-linked-to-privatization-of-schools-and-port-of-oakland/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">many issues\u003c/a> of billionaire team owner John Fisher, but we can’t look past the fact the mascot of the team is obviously bringing the A’s some bad energy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>It’s officially springtime, and you know what that means: in addition to butterflies, sunshine and allergies, it’s time for baseball.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Sunday, March 28, \u003ca href=\"https://loyal-to-my-soil-llc.myshopify.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Loyal To My Soil\u003c/a>, a Bay Area organization building community through baseball, offers a free baseball clinic. All young people age eight and older are welcome, from 11am–1pm, at the Carter Gilman Sports Complex’s Greenman Field in East Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Loyal To My Soil, founded by Oakland-bred professional ballplayers (and brothers) Tyson Ross and Joe Ross, threw its inaugural event earlier this year. The 40 young athletes in attendance received advice from seasoned former pros Shooty Babitt, Bip Roberts and legendary pitcher Vida Blue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The goal of the series of clinics is to keep baseball alive in the minds of young folks in Oakland, where the history of baseball—specifically the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13839115/on-fifty-years-of-the-oakland-as\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">history of Black baseball players\u003c/a>—is one of the richest to be found in any city in America. Tyson Ross says the idea came to him last year, and with the assistance of national organizations like \u003ca href=\"https://theplayersalliance.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Players Alliance\u003c/a>, he sees it as a way to make a change in Oakland and beyond, both on and off of the diamond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The second Loyal To My Soil baseball clinic takes place Sunday, March 28, at the Carter Gilman Sports Complex’s Greenman Field in East Oakland. Registration not required. \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/TysonRoss/status/1369435587225255938\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Details here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It’s officially springtime, and you know what that means: in addition to butterflies, sunshine and allergies, it’s time for baseball.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Sunday, March 28, \u003ca href=\"https://loyal-to-my-soil-llc.myshopify.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Loyal To My Soil\u003c/a>, a Bay Area organization building community through baseball, offers a free baseball clinic. All young people age eight and older are welcome, from 11am–1pm, at the Carter Gilman Sports Complex’s Greenman Field in East Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Loyal To My Soil, founded by Oakland-bred professional ballplayers (and brothers) Tyson Ross and Joe Ross, threw its inaugural event earlier this year. The 40 young athletes in attendance received advice from seasoned former pros Shooty Babitt, Bip Roberts and legendary pitcher Vida Blue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The goal of the series of clinics is to keep baseball alive in the minds of young folks in Oakland, where the history of baseball—specifically the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13839115/on-fifty-years-of-the-oakland-as\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">history of Black baseball players\u003c/a>—is one of the richest to be found in any city in America. Tyson Ross says the idea came to him last year, and with the assistance of national organizations like \u003ca href=\"https://theplayersalliance.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Players Alliance\u003c/a>, he sees it as a way to make a change in Oakland and beyond, both on and off of the diamond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12904247\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"39\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-160x16.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-240x23.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/03/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39-375x37.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span> was supposed to be writing something important this evening. One of those the-world-is-burning–type articles. But baseball started, and I got distracted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the first official pitch of 2020’s abbreviated 60-game regular season won’t be thrown until this weekend, Monday night’s exhibition game between the Giants and A’s took my attention away from the world for a few innings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the sun set yesterday evening, I sent out a text of distress, asking a good friend for their streaming password so I could watch the A’s broadcast. Once the eagle landed, I was in business: I poured a healthy portion of boxed red wine into my favorite mug, and pulled my beanbag chair so close to my 32-inch TV that I considered wearing a mask as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I promise you my intent was to watch a little bit of the game and write that article later. But baseball has an all-consuming effect, especially when it’s been away for so long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I mean, it’s the middle of summer, and I hadn’t seen a single home run. So when Oakland A’s outfielder Stephen Piscotty dropped a bomb in the bottom of the second inning, I excitedly clapped loud enough for my neighbor, the self-identified “OG vato” from Santa Cruz, to hear it. He’s a big-time Giants fan, and just about every time we cross paths in the apartment complex, he playfully demands I take my A’s cap off. I never do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13883671\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13883671\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/AsField-800x440.jpg\" alt=\"A photo of a television showing the A's vs. Giants exhibition game on July 20, 2020. \" width=\"800\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/AsField-800x440.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/AsField-1020x561.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/AsField-160x88.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/AsField-768x422.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/AsField-1536x845.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/AsField.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photo of a television showing the A’s vs. Giants exhibition game on July 20, 2020.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">A\u003c/span>h, the power of sports. Bringing people together, even when we disagree, and even when we’re apart. Or, um, \u003cem>supposed\u003c/em> to be apart: there’s still a pandemic going on, but somehow there were groups of men gathered in a dugout on each side of a white diamond in Deep East Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I couldn’t fully get into the game; the mental notes and health critiques kept popping up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the plus side, I noticed the way the TV announcers—normally in the same booth, an arm’s length apart—stayed apart in adjacent booths, divided by a translucent glass, and still maintained fluid communications.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the eerie side, I kept focusing on the cardboard cutouts in the crowd. It started with a Where’s Waldo-esque game of looking for familiar faces on the poster boards. Then, as the TV cameras showed the “crowd” from different angles, it turned into a blatant reminder that this was far from a normal baseball game, both funny and scary. It didn’t help that when I first noticed the relief pitchers sitting in the rows behind the traditional bullpen, not too far from the fake people, my initial reaction was, “Oh—they’ve got \u003cem>moving\u003c/em> cardboard cutouts too?!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the questionable side, I kept thinking about potential health hazards during the game. Some players wore masks, some players didn’t. The umpire stood close to the catcher and batter, calling balls and strikes. I thought: \u003cem>does he have a mask on\u003c/em>? (He did.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I noticed violations of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/06/30/885239263/no-spitting-mlb-unveils-some-new-rules-due-to-coronavirus\">no-spitting rule\u003c/a>. How will they enforce it? \u003ci>Can\u003c/i> they enforce it? Spitting and baseball go together like police and brutality; you can’t have one without the other. But you know how it goes on this land: there’s a difference between what’s illegal and what’s enforced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For many, baseball starting is a sign that things are getting back to normal. Both NASCAR races and MMA bouts have been happening since May, but baseball is the first of the “big four” sporting leagues to get going again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The WNBA and NBA seasons will start soon. And already the story of the social media curators within “the bubble” has made for \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/20/sports/basketball/nba-bubble-life-twitter.html\">national news;\u003c/a> as did the \u003ca href=\"https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/nba-2k-barbershop-neighborhood-trends-bubble/\">construction of the barbershop\u003c/a> in the bubble and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29431358/how-nba-picked-barbers-bubble\">barbers who’ll work there\u003c/a>, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11829302/barber-in-the-bubble-the-east-palo-alto-stylist-giving-coronavirus-cuts-to-nba-stars\">one from the Bay Area\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From this point on, these sports stories will only be more distractive. People’s attention span is only so long. If you thought there’d be sustained longevity to the disgust at how the pandemic has been handled by elected officials, or that the protests for Black Lives Matter were going to last until the masses marched to the ballot box in November, your imagination is better than the one I’ve rediscovered while homeschooling my three year-old daughter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A month ago, headlines were centered on companies moving to rectify their institutionalized racism. Last week, celebrity-ism took us on a ride through Nick Cannon’s cancellation, Tory Lanez’s reported assault on Megan Thee Stallion with a deadly weapon and Kanye West’s perpetual public mental breakdown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sports is just another layer of distraction. A little something to take the mind off of the pains of the world—you know, like the criminal (in)justice system. Sports, entertainment and pop culture make front-page news, while bumped to the second page is the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/michigan-judge-denies-release-teenage-girl-who-was-jailed-after-n1234377?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma\">story of a teenage girl named Grace\u003c/a> currently incarcerated in Michigan. Her crime: violating probation by not doing her online homework. In the coming days, it’ll be a little easier to overlook \u003ca href=\"https://www.opb.org/news/article/police-violence-portland-protest-federal-officers/\">Portland, Oregon\u003c/a>, where unidentified federal agents have abducted people in unmarked cars in order to quell the 50-plus days of Black Lives Matter protests. (President Trump has not only openly supported these federal actions, he’s hinted at imposing them on other cities around the country, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11829763/federal-agents-to-police-oakland-protests-plans-unclear-despite-trumps-remarks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">including Oakland\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yeah, let’s not talk about that, let’s talk baseball. Despite cases of COVID continuing to rise in California, Florida and Arizona, all baseball bastions. Despite people like San Francisco Giants star player \u003ca href=\"https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29440601/giants-buster-posey-opts-2020-season-citing-newborns-health\">Buster Posey\u003c/a> opting out of this season because he doesn’t want to put his family at risk of COVID.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the fact the \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/1d2884074e54e1c722d764c1288f7dc9\">Toronto Blue Jays\u003c/a> can’t play home games, because Canadian officials don’t want players traveling between Canada and the United States, where the number of COVID-19 cases is about to top 4 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13883670\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/MLBTweet.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"664\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/MLBTweet.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/MLBTweet-160x177.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">L\u003c/span>ook, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/07/20/893340343/dr-anthony-fauci-to-throw-first-pitch-for-washington-nationals-season-opener\">Dr. Fauci\u003c/a> threw out the opening pitch at the Nationals’ first game back, that’s gotta be a good sign. Right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, because of these games happening, there will be a financial boost for transportation companies, hotels, restaurants, media outlets and more. So the economy can lurch toward getting back on track. Right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, again, if baseball is back, that means things will soon be “normal” again. Right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Na. It won’t. Or at least it’s not there yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When watching baseball, I should be counting balls and strikes, not how many times my favorite player is shown on camera spitting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I appreciate the new rules. I appreciate the added health precautions. I appreciate the other historic aspects of last night’s game, too: the first-ever woman to coach a Major League Baseball game, Alyssa Nakken, as well as the silent protest from Giants manager Gabe Kapler and some of his players \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/BR_MLB/status/1285399467483492352?s=20\">who took a knee during the national anthem\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But I know sports will prove to be a distraction. For some, it’ll be a healthy alternative to arguing with their significant other; now they can argue with the umpire instead. But for the majority of us, it’ll be a distraction from the important focus the country seemed to have just over a month ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I know, I know: it’s not one or the other. Just because we’re talking baseball doesn’t mean we can’t also talk politics. 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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span> was supposed to be writing something important this evening. One of those the-world-is-burning–type articles. But baseball started, and I got distracted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the first official pitch of 2020’s abbreviated 60-game regular season won’t be thrown until this weekend, Monday night’s exhibition game between the Giants and A’s took my attention away from the world for a few innings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the sun set yesterday evening, I sent out a text of distress, asking a good friend for their streaming password so I could watch the A’s broadcast. Once the eagle landed, I was in business: I poured a healthy portion of boxed red wine into my favorite mug, and pulled my beanbag chair so close to my 32-inch TV that I considered wearing a mask as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I promise you my intent was to watch a little bit of the game and write that article later. But baseball has an all-consuming effect, especially when it’s been away for so long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I mean, it’s the middle of summer, and I hadn’t seen a single home run. So when Oakland A’s outfielder Stephen Piscotty dropped a bomb in the bottom of the second inning, I excitedly clapped loud enough for my neighbor, the self-identified “OG vato” from Santa Cruz, to hear it. He’s a big-time Giants fan, and just about every time we cross paths in the apartment complex, he playfully demands I take my A’s cap off. I never do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13883671\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13883671\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/AsField-800x440.jpg\" alt=\"A photo of a television showing the A's vs. Giants exhibition game on July 20, 2020. \" width=\"800\" height=\"440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/AsField-800x440.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/AsField-1020x561.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/AsField-160x88.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/AsField-768x422.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/AsField-1536x845.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/AsField.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A photo of a television showing the A’s vs. Giants exhibition game on July 20, 2020.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">A\u003c/span>h, the power of sports. Bringing people together, even when we disagree, and even when we’re apart. Or, um, \u003cem>supposed\u003c/em> to be apart: there’s still a pandemic going on, but somehow there were groups of men gathered in a dugout on each side of a white diamond in Deep East Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I couldn’t fully get into the game; the mental notes and health critiques kept popping up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the plus side, I noticed the way the TV announcers—normally in the same booth, an arm’s length apart—stayed apart in adjacent booths, divided by a translucent glass, and still maintained fluid communications.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the eerie side, I kept focusing on the cardboard cutouts in the crowd. It started with a Where’s Waldo-esque game of looking for familiar faces on the poster boards. Then, as the TV cameras showed the “crowd” from different angles, it turned into a blatant reminder that this was far from a normal baseball game, both funny and scary. It didn’t help that when I first noticed the relief pitchers sitting in the rows behind the traditional bullpen, not too far from the fake people, my initial reaction was, “Oh—they’ve got \u003cem>moving\u003c/em> cardboard cutouts too?!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the questionable side, I kept thinking about potential health hazards during the game. Some players wore masks, some players didn’t. The umpire stood close to the catcher and batter, calling balls and strikes. I thought: \u003cem>does he have a mask on\u003c/em>? (He did.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I noticed violations of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/06/30/885239263/no-spitting-mlb-unveils-some-new-rules-due-to-coronavirus\">no-spitting rule\u003c/a>. How will they enforce it? \u003ci>Can\u003c/i> they enforce it? Spitting and baseball go together like police and brutality; you can’t have one without the other. But you know how it goes on this land: there’s a difference between what’s illegal and what’s enforced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For many, baseball starting is a sign that things are getting back to normal. Both NASCAR races and MMA bouts have been happening since May, but baseball is the first of the “big four” sporting leagues to get going again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The WNBA and NBA seasons will start soon. And already the story of the social media curators within “the bubble” has made for \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/20/sports/basketball/nba-bubble-life-twitter.html\">national news;\u003c/a> as did the \u003ca href=\"https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/nba-2k-barbershop-neighborhood-trends-bubble/\">construction of the barbershop\u003c/a> in the bubble and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29431358/how-nba-picked-barbers-bubble\">barbers who’ll work there\u003c/a>, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11829302/barber-in-the-bubble-the-east-palo-alto-stylist-giving-coronavirus-cuts-to-nba-stars\">one from the Bay Area\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From this point on, these sports stories will only be more distractive. People’s attention span is only so long. If you thought there’d be sustained longevity to the disgust at how the pandemic has been handled by elected officials, or that the protests for Black Lives Matter were going to last until the masses marched to the ballot box in November, your imagination is better than the one I’ve rediscovered while homeschooling my three year-old daughter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A month ago, headlines were centered on companies moving to rectify their institutionalized racism. Last week, celebrity-ism took us on a ride through Nick Cannon’s cancellation, Tory Lanez’s reported assault on Megan Thee Stallion with a deadly weapon and Kanye West’s perpetual public mental breakdown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sports is just another layer of distraction. A little something to take the mind off of the pains of the world—you know, like the criminal (in)justice system. Sports, entertainment and pop culture make front-page news, while bumped to the second page is the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/michigan-judge-denies-release-teenage-girl-who-was-jailed-after-n1234377?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma\">story of a teenage girl named Grace\u003c/a> currently incarcerated in Michigan. Her crime: violating probation by not doing her online homework. In the coming days, it’ll be a little easier to overlook \u003ca href=\"https://www.opb.org/news/article/police-violence-portland-protest-federal-officers/\">Portland, Oregon\u003c/a>, where unidentified federal agents have abducted people in unmarked cars in order to quell the 50-plus days of Black Lives Matter protests. (President Trump has not only openly supported these federal actions, he’s hinted at imposing them on other cities around the country, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11829763/federal-agents-to-police-oakland-protests-plans-unclear-despite-trumps-remarks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">including Oakland\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yeah, let’s not talk about that, let’s talk baseball. Despite cases of COVID continuing to rise in California, Florida and Arizona, all baseball bastions. Despite people like San Francisco Giants star player \u003ca href=\"https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29440601/giants-buster-posey-opts-2020-season-citing-newborns-health\">Buster Posey\u003c/a> opting out of this season because he doesn’t want to put his family at risk of COVID.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the fact the \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/1d2884074e54e1c722d764c1288f7dc9\">Toronto Blue Jays\u003c/a> can’t play home games, because Canadian officials don’t want players traveling between Canada and the United States, where the number of COVID-19 cases is about to top 4 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-13883670\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/MLBTweet.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"664\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/MLBTweet.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/MLBTweet-160x177.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">L\u003c/span>ook, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/07/20/893340343/dr-anthony-fauci-to-throw-first-pitch-for-washington-nationals-season-opener\">Dr. Fauci\u003c/a> threw out the opening pitch at the Nationals’ first game back, that’s gotta be a good sign. Right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, because of these games happening, there will be a financial boost for transportation companies, hotels, restaurants, media outlets and more. So the economy can lurch toward getting back on track. Right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, again, if baseball is back, that means things will soon be “normal” again. Right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Na. It won’t. Or at least it’s not there yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When watching baseball, I should be counting balls and strikes, not how many times my favorite player is shown on camera spitting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I appreciate the new rules. I appreciate the added health precautions. I appreciate the other historic aspects of last night’s game, too: the first-ever woman to coach a Major League Baseball game, Alyssa Nakken, as well as the silent protest from Giants manager Gabe Kapler and some of his players \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/BR_MLB/status/1285399467483492352?s=20\">who took a knee during the national anthem\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But I know sports will prove to be a distraction. For some, it’ll be a healthy alternative to arguing with their significant other; now they can argue with the umpire instead. But for the majority of us, it’ll be a distraction from the important focus the country seemed to have just over a month ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I know, I know: it’s not one or the other. Just because we’re talking baseball doesn’t mean we can’t also talk politics. But damn, earlier this summer, when it seemed like we were all having the same conversation, and racism and sexism were being called out left and right—I was interested in seeing \u003cem>that\u003c/em> go into extra-innings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now it’s looking like we’re just going back to the ol’ ballgame.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "how-the-money-adds-up-for-this-bernal-heights-sign-making-couple",
"title": "How the Money Adds Up for This San Francisco Sign-Making Couple",
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"content": "\u003cp>It’s telling that during my visit to Isaac Avila and Lauren D’Amato’s Bernal Heights live/work space, they don’t stop painting for the entire hour we talk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align='right' size='small']By the numbers…\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Rent: $2,000/month\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Studio rent: none (live/work space)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Total income: $2,000–$5,000/month\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The couple began working together under the moniker \u003ca href=\"https://www.avilarosesigns.com/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Avila Rose Signs\u003c/a> a year and a half ago, setting themselves up as sign painters to do the kind of work they clearly love while also carving out time for their own art practices. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Lauren wanted to get out of the sign shop, and I wanted to do more freelance work,” Avila says. That sign shop was New Bohemia Signs, where D’Amato apprenticed while getting her degree in painting at the San Francisco Art Institute, and where she worked full-time for three-and-a-half years. (Her family also paints signs, and once had shops in Los Angeles and New Jersey: “They got me started drawing young.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born in Mexico City and a graduate of UC Berkeley’s MFA program, Avila has shown paintings and sculptures in a number of local project spaces and galleries—including a recent \u003ca href=\"http://rightwindow.blogspot.com/2019/09/bootleg-milagros-isaac-vazquez-avila.html\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">two-person show\u003c/a> with D’Amato at San Francisco’s Right Window Gallery—but his personal work is mostly small-scale. He wanted to make murals, but couldn’t find the right collaborator. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Enter D’Amato, raised in the lowrider hub of Whittier, who was ready to hang out her own shingle. Or, as it turned out, \u003ci>their\u003c/i> shingle. “It was always my personal plan to be doing this, and when Isaac and I met and started dating, we realized there was a lot we could work on together,” D’Amato says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for picking up those formal sign painting skills, Avila says, “I’m still apprenticing, and will forever.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now they live, work and make art side-by-side in this space—a relative steal in San Francisco, with monthly rent set at $2,000. And though work by Avila Rose Signs adorns the Oakland Coliseum and countless motor vehicles currently roaming the West Coast, they’re still learning how to best advocate for their work—and deal with the financial roller coaster of running your own business. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13869340\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_16-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Lauren D'Amato in the Bernal Heights live/work space she shares with Isaac Avila.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13869340\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_16-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_16-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_16-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_16-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_16-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_16-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lauren D’Amato in the Bernal Heights live/work space she shares with Isaac Avila. \u003ccite>(Graham Holoch/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘We’re painting signs on a building, but we know how to use the computer!’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>D’Amato rattles off a list of jobs Avila Rose Signs does: exterior signage, super graphics, gold leaf, glass work, design. “We sign paint, but we’re also more than sign painters, because there’s a lot that goes into sign painting beyond just painting a sign,” Avila explains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some clients don’t seem to understand that—which might have something to do with preconceived notions about the so-called “low” art of sign painting and the “high” art of graphic design work. “We’re painting signs on a building, but we know how to use the computer!” D’Amato says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They find themselves routinely needing to make clear the true value of their labor. “Are you going to reuse this sign and is it going to become your logo? Are we choosing all the colors and aesthetics that go along with your business to the point where we’re essentially doing branding but not getting paid for that?” D’Amato asks. “We’re still trying to make sure we’re getting compensated fairly. Especially because people doing that kind of work in the city are getting paid so much more money than we’re getting paid to do a lot of the same work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every job is different. Depending on the customer, the job size and their level of involvement in designing a piece, their rates vary. Each charges $80–$100 an hour (double that if they’re both working on the job), and if they’re painting a large-scale wall piece, their rates are $25–$45 per square foot. They have special sliding scales for low-income clients and neighborhood businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, they painted an enormous Oakland tree logo on the exterior of the Coliseum’s newly renovated Treehouse, along with more trees inside and a giant circular sign that now hangs near a pool table. In total, they charged around $17,000 for the project, factoring in expenses like driving to and from the Coliseum, hiring a boom lift ($150–$200 per day) and splitting a third of the proceeds with a fellow sign painter. They each took home between $3,000 and $4,000, after a few weeks of preparation and four solid days of painting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13869337\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_22-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Isaac Avila and Lauren D'Amato with their dog Rico.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13869337\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_22-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_22-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_22-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_22-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_22-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_22-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Isaac Avila and Lauren D’Amato with their dog Rico. \u003ccite>(Graham Holoch/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘We’re incredibly lucky’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Like many working artists, Avila and D’Amato have a monthly income that varies widely. Avila still works two days a week bartending at the Valencia bar Mosto, and D’Amato does custom work on 45-RPM record cases, cars and motorcycles to earn a bit of side money. Every now and then D’Amato will sell artwork or embellished furniture out of the studio. Depending on how many Avila Rose jobs they line up, they make a total combined income from all jobs of between $2,000 and $5,000 a month. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, that isn’t much. They’re able to live off that income thanks to not only their relatively low rent, but their shared penchant for frugality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re incredibly lucky,” D’Amato says, looking around the corner of the built-out warehouse she shares with Avila. One wall faces the street, letting in light from nearly floor-to-ceiling windows. The other surfaces are covered in hand-painted signs, mementos and beautiful found objects. They sleep in a lofted area over the kitchen, and their dog Rico doesn’t take up much space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The group that owns this building—they’re older, at later stages in their careers,” Avila says. “And they’re all pretty aware of the hardships of just being an artist and what it takes, especially if you’re trying to build something from scratch.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the fact that they’re month-to-month does bring some anxiety, D’Amato and Avila know there’s no way they could be doing what they do—getting their own business off the ground—without the support of their landlords. Paying rent on both an apartment and a separate studio, let alone one with a woodshop that would let them use enamel paints and solvents, would be prohibitively expensive. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They keep their other spending low; D’Aamato doesn’t have health insurance, and she’s slowly chipping away at her art school loans. (She transferred into SFAI, so she’s in a slightly better situation than classmates with four years of loans.) As for materials, Avila’s sculptures are made from woodshop scraps, and they both pick up old glass, furniture and frames off the streets. The materials of their sign painting trade are expensive enough—a book of gold leaf is $45–$50, pints of enamel paint run $30–$50.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ll be using the same brush for like half a year, and then I’ll say, ‘I think it’s time for me to make an investment in this because it’s the thing that’s making me money,’” D’Amato says. “And then I’ll buy a few more brushes.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How much are brushes? “Oh, probably about $20,” she laughs. “That’s how careful we are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13869335\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_23-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"In addition to sign painting and their own art, Isaac Avila and Lauren D'Amato host Kustom Sunday, a car culture meetup in San Francisco.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13869335\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_23-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_23-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_23-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_23-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_23-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_23-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In addition to sign painting and their own art, Isaac Avila and Lauren D’Amato host Kustom Sunday, a car culture meetup in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Graham Holoch/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘I value all the work that we do’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Last year, Avila and D’Amato also started hosting an event series called Kustom Sunday, first at the warehouse and now at off-site locations like Golden Gate Park. For D’Amato, it’s a way to establish herself as someone who does lettering, gilding and pin-striping on cars. “That’s such a hard thing to get into, especially as a young woman,” she says. She’s perfected her own style of blended floral work most often seen on traditional furniture, and never seen in enamel paint. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Kustom Sundays, the couple invites DJs to play, a barbeque is lit and people line up for their custom paint jobs. Similarly, if D’Amato goes to a bar and sets up shop for a night, she can make between $700 and $1,000 painting motorcycle helmets, tanks and record boxes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Side Gigs and Successes' link1='https://www.kqed.org/arts/13861452/talk-to-us-bay-area-artists-whats-your-hustle,Are you a Bay Area artist? Tell us about your hustle.' target=_blank]\u003cbr>\nAvila says it currently feels like they can’t say no to anything that pays. But D’Amato points out how important it’s been to volunteer their labor to causes and communities they believe in. In the immediate, that means considering a trip up to the \u003ca href=\"http://www.bbcrc.org/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Black Butte Center for Railroad Culture\u003c/a>, where a community of sign painters periodically convenes to help restore historic railcars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The question of why they stay in San Francisco is an easy one. For Avila, who’s been here since 2003, it’s the closest thing he has to a home. Growing up in Southern California, D’Amato spent plenty of time visiting her grandparents in the East Bay; when she finished up at SFAI, she knew she wasn’t done with the city. Despite the changes in the city’s demographics and the cost of living, they’re deeply tied to both their immediate neighborhood and the Bay Area’s artistic communities. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Merging their fine art backgrounds with the more rigid standards of sign painting, D’Amato and Avila enjoy being less traditional in their approach to Avila Rose Signs. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or, as D’Amato puts it: “I just value all the work that we do.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "From their Bernal Heights home, Isaac Avila and Lauren D’Amato navigate the finances of painting, sign-making and custom side jobs.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It’s telling that during my visit to Isaac Avila and Lauren D’Amato’s Bernal Heights live/work space, they don’t stop painting for the entire hour we talk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "By the numbers…\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Rent: $2,000/month\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Studio rent: none (live/work space)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Total income: $2,000–$5,000/month\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The couple began working together under the moniker \u003ca href=\"https://www.avilarosesigns.com/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Avila Rose Signs\u003c/a> a year and a half ago, setting themselves up as sign painters to do the kind of work they clearly love while also carving out time for their own art practices. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Lauren wanted to get out of the sign shop, and I wanted to do more freelance work,” Avila says. That sign shop was New Bohemia Signs, where D’Amato apprenticed while getting her degree in painting at the San Francisco Art Institute, and where she worked full-time for three-and-a-half years. (Her family also paints signs, and once had shops in Los Angeles and New Jersey: “They got me started drawing young.”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Born in Mexico City and a graduate of UC Berkeley’s MFA program, Avila has shown paintings and sculptures in a number of local project spaces and galleries—including a recent \u003ca href=\"http://rightwindow.blogspot.com/2019/09/bootleg-milagros-isaac-vazquez-avila.html\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">two-person show\u003c/a> with D’Amato at San Francisco’s Right Window Gallery—but his personal work is mostly small-scale. He wanted to make murals, but couldn’t find the right collaborator. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Enter D’Amato, raised in the lowrider hub of Whittier, who was ready to hang out her own shingle. Or, as it turned out, \u003ci>their\u003c/i> shingle. “It was always my personal plan to be doing this, and when Isaac and I met and started dating, we realized there was a lot we could work on together,” D’Amato says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for picking up those formal sign painting skills, Avila says, “I’m still apprenticing, and will forever.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now they live, work and make art side-by-side in this space—a relative steal in San Francisco, with monthly rent set at $2,000. And though work by Avila Rose Signs adorns the Oakland Coliseum and countless motor vehicles currently roaming the West Coast, they’re still learning how to best advocate for their work—and deal with the financial roller coaster of running your own business. \u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13869340\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_16-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"Lauren D'Amato in the Bernal Heights live/work space she shares with Isaac Avila.\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13869340\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_16-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_16-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_16-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_16-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_16-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_16-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lauren D’Amato in the Bernal Heights live/work space she shares with Isaac Avila. \u003ccite>(Graham Holoch/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘We’re painting signs on a building, but we know how to use the computer!’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>D’Amato rattles off a list of jobs Avila Rose Signs does: exterior signage, super graphics, gold leaf, glass work, design. “We sign paint, but we’re also more than sign painters, because there’s a lot that goes into sign painting beyond just painting a sign,” Avila explains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some clients don’t seem to understand that—which might have something to do with preconceived notions about the so-called “low” art of sign painting and the “high” art of graphic design work. “We’re painting signs on a building, but we know how to use the computer!” D’Amato says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They find themselves routinely needing to make clear the true value of their labor. “Are you going to reuse this sign and is it going to become your logo? Are we choosing all the colors and aesthetics that go along with your business to the point where we’re essentially doing branding but not getting paid for that?” D’Amato asks. “We’re still trying to make sure we’re getting compensated fairly. Especially because people doing that kind of work in the city are getting paid so much more money than we’re getting paid to do a lot of the same work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every job is different. Depending on the customer, the job size and their level of involvement in designing a piece, their rates vary. Each charges $80–$100 an hour (double that if they’re both working on the job), and if they’re painting a large-scale wall piece, their rates are $25–$45 per square foot. They have special sliding scales for low-income clients and neighborhood businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, they painted an enormous Oakland tree logo on the exterior of the Coliseum’s newly renovated Treehouse, along with more trees inside and a giant circular sign that now hangs near a pool table. In total, they charged around $17,000 for the project, factoring in expenses like driving to and from the Coliseum, hiring a boom lift ($150–$200 per day) and splitting a third of the proceeds with a fellow sign painter. They each took home between $3,000 and $4,000, after a few weeks of preparation and four solid days of painting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13869337\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_22-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Isaac Avila and Lauren D'Amato with their dog Rico.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13869337\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_22-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_22-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_22-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_22-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_22-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_22-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Isaac Avila and Lauren D’Amato with their dog Rico. \u003ccite>(Graham Holoch/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘We’re incredibly lucky’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Like many working artists, Avila and D’Amato have a monthly income that varies widely. Avila still works two days a week bartending at the Valencia bar Mosto, and D’Amato does custom work on 45-RPM record cases, cars and motorcycles to earn a bit of side money. Every now and then D’Amato will sell artwork or embellished furniture out of the studio. Depending on how many Avila Rose jobs they line up, they make a total combined income from all jobs of between $2,000 and $5,000 a month. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, that isn’t much. They’re able to live off that income thanks to not only their relatively low rent, but their shared penchant for frugality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re incredibly lucky,” D’Amato says, looking around the corner of the built-out warehouse she shares with Avila. One wall faces the street, letting in light from nearly floor-to-ceiling windows. The other surfaces are covered in hand-painted signs, mementos and beautiful found objects. They sleep in a lofted area over the kitchen, and their dog Rico doesn’t take up much space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The group that owns this building—they’re older, at later stages in their careers,” Avila says. “And they’re all pretty aware of the hardships of just being an artist and what it takes, especially if you’re trying to build something from scratch.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the fact that they’re month-to-month does bring some anxiety, D’Amato and Avila know there’s no way they could be doing what they do—getting their own business off the ground—without the support of their landlords. Paying rent on both an apartment and a separate studio, let alone one with a woodshop that would let them use enamel paints and solvents, would be prohibitively expensive. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They keep their other spending low; D’Aamato doesn’t have health insurance, and she’s slowly chipping away at her art school loans. (She transferred into SFAI, so she’s in a slightly better situation than classmates with four years of loans.) As for materials, Avila’s sculptures are made from woodshop scraps, and they both pick up old glass, furniture and frames off the streets. The materials of their sign painting trade are expensive enough—a book of gold leaf is $45–$50, pints of enamel paint run $30–$50.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ll be using the same brush for like half a year, and then I’ll say, ‘I think it’s time for me to make an investment in this because it’s the thing that’s making me money,’” D’Amato says. “And then I’ll buy a few more brushes.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How much are brushes? “Oh, probably about $20,” she laughs. “That’s how careful we are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13869335\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_23-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"In addition to sign painting and their own art, Isaac Avila and Lauren D'Amato host Kustom Sunday, a car culture meetup in San Francisco.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13869335\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_23-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_23-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_23-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_23-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_23-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/11/KQED_The_Hustle_Avila_Rose_Signs_hires_23-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In addition to sign painting and their own art, Isaac Avila and Lauren D’Amato host Kustom Sunday, a car culture meetup in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Graham Holoch/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>‘I value all the work that we do’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Last year, Avila and D’Amato also started hosting an event series called Kustom Sunday, first at the warehouse and now at off-site locations like Golden Gate Park. For D’Amato, it’s a way to establish herself as someone who does lettering, gilding and pin-striping on cars. “That’s such a hard thing to get into, especially as a young woman,” she says. She’s perfected her own style of blended floral work most often seen on traditional furniture, and never seen in enamel paint. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Kustom Sundays, the couple invites DJs to play, a barbeque is lit and people line up for their custom paint jobs. Similarly, if D’Amato goes to a bar and sets up shop for a night, she can make between $700 and $1,000 painting motorcycle helmets, tanks and record boxes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cbr>\nAvila says it currently feels like they can’t say no to anything that pays. But D’Amato points out how important it’s been to volunteer their labor to causes and communities they believe in. In the immediate, that means considering a trip up to the \u003ca href=\"http://www.bbcrc.org/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Black Butte Center for Railroad Culture\u003c/a>, where a community of sign painters periodically convenes to help restore historic railcars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The question of why they stay in San Francisco is an easy one. For Avila, who’s been here since 2003, it’s the closest thing he has to a home. Growing up in Southern California, D’Amato spent plenty of time visiting her grandparents in the East Bay; when she finished up at SFAI, she knew she wasn’t done with the city. Despite the changes in the city’s demographics and the cost of living, they’re deeply tied to both their immediate neighborhood and the Bay Area’s artistic communities. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Merging their fine art backgrounds with the more rigid standards of sign painting, D’Amato and Avila enjoy being less traditional in their approach to Avila Rose Signs. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or, as D’Amato puts it: “I just value all the work that we do.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">L\u003c/span>abor Day weekend in Oakland was immaculately smackin’.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reasons to love this city were on full display. The people, music, weather, food, creativity, history, pride, relationships, spirit, jokes, people… did I mention the people?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I swear, all of it will be forever memorable, especially for me. If for no other reason than the fact that I’m moving to Sacramento this weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yeah, I know. Crazy, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Actually, nah… not really. I’ll just be another one of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article190050994.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">17,000-plus\u003c/a> workers making that 90-mile commute from the state capital to the Bay Area. Hell, last year alone an estimated \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jul/02/sacramento-california-bay-area-gentrification-rent\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">27,00 people relocated\u003c/a> to Sacramento from the Bay Area. At this point, it’s normal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For me, it’s no biggie. Gotta do it. Family reasons. And that’s all there is to it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But I’m not going too far. And I’ll be here working all the time—Oakland is still my office. I’ll still be at KQED, writing a column and hosting \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/rightnowish\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rightnowish\u003c/a>\u003c/em>. Really, there won’t be any major differences. Except… Imma miss ya’ll.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13865628\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13865628\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/FEE3F999-5BE4-43EA-BE47-B830CF59773B-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"The East Bay Dragons turn 60, and bring all the bikes out.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/FEE3F999-5BE4-43EA-BE47-B830CF59773B-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/FEE3F999-5BE4-43EA-BE47-B830CF59773B-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/FEE3F999-5BE4-43EA-BE47-B830CF59773B-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/FEE3F999-5BE4-43EA-BE47-B830CF59773B-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/FEE3F999-5BE4-43EA-BE47-B830CF59773B.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The East Bay Dragons turned 60, and brought all the bikes out. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">A\u003c/span>ll summer, the thought of moving away has been a subtle buzz in the background of the memories I’ve been creating. Motivation to see people, hit events and hold tighter to the indescribable elements that magically coagulate to make Oakland one of the greatest pieces of turf on this earth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And this Labor Day weekend, the vibes were on full display.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly all weekend long, motorcycles lined both sides of the intersection at 88th Avenue and E. 14th Street. Rows of two-wheeled choppers looked like lines of metallic candy, as the East Bay Dragons, Oakland’s oldest African American motorcycle club, ushered in their 60th year of existence—a marvelous feat for any organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Saturday, the Oakland Roots, Oakland’s newest sports franchise, played their first soccer game. Ahead of kickoff, they held a well-attended block party, bringing out the Scraper Bike team, artists like Jennifer Johns and Ryan Nicole, as well as Mayor Libby Schaaf. The team played in front of a packed house, reportedly over capacity at Laney College’s stadium; the game ended up a 3-3 tie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13865603\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13865603\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6983C76B-3D54-49D6-9C56-B428E415BC89-2-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Mayor Libby Schaaf and the Oakland Roots soccer team\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6983C76B-3D54-49D6-9C56-B428E415BC89-2-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6983C76B-3D54-49D6-9C56-B428E415BC89-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6983C76B-3D54-49D6-9C56-B428E415BC89-2-768x514.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6983C76B-3D54-49D6-9C56-B428E415BC89-2-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6983C76B-3D54-49D6-9C56-B428E415BC89-2.jpg 1081w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mayor Libby Schaaf and the Oakland Roots soccer team. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On Saturday night, rapper BossLife Big Spence celebrated the release of his anticipated new album, \u003cem>BOSSLIFE SUMMER: The Life Chose Me\u003c/em>. The event brought out numerous other artists as Big Spence and the BOSSLIFE squad put on a hell of a show at Starline Social Club.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Sunday afternoon the Pan-African Festival pulled people together from all reaches of the African Diaspora to the grassy center of Mosswood Park. There, an impromptu dance floor was flanked by people selling colorful clothing on one side of the park and folks vending food, including jollof rice and shaved ice, on the other. The whole event was a glimpse into a mini Afrocentric utopia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13865629\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13865629\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/3ACE9FD9-FF14-4ECB-A591-AC96A4A6789A-2-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Mistah FAB and Suga Free at Hiero Day in Oakland\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/3ACE9FD9-FF14-4ECB-A591-AC96A4A6789A-2-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/3ACE9FD9-FF14-4ECB-A591-AC96A4A6789A-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/3ACE9FD9-FF14-4ECB-A591-AC96A4A6789A-2-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/3ACE9FD9-FF14-4ECB-A591-AC96A4A6789A-2-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/3ACE9FD9-FF14-4ECB-A591-AC96A4A6789A-2.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mistah FAB and Suga Free at Hiero Day in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And the conclusion of the weekend was Hiero Day, Oakland’s largest homegrown annual hip-hop festival. A valid reason for all the real hip-hop heads and culture junkies to come out, enjoy the vibes and exchange daps and hugs. Hella daps and hugs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I hit all these events and then some. The end of an event celebrating R&B vocalist Astu’s latest single. A send-off party for a longtime friend, Mahasan. I had tacos with Babz and Lola of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mmhmmgirl/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MMHMM GIRL podcast\u003c/a>, and also had sushi with rapper \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13846175/ian-kelly-and-the-role-of-the-bay-area-expatriate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ian Kelly\u003c/a>. Even found time to eat some of my mother’s waffles with my family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I ran around town socializing with artists, spending time with creative people and taking photos. Nothing different than what I’ve done for the past decade since moving back from my college stint in D.C. Except now, I’m leaving again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13865601\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13865601\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/D571DDD6-FBE8-4002-AD4D-525D6C81E3B6-2-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Boss Life Big Spence and Su'lan performing in Oakland\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/D571DDD6-FBE8-4002-AD4D-525D6C81E3B6-2-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/D571DDD6-FBE8-4002-AD4D-525D6C81E3B6-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/D571DDD6-FBE8-4002-AD4D-525D6C81E3B6-2-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/D571DDD6-FBE8-4002-AD4D-525D6C81E3B6-2-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/D571DDD6-FBE8-4002-AD4D-525D6C81E3B6-2.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Boss Life Big Spence and Su’lan performing in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And I wasn’t tripping off of it until Sunday, when the A’s got their green and gold asses handed to them by the Yankees. Two home runs in the bottom of the ninth by the guys in pinstripes, and every vulgar word in my vocabulary shot out of my mouth and echoed off the empty walls and brown packing boxes of my apartment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I jokingly tweeted “I need a hug.” Except I didn’t add “LOL.” So, ya know, people didn’t know I was joking. Man, I got hella love. Unnecessary amounts of love, on Twitter, and a few text messages. Folks gave me extended hugs when I saw ’em in public. Extra strong handshakes and whatnot. And while it’s funny, the whole experience showed me two things:\u003c/p>\n\u003col>\n\u003cli>How seriously people take comments that allude to needing help.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>How much this community has my back.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003cp>And also, maybe through my anger around the A’s loss and joy in spending time in the town, I was subconsciously reaching out for one last batch of that good stuff: pure Oakland culture. After a decade of running around and taking photos of this town, you get addicted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I mean, it’s not like that it’s going to stop—but it is going to \u003cem>change.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13865605\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13865605\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6FD2E33E-C795-4B07-99CB-03BC056ECE3E-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"The Dance floor at Pan African Fest 2019 at Mosswood Park in Oakland\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6FD2E33E-C795-4B07-99CB-03BC056ECE3E-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6FD2E33E-C795-4B07-99CB-03BC056ECE3E-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6FD2E33E-C795-4B07-99CB-03BC056ECE3E-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6FD2E33E-C795-4B07-99CB-03BC056ECE3E-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6FD2E33E-C795-4B07-99CB-03BC056ECE3E.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Dance floor at Pan-African Fest 2019 at Mosswood Park in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span>n the coming months, I’ll be taking on a project that highlights the artists and culture keepers who’ve moved from the Bay Area to the central valley, including Sacramento, Stockton and beyond, with a specific focus on the African American population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project, which has been in the works since before my move to Sacramento, is fueled by the lack of reporting in those areas, especially for black folks. Also, Isabel Wilkerson’s book \u003cem>The Warmth of Other Suns\u003c/em> played a major part.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I read Wilkerson’s book last year, while living on Apgar Street in a house that my friend’s grandmother bought after migrating from Louisiana. When I read that one of the characters had come from the deep south and visited 41st and Lusk Streets, five blocks over from where I sat reading the book, I realized that the story of black migration is literally on my doorstep.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13865630\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13865630\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/1D5EA3E0-83EA-4318-B038-61DD1C790955-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Rooted.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/1D5EA3E0-83EA-4318-B038-61DD1C790955-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/1D5EA3E0-83EA-4318-B038-61DD1C790955-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/1D5EA3E0-83EA-4318-B038-61DD1C790955-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/1D5EA3E0-83EA-4318-B038-61DD1C790955-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/1D5EA3E0-83EA-4318-B038-61DD1C790955.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rooted. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, there’s a new chapter waiting to be told—how folks got from the delta in the south to the delta in the central valley of Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of my people got off the train in West Oakland, the end of the line, and never turned back. I know that’s what my friend’s grandmother did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wild how I always heard that tale about folks coming here back in the day, looking for the roads that were paved in gold. I wonder if they knew \u003cem>they\u003c/em> were the gold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This past weekend showed that despite the crazy cost of living out here, that gold hasn’t decreased in value. Not one cent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I’ll end on this note: it doesn’t end. Keep it lit. Daps and hugs when I see you again. Until then, be safe out here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">L\u003c/span>abor Day weekend in Oakland was immaculately smackin’.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The reasons to love this city were on full display. The people, music, weather, food, creativity, history, pride, relationships, spirit, jokes, people… did I mention the people?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I swear, all of it will be forever memorable, especially for me. If for no other reason than the fact that I’m moving to Sacramento this weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yeah, I know. Crazy, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Actually, nah… not really. I’ll just be another one of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article190050994.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">17,000-plus\u003c/a> workers making that 90-mile commute from the state capital to the Bay Area. Hell, last year alone an estimated \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jul/02/sacramento-california-bay-area-gentrification-rent\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">27,00 people relocated\u003c/a> to Sacramento from the Bay Area. At this point, it’s normal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For me, it’s no biggie. Gotta do it. Family reasons. And that’s all there is to it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But I’m not going too far. And I’ll be here working all the time—Oakland is still my office. I’ll still be at KQED, writing a column and hosting \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/tag/rightnowish\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rightnowish\u003c/a>\u003c/em>. Really, there won’t be any major differences. Except… Imma miss ya’ll.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13865628\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13865628\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/FEE3F999-5BE4-43EA-BE47-B830CF59773B-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"The East Bay Dragons turn 60, and bring all the bikes out.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/FEE3F999-5BE4-43EA-BE47-B830CF59773B-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/FEE3F999-5BE4-43EA-BE47-B830CF59773B-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/FEE3F999-5BE4-43EA-BE47-B830CF59773B-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/FEE3F999-5BE4-43EA-BE47-B830CF59773B-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/FEE3F999-5BE4-43EA-BE47-B830CF59773B.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The East Bay Dragons turned 60, and brought all the bikes out. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">A\u003c/span>ll summer, the thought of moving away has been a subtle buzz in the background of the memories I’ve been creating. Motivation to see people, hit events and hold tighter to the indescribable elements that magically coagulate to make Oakland one of the greatest pieces of turf on this earth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And this Labor Day weekend, the vibes were on full display.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly all weekend long, motorcycles lined both sides of the intersection at 88th Avenue and E. 14th Street. Rows of two-wheeled choppers looked like lines of metallic candy, as the East Bay Dragons, Oakland’s oldest African American motorcycle club, ushered in their 60th year of existence—a marvelous feat for any organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Saturday, the Oakland Roots, Oakland’s newest sports franchise, played their first soccer game. Ahead of kickoff, they held a well-attended block party, bringing out the Scraper Bike team, artists like Jennifer Johns and Ryan Nicole, as well as Mayor Libby Schaaf. The team played in front of a packed house, reportedly over capacity at Laney College’s stadium; the game ended up a 3-3 tie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13865603\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13865603\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6983C76B-3D54-49D6-9C56-B428E415BC89-2-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Mayor Libby Schaaf and the Oakland Roots soccer team\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6983C76B-3D54-49D6-9C56-B428E415BC89-2-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6983C76B-3D54-49D6-9C56-B428E415BC89-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6983C76B-3D54-49D6-9C56-B428E415BC89-2-768x514.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6983C76B-3D54-49D6-9C56-B428E415BC89-2-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6983C76B-3D54-49D6-9C56-B428E415BC89-2.jpg 1081w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mayor Libby Schaaf and the Oakland Roots soccer team. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>On Saturday night, rapper BossLife Big Spence celebrated the release of his anticipated new album, \u003cem>BOSSLIFE SUMMER: The Life Chose Me\u003c/em>. The event brought out numerous other artists as Big Spence and the BOSSLIFE squad put on a hell of a show at Starline Social Club.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Sunday afternoon the Pan-African Festival pulled people together from all reaches of the African Diaspora to the grassy center of Mosswood Park. There, an impromptu dance floor was flanked by people selling colorful clothing on one side of the park and folks vending food, including jollof rice and shaved ice, on the other. The whole event was a glimpse into a mini Afrocentric utopia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13865629\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13865629\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/3ACE9FD9-FF14-4ECB-A591-AC96A4A6789A-2-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Mistah FAB and Suga Free at Hiero Day in Oakland\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/3ACE9FD9-FF14-4ECB-A591-AC96A4A6789A-2-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/3ACE9FD9-FF14-4ECB-A591-AC96A4A6789A-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/3ACE9FD9-FF14-4ECB-A591-AC96A4A6789A-2-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/3ACE9FD9-FF14-4ECB-A591-AC96A4A6789A-2-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/3ACE9FD9-FF14-4ECB-A591-AC96A4A6789A-2.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mistah FAB and Suga Free at Hiero Day in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And the conclusion of the weekend was Hiero Day, Oakland’s largest homegrown annual hip-hop festival. A valid reason for all the real hip-hop heads and culture junkies to come out, enjoy the vibes and exchange daps and hugs. Hella daps and hugs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I hit all these events and then some. The end of an event celebrating R&B vocalist Astu’s latest single. A send-off party for a longtime friend, Mahasan. I had tacos with Babz and Lola of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/mmhmmgirl/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MMHMM GIRL podcast\u003c/a>, and also had sushi with rapper \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13846175/ian-kelly-and-the-role-of-the-bay-area-expatriate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ian Kelly\u003c/a>. Even found time to eat some of my mother’s waffles with my family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I ran around town socializing with artists, spending time with creative people and taking photos. Nothing different than what I’ve done for the past decade since moving back from my college stint in D.C. Except now, I’m leaving again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13865601\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13865601\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/D571DDD6-FBE8-4002-AD4D-525D6C81E3B6-2-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Boss Life Big Spence and Su'lan performing in Oakland\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/D571DDD6-FBE8-4002-AD4D-525D6C81E3B6-2-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/D571DDD6-FBE8-4002-AD4D-525D6C81E3B6-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/D571DDD6-FBE8-4002-AD4D-525D6C81E3B6-2-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/D571DDD6-FBE8-4002-AD4D-525D6C81E3B6-2-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/D571DDD6-FBE8-4002-AD4D-525D6C81E3B6-2.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Boss Life Big Spence and Su’lan performing in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And I wasn’t tripping off of it until Sunday, when the A’s got their green and gold asses handed to them by the Yankees. Two home runs in the bottom of the ninth by the guys in pinstripes, and every vulgar word in my vocabulary shot out of my mouth and echoed off the empty walls and brown packing boxes of my apartment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I jokingly tweeted “I need a hug.” Except I didn’t add “LOL.” So, ya know, people didn’t know I was joking. Man, I got hella love. Unnecessary amounts of love, on Twitter, and a few text messages. Folks gave me extended hugs when I saw ’em in public. Extra strong handshakes and whatnot. And while it’s funny, the whole experience showed me two things:\u003c/p>\n\u003col>\n\u003cli>How seriously people take comments that allude to needing help.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>How much this community has my back.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ol>\n\u003cp>And also, maybe through my anger around the A’s loss and joy in spending time in the town, I was subconsciously reaching out for one last batch of that good stuff: pure Oakland culture. After a decade of running around and taking photos of this town, you get addicted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I mean, it’s not like that it’s going to stop—but it is going to \u003cem>change.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13865605\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13865605\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6FD2E33E-C795-4B07-99CB-03BC056ECE3E-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"The Dance floor at Pan African Fest 2019 at Mosswood Park in Oakland\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6FD2E33E-C795-4B07-99CB-03BC056ECE3E-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6FD2E33E-C795-4B07-99CB-03BC056ECE3E-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6FD2E33E-C795-4B07-99CB-03BC056ECE3E-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6FD2E33E-C795-4B07-99CB-03BC056ECE3E-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/6FD2E33E-C795-4B07-99CB-03BC056ECE3E.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Dance floor at Pan-African Fest 2019 at Mosswood Park in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span>n the coming months, I’ll be taking on a project that highlights the artists and culture keepers who’ve moved from the Bay Area to the central valley, including Sacramento, Stockton and beyond, with a specific focus on the African American population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project, which has been in the works since before my move to Sacramento, is fueled by the lack of reporting in those areas, especially for black folks. Also, Isabel Wilkerson’s book \u003cem>The Warmth of Other Suns\u003c/em> played a major part.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I read Wilkerson’s book last year, while living on Apgar Street in a house that my friend’s grandmother bought after migrating from Louisiana. When I read that one of the characters had come from the deep south and visited 41st and Lusk Streets, five blocks over from where I sat reading the book, I realized that the story of black migration is literally on my doorstep.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13865630\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13865630\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/1D5EA3E0-83EA-4318-B038-61DD1C790955-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Rooted.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/1D5EA3E0-83EA-4318-B038-61DD1C790955-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/1D5EA3E0-83EA-4318-B038-61DD1C790955-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/1D5EA3E0-83EA-4318-B038-61DD1C790955-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/1D5EA3E0-83EA-4318-B038-61DD1C790955-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/09/1D5EA3E0-83EA-4318-B038-61DD1C790955.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rooted. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, there’s a new chapter waiting to be told—how folks got from the delta in the south to the delta in the central valley of Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of my people got off the train in West Oakland, the end of the line, and never turned back. I know that’s what my friend’s grandmother did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wild how I always heard that tale about folks coming here back in the day, looking for the roads that were paved in gold. I wonder if they knew \u003cem>they\u003c/em> were the gold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This past weekend showed that despite the crazy cost of living out here, that gold hasn’t decreased in value. Not one cent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I’ll end on this note: it doesn’t end. Keep it lit. Daps and hugs when I see you again. Until then, be safe out here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Watch Andy Samberg as a Rapping Jose Canseco in New 'Bash Brothers' Netflix Special",
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"content": "\u003cp>Because entertainment outlets are now infinite and every utterly ridiculous idea conceived by a celebrity can find a massive budget, Andy Samberg and his comedy group the Lonely Island have surprise-released \u003cem>The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience\u003c/em>, a half-hour special that answers a question nobody was really asking: what if the steroid-addled, home-run hitting duo of Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco had a late-1980s rap career?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can watch the whole thing \u003ca href=\"https://www.netflix.com/title/81036190\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here\u003c/a> if you have Netflix, and below is lead single “Oakland Nights,” featuring Jenny Slate, Hannah Simone and Sterling K. Brown as a silk-shirt loverman voiced by Sia:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD4ryByjVyo\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rest of the project includes songs like “Focused AF,” “Bikini Babe Workout,” and “IHOP Parking Lot” (featuring HAIM and Maya Rudolph), plus about a zillion different lyrics about women, drugs, and the effect of steroids on one’s genitalia that I probably shouldn’t quote on a website owned by the station that brings you \u003cem>Sesame Street\u003c/em> each morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I dunno, guys. Andy Samberg was 11 when the A’s beat the Giants to win the World Series, he grew up in the Bay Area—maybe we should just let him have this juvenile, bonkers moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thus, if you’re not in a meeting with your boss right now, here’s the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfKJxowxBb4\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Oakland-themed video for “Uniform On”\u003c/a> (BART cameo!), and the whole soundtrack can be heard below. And of course, I am obligated to remind you to \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QixQMUu4CKI\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">re-watch one of the greatest Jose Canseco moments in baseball history\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://open.spotify.com/embed?uri=spotify%3Aalbum%3A6wWBAQlfQ4AXClTAgsJStH\" width=\"800\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allow=\"encrypted-media\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Steroid-addled Oakland A's legends Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco are late-1980s rap stars in this utterly ridiculous surprise drop.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Because entertainment outlets are now infinite and every utterly ridiculous idea conceived by a celebrity can find a massive budget, Andy Samberg and his comedy group the Lonely Island have surprise-released \u003cem>The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience\u003c/em>, a half-hour special that answers a question nobody was really asking: what if the steroid-addled, home-run hitting duo of Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco had a late-1980s rap career?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can watch the whole thing \u003ca href=\"https://www.netflix.com/title/81036190\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here\u003c/a> if you have Netflix, and below is lead single “Oakland Nights,” featuring Jenny Slate, Hannah Simone and Sterling K. Brown as a silk-shirt loverman voiced by Sia:\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/LD4ryByjVyo'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/LD4ryByjVyo'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>The rest of the project includes songs like “Focused AF,” “Bikini Babe Workout,” and “IHOP Parking Lot” (featuring HAIM and Maya Rudolph), plus about a zillion different lyrics about women, drugs, and the effect of steroids on one’s genitalia that I probably shouldn’t quote on a website owned by the station that brings you \u003cem>Sesame Street\u003c/em> each morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I dunno, guys. Andy Samberg was 11 when the A’s beat the Giants to win the World Series, he grew up in the Bay Area—maybe we should just let him have this juvenile, bonkers moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thus, if you’re not in a meeting with your boss right now, here’s the \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfKJxowxBb4\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Oakland-themed video for “Uniform On”\u003c/a> (BART cameo!), and the whole soundtrack can be heard below. And of course, I am obligated to remind you to \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QixQMUu4CKI\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">re-watch one of the greatest Jose Canseco moments in baseball history\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://open.spotify.com/embed?uri=spotify%3Aalbum%3A6wWBAQlfQ4AXClTAgsJStH\" width=\"800\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allow=\"encrypted-media\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "The Players Who Put the 'Oakland' in the Oakland A's (and the Rest of Baseball)",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">A\u003c/span>s I write this, the Oakland A’s are eyeing not only a playoff spot, but a Western Division Championship. This historic season, their 51st in Oakland, has been nothing short of magical: consistent late-game heroics, a thrilling no-hitter, and much more to inspire fair-weather fans to break out their green and gold and jump aboard the bandwagon as we head toward October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For us A’s fans, we’ve been here before. We’ve had that sense of uplift in the fall, and then that all-too familiar sinking feeling in October. And, constant as the stars, we keep returning to the Coliseum, year in and year out, sticking by this team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After 50 years in Oakland, it’s time to look back at what the team’s contributions to baseball. And, as the major leagues slowly \u003ca href=\"https://www.vox.com/2016/10/27/13416798/cubs-dodgers-baseball-white-diverse\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lose African American players\u003c/a>, it’s especially time to recognize what the A’s have meant to the black community at large.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13839224\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13839224\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.DorothyLibrary-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"The Oakland Library's Dorothy Lazard with an exhibition commemorating the A's 50 years in Oakland.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.DorothyLibrary-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.DorothyLibrary-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.DorothyLibrary-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.DorothyLibrary-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.DorothyLibrary-960x641.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.DorothyLibrary-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.DorothyLibrary-375x251.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.DorothyLibrary-520x347.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.DorothyLibrary.jpg 1100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Oakland Library’s Dorothy Lazard with an exhibition commemorating the A’s 50 years in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span> leaned over in the 100-plus year-old chair and asked Oakland Library historian Dorothy Lazard if it’s possible to tell the story of baseball, America’s great pastime, without mentioning Oakland—specifically, the black community in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No!” she immediately replied. “We had some amazing black players on our championship teams,” mentioning Reggie Jackson and Vida Blue, vital parts of the trio of championships the A’s won in the early ’70s. Then she drove her point home: “You know, Curt Flood is from Oakland. Curt Flood is the reason we have free agency!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Curt Flood was the longtime St. Louis Cardinals player who fought for pro baseball players to have the right to be free agents. Prior to his case, which was decided by the Supreme Court, players had lifetime contracts, and only switched teams when owners traded or sold their rights to another squad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lazard could’ve stopped there. Her point was proven. I mean, who’d think Flood, a kid who went to little ol’ McClymonds High School in West Oakland, would change the business of professional sports?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But then, even more so, who’d think one of his schoolmates who he walked past in the hallway, Frank Robinson, would become the first African American manager in baseball history?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right. So you could stop there and the point would be proven: You can’t talk about professional baseball in America without talking about the African American community in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13839299\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13839299\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Edwin Jackson and Khris Davis show off their African American Heritage Night baseball caps with MC Hammer (L–R) at the Coliseum.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Edwin Jackson and Khris Davis show off their African American Heritage Night baseball caps with MC Hammer (L–R) at the Coliseum. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Oakland Athletics)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But then, again, you’d be missing the story of Rickey Henderson, the Oakland-bred MLB record holder for stolen bases, famously quoted as saying, “Everything I know about stealing, I learned in Oakland.” Henderson, considered by many the greatest leadoff hitter in baseball history, is a graduate of Oakland Tech, and now has a field there named in his honor—in addition to the diamond where the A’s play, which bears his name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s more. Like the story of an Oakland kid named Dave Stewart, who grew to be a Cy Young Award-winning A’s pitcher, who’s part of the A’s Black Aces club—a group of African American A’s hurlers who won 20 games or more in a season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s Bip Roberts, Jermaine Dye and so many more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’d even give honorable mentions to Jimmy Rollins, Dontrelle Willis and Willie Stargell; all were Alameda residents, technically. But we all know: to leave Alameda, you’ve got to go through Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13839222\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13839222\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.FamilyinStands-800x601.jpg\" alt=\"A's fans Saleem Shakir, Shefali Shah and Amari Shah-Shakir (L–R) at African American Heritage Night at the Coliseum.\" width=\"800\" height=\"601\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.FamilyinStands.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.FamilyinStands-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.FamilyinStands-768x577.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.FamilyinStands-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.FamilyinStands-375x282.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.FamilyinStands-520x391.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A’s fans Saleem Shakir, Shefali Shah and Amari Shah-Shakir (L–R) at African American Heritage Night at the Coliseum. \u003ccite>(Saleem Shakir)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And then there are the stories of African American ballplayers who weren’t from here, but played here—and played a significant role. Like Jimmy Claxton, arguably the first black professional ballplayer in the modern era. On May 28, 1916, over three decades before Jackie Robinson took the field in a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform, Claxton donned the uniform of the Pacific Coast League’s Oakland Oaks—the franchise that called this area home prior to the A’s. (The Oaks used to play at the old Oakland Baseball Park; the site is now the Pixar campus in Emeryville.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Claxton, who was initially thought by team management to be Native American, reportedly played two games before his African American ancestry was discovered, prompting his release. But it was too late. Not only was he in the record books as being a professional ballplayer, his photo had been taken and placed on a trading card from the Zeenut company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You also might include Vada Pinson, another McClymonds High kid who went on to a great MLB career playing 18 seasons, most notably for the Cincinnati Reds. He never did play for the A’s, but his heart stayed here; he died in Oakland in 1995.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The history of African American ballplayers from Oakland, and those who’ve played in Oakland, runs deep. And it’s still going. The A’s currently have some great ones, including Khris Davis, who’s among the top home-run hitters in the league.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And there’s the current story of the Ross brothers, Joe and Tyson, childhood friends of mine who currently play pro ball. Back when Tyson played for the A’s, he wore the number 66, as a nod to the diamond on 66th Avenue, Greenman Field, where we used to play tee-ball together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13839226\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13839226\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.TiffanyStapleton-800x576.jpg\" alt=\"A's fans Tasha Dial, Tiffany Stapleton, KaSelah Crockett and Monique Nichols (L–R) at African American Heritage Night at the Coliseum.\" width=\"800\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.TiffanyStapleton.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.TiffanyStapleton-160x115.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.TiffanyStapleton-768x553.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.TiffanyStapleton-240x173.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.TiffanyStapleton-375x270.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.TiffanyStapleton-520x374.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A’s fans Tasha Dial, Tiffany Stapleton, KaSelah Crockett and Monique Nichols (L–R) at African American Heritage Night at the Coliseum. \u003ccite>(KaSelah Crockett)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">Y\u003c/span>eah, I used to play baseball. I was a second baseman, short and fast. And I studied those built like me—like Joe Morgan, an East Oakland kid who became a Hall of Famer. As a kid, I took pride in knowing all about African American ballplayers. After all, there weren’t—and still aren’t—too many of them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, when the Oakland A’s celebrated African American heritage last week during a game against the Dodgers, giving away hats with African print on the bill, I stood up and took notice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On one hand, I knew it was a bit of a ploy to get black folks reinvested in baseball. But I also knew that the A’s have done some solid work in the community this year, and showing that they’re true to the slogan of being “rooted in Oakland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’ve done community service and donated to causes. They’ve organized pick-up games at neighborhood ballparks (the next one is at 9am on Aug. 25 at Garfield Park, 2260 Foothill Blvd., in Oakland). Hell, they even made personal phone calls, inviting folks to the African American heritage night—both my mom and I got calls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t know how they got our numbers, but I do know that their efforts aren’t going unrecognized; there are new graffiti murals on major walls around Oakland dedicated to the A’s. On top of that, they have a really good ball team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I watched the game from home, tuning in just as Joe Morgan was brought on as a guest announcer. He discussed being short and using it to his advantage. He talked about winning championships with the Reds, and his short stint with the A’s. And he touched on the African American community of Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13839298\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13839298\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Tony! Toni! Toné! performs the African American national anthem at the Coliseum for African American Heritage Night.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tony! Toni! Toné! performs the African American national anthem at the Coliseum for African American Heritage Night. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Oakland Athletics)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The next day, I went down to the Oakland library, where there’s currently an exhibition dedicated to the anniversary of the A’s move to Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Who curated this exhibit?” I asked in a library safe tone, as I walked into the history room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I did. You know I curate all the exhibits here,” Dorothy Lazard said with a smile.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As we walked through the room, she narrated her thinking behind the content in the three cases. Lazard had gathered A’s memorabilia, books and photos. She strategically put the lowlights of the steroid era next to the highlight of the Moneyball era. She wrote brief stories recapping how A’s mascot Stomper, “the white elephant,” came to be. She found a poster from the 1989 World Series against the Giants. She told me about the franchise’s former owner, the eccentric Charlie Finley, and how he paid players $300 extra if they grew mustaches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then I saw a news clipping that echoed Lazard’s sentiment about the value of Oakland’s African American community and African American ballplayers who’ve come through the Town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13839223\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13839223\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/Ascloseupdisplaycase-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Part of the Oakland A's exhibit at the Oakland Library.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/Ascloseupdisplaycase.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/Ascloseupdisplaycase-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/Ascloseupdisplaycase-768x514.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/Ascloseupdisplaycase-240x161.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/Ascloseupdisplaycase-375x251.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/Ascloseupdisplaycase-520x348.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Part of the Oakland A’s exhibit at the Oakland Library. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a piece published earlier this year by the \u003cem>East Bay Monthly\u003c/em>, Oakland A’s current President Dave Kaval was quoted as saying, “We’re thinking about doing a hall of fame as a part of the new stadium.” Kaval then said, “Especially to celebrate not just the A’s history, but just Oakland baseball history, back to the Oakland Oaks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s no new stadium yet. But this week, the A’s announced the opening of a hall of fame dedicated to Oakland ballplayers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I hope the A’s get that new stadium soon. I hope they make it deep into the playoffs this year. And lastly, I hope that the Oakland baseball hall of fame opens its doors to all the great ballplayers who have roots in this area. How cool would it be to see an authentic Jimmy Claxton card enshrined there?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Pendarvis Harshaw is the author of ‘\u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/local/abcarian/la-me-abcarian-og-harshaw-20170409-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">OG Told Me\u003c/a>,’ a memoir about growing up in Oakland. Find him on Twitter \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/ogpenn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">A\u003c/span>s I write this, the Oakland A’s are eyeing not only a playoff spot, but a Western Division Championship. This historic season, their 51st in Oakland, has been nothing short of magical: consistent late-game heroics, a thrilling no-hitter, and much more to inspire fair-weather fans to break out their green and gold and jump aboard the bandwagon as we head toward October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For us A’s fans, we’ve been here before. We’ve had that sense of uplift in the fall, and then that all-too familiar sinking feeling in October. And, constant as the stars, we keep returning to the Coliseum, year in and year out, sticking by this team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After 50 years in Oakland, it’s time to look back at what the team’s contributions to baseball. And, as the major leagues slowly \u003ca href=\"https://www.vox.com/2016/10/27/13416798/cubs-dodgers-baseball-white-diverse\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lose African American players\u003c/a>, it’s especially time to recognize what the A’s have meant to the black community at large.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13839224\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13839224\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.DorothyLibrary-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"The Oakland Library's Dorothy Lazard with an exhibition commemorating the A's 50 years in Oakland.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.DorothyLibrary-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.DorothyLibrary-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.DorothyLibrary-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.DorothyLibrary-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.DorothyLibrary-960x641.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.DorothyLibrary-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.DorothyLibrary-375x251.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.DorothyLibrary-520x347.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.DorothyLibrary.jpg 1100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Oakland Library’s Dorothy Lazard with an exhibition commemorating the A’s 50 years in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span> leaned over in the 100-plus year-old chair and asked Oakland Library historian Dorothy Lazard if it’s possible to tell the story of baseball, America’s great pastime, without mentioning Oakland—specifically, the black community in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No!” she immediately replied. “We had some amazing black players on our championship teams,” mentioning Reggie Jackson and Vida Blue, vital parts of the trio of championships the A’s won in the early ’70s. Then she drove her point home: “You know, Curt Flood is from Oakland. Curt Flood is the reason we have free agency!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Curt Flood was the longtime St. Louis Cardinals player who fought for pro baseball players to have the right to be free agents. Prior to his case, which was decided by the Supreme Court, players had lifetime contracts, and only switched teams when owners traded or sold their rights to another squad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lazard could’ve stopped there. Her point was proven. I mean, who’d think Flood, a kid who went to little ol’ McClymonds High School in West Oakland, would change the business of professional sports?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But then, even more so, who’d think one of his schoolmates who he walked past in the hallway, Frank Robinson, would become the first African American manager in baseball history?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right. So you could stop there and the point would be proven: You can’t talk about professional baseball in America without talking about the African American community in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13839299\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13839299\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Edwin Jackson and Khris Davis show off their African American Heritage Night baseball caps with MC Hammer (L–R) at the Coliseum.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsHammer-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Edwin Jackson and Khris Davis show off their African American Heritage Night baseball caps with MC Hammer (L–R) at the Coliseum. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Oakland Athletics)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But then, again, you’d be missing the story of Rickey Henderson, the Oakland-bred MLB record holder for stolen bases, famously quoted as saying, “Everything I know about stealing, I learned in Oakland.” Henderson, considered by many the greatest leadoff hitter in baseball history, is a graduate of Oakland Tech, and now has a field there named in his honor—in addition to the diamond where the A’s play, which bears his name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s more. Like the story of an Oakland kid named Dave Stewart, who grew to be a Cy Young Award-winning A’s pitcher, who’s part of the A’s Black Aces club—a group of African American A’s hurlers who won 20 games or more in a season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s Bip Roberts, Jermaine Dye and so many more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’d even give honorable mentions to Jimmy Rollins, Dontrelle Willis and Willie Stargell; all were Alameda residents, technically. But we all know: to leave Alameda, you’ve got to go through Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13839222\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13839222\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.FamilyinStands-800x601.jpg\" alt=\"A's fans Saleem Shakir, Shefali Shah and Amari Shah-Shakir (L–R) at African American Heritage Night at the Coliseum.\" width=\"800\" height=\"601\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.FamilyinStands.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.FamilyinStands-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.FamilyinStands-768x577.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.FamilyinStands-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.FamilyinStands-375x282.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.FamilyinStands-520x391.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A’s fans Saleem Shakir, Shefali Shah and Amari Shah-Shakir (L–R) at African American Heritage Night at the Coliseum. \u003ccite>(Saleem Shakir)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And then there are the stories of African American ballplayers who weren’t from here, but played here—and played a significant role. Like Jimmy Claxton, arguably the first black professional ballplayer in the modern era. On May 28, 1916, over three decades before Jackie Robinson took the field in a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform, Claxton donned the uniform of the Pacific Coast League’s Oakland Oaks—the franchise that called this area home prior to the A’s. (The Oaks used to play at the old Oakland Baseball Park; the site is now the Pixar campus in Emeryville.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Claxton, who was initially thought by team management to be Native American, reportedly played two games before his African American ancestry was discovered, prompting his release. But it was too late. Not only was he in the record books as being a professional ballplayer, his photo had been taken and placed on a trading card from the Zeenut company.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You also might include Vada Pinson, another McClymonds High kid who went on to a great MLB career playing 18 seasons, most notably for the Cincinnati Reds. He never did play for the A’s, but his heart stayed here; he died in Oakland in 1995.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The history of African American ballplayers from Oakland, and those who’ve played in Oakland, runs deep. And it’s still going. The A’s currently have some great ones, including Khris Davis, who’s among the top home-run hitters in the league.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And there’s the current story of the Ross brothers, Joe and Tyson, childhood friends of mine who currently play pro ball. Back when Tyson played for the A’s, he wore the number 66, as a nod to the diamond on 66th Avenue, Greenman Field, where we used to play tee-ball together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13839226\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13839226\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.TiffanyStapleton-800x576.jpg\" alt=\"A's fans Tasha Dial, Tiffany Stapleton, KaSelah Crockett and Monique Nichols (L–R) at African American Heritage Night at the Coliseum.\" width=\"800\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.TiffanyStapleton.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.TiffanyStapleton-160x115.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.TiffanyStapleton-768x553.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.TiffanyStapleton-240x173.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.TiffanyStapleton-375x270.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/As.TiffanyStapleton-520x374.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A’s fans Tasha Dial, Tiffany Stapleton, KaSelah Crockett and Monique Nichols (L–R) at African American Heritage Night at the Coliseum. \u003ccite>(KaSelah Crockett)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">Y\u003c/span>eah, I used to play baseball. I was a second baseman, short and fast. And I studied those built like me—like Joe Morgan, an East Oakland kid who became a Hall of Famer. As a kid, I took pride in knowing all about African American ballplayers. After all, there weren’t—and still aren’t—too many of them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, when the Oakland A’s celebrated African American heritage last week during a game against the Dodgers, giving away hats with African print on the bill, I stood up and took notice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On one hand, I knew it was a bit of a ploy to get black folks reinvested in baseball. But I also knew that the A’s have done some solid work in the community this year, and showing that they’re true to the slogan of being “rooted in Oakland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They’ve done community service and donated to causes. They’ve organized pick-up games at neighborhood ballparks (the next one is at 9am on Aug. 25 at Garfield Park, 2260 Foothill Blvd., in Oakland). Hell, they even made personal phone calls, inviting folks to the African American heritage night—both my mom and I got calls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t know how they got our numbers, but I do know that their efforts aren’t going unrecognized; there are new graffiti murals on major walls around Oakland dedicated to the A’s. On top of that, they have a really good ball team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I watched the game from home, tuning in just as Joe Morgan was brought on as a guest announcer. He discussed being short and using it to his advantage. He talked about winning championships with the Reds, and his short stint with the A’s. And he touched on the African American community of Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13839298\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13839298\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Tony! Toni! Toné! performs the African American national anthem at the Coliseum for African American Heritage Night.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/AsToni-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tony! Toni! Toné! performs the African American national anthem at the Coliseum for African American Heritage Night. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Oakland Athletics)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The next day, I went down to the Oakland library, where there’s currently an exhibition dedicated to the anniversary of the A’s move to Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Who curated this exhibit?” I asked in a library safe tone, as I walked into the history room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I did. You know I curate all the exhibits here,” Dorothy Lazard said with a smile.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As we walked through the room, she narrated her thinking behind the content in the three cases. Lazard had gathered A’s memorabilia, books and photos. She strategically put the lowlights of the steroid era next to the highlight of the Moneyball era. She wrote brief stories recapping how A’s mascot Stomper, “the white elephant,” came to be. She found a poster from the 1989 World Series against the Giants. She told me about the franchise’s former owner, the eccentric Charlie Finley, and how he paid players $300 extra if they grew mustaches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then I saw a news clipping that echoed Lazard’s sentiment about the value of Oakland’s African American community and African American ballplayers who’ve come through the Town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13839223\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13839223\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/Ascloseupdisplaycase-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Part of the Oakland A's exhibit at the Oakland Library.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/Ascloseupdisplaycase.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/Ascloseupdisplaycase-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/Ascloseupdisplaycase-768x514.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/Ascloseupdisplaycase-240x161.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/Ascloseupdisplaycase-375x251.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/08/Ascloseupdisplaycase-520x348.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Part of the Oakland A’s exhibit at the Oakland Library. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a piece published earlier this year by the \u003cem>East Bay Monthly\u003c/em>, Oakland A’s current President Dave Kaval was quoted as saying, “We’re thinking about doing a hall of fame as a part of the new stadium.” Kaval then said, “Especially to celebrate not just the A’s history, but just Oakland baseball history, back to the Oakland Oaks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s no new stadium yet. But this week, the A’s announced the opening of a hall of fame dedicated to Oakland ballplayers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I hope the A’s get that new stadium soon. I hope they make it deep into the playoffs this year. And lastly, I hope that the Oakland baseball hall of fame opens its doors to all the great ballplayers who have roots in this area. How cool would it be to see an authentic Jimmy Claxton card enshrined there?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12127869\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-800x78.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"78\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-400x39.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/09/Q.Logo_.Break_-768x75.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Pendarvis Harshaw is the author of ‘\u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/local/abcarian/la-me-abcarian-og-harshaw-20170409-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">OG Told Me\u003c/a>,’ a memoir about growing up in Oakland. Find him on Twitter \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/ogpenn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "so-about-that-twitter-feud-between-smash-mouth-and-the-oakland-as",
"title": "So, About That Twitter Feud Between Smash Mouth and the Oakland A's",
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"headTitle": "So, About That Twitter Feud Between Smash Mouth and the Oakland A’s | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Does anyone remember how public feuds worked before the internet? I guess people just had to say shady things about each other in interviews that ran in print newspapers, and then hope that the target of their shade read that particular newspaper? Seems, well, unsatisfying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thankfully, we have Twitter, the social media site whose instant gratification factor makes it not only a \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/kanyewest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">great platform for narcissism as performance art\u003c/a> and a really \u003ca href=\"http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/29/anthony-weiner-loses-huma-abedin-and-two-jobs-on-the-same-day.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">splashy way to b\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/29/anthony-weiner-loses-huma-abedin-and-two-jobs-on-the-same-day.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">low up your life\u003c/a>, but also the ideal method for exchanging snarky insults with public figures. And when you’ve got \u003cem>two\u003c/em> public figures involved? You, my friend, have an entertaining Twitter feud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most hilarious recent case in point: San Jose’s own Smash Mouth — the band famous for the inescapable 1999 single “All Star,” some painful covers on the \u003cem>Shrek\u003c/em> soundtrack and a lead singer who’s somehow achieved the feat of being \u003ca href=\"https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/smash-mouth-singer-is-not-an-all-star\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">even more disliked than his food-world doppelganger Guy Fieri\u003c/a> — decided to weigh in on a tweet by \u003cem>Chronicle\u003c/em> sports writer John Shea about Coco Crisp, the former A’s outfielder who was traded to the Cleveland Indians earlier this fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/smashmouth/status/792201639612461056\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Worth noting, maybe, that this is not the first occasion on which the person behind Smash Mouth’s Twitter account has seemed like he might have too much time on his hands. \u003ca href=\"http://gawker.com/smash-mouths-desperate-endless-twitter-battle-1781910819\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">This hilarious report by Ashley Feinberg at Gawker\u003c/a> (RIP) details the impressive amount of time and energy this account spends sounding incredibly defensive, refuting even mild criticism from random people online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What took this interaction to the next level, however, was whomever was running the A’s Twitter account close to midnight on Oct. 28, when the (rather lame) original diss took place. This person went “You know what? You’ll never know if you don’t go.” And they \u003cem>went\u003c/em>. The organization has since deleted its tweets, so we’re going off text captured by \u003ca href=\"http://consequenceofsound.net/2016/10/smash-mouth-got-into-a-twitter-fight-with-the-oakland-as-at-230-am/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Consequence of Sound\u003c/a>, but the sparring included hits such as:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.22.14-PM.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12284177 aligncenter\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.22.14-PM.png\" alt=\"screen-shot-2016-10-31-at-11-22-14-pm\" width=\"642\" height=\"116\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.22.14-PM.png 642w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.22.14-PM-160x29.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.22.14-PM-240x43.png 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.22.14-PM-375x68.png 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.22.14-PM-520x94.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 642px) 100vw, 642px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/smashmouth/status/792249505697533952\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.24.30-PM.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12284178 size-full aligncenter\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.24.30-PM.png\" alt=\"screen-shot-2016-10-31-at-11-24-30-pm\" width=\"750\" height=\"144\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.24.30-PM.png 750w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.24.30-PM-160x31.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.24.30-PM-240x46.png 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.24.30-PM-375x72.png 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.24.30-PM-520x100.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Your mileage may vary, but my personal favorite part is when Smash Mouth continues to try to make salient points about the team’s strategy, and A’s pitcher Sean Doolittle (who was also up at this hour with nothing better to do than make jokes) decides to chime in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/whatwouldDOOdo/status/792255261905825792\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Did you know Sean Doolittle was great at Twitter?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/whatwouldDOOdo/status/792266522206965760\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I did not know Sean Doolittle was great at Twitter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/whatwouldDOOdo/status/792272784931946496\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In any event: it appears someone on the Athletics’ PR team thought said online shenanigans were, as they say, “not a good look,” because the team’s tweets were gone the next morning. In their place, there was a peace offering:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/Athletics/status/792421934390587392\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, I’m going to overlook my obvious bias to note that truly, no one here comes out looking like the sharpest tool in the shed. While I agree the A’s social media person might have run his or her tone by a colleague before engaging in an all-out Twitter war with a notoriously and publicly sad aging retro band, the real social media crime here is that the A’s deleted their tweets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Why? Because if we learned anything from the \u003ca href=\"http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/when-beyonce-mentions-your-brand-dont-repeat-red-lobsters-social-failure/635888\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Great Red Lobster/Beyoncé Social Media Fail of March 2016\u003c/a>, it’s that people want nothing so much as authenticity from their favorite brands, sports and celebrities. That means sometimes looking flawed — immature, silly, or over-the-top. You know, like people are. \u003ca href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/18/us/bart-talks-back-agencys-twitter-account-responds-to-user-complaints.html?_r=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The social media team at BART earned accolades\u003c/a> earlier this year for doing just that: being candid, communicating like actual human beings might.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And how do actual humans feel about Smash Mouth?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-12284184 \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33.jpg\" alt=\"fullsizerender-33\" width=\"399\" height=\"397\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33.jpg 750w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33-160x159.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33-240x239.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33-375x374.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33-520x518.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33-32x32.jpg 32w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33-50x50.jpg 50w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33-64x64.jpg 64w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33-96x96.jpg 96w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33-128x128.jpg 128w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 399px) 100vw, 399px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>…okay, so that one was maybe a little harsh. But I’d like to give Smash Mouth enough credit to think that they can take a joke. Isn’t that part of the social contract when you pick a fight on Twitter? You just … don’t get to take yourself that seriously. Especially in the middle of the night. Maybe especially with a professional sports organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And you know what they say: If you can’t take the heat, you probably shouldn’t be walking on the sun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "So, About That Twitter Feud Between Smash Mouth and the Oakland A's | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Does anyone remember how public feuds worked before the internet? I guess people just had to say shady things about each other in interviews that ran in print newspapers, and then hope that the target of their shade read that particular newspaper? Seems, well, unsatisfying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thankfully, we have Twitter, the social media site whose instant gratification factor makes it not only a \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/kanyewest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">great platform for narcissism as performance art\u003c/a> and a really \u003ca href=\"http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/29/anthony-weiner-loses-huma-abedin-and-two-jobs-on-the-same-day.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">splashy way to b\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/29/anthony-weiner-loses-huma-abedin-and-two-jobs-on-the-same-day.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">low up your life\u003c/a>, but also the ideal method for exchanging snarky insults with public figures. And when you’ve got \u003cem>two\u003c/em> public figures involved? You, my friend, have an entertaining Twitter feud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most hilarious recent case in point: San Jose’s own Smash Mouth — the band famous for the inescapable 1999 single “All Star,” some painful covers on the \u003cem>Shrek\u003c/em> soundtrack and a lead singer who’s somehow achieved the feat of being \u003ca href=\"https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/smash-mouth-singer-is-not-an-all-star\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">even more disliked than his food-world doppelganger Guy Fieri\u003c/a> — decided to weigh in on a tweet by \u003cem>Chronicle\u003c/em> sports writer John Shea about Coco Crisp, the former A’s outfielder who was traded to the Cleveland Indians earlier this fall.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Worth noting, maybe, that this is not the first occasion on which the person behind Smash Mouth’s Twitter account has seemed like he might have too much time on his hands. \u003ca href=\"http://gawker.com/smash-mouths-desperate-endless-twitter-battle-1781910819\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">This hilarious report by Ashley Feinberg at Gawker\u003c/a> (RIP) details the impressive amount of time and energy this account spends sounding incredibly defensive, refuting even mild criticism from random people online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What took this interaction to the next level, however, was whomever was running the A’s Twitter account close to midnight on Oct. 28, when the (rather lame) original diss took place. This person went “You know what? You’ll never know if you don’t go.” And they \u003cem>went\u003c/em>. The organization has since deleted its tweets, so we’re going off text captured by \u003ca href=\"http://consequenceofsound.net/2016/10/smash-mouth-got-into-a-twitter-fight-with-the-oakland-as-at-230-am/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Consequence of Sound\u003c/a>, but the sparring included hits such as:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.22.14-PM.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12284177 aligncenter\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.22.14-PM.png\" alt=\"screen-shot-2016-10-31-at-11-22-14-pm\" width=\"642\" height=\"116\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.22.14-PM.png 642w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.22.14-PM-160x29.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.22.14-PM-240x43.png 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.22.14-PM-375x68.png 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.22.14-PM-520x94.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 642px) 100vw, 642px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.24.30-PM.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12284178 size-full aligncenter\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.24.30-PM.png\" alt=\"screen-shot-2016-10-31-at-11-24-30-pm\" width=\"750\" height=\"144\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.24.30-PM.png 750w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.24.30-PM-160x31.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.24.30-PM-240x46.png 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.24.30-PM-375x72.png 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-31-at-11.24.30-PM-520x100.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Your mileage may vary, but my personal favorite part is when Smash Mouth continues to try to make salient points about the team’s strategy, and A’s pitcher Sean Doolittle (who was also up at this hour with nothing better to do than make jokes) decides to chime in.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Did you know Sean Doolittle was great at Twitter?\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>I did not know Sean Doolittle was great at Twitter.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>In any event: it appears someone on the Athletics’ PR team thought said online shenanigans were, as they say, “not a good look,” because the team’s tweets were gone the next morning. In their place, there was a peace offering:\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Now, I’m going to overlook my obvious bias to note that truly, no one here comes out looking like the sharpest tool in the shed. While I agree the A’s social media person might have run his or her tone by a colleague before engaging in an all-out Twitter war with a notoriously and publicly sad aging retro band, the real social media crime here is that the A’s deleted their tweets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Why? Because if we learned anything from the \u003ca href=\"http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/when-beyonce-mentions-your-brand-dont-repeat-red-lobsters-social-failure/635888\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Great Red Lobster/Beyoncé Social Media Fail of March 2016\u003c/a>, it’s that people want nothing so much as authenticity from their favorite brands, sports and celebrities. That means sometimes looking flawed — immature, silly, or over-the-top. You know, like people are. \u003ca href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/18/us/bart-talks-back-agencys-twitter-account-responds-to-user-complaints.html?_r=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The social media team at BART earned accolades\u003c/a> earlier this year for doing just that: being candid, communicating like actual human beings might.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And how do actual humans feel about Smash Mouth?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-12284184 \" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33.jpg\" alt=\"fullsizerender-33\" width=\"399\" height=\"397\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33.jpg 750w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33-160x159.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33-240x239.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33-375x374.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33-520x518.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33-32x32.jpg 32w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33-50x50.jpg 50w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33-64x64.jpg 64w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33-96x96.jpg 96w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33-128x128.jpg 128w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/FullSizeRender-33-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 399px) 100vw, 399px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>…okay, so that one was maybe a little harsh. But I’d like to give Smash Mouth enough credit to think that they can take a joke. Isn’t that part of the social contract when you pick a fight on Twitter? You just … don’t get to take yourself that seriously. Especially in the middle of the night. Maybe especially with a professional sports organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And you know what they say: If you can’t take the heat, you probably shouldn’t be walking on the sun.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"tagline": "The flip side of gentrification, told through one town",
"info": "Gentrification is changing cities across America, forcing people from neighborhoods they have long called home. Call them the displaced. Now those priced out of the Bay Area are looking for a better life in an unlikely place. American Suburb follows this migration to one California town along the Delta, 45 miles from San Francisco. But is this once sleepy suburb ready for them?",
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"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
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"order": 8
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},
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"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
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"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
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"order": 9
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"hidden-brain": {
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"order": 18
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"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
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},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
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},
"masters-of-scale": {
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"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
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"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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