Athletics 6, Tigers 1

For all that I've been reading, or working, or whatevering this week, the highlight of the week was today's Athletics game.

What immediately made this one different is that my cow-orker Syd cashed in some credit he'd built up through his season tickets at the Coliseum and rented a luxury suite. A luxury suite! He and his girlfriend invited several of their friends (including Michael Wolverton, an author of the Baseball Prospectus, with whom Syd went to school), and also me and Debbi. The price he charged us was nominal, since, as he put it, he "spent this money last fall", so it was a good deal all around. He even had parking passes for the MVP lot for us! (Which beats the hell out of driving into - or worse, out of - the main lot on the south side.)

The luxury suites at the Coliseum don't have a great reputation, since they're rather far back from the field, but they're not bad, really. You get a decent view, just not as nice as the lower deck (they're at the back of the second deck, around the infield). They make up for this by having convenient access to the concessions, and having wide, comfortable, cushioned seats. Which almost seems wrong at a baseball game! But it was nice and comfy. Apparently Syd could have gotten us catered food or had Stomper (the A's big, furry mascot) come by our suite, but both would have cost extra (and Syd wasn't interested in Stomper, despite two kids being in attendance). And we all like the concessions well enough.

As for the game: The A's were hosting the Tigers, and I got to see Barry Zito (who's on my fantasy team) pitch for the fourth time this year, and knuckleballer Steve Sparks went for the Tigers. Sparks has developed into a quality pitcher (Tim Wakefield is the only other active knuckleballer in the Majors), but although Zito didn't have his four-hit stuff working today (his curveball seemed off), he managed to look many hapless Tigers batters look pretty foolish, including working out of a bases-loaded jam in the second inning.

Meanwhile, the A's plugged away on offense, scoring runs in several innings en route to a 6-1 victory. It wasn't a particularly notable game, although Roger Cedeno's error in center field enlivened things a bit. Mostly it was just Zito making hitters look foolish, followed by Chad Bradford and his sidewinder delivery, and a couple of other guys to finish things off.

Oh, and another great throw from Jermaine Dye to gun down a runner at home plate. Those plays are always exciting!

Debbi and I did a little shopping in Mountain View afterwards, then came home and lay around for the rest of the day, taking it easy. A nice way to wind down the day.

I did set up an appointment to meet with a real estate agent on Monday. Just about time to start looking at houses! Or townhouses. Or condos. Something like that! I keep thinking, "How will I work this into my schedule", but, of course, if I'm going to do this seriously, then I need to make time for it. Not at the expense of everything else, of course, but if I have to put some things on hold, then that's what I ought to do.

I'm nervous! And excited!