The Bullpen Baker

i went boom.

2008-07-16T23:39:29Z

even after hearing about rich's sudden departure for my homeland (i was born in chicago), i still wanted to bake for friday. somehow, i've ingrained in my head the idea that it's my duty to provide sustenance to an ever-rotating bullpen. last thursday night was no exception, and it was a late evening. when i got home (say, 10PM-ish), i noticed that the recipe i pulled off the web was wonky, and i got nervous. i emailed the chef and posted a note to her on the chow web board. i googled parts of her recipe to see if it popped up anywhere else. it did- the exact same recipe, though. and it received compliments! "this tasted great!" "yum! my friends love this!" yadda yadda yadda. by 11:30PM, I decided to forgo baking so late and instead wake up at 6AM, check to see if there were any replies, and if not, trundle on ahead.

i hit the sack and, for the life of me, couldn't count enough sheep until almost 1AM. dang sheep. i'm a vegetarian; i shouldn't be cursing out poor fluffy imaginary animals!

friday morning, just 13 hours before game time and 3 hours until i had to be at work, my attempt at making coach maca-ron-s (french macarons) bombed. seriously. as in kablooey. no response from the chef or anyone else. i sat and pondered, finally guestimating that the chocolate that seemed to be doubled in the ingredients list was actually correct, and that the chef must have accidentally "halved" some of the ingredients in the instructions for no reason. i breathed, focused, and concentrated, just like mark ellis does every time he comes to the plate (or so i envision in my head). the egg breaking was fine, the chopping and crushing of the almonds was so-so (2 cups seemed like way to much, and later on, i'll prove this theory right). and ta-da! the chocolate melted perfectly. i added the vanilla as instructed... and got a solid blob that greatly resembled poo. not cookie worthy. or even toilet worthy. i wouldn't even serve the wad of brownish mess to my worst enemy (who on this particular day was turning out to be the shall-remain-nameless chef).

i tried it again. maybe my pan was too hot... nope. i produced poo #2. by this time, it's past 7AM, i hadn't showered yet, and i tried one last time. please cookie gods, pretend to like me today! i separated out the chocolate and vanilla into two direct-to-dough additions. screw this combine-before-you-pour stuff... and it worked! so i stirred, measured out spoonfuls about an inch in diameter as directed... and 15 min. later i had cookies that had ballooned to 2 1/2 times their post-baking size. this was bad. very, very bad. they looked like cocoa frisbees for snow white's seven dwarfs, not baseball players! plus, they didn't taste that wonderful (way too many almonds to where the cookies were mealy as opposed to light and airy).

by this time, what's a poor girl to do? i showered, fretted, and laid down on the bed to pet the cat and contemplate... and woke up almost an hour later. by this time, i was even later for work, and i was ready to go nuts, when i had this green-and-gold-lined epiphany--NUTS! cha-ching!

with a cup of almonds here and some walnuts and pistachios and cashews there, i made a quick ron-smary slightly spicey nuts. they were tasty and i felt at least slightly better about the whole debacle.

before the game, i handed the tupperware of nuts (with the craziness, i had a hard time finding my white boxes, plus the oil from the nuts would probably have bled through anyway. friday i relented and embraced the plastic...) to coach ron, who said thanks and went back to staring at a page of stats. i'm not quite sure what he thought of them, what with his introverted, focus-on-the-game-and-not-on-the-multitude-of-female-fans mentality, but here's hoping he at least felt slightly touched. (and these nuts here were the leftovers- really, the bullpen got a good two cups full!)

i also spoke for a few quick minutes with miguel from guest services. i mentioned my pining for wolverine (chad gaudin), and he said that the field crew were sort of not really missing him yet. chad loved his sunflower seeds, and the crew hated picking up his leftover shells. seems the bullpen area has been much cleaner since he moved to the midwest.

the game itself was fun, even though i wanted to internally boo newbies gallagher and murton. with their stellar debuts, i bottled it, but i'm ready to let it out at anytime in the future. the coolest part, though, was the post-game fireworks. for the longest time i can remember, i've sort of hated fireworks. or intensely disliked the whole fireworks=patriotism+boring music. the a's and the oakland tribune really pulled out all the stops, and i'll admit this was the best fireworks show i've ever seen. ka-boom!

feeling rich no more

2008-07-09T17:56:15Z

yesterday i got my stitches removed from knee surgery numero dos (last monday!), and i walked most of the way home, with a quick pit stop at trader joe's, totally elated. but when i got home and saw the baseball news, i felt like i was hit by a mac truck or pummeled by tonya harding's ex-hubby or forced to ride muni in full giants regalia for a full 24 hours in this almost unbearable heat. yes, the loss of rich harden and chad gaudin was, and still is, that bad.

faced with deafening silence (my cat's english is pretty limited), i debated calling todd, but figured that with the new cell phone law, i didn't want to cause an accident 60 miles away. when he arrived, we both looked at each other and i sniffed a snuffle of sorrow. and with pangs of sadness in our bellies, we went out to one of the darkest nearby restaurants, little star pizza, to fill our heads with the pros (very short list, mr. beane) and cons (too many to count), as well as tummies with drinks and sustenance.

our organic beer (appropriately somber, yet flavorful AND organic) and cherry champagne beverage (called a hey koolaid; i was trying to combat my mourningful black skirt and top with a little bit of idealism) gave our moods a light buzz, but as with most deep dish, good things come to those who wait. and wait the requisite 30 minutes we did for the best deep dish in town. 30 min. also gave us enough time to spout obscenities, laugh over old times (rich signing my a's visor and chad happily grabbing the cookie box), and question what else may come: will joe be given away to the lowest bidder, too? what about huston? and mark ellis, our white night in shining green armor? and will justin get the extension he wants?

no tears were spilled, though, as there's no crying in baseball. tom hanks drove that one home for me years ago. thankfully, piping hot, little star's signature cornmeal crust topped with layers of zucchini, mushrooms, black olives, and crushed tomatoes soon filled our mouths, yet still our heads were spinning around this potentially devastating news. like why now? and why for nothing? and should we still go to friday's game (which won't be a rich start after all but a gallagher one). 'cuz i worked hard to get the tickets we wanted with our comcast coupon code (let's just say i commandeered about $1,300 in tickets before releasing the seats i didn't want for the two that i did... sneaky, yes; working the system, definitely; but wrong? naw.)

looking at the deal with my inexperienced eyes, i feel duped in some way. we lost one of our best pitchers (rich) and our long reliever/6^th man/2007's east bay breakout story (chad) for 4 maybe-possibly-who-knows-what-to-expect-not-#1-2-3-or-4 players/prospects? and of what we did get, we didn't fill any of our current and future holes like ss or 3rd base. and do we still have a chance to be as good as or better than we have been? these questions may remain unanswered, and if anything, this stirs up even more. the one thing i know for certain is that while baseball is forever, pizza and drinks are a girl's best friend.

ps- when i logged in to post this, movable type was questioning the trade, too...

float my boat

2008-07-07T17:34:30Z

root beer float day has become an annual tradition for me. for the past few years, i've taken the day off work, gotten the coliseum early, shellacked on the sunblock while standing in line, and prayed that a player might pour me a small root beer float (and only one: i'm lactose intolerant, and soy cream or froyo just isn't on the provided ingredients list). last year, i finally got a pair and introduced myself to the now-coaching-small-ball-in-the-mid-atlantic coach fischer, which totally made my year (meeting him, that is, not his firing and immediate move eastward). had he been here this year, i would have asked him if i could have scooped with him, gaining precious ice cream-to-root-beer ratio knowledge along with some valuable bullpen insight (like don't add salted nuts to a recipe because the additional salt dehydrates the pitchers more than unsalted nuts...). coach romanick and i haven't become buds, though, which is probably my fault. perhaps a cookie in his honor? or a sleepover?

alas, my dream scoopaging won't be happening this year (and really, the chances of that were pretty much nil anyway). i haven't put in my time at a&w, and i broke our ice cream scooper last year (i blame it all on shoddy glue and crummy manufacturing); my credentials are thin at best. but if you've got some non-baking dough, you might be able to scoop and wave with the best of them anyway! my pockets aren't that deep, but someone's must be, right?

a mostly non-a's post (e-gad!)

2008-06-24T22:54:31Z

i've gotta give a big shout-out to one of mlblogs newest pro bloggers, andre ethier of the los angeles dodgers. 'dre will be writing about la-area eateries throughout the year. he doesn't play for the a's (although he was drafted by them and traded in 2005 for everyone's favorite board game maker) nor particularly nosh in the bay area, but the bullpen baker thoroughly approves. plus, the young outfielder isn't too hard on the eyes. with that, i've composed a little trolley-la-dee-la for 'dre and his posse:

dear andre, the missus, and team,
here are some restaurants that my palette rates supreme.
next time (july 4th-6th) you're in the city
playing those giants who don't look that pretty
make sure you spend well your per diem.

luella
pauline's pizza
ame
the richmond
tartine bakery
pizzetta 211
yuzu
bi-rite creamery
kokkari
aziza
saha

ps- if you need a personal foodie tour guide, i'm always at your service!

sincerely,
becca the baker

all you need is love

2008-06-16T18:23:21Z

the bay bridge/battle of the BART series always guarantee excitement. there's not as much cursing a la when the yankees are in town, and the accents aren't as laudable as those transplanted Bostonians, but when you get a bunch of fans psyched up about the two local teams, yelling put downs about living in walnut creek versus redwood city, well, you know that it all boils down to having a similar if geographically-separated-by-10-miles love for the bay area. and loves conquers all, right?

and speaking of love, who couldn't love the pitching match up for saturday's game: rich harden vs. matt cain. a matchup so great and full of promise, my manfriend was willing to bet against himself and activate both on his fantasy team that day. i, too, love matt cain. a few years ago, when i had a fantasy team of my very own, matt anchored my pitching staff, and he was a big reason (boyfriend's much-needed mentoring was really the biggest) why i ended up in 3rd overall. i also had rich, but finally gave in and released him due to his frequent vacations to that remote and often overlooked state, the DL. rumor has it the DL provides lots of sun, fresh air, and a comprehensive medical plan.

it also seems that many of my readers find my blog out of love. not love for me, but love for the a's wives. google hits about blond bombshells married/engaged/dating the a's are some of my top draws, and while i'm flattered, i'm also sort of... creeped out, bothered, and perturbed. c'mon, peeps. these woman are TAKEN. get over it and go get your own hot, leggy, manolo-wearing, bleached sports aficionado.

before this saturday's game, the a's and giants' wives played their annual softball game to raise money for oakland and san francisco children's hospitals. the a's women were more about grace and giggles while the giants' ladies focused on speed and athleticism. and while this was slow-pitch softball, the game featured unannounced sprinkler action, just like the big leagues!

thanks to todd's suggestion, i made matt candy cain cookies (with the tag line underneath of "eat 'em up!"), soft chocolate cookies with chocolate chips and peppermint swirl candy pieces. i used garrett mccord's recipe from simply recipes, and they tasted amazingly like chewy thin mints. very refreshing, not too chocolaty or minty- just the right balance!

and as a side note, to make chewier cookies, no matter what, here are two suggestions:

1) use a silpat or some kind of silicone baking sheet. they provide a much more even baking surface.

2) if your cookies have hardened after a day or two OR if you overbaked them (and you know it was the oven's fault anyway), put them in a ziploc bag or storage container overnight with a piece of squishy bread (i've used wheat and it works just as well as white) on the bottom and another on the top (use one piece for just a few cookies). in the morning, remove the bread, and if you have an urge, eat the cookies. the moisture from the bread will have transfered to the cookies, and they won't be all hard and crunchy!

handing these over before the game proved to be tough and adventurous as always. most of the players were focused on their women, especially keith foulke, who loaded the team with his wife, several sister-in-laws, and a female friend- (or not having any women), and signing/approaching fans seemed to be dead last on the players' list of to-do's for the day. right around 5:30PM, as the security guy was telling us to wrap it up and move to our seats, magic happened! ryan sweeney came over and signed balls for all the little kids. after he was done, i snuck my box of cookies into his hands and felt giddy as they made their way into the dugout. somewhere in the back of my delusional mind, i like to think that these cookies helped ryan get his first hit of the night and score later on jack cust's double. but even if they didn't, i am still proud to be an a's fan, and one that lives and bakes on the opposite side of the bay in san francisco!

richie rich

2008-05-27T23:56:37Z

originally we were going to enjoy the red sox' return to oakland via our old 27" non-flat screen tv, but when we heard rich harden would be starting on friday, well, that changed things. the downside, though, to matchups like the red sox or yankees vs. the a's is that these are the types of games where the new englanders pop out of the woodwork; put on their khakis, bright red or navy clothing, and puffer vests; attend a series of games; and boo the home team. sigh. but how about kudos to my correct use of semi-colons? friday's seats featured lots of red, but luckily no one got tasered like at retro jersey day (really, maybe concessions needs to rethink selling alcohol so early on promo days?). i like to think of that as progress.

friday night's game featured 1) rich harden throwing a bunch of quickie innings and 2) alan embree, who had just celebrated his 800th career game. with that, i made rich, rich alan M&Mbree brownies. perhaps too many puns, but it could have been worse (like rich, rich alan M&Mbree andrew or emil brown-ies??? gee. no.). thankfully, i know my limits!

i halved this AMAZING brownie recipe from the barefoot contessa, topping it with milk and dark chocolate M&Ms at the 15-min halfway mark (and i didn't include the nuts). they turned out a little gooey, but after an hour's worth of refrigeration, my coworkers scarfed the extras down in about 30 minutes flat friday morning, which i took to be a good sign. the coffee combined with the two chocolates give these brownies a round and deep cocoa flavor, and a little brownie slice goes a long way. optional: a glass of (soy) milk.

with security and police flocking about like hawks, my closest bullpen experience came via the handover to the ball boy at the end of the red sox' warmups. i assume that the guys devoured the brownies while gawking at rich's smooth delivery, but who knows. they could've been braiding dallas' hair. or taking cat naps. meow.

and lastly, after watching saturday night's exciting game via the couch, we were psyched for sunday, where we cleaned the apartment from head to toe in the AM, appropriately prepping for the afternoon's swiffer. er, sweep. go A's!

let them eat cake

2008-05-20T15:32:30Z

after last night's 13 innings of cheering before adding another "L" to our column, i soaked in about 6 hours of sleep. now i'm at work, ready to be semi to almost productive (if the right opportunity presents itself; namely, an iced chai with soy). or at least, i can be partially productive once i've posted about last night's delivery. no, not on the mound. although most of our pitchers delivered and more--namely, huston, who downed red bull instead of vitamin water before, get this, dallas braden began warming him up. kurt (aka zuki, KSu, and/or moped) ran out to finish the job, but it was nice to see dallas (and his semi de-fro-ed mane) back in the bullpen. or half-squatting to catch a slider.

the coliseum itself was rocking about 11,000 fans, and because of the low monday turnout, a good majority of the concessions were closed. thankfully, i had stopped at whole foods to pick up some vegetarian dinner snacks, including pineapple chunks, heirloom tomato salad, spinach dip, blue potato chips, and iced tea. yes, it was girly, but no, after 13 innings, todd and i weren't starving. and that's what matters. now on to the baking!

since we were playing the tampa bay devil rays, i figured something florida-esque would fit the bill. luckily, i grew up in florida, so i know a little thing or two about the state. like there are alligators that will sunbathe at the edge of the swamp, and come aknockin' on your kitchen door when they're hungry. hurricanes aren't just a weather system gone wonky, but also the university of miami's sports teams' moniker. and that everyone really does love gloria estefan. no matter what, the rhythm is gonna get chu.

with this first-hand knowledge brewing in my frontal lobe, i went out on a limb and made orange sour cream pound cake, more appropriately titled "orange ya glad to be an A" cake. todd helped me with this one, measuring out the flour and zesting the orange, and the cake turned out very moist and tasty. it'd make a fine breakfast bread.

before the game last night, i made the pass off to security, and the bullpen barely moved for the first four innings. my only assumption is that they ate some cake and took a nap before their sunflower seed shell spitting contest started around the 7th.

Recipe

1/2 cup butter
3 eggs (whites)
1/2 dairy sour cream (light)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons orange zest
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Bring butter, eggs & sour cream to room temperature. Grease and lightly flour a loaf pan or bundt pan. In a bowl stir together flour, baking powder and soda; set aside. In a large bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed about 30 seconds or till softened. Gradually add sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating on medium to high speed about 6 minutes total or till very light and fluffy. Add vanilla and almond extract. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on low to medium speed for 1 minute after each; scrape bowl often. Alternately add flour mixture and sour cream, beating on low speed just till combined. Gently fold in orange zest into the batter.

Spread batter in the prepared pan. Bake in a 325F oven for 60-70 minutes or till cake tests done with a knife or toothpick. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cake from pan and cool completely. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

From the Better Homes & Gardens Old Fashioned Home Baking Cookbook.
Italicized items are my addition.

May Days

2008-05-05T20:12:43Z

on thursday, we decided to hit up the a's/rangers series over the weekend. saturday was out, but we had a 2-for-1 to use and also couldn't pass up the $4 plaza seats on sunday. that meant two a's games in three days. this might be fine and dandy for the casual fan, but for a girl who needs to meticulously plan recipes and their respective titles, grocery shop at at least two different markets, and bake ahead of time, 72 hours is a short window for baking two sets of treats, at least when you consider work, extracurriculars (like going to the ballet!!!), and my minute 4'x4' kitchen space.

a side note: after much contemplation, i've given up on martha stewart recipes; they just never seem to bake quite right. most of the time, the salt content is off, but sometimes there's just a sheer lack of excitement and quality. if i spend 2 hours making chocolate chip cookies, darn it, i want them to be amazing enough that bud selig would try one and shout his praises to the heavens! well, maybe not that good, but i like my cookies to taste amazing. or special. or high falootin' tootin' good. or at least memorable. in my apartment, safeway baking recipes need not apply.

this weekend i hit up cook's illustrated for what should be the best of the best. run by america's test kitchen, these chefs and bakers put their recipes through a rigorous testing process before going to print, and foodies rave wonders about CI and ATK.

the chronicle inspired me to bake "andrew brown sugar cookies." made with browned butter and brown sugar, these cookies taste like chewy caramel.

on friday, i ended up down by the bullpen before the game, but technically i was ticketed for the plaza level. shawn with security--he's like my dhl guy: dependable and ready at a moment's notice, but no loud yellow clothing unless it's raining--assisted me with delivery, gently placing the box down on the bench prior to the team taking the field.

anyway, we had to leave the section once the national anthem was sung, but i got to see dallas braden scurry up to andrew brown and tell andrew ecstatically that he got cookies named after him. by that point, i was 15 rows away, yet i could hear the ~~jealousy~~ ~~confusion~~ ~~taunting~~ awe in dallas' voice. which brings me to sunday's game...

unfortunately, there's no braden sugar out there or dallas chips, and i felt at a loss for how to honor dallas. after a long saturday night of iron man, finding a parking place for dinner, and veggie chinese, i had compiled a short list of potential names for my chocolate and nut blondies (i used semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, macadamia nuts, marcona almonds, and walnuts-- no coconut or pecans, but the base is the same as the recipe):

black and white mod-style blondies (referencing turn-back-the-clock day on sunday)
the best bullpen, bar-none (blondie bars...)
james blonde (only there's no james in the bullpen)
a's wives in a box (as most of them are blonde, either naturally or via a bottle)
blondies does dallas (not really pg-oriented...)
six relief pitchers walk into a bar...

in the end, my moist and just-about-perfect blondies were christened "six relief pitchers walk into a bar," but i felt inclined to recognize dallas for his bullpen baker supportive efforts. i mean, how many guys, with their hair frizzing everywhere, runs up to another psyched that his buddy has his own cookie (though not mass produced like a wheaties box, but still...)? keeping this close to my heart, i added a note at the bottom of the box about the bars alternative name, "blondies does dallas." sure, it's not appropriate for a disney movie, but this is baseball. let's share the love, people. or at least the pg-rated version.

hit me baby, one more time

2008-05-02T05:35:54Z

thanks to tonight's 20 hits versus the angels, tickets for the plaza level are just $4 this sunday. it's almost like two $2 wednesdays combined, only no dollar dogs. veggie dogs still cost an arm and a leg, though...

but maybe, just maybe, you don't like the 2nd deck. perhaps you're myopic or have an aversion to young children continuously getting sour apple cotton candy stuck in their hair inning after inning or become increasingly dizzy from the smell of the all-you-can-eat 3rd deck crew munching on handfuls of nachos and licorice ropes in quick succession. well, lucky for you, there are two ways to get cheapo tickets for this sunday's game!

go here and use the code "hits" for $4 plaza level or go here and use "jersey" for $10 off field level outfield tickets. yes, you still have to pay the surcharges/fees. the first 10,000 fans inside the gates will receive an A's 60s retro jersey. gooooo a's! and kudos to emil brown and jack cust, who contributed 4 hits each to the 20-hit grand total.

seeing stars

2008-04-30T22:29:30Z

am i the only one perplexed here? they're pushing a guy who hasn't played since the ice age (ok, slight stretch there... ) but not the blonde mop of curls who got his own bobblehead recently and actually started the year on the active roster?

not all it's cracked up to be

2008-04-23T17:52:15Z

saturday's game was my first official (non-exhibition) in-person game of the season. i decided to do something a little different, and show off my nuttier side. as in, mixed nuts. with emeril's recipe for spiced nuts on my computer screen, i proceeded to toast and coat marcona almonds, macadamia nuts, sunflower seeds, cashews, and walnuts. and after letting them sit overnight, i tossed them with dark chocolate chips and unsweetened coconut slivers (both helped to balance out the spiciness of the paprika), and boxed and labeled the mix "Let's Go Nuts for the A's! Mix." not too original, but it works, right?

that afternoon, the a's took batting practice first, so handing off the box then just wouldn't work as they rarely linger once the opposing team takes the field. miguel, the guest services guy, came by and said hello. as always, i offered him some of the day's offerings (i brought a ziploc bag of the stuff to tide any cravings for concession snacks), but as usual, he declined. the game started, and in the past, you know, the good ol' days, the pitchers would stand up between innings, stretch, and chat with the fans. in fact, the a's personable side was partly what got me interested in baseball in the first place... but saturday appeared to be a new day, one where pitchers sat in the box, not standing or spitting or yawning or tossing balls or anything, and by the third inning, the most action we'd seen was huston running to the dugout (probably for that yellow energy vitamin water he enjoys so much or to play a quick round of chess with andrew brown).

by the fourth, i was antsy, and so i finally got up with my little box in hand and trotted down towards the bullpen, where i found out that without brandon buckley or coach fischer, the bullpen has become a much quieter and "peaceful" place. think a zen garden minus the polished rocks, soft sand, or little wooden rake.

seems there's new policy that 1) the guys should talk less to the fans and 2) unless the player actively reaches for something (word has it they like a good garlic fry or two every now and then), i need to hand the box to the security guard (yeah, shawn!!!) via guest services (whoo-hoo miguel!!!). or perhaps this was policy before but not so strictly enforced by the players themselves. really, how can you say no to double chocolate brownies with green mint chips?

but back to cookies and such: no word on if security does a taste test, but the guy who caught KC's second HR ball and threw it back onto the field was promptly escorted out of the coliseum by a surly looking security guard. and if that's any indication of my potential future, well, it'd better be worth it, like a big-delivery-of-cupcakes worth it. guess i'd better get cracking. egg cracking, that is.

4.15.2008 notes

2008-04-15T17:28:01Z

just a few notes today:

smell ya later, mr. rule 5, fernando hernandez.
welcome back, kirk saarloos!
make room on your shelf for the travis buck bobblehead. ski mask not included.
hint to ken pries and the oakland a's front office: erin seemed to enjoy herself at the dodgers' blogger day. i have a strange feeling a's bloggers would, too. but not for the dodgers, for the a's!

meet and greet

2008-04-10T18:54:54Z

after a few months of non-bullpen rushing experience, i'm trying to re-conquer my fear of potential rejection and confusion as i present two handfuls of pitchers (with a spare catcher and a coach) with a white box jam-packed with scrumptious goodies. all in all, i figure i'm pretty lucky, as my helpful boyfriend happily pushes me toward the a's bullpen, leading me to sort of slip and trip my way to the fence with pounds of yummy cooked dough boxed up and ready to nibble teetering in my hands. not everyone gets that rare and special opportunity to make a fool of themselves in front of major league players, but in case you're interested, here's your chance (albeit in a closed and confined space)!

100% baseball

2008-04-08T23:00:20Z

the a's have a few new commercials with a nostalgic feel up on their website. in the past, they've been humorous, entertaining, and might i even say, witty. in the "old" days, i'd actually sit on the sofa during a a pitching change, hoping to catch a commercial so that i could, for just a few seconds, push the "i need chips and dip" urge to the side and instead think, "yeah, those are my a's!" and if a's commercials were on all the time, it might have become the new diet craze (at least for me)...

these newest spots, though, seem to point to the a's greats of yesterday without enlightening us on who our current a's actually are. i understand that nobody really knew until the last week or so of spring training who'd be on the 25-man roster, and of the players we all actually know of, well, any of them could be gone at a moment's notice. so perhaps these commercials fit the mold of here today, but gone tomorrow (or by the next channel 6 broadcast). still, they aren't my favorites.

for those of you itching for a more interactive, cute, and dare i saw, impressive display of current a's players and their on-screen personas, take a look at the a's newly rolled out 100% baseball. the tagline may say absolutely nothing, but seeing kurt suzuki catch a newspaper in his robe is priceless. and that's what baseball is all about.

start your engines!

2008-04-07T20:28:51Z

below are the top 15 search engine keywords that visitors have used to get to the bullpen baker in the past few months. topics seem to lean toward huston street and the players' relationship status. in rare cases, people are also interested in baking. and if anyone can tell me what two peas in a pod cookies are, i'd much appreciate it. my favorite keyword? the last one. sigh.

lacey and huston street
huston street's wife lacey
bobby crosby's wife
brandon buckley
huston street girlfriend
macaroons simple
oakland a's mug root beer float day
twinkie cupcake recipe
two peas in a pod cookies
chad huston emt
how to build a bullpen
dear sir or madam
a's baseball free tailgates
alex chavez oakland
baseball pecs

PS- if anyone's looking for news on brandon buckley, word is he's been doing some coaching and private instruction in the east bay. the bullpen baker hopes his students show their appreciation by bringing him lots of chocolate chip & cherry cookies. glass of milk optional.