A Spontaneous Doubleheader

There are times in life where spontaneous decisions turn out to be the best decisions. Such was the case last night. A friend and I decided Sunday to head to the Coliseum Monday night to see the Green and Gold take on the Angels. We were already excited to head to the game but got more excited to hear of Dan Straily’s recall. It was not because we don’t like Brett Anderson. We just both have somewhat of a man crush on Straily. Little did we know that the decision to attend the game last night would be one of the greatest decisions either of us had made in our lives.

April 29, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics first baseman

(37) hits a solo home run against the Los Angeles Angels during the sixth inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

It started out with a rough couple of first innings. Straily gave up a bomb to Albert Pujols in the first before allowing the furthest visiting player home run (ESPN’s home run tracker estimated the long ball at 475 feet) I have ever seen at the Coliseum to Mark Trumbo in the second. We responded in the bottom of the 4th with a weird single to center by Jaso that scored the scorching Josh Donaldson.

The shut down inning unfortunately was lost for Straily in the 5th when the Angels put up a four spot. At this point in the game you don’t lose faith of course but become increasingly frustrated that the A’s starting pitching has been struggling lately. We responded again in the bottom of the 6th with a bomb by Brandon Moss.

The Angels again scored in the top of the 7th with Pujols’ second bomb of the game. At this point in the game it is 7-2. Most fans of other teams probably would have given up. A lot of players probably would have. But this team and this fan base have their own identity of never giving up and always having an appetite for pie.

The bottom of the eighth rolls around and my friend and I look at each other. He says we need a three spot I say we need four. And the onslaught began. Five singles and a walk. Four runs. It was not 7-6 and the place was fired up. Everyone knew. We just didn’t know how long.

Bottom 9. Coco Crisp singles. Seth Smith comes up and hits a blast. We all are screaming for it to stretch and get out. Hamilton makes the catch at the warning track. Deep enough though that Coco could tag up and move to second. After Lowrie had a brutal strikeout Yoenis Cespédes came up. The memory of Sunday still fresh in our minds he drives a pitch deep. It never really looked like it had a shot to get out. And it didn’t hitting off the wall for a long single. However, Coco scores. And just like that we are tied. And just like that the marathon begins.

10th inning. 11th inning. 12th inning. 13th inning. 14th inning. Finally the 15th inning rolls around and who else but J.B. Shuck singles home a run and the Angels lead. That was all well and fine but after that many innings, after that come back. The A’s were not going to lose this game without a fight.

Bottom 15. Donaldson reaches on a ridiculous dropped ball by Pujols. Then Derek Norris walks. After a weird double play Norris was the lone runner standing at second. Rosales hits one up the middle and the game is yet again tied.

16th inning. 17th inning. 18th inning. And finally the 19th inning. And finally making his second appearance of the game Brandon Moss. First pitch change up and a swing and miss. The pitcher Barry Enright feeling confident throws it again. This time Moss does not miss. As soon as he hit we knew. Gone.

And so ended the longest game in Coliseum history. History was made the only way we know how. With pie.