Chris Young should have ended the game with a 2 out walk off home run in the 10th inning, it was reviewed and determined to have stayed in the park, but TV replays seemed to indicate otherwise.  Little did we know that call would give us 9 more innings of baseball.

Brandon Moss with the self pie! (Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)

To say things got a little nutty during extra innings last night would be an understatement.  Three centerfielders pulled up lame, Coco Crisp and his replacement Chris Young, and Peter Bourjos for the Angels all left the game with leg injuries.  The status of Young and Crisp is unknown still.  But perhaps the strangest event was Brett Anderson, who was scratched from the start that night, was called into duty out of the empty bullpen and ended up pitching 5.1 innings, allowing 1 run on a bases loaded walk that by accounts from the pitch tracker from MLB.com should not have been.  Anderson himself would tweak his injured ankle and would leave the game, forcing the previously unavailable Jerry Blevins into action.

Jerry had pitched a lot of the previous two games, so Bob Melvin wanted to give him some rest, but this was an extreme circumstance. Jerry was enthusiastically greeted by chants of “Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!” by the remaining fans and he rewarded them with stellar relief pitching.  When Chris Young exited the game, Seth Smith had to vacate the DH spot and move into the outfield, meaning the A’s lost the DH and the pitcher would have to bat.  That pitcher ended up being Jerry Blevins and while he did strike out looking, he did manage to foul off a pitch.

Brandon Moss was the hero who finally freed us from the stadium in the 19th, but there were many who deserve credit for making this a victory.  Moss was given the honor of pieing himself after the game, and got another from Josh Reddick (who had been pinch hit for by Chris Young by the way).

As for Josh Hamilton, he went 0-8 on his own appreciation night.  But he took the abuse from the RF bleachers like a champ.  Whether it’s interacting with the fans, or asking for a few of the fun sized Butterfinger bars that were being passed around, and even posing for a picture holding one, Hamilton showed that at least for this night he didn’t take himself too seriously.  I give him all the credit in the world for that.

Who knows what ramifications this game will have for both teams, as the bullpens were heavily taxed, and position players have to be exhausted.  It’s a good thing this was the first game of the series so neither team has an advantage over one another, they can recover together.  Jarrod Parker pitches tonight, and he needs to go deep into this game to save the bullpen.

Last night just goes to show you never know what you’ll see at the ballpark, and last night we were witness to the longest game the A’s have ever played.  A 6 hour and 32 minute roller coaster ride, with the ultimate payoff at the end.

April 29, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; The scoreboard after the 19th inning walk-off two-run home run by Oakland Athletics first baseman Brandon Moss (37, not pictured) against the Los Angeles Angels at O.co Coliseum. The Athletics defeated the Angels 10-8 in the 19th inning. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

There are too many layers to this game to possible analyze at this point.  All I can say right now is that this was one of the most incredibly memorable baseball games I’ll ever see.

Josh Hamilton gets a lot of credit for being a great sport with all the razzing about his dropped fly ball, he gained points in many fans minds I believe by playing along.  He may have gotten a little grumpy by the end, but who wouldn’t after 6 1/2 hours of trash talk?  For everything else that surrounds him, he showed a lot of character out there in right field.  I’ll have more details on the aftermath of Josh Hamilton Appreciation Night later today.  For now, we have another A’s game in just about 16 hours to look forward to.  Sleep fast everyone.

Apr 11, 2013; Anaheim, CA, USA; Los Angeles Angels left fielder Josh Hamilton (32) before the game against the Oakland Athletics at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Yoenis Cespedes popped up what appeared to be a routine fly ball to center field, but in Oakland there are no routine fly balls in the daytime.  Center fielder Josh Hamilton trotted in to make the catch to retire the side and escape the inning with the score tied.  But that didn’t happen, as Hamilton tried to make the nonchalant one handed catch, the ball clanked off his glove and rolled back behind him.  Two runs would score on the play and the A’s would take a 7-5 lead that they would never relinquish.  That very drop set forth a chain of events that ultimately led to Josh Hamilton leaving the Texas Rangers for the Los Angeles Angels, and that brings us to tonight’s game versus those very Angels.  This will be Josh Hamilton’s first appearance in Oakland since that game, and the fans want to make sure to pay him the proper respect for dropping the fly ball that gave the Athletics the 2012 AL West title.

The idea for Josh Hamilton Appreciation Night was the brain child of Omar Gonzalez, one of the ring leaders of the famous right field bleacher crew in section 149 and the movement was put into action by Wes Mills and Ralliney Marpaung.  Omar’s inspiration came from the @Silence4Josh Twitter account that urged fans to sit silently as Josh Hamilton made his return to Texas, rather than give him the satisfaction of the boos he appeared to be trying to get with his remarks about the city.  As one of the highly regarded baseball players in the game today, Hamilton has to be used to being booed wherever he goes, so the fans in Oakland will give him a little different treatment tonight.  We truly do appreciate his contribution to the amazing 2012 season for the Athletics, and we want to make sure he hears just how much appreciation we really have.

The official Facebook page for the event can be found here, and even if you can’t make it out to the Coliseum to cheer Josh, your applause from home or wherever you may be will be heard.  Special designed shirts commemorating the dropped ball from last year can be found over at It’s Opening Day Designs as well.

This should be a night to remember, let’s just hope Josh doesn’t return the favor for our cheers by sending a souvenir in our direction.  It’s up to Dan Straily to make sure that doesn’t happen.