Our Field Is Ready! Play Ball!
With Opening Night almost two months away, our stadium crew is finishing up a couple touch-ups to our field before we get the season started. Here’s a list of changes:
- Rolling hills in foul territory on each side of the field; making it more difficult to catch those foul ball pop-ups.
- Giant dirt hills up the middle, making double plays virtually impossible.
- Leaving an unmanned tractor in left field, just to mix it up.
- Completely removing the center field wall, putting the big green wall in play. This means home runs to center field must fly 513 feet.
Just kidding! The Coliseum is hosting a supercross event soon. But wouldn’t it be fun to watch a baseball game on this field?
Great Feedback on A’s Offseason
The A’s have certainly been busy this offseason; acquiring multiple teams’ top prospects from around the league. And with the re-signing of Coco Crisp in CF, the A’s hold onto a fantastic defender and speedy leadoff man (led the AL in steals last year). But what do the baseball experts think of the A’s offseason? Jim Bowden, former Reds’ and Nationals’ GM, writes his blog “The GM’s Office” for ESPN and ranked Billy Beane tops in the league for ‘GM’s who helped their teams long-term.’ Read Bowden’s analysis of the A’s offseason moves and long-term future here.
A’s FanFest is Back!
After a three-year hiatus, A’s FanFest is back! Mark your calendars for January 29th from 10AM-2PM. During the 2012 season we’re honoring the 1972 World Series team and the 20-win streak team from 2002. It’s an honor to have players from both of those teams along with a cast of current A’s players and coaches at FanFest. A’s fans of all ages will get a chance to interact with their favorite A’s from past and present. The event will be indoors at the Oracle Arena, right next to the Coliseum. Here are some other features this year:
- Free Autographs
- Free Q&A Sessions
- Free pictures with the four A’s World Series trophies
- Memorabilia sale to benefit the A’s Community Fund
- Free Parking
FanFest tickets are only $8 for adults and $5 for kids under 14. For more information or to purchase 2012 FanFest tickets, please click HERE. Current A’s Season Ticket Holders can request complimentary tickets by submitting their RSVP HERE. This also marks the first day of individual tickets going on sale at the A’s Box Office. Tickets will go on sale at 10AM. See you out here on January 29th!
A’s Front Office Angel Tree
Our Community Relations Department work tirelessly throughout the holiday season to promote holiday spirit and bring happiness to those in need. One way we’re helping this year is our “Angel Tree” in our reception office, benefiting a local single parent and children facility. Each staff member is invited to take an Angel from the tree (which includes the gift/wish of the parent/child). The entire front office is excited to come together, give back to a great cause and deliver a sleigh-sized bag of gifts to deserving families!
Our New Salesman: Jemile Weeks
Second baseman and rookie standout Jemile Weeks was in town and was kind enough to stop by the front office! It was great having him around; he brought fun and excitement to what would have been a normal Thursday in December. He even stopped by the sales office and made a few calls to some current and prospective Season Ticket Holders! Check out the video HERE.
Jemile even closed a sale! Maybe we should bring him on part-time. As if being the leadoff hitter and starting second baseman for the A’s wasn’t enough. Thanks Jemile!
What’s On Andrew’s Desk?
A work station is much like a human mind. It’s often full of tools for a craft, contains multiple ways to communicate internally and externally, and, if cluttered, can really slow the work process. A’s Ticket Services Representative John Austin has found fascination with the desk of fellow Rep, Andrew Bleaken. John regularly documents Andrew’s desk in the hilarious blog “What’s On Andrew’s Desk?,” where an intrigued reader can see an amazing assortment of wayward autographed baseballs, be reminded to download their own Drexel men’s basketball schedule, and learn how many mini cardboard boxes can fit on Andrew’s desk. 
“When it was first shown to me I was really caught off guard,” says Bleaken, a 26-year-old Philadelphian now living in the east bay. Bleaken has an array of items, but new items simply seem to appear on his desk. Clearly this needed to be shared. So why did Austin start the blog? “To document… let’s see… I don’t know. It’s funny.”
Bleaken has a good spirit about the online project. “I feel a little honored that someone would take the time to document my items of flair.”
Read and follow What’s On Andrew’s Desk?
Moneyball Single Game Ticket Offer
The buzz about the feature film “Moneyball” is ramping up. Opening Friday, September 23, the film, based on the Michael Lewis book of the same name, highlights the A’s 2002 season. As least that’s the way it seems. If any of you attended the casting calls for crowd scenes last year, you will recall that most of the on-field filming centered around the 20th win of “The Streak.” 
To highlight the release of the film, starring Brad Pitt as Billy Beane (did we forget to mention BRAD PITT?), members of the Ticket Operations Department worked across multiple companies to construct a unique ticket offer. Buy a Field Level ticket for Sunday, September 18 and receive a movie pass to see “Moneyball.” Online purchase is required using coupon code MONEYBALL. The movie passes, supplied by Hollywood Movie Money, will be available for use at more than 30 movie theaters throughout the Bay Area. Exact theaters will be determined, and searchable on Hollywood Movie Money using code 38340, once the film is released.
While we have to attach movie passes to game tickets, meaning we can’t hand out movie passes to all fans, a whole slew of fans can take home a piece of the “Moneyball” action on September 18. 10,000 fans, upon entering the ballpark that day, will receive a “Moneyball” t-shirt, presented by Pepsi Max. 
If you have questions about the ticket offer, post a comment below.
Tweetup with the A’s
We hosted our inaugural Tweetup last night. It’s like a “meetup” except it’s Twitter.com users (who “tweet”) that follow the official A’s feeds @Athletics and @ticketservices. A special Plaza Level ticket allowed early access to the Eastside Club before the evening’s game where guests were treated to question and answer sessions with A’s players and personalities, hosted by Kara (@karashotcorner), while nibbling on inclusive food and beverages. 
Two of the A’s most savvy social media users, pitchers Gio Gonzalez (@GioGonzalez47) and Brad Ziegler (@bradziegler), sat down with Kara in front of the crowd to answer questions that fans tweeted us before and during the event. A few off-the-cuff highlights from the players… When asked what other position he’d play besides pitcher, Gio said he couldn’t play infield because he doesn’t like wearing a cup. Asked about their uniform choices, Brad doesn’t wear stirrups because it’s too much gold for his taste, to which Gio replied he wants to go with an all gold uniform. Brad was asked and talked about the importance of his foundation Pastime for Patriots.
After the player panel, A’s radio voice Vince Controneo (@vincebaseball), Comcast SportNet California on-air personality Kate Longworth (@KLongworthCSN), and the Twitter sensation/wife of the night’s home team starting pitcher Amanda McCarthy (@Mrs_McCarthy32) all sat down with Kara to discuss how Twitter enhances their daily lives. Vince claims he doesn’t know what he’s doing on Twitter, but clearly, as one of the few MLB broadcasters on Twitter, understands how to harness the power of social media. He uses Twitter to interact with fans and stay on top of breaking news around the league. Kate, both a reporter and A’s fan, appreciates the personal viewpoint that Twitter provides fans. She recounted a recent connection she made with an out-of-state A’s fan that coined the term “Fosse Posse” and then attended his first home game in Oakland, where he got to meet Ray Fosse. Twitter provided the platform to make these connections happen. Amanda discussed the thrill of tweeting with people and then coming face-to-face, realizing the person you’re tweeting might be seated right behind you at the ballpark.
Even Stomper (@Stomper00) rolled through the Tweetup a couple times to visit with fans, assist with the giveaway raffle, and to try and push his Twitter followers over 1,000. By the end of the game he reached his goal!
Thank you everyone that came out to the A’s first Tweetup. If you attended, we’d love to hear what you thought. Write us in the comments area below so that we can make the next Tweetup even better.
Take a walk down Tweetup memory lane with additional Tweetup with the A’s photos…
Predicting the Future
As mentioned on our @ticketservices Twitter feed, Gio Gonzalez was on last night’s Season Ticket commemorative ticket stock. Every offseason, shortly before the thick of the holiday season, a few of us in the Ticket Operations Department pour over photos, creating a theme, and assigning each photo to specific games throughout the season. We want each ticket to be unique and we hope that each ticket will be memorable. Consolidated Printing, the company that prints the tickets, then helps with the design. We recently placed Trevor Cahill on a night that he pitched, similar to Gio’s ticket last night. Boy, did Gio pitch a gem last night or what? A leadoff hit by the Marlins and then not another the rest of the night. A’s win 1-0. We called that one in December.
Print@Home Tickets Now Free
The Oakland A’s have long offered print at home tickets to fans purchasing online and by phone for a small per order charge. We’re pleased to report, as of yesterday, single game ticket buyers have the opportunity to print tickets at home for free. Our desire is to allow fans, especially tech savvy fans, the best ticket purchase, ticket delivery, and gate entry experience possible. When ordering single game tickets select “Print At Home” for $0. Your confirmation screen, as well as a follow up email, will contain links to print your tickets onto 8.5” x 11” paper. Be sure that the barcode on each ticket is legible. Bring your printed papers to the game and the barcodes are scanned for entry. You never have to see a ticket operations employee at the Box Office or at Will Call. But if you want to stop by and say “Hello, Go A’s!” we won’t stop you.
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