Good morning! Along with your morning cup of coffee you should have received an email with everything you need to renew your season tickets online. We've worked hard with MLB.com to create an online brochure (or "e-brochure" if you like) as a one-stop shop for 2010 ticket plan and schedule information, ticket plan renewal, parking pass purchase, and Fielder's Choice game selection. Visit oaklandathletics.com/2010 to find everything under one roof, including a way cool intro video featuring the voice of Ken Korach and created by the A's Diamond Vision crew. To renew your season tickets online you'll need to access My A's Tickets. Your My A's Tickets login is your account number and your password has not been changed from your 2009 season password. If you are visiting My A's Tickets for the first time your password is your Season Ticket Account zip code. Once inside My A's Tickets you'll have the option to renew in one payment or three installments, with the final payment due in March of 2010.

We hope that you find this online renewal option helpful. In about one week you will receive your traditional invoice and brochure by mail, so fear not if you prefer receiving the paper version of this information.

Thank you for all of your support over the years. We hope to see you often at the Oakland Coliseum in 2010. If you have any questions about renewing your season tickets we're happy to help at (510) 568-5600 and tickets@oaklandathletics.com. Let's Go A's!

(Photo by Michael Zagaris)

Reflecting on the 2009 season we recalled that we forgot to post the Turn Back The Clock photos from Sunday, August 16. You made it out, right? Good. So you remember the 1929 uniforms the A's and White Stockings donned? You even picked up your own giveaway replica A's 1929 jersey and you're wearing it right now? Sweet! We had a laugh over the nicknames given to players on Diamond Vision, the old mic that Dick Callahan used to introduce players from behind home plate, and the many fans and employees that got into the action of partying like it's 1929 (pre-Depression).    

The band played. We danced the Charleston.  

The Ticket Services Office enjoys the game.  

A Season Ticket Holder, dressed to impress, visits the Ticket Services Office.

The grounds crew drags the field in 1929 shirts and hats.

The Philadelphia Athletics are World Series Champions, deafeating the Chicago Cubs.

Ticket Services gets in on the act.  

Now what the heck is an "Internet"?!?!

(Photos copyright Travis LoDolce)  

If you are an A's Season Ticket Holder, and if you're not you should be, you probably attended the Saturday, October 3 post-game event at the Coliseum. The feedback we've received is that it was a smashing success. In case you missed it, all Season Ticket Holders were invited onto the field after the A's game, where the ballplayers walked the circumference of the field to shake hands and give out "thank you" buttons. After the time on the field, fans visited the East Side Club. Robert Buan hosted the "Extra Innings" radio show with special guests Andrew Bailey, Ray Fosse, and Ken Korach. They talked A's baseball and, along with Senior Director of Ticket Operations Steve Fanelli and Vice President of Sale & Marketing Jim Leahey, held a live raffle for autographed and game used items. Promotional items from the season were handed out to everyone. Complimentary food and drinks were provided as well.

As mentioned, the positive response we've received is tremendous. We were happy to create an event that highlighted our appreciation of Season Ticket Holders. We're not only grateful for the response from A's fans, but also for the cooperation of all A's staff. It was a full team effort to host this event. The A's organization hopes all Season Ticket Holders know how much we appreciate their continued support of the ball club. 

If you have any photos or stories from October 3 we'd love to see or read. Feel free to share in the comments section. A few photos we snapped are below. Thanks again to all that attended and were involved in the October 3 event. We're already looking forward to 2010! 

In the search to squelch a sweet tooth today, Ticket Services went digging into the recesses of the office in hopes of a hidden gem. We're out of M&M's. Gone are the Baby Ruths. No more Snickers to satisfy. What we found was a brick of 36 count individually wrapped 2.25 ounce "candy bars," of which we'll protect the name (hint: It shares its name with a semi-popular song and dance of the mid-1990s). Not quite chocolate, not really tasty, we wondered who would buy such a large quantity in a big box store or even one in a convenience store. We decided to taste test. We sliced the log into more manageable sample sizes and commenced chewing. While savoring the flavor we each identified three words to describe the experience of this candy.

We hope you enjoy as much as more than we did.   

Sticky. Chewy. Chocolate-ish. Difficult. Verp. Unpleasant. My teeth hurt. Stretchy. Choking hazard. Horrible. Synthetic chocolate substitute. Inedible. Fake chocolate. Worthless. Wax tasting. "Candy."

And finally... Hard to chew. However, this gentleman ate a full log by himself within minutes.  

Last week a member of the Promotions and Special Events Department walked into the Ticket Operations offices with a question. "Does anyone want to run in the live dot race tonight?" Ever since the fuzzy red, white, and blue costumes emerged in the hallway during last offseason it's been the desire of a few Ticket Ops employees to run. John and Travis immediately jumped at the opportunity.

The two men were lead to the costumes during the early innings of the Wednesday, September 23 A's game. Hidden under the bleachers the guys tried on the oversized shoes. John and his large feet fit snuggly into the shoes. Travis' puppies didn't fit quite so well. "Feels like my feet are about to fall out of the cloud they're hiding in," he noted as he high stepped his practice run.

Donning the costumes for the first time, John and Travis both agreed it's dark inside without an easy way to scratch your nose. "My head hit the top," John said, noting the limited head room. Vision is limited, but better than they thought. Still, Travis advises, "I wouldn't recommend driving a car."

Along with Brian from the A's promotions crew, all three employees climbing into their respective costumes. Brian in the Blue Dot, Travis in the Red Dot, and John in the White Dot, thankfully leaving alone the pretty pink bow on this dot costume. The runners had just 90 seconds on the field in total. That time includes introduction, the race, and quickly getting off the field. In the middle of the fourth inning they emerged from left field wall. Lined at the warning track, public address announcer Dick Callahan introduced the race. And then they were off! Blue Dot Brian and White Dot John rocketed toward third base, where Stomper waited as the place to turn. Red Dot Travis was already behind. At the turn Blue and White tore around Stomper and passed Red lumbering in dress slacks toward the elephant. Stomper shrugged, as if to wonder what medical emergency was occurring inside the Red Dot to cause such delay.

Ahead, Blue and White fought for the win. "I looked (at Blue) and we were, well, not neck and neck... more like nub to nub," John recounts as he pushed ahead for the photo finish victory. "It was a fun, unique experience," John continued. "I was out of breath for two hours afterward."

Meanwhile, Red labored toward the finish line. "I saw the other dots sipping Mai Tai's on lounge chairs beyond the finish line so I knew I didn't perform. There was already a Texas player in the outfield, who gave me a bewildered look," Travis painfully remembers from his disappointing run. "The boos! I heard a few, but one guy somewhere in the Section 130 area was really loud. It was actually pretty funny." Red made it off the field with just 10 second to spare. "Apparently they wanted me off the field bad. It was a thrill, but I think I'm retired from competitive dot racing."

John, on the other hand, was congratulated just after his accomplishment. "Hey! I knew you were a guy," yelled a fan in on the edge of the Section 134 Bleachers. People seemed to enjoy the competitive challenge between White and Blue, and the Red Sloth, er, Dot too. As the A's dot racing commercial says, 100% Fuzzy Fun.       

A's Season Ticket Holder and AFAC member Marlene recently visited Cooperstown for Rickey Henderson's induction and traveled the northeast baseball landscape to watch our A's. Today, Marlene shares some stories and observations from her travels, as well as some photos. Thanks Marlene!

Celebrating Rickey's Induction at the Baseball Hall of Fame!

What better birthday present could I give to myself than a trip to Cooperstown to celebrate Rickey Henderson's induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame? How about that trip to Cooperstown plus visits to Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park to see our A's play! Throw in the new Mets park, Citifield, Nationals Park and Oriole Park at Camden Yards... and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Being in Cooperstown for Rickey's induction was great fun. There were many more A's fans in attendance than I anticipated and we all had a marvelous time; proud of Rickey and his accomplishments and especially proud of his prepared and well delivered speech! People stopped us on the way back to town to comment on just how surprisingly good Rickey had been.

Cooperstown is a baseball pilgrimage at any time, but being there for a Hall of Fame Induction is especially exciting. The streets are full of fans sporting the colors of every Major League team and some Minor League clubs too. Former Hall of Famers and other baseball greats come to town and relax on Main Street with fans of every age, signing autographs and smiling for photos. I saw Yogi Berra, Juan Marichal, Al Kaline, Gary Carter, Rollie Fingers, and our own Dave Stewart.

The Baseball Hall of Fame building has been remodeled since my last visit, enlarging the space for the library and opening up the actual Hall of Fame into a beautiful space. All three floors of the Hall are full of baseball history, which included special exhibits for the three new inductees, an exhibit honoring Hank Aaron, memorabilia for each team, and vintage uniforms and equipment. You could happily spend several days enjoying all the memories. 

Be sure to put Cooperstown on your must-visit list. It is a beautiful New England village situated on Lake Otsega.

I was able to get to two of our games at new Yankee Stadium. One was the rescheduled rain postponed game from early in the season and the makeup game was rain delayed for 2 ½ hours! That delay worked in my favor as I was able to visit the Yankees Museum and Monument Park as well as wander around the very wide concourses and view the multitude of food choices. There was a meat market and steak sandwich spot, the Yankees Club with white table cloth dining, pizza, and also sushi. A New York law requires the calorie count of foods displayed, so you know just how many thousands of calories you can consume at the ballgame!

The park is new and big, featuring lots of Yankees history. There are exhibits honoring each of the 26 World Championship teams. The museum features a "Ball Wall" with hundreds of signed baseballs from Yankees greats - including Catfish Hunter! Lots of exciting elements all around the park, but it felt very new and very big and very much like all the new ballparks. I missed the "ghosts" from the old Stadium right across the street. It is still standing.

This trip was also my first visit to Fenway Park. I went on a tour in the afternoon. It really is a lovely old ballpark and you can just feel the history there on the grassy field. It was beautiful and peaceful. The park features many of the original seats, rather narrow and long rows. The seats on top of the Green Monster had a great view. The tour guide told us that the color of the wall, Fenway Green, is proprietary and only available to the Red Sox. The game later that night was yet another sellout. I don't think I got the true Fenway experience, though. I was sitting with 25 A's fans!

I then traveled back to New York for a Rockies vs Mets game at the new Citifield. It is still by LaGuardia so airplanes flying overhead are an extra highlight! Again another big, new ballpark. The main entrance is through a very large rotunda that is dedicated to honoring the legacy of Jackie Robinson. Murals on the upper level walls celebrate #42 with images from his career. The out of town scoreboard was my favorite as I could follow right along with the A's game in Boston; out by out, base by base. We won that night so it was all good! Customer Service at Citifield was so outstanding that I stopped a supervisor to comment. Turns out this guy is a Raiders fan and has season tickets on the 50 yard line in section 117. Of all the people in New York to talk to, I pick a Raiders fan!

I left New York and headed to Washington, D.C. for the SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) convention. The Nationals were on the road, but I took the Metro to the ballpark for a tour. Very convenient, the park is close to the train stop. Our tour took us through the public spaces, which featured both Nationals history and many of the legends of the game. I thought that was a very nice touch. We toured the press box and the upper level seats. Imagine watching a ballgame and being able to see the Capital Building in the background! The SABR convention is all baseball, all the time, with research presentations on all aspects of the game. There were author presentations and my favorite session the Player Panel. This year Frank Howard and Rick Dempsey talked baseball with host George Michael for about an hour and a half.

The SABR convention included a trip to Camden Yards, where the Red Sox were in town to play the Orioles. It felt like Fenway South, there were so many Sox fans there. Camden Yards is the first retro ballpark built in 1992 close to downtown at the old railroad site. Trains stop right outside. The park has been maintained very well and still looks great.

If you made it to Phoenix for Spring Training in March this year then you may have seen the band TripleFirrre jamming outside the front gates. Remember this? Well 9-year-old triplets Sela, Ari, and Alex just had a Fender article about their stardom, which includes a link to their new music video. We're hoping to coax TripleFirrre back to Phoenix Muni in March 2010, unless a world tour carries them away. If so, we knew them when.     

We recently read the nice notes about Ticket Services in a thread on athleticsnation.com. Much appreciated. We're definitely letting it go to our heads. No really, we're always happy to help.

As you may have noticed the home schedule is a bit heavy in August and September. We hope you're enjoying the increased offensive production since the All-Star Break. Off the field, we have a lot to do in Ticket Services these days as we continue strong in 2009 as well as look forward to 2010. 

Keep the compliments coming! We look forward to assisting you.  

Two important reminders regarding the upcoming homestand:

First, beginning on Thursday, July 16, the parking rate for automobiles in the Oakland Coliseum general parking lot will increase from $15 to $17 per vehicle. This is due to an 18.5% City of Oakland parking tax that is being enforced effective July 1, 2009. Season Ticket Holders continue to have the option of $9 pre-paid parking passes, which requires purchase in advance of a game at (510) 568-5600, in the A's Coliseum Ticket Services Office, and online here.

Second, the Saturday, July 18 game is a 1:10 p.m. first pitch. Early versions of the season schedule listed the July 18 game at 6:05 p.m. Prior to the start of the season the game time changed to 1:10 p.m. to accommodate national television. Tickets with 6:05 p.m. listed as the start time are valid for entry for the 1:10 p.m. game on July 18. Parking gates open at 10:30 a.m. and stadium gates open at 11:05 a.m.

If you are an A's Season Ticket Holder and did not receive a reminder message regarding these items, please be sure to update your email address with the A's Ticket Services Office. Contact us M-F 8:30 a.m - 5 p.m. at (510) 568-5600 or via email at tickets@oaklandathletics.com.