[:: 30 More Days ::]

Are you there Brian Sabean? It's me, Claire the first-year season ticket holder.

Billy Beane is rebuilding the A's and I can see the rationale. While I sigh loudly at each trade, I know why it's happening. First Haren, then Swisher, now Kotsay? Kotsay passed his physical so I guess we'll be seeing him in the good ol' NL East.

On the flip side, Mr. Sabean seems to have no direction when it comes to the future of the ballclub. How many "seasoned" players are we going to have on the SF Giants' roster? Can we get some youth up in our lineup? Please? Rowand was our big signing of the offseason -- 60 mil for 5 years? Homie is going to be 35 when his contract is up! Don't get me wrong, at this point, he is my favorite Giant because he comes from the Phillies and I was Phillies-obsessed last season (sorry, but the Giants and A's weren't so sparkly last season, whereas the Phils were exciting). He's my fave, but let's be real. Generally speaking, ballplayers reach their peak around 30. At this point, I'm not fond of the young 'uns that I come across, but when it comes to baseball, we need the youth for the present and future of the club.

30 days until Spring Training. I can't wait.

[:: New Player ::]

Please welcome a new contributor to our little blog here. Ben will be covering basketball and welcomes all criticism of his opinions.

Enjoy!

[:: duck, duck, GOOSE! ::]

Goose Gossage is this year's sole inductee of MLB's Hall of Fame. My memory has engraved an image of a big man (with a 'stache to match) staring hitters down. His intense look matched his devastatingly accurate fastball. Luckily, I was able to see him pitch in person while he was with my Oakland A's. Although he didn't play the role of the closer, I was able to see him skillfully be the setup man for Dennis Eckersley, another HOFer. Congrats to Mr. Gossage -- well deserved!

In S.F. Giants news...
Today, Aaron Rowand said that the Giants will be "competitive" and have a chance to "win the division." Some fans ridiculed the statement, but I find it endearing and necessary. Rowand is a great player, not to mention he signed a 5-year/60 mil contract, and that is the exact attitude a team needs. Seriously, it's January. If he started complaining about how the Giants suck, it's going to be a long ass season. Thank you for the positivity, Mr. Rowand. Especially now that I've joined the ranks of S.F. Giants Season Ticket Holders.

I still love my A's!

[:: Baseball ::]

Yes, we are 30+ days away from Spring Training, but I figure I might as well start my blog the day this year's Hall of Fame inductees are announced.

So what makes me qualified to write about sports (with more focus on baseball)? It's simple. I have been a fan since the days I didn't need a bra. Well, I suppose women don't really need bras, but that's a whole other blog topic that will not be addressed on this one. Baseball was my first boyfriend, best friend, confidant, and security blanket (at least it was my second security blanket).

As a young child, I lived in San Diego and was introduced to the game by Tony Gwynn and Dave Dravecky. At this point, I wasn't a huge fan. Granted, I was around 6 or 7 years old, but I would call myself a casual fan. When my parents would watch the games on TV, I would be watching with them. In 1989, my family moved to Alameda, CA where my transition from casual fan to fanatic occurred. This was the year of the World Series between the Oakland A's and the San Francisco Giants, The Battle of the Bay. From that point on I knew it; I found love and it was there 9 months out of the year. I became absolutely smitten with the game of baseball, specifically the Oakland A's. To this day, I still love my Oakland A's. They constantly break my heart, but I continue to run back. In addition to my A's, in the 90s I found a place in my heart for the Giants. The National League has intrigued me because of the strategic play (because of the lack of a Designated Hitter) and the Giants are the team I watch to witness the art. More recently, within the last 5 or so years, I have become a huge Phillies fan. Of course, they can't replace my beloved Bay Area teams, the Phillies, however, add to my fanaticism when there is nothing be be fanatical about in the bay (just take a look at our records from the past year). My introduction to the Phillies came about by following the career of an old high school friend. He was drafted by the organization in '96 and plays for them to this day.

So that, in short, is my explanation to why I am qualified to write about baseball. I simply love the game. Here you will find all my frustration, jubilation, and contemplation about the game, and more than likely, the A's, Giants, and Phillies.

Until next time...