Behind the Scenes at Arco Arena

I'm going to change pace a little bit, with a non-Rickey (but still sports) focused post. I'm currently enrolled in an MBA program, and am thinking about focusing on Marketing or Operations Management. I got an e-mail last week from the marketing department at the school, about an event at Arco Arena with the head of marketing for Maloof Entertainment (the Sacramento Kings and Monarchs).

Although I'm definitely more of a baseball fan, the Arena is only about 5 minutes from my house, plus the event included a tour of the arena, as well as access to the shoot-around before hand. It was also opening night, and although the Kings were already 0-3, I figured it would be fun.


We first met at the security entrance to the arena, where a mural had just been completed for the 2009 season, featuring Kevin Martin, Jason Thompson, and Tyreke Evans.


Our meeting was actually held underneath Arco, which is basically just a bunch of tunnels filled with wires, pipes, and a lot of other random stuff. I don't think they've updated their "wall of TV's" for quite some time now.


As you might have guessed, the above is a row of the players cars. They just pull directly into the Arena, and park only a few steps from the locker room.


Every little bit of space seemed to be used for storage in one way or another. Hidden in one corner was a couple of extra backboards, as it's always good to have a few of those on hand.


When it was time to enter the actual arena, we got to go through the same tunnel that the players use, which was pretty cool. Basketball players definitely make much more of a grand entrance than those in baseball, who basically just walk out of the dugout.


We were there almost two hours before game time, and we're only a few rows off the floor for the shoot-around.


When game-time approached, we had to move back to our actual seats, which were still pretty good. We were told that Bobby Jackson (who has recently retired, and is now working with the Kings) had upgraded the seats from those that we were originally supposed to be given. Thanks Bobby!

P.S. The Kings beat the Memphis Grizzlies in overtime, for their first win of the season!

Oakland A's Cards and Non-Rickey Posts

As you may have noticed, I've written some posts lately that aren't exactly Rickey Henderson related. Although this blog's focus is obviously on Rickey, I'm a big Oakland A's fan as well, so will throw in some A's and collecting posts now and then.



Since starting this blog, and getting back into the hobby, I've completed a few trades with fellow online bloggers, sending them a stack of cards of their team for a stack of cards of mine. Since most of them have also recently returned to the hobby, they don't have any Rickey cards to spare, but they do all seem to have plenty of A's that they don't mind parting with.



I've finally found the time to put together a want/have list of all 2008 Oakland A's cards. For now, I'm going to focus only on cards from 2004 to the present, putting together the earlier want lists when I get a chance. The lists will mainly contain only the base cards and inserts from the sets, only listing the game-used, parallels etc. that I've already acquired. I'm still interested in any and all variations, but there are just too many too list.



I've also finally compiled a list of all of the 2008 cards that I have for trade, with a majority of them coming from Allen & Ginter, Goudey, and Heritage. I have a ton of cards from earlier years as well, but there's just too many to list.



If anyone is interested in an A's for "Insert Your Team Here" trade, whether blind or for specific cards, please don't hesitate to send me an e-mail. I know we'll be able to work something out, so that we're both happy in the end!

My Second Online Box Break

About two weeks ago I posted my first ever online box break, featuring one of three blasters that I got as an anniversary present from my wife.



I've finally put together the second blaster break, which was 2008 Topps Heritage. As with the first break, most of the cards are for trade, and if you see any that you need, just send me an e-mail! Links to all of my current want lists (although some are still in progress) can be found here.



The first "pack" that I opened was the little silver foil Target-exclusive pack, containing the T-405 mini cards, which are really great looking cards. I think I did pretty well, with the Pujols (slight damage to upper left corner), Buchholz, and A-Rod being some of the better cards in the set. I also pulled a Steve Pearce, who I'd never actually heard of before.



The first real pack I opened was one of the best, as far as base cards are concerned. Halladay and Pedro are both pretty solid, and the I-Rod and Austin Kearns are black-backed parallels. The best card of the pack, however, is the Cole Hamels all-star, which just looks cool, and is also a short-print.



This next pack was definitely a let down after the first. I got the regular Kearns this time, as well as a Bill Hall black-back.



I got my first (and only) Athletic in this pack (a Kotsay I already had), as well as another I-Rod. The Mauer card was a nice pull, as was the Pirates threesome. I really like the way they mimicked the original set with the production of these group cards. Finally, the Micah Owings is a short-print, and the Dan Giese is a black-back.



The next pack was fairly uneventful, with the Wheeler being a black-back. But, I really like the A-Rod Baseball Thrills card. The horizontal triptych is really appealing to me, even if it does feature a Yankee.



I like the look of the Cardinals team card, but find the addition of the brick wall a little odd. I think I read somewhere that this was to cover the batboys and other non-players, which would make sense, but still adds an interesting element to the card. The Ryan Howard is the second Baseball Thrills I've pulled (it's actually the black-back version), and I think I might like to collect them all, since I've already pulled two of the best. If anyone has any of the others to trade, please let me know. In case anyone cares, the Stetter rookie is also black-backed.



The second to last pack contained only six base cards, none of which were very memorable. But, why only six, instead of the usual eight...



This pack also contained a Travis Hafner Clubhouse Collection relic. This is only the second game-used card I've ever pulled (I told you I don't bust many packs), so it was rather exciting!



The final pack of the break was not very noteworthy, but it did contain a Randy Johnson base card, as well as a Manny, so it wasn't a total bust.

Overall, I had a blast opening the second blaster, and only the Goudey break remains, which will probably show up online in another week or two. Once again, if any of the cards piqued anyones interest, please let me know, and I'm sure we can work out a trade!

My First Online Box Break!

Being mainly a player collector, I don't tend to bust open many boxes of cards, other than the random pack I'd pick up at Target here and there. I came home from work on Monday, and found a nicely wrapped package, about the size of a shoebox, waiting for me on the counter. My wife and I were celebrating our 10-year dating anniversary (we've been married for almost 5 years, but dated for over 5 years before that), and she'd gotten me a present!



The shoebox was actually the three blasters above, cleverly taped together to form one large box. I know there's been plenty of blaster breaks posted already, but I since I was now the proud owner of more unopened packs than I'd had in at least 10 years, I thought I'd share my breaks with everyone else.

I decided to open the Heritage first, followed by the Goudey, and finally the Allen & Ginter. The Allen & Ginter cards are my favorite of the three, which is why I waited until the end to open the packs, but also why they will be the first to be posted on the blog.



The first pack that I opened seemed pretty thick, as it contained a total of 8 cards (instead of the expected 6). It was an unexpected surprise to get two minis in one pack, along with a state card and the Dmitri Young short print.

But, my favorite card by far was the Gateway Arch. My grandfather was actually a head electrician during the construction of the Arch, and my parents have a picture of him standing on the top, on the outside! I'd actually like to try and acquire all the different mini-parallel versions if possible, so if anyone has any to trade, let me know and I'm sure we can work something out.



Another good pack, this time featuring Carlos Pena (an ex-Athletic), an Eric Chavez mini, a Coco Crisp SP, and my first World's Greatest Victories card.



The next pack isn't as exciting as the first, but it did have a Frank Thomas mini (with an Allen & Ginter back), my second A's mini in a row.



Another fairly uneventful pack (with only a DeJesus SP), until the Babe Ruth mini that is! This is the first Babe Ruth card I've ever pulled out of a pack, so it was pretty exciting. It definitely looks better as a mini that if it had been a full sized card.



Unlike previous packs, I actually got shorted a card in this one, with no mini to be found. But, the Empire State Building is a pretty cool card, and Mary Shelley just looks creepy.



I really like the angle of the Scott Kazmir card, and the Chase Utley mini is possibly the first Utley card I've ever pulled (I told you I haven't opened many packs lately). This pack ends on an interesting note, with physicist Marie Curie (of radium fame), and Bram Stoker, author of Dracula.



Both the Russ Martin and horizontal Dan Uggla are great looking cards. The Ben Franklin is nice, but is one of the few historic cards that I already had.



The final pack of the blaster was another good one. The Troy Glaus black-border mini is the first one that I've received, and I also got a Mark Ellis state card, which I already had. Although I'm usually a fan of the horizontal cards, the picture on the Luke Scott card seems a little small, with way too much white space around the border.

Most of the above cards are for trade for anyone that is interested. Some cards, such as the Astros and Marlins (Mario, do you already have the Uggla?) are already spoken for, but I'm sure we can work something out. I'm always looking for Rickey cards that I need (of course), but I'd also be interested in trading for Oakland A's cards as well.

Oakland A's 40th Anniversary: Inaugural Program

Today's blog is a slight departure from my usual Rickey Henderson related posts. On top of being a Rickey Henderson collector, in case you didn't already figure it out, I'm also a really big Oakland A's fan. The A's have been celebrating their 40th year in Oakland all season long, and since today is the season finale, I thought I'd share a program that I have from that first year.



This is a 1968 A's "Premiere Yearbook," which my Dad purchased at a game that year (and thankfully saved and passed along to me), for the bargain price of $0.75. You've just got to love that Oakland font!



When the A's came to Oakland in 1968, Joe Dimaggio was actually their Vice-President and Coach. Not a bad guy to have helping out some of their younger guys!



Catfish was still at the beginning of his Hall of Fame career in 1968, after entering the Majors without playing any Minor League ball. He threw a perfect game on May 8, 1967, the first in the American League since 1962.



Here's a real young Tony LaRussa, way before he would go on to manage the A's to a World Series title.



With the first pick of the 1966 free agent draft, the A's chose Reggie Jackson, who received an $80,000 signing bonus. What a steal! I just love the picture of Reggie at the top, it's just a classic baseball shot. It almost looks like a painting, and due to the poor quality of some of the photos, it just might be.



The A"s had a pretty good group of "future prospects" in 1968, with Rolland Fingers (aka Rollie) obviously being the cream of the crop. Rene Lachemann, another future A's coach, and Vida Blue are also included.



Compared to the ridiculously large LCD screen that will be installed at the new Yankee Stadium, this seem a little outdated, but this is a pretty interesting article about the "world's first computer controlled scoreboards." The left field scoreboard was actually the "largest animation board in the world," and both boards can be "revised as action occurs on the field." I bet this was a pretty big deal at the time!



Charlie Finley is known for his outlandish stunts, with one of his most popular being the A's mascot, "Charlie O" the mule.



Speaking of outlandish stunts, the A's had a "Farmer's Night" featuring a hog-calling contest, cow milking, and even a greasy pig contest. I bet the umpire felt a little silly getting his new baseballs from a pop-up Bugs Bunny. I wonder how long that lasted, and how often it actually worked.



Last, but certainly not least, is one of the many interested advertisements that were included in the program. The old ads in magazines are usually one of my favorite parts. This one is for KBHK TV Channel 44, promoting "25 televised A's games this season from every American League city...live...and in color!"

The games were in color, but unfortunately, other than the front and back covers, the rest of the program is in black in white. In 1968 the A's were only a few years away from back-to-back-to-back titles, and have only have one World Championship since then. It's definitely time for another one!

It's a Boy!!

If there are any regular readers of this blog (I think there might be a few of you out there), you may have noticed the lack of posts the past few weeks. It wasn't from lack of trying, just from lack of sleep and spare time. My wife and I (well, she did all the hard work) just recently had a new baby boy, Henry Carter Abbott.



He was born on July 16th at 5:57am. He weighed a healthy 7 pounds 13 ounces at birth, and measured 20 3/4 inches long. He's the first child for us, and we both couldn't be happier. The lack of sleep is taking a little bit to get used to, but I wouldn't change it for the world.

As far as the blog is concerned, the posts will probably be a little more sporadic than usual until we get into a new routine, or I can learn how to blog one-handed. Speaking of "hands," I think he might be a lefty like his dad, but we'll have to wait a little longer to figure that one out.

A Minor League Detour

As you might expect, based on the title of this blog, every post so far has revolved around Rickey Henderson. But, as might also have been expected, I'm a big baseball and Oakland A's fan as well. So, I therefore reserve the right to add in some non-Rickey related posts, which I'll attempt to connect to Rickey as much as possible.

My wife called me at work today, and asked if I wanted to go the Sacramento River Cats game, the AAA affiliate of the A's, as she could get us some free tickets. Since we didn't have any plans, and my birthday is tomorrow, I thought it sounded like a pretty good idea!



I was a little hesitant at first, as its been 100 degrees out in Sacramento, and like all of California, the air quality has been pretty bad due to all the smoke. But, as soon as she said that the tickets were in the "Raley Suite," I was sold! I've never been in a suite at a baseball game, and since the River Cats play in "Raley Field," I figured this would be a pretty good one!



The suite definitely didn't let me down. I knew that the seats would probably be pretty good, so I made sure to stop by my house and pick up the camera on the way to the game. For no particular reason, other than I had a blast at the game (the Cats beat the Tucson Sidewinders 9-3), I've included some of the best of my pictures below (click the pictures to view them larger, especially the panoramic one, which I think is my favorite).



These were our seats, and I don't think you could have found two that were better! We were almost directly behind home plate, and were right next to the press box.







The game started off slowly for the Cats, who got down 2-0 in the first on a Tim Raines Jr. 2-run homer. But, the best was still to come, and after four 2-run innings and a few homers of their own, the Cats ended up winning in a blow out.



From the stadium you get a really great view of the Sacramento skyline, with its iconic Tower Bridge on the far right.



I could get used to watching baseball like this! To my left you can see the press box, and the row of media guides lined up against the wall.

Since this is a Rickey Henderson blog, I've saved the Rickey connection for last. The River Cats play in the Pacific Coast League along with the AAA affiliate of the San Diego Padres, the Portland Beavers.

It was the Beavers with whom Rickey played for 9 games to start the 2001 season before being called up to the majors (he was signed late in Spring Training and needed to get some more swings in). In 40 at bats with the Beavers he hit .275 with 3 doubles, a walk, and a stolen base.



This is a PGE Park fan guide and schedule for the 2001 Beavers. Along with collecting cards and other oddball Rickey items, I like to collect schedules from the teams that he's played for during the season(s) that he played for them. I also collect all Oakland A's schedules, but I'll leave that for another non-Rickey related post.