Mark -

It’s been awhile, but I bet some things haven’t changed about Koshien:

- They still number by position, 1-9, with the scrubs wearing 10-14? You can always tell a blow out when you notice that #7 is pitching…
- If the leadoff hitter in the first walks on four pitchers, or gets beaned, the #2 will STILL bunt, I’ll bet your mortgage on it
- Some kid will have 500 pitches in six days

Koshien has to be experienced to be believed. The summer tournament is better, though, assuming the spring version is still the 32-team invitational…

Scott, your recollections are perfect, though these days there seem to be 16 players, and 10 and 11 are given to the two backup pitchers, 12 to the backup catchers, and 13-16 to the other backups. Very regimented!

My team, Ohmi, actually had the left fielder be the main backup pitcher, so we saw a lot of #7 on the mound. Needless to say, #1 is the pitcher on the mound for all nine ninings for almost every team — those kids work miracles with those pitch counts!

And not only do they bunt very well, but they almost never hit fouls! In the first game I ever attended, Ohmi vs. Nichidai Fujisawa (of Kanagawa prefecture) in 1998, I was in prime foul-catching territory on the first-base side. The leadoff batter hit a foul into the stands on the other side, and after that no other ball went out of play!

Here’s the best picture I’ve been able to find of the cap logo.

Ballboy and ballgirl?. I wish I could get a higher-quality image.

P.S. Does Stephen Jackson have a contract with Brand Jordan to wear retros? He is always rocking some heat, and they’re never the PE’s, either.

P.P.S. Yes, I know Spiz’ikes aren’t retros. They’re still not a performance model.

Also a note on the Cal/Ohio State game…

Boy, didn’t the court look weird, given they played it in St. John Arena, home to the Buckeyes’ volleyball teams.

absolutely agree

Boy, didn’t the court look weird, given they played it in St. John Arena, home to the Buckeyes’ volleyball teams.

Oakland has had pro teams in every sport wear green and gold: the A’s, the Seals, and the (ABA) Oaks. Guess what colors are on the flag. Gold has been a color of nearly every team in Oakland.

so…charlie o was california dreamin’ from 1963-1967?

“You’ve got to have a belt,” says outfielder Fred Lynn of the Detroit Tigers. “That’s the way uniforms are supposed to be made. For belts.”

John Philips said:

Regarding the 1974 game with the Texas Rangers and the blue jerseys, I remember it well.
The Rangers were playing the A’s that afternoon. The Rangers were hanging tough that season (Jeff Burroughs won the MVP eventually) and the games between Texas and Oakland were turning ugly. I’m pretty sure that Fergie Jenkins won a 1-0 shutout the night before and that Jim Bibby (the former Met) was going against A’s reliever Daryl Knowles that afternoon. In those days, the A’s coaches wore the white caps while the players wore green. Martin, always looking for an edge, protested the white hats and tried to get the A’s to go with all green hats. The league turned down his request, so on the Saturday Game of the Week, Martin alone wore his blue away jersey with the white pants, claiming that if the A’s coaches could where white hats, he could wear a blue jersey.

This was the topic of the pregame show for 15 minutes.

The rest of the Rangers wore their regular jerseys that afternoon. The A’s pasted the Rangers in the game.

Ironically, it was Billy Martin who finally retired the white hats when he took over as Oakland manager in 1980. Billy also redesigned the A’s uniform for the 1982 season – the dark green with piping and a green A’s on the right side of the jersey.

I bought Fernando Arroyo’s 82 home jersey for $80 and still own it – although my wife forbids me to wear it in public.

Now if I could only remember what I had for breakfast this morning, this would be a perfect world.

Awesome recollection!

Did you notice that the A’s unis that year looked a lot like the Tigers? Martin’s old team?

Go A’s!

I never made that association, but you are right. Even the road uni’s which, like the Tigers at that time, were a completely different style from the home. Right down to the block “OAKLAND” which they never had before. 1982 (roads) was the only A’s club not to feature white shoes for their entire history in the Bay Area.

Billy was not able to “ditch the white” before this was taken.