(Sorta) Mission Statement

I recently read that the definition of a nerd is someone who talks about a topic way beyond the point anyone listening cares anymore.  By this measure I'm definitely a baseball nerd.  A related hallmark of a nerd is the compulsion to delve into the minutiae of a subject and get lost in tiny details that seem unimportant to people outside of the nerd-dom.  On this account, I'm also an A's nerd.

Note the title of this blog, "Darn This Gold Glove."  This is a reference to a commercial the A's were running in the early 2000s.  It starred Eric Chavez fielding grounders.  Except he was fielding terribly; each ball was clanking off of his hands.  After a few grounders, the camera reveals that he is fielding with the Gold Glove award that he had won the previous season.  He looks down at his hands and says, "Darn this Gold Glove."  If I remember correctly, the spot also features Tim Hudson inexplicably taking grounders beside Chavez at shortstop. 

Another commercial from the era that I find amusing is a radio ad featuring Ben Grieve and Eric Chavez.  This must have been from the late 90s.  Grieve wants to give a note to a cute girl who he spotted in the stands to ask her out.  He shows it to Chavez asking him for advice.  Chavez doesn't comment on the wisdom of giving a girl in the stands a note (presumably in the middle of a game).  Instead, he comments on the note itself, telling Grieve "you made the 'No' box bigger than the 'Yes' box.  Don't you want her to say Yes?"

The point of this (other than the fact that I think these commercials are surprisingly funny, even if my textual recreation of them are less so) is that only someone with serious A's-nerd proclivities would remember these.  I mean, these ads aren't even on Youtube!  Actually, the real point is not to prove to any readers that my knowledge of A's minutiae is better than anyone else's, but to hopefully entertain others who may be interested in these stories and get people to correct me where I've misremembered or can add new details.

To me, though, knowing a bunch of quirky things about the A's isn't really enough of a reason to maintain a blog.  The reason why I feel like I need a space where I can write about the A's is because I'm a fan.  That I know all this meaningless stuff about the A's is a result of my fandom.  I want them to win.  God, I want them to win.  And like any good fan I not only want to follow the team's move closely, but want to judge each transaction, each lineup machination, each bullpen move, each stolen base attempt, to see if it's actually helping the team. 

So here's what I envision this blog being -- a place for me to point out what I find interesting about the A's and a place to go on record with my analysis of managerial and roster moves.  I hope that in doing these things I become a better fan (and a better A's nerd).