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Sunday, December 06, 2009

Baseball Picture of the Day: Before Mount Davis

75 Days….

Before Al Davis (aka The Crypt Keeper) returned to Oakland and had them build his Mountainous Monstrosity…

Among the luminaries in this image (who are pointed out on the FLICKR page) are Mark McGwire, Peter Gammons, Robin Ventura and Frank Thomas.

Creative Commons License:

Tomorrow: In the Navy

Gamingboy Posted: December 06, 2009 at 02:42 PM | 23 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
  Tags: special topics

Reader Comments and Retorts

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Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.

   1. Ken Arneson Posted: December 06, 2009 at 03:47 PM (#3404832)
Looking at the higher res picture on Flickr, the only date that the scoreboard fits is Tuesday, August 11, 1992.
   2. jwb Posted: December 06, 2009 at 04:06 PM (#3404843)
How about an "after" picture from more or less the same perspective at some point?
   3. Misirlou's got a busy day, he's wearing a vest Posted: December 06, 2009 at 04:16 PM (#3404851)
I went to a game in Oakland in 1989. I was 26 and in the Air Force, and so was my wife who attended the game with me. I tried to buy a couple of beers, but the only acceptable IDs were California issued: either a DL or some other state issued ID. My only ID's were my military one and my Illinois Drivers license. Fortunately my wife had a CA DL, so she had to get the beers. I can sort of understand not accepting out of state IDs from someone of questionable age (how are the workers supposed to know what a Delaware of South Dakota DL really looks like?), but not accepting a military ID, when at the time there were probably a dozen or more major military installations within a 2 hour drive of the ballpark, housing probably over 100,000 personnel was just plain loopy.
   4. Gamingboy Posted: December 06, 2009 at 04:55 PM (#3404866)
How about an "after" picture from more or less the same perspective at some point?


That would be interesting.
   5. Steve Treder Posted: December 06, 2009 at 05:30 PM (#3404882)
This pic harkens back old "Day on the Green" memories.
   6. Cuban X Senators Posted: December 06, 2009 at 06:32 PM (#3404905)
"Day on the Green"

Funny how this sounds like the follow up to the Dock Ellis short.
   7. Iwakuma Chameleon (jonathan) Posted: December 06, 2009 at 07:16 PM (#3404929)
####### you Al Davis.
   8. KingKaufman Posted: December 06, 2009 at 07:34 PM (#3404944)
Nostalgia is a funny thing. Compared to the Mount Davis Coliseum, or whatever it's called this year, the pre-Mount Davis Coliseum was great. But that's the only way it was great. That place was a dump when it was new. It was just a slightly nicer dump before they built the Mount.
   9. RB in NYC (Now with New iPhone!) Posted: December 06, 2009 at 08:07 PM (#3404970)
How about an "after" picture from more or less the same perspective at some point?
This one isn't perfect, but it gives you some sense
   10. vortex of dissipation Posted: December 06, 2009 at 09:36 PM (#3405007)
This is where Strat-O-Matic can come in handy:

Before

After
   11. Athletic Supporter leads the nation in drifters Posted: December 06, 2009 at 09:41 PM (#3405008)
*sigh*
   12. Andere Richtingen Posted: December 06, 2009 at 10:06 PM (#3405017)
Pre-monstrosity, I thought the Coliseum was one of the better California ballparks. I always thought Dodger Stadium was overrated from a fan's perspective, and Anaheim Stadium had been ruined by similar monstrositation.
   13. jwb Posted: December 07, 2009 at 12:21 AM (#3405083)
Thank you, RB and vortex. That, um, really sucks. (I haven't seen a day game televised from there in ages.)
   14. RB in NYC (Now with New iPhone!) Posted: December 07, 2009 at 12:37 AM (#3405087)
So at some point Oakland, Candlestick and the Big A all had football seats added. Any others? Kudos to the Angels for undoing it, because going from this to this is a tremendous improvement.
   15. Ivan Grushenko of Hong Kong Posted: December 07, 2009 at 01:04 AM (#3405096)
So at some point Oakland, Candlestick and the Big A all had football seats added. Any others? Kudos to the Angels for undoing it, because going from this to this is a tremendous improvement.

The Padres and Chargers shared Jack Murphy and the Dodgers played at the LA Coliseum. Both the Padres and Dodgers are better off now. I liked the Coliseum before Mt Davis. Real grass, unlike many places in the 1980's, Louisiana Hots, better weather than Candlestick, good access...aah....
   16. Gamingboy Posted: December 07, 2009 at 01:46 AM (#3405117)
Mile High was technically first built for Baseball.
   17. A triple short of the cycle Posted: December 07, 2009 at 01:50 AM (#3405122)
As I recall the outfield were general admission bleachers. With a bleachers ticket you could sit anywhere from foul pole to foul pole. Great at batting practice.
   18. Mayor Blomberg Posted: December 07, 2009 at 01:56 AM (#3405127)
Correct, Johnny, at least in the early/mid 80s. Those seats were the best deal in California's MLB parks and my favorite place from which to watch the games. I liked Dodger heaven, but there's nothing I liked about Anaheim; even before rally Monkeys and Thunderstix it felt too much like Riefenstahl arranged the experience.
   19. Lassus Posted: December 07, 2009 at 01:58 AM (#3405128)
I lived in San Francisco in 1997-2000, and even then Oakland was preferable to Candlestick. There was no part of either getting to or being in that stadium that wasn't a nightmare during the summer. I was a national league guy, but after a year of games in Candlestick, I basically abandoned all thought of going there (unless the Mets were in town) and instead went to watch the A's play.
   20. Cuban X Senators Posted: December 07, 2009 at 03:12 AM (#3405170)
Real grass . . . Louisiana Hots, better weather than Candlestick, good access

One of my favorite ballpark memories is being at a Dollar Wednesday in Oakland in about 2001 (that's $1 upper deck tickets and $1 hot dogs for a mid-week day game -- I think they still run that deal, but with $2 tickets and I have no idea where, since there is no upper deck).

Anyway about the 6th inning some guy who clearly spent the cash he was saving on beer decided to diversify and went to buy $10-worth of hot dogs. He came back to the ramp and gave 'em away -- by throwing them as far as he could. Needless to say, foil separated from bun which separated from weiner.

In 15 incredible seconds, the section went from jumping up and down for a dog to "oh hell, duck and cover" and back to excited jumping for a dog, bun, foil or whatever bit of the falling baseball confetti one could grab.

You just don't see that in the AT&T;club-level.
   21. big chief tootie montana Posted: December 07, 2009 at 04:36 AM (#3405251)
That isn't McGwire, it is Canseco walking along the third base line.
   22. Cuban X Senators Posted: December 07, 2009 at 04:47 AM (#3405265)
I'm not dubious about Gammons too.
   23. jolietconvict Posted: December 07, 2009 at 05:17 AM (#3405290)
Anyway about the 6th inning some guy who clearly spent the cash he was saving on beer decided to diversify and went to buy $10-worth of hot dogs. He came back to the ramp and gave 'em away -- by throwing them as far as he could. Needless to say, foil separated from bun which separated from weiner.


I saw a guy pull this same type of stunt at Miller Park but it went on for about 30 minutes and people kept funneling the guy money for more hot dogs.

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