I was trying to get to know my "neighbors" at the table. "Oh, no," she said, looking at me seriously. But no explanation followed.
However, soon another woman sat down, just a few minutes prior to starting the first A's Booster Club luncheon of the season. I asked her the same question. "Oh, no," she said, looking at me seriously. "Beef." She said this with such gravitas that I could only nod.
But she had much more information to impart. Turns out, she's a member of the Booster club executive committee, or something like that. She actually took my money for the luncheon when I came in the door. (I can't remember all the Boosters. Frankly, they all look alike. I know, a horrible thing to say...) She was full of juicy info. Like, how they tell the staff how many chicken -- oops, sorry, sometimes beef -- dinners to bring out, according to the numbers on our little yellow cards. And how much the lunches have cost through the years. ("It was $15 for the longest time. But then we found out we weren't charging tax. The Treasurer just paid the bill for about five years, but we finally figured it out.") So now the bill is $17. A good deal for the entertainment you get.
The "entertainment" we got from the Oakland A's today was Robert Buan as MC. He came in, as he usually does, with his wife and youngest child. Then manager Bob Geren came in. He could talk for about 20 minutes but then he had to leave. No autographs. The first chicken-answer neighbor said to his wife, "Well, no media guide signed today," so his wife put away the book with her lips pursed in regret.
But in truth, the real entertainment is the Boosters themselves. Our new president, Shirley Schapiro, was telling us how much work Candi had done for the last spring training group, and how important it was to follow through on our reservations. Apparently she had repeated this one too many times, because a man in the middle of the room, dressed in his green Oakland Athletics jacket, waved his hand in the air and yelled, "Enough! Shut up, already!" Apparently, also, he thought the "already" saved his comment from this side of rude. I didn't think so. But you had to laugh.
And the questions. I love these. "Why didn't you keep Marco Scutaro and trade Dan Johnson?" Bob tried to explain that one had little to do with the other, a utility infielder versus a first baseman, but nobody can explain why a team trades away their favorite player. I was actually surprised I didn't hear anything about other players traded, e.g., Swisher or Haren. I think the Boosters realize they need the kids.
And another Booster asked, why are there so few giveaways this year? She had counted them. The media guy who just happened to be there was caught off guard, but countered with, yes, there may be one or two less this year, but the quality is better. We all agreed the quality was better.
He mentioned the DVD commemorating the A's 40-year history, the giveaway this Sunday, and the blanket being given away next Wednesday. The little 80's-ish woman in front of me suddenly looked up and said, "Blanket? Blanket?" But her friend reminded her that Wednesday was a night game. "Oh. We don't do night games."
Exactly.
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