We met Rickey Henderson today! (no, that's not him in the first picture below...scroll down)

Yes, you read it correctly - Karl and I met the all-time king of stolen bases and runs scored! We woke up bright and early this morning so that we could work out and still make it to McAfee Coliseum by 10:30 a.m. for "Root Beer Float Day" at the ballpark. We got there, purchased $13 bleacher tickets (wow! I love the ticket prices for A's games) and then went inside for the festivities before the game, which started at 12:30. At this point we didn't even know Rickey Henderson was going to be there...bear with me. More on that later. So, once inside we bought our mug for $2, then noticed that some of the A's players were on hand for pictures and autographs. We jumped in line to meet one of the players, though we had no clue who he was. Apparently no one else in line knew who he was either, because we asked everyone around us and ended up having to look him up on the A's website when we got home. For the record, his name is Lenny DiNardo and he's a relief pitcher...see the picture above. This picture kind of cracks me up because Karl and I look like we're all about this player, yet neither of us knew who he was. Also, it kind of looks like Karl is offering him a cup of coffee or something. :)

The BIG NEWS though is that we then realized that Rickey Henderson was making an appearance from 11 - 12! As I've mentioned before, Karl loved the A's when he was a little boy, so for him it was extremely exciting because he grew up watching Rickey Henderson. It was exciting for me as well since I'm a huge baseball fan. For those of you who aren't aware of who Rickey Henderson is, he is considered possibly the best-ever leadoff hitter of his era, and he is number one on Major League Baseball's all-time stolen bases list, as well as number one on the number of runs list. He was drafted by the A's in 1976, and played in the big leagues from 1979 to 2003. There is currently a lot of buzz about him leading the Hall of Fame ballot in '09, which is the first year he's eligible to be on the ballot. Back to our story - we got in line to meet Rickey and after waiting for about 45 minutes, it was finally our turn. Some of the people in line to meet him were CHARACTERS, let me tell you...one lady had adorned her outfit with every Rickey Henderson button possible, while others had bags full of merchandise that they were trying to get autographed. The guy behind us was literally having a breakdown trying to figure out which bobblehead to ask Rickey to sign since there was a one photo or one autograph per person limit. Karl and I both opted for a picture with him, and he was extremely nice and smiled the entire time. We asked for a picture, shook his hand, and told him how nice it was to meet him. Karl also said he had been a fan of his for a long time. I must say that standing in that line with a bunch of nuts really made me realize how greedy some people are when it comes to athletes and/or celebrities...I heard people say "Well he better sign this" or "He better sign that" and I was thinking, "He better?" These people were acting extremely ungrateful before they had even received ANYTHING. Also, it is not Rickey Henderson's obligation or responsibility to sign autographs or take pictures with anyone, so it really bothered me that some people would act that way. None of us were entitled to anything, so they should have just been grateful for the opportunity to meet a legend. Oh well...I'm not going to fix the problems of the world through this blog.

We had a great rest of the day at the ballpark. In addition to the $2 root beer floats, it was also dollar hot dog day, which made for an inexpensive lunch! The day was beautiful and sunny with a nice breeze (we both got a bit of a sunburn), and although the A's performed well during most of the game, they ended up losing to the Royals in extra innings. Maybe next time...