A cavernous stadium located off an interstate all by itself. As you may have guessed by now, I am partial to downtown stadiums in neighborhoods, so we start off with a negative. However, the fans here make up for anything the stadium is lacking. I wouldn't say this was a rabid crowd, but they were into the game and their outstanding trait is their POLITENESS! Yes, I found no loud mouths, louts or bullies, something I can’t say for any of the earlier parks. People said, more than once, "excuse me" even for the slightest bump. Nobody stood up for long periods in front of you and fans even squatted if they were forced to stop in an aisle while play was going on. This is very unique to my travels so far.

Information was displayed on an antiquated score board with lights out but all the information was there for you. By the way, this was "Spider Man II" night and everyone coming in our entrance received a Spider Man mask. The problem was that everyone coming in another entrance received the mask and a foam pointing finger. I'm sure this did not go over well with the kids that didn’t receive the finger (foam, that is).

Another different twist was that the Public Address announcer referred to each umpire as Mr. when introducing them, "Umpiring at third base, Mr. Joe Shmoe." Unique. As most of you know, I was a Boston Bruin season ticket holder from 1964 through 1980. You cannot begin to guess how many times I have heard the National Anthem sung. I must say that this was the absolute worst rendition I have ever been forced to endure. The Star Spangled banner is NOT a love song!

Well, the nicest thing happened to me when Tom from Pinole, CA came to me and gave me an A's pin to remember my experience in Oakland. I wear a 30parks.com T-shirt and a Red Sox cap to every game, creating conversation. Tom and his wife sincerely wished me good luck on my travels. I will wear the pin on my cap.

Very good game, very nice people, not so nice stadium, but still, better than Fenway.