In the weeks leading up to last night’s free game, skepticism abounded. With the backdrop of poor attendance and stadium woes, the national and (sadly) especially local media seemed to set up the free game as either a potential logistical nightmare or some sort of referendum on the A’s organization’s failures. On top of that, as A’s fans, we have had the rug pulled out from us so many times that it becomes reflex with every piece of good news to see disaster looming around the corner. We look the gift horses in the mouth.
However, from the get-go the A’s billed the free game as a party, a way of giving back to the fans in the city that’s hosted them for 50 years.