Maybe it’s just a runoff from my olympic fever, but the WBC being right around the corner has me so deeply excited. More than anything I’m looking forward to having a little baseball background noise in my life. The best form of past time exists prominently from spring to fall, and this year we’re getting an extra little something-something from the (Gage) jump.

Circle March 3rd on your calendars, folks — right before all the WBC tournament action, the A’s will be going head to head with Team Brazil in what’s likely to be a matinee classic. You have know idea how so absolutely seated I am for something like this. It’s taking care of an itch only scratched by the occasional pointlessness of MLB scheduling. Though with the game taking place so early in spring training, I’m fascinated in how the A’s will approach it. What’re the odds they lose to a team headlined by Manny Ramirez’s son?

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On the bump. three innings from Jack Perkins just might not be on the table unfortunately,. They’re more than likely to throw Eduraniel Nunez and Kenya Huggins and pray they don’t get shelled. Either way, it’s a total drop-everything-you’re-doing-and-get-out-to-Hohokam type game. One of the more mildly fascinating ones I can think of in recent history.

What’s a total obscure curio game you would’ve liked to have caught in person? Playoff games obviously don’t count here, I’m more referring to an oddball giveaway day or matchup. The 1999 A’s vs Angels Turn-Ahead-The-Clock’s of the world. I was fortunate enough to experience the MC Hammer bobblehead giveaway back in 2011. Not only was it already an all-timer from a promotional sense, but the A’s also schwooped the Daniel Pinero led Angels 9-1 in the throwbacks. That day, I’m pretty sure Gio Gonzalez shoved for six to seven frames. I know for a fact Conor Jackson hit a grandy in like the first inning. All of this unfolded on an overcast sunday in Oakland. Forget their 42-54 record, you could’ve told me we were in heaven.

Now obviously I can’t expect an A’s-Brazil exhibition to be all full of whimsy like that, but it can at the very least provide charm — which is all I really care about. The older I get, the more I feel like The Pat Venditte’s big league debut type games really prevail sentimentally in the long run. Who needs ESPN’s Sunday night baseball when you could have a Coco Crisp chia pet?

A’s Coverage:

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MLB News and Interest:Best of X:

It’s 2033 and Luis Burgos has just secured the final out in the ALCS, sending the A’s to their third World Series appearance in five years.

Max Schuemann is the third base coach.

Good for Kurtz, but I am literally so over these lists. Spring training needs to finally get here so MLB Network can stop recycling the same five narratives to death.

We talking about Lawrence Butler, right?

More than anything, I’m a bit concerned on who will be filling out these games. What’s the fandom going to look like? Who will be able to afford a ticket to an A’s game and what type of fan base will that cultivate?

I hope this is the last time we ever have to see Gio Urshela in an A’s jersey

I blame Daric Barton (everything is his fault)

The 2022 A’s were so bad they had the director of Mallrats out there playing the hot corner