This... this was so brilliant that I wept openly.

I merely wanted to say I love your avatar. I was a bat and ball boy for the Birmingham A's, Oakland's Double-A Southern League team, from 1974-75.

It was great fun especially as the team's home was historic Rickwood Field (built in 1910) and we had the run of a place that was a setting right out of American sports folklore. A few times, I was lucky enough to work the scoreboard, sitting on a perch above the visitors' bullpen and dropping the appropriate numbers into slots when the time called for it.

My mother was secretary for the GM and landed me the job that paid $3 and change per game. I recall her tales of Charlie Finley and Bear Bryant wandering through the facilities drunk whenever Birmingham-native "Charlie O" was in town.

I also remember playing catch with guys like Mike Norris, Claudell Washington and Wayne Gross. Those were the salad days for the A's organization, right in the middle of their dominance of the pro game.

Your avatar brings a lot of that back. Thanks!

I'm ready to go to some A's games! Can the new season start already???