photo by capitalcorridor.org: Oakland A’s fans are jubilant entering the A’s Fanfest at Jack London Square in downtown Oakland on Saturday Jan 27th

By: Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND — It was all free admission, so there was no hard-ticket count, but it could have easily be 20,000 or more that visited the Oakland Athletics Fanfest this past Saturday at Jack London Square, to celebrate the A’s 50th Anniversary in Oakland. Food trucks served free food for the enthusiastic crowd, who enjoyed live music. A’s players mingled with fans and signed autographs, kids had pictures with clowns and the fiesta was on!

At The Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum and Hall of Fame booth, A’s newly acquired reliever, Yusmeiro Petit, signed autographs for about 40 minutes. He also posed with fans and their families for photographs.

“Estoy muy contento de estar de vuelta en California. Translation: “I am very happy I am back in California,” the 33 year old Venezuelan right handed told me. Many fans that got his signature at the Hispanic Baseball Museum booth remember him with the Giants across the Bay Area, where he was an excellent reliever and a part-time starter from 2012 to 2015.

I asked Yusmeiro if he was surprised that the Angels did not keep him (last year in 60 relief appearances he had a 2.73 ERA and was the most dependable reliever for Mike Sciocia’s team). “Esto es un negocio, tu sabes. Translation: “You know, this is a business.” Petit brings experience to the team’s pitching which is a welcome site on a relatively young pitching staff. He was happy and poised to meet with A’s fans this Saturday. He was also anxious to report to Spring Training in Mesa, Arizona, by mid-February.

Note: All autographs were signed with free pens from KIQI 1010/990 AM Radio, the home of the A’s Spanish Broadcast Network.

Great ambiance permeated the event, as old colorful characters we know at the Coliseum like “Banjo Man” was playing as well as “Swinging A’s Ragtime Band.” It was held next door to the spectacular new front offices of the Oakland A’s. The place was rocking on a perfect sunny morning/afternoon.

A’s President Dave Kaval came over to our booth, like he did last season, and was “taking it all in.” He faces some challenges after the Laney College location (his No. 1 favorite) for the proposed new park didn’t materialized. But he is a determined and optimist young man with a plan that will succeed in this endeavor, even in the very complicated and competitive Bay Area thoughts when it comes to building new baseball facilities.

The players were wearing their new Green and Gold jerseys, which they will wear on Friday home games with the 50th anniversary patch on the shoulder. Dallas “El Perfecto” Braden was taking pictures around our booth. I call him “El Perfecto” because on Mother’s Day (May 9, 2010), he pitched a perfect game at the Oakland Coliseum against the Tampa Bay Rays. Dallas is the new A’s television analyst, taking the place of Mark Mulder, and he is always pumped up.

It was a great afternoon for all at Jack London Square. I spoke with a gentleman who was at the Oakland Coliseum for the first ever game in Oakland in 1968. I also talked to some other baseball veteranos like my good friend Adalberto “Ucho” Lopez, who was here in 1968 and was part of the great tradition of Major League Baseball in Oakland, California. They were happy to see the four World Series trophies. I spoke with many of my friends that for years have been with the A’s Booster Club. It was a fun day at Oakland! It was a truly a Grand Slam event!

See you in Spring Training!

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Vice President of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsadioservice.com