Bay Area residents, I dare you.  I dare you to find a nicer place to spend three hours soaking up 70-degree weather than at an A’s day game at the Coliseum.  And I also dare you to find a more affordable option on the local sports scene today.  And I dare you to find a more exciting and talented young pitching staff than the 2011 Oakland A’s, which features four early All-Star candidates in their midst.

That said, I hope you take heed and come out to the yard during the next homestand early and often.  Weather prognosticators are expecting high 60′s and low 70′s with plenty of sunshine during the seven-game run against AL divison leaders Texas (Friday-Monday) and Cleveland (Tuesday-Thursday).  Three of the four games vs. Michael Young, Adrian Beltre & Co. will be matinee affairs, while the Indians’ series finale will also be staged under glorious sun!  Really, is there anything much better than day baseball!  Green grass, blue skies and white shoes.  Yes!

And that’s not even considering the great season-long deals that our marketing guru, Jim Leahey, has concocted to provide every-day value to A’s fans.  I mean, virtually every day of the week offers something pretty cool.  There’s free parking on all Chevy Free Parking Tuesdays (except 5/31).  BART $2 Wednesdays mean selected $2 game tickets.  And new this year, 10,000 fans will receive coupons for free hot dogs for Thursday games.  Fridays, beyond being a popular Fireworks Night (2 of the 5 Fireworks games are on Fridays in 2011), may offer Bay Area sports fans the best bargain anywhere–Xfinity Friday Family Packs, whereby a family or group of four can attend a big league baseball game, eat a dinner consisting of a hot dog, bag of peanuts and a soft drink, all for only $50 total!  Try that one on for size at another sports venue in the Bay Area!  And this does not even count the promotional giveaways on most weekends at the Coliseum.  This Saturday will be Rickey Henderson Bobblehead Day, while Sunday is Kids Magnet Set Day.  And don’t forget next Thursday’s special Atleticos T-shirt/Cinco de Mayo giveaway, the final day game of the homestand! So when it comes to value, great team matchups and magnificent weather, I dare you to find a better deal than A’s baseball.  Whether you’re a parent looking for a family outing for your kids, a hardcore baseball fan who wants to see how the A’s will fare against top competition, or just someone looking to “catch some rays” now that our lousy weather is over, look no further than 66th Avenue.  Go A’s!

You want to know how special yesterday’s win was?  Let me share a telling stat from last year’s team.  When the 2010 A’s trailed in a game after eight innings, their record was 2-68.  That’s right.  Two and 68.  In other words, last year’s team wasn’t exactly The Comeback Kids.  But this season is a new day, or at least early returns suggest it is.

On the heels of Kurt Suzuki’s dramatic game-winning home run in the 10th inning of Monday’s series opener, the A’s did one even better on getaway day in Chicago. Facing what appeared to be an insurmountable 4-1 deficit in the ninth, Conor Jackson, Josh Willingham and Hideki Matsui—part of the new face of this year’s club—opened the inning with three straight authoritative hits.  Up in the U.S. Cellular Field press box, I was starting to wonder, at least privately, “could this team actually rally and win this thing?”  Matsui’s bullet to right field shaved the deficit to 4-2.  Then Bob Geren, who has been given a roster clearly with more talent and flexibility this year, began to make moves like a manager with more options than previous seasons.  First, he sent Coco Crisp into the game to pinch-run for Godzilla.  Then he pinch-hit Daric Barton for Kevin Kouzmanoff, bringing in a player that banged out four hits the night before to face a right-handed reliever.  Barton walked—not exactly a shocking development—and then Kurt Suzuki worked the count to 2-0, then 3-1 against reliever Matt Thornton with the bases loaded.  At that point, Thornton went country hardball and blew a 96-, then 97-MPH fastball past the A’s catcher for an ill-timed strikeout.  Again, Geren was able to summon another proven bat off the bench, inserting Ryan Sweeney for Andy LaRoche. Ozzie Guillen countered with Tony Peńa out of the pen, and the big right-hander also served up gas which Ryno could not catch up to. But just when A’s fan were about to pack up their scorebooks and turn off Comcast Sports Net or The Wolf, little Cliff Pennington greets Peńa with a laser single up the middle of the diamond to drive in Willingham and Crisp to tie the game.

Geren’s new options continued to unfold in the bottom of the ninth, when he moved Jackson from right field to third base, while leaving Barton (1B) and Sweeney (RF) in the game in their customary positions and actually improving Oakland’s defense at a critical juncture of the game.  After Grant Balfour shredded the Sox’s vaunted sluggers in the ninth—Adam Dunn and Carlos Quentin via the strikeout and Paul Konerko via a harmless foul pop to Suzuki—the A’s new firepower came surging forward again in the top of the 10^th.  After Mark Ellis grounded out, Jackson and Willingham drew walks.  Then Crisp and Barton, only inserted into the game the previous inning, came up huge with RBI singles that forged a 7-4 lead.  While Brett Anderson had to settle for a no-decision despite a solid 5.2 innings of work, he was happy to hand the ball to a succession of lock-down relievers—Craig Breslow, Brad Ziegler, Balfour and then closer Brian Fuentes—who delivered 4 1/3 innings of scoreless pitching which paved the way for an improbable win.  When the dust settled, I think I counted at least 12 players who made significant contributions.  It was truly a team win, which of course, are the best kind.  They help form closer bonds between players—especially those new to this team—and suggest the total sum may, indeed, be greater that the individual parts.

So, after a 1-4 start to the season which was undermined by some defensive lapses, your Oakland A’s have gone 5-2 against very legitimate competition.  Geren’s Boys won the last two road series against arguably the top two teams in the AL Central in Chicago and Minnesota, and had it not been for an ill-timed home run off the bat of Yunel Escobar in Toronto, we win all three series on this arduous road trip.  For a new group to face such adversity when they were staring up at a 1-4 start, and then respond with some pressurized victories, it suggests this unit is becoming a real team.  And with that, comes more confidence, a close-knit feeling, and a collective Esprit de corps that may drive this group to greater heights in the weeks and months to come.  Detroit arrives in Oaktown this evening for a four-game series, then Boston for a brief two-game set that ends the home stand.  You may want to come out and see what all the commotion is about.

Like every Major League Baseball team in April, the Oakland A’s are entering the early stages of finding a team identity as they jet eastward to Toronto.  You can rest assured, error-laced Opening Night and our bullpen struggles last weekend is not a true reflection of this team!  As is customary, Canadian officials will require each of us to present U.S. passports to gain entrance on foreign soil when we land at Pearson International Airport.  However, the collective I.D. of the 2011 A’s will not be printed in a government document.  Instead, it will play out over time this season.  That’s part of the fun of being a fan, because despite what preseason prognosticators might suggest, the true identity—and character—of a team is always determined by the 25 players on the roster.

It’s a process.  On the field, Bob Geren and his staff are focused on meshing diverse talents into a cohesive unit. But,  maybe more importantly, this is the time when  clubhouse chemistry starts to bubble to the surface.  Old friendships are renewed and  new ones take root.  Mr. Willingham, meet Mr. Ellis.  Mr. Balfour, want to play  catch? I found last weekend interesting, in  that our two opening losses to Seattle  seemed to create a sense of urgency among the troops—something you wouldn’t expect with 160 games left to play.  Clearly, players shared the same high expectations  that have been tossed around national media circles this spring, and they seemed  determined to right the ship, and right it now.  And no better way than to let the guy in  the next locker know that “I’ve got your back because, hey, we’re teammates and I  care about you.  Let’s go get ‘em!”

Take David DeJesus and Gio Gonzalez, both electric personalities who seem to have become fast friends.  They’ve developed some type of fist-and-body bump routine every time they see each other that’s way more hip than I can personally comprehend.  Let’s just say that former A’s bat boy MC Hammer would be proud.  Back-end reliever Brian Fuentes turned to family—his real one and his new one—to soothe the painful memory of a rocky outing, as he proudly introduced two of his young children to his new teammates in the clubhouse Sunday.  Another scene after Sunday’s 7-1 win was sidelined All-Star closer Andrew Bailey, skipping around like a school boy in the clubhouse, high-fiving Gio and fellow reliever Jerry Blevins for a job well done.  Yet, maybe the most central figure in bringing this club together Sunday was Hideki Matsui, the consummate pro, who’s the team’s closest connection to the Japanese earthquake nightmare.  He was the rallying point for the organization’s efforts to raise money for the Red Cross yesterday (the team generated more than $65,000).  Matsui also gave his country a brief moment to escape their pain and suffering by lining a Doug Fister pitch down the left-field line for a second-inning double which was the 2,500th of his legendary career.  After the game, everyone from Geren to Gonzalez gushed about the A’s new slugger and the historical significance of his amazing milestone.

It’s that respect and true caring for each other that might very well be the trademark of this Oakland club.  Time—and our win-loss record—will tell if these qualities will serve the A’s well.

It was getaway day in the desert yesterday, and collectively, I think this team is ready for the marathon that lies ahead.  Following our Cactus League finale against the Rockies at Salt River Fields, players, coaches and staff were bused back to Phoenix Muni for quick showers, then on to Phoenix International Airport for the charter to Oakland.  As I surveyed the situation on board, it’s clear that Manager Bob Geren and his staff are visibly pleased with the results they saw during six weeks of workouts and Spring Training games.  And why not?  Their check list is pretty much complete:

• Stay Healthy—The A’s came out of camp relatively injury free.  Outside of All-Star closer Andrew Bailey and fifth-starter candidate Rich Harden, Geren’s club looks fit and ready.  And even Bailey’s arm setback was a reprieve of sorts, as tearing adhesions from offseason cleanup surgery is a best-case scenario if ever I heard of one when a mandated trip to see Dr. Andrews (aka, Mr. Tommy John surgeon) suggested otherwise.  While a specific timetable for their return has not yet been plotted, both Bailey and Harden (tight lat muscle) should be rejoining the team early in the season, perhaps even within a few weeks.

• Competition for Open Positions—Entering Spring Training, it would have seemed there were three primary areas of competition for roster spots.  The hope was that several viable candidates would emerge and a healthy competition would ensue that might deliver the best possible options.  Well, it absolutely went according to script.  With Adam Rosales still on the mend from offseason foot surgery—he should be back by early May—there was a spirited battle for the utility infielder role.  In fact, the smoke has yet to clear, as Eric Sogard, Andy LaRoche and Wes Timmons head north for the Bay Bridge Series still awaiting a final verdict.  And Steve Tolleson, who briefly served in the same utility role last season, displayed his usual defensive prowess to make it a legitimate four-way competition until he was optioned to the minor league camp due to a sub-par batting average.  Another interesting contest was waged by Brandon McCarthy, Tyson Ross and Bobby Cramer for the No. 5 starter.  Friday, the skipper gave McCarthy the nod, although he also suggested that Ross and Cramer are still prime candidates for the long reliever slot on the staff—a decision that will need to be made later this week.  And to a lesser extent, a bevy of gifted relievers with quality major league experience, headed by Jerry Blevins, Joey Devine—and maybe even the reliable Brad Ziegler—tried to out-duel each other all spring for what essentially were one or two spots in a crowded bullpen.  Devine, who like starter Josh Outman, made estimable progress this spring, was optioned this morning to allow him more time to ramp up following his Tommy John surgery from 2009.  Final choices for Opening Night are still to come, but one thing is certain:  some very capable pitchers and position players will be left off the 25-man roster that christens the season, and that suggests this is a deeper team than a year ago.

• Evidence of an Improved Lineup—While rarely did we see the projected Opening Night lineup together in any one Spring Training game, individually we saw promising glimpses of both our new acquisitions like David DeJesus and Josh Willingham, as well as returning hitters like Coco Crisp, Kurt Suzuki and Kevin Kouzmanoff, who this year will be asked to perform in positions more commiserate to their talents.  While Hideki Matsui compiled a rather frigid batting average this spring, those long-time observers of the Japanese legend suggest that Godzilla is sure to appear when stadium lights are flicked on this weekend.

• The Return of the Big Four—Even though this quartet set the tone last season by anchoring a starting rotation that posted the best ERA in all of baseball, the relative youth of Trevor Cahill, Brett Anderson, Gio Gonzalez and Dallas Braden would generally suggest you can’t take last year’s performance for granted.  So, while we have somewhat penciled in another stellar season for this group, it was nice to see each of them pitch with such purpose this spring.  In short, they were as good as advertised.  All four seem to be poised and ready for great seasons.  And, of course, this is sweet music for new pitching coach Ron Romanick and Geren.

So now, the real season is upon us.  As they might say in the boxing game, “Let’s get ready to rummmmbblle!”