Photo courtesy of D. Collier
By SITB
Despite the A’s premature season ending there is always a bright side; the magical season was a time to bring families together.
Passion runs deep for the Perenon family who can see
and hear the fireworks from their Oakland Hills home during any given home stand.
They make sure to attend several games a year and husband Paul is the family’s official
statistician. Their daughter Kaylea rushed home from work to catch Game 5 with
her parents and says she’s been a fan of the Athletics since “October 3, 1987,”
the day she was born. However, her mom may have a couple years on her.
“I have been an Oakland A’s fan since I was a
freshman in high school in 1970,” said Lori Perenon, an elementary school
teacher.For the Colliers, they got to witness Game 5 right behind home plate courtesy of Stub Hub. They didn’t doubt for one moment their A’s wouldn’t advance to the next series; but like many, the 3-0 loss put a bad taste in their mouth.
“So much for a back-to-back Bay Area World Series,” said Oakland native LaJuan Collier after watching Detroit advance. Collier, along with his wife Dorothy grew up watching the Athletics blocks away from the then O.Co. Coliseum, they called the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum.
“I don’t care who wins now,” said Dorothy who
believes the Game 4 ball interference by the fan in Detroit sealed the A’s fate.
“I do think it made a difference; it definitely stopped the momentum.”
“I feel that this young group of guys can repeat
their success next year,” said Keri Hallin. “We have some great pitchers. The
future is Sonny (Gray)!” Who pitched in Game 5.
With salaries that would make the New York Yankees
laugh in disgust, the Oakland A’s are a bunch of young scrappy kids who play
for a genuine love of the game.
“I enjoy watching the guys play,” said Hallin who
along with husband Denis has brought their dog to A’s Dog Day at the Park. “They
are fun and bring excitement to every game. You can’t help but love these guys.”
Since the choices left are L.A., St. Louis, Boston
and Detroit Hallin would like to see Detroit and St. Louis in the World Series.
“From there I have no favorite,” she says.
They may not fill up the ballpark like that ‘other’
team across the bridge but one things for sure, the Gold and Green puts a
product on the field that genuinely brings families together rather it be in the den or in stadium.
