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Scooping for a Cure

It may seem odd that a root beer float day would benefit Juvenile Diabetes Research, but as Mark Ellis pointed out, "whatever it takes to raise money for the cause."

The A's Second Baseman knows a thing or two about the disease. His best friend growing up in South Dakota had juvenile diabetes, his grandfather on his mom's side currently suffers from it, and his grandmother on his dad's side died from diabetes.

"I have pretty much been aware of diabetes my whole life," Ellis told me in a recent interview on the subject. (You can catch the feature during A's Pre Game Live on Friday, July 25th).

So it's no surprise that he's taken an active role in supporting research to find a cure. He and teammate Bobby Crosby started a program three years ago called "Putouts for Diabetes," in which they each donate $50 to the American Diabetes Association every time they make an out during a game.

"Its just something that we can really help out with by doing something on the baseball field. That’s the easy part for us, we can just got out there and play baseball," he said.

He's also the team spokesperson for the A's 9th Annual Root Beer Float Day, which takes place on July 30th before the game against the Kansas City Royals. The event starts at 10:35 a.m. and lasts up until game time at 1:05 p.m. Fans can purchase floats for just $2.00, or they can but a special mug for an unlimited helping of the tasty treat. (Perfect for getting players' autographs!) Several of the Oakland players will be in attendance scooping ice cream, along with other sports figures and media personalities (including yours truly!) All of the money raised will benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

"It's good, players are up here scooping ice cream and making root beer floats so they make a ton of money for diabetes, and it also promotes diabetes awareness. So it’s really neat the A's get to do stuff like that and we are really, really proud of it."

So if you like ice cream (or even if you don't), come out early on July 30th and help support a great cause!

Camera Shy All-Star

The first time I met Justin Duchscherer was earlier this year at Spring Training. He was probably the 8th player the PR staff paraded through in a series of about 16 we requested for sit-down interviews.

I was still very new to the area and it was my first assignment covering the Oakland A's. I remember not really knowing what to make of Justin, as he wasn't overly friendly but at the same time very polite and pleasant. His sound bites weren't super long, but they weren't too short either. And when I accidentally mixed up my facts as I was asking him a question about facing the Giants, he wasn't rude, but he did make sure to correct me.

Again...I wasn't quite sure what to make of him.

Now that I've covered "Duke" for half a season and interviewed him a half-dozen times, I realize what it is that I couldn't put my finger on back in March.

Justin Duchscherer is camera shy.

He's also one of the nicest guys in an A's clubhouse full of nice guys. He likes to chat and joke around with the best of them, but the minute I give him that look of "I need an interview," he cringes a little. (Just a little).

The day after the All-Star selection, we had him on live during the Pre Game show. I was probably his 5th or 6th interview that day, and we had a couple minutes of down time before we went on the air. As we were talking, he motioned to the camera and said to me, "I don't know how you do this all of the time." So I fired back, "Well, I don't know how you do what you do every fifth day."

He told me that as soon as he steps on the mound, the fact that 30,000 people (or in the A's case sometimes...10,000 people) are staring at him totally gets blocked out. That for some reason he just feels totally comfortable out there. But the second the camera light turns on, he immediately feels uncomfortable.

I told him, "You'd better get used to it. If you keep pitching like this, there will be a lot more reporters where I came from!"

Beane does it again, Cubs get "damaged goods"?

A's fans have been through this before...and they'll go through it again. (And again. And again.) So they probably weren't too surprised when the news came down General Manager Billy Beane had traded Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin to the Cubs for four players.

I think the person who was MOST stunned was Harden himself. Just minutes after the move was announced, Harden was cornered by reporters in the clubhouse. After the writers dispersed, I asked him if he really thought the rumors we'd all been hearing the last few days would really come true. He said he was "truly shocked" when he heard about the move. I asked him if he was more sad to leave the only organization he'd ever known or excited about the new opportunity. He told me he was still trying to process everything, but he was probably feeling "a little bit of everything right now."

Meanwhile...suspicions that the Cubs traded for "damaged goods" started circulating around the field later that evening. Harden hasn't really been himself the last two starts, and the rumor is he's been playing hurt and might get shut down before actually pitching in a Cubs uniform. Sources tell me the Chicago staff will check him out today to see how he's feeling, and if he's too sore, then we probably won't see him again until after the All Star break. Don't quote me on that, but if it's true, (and if Gallagher can perform), then Beane really has done it again!

The view from the other clubhouse...

Whenever the A's return from the road, or CSN hasn't carried a game in a few days, I inevitably get the same question from the players: "How was your time off?" And to that I have to shake my head and reply, "Just because you don't see me doesn't mean I'm not working."

Which is true. When I'm not working the games, I'm busy putting together features for A's Pregame Live or All A's (among other things). That would've been the case today too, since the game wasn't on local TV. However, our sister station, Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, needed my help getting postgame sound for their newscast, and I happily obliged.

But I must say...it felt weird going into the visiting clubhouse...especially after such a great win by the A's. Under normal circumstances, I'd be talking to Rich Harden about his nasty nasty stuff instead of asking Phillies players why they couldn't hit it. But even though the faces are different, it's pretty much the same as any clubhouse after a loss. The manager tries to keep things positive, guys who had a bad game tend to "hide," and it's very, very quiet...

Big Sky Country

I know this is technically supposed to be a sports blog, so I'll just start off by warning you that this one is sort of a stretch as far as sports-related topics go. However, many of you were asking why I wasn't on the A's broadcasts this weekend, so I thought I'd show you first-hand what I was doing!

(BTW...our newest reporter, Kate Longworth, did a great job of filling in for me. You can check out her blog by clicking here.)

Anyways, the reason you did not see me is because my fiance and I were back in our home state of Montana attending a friend's wedding. The ceremony was held on top of Big Mountain, which is a ski resort in the wintertime. But it's just as beautiful in the summer, with just as many fun things to do.

We decided to check out the "Walk in the Treetops" tour. They say it's the only one of its kind in the U.S., and I definitely agree that it was a one of a kind experience. Basically, they have constructed a series of suspension bridges connected by pine trees, and you literally get to walk in the treetops! (See what I mean? Not technically a sport...but it did require a small amount of athletic ability, so I decided to write about it anyways! :)

Here are some more photos from the tour:

A Giant Plate of Food

With the A's on the road, I have my evenings off this week. So how do I decide to spend the free time? At the baseball park of course. :)

My friend Kasey moved to San Francisco from Chicago a couple years ago, but had not seen a baseball game in the Bay Area. As soon as I started working here, I said we needed to fix that ASAP. So yesterday morning, she left me a voicemail wondering what the plan was for the evening. She wanted to know if we should meet up early and go to dinner before heading to the game since she "didn't really feel like having a hot dog for dinner." Clearly she had never been to a Giants game. I called her back and explained she needn't worry...that AT&T Park might just have the best ballpark food in the country. She took my word for it, but I think she may still have been a little skeptical.

Upon arriving, any doubts she may have had immediately disappeared. The food options were endless. Paninis, pizza, & pulled pork...oh my! Bay Area favorites like Clam Chowder in a bread bowl, Gilroy garlic fries, Crab Sandwiches, or Ghiradelli sundaes. "There's even a mini Farmer's Market!" she exclaimed. We finally settled on Cha Cha bowls from Orlando's BBQ (located behind the giant Coke bottle.) If you've never had one, I highly recommend them. Black beans, rice, jerk chicken, and pineapple salsa. Load it up with your own concoction of the sauces located on either side. (My personal favorite is LOTS of BBQ sauce, with a few shots of the spicy Habanero sauce...yummmmmmm).

Her boyfriend Brandon went with a Bratwurst, and equally enjoyed his selection, though he was eying our bowls the whole time. At one point he said, "There's almost TOO much good stuff here." Maybe so, but I'll take a Cha Cha bowl over a hot dog any day.