Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/658783
5 BAYAREANEWSGROUP PLAYBALL THEGAME Abaseballfan'sbucketlist B aseballandtheBayArea go together like sour and dough. Joe DiMaggio was the first person to say that, I believe. Or maybe it was Rickey Hen - derson. Or Charlie Brown. Doesn't matter, really. All three were horsehide immortals with ties to our glorious region of gloves and bats and garlic fries. (All right, so Charlie was a car - toon character. But his owner and general manager, Charles Schulz, lived in Santa Rosa.) I will argue this point with anyone: Northern California is one of the best baseball places on Earth. The weather is divine for the sport. Kids still play the game in fairly large numbers — and that's not always true elsewhere. DiMaggio and Henderson are just two of the Hall of Famers who grew up in these parts. And, of course, we live in one of only five metro-opolis-plexes that possess two major league teams. The other four are New York, Chi - cago, Washington-Baltimore and the Los Angeles area. And none of those places have a McCovey Cove! Or a tarp! Sometimes, I think we are a little too cool about all that, don't appreciate it as deeply as we should. It occurred to me, with the new season nigh, that someone should catalog all of the experiences that can make a baseball spring — and summer and autumn — so sublime around here. So I wrote my name in the leadoff spot to be that someone. No one can be considered a real Bay Area baseball fan unless he or she has checked off every item on the following to-do list. And I pre - sume that if you have read this far, you are a Bay Area baseball fan. Thus, I hereby command you to: ATTENDATLEASTONE Giants and A's home game: This is the obvious one. Think you can't afford it? Look online in the secondary ticket market for those Monday night games against the Brewers or the Twins. Probably will be cheaper than a movie. TAKE YOUR PICTURE IN front of all AT&T Park statues: This includes the Gaylord Perry sculpture that's coming online all year. For extra fun, mimic the poses of McCovey, Mays, Marichal and Cepeda — and bring along Vaseline for the Perry photo. TAKE YOUR PICTURE IN front of the visitors' dugout in Oakland: You know, before the annual sewage flooding begins. CHEER LOUDLY AT A RANDOM Little League game: I guarantee that you'll drive the crazy parents even crazier as they wonder what your angle is. WATCH A GIANTS GAME FROM the left-field bleachers: This will demonstrate the truth of former White Sox owner Bill Veeck's contention that the knowledge of baseball fans about the sport is in inverse proportion to the distance they sit from home plate. GRAB A LEATHER GLOVE AT a sporting goods store, put it to your face, and breathe deeply: Sure, people might give you weird looks, but the smell will not fail to bring back memories and improve your overall mood. SITINTHERIGHT-FIELDSEATS at O.co Coliseum: That's where the noisy, flag-waving Oakland fans who beat drums and develop cheers are always holding forth. Getting tired of it after a few innings? You can always find a va - cant seat in another section. That's seldom an issue at A's games. GET IN A KRUK-KUIP VS. Fosse-Kuip "Who would win at 'Jeopardy!'?" debate: You know, just because it's always fun to argue about pointless stuff at a ballgame. (Personally, I'd take the position that the Spanish-lan - guage radio broadcasters might win more money than either duo.) ATTEND A SAN JOSE GIANTS game: The charms of Municipal Stadium include bleacher seats from 1942, barbecue from Turkey Mike and kid-friendly foul ball areas. Anyone who hates any of these probably is a communist. SNAG A FOUL BALL, AND GIVE it to a kid: Anyone who does not follow this rule definitely is a communist. READ A NOVEL BY T.T. Monday: That's the pen name of Nick Taylor, a San Jose State professor who doubles as a fiction mystery writer. His protagonist is a veteran major league relief pitch - er who also works as a private investigator. I know, sounds loopy. But it's fun. After the well-re- ceived "The Setup Man" in 2014, Monday's latest effort is "Double Switch." Either one is perfect for reading on a BART or Caltrain ride to an A's or Giants game. ROOT FOR TIM LINCECUM to join the A's: Because how groovy would that be? It would be, like, the reverse Zito, man. TAKE IN A COLLEGE GAME: Take your pick. All of the home diamonds have their charms. Enthusiasm in the dugouts is never absent and always is a joy to witness. MAKE A ROAD TRIP TO Sacramento: Make sure you pick one of the summer's hottest days so that the cold beer is even more re- freshing at a River Cats game. Just make sure to stay sober enough for the drive back to the bay. WEAR A BASEBALL CAP to a soccer game: Just to be jingoistic. STOP AND REFLECT at the Candlestick site: Soon, the spot where Tony Phillips (RIP) tossed the ball to Dennis Eckersley for the final out of the Giants-A's World Series in 1989 will be a condo laundry room or a Jamba Juice. VISIT SEALS STADIUM and Oaks Park locations: That's where San Francisco and Oak- land's minor league teams (and the Giants, for two seasons) played back in days of yore. May- be I am a hopeless history geek, but I love stopping at both places now and then, trying to imagine what it must have been like when players such as DiMaggio were patrolling those outfields. Seals Stadium's footprint in the Mission district now is a Petco and Office Depot (although the funky Double Play bar across the street still stands). The Oaks Park site in Em - eryville now is part of the Pixar complex (which, I guess, is more hip than a Jamba Juice). PLAY A GAME OF CATCH on a sunny day: With your best pal? Your kid? Spouse? Girlfriend? Boyfriend? Neighbor? Doesn't matter. Can be a softball or a whif - fle ball. Also doesn't matter. It will make you feel better about life in general, especially in an election year. Enjoy the 2016 season. MPURDY@MERCURYNEWS.COM Baseballfans should take in the statues at AT&T Park and attend a game at O.co Coliseum. GETTYIMAGES;OPPOSITE:DOUGDURAN