To the Town,
I am so glad baseball is back and the regular season is here! The pop of the glove and the crack of the bat will soon fill our ears and hearts with the joy of our beautiful game. I can't wait! It will be a season that starts differently than any other in my lifetime, and it is not lost on me that you might be feeling the same things I've been feeling leading up to this day.
Ray Fosse has been a pillar of the Oakland A's franchise my entire life. From the World Series championships as a player to the smooth stylings and "WOWs" in the booth, Ray Fosse was Oakland A's baseball. I had the privilege of meeting 'Foss' as a snot-nosed rookie, and our talks and interviews will be something I'll cherish forever.
I didn't realize it in the moment, but I was learning from a master craftsman. If one could wear their love for something like one would wear a coat, Ray Fosse would look like the kid Randy from the movie "A Christmas Story" when he gets bundled up for a snowy day. Foss was layered in love for the game of baseball, and that love was only second to the love he had for his family.
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As I find myself preparing for the season, I can't help but reflect on the friendship forged over the last five-plus years. Every day was an opportunity to learn something new about baseball, as well as something new about my friend. He made it abundantly clear that if I was going to be prepared then he was going to do everything he could to help me grow.
We would spend time in his office going over old scorecards and recounting old interviews and conversations he had with legends around the cage. Showing me every step of the way the HOWs and WHYs behind his work. I was being given a masterclass on the craft by one of the greatest to ever do it.
If you had the privilege to meet Ray Foose, you know how big his hands were. He didn't need to wear a mitt to catch, but I think he did it just to help his pitchers ego with the POP! Bigger than his hands are the shoes he has left to fill. I just wanted to let you fans know that I understand that is an impossible task. Ray was a portal to the past -- the conduit between yesteryear and the new wave of Green and Gold DIE HARDS! Simply put, he was and is irreplaceable.
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So I just wanted to let you, our loyal fans, know that I am not here to replace the irreplaceable, but to continue to share my love for the game of baseball and our Oakland A's the only way I know how -- with TOWN love! Foss told me very early on to "just be the kid from the 209 because that's what got you here."
Oakland Athletics
We're going to miss you, Foss. So go get your cherries old man and pull up a cloud because we've got a ballgame today and I've got work to do. I hope I make you proud.
Now LET'S GO OAKLAND!