Game 29: Punk’s Not Dead, Presented by AARP
“Still punk AF” I whisper as I sort meds into my weekly pill organizer
By Roberto Santiago
WEST OAKLAND— The headline is not a joke. Punk isn’t dead and the game and giveaway were in fact sponsored by the AARP, which was fitting given the old heads in the crowd. It was another beautiful day in West Oakland. For me, it started out with a lovely picnic with friends in the grove next to the putting green just outside the center field wall at Raimondi. There were hot dogs and cold drinks. I learned how to play Snappa. At 2:30 PM, we headed into the stadium for the concert and block party in Scrappy Town.
After dropping off drums and sundry items at our seats, I headed down the left field ramp to see the show. At the the landing, I ran into Ballers co-founder, Bryan Carmel. “How cool is this?” he asked, looking out at the crowd. And it was a crowd. One that continued to grow over the next twenty minutes. It was estimated as the largest number Raimondi has ever seen for an early gate block party. “Look at all these people who we don’t normally see at a game,” Carmel continued. “They really showed up. This is awesome.” Carmel’s voice evoked awe, astonishment, and appreciation for what he was experiencing. The Ballers have always said that their goal was to build something deeper than baseball. They want to build community. They want Raimondi to be a place that every sector of the East Bay feels welcome and can call home. On Saturday, that was the region’s famous and thriving punk scene.
“Man,” I said half to myself, “this makes me want to go down there and wreak some havoc like I was still in my twenties.” With that, I headed down the ramp. As I blended in with the audience, I did not attempt any havoc wreaking. Instead, I observed the inspiring mix of demographics swaying to music. Little kids wearing earplugs, teenagers, and notably, a lot of people my age (punk in the 90s) and older. One of the punk rock elders was Heff, 71, a Chicago transplant and long time mosher. Heff moved to the East Bay in 1983 after visiting friends when he was taken in by the punk scene along with the food and political climate of Bay Area. He exemplifies a type of fan Carmel is trying to capture. “I don’t really care that much about sports, but I support Oakland.” says Heff, “I’ve been to a few Ballers games.” Thought they may not be regulars, the fans drawn in for the music knew ball. They were engaged with the game, with most of the conversation I heard focused on hoping Oakland’s pitching could tighten things up.
Not long into the set by Richmond’s Hellbound Pound, the dam broke. The couple of teens who had started dancing during the opening set by Losing Streak were joined by women, men and non-binary friends in their twenties and thirties. Heff and a couple other elder statesmen stood on the outside, helping the pit flow ever counter clockwise. Then Heff jumped in. He seemed to relish the mild contact of the dancing rather than shy away from it. “I have to be careful not to hurt them,” Heff said of the younger dancers. “My background is, I played football and hockey, so even though I’m a lot older, they may not have the background I do. I’m cognizant of that.” Seeing Heff go round and round with the kids inspired me to go from observer to participatory journalist. I put my credential in my pocket and jumped in. Just like that, I was 19 again at Gilman. I’m a little sad my kids didn’t witness it, but they were busy finding friends and pestering B’s staff to see if they could be in a between-innings game.
Hellbound Pound were followed by headliners Stay Out! who also threw out the first pitch. It was almost the safest pitch of the day for Oakland and they may have done well to see if singer Grant Pack might be available to eat some innings for a beleaguered bullpen in an 18-12 loss that somehow never felt completely out of reach. It was the pro debut for pitcher Griffin Smith who was so new he wasn’t listed on the roster as of 2:00 AM that morning. Smith, recently of Washington State University, got off to a great start giving up just a walk in the first with two strike outs. For their part, the Ballers jumped to a 3-0 lead thanks to back-to-back two out doubles by Jake Allgeyer and Noah Blythe followed by Jeter Ybarra’s league leading 15th home run. The top of the second was less good for Smith and portended what was to come the rest of the day for Oakland. In the frame, Smith went single, passed ball, home run, walk, double, home run before getting an out. But with the Ballers offense, a two-run deficit didn’t seem like a big deal. The Roadsters lead eventually swelled to 10-3 before Oakland came storming back to make it 10-7 in the bottom of the fourth. It was as close as they’d get.
As fans began to filter out, there were a lot of long goodbyes and hugs among the punk crowd. Punk is a widely unexamined and often misunderstood subculture. Seeing the tenderness in their farewells offers an opportunity for the typical baseball folks to learn a little more about them. Asked about the day, Hellbound Pound were effusive. “It was incredible. It’s Oakland at its finest. You can’t ask for nothing more, nothing less. Oakland always shows up, you know?” I can’t attribute a quote to any one member of the band as they all were eager to answer each question. Their observations blended together into the same beautiful chaos as their music. Anarchy in the O-A-K, as the day was billed, gave Heff, “a party with friends, supporting Oakland, and the punk show. So put that all together, that’s why I’m here.” Hellbound collectively summed up the day as well as anyone could, “It was incredible. You get sports, you get music, and it works out. Everyone’s there for the vibe and it’s the best of both worlds.”
Odds and Ends:
Manager Aaron Miles went with a heavily right handed lineup against the Roadsters left handed starter. This included giving regular shortstop Tremayne Cobb his first ever start in left field. Cobb was told yesterday that he could be getting the start in the outfield. He shagged flies during batting practice to get ready. “I don’t mind doing whatever it take to help the team win,” said Cobb. Along with the tactical move of stacking right handed hitters, Miles is also looking at Cobb’s development, “I believe in the future, he could be a super utility guy in the future, so I wanted to get him some of that experience.”
There was some controversy in the top of the ninth related to Ballers substitutions. In the ninth, Miles moved Esai Santos from the bench to the pitcher’s spot. He then immediately moved Santos to right field and brought Noah Blythe from right in to pitch. The umpires and Modesto manager J.T. Snow believed that this should cause Oakland to lose their DH spot. Miles successfully argued his case, but the discussion, including a separate protest by Snow, took several bewildering minutes. In the end, Cam Bufford stayed at DH and hit a cosmetic two-run home run in the bottom of the inning. The thing is, it looks like Skip may have gotten away with one here. Based on this reporter’s best research, the rules state that any time you move a position player who is already in the field in to pitch, you lose the DH. The rule is there in part to prevent players like Shohei Ohtani from being brought in from a position to face a specific batter in a high leverage situation and then having him return to the field without having made a pitching change.
Through analysis of the roster, it looks like Braydon Nelson was removed from the active roster in order to add Smith. We will update you on whether any of the recent transactions were due to release, injury or trade when the Pioneer League updates their transaction page next week.
With photos and video from Dawn Pieper.
Roberto Santiago is a third generation Berkeley boy currently raising the fourth generation. Roberto’s writing has appeared in Latina, Parents, and various online outlets. A lifelong baseball fan, Roberto worked briefly with the Boston Red Sox and once hit an RBI single off Spaceman Lee on a 2-2 changeup. It was his only at bat ever in a real baseball game. Find him on Instagram.
