Reggie Jackson’s “One Last Time” Event Serenades Coliseum With Softball Game

I had the pleasure of attending Reggie Jackson’s “One Last Time” softball event on Saturday with a media credential. The pitch, as it were, was “one more baseball-y type game at the Oakland Coliseum,” featuring stars you might want to come and see hit a bigger version of a baseball.

The first thing I want to say is that the organizers and staff were very nice and their hearts were in the right place. That being said, I am accustomed to getting media credentials for A’s games, where the operation is experienced with handling media on a daily basis and it is all very structured and organized.

Saturday’s event did not go smoothly in that media was told players would arrive at 11:00am and that the best time for interviews would be 12:00pm-1:00pm with the event (speeches, Homerun Derby, softball game) starting at 1:00pm.

I had identified Rickey Henderson and Barry Bonds as players I might like to interview, but neither showed up on the field until 1:00pm. We were told we should generally go through the media contact for interviews, rather than approaching players directly, but after I shook hands with my contact around 11:30am I never saw him again.

Eck

I have had almost no bad experiences with player interviews over the years – I am stunned to say I have, in 12 years or so, never been turned down at spring training – but one of my very least satisfying encounters was my attempt to chat with Dennis Eckersley for a few minutes.

In that noon hour, I asked Eck if I could do a quick interview and he said, “Sure, in a little bit.” No problem, except that when I turned around a few moments later I couldn’t help but notice he was talking to someone else who was taking notes.

But that’s fine. I patiently waited, and when I saw he was not occupied I asked “Is this a good time,” to which he again suggested we could chat but not right now. This was more concerning because it was getting close to 1:00pm, but I said ok – and then saw him talking to someone else who was taking notes. Seriously?

And then the clock turned to 1:00pm and all the players went to their respective dugouts, speeches began, then the Homerun Derby. Could I have stayed to the bitter end and tried again on the way out of the stadium? I suppose. Instead I shrugged my shoulders and wound up leaving midway through the Homerun Derby.

I don’t know what happened there – maybe I reminded him of Kirk Gibson. But it was, to say the least, disappointing as Eck had been on my short list of interviewees I had prepared a few questions for and the others hadn’t even showed up in time to be asked.

Jose Saves The Day

I might have been shutout had it not been for Jose Canseco. He had given word that it was ok to approach him directly, so when I didn’t see the guys I had planned on I asked him for an interview. We wound up chatting for a few minutes and at the time I didn’t know it would my only interview but at least it’s something. It is transcribed below.

As for the event itself, the players themselves seemed to enjoy it greatly, a chance to reconnect with the backdrop of a silly softball game. Other attendees included Coco Crisp, Bip Roberts, Shooty Babbitt, Dave Stewart, along with “other sport” stars Matt Barnes and Terrell Owens.

My boy Canseco won the Homerun Derby and I don’t know who won the softball game. About 1,000 fans attended, some allowed on the field behind a rope for a “meet and greet” opportunity.

No harm was done and some fun was had. I am a bit weary of the homages to the Coliseum, as there have seemed to be a dozen “last tributes,” but we can probably all agree that the Coliseum and A’s baseball in Oakland are worthy of the homaging. (Is that a word? Well, it is now.)

Here’s the interview with Canseco just before he launched a series of balls into the LF bleachers that were my second home in college.

Nico: One thing I was curious about is, when you hit major league pitching at an elite level and then you come play what the rest of us do, slow pitch beer league softball, what is it like trying to hit a softball the way you’re doing?

Canseco: I haven’t played major league baseball in 25 years so I’ve been playing softball for the past 20 years so this is perfect, it’s my speed. Now I’m just a softball player, golfer, the ball’s not moving fast. I try to stay in shape, still have pretty good power, good leverage. I still have fast hands, I don’t know how, but yeah it’s a lot of fun. You play according to your age bracket and to what your physical ability allows you to play, and this is it.

Nico: Now, when you go back to before anyone knew who you were, and you were a young man growing up, did you play pickup softball games –

Canseco: All the time. I’ve been playing softball as long as I’ve been playing baseball, at very high competitive levels, yes.

Nico: And was it like you would imagine, that you were “a man among boys” or not?

Canseco: You know I could always hit a softball, I could always hit a softball pretty consistently.

Nico: So this is an event to celebrate the Coliseum. What are 3 words that come to mind to describe the Oakland Coliseum as you experienced it?

Canseco: Wow. Coming in here now, “memories”. “Youth,” when you were young those young days kind of come back to you. And really just “proud” to win a World Series with the Oakland A’s. This stadium has tremendous history too and it’s all coming back to me: World Series, a homerun I hit there a homerun I hit here, stealing bases. It’s a temporary – this couple of hours here – kind of brings you into another world and you feel young again.

Nico: I know you could probably name 400, but is there one memory or moment that stands out that you’ll always attach to the Coliseum?

Canseco: Oh gosh…I mean there’s several: 40/40, winning the World Series, the fans being so supportive, and in a negative way when I got traded in 1992, but from ’85 when I came up here, ’86, ’87, ’89, ’91, ’92, just a great time here, the way the organization changed from 1986 and then became a juggernaut team, put together great players that went to the playoffs and World Series, won some championships (plural, Jose, really?), it was a great time.

Nico: Now the players are putting on a good face, but as a player thinking about that they’re going to a “nice AAA stadium,” what would that be like or you – I mean they’re going to make it as good as they can – but what does that feel like for a player?

Canseco: Well, You talk about now, the facilities they have are all state of the art. I think the one in Sacramento, hopefully it’s just a temporary deal. Hopefully the Oakland A’s can build a stadium. I think they’re going to Vegas, I think a $2M dome (note: I just transcribe what he says and that’s what he said) that’s conducive to major league baseball – one of them is going to be of course the conditions, the environment, the field, the playing arena, the fans, the seats. So I know it’s temporary, kind of a blight on major league baseball if it turns out that way for 3-4 years, but you know what: major league baseball will always recover.

Nico: And A’s fans are resilient.

Canseco: A’s fans are resilient, they’ll be out there full borne.

Nico: Last question, you’re speaking to A’s fans, you’re speaking to the Oakland community, anything you want to say to your fellow A’s fans?

Canseco: Yeah, thanks for the years. I had a great time there, thanks for the support, thanks for coming out today. Reggie Jackson was a big part of the Oakland A’s, he had some great years here and hopefully we have a great time today.

Canseco did win the “HR derby” so he probably had a good time.