The day begins with my need to switch hostels. First through I go and have a relaxing breakfast in coffee shop with wifi trying to catch up on my blogging. Eventually I take the 30 up to my new hostel in the National Park service park at Fisherman’s Wharf.
The second activity for the day is the 12:30 A’s vs. Yankee Game. To get to BART out to the Oakland Coliseum I first try a cable car but don’t feel like waiting in line so I keep walking down to the F Market Street Heritage Trolley and take PCC #1070 that has nice crank windows. You can even board the PCCs at the rear doors since they have Clipper Card targets. The stops take a while since there a lot of people paying cash. I get sick of the tourists.
I see a bunch of fare inspectors at one of the stops but they don’t board my PCC.
At 11:41 I get on BART finally at the Embarcadero. It’s the long fast ride through the underwater tube to Lake Merrit where I decide to make a brief photo stop. This is followed by a quick photo stop at Fruitvale (service from the 3 BART lines is extremely frequent and makes these stops quite quick) and then I finally get to the Coliseum-Airport station at 12:11.
I head outside and find a ticket window to buy my ticket to the game getting a seat towards the outfield on the middle deck for only $18. There are people with brooms heading into the stadium (Oakland has won the first two games of the three game series). The Yankees grab two runs after just one out in the top of the first on a Robinson Cano Home Run. After that it turns into a pictures dual with Oakland tying the score in the bottom of the third inning. Railroad related, the Capital Corridor sponsor a counting number promotion between two of the innings for a prize pack of four tickets to Sacramento on the Capital Corridor and four tickets to Oakland’s Triple-A Team the Sacromento River Cats. After that both starting pitchers, Kuroda for the Yankees and Parker for Oakland pitch 8 innings total, with no further scoring.
My hope for the afternoon is to get the rest of ACE but need the baseball game to end by 3:20 to catch the BART train I need out to West Dublin/Pleasanton for my Wheels bus connection to ACE. In the bottom of the 9th it looks like David Robertson might give Oakland the walk-off win (with a runner on third and only one out) but the Yankees get out of it. This gives me my backup plan, a points run on the Capital Corridor. The Yankees god-like closer Mariano Rivera warms up in the bullpen right in front of me and keeps trying to stay warm wandering between the bullpen and the dugout getting cheers from everyone. The Yankees load the bases in the 11th with just an out but get nothing. The matchup eventually becomes the long relievers Warren vs. Chavez and neither team can get a run. The Yankees load the bases in the top of the 14th but get nowhere. We have the 14th Inning stretch singing Take Me out to the Ballgame again, I’m amazed how much of the crowd has stayed in the stadium. In the bottom of the 15th there is an impressive play from Vernon Wells on a throw to the plate. We eventually get to the 18th Inning with Preston Clayborn on the mound for the Yankees and Mariano Warming up in the bullpen one more time. Preston has already pitched an inning and gives up a hit. Marino comes into a standing ovation from all the Oakland Fans in the bottom of the 18th Inning. He immediately gives up to hits and Oakland finally wins the longest baseball game I’ve ever attended in the bottom of the 18th Inning lasting 5 hours and 35 minutes.
I eventually leave the Stadium at about 6:20 and realize that the Capital Corridor Schedule won’t work out for a points run. I head over to BART with the goal of getting some more photos of the stops on the branch down to Fremont and getting the Hayward Capital Corridor Station (a short walk from the Hayward BART Station) I start by taking BART to South Hayward and take the elevators up to the unusual elevator only overpass. I continue a stop south to Union City that has been renovated into more of a transit center with more signage. My final stop of the Fremont where I have bad luck with BART. I’ve forgotten that starting boom at 7:00 the frequency of trains leaving Fremont northbound (the old frequency is still running southbound) basically changes ‘boom’ from every 7 minutes to every 20 minutes and waste a long time waiting for a Richmond-bound train to leave. Eventually it does and I take it to Hayward. There I swipe out and walk over the Hayward Amtrak station. The delay of waiting for the train means I get there a little after 8:00 and have the displeasure of watching in the distance and missing both a northbound and southbound trains stopping at the simple station platform. I still get my usual full photo essay but its nice to get trains stopping in stations as well.
I then get back on BART and head back through the Transbay Tube and get off at Powell Street. From Powell Street I grab some dinner at a touristy burger place and have a nice evening Cable Car ride north down Hyde Street back to the Fort Mason Hostel to retrieve my luggage and check into a nice four person dorm room that lacks bunk-beds and is really quiet.