I know this has nothing to do with collecting, but this is why I love the Oakland A's. This team will always be my favorite, no matter how many games they lose. Read this and you'll know why. {thumb2}
OAKLAND -- Mark Kotsay was a late scratch from the starting lineup again on Wednesday, and Scott Hatteberg needed another night off, too.
So why was everyone in green and gold smiling less than 24 hours after being pasted, 9-2, by the visiting Angels in the opener of a three-game series?
It was all about the clown. No wig necessary.
Flame-maned A's outfielder Bobby Kielty, with an assist from catcher Jason Kendall and rookie outfielder Nick Swisher, showed up dressed and made up as Ronald McDonald, complete with big red floppy shoes, to the delight of everyone from first-base coach Brad Fischer to shortstop Bobby Crosby to general manager Billy Beane.
"Billy was losing it," Swisher said. "He thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen."
So convincing was Kielty, whose getup was bought by Kendall, that team photographer Michael Zagaris initially thought he was in the presence of the international icon himself.
"I was like, 'What the [heck] kind of promotion is this, man?'" Zagaris said, wide-eyed. "I thought it was really Ronald McDonald."
"That thing took forever to find," Kendall said of the outfit, noting that visiting clubhouse manager Mikey Thalblum eventually got the job done.
Likening Kendall's purchase to the airplane banner poking fun at bullpen catcher Brandon Buckley that someone on the team paid to have flown around the stadium in Oakland a few years ago, manager Ken Macha said, "Players make too much money."
Two members of Macha's staff were considerably more impressed. Asked to describe Kielty's look with one word, Fischer said, "Proud. He's proud that he looks like this. And he should be."
Said pitching coach Curt Young: "Legit. That's the real deal, right there. He should be working for McDonald's.
Kielty, whose face paint was a co-production by Swisher and Kendall, is open to the idea. He's already a customer.
"I've been known to crush [at] McDonald's on occasion," he said. "Definitely."
"I told him, 'dude, you should get free Big Macs for life'," Kendall said.
As funny as Kielty was by himself, it got better when Crosby got involved. When a camera crew asked for an interview with "Ronald," Crosby played interpreter. After being asked each question, Kielty would look at Crosby and answer in high-pitched gibberish. Crosby, with a straight face, would then answer in English.
TV reporter: "So Ronald, we've never see you and Kielty at the same time. Why are you here?"
Ronald: "Bee-mee-mee-bee-mee."
Crosby: "He says, 'Bobby wants to meet me, and vice-versa.'"
TV reporter: "Kielty and the A's are having a great year. What do you think of all this?"
Ronald: "Mee-bee-bee-mee-bee."
Crosby: "He says, 'I'm just happy to be here.'"
Ronald's interpreter said later, "I speak fluent clown, it's not easy."
