4-3 Oakland, over the Rangers

I went to see the A's play last night with my friend J, who got us field level tickets free through her work. It was a very different experience from the last time I was there, and for the most part, for the better - though the stadium wasn't quite full, it was pretty darn full, and the crowd was hugely into the entire game. (It was also about 90ºF in the stadium, which added a certain something.) Our ticketed seats were actually stolen by some jerks when we went to get food in the second inning, so we wound up in the way emptier section on the other side, where the people around us weren't jerks. The most interesting inning was the first, when the A's went up 2-0 at the end, but in the top of the 9th when their closer, Balfour, got the job done in about 12 balls, that was pretty great - we were all on our feet the entire time. Pretty awesome, all around.