The Oakland A's and Hot Pants Day

No live sports for months. This may be the worst part about the lockdowns.

We should all be watching baseball. Spring Training has come and gone and who knows when the boys will take the field again.

I’ve been left to watch replays in my mind, recollecting the Oakland A’s of old. We had a great team back then, filled with the superb players; Vida Blue, Rollie Fingers, Catfish Hunter, Sal Bando, Campaneris, Tenace – the list goes on. Owner Charlie Finley, quite a character, came up with gimmicks to promote the games. Hot Pants Day, June 27, 1971, had to be a favorite.

That particular day was hot and sunny – not a given in Oakland, for the game against the Kansas City Royals. The word went out: show up at the Oakland Coliseum in Hot Pants and you gained free admission. How good was that? And these weren’t bleacher seats being given away. A pair of hot pants got you a great spot in the stands.

  Hot Pants Day Odd Ball Films

Women in the thousands showed up to fill the Coliseum. During the 7^th inning stretch, the gals were invited to walk down out of the stands and parade around the infield. It doesn’t get much better for a baseball fan than setting foot onto sacred grounds and passing within one foot of Reggie Jackson and the rest of the boys.

Perhaps sometime this year I will be able to turn on the TV and watch a live game. I long to hear the crack of a bat when it connects to a fastball. Or watch a right fielder dive for an impossible catch and make it. Perhaps the A’s will have an exceptional season. Honestly, I’d settle for any type of season at this point if it meant filled stands and great plays.

Hot pants have come and gone, but will forever be linked to a fabulous day at the Oakland Coliseum.
FURTHER BASEBALL MUSINGS: SF Giants in the DR