Because I was late to get to bed, I awoke late, missing a lot of the CBS This Morning show. I did catch the segment with the chef Jeff Michaud. His recipes were for Grilled Lamb Rack with Favetta and Roasted Pearl Onions, Zucchini Flowers Stuffed with Ricotta and Tuna, Pizzocherri with Swiss Chard, Potato and Bitto Cheese, Strawberry Zuppa Inglese with Mascarpone Cake, Polenta Stuffed with Gorgonzola Dolce, and Pinzimonio with Tarragon Vinaigrette with Goat Cheese. I looked up the Top 10 songs for April 15, 1978: “Our Love,” “We’ll Never Have to Say Goodbye,” “Jack and Jill,” “The Closer I Get to You,” “Dust in the Wind,” “If I Can’t Have You,” “Can’t Smile Without You,” “Lay Down Sally,” “Stayin’ Alive,” and “Night Fever.” I went over to the coffee shop for orange juice, and I used the Internet for a half hour before deciding to head out to the stadium. I got to the Coliseum and the season ticket holder line at 8:40, and I wasn’t too far away from the front. I listened to the radio and watched other people eat pizza. One woman went to the Oracle Arena and bought Warriors playoff tickets. I was glad to get my bobblehead. I visited the team store but passed on everything this time and went to my seat. I discovered a group of women who were in the wrong section. The signs at the Coliseum have always been totally inadequate. I listened to “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” and then the pregame show on the radio. A.J. Griffin was in front of me signing autographs. Scott Kazmir was the A’s starting pitcher. He gave up the game’s first run in the third inning with a home run off the bat of Houston’s ninth hitter. I saw him get angry with himself after making a couple of mistakes. In the bottom of the inning, the A’s tied the score with Daric Barton’s double, followed by a double from Craig Gentry. Gentry stole third base but was left there. The Astros took the lead in the fourth inning. After one out, Kazmir gave up a double to Chris Carter. That was very annoying because Carter was hitting .118 at the time. A single drove in the run. In the fifth inning, the Astros added to their lead on a double, stolen base, and a throwing error by Derek Norris. The A’s left one runner on base in the fourth inning, two runners in the fifth inning, and three runners in the sixth inning. We saw Rickey Henderson win the Big Head race, and during the seventh inning stretch, we heard “Wooly Bully.” In the bottom of the inning, the A’s hitters went down quietly with no one reaching base. Kazmir pitched a clean eighth inning to finish his afternoon, but the team was still behind, 3-1. In the bottom of the inning, the A’s got singles from Josh Reddick and Nick Punto but couldn’t score any runs. Dan Otero pitched the top of the ninth inning, and he got into quick trouble by allowing a double and a walk. However, a double play and a strikeout allowed him to escape the inning without any damage. Most of the crowd thought the A’s still had a good chance to win this game. They drowned out John Belushi’s rallying cry from “Animal House.” Jed Lowrie had a good swing at a 1-2 pitch, and he got the bottom of the ninth started with a home run, making the score 3-2. Josh Donaldson drew a walk, and the crowd got louder and more hopeful. Yoenis Cespedes singled, advancing Donaldson to second base. John Jaso pinch-hit for Norris, but he was fooled by slow pitches and struck out. It was Alberto Callaspo’s 31st birthday. He hit a single that brought in Donaldson, tying the score at 3-3 and allowing Cespedes to reach third base. There was still just one out, so the Astros brought their outfielders in close for a chance to throw out the runner coming home. Josh Reddick had five hits in the last two days, so the fans and Bob Melvin felt good about his chances to drive in the winning run. The count went to 1-2. Reddick took a good swing. It looked like a winner right off the bat. The ball bounded to the wall, and the fans were happy that Bobblehead Day ended with a win. The game began at 1:07 and ended at 4:14. The attendance was 33,166. The crowd lingered around for a while. I thought of going to the box office to buy more tickets, but there were too many people there. On my way back home, two people asked me about the game. I installed updates on my computer and watched highlights of the Warriors and the Clippers. It was an anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. It was hard to believe that 19 years have passed since that day. Elizabeth Wenger was an anchor on the KPIX news in place of Ann Notarangelo. I watched a bit of Star Trek. Captain Kirk was stuck on a planet, and Spock and McCoy had to go off and stop an asteroid before returning to rescue him. Tim Hudson was not able to win against the Padres. On Twitter, Robert Hilburn raved about “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” I wanted to break out the Saturday Night Live DVDs and watch an episode, but I was just too sleepy. I watched about an hour of “Easter Parade” with Fred Astaire and Judy Garland. “The Ten Commandments” was on another channel. It seemed like Russell Crowe in “Noah” was imitating Charlton Heston. I realized too late that I had completely forgotten about Record Store Day. Some of the people who died on April 20 include Bram Stoker (1912), Don Siegel (1991), and Cantinflas (1993). Today is a birthday for Crispin Glover (50), Clint Howard (55), Veronica Cartwright (65), Jessica Lange (65), Ryan O’Neal (73), and George Takei (77). According to the Brandon Brooks Rewind radio segment for April 20, Dolly Parton released her first single, “Puppy Love,” in 1959. In 1960, Elvis Presley returned from the Army to Hollywood to work on the movie “G.I. Blues.” In 1968, Deep Purple performed their first concert in Denmark. In 1992, Benny Hill was found dead of a heart attack at age 68.
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