Yesterday, I went to my first baseball game of the season. I know. A true fan would have seen many games by now, but I'm off to a slow start. Thankfully, the season is long.

We took BART to Network Associates Coliseum to see the Yankees play the Athletics. We were in the section just behind the right field foul pole, surrounded by Yankee fans who were scattered throughout the stadium. Because of this intermingling, a handful of fights broke out in the later innings. Every time there was one, everybody would stand up and watch the Oakland police haul off two or more angry drunks, one usually wearing a pinstriped jersey and the other typically wearing a Raiders jersey.

Eric Chavez, the A's hard-hitting third baseman, had a good game. He slammed two home runs and made a great defensive play. Lunging to his right, he somehow picked off a sharply hit ground ball, then made an amazing throw, from his knees, that skipped off the dirt and into the first baseman's glove, barely beating the runner.

Oakland was up 8 to 3 going into the seventh inning. Mark Mulder had successfully contained New York's all-star lineup up to that point, but everything soon fell apart. Alex Rodriguez belted a three-run homer and Ruben Sierra doubled to clear the bases. The Yankees suddenly had the lead. The Athletics made three pitching changes that inning.

Once New York was on top, the game was over. Tom Gordon came in to pitch the eighth inning and the untouchable Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth. They shut down the opposition and made the hitters look silly as they swung and missed or watched strikes whiz by them. Eric Karros, the former Dodger, was the final out.

On a slightly unrelated note, I can't believe Barry Bonds' on-base percentage of .704. He is 25 for 54 and has walked 44 times. He's simply incredible.