The Jay-Blog

Hammer Kids

View From the Bleachers

Hammer (Kids) Time at the Coliseum

Catherine Howard, Special to SF Gate

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You've seen them -- once -- on SportsCenter. You've also seen them on ABC, NBC, CBS, KICU and possibly Fox. You've definitely seen them on DiamondVision, and if you're a certain type of fan you've left your seat, walked to right field and watched them in person.

They're Coliseum regulars, usually missing only one game a week, and their presence at games makes many people -- ones who appreciate character, fandom, whimsy and self-expression -- happy.

I'm talking, of course, about the A's Hammer Kids. The two, and sometimes three, young men who regularly don layers of green and gold, pick up a significantly oversized cardboard cutout hammer, and spend their days and nights on the third deck, pounding away at deftly-constructed renditions of the A's opponents' mascots.

In real life, life outside the confines of the Coliseum, the Hammer Kids are college students from the East Bay. When not putting the hammer in motion, Nick Wong, 20, of Alameda is a studio artist attending Santa Clara. Austin Cross, 19, of Berkeley, spends his time away from beaten and bedraggled mascots as a meteorology student at San Francisco State. Their parents think they're slightly crazy, but in a good way. Their friends regularly join them at the games.

Actually, as Austin's dad, I have to say that I'm quite proud to see his name and this story in the newspaper.

Until mid-season last year Nick and Austin were average right field bleacher fans -- if you can call any bleacher fans "average." But then one day a man sitting by Nick started exhorting Barry Zito to throw his curveball: "drop the hammer, baby! Give him the curve, the hook, the Uncle Charlie!" Inspiration, it seems, can be as simple as a stranger yelling at a pitcher 300 feet away. Nick went home and began work on a new project -- a cardboard hammer painted green and gold with the slogan "A's Hardware" on the handle.

The Hammer made its debut hanging off the right field stands during the A's 20-game win streak. And while Nick and Austin were pleased with their creation (who wouldn't be pleased with a green and gold hammer that measures at least six-feet long?) they felt it hadn't achieved its full potential. What hammer is effective laying still? Not many, unless used as paperweights. This hammer, it seemed, was born to move.

Soon, Nick and Austin had migrated from the bleachers to the third deck where they had plenty of room to, quite literally, drop the hammer. Putting the hammer in motion satisfied them for a while, but pretty quickly they sensed something else was missing. At the time, they were simply moving the hammer, rather than using it on something. With the Angels, and their super annoying Rally Monkey due in to town, Nick had an epiphany -- they needed a victim. And thus, the bruised and battered mascot, roughed up by the A's Hardware, came in to being.

My friends and I call Nick and Austin the "A's Hammer Kids," but that's not their official name. They don't have one. Once, and it's only been once so far, a person asked Nick for his autograph. Nick, who in the retelling seemed slightly taken aback, signed simply "Hammer Guy" because he couldn't think of anything else to write.

More regularly, people come up to right field (or Mt. Davis, or wherever Nick and Austin can find room to hoist the signs and not block views) to talk, and to have their picture taken with the Hammer. Sit with them for a few innings and you have no choice but to become a group photographer -- packs of skinny pre-teen girls who giggle as they crowd in around Nick, dads with small children who can't take their eyes off the colorful outfits, teenagers in dark clothes muttering "right on," all want themselves recorded for posterity with the Hammer Kids. Nick and Austin, who never lose track of the game and never stop wielding their signs, are always willing to oblige.

Merely walking around the Coliseum with a six-foot cardboard hammer would not make you a Hammer Kid. To do the thing right, you must dress the part.

Currently, Nick and Austin's game day wardrobes include long yellow shorts, A's jerseys or shirts, green and gold capes, green and gold Mardi Gras beads, over-sized foam A's "beer hats" (green, cowboy hat shaped for Austin; yellow, baseball cap shaped for Nick) and the all-important high green socks in homage to Barry Zito. Nick also regularly sports a green pair of Harry Potter glasses, and can look quite fetching in a neon green, chin-length wig.

Their friend Danny Snyder, 20, who periodically joins them as an additional sign holder, sports a bright yellow hard hat, green hazmat gloves, yellow rain pants and a jealousy-inducing "Hammer Time" A's shirt from the '80s. While many A's fans may be distinctive dressers, it would take time, effort and inspiration to outdo these guys.

While you might not realize it, being a Hammer Kid is a fair amount of work. Nick, the resident artist and sign maker, has created a battered and bruised mascot for all but two of the A's opponents (he chose not to make one for Cleveland because they "don't want to beat up on a Native American." The Tigers, who blew in and out of Oakland for one three-game series, were simply not worth the effort). The mascots are large, detailed, meticulously painted cardboard cutouts ("I go to Costco a LOT," Nick says), which have "bandaged" injuries and are frequently crying or sporting a black eye.

Hardest to make were the signs for the Royals (a lion wearing a crown that had to be reinforced with numerous popsicle sticks in order to be strong enough to stand up and still conform to Coliseum safety regulations), and Lou Seal, the Giants' mascot. You may think that much work is impressive, the mascots are just the beginning. When Roger Clemens stepped to the Oakland mound this year, Austin cheerfully held up a rocket for abuse. When Scott Hatteberg walks to the plate a large Alice In Wonderland-inspired hat labeled "Mad Hatte, size 10/" appears. "Burn, Baby, Byrnes" is surrounded by orange and yellow flames, and more often than not a sign simply stating "Foulke Legend" comes out for the ninth.

You might think to yourself, "why do these guys put in all the effort, and why do they keep doing it?" but if you're a devoted sports fan, a person who regularly attends games and feels yourself becoming part of the crowd and part of the experience, then you should know the answer: superstition.

Any fan who's ever gone out of their way to walk through the same gate as last (winning) game, or who buys a beer in the same inning every time they're at the park, or who just has to wear their lucky sweatshirt/t-shirt/pair of socks share, at some level, Nick and Austin's motivations. Nick has devoted hours to making signs, only to retire them when the A's perform poorly. "Last year, we had a 'Can of Corn' sign and debuted it at what ended up being the last game of the 20-game win streak," Austin says, "but after the A's gave up all those runs we couldn't bring it back."

"I'm very superstitious," Nick says, "whenever the A's lose I have to shave my head. I dye my hair green when I go to spring training. The hammer isn't about getting on T.V. It's all about superstition." As a result, what may look like signs being held up at random to the uninitiated is actually an almost choreographed performance based on a set of unbreakable rules.

To wit:

* Never hammer during the first inning because it is bad luck.
* Only hammer when the A's are on defense or when they score.
* Be sure to eat the right color cotton candy -- pink at day games, blue at night, green at "odd start times" and yellow should there be a double-header.
*If there is a sign devoted to one of the A's players, be sure to show it during that player's at-bat.
* When an A¼s batter has a three-ball count, always make the "first down" arm motion while chanting "Ball Four".
* When the opposition has deuces (two balls, two strikes, two out), take off your hat, and shake it with the opposite hand of that which the batter hits.

Sitting up in right field, so far removed from the action that the players look like ants, listening to Nick and Austin give a running play-by-play on what's happening in the game and what signs should come out is, in a way, seeing baseball fandom in a pure form.

It's like being part of a five person "crowd" for a sandlot game, when you look around at the other spectators and know you're all there because you love baseball, and you can't get enough of cheering, no matter who is playing.

There's a joy in their devotion to the game and the team that transfers out from the hammer to everyone in the area. After the A¼s swept the Orioles on a bizarre play in the bottom of the ninth this Sunday, people streaming towards the exits hollered up at Nick, Austin and Danny: "Thanks, you guys, you made this fun!"

"You guys are great, we love you!"

And, perhaps most gratifying for the ever-superstitious Hammer Kids, "you brought them the luck! Good job!"

Email me: Any thoughts on the second half? Other comments, questions, suggestions and ramblings are also welcome. Send e-mails to viewfromleftfield@yahoo.com.

Catherine Howard grew up hating the Oakland A's in suburban Washington, DC. Since moving to the Bay Area in 1996 she has developed a great affinity for her former least-favorite baseball team. Now a full-season season ticket holder, Catherine attends between 90-100 A's games a year. When not at the Coliseum, Catherine works at a nonprofit, gazes longingly at her new Bill King bobblehead and drinks an unusual amount of Diet Coke.

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View From the Bleachers / Hammer (Kids) Time at the Coliseum
Danny Snider was the sign man of record last Sunday when the Orioles finished their visit to Oakland. You have to bring the whole set of signs if you want to hang with the Hammer crew.Photo by Gil Batzri for SFGate.com

View From the Bleachers / Hammer (Kids) Time at the Coliseum
Danny Snider (L) Austin Cross (C) and Nick Wong (R) are the straw that stirs the drink at the Coliseum this year. Drop the Hammer, boys! Photo by Gil Batzri for SFGate.com

Posted by jaycross at July 15, 2003 07:32 PM | TrackBack