I am going to miss Coco Crisp. He was one of the rare modern Oakland A’s players that stuck around for over five years. He was the rare kind that embodied the city and was beloved by fans. He wasn’t great all the time and he had his flaws, but he was so essential to so many great moments during his time with the team. Even though the A’s didn’t win a championship during that time, he brought some great moments for Oakland.

I had interviewed him on the phone in January 2010 and he was a great guy to talk to. Here is part of the interview. 

Remember when he went full on afro? That was a great moment in his early time with the team.

I was inspired by that and I took an old bobblehead and did this. He ended up signing it for me.

But of course his best moment was that walk-off against the Tigers (among other great walk-offs that season). I was there. It was wonderful.

Thank you Coco. Now you’re back in Cleveland. Good luck!