In the hopes of offering more transparency to The Redskins Blog, I won't pretend that I wasn't the one who recently took a vacation across the country, visited the Oakland Coliseum, met briefly with Athletics designated hitter Billy Butler and lefty reliever Sean Doolittle before their game vs. the Giants and traded them some Redskins jerseys.
This meeting had been in the works ever since I interviewed both of them about being Redskins fans – Doolittle in December and Butler in January – and culminated last Wednesday in Oakland. Butler kindly offered me tickets and field passes for the hand delivery, and, naturally, I obliged.
And, so there is no confusion, Redskins first round draft pick Josh Doctson did not magically take Butler's shape. The DH already has his own personalized jersey – he's a big fan – and so he asked for the wide receiver's to add to his collection.
For what it's worth, Butler told me he is planning on attending both the Redskins' London game and the team's visit to Arizona to play the Cardinals in December.
The A's won that night against their foes across the bay. I'd like to think the small infusion of burgundy in the green and gold locker room played some part in that.
