Reviewing Indianapolis and Oakland

Last week, the Spotlight shone on Indianapolis and Oakland. More than any other week, Steve and I debated these cities and the choices.
I’ll start with Indianapolis since we looked there first. I probably should have at least mentioned the Indianapolis 500, even if I didn’t pick anyone of that race. It’s the premier event in the city, and no doubt, a lot of attention is paid to the winner. It’s like if we checked out Louisville and didn’t mention the Kentucky Derby. Ultimately, however, I would have a tough time making the Indy 500 Pole Sitter or Winner or even Driver the Position in the Spotlight. Take this year, for instance, Helio Castroneves was both the pole sitter and winner of the race, however he didn’t bring the title back to Indianapolis, he just happened to win the race there. Nevertheless, I was remiss in not mentioning the Indy 500.
In Oakland, we got close to an important position that we didn’t ultimately mention. In the honorable mention section, Steve talked about the Oakland starters, however I think we should have mentioned the other end of the A’s pitching staff. The closer role in Oakland has always been of great import. Dennis Eckersley anchored the role for many years, with Rollie Fingers before him. Since then, the A’s have always had decent to good closers, from Keith Foulke to Jason Isringhausen to Huston Street. It was tough, because I think Oakland has been the most historically significant city that we’ve seen thus far, so something was bound to be left out.