In the Oakland dugout Ramon Hernandez and Eric Chavez sit on opposite ends of the bench, and the silence between them is pointed. Ramon asks Mark Ellis to throw him the sun flower seeds, though they are much closer to Eric, and when Ramon snags the sailing bag from the air, Eric remarks in a snide voice, "I see you managed not to drop that."

Ramon burns beneath the weight of his equipment, his heart nearly sears a hole through his chest protector. "Could you please tell our third baseman he supposed to be on deck?" the catcher snipes at Ellis, his gaze trained on the game. "He should try to be in position at least once today." Ellis glances back and forth between the glowering third baseman and the fuming catcher and pops a handful of sunflower seeds into his mouth, wisely remaining silent.