Get me to the park on time — in an Indy car

By Ron Kantowski

Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008 | 6:15 p.m.

NOW:

This was not your ordinary bullpen golf cart.

To reward relief pitcher Brad Ziegler for beginning his major league baseball career with 38 scoreless innings, the Oakland A's arranged a special ride to the ballpark Thursday.

They had former Las Vegas resident Davey Hamilton pick him in a two-seat Indy car.

Hamilton met Ziegler at Jack London Square near downtown Oakland and the two ripped around city streets before jumping on Highway 880 to complete the nine-mile drive to McAfee Coliseum. Ziegler wore his A's uniform and sat in the back seat as Hamilton, a veteran of six Indy 500s, dared the cops to just try to pull them over. (Actually, the two-seater is street legal and the pair received a California Highway Patrol escort.)

To mark the occasion, Ziegler planned to throw methanol instead of the usual gas against the Tampa Bay Rays.

After getting out of the Indy car, Ziegler thanked Hamilton for the ride.

Then he asked if he could get Danica Patrick's autograph for him.

THEN:

Today's Olympic thought: When we were kids, we would always play whatever sport was in season. So when the Olympics came around, basketball and track and field and swimming were easy to duplicate, provided the little kids weren't using the public pool.

But I'm here to tell you that a person can get seriously hurt attempting a flying gymnastics dismount off a swing set.