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OAKLAND – Lots of Yoenis Cespedes shirts could be spotted around the Coliseum on Saturday.
Although the crowd of 30,097 cheered wildly for left-hander Jon Lester in his A’s debut, they also got a chance to celebrate the Oakland career of Cespedes, who had a T-shirt giveaway in his honor two days after he was traded to the Boston Red Sox for Lester and Jonny Gomes.
[RELATED: Lester delivers win -- and confidence -- to A's]
Awkward timing? No doubt. But the A’s had the promotion planned for months, so they went through with it. The shirts could also be found inside the A’s clubhouse. Catcher Derek Norris proudly displayed one that he’s keeping.
“The time I got to spend with him, he was a great teammate, a great player,” Norris said. “This is gong to be something I’m gonna keep because he’s probably gonna end up being something special a few years down the road.”
Then Norris pointed to other A’s giveaways he’s got stored in his locker.
“I keep all this stuff, the gnomes…all that weird crap I always keep.”
In case you’re curious, Cespedes hit cleanup for the Red Sox in his Boston debut and went 1-for-4 with a single and run in a 6-4 loss to the New York Yankees.
