Vote A’s Fan Vanessa Demske Into The MLB Fan Cave
By Kevin Mendez
Vanessa Demske poses for a photo at an A’s game. Photo courtesy of Vanessa Demske.
Vanessa Demske is a 25 year old San Franciscan who needs the help of fellow A’s fans to vote her into the MLB Fan Cave. Athletics fans deserve to be represented in the Fan Cave by a knowledgeable, hardworking, creative, and die-hard fan who portrays the image of the fan base in Oakland, so vote for her. The chance to vote ends at 2 p.m. PST on Feb. 13. Vote here.
She has called home to Connecticut, Chicago, and many other towns throughout her life.
“My love of travel and adventure and the perpetual quest for something new is what led my friends and family to give me the nickname ‘Everywhere Van’ – which is the moniker I still blog under,” Demske said.
Although Demske has lived all over the country, she settled in the Bay Area and made the Oakland Coliseum her second home. Two years ago, after she made a pact with herself to only live in a place where she intended to stay, “Everywhere Van” did make one exception to her rule: “if the MLB Fan Cave selects me to move to New York City, I’ve got my suitcases at the ready.”
She started watching baseball as an objective fan and payed close attention to players rather than teams. Demske collected cards, joined a fantasy league, and even blew off her senior prom for Green Monster seats — she is definitely a gamer. Her love for the game did not stop there; she became fascinated with scouting, player development and advanced metrics as well.
Since nobody can explain how Vanessa Demske became an A’s fan better than herself, here is how it happened in her own words.
Demske: “I became an A’s fan in 2002, when the team was rebuilding from three major losses to large-market teams: Giambi to the Yankees, Damon to the Red Sox, and of course, a crushing ALDS defeat. This was the first year the Big Three – Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito – really came into their own, and they became my personal band of superheroes, each bringing unique powers to the greater good. Zito was always my favorite, as his pitching repertoire and stirrup socks were old-school and his offbeat personality and “whatever, dude” interviews cracked me up. I love the A’s for their front office philosophies, their draft strategies and player development, their history, their style, and their always-colorful cast of characters.”
“When the Top 52 was announced, I set off on a campaign that has led me down some pretty strange avenues – but, as I firmly believe – nobody became great by trying to be normal,” Demske said.
On her journey to become one of the 2013 MLB Fan Cave Dwellers she has created a lot of new experiences. Demske talked baseball with the people at the Humane Society, talked marketing and sports as a guest speaker at Sonoma State University, and also produced a video with some of the players wives — she admits she is married to baseball. Checkout the video below.