There Is Crying In Baseball: 57 Years Of Oakland Athletics Baseball At Coliseum End Today (And Sadly, It Didn’t Have To Happen)
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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com
John Fisher says he’s ready to spend more than $1 billion on a Major League Baseball stadium in Las Vegas.
I wish he could explain why he just wouldn’t spend the same amount of money on an open-air MLB ballpark in Oakland.
Instead, the first pitch of the last Oakland Athletics game at the Coliseum took place shortly after 12:30 PM. Former A’s Barry Zito — a member of the A’s Big 3 — sang the national anthem.
The Athletics are relocating again.
From Philadelphia to Kansas City to Oakland and now heading to Las Vegas in 2028 with three years in Sacramento from 2025-2027.
Generations of East Bay residents have made the A’s a part of their lives. No wonder the A’s leaving town is ripping the souls out of so many A’s fans.
Former players were also moved to speak out.
Former A’s pitcher Trevor May’s response to Fisher’s letter Monday speaks for most fans.
Another former A’s pitcher spoke up on social media:
And Jose Canseco:
Here’s a photo from fan Jeremy Koo showing the sellout crowd piling into the Coliseum for one final time.
Former sports broadcaster and current city of Oakland communications chief Casey Pratt put it this way: “Been going to the Oakland Coliseum since I was a baby. The love of the A’s passed down from my great grandpa to my parents to me and my kids. My heart hurts knowing this experience will no longer be shared with future generations.”
From 1968 to 2024, the Coliseum hosted 57 seasons of A’s baseball from Reggie, Campy, Bando, Rudi and Catfish to the Bash Brothers and Stewart to Mulder, Tejada and Chavez.
“This day is here and I’ll be honest I don’t know what to do with it, how to think. What I feel is hurt. A huge piece of my life is being transplanted to someplace else. This is not your fault, but it sure hurts to my core,” Stewart wrote on social media.
A theme was families, of generations of fans that absorbed A’s baseball as a familial rite. That ended Thursday.
The Bay area’s NBC sports network had a pregame and postgame host who was transparent for his personal love for a sports franchise that is moving to Las Vegas.
Brodie Brazil.
Veteran sports marketing guru Andy Dolich, former A’s executive VP who worked on marketing and business for the A’s from 1981-1994, offered these observations for LVSportsBiz.com:
“After all, sports venues are now one of our last town squares. Sure, fans will boo, or curse or do embarrassing things during games. But, most of the time, they all get along. They smile, high-five, fist bump, dance, hug and eat — boy, do they eat! Where else, in this divided world, do you see so many thousands from every background come together so well?
“I’ve been involved in many highs and lows in my 50-year career in the sports world, and friends will ask, ‘What is your all-time most memorable Oakland A’s moment?’
“The answer is easy: Every moment walking around the Oakland Coliseum during the 14 years of the Haas family ownership and seeing the A’s fans’ absolute joy. The Sept. 26 game offers one last chance to dance and sing in the stands to Kool and the Gang’s A’s anthem “Celebration.”
“Afterward, Oakland Coliseum’s 46,000 seats will be empty. Gone will be the hearts, minds and souls filled with the green and gold loyalty that drove 80 million visits through the turnstiles since 1968.
“Oakland’s community groups will no longer use A’s ticket sales to raise money and awareness with leaders throwing the first pitch. Kids who joyously ran around the bases will have to check videos and photos to make sure it wasn’t a dream. Many fans will remember catching a foul ball at the Coliseum — a great moment captured on TV.
“But instead of Krazy George starting ‘The Wave,’ the fans will sadly wave goodbye.
“The first A’s home game of the 2025 baseball season will be played at Sutter Health Field in Sacramento. It will be a sellout, with 14,000 fans jammed into their seats. But the players on the field won’t be wearing the green and gold ‘Oakland’ on their jerseys.
“For they’ll be just the A’s.”
For the record, the A’s won their farewell game at the Coliseum and Oakland, beating the Texas Rangers. 3-2 before a sellout of 46,889. When the A’s play in Sacramento, there will be no city affiliation. They will be simply called the “A’s,” or the “Athletics.”
Brazil: “Baseball is done at the Oakland Coliseum.”
The Las Vegas Stadium Authority Board meets Oct. 17 at 3 PM.
The A’s stadium in Las Vegas will be on the agenda.
