A’s Spring Training Home-Opener: Athletics May Play Five Seasons In Three Cities But One Constant Is Cactus League Host City Mesa, AZ
By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
MESA, Arizona — It was about 10:30 AM Sunday just outside the A’s dugout where A’s manager Mark Kotsay took one glance at the sun and instructed the mini-presser media to interview him with the sun behind him at Hohokam Stadium.
It was the A’s spring training home-opener for the franchise’s 57th preseason in Arizona. And like all the A’s employees today, Kotsay was wearing a black T-shirt with Rickey Henderson’s smiling face on the front. Henderson died at age 65 in Henderson Dec. 20, a little more than two months ago.
Kotsay recalled memorable tales about Henderson, who would have undoubtedly enjoyed Las Vegas where the A’s hope to open a new stadium on the Strip in 2028.
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A’s longtime photographer Michael Zagaris turned 80 years old Saturday when the A’s opened their spring training season with a 10-3 loss to the San Diego Padres in Peoria.
Zagaris said he started in the photography business at age 23 after attending George Washington University (GWU). The funny and effervescent Zagaris is as transparent a guy as you will meet.
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As the A’s prepare to spend three seasons in Sacramento from 2025-27 before moving to Las Vegas in 2028, the fans have expressed an assortment of deeply-felt emotions.
Here’s one of those perspectives:
This man said he attended all 81 A’s away games in 2024.
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Hohokam Stadium in Mesa has the edge of an old spring training stadium with the modern amenities of the current stadiums. There are a lot of A’s touches likes the murals on the walls along the main concourse and decent food and beer selections.
The city of Mesa owns the ballpark and it’s a source of pride for the 35th most populated city in the U.S. The Chicago Cubs spring training stadium is also in the city of Mesa.
That’s Mesa Mayor Mark Freeman ready to throw out the first pitch.
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Paid attendance was announced at 4,416.
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The game between the A’s and Rockies was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth when the A’s loaded the bases and the team’s most potent offensive player, Brent Rooker, struck a ball to deep centerfield that plated the exhibition’s first run. The A’s added three more on a big three-run double that gave the A’s the 4-0 lead.
The Rockies batters looked anemic at the plate, mustering a mere four hits and the A’s had their first Cactus League win of 2025.
Final: A’s 4 Rockies 0
The game zipped by in two hours and 13 minutes.
