Music blared from the speakers while a DJ played popular tunes. A line about 30 people long waited to order beer from the taps of an old Greyhound bus. A noise rumbled like cars on a highway amid the music and the lines.
If you didn't know higher, you’ll have thought it was just an early evening at a preferred watering hole.
That wasn't it.
“I just really felt the need to be here and be with others who feel the same feelings,” Jess Brooks, 42, of Clovis said Thursday amongst the group on the Line 51 terminal on Castro Street in Oakland , where members of a preferred Oakland A's fan group gathered for what they called “The Wake.” The group, named Last Dive Bar out of affection for the A's Oakland home, celebrates, within the words of Bryan Johansen, “the Coliseum and its rich history.”
The group brought fans together Thursday after the team's final game on the Oakland Coliseum. For the record, it would be a win: 3-2 over the Texas Rangers. That one way or the other lifted the mood.
Kind of.
“More than anything, I’m just really sad,” Louis Quindlen said. “I went to my first game in 1981 and have been coming ever since. Season ticket holder for many years. One would think that the owner would change his mind. But it’s hard to have a change of heart when you don’t have a heart.”
There have been many stories about A's owner John Fisher and his plans to construct a brand new ballpark in Las Vegas with a detour through Sacramento until that happens. The damage to a community left behind just isn’t yet great.
“A lot of people are in a lot of pain,” Johansen said, adding that he desired to help people coping with grief, which he said can sometimes be overwhelming.
“So it’s like you just saw your mother die,” Johansen said. “Not only that, your father murdered her. In addition, you had to attend 81 open-casket funerals while your father justified himself and seemed proud of his actions. On top of that, 29 other family members (MLB owners) watched the whole thing and said, “That's OK.” So that's it. I didn’t want people to go home after the last game and have to deal with it alone.”
So they sat and stood in the course of a bunch of like-minded people. A plastic tombstone that reads “RIP Oakland A’s Fandom. April 17, 1968 – September 26, 2024” sat on a small stage where people were laying green and gold petals. Also visible on the stage were two giant Styrofoam forearms, paying homage to the Bash Brothers era, a more glorious time within the Oakland team's history.
Someone who identified himself as A's President Dave Kaval, greatly frightening the fans, gave a speech that drew loud boos.
A green sign on the wall illuminated the underlying message and easily said: “SELL!”
Even former employees and their sons were there. Longtime A's equipment manager Steve Vucinich was among the many guests, who numbered barely a dozen on the time of the ultimate out but were filled with at the least 300 two hours later. Trent Henderson, son of longtime A's centerfielder Dave Henderson, was also in attendance.
“This didn’t have to happen,” Vucinich said. “It didn't have to happen. Has anyone told Fisher about this or read how fans are reacting? How can you see all this sadness and be okay with it?”
“I’m as heartbroken as all of you,” Henderson said. “All in the name of greed. It’s terrible.”
One fan carried an indication that read “Oakland Forever.” Another wore a T-shirt that said “Sell John Fisher.”
“I can say that,” Johansen said. “If John Fisher thinks we’re going away, he’s crazy. He has proven that he is exceptionally good at not letting a stadium be built. So we will keep him in the spotlight, reveal what is going on, and keep our hope that perhaps we will celebrate her return later.”
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