OAKLAND — Managers Mark Kotsay of the Oakland A's and AJ Hinch of the Detroit Tigers had a likelihood to talk on the Coliseum on Sunday before their two clubs played one another. The two former major league players swapped memories and told stories concerning the 57-year-old stadium that may host its final major league game later this month.
“It's a special place because this is where I first called myself a major leaguer,” said Hinch, who made his MLB debut as an A's catcher in Oakland on April 1, 1998, “and there's only one place I'll ever have that feeling, and that's here.”
The A's ended their penultimate home game in Oakland with a 9-1 loss to the Tigers on Sunday afternoon in front of 11,250 fans on the Coliseum. The loss marked a 3rd consecutive season of being under .500 for the A's (62-82), who’ve won just one in every of their last five games.
Now there are only six games left on the Coliseum after the A's and town of Oakland did not agree earlier this yr to increase the team's leased facility beyond this season. The A's have played in town since 1968.
After the A's upcoming road trip with three games in Houston, followed by six in Chicago – three against the White Sox and three against the Cubs – the A's will likely return to Oakland for the last time.
The A's will host the New York Yankees from September 20-22 and the Texas Rangers from September 24-26.
Then it's likely over for MLB within the East Bay, because the A's will play at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento from 2025 to 2027 while they wait for the completion of their planned $1.5 billion ballpark off the Strip in Las Vegas. Construction could begin in April 2025.
The A's organization's goal is to have the park open by Opening Day in 2028, although questions remain about how owner John Fisher will fully fund the stadium's costs.
At this point, it's clear to Kotsay and A's fans that the team's final games on the Coliseum are upon us.
“The closer it gets, the clearer it will definitely become,” Kotsay said. “As I've always said, you don't know what feelings you're going to have when the last day comes.”
“It's going to be a tough home game. I think the weekend series will obviously be a little easier than the final series. And I still think that with each passing day, there will probably be more emotions.”
To have fun their final yr in Oakland, the A's have brought a handful of former players for every Sunday home game. Before their series finale against the Tigers, the A's welcomed outfielder Eric Byrnes and infielder Adam Rosales, who were escorted to the sector for a ceremonial first pitch by Dallas Braden, the team's television commentator.
Byrnes, a Redwood City native who made his MLB debut with Oakland, played for the A's from 2000-05 and was excited to return to the Coliseum, where he attended quite a few games along with his father as a baby. Sunday was likely his last time seeing a serious league game on the stadium.
“It's definitely cool to come here and maybe get a little closure,” Byrnes said. “But most importantly, I think it's not about the building, it's about the people, right?”
Byrnes and Rosales have established themselves as crowd favorites with their dedication and down-to-earth approach to their craft. The two and Braden signed autographs for tons of of fans before Sunday's game, and a couple of hundred more were in line as they headed out to their pregame duties.
It is protected to say that for a few of these and other fans, this could be the last time they attend a game on the Coliseum.
Tim Petropulos, 64, of Fresno, said he has been coming to A's games on the Coliseum for the reason that team's first season in Oakland. As Petropulos and his son, Daniel, stood in line for autographs, he said it will likely be his last visit to the power.
“The people here are die-hard fans,” said 35-year-old Daniel Petropulos. “Whether they come to the games or not, they love this team and live and breathe it. It's like a stab in the heart.”
“I've been coming here since my mother was pregnant with me,” said Mathew Moorhead, 41, of Antioch, adding that his family owned season tickets from 1968 until the MLB players' strike in 1994.
“It's going to be tough for me,” Moorhead said, “because this will be my last game.”
There is little disagreement amongst anyone related to the A's that the team needs a brand new ballpark. Yet years of negotiations between city officials and the A's over a brand new stadium at Howard Terminal never got here to fruition, and the team announced in April 2023 that it had a binding contract to buy land in Las Vegas.
The A's could have stayed in Oakland while their Strip-adjacent stadium was built, however the team declined a five-year lease extension on the Coliseum in April. The contract included an opt-out clause after three seasons and required the team to pay $97 million as a part of a renewal fee.
Now there may be one home game left on the Coliseum, and the farewells are in full swing.
“I walked around the stadium today,” Hinch said. “I went up to Mount Davis. I remember coming here as a super young, pretty naive guy who didn't know what the big leagues were about, and that was my first introduction. So it's bittersweet to come here for the last time.”
After Sunday's game, fans were allowed back on the sector and walking across the basepaths. It was a chance to be on a serious league field that each spectator looked as if it would wish to enjoy, perhaps for the last time in Oakland.
“They can't play here forever. There are too many problems,” said A's fan Daniel Petropulos. “But they had a beautiful field over there at Jack London Square. It would have been fantastic. But what professional sports team will ever come to Oakland? They're all gone, and what they've experienced here shows that this city is done with professional sports.”
Originally published:
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