After nearly six decades, the Oakland Athletics are playing their final game in Oakland. The storied franchise is finishing its run in Oakland in front of a sold-out crowd.
In an emotional game on Thursday afternoon, the A’s closed out their final home series against the Texas Rangers. The team will play in Sacramento for the next three seasons before making the final move to Las Vegas in 2028.
Oakland, which has not seen packed stadiums in many years, had a full crowd for Thursday’s game, with 46,889 total A’s fans filling in the Coliseum. Thousands of fans were lining up as early as 8 a.m. for the 12:30 p.m. game in order to pay their respects to the team.
The emotional afternoon started off strong, with former A’s pitcher Barry Zito singing the national anthem, and A’s legends Dave Stewart and Ricky Henderson throwing out the first pitch.
The game also aptly featured appearances from multiple classic Oakland characters, including A’s superfan Banjo Man (real name Stacy Samuels) and Krazy George, the former Oakland cheerleader who invented the Wave in the Coliseum in 1979.
Despite a slow start to the game, the crowd at the Oakland Coliseum was loud and animated. Chants of “Let’s go Oakland” echoed through the stadium, as well as chants of “Sell the team” — a phrase that has been repeated by fans since owner John Fisher announced the move to Vegas in 2023. Many fans throughout wore green shirts with the word “SELL,” repeating the sentiment.
Oakland opened the scoring in the third inning, loading the bases before bringing in two runs. Second baseman Zach Gelof then had a leaping catch in the fourth to keep the 2-0 lead.
The A’s scored again in the fifth inning, after a Rangers error led Oakland shortstop Jason Wilson run in for his second run. But Texas got two runs in the sixth inning after a potential double play was overturned, bringing the score to 3-2.
Center fielder JJ Bleday gave Oakland one last show with a brilliant diving catch in the seventh inning, helping the A’s close out the top of the inning.
Right after that stunning play, Oakland fans sang “Take Me Out to the Ball game” for the final seventh inning stretch in the Coliseum.
Throughout this final series, which began on Tuesday, fans took the opportunity to take pieces of the stadium with them. The Oakland grounds crew helped fans get some of the dirt from the Coliseum field as a keepsake.
A’s manager Mark Kotsay plans to take home three bases after the game, per the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser. Oakland groundskeeper Clay Wood will take the first-inning bases as his keepsake.
Mark Kotsay is taking three bases home with him today. They’re using 27 bases – Clay Wood is taking the first-inning bases as befits the best grounds keeper in the game.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) September 26, 2024
On Tuesday, some fans went as far as to take seats from the Coliseum.
Fisher, who became the A’s owner in 2005, wrote a poorly-received statement on Monday, saying that the franchise “did our very best” to keep the team in Oakland. Multiple reports say that Athletics players and coaches have been advised to leave the stadium immediately after Thursday’s game ends, as the team is unsure how fans will react following the conclusion of the game.
Prior to throwing the pitch, Stewart, who won two World Series with the A’s as a pitcher, said that it felt like a funeral.
“It’s kind of like you go to the wake, you view the body, and then after you view the body you have your kind words, and people have their good sayings and talk about memories,” Stewart told NBC.
