Leading up to Thursday's final A's home game at the Oakland Coliseum... I was feeling both anxious and excited. I left physically and emotionally exhausted.
This is one of those posts that I sat down, wrote and rewrote several times... only to revise it one final time by completely starting over. As a result, I'm torn between posting this in a timely manner... and capturing how I feel and what I want to write accurately. The result is a quick (actually not so quick) post documenting a key moment in my Oakland A's fanfare.
It started off with me leaving my house at 6:41 am and arriving at the Berryessa BART station forty minutes later.
My brother and his wife met me there and we hopped on the next train. Thirty-five minutes later we were across the street from the Coliseum. Part of the anxiety I had leading up to the game involved being crammed into the train... but there was plenty of seats available on the way up there.
I knew the game was sold out and I wanted to make sure that we were early enough to receive a voucher for the stadium giveaway. It's a good thing we arrived over three hours before the game, because the line we waited in wrapped around a quarter of the Coliseum.
My nephew and his girlfriend were coming from Alameda and joined us a few minutes later. We didn't have to wait too long for them to open the gates. And as the line started to move... I quickly captured the backside of the Coliseum scoreboard that features the Rickey Henderson Field and Oakland Athletics logos.
Once inside... the five of us walked around the entire ballpark to soak everything in (but mainly to see what kind of food we were going to eat). Our first stop was the stamp station. As we walked into the stadium, we were handed these commemorative tickets:
We thought it would be cool to get them stamped. Unfortunately, the guy wouldn't do it because they already have the game date on them, so I whipped out my wallet card and had him stamp the back:
When I left my house, I had one of my 2019 Topps Oakland Coliseum cards that I had hoped to get stamped as well... but I dropped it somewhere along the way.
Afterwards... we walked by the wall of fame featuring athletes from a variety of sports:
If you look closely, you'll even see plaques for Willie Stargell and Curt Flood who both attended high school in the East Bay.
2019 Topps #126
I really wanted to get a photograph of the Coliseum from behind home plate (because that's the same angle featured on the 2019 Topps card), but we had walked too far and I didn't want to hold everyone up.
At least I was able to capture a photo of our seats from across the stadium.
As we headed back to our section, there was this crazy guy making a lot of noise:
We would run into him again, but not before standing in line for 30 minutes for some nachos:
They were pretty good. But honestly when it comes to nachos, I prefer to keep things simple: chips, cheese, and jalapeños. The only reason I went for the "super" version is because of the souvenir helmet. I got about 70% into these before tossing in the white flag and setting it under my seat.
We got to our seats a little over an hour before the game. According to my phone the temperature was only in the the low 70's, but sitting in direct sunlight I could feel the burn by the time Henderson and Stewart tossed out the first pitch:
I figured Rickey was going to get the call... but Smoke was a nice bonus. A few minutes later Barry Zito started singing the Star Spangled Banner and right before he wrapped it up this soared above the stadium:
Can't see anything? Sorry... I'll zoom in a little:
After a little research and a quick text to SumoMenkoMan... I confirmed that this is a Lockheed U-2. Two MLB games this year... and two USAF flyovers. Pretty darn cool.
Once the game started, I put the phone away to focus on the game. But I did pull it out in time to catch Krazy George storming by:
The game itself was awesome. There weren't any home runs, but there were two fantastic defensive plays made by Zach Gelof and JJ Bleday, lots of Let's Go Oakland chants, several attempts to get the wave started, and of course an A's win in their final game at the Coliseum:
It's a nice trinket to cap off forty-six years of attending games at the Oakland Coliseum. I'm glad I was able to experience it with the same brother who took me to my very first A's game back in 1978.
As for my A's fanfare... I'm still not sure which direction it's headed. I know that I will always be an Oakland A's fan, but after tomorrow they won't be representing Oakland or the Bay Area on the field anymore. So we'll see. I will say that I am leaning towards supporting them as a franchise... but will likely boycott buying any gear until John Fisher sells the team.
If you've made it this far... I appreciate you taking the time to check out this post. I hope I was able to capture the event well enough, so that years from now I can read it again and relive this happy, sad, anxious, and mad experience.
Happy Saturday and sayonara!
25 comments:
Oh wow. Glad you got to go. So sorry about what's been going on. Hate hate hate what Fisher and Kaval (and honestly the rest of MLB) have done. I'd be done with the whole thing if I were in your shoes (not just saying it since this is what happened to me when the Earthquakes left San Jose for Houston).
Nice to see Krazy's still at it. I didn't even know he was still active. Maybe he'll start showing up to Ballers games next year.
I watched the end of the game on TV and it seemed like a good atmosphere during the game. It's good that the team at least acknowledged that it was an event. I can understand if you are done with the A's but I can also understand if you stick with them. I guess it all comes down to "The heart wants what it wants"
I can only imagine the whirlwind of emotions. Love that you were able to go to the game and enjoy it in so many ways. I hope that the positive feelings and reminders of not just that day, but all of your A’s days and stories stay with you forever.
Very cool. Were there any old A's from the '70s there? Maybe too old now (some have passed), but those are the ones I appreciate. It's pretty grim what Fisher and MLB did to Oakland and that franchise. I know it has a history of moving from place to place, but they'll always be the Oakland A's to me. Anything else seems wrong.
Sucks that they're leaving, but they weren't competitive anymore. They were my #2 team for a long time.
I can only imagine that Boston and Milwaukee fans felt the same way with the Braves. I'm sorry your team is moving away, you never know they may one day come back.
Glad you were able to be there, as difficult as it was. You’ll always remember this day.
Super glad you got to go to the last game but sad for you as a fan that they are leaving.
Glad you were able to attend, but sucks that the team is leaving, especially the way it has all come together.
I'm glad you got to go, especially with your brother (very cool he took you to your first game there), and the stadium giveaway was very cool. Other than that, I can't help but feel totally negative about this because once again it's the fans getting screwed by an awful, greedy owner (in cahoots with the rest of the owners, naturally). Oakland fans deserve better, including keeping the team there, period.
No matter what you decide in terms of your fandom of the team going forward, it'll be the right decision.
So sad,I will always remember when my dad took me to my first A's game May/72 I got Vida Blue and Rollie Fingers autographs.
Great post and great photos, really felt the atmosphere.
The whole A's situation has been a travesty from start to finish. There's absolutely no reason they had to move - just another (particularly painful) example of billionaire greed. I caught Kotsay's speech and the other postgame goings-on on TV. Dunno what the future holds for the team but as a baseball fan it sucks to see - doubly so because the A's are probably my favorite non-Chicago ballclub.
Landmark Post for you blog for sure. Thanks for sharing your experience with us. The Athletics are a Franchise with a Nomadic Destiny. That Stamped Gwynn Wallet Card is now an Iconic Piece of Historical Memorabilia. Nice Stadium Giveaway 🏟 as well.
It is sad to see that baseball is coming to an end in Oakland. I have always loved watching games from the Coliseum. I loved all the foul territory ( and no rails in front of the dugouts); Mount Davis, but most of all some of the players on the field. Hopefully the A's organization finds solace with the future moves, but a game against the team just won't be the same.
-I hate seeing teams leaving towns, no matter the town...your shots are great...seems MLB is bulling the small towns for new stadiums these days whether the minors or the majors, look at Milwaukee.
On that day every baseball fan was an Oakland A's fan. I watched the game on Bally SW and Rangers commentators pretty much blasted John Fisher at various points of the game. Classy act on Mark Kotsay to give the fans the final message. Moving the A's out of the Bay Area shouldn't have bleeping happened.
I been to the stadium a few times in my life even ditching one of a family reunion dinner function to go to a game. Ah the fun times.
It also sucks the minor league team here is an A's affiliate and watching them win the two playoff games here only to drop Texas League championship on the road. They got a young core but they won't be at Oakland when they made it. I seen plenty came from here and made it to the A's roster or somewhere else. I'm not calling them Sacramento or Vegas. Maybe I just refer them as green and white team. Don't know,
If you haven't checked it out YouTuber DailyWoo got video of being at the game. I lost it few minutes before the video was over
Great post and glad you got to attend that game. Could understand wanting nothing to do with the local team that left. At least they acknowledged fans a bit!
Sounds like it was a long and very draining day. It's really great that you were able to go with that particular brother, too. Seems silly that the stamper wouldn't do the tickets. He should've been stamping what ever people put in front of him. Some people take their simple jobs way too seriously. This is one instance where it probably would've been better just having a machine doing it.
I’m glad you got to make it there, but I am sure bittersweet for sure!
Glad you got to say goodbye.
Great tribute - it's good that you could be there at its last day.
I'm sure it must've been a whirlwind of emotions for you and everyone else in the stadium that day. Thanks for showing us what it was like through your blogpost. I think you accomplished what you wanted to do (posting this in a timely manner and expressing your feelings).
sorry about the delay. i was reading these comments and meant to reply back when i published this post. but i tend to get easily distracted. better late than never, right?
nick vossbrink - i definitely can see him attending ballers games. i've run into him at earthquakes games before. it wouldn't surprise me if he's worked sj giants games too
shlabotnik report - i think i'm gonna stick with them... but focus my collection and apparel to "oakland" related stuff
bamlinden - thanks. glad i got the blog, because i know the memory isn't what it used to be.
night owl - outside of rickey and stewart, they didn't focus on any other former players. although if i were guys like reggie, campy, fingers, and rudi i would have made the trip there just for nostalgic purposes.
elliptical man - yeah... it's been a few years since they were competitive on a serious level. they've had some fun teams that surprised fans, but most weren't picked to win anything at the start of the season
johnnys trading spot - i would welcome them with open arms if they did
the lost collector - yeah. best decision i've made in a long time
jeremya1um - definitely a rough time to be an a's fan. but after thinking about it, i'm gonna ride it out. although i don't see myself buying any a's gear until fisher sells the team
craziejoe - yup. can't say a single nice thing about the owner. and i'm totally surprised that all of the other owners were okay with them leaving oakland.
dennis - it was definitely one of those moments in my life that i'll always treasure and appreciate... even if it marked the end of an era.
sg488 - that is so cool. do you still have that ticket stub? i don't have any ticket stubs from my childhood. but i did buy one from the game the a's played at the coliseum on the day i was born
bo - thanks. hope it'll help me remember the atmosphere when i'm an old man :D
nick - as a teacher, i try to focus on the positive things about people. can't really think of anything positive to say about the a's owner. kotsay's speech was awesome. you could definitely hear the emotion in his voice.
xavier higgins - thanks. i'm sure this will be one of those posts i reflect on a lot over the years
ohio tim - it'll be interesting to see how the games in sacramento go. i'm sure the stadium they build in vegas will be pretty awesome. who knows... maybe one day i'll attend one.
alan deakins - yeah... just like it's hard to see players leave teams. it's hard watching teams leave cities. time tends to heal things. hopefully it applies to this situation as well (for me)
rebel coyote - appreciate the rangers commentators for that. wish i could have heard them. as for kotsay... i love that he wrapped things up by leading us in the "let's go oakland" chant. i did watch a few minutes of adam's video. one of these days i'll go back and watch the whole thing
uncle charlie's shoebox - pretty sure i'll stick it out and remain a fan. just not gonna buy any a's gear while fisher is the owner. f that guy
jon - i totally agree. it would have taken him 2 seconds to stamp peoples' tickets. the people in front of us along with my brother and his family stood in line over 20 minutes. and yes... it was physically and mentally exhausting.
sumomenkoman - yeah... but it was kind of sad, but the pro's outweigh the cons by a large margin.
matt - thanks. i am too
gtt - thanks. i was glad i was there
zippy zappy - yeah. when we turned to leave the couple behind us were hugging and bawling their eyes out. very emotional event for sure. glad i captured it in this post, so i can go back and remember it years from now
Going to an outing like this is right up my alley so thanks for posting this, it was the next best thing to being there.
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