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Tim Keown, ESPN Editor-in-Chief
OAKLAND, Calif. — The A’s opened their final home game of their season in Oakland on Friday night, and no one can predict what might happen over the next six games and seven days.
After 57 seasons at the Coliseum, there will be emotion, but how that emotion will manifest itself is the main question on everyone’s mind.
“We’ve heard rumors and we’re going to have more meetings about it,” said left fielder Seth Brown, who, in his sixth season, is the Athletic’s longest-tenured player. “The fans have always supported us and we just hope they support us in a positive way. We want everybody to come out and enjoy the moment and give it one last hurrah, and at the same time, we hope everything goes well.”
The A’s hosted the Yankees on Friday, losing 4-2 in 10 innings. They will play two more games against New York before finishing the home leg of their schedule with three games against the Texas Rangers. The final game, Thursday afternoon, will be the last major professional game in Oakland, which has lost three major franchises — the Warriors, Raiders and now the A’s — in five years.
Starting next spring, the A’s will play at least three seasons in a minor league stadium in Sacramento before moving permanently to Las Vegas.
The A’s have been forced to deal with one off-field distraction after another over the past two seasons, from Las Vegas’ announcement last April to Sacramento’s next April.
“It’s not really new for us,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “But last year, the emotion was a lot higher in terms of the anger. This year has been really, really quiet, and I don’t know if it’s because they’ve been able to get their anger out. That emotion will still be there going into Thursday, but it’s part of the healing process.”
Oakland fans have staged numerous protests targeting owner John Fisher, who pulled out of a massive development deal in Oakland in April 2023 and announced a move to Las Vegas. There was a high-profile “reverse boycott” last year and an Opening Day parking lot boycott — where fans gathered in the parking lot but refused to enter the stadium — this season.
Before Friday, the team had drawn 738,438 fans, the worst attendance in Major League Baseball.
“The last three games are going to be epic for us and the fans,” outfielder JJ Bleday said. “I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be exciting to play a few games with a crowd. Obviously, I feel bad for the fans, but we’re going to be part of history.”
The A’s have implemented some precautions for the final home series, warning players to be aware of their surroundings in case fans decide to take the field. Players have also been advised not to gather to take pictures with their families on the field after games.
“Get out of there,” Bleday said.
Before Friday’s series opener against the Yankees, fans plastered the ubiquitous “SELL” signs on the left- and right-field bleacher railings. Another sign — “VIVEK REPENT” — referred to Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive, who also owns the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, who will share Sutter Health Park with the A’s.
Ranadive, a friend of A’s owner Fisher, arranged the deal to provide the A’s with temporary, rent-free housing.
“I’d like us to stay here,” Bleday said, “but that’s not for me to decide. I do, however, have a pot ready to be filled with soil.”
