Oakland Athletics

Reflecting on the A’s leaving Oakland for Las Vegas

Well, what I hoped was not going to happen is now all but guaranteed. And of course the news breaks right as I was getting ready for bed. The team, not surprisingly, did this when a good portion of the country was asleep.

I had held on to a miracle to happen, and that the speculation of a move to Nevada wouldn’t come to fruition and somehow a new ballpark would be built in Oakland. This is for a team that has called this city home since 1968. Now, much like the Warriors and Raiders, they’re leaving Oakland.

What sucks about this is that I have had many years to prepare myself for this. As the ongoing search for a new ballpark continued, it became more and more apparent that Las Vegas would be the final destination. And why wouldn’t it? The attendance has been so bad and the current stadium is in desperate need of a lot of help. And of course, the owner John Fisher and management has made no effort to field a competitive team. All the star players are shipped out for prospects that don’t even get a chance to establish themselves as stars in Oakland.

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What it was like attending Opening Day in 2021

Opening Day in Oakland. April 1, 2021.

Last night was a special night for me. And for Major League Baseball. After not being able to have fans in attendance all of last year except for a few postseason games, the league is back in full swing with fans being able to attend games in limited capacity. Except for you Texas Rangers. Shame on you.  

The COVID-19 pandemic hit across the United States and all of Major League Baseball in early spring last year and the league had to shut down everything. It was only months later into the summer did the league begin playing games. No fans in attendance and my hopes of attending a big league game that season was dashed. 

I usually find myself in Oakland for a handful of games every year to see my hometown A’s. Since moving to Los Angeles, being able to attend games at the Coliseum has been challenging but I have found ways to fly or drive back home. The team didn’t allow any fans in attendance at all last season, opting for cardboard cutouts among other silly gimmicks. But this season, they’re letting fans in at a limited capacity (20 percent) and I knew immediately I wanted to be in attendance for that first game. I booked my flight and bought my ticket to Opening Day in Oakland. I had to be there. 

This will be my first live sporting event since a Warriors game in San Francisco last January. The pandemic took away any other chances of me attending any other sporting events since then. But now a little bit over a year later, I am back at one of my favorite places ever. 

The Coliseum site itself has been a vaccination site in recent months and now it’s welcoming fans back for a live event. I wanted to document everything about my experience in my first game back. I wanted to see what was different now than what it was like in 2019, the last season the team was able to have fans in attendance. Here’s what I saw.

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Oakland A’s early postseason exit isn’t the final chapter

This season wasn’t supposed to be like this for the Oakland Athletics. They were expected to maybe finish in third place at best in the division. The team was supposed to be contending for the postseason in 2019. Maybe 2020. No, they were not supposed to be here.

But they arrived sooner than expected. They got 97 wins and got into the postseason as a wild-card team. That’s how stacked this American League was. Three teams had at least 100 wins and the A’s at 97 wins had to settle for the second wild-card spot.

And that’s what made this season so special. Sure, it sucks that they lost their wild-card game and their postseason dreams were dashed just like that. But what can you do when the rotation was made up of spare parts and a bunch of inexperienced players lead the team to the postseason?

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Seeing the Ramon Laureano catch and throw live was special

On Saturday I was at Angel Stadium and I saw the greatest catch of my lifetime.

I was sitting near the A’s dugout when this play happened. I didn’t realize the time how difficult the catch was. I saw it and was shocked that he made the catch.

Then it all was a blur. The ball was in the air and reached Mark Canha’s glove to complete the double play. What did I just witness?

I still was processing that the ball did not hit the cut-off man. It was after viewing numerous replays did it come to me that the throw was at 321 feet and it was on the money.

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Mark Canha’s “bat flip” is a dumb debate

On Saturday, Oakland A’s pinch-hitter Mark Canha hit a go-ahead two-run homer vs the Giants. After the swing, he “flipped” his bat, stared at his own dugout before trotting the bases.

People are upset about the flip.

Of course, these “unwritten rules” debates have existed for some time. Some people are upset that Canha shouldn’t show up a pitcher and he should expect to get a pitch thrown at his body the next time up.

Other feel that it’s OK to have emotion during the game and the best way to avoid a bat flip is to not give up a home run. After all, pitchers can show emotions after a strikeout but a batter can’t do it after a big hit?

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Somehow the A’s are keeping it interesting

Seven games out!

The A’s entered this season with a faint hope of maybe securing that last wild card spot. But after an impressive sweep of Detroit (with some fun comebacks sprinkled in there as well) the A’s are only seven games out of the final wild card spot.

Of course this is still only the halfway point and there are plenty of things that can happen.

But this team is surprising many people. With so many starting pitchers injured and some key players also coming on and off the DL, it’s hard to predict. But we had some bats heat up lately. Jed Lowrie has been tremendous during this stretch and the A’s never say die attitude is giving this team a spark.

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Bay Bridge series trophy is cool but not necessary

It was announced that the regular season Bay Bridge series between the A’s and Giants will now feature a trophy to the series winner.

Here are the rules

  1. The Bridge will be awarded to the team that wins more games in the regular-season Bay Bridge Series.
  2. If the series finishes tied, the winner of the final game shall win The Bridge.
  3. If one or more games is postponed and the series has not yet been clinched, The Bridge will not be awarded until the postponed game(s) can be made up. If the postponed game(s) can not be made up, the standing of the series at the end of the season shall determine the winner of The Bridge. Whether or not postponed games are made up, if the series ends in a tie, the team that wins the final game will be awarded The Bridge.

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Oakland A’s to charge Giants fans $50 for parking for no good reason

With the annual exhibition game between the A’s and Giants in Oakland coming up, it will be a great way for the Bay to prepare for the upcoming baseball season. Additionally, the Warriors are playing at home that day too so the parking lot will be packed.

The A’s decided to use this situation to get back at Giants fans.

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The new A’s Kelly Green alternate uniforms are cool but could be better

The Oakland Athletics unveiled a new jersey and cap on Friday to celebrate their 50 years in Oakland. The Kelly Green jersey and cap will be worn for every Friday home game.

Celebrating their origins of Kelly Green, the team took those colors and used their city name wordmark along with the sleeve stripes from their current alternate to build this jersey. It’s white lettering with gold trim on the green jersey. It’s a great idea and homage to their home.

In addition to the jersey, the A’s unveiled the corresponding cap. The cap is green all around with the team logo in white.

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