With cheers and tears, fans say goodbye to the A’s and the Coliseum: “I have so many memories here’

The Oakland A’s and the Texas Rangers are tied in the bottom of the ninth as rookie Jacob Wilson comes to the plate with a man on second. He rips the ball up the middle and Zach Gelof breaks for home, sliding across the plate just before the ball reaches the catcher’s mitt. The players rush onto the field. The crowd of 30,000 yells and cheers. For one split second, the A’s glory days are back. 

But this is the team’s last home stand at the Coliseum before heading for Sacramento next year, and then on to Las Vegas. They followed Tuesday’s walk-off victory with a 5 to 1 loss on Wednesday. This afternoon, they will meet the Rangers again in the final home game the team will ever play in the storied stadium. 

On Tuesday, fans were feeling both sad and nostalgic about the loss of the beloved franchise after a 56-year run. 

JD Maher, a retired TV meteorologist and now elementary school teacher, has loved the A’s since the 1970’s, when his family would come to the Coliseum once a month, tailgate in the parking lot and then head inside for the game.  

“I have so many memories here,” Maher said. “Charlie Finley days, Rollie Fingers, everything. Crazy George. I mean, we’d sit in the third deck usually because it was affordable, but I’m shedding a tear right now. I’m a little choked up.” 

In April, the A’s announced their move to Las Vegas for the 2028 MLB season, with plans to play at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento from 2025 to 2027, before their new ballpark is ready.

The decision has sparked controversy, particularly among devoted fans like the Oakland 68’s, an A’s support group whose members feel betrayed by owner John Fisher’s choice to relocate the team.

“I’m feeling angry,” Jorge Leon, president of the Oakland 68’s, said. “It’s something that should never happen, because the reality of nature is that John Fisher’s moving this team out of this community because of greed. … And he’s still going to collect a revenue-sharing check from MLB all throughout this whole time. And it’s just pure, pure greed, pure cheapness, that’s what it is.”

Oakland 68’s Vice President Anson Casanares, who grew up rooting for the A’s, sees potential in some of the other sports franchises setting up in Oakland — from other baseball teams to soccer.

‘I grew up here,” Casanares said. “This means a lot to me and a lot of people, but if they want to leave here, go. There’s always going to be someone who wants to come back and love us, like the Oakland Ballers, the Oakland Roots and the Oakland Soul SC.”

Carter Lipscomb grew up in New York and when his family moved to the Bay Area, his father and brother became San Francisco Giants fans, while Lipscomb and his mother — who had been a Mets fan — pledged allegiance to the Athletics. 

“My mom made a commitment to the Oakland A’s back in those days,” Lipscomb said, “And she said, ‘We are going to be A’s fans, you and I.’ And this was ’68, ’69, and they had just come to Oakland. She goes, ‘We are green and gold from then on out.’” 

That’s a wrap: Oakland Ballers give baseball fans a reason to cheer