A's fans host a wake in the 'death' of Oakland's MLB team
OAKLAND, Calif. - The A’s are heading to Seattle for the season’s final series, leaving behind tens of thousands of fans that packed the stands Thursday for the final home game at the Oakland Coliseum.
Following the game, diehard Oakland A’s fans said goodbye at a wake hosted by the fan group Last Dive Bar.
It wasn’t your typical time of sorrow, but it offered fans the chance to gather one last time for a memorial service.
The evening started with a eulogy by Last Dive Bar’s Bryan Johansen, where he aired his grievances about A’s owner John Fisher. Memories were shared and condolences were given.
Robb Roberts, who makes artwork for the Last Dive Bar, said he spent 60 hours making the tombstone, reading "RIP Oakland A’s fandom."
"We rumbled around about even doing a casket, those kinds of things," Roberts said.
The fans were laying to rest a team rooted in Oakland for more than 55 years.
"You just feel all the fandom come back, feel all your moments and things you’re going to miss," said Roberts.
"I didn’t feel it was right for everybody to just go home and just sit with what they just had to go through and this entire saga, I felt like we had to do what A’s fans do," Johansen.
Fans came in from all over the country to pay their respects, much like a true wake.
Ken Collins, an Oakland native who grew up watching the A’s, said he flew in from the East Coast to experience the final homestand.
He recalled the moment he entered the Coliseum again.
"There was something about driving down 880 and seeing the stadium rise up sort of out of the ground and the majesty that is that sent chills down my spine and just instantly brought me back to being a 7-year-old boy all over again," he said.
Fans Kim Jenkins and Marcia Partch created a tombstone of their own they brought to the game.
Jenkins said she was celebrating the life of the A’s in Oakland.
"Back in the day, my great-grandmother, she was in her 90’s, she had a crush on Jose Canseco and it’s like how far back do we go," she said.
There were green and gold flowers to lay on the grave, a tombstone pin as a party favor, and merch for souvenirs. One big hit for the night was the "Sell and Stay" IPA on the menu.
A’s fan Jose Delacruz said, "I have a four-pack at home too, just keep it, have as memorabilia."
"It’s almost like letting go of a part of the community that’s been there so long but also remembering all these good times we had at the Coliseum," said Oakland native Emma Anthony.
While most deaths come with tears, this one included a heartfelt push to remain faithful to the town, as fans chanted, "Let’s go Oakland!"
Despite the loss of the team, everyone at the wake was celebrating the A’s left the Coliseum in victory.
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