A's fans wax nostalgic about Oakland Coliseum
OAKLAND, Calif. - After 57 years, the A's will no longer be rooted in Oakland.
The Oakland Athletics are playing their last home games at the Coliseum this week; the final hurrah is on Thursday before the team vacates the East Bay.
Die-hard A's fans have been vocal about their anger towards A's owner John Fisher, who backed out of staying in Oakland and instead chose to move the team to Las Vegas, with a stop in Sacramento before a new stadium is built.
A's fans have been protesting over the last year, but are now resigned that the team is leaving The Town.
Below are first-person fans' memories, which have been gently edited.
Michael Filice, Morgan Hill/Anaheim
My last visit to the Coliseum was the 2019 Wild Card game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
I played hooky from classes to see my childhood team try to claw into the playoffs.
That year was ultimately unfruitful, but the roar of the sold out crowd, the flurry of yellow fibers from the rally towels, and a community backing a storied team with a storied history is how I will forever remember Rickey Henderson Field.
With the likes of Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, Marcus Semien, Liam Hendriks, with promises of a new waterfront stadium at Howard Terminal, I was seeing the potential for a real foundation and potential dynasty on the horizon.
Since that final out of '19, there have been no words to describe my anguish, anger, and feeling of being blindsided.
The losses of Dick Callahan and Ray Fosse, the pandemic, and the rumors of relocation becoming reality have made a team and sport I love very dear, making me feel apathetic towards them at times.
While nothing I can do as an individual can change this outcome, I have my fond and vivid memories of McAfee/O.co/RingCentral/Oakland-Alameda Coliseum, my second home.
Mike Feusi, Petaluma/Elk Grove
The crew at Lagunitas Brewing at an A's game at the Coliseum. Photo: Mike Feusi
We, at Lagunitas Brewing, used to have a lot of team building at the Coliseum.
I am retired from Lagunitas, but used to be the packing manager there for eight years.
Every year, we would gather the troops in operations to celebrate being together.
We worked hard together and we played hard together.
One night, we chose to go to see an A's game at the Coliseum because one of our teammates had beat a form of cancer and he threw out the first pitch.
We were all there for him.
Tyler McDonald, San Jose
Tyler McDonald (left) Brandon Woods (right) from San Jose.
After 20 years of attending games with the same group of people, my best friend and I decided to check off our bucket list and sit Diamond Level, right behind home plate.
It was an amazing experience and sobering all in one. A sad day watching our beloved Green and Gold leave.
Rodney ‘Alamo’ Brown, Richmond
Rodney Alamo Brown throws out first pitch.
When the Oakland A's play their final home stand against The Texas Rangers, I will watch the game from a suite.
I can honestly say I have many fond memories of the Coliseum.
In 1973, I watched the World Series at the Coliseum as the A's played the New York Mets. It was the great Willie Mays' final game.
From sneaking into the ballpark to throwing out the ceremonial first pitch on May 8, 2024, the Lord has been very very good to me.
I used to be a Major League Baseball scout and Kennedy High second baseman. The A's recognized me as a "community champion" for my volunteer work.
Ricardo Martinez, Berkeley
I’ve been an A’s fan since 1989.
I used to take my now grown-up kids to the Oakland Coliseum several times a year.
Now my kids have kids of their own.
Unfortunately, my grandkids won’t be able to watch the great A’s team.
Paula McDonald, Hayward/Sacramento
Matt McDonald dressed as Stomper. Photo: Paula McDonald
My son, Matt McDonald, has been dressing as Kid Stomper since he was 3 years old. He's now 11.
"Mascots make people happy and bring people together. That’s my job," he said.
The entire costume has been of his own creation and ambition.
Stomper and The Herd have been great to him, letting him be an apprentice at each game we’ve attended all these years. This experience has had a profound effect on my son’s self-esteem, identity and ambition.
Stomper has been phenomenal with all the kids I’ve witnessed, taking the time to connect with each one.
The response from other kids as well as adults has been truly amazing, especially in the upper decks where it’s more difficult for everyone to get a chance to meet Stomper. My son has posed for countless photos and signed baseballs, gloves, hats, even giveaway swim caps.
The Oakland Athletics Kids Club annual membership has also brought incredible experiences such as meeting Rickey Henderson, and attending batting practice in the field, getting to meet and get autographs from Brent Rooker, Zack Gelof, JP Sears, and more.
I was born and raised in Hayward, left in 1997 to attend UC Davis and have been living and working in Sacramento for 20 years. We won’t be attending any games at Sutter Health Park. It is unforgivable what MLB and John Fisher have chosen to do to this Bay Area icon.
LaTrece Gibson, Petaluma
LaTrece Gibson, and son, Khali, at an A's game on Mother's Day.
My son, Khalil, and I went to an A's game for Mother's Day when they were playing against the Astros.
It was a beautiful day, even though the A's lost.
It was still a nice outing.
It’s really sad and unfortunate to see the A’s leave Oakland!
Al Mueller, Fremont
A great birthday celebration by father and son, Al and Karl Mueller, at the A's game on Aug. 18, 2018.
I remember when the A's were second in the AL West and fans still had hope.
Tim Gardner, Modesto
(L-R) Chris and Tim Gardner of Modesto played hooky to see the A's.
I took off work and my son, Chris Gardner, played hooky from school when he was 16 to catch an A's game.
Diane Hernandez, San Lorenzo
Diane Hernandez and her baby, Maya, attend an A's game.
We are Nina and Maya, fourth-generation A's fans.
My great grandmother, Diane, attended the original opening day, when Interstate Highway 880 was a two-lane highway.
The A's are woven into our family history and we'll never forget Mascot Charlie O, game day balls rising up from the ground at home plate and "hot pants" day.
We'll miss our team. We are forever fans.
Jill Meyers, Livermore
Jill and Chris Meyers of Livermore.
It was the summer of 1987 when I fell in love with the Oakland A’s.
I was 18 years old and had just moved to the Bay Area.
Sitting in the bleachers in right field before Mt. Davis was built, what was not to love?
One moment, we were heckling Jose Canseco because he dropped an easy fly ball and the next, we were cheering him on as he hit a grand slam.
And of course, there was Mark McGwire, Dave Stewart, Reggie Jackson, Dennis Eckersley and so many other great players that were so entertaining to watch.
Then in 1989, GOAT Ricky Henderson joined the team, and they won the World Series. I was ready to bleed green and gold forever!
Over the past 37 years, I have attended games with college classmates, friends, my parents, co-workers, visiting out-of-town relatives, my husband, and my children.
We went to games for Mother’s Day, birthdays, little league days and any other reason you can imagine. I have shared so many wonderful experiences with family and friends at the Coliseum, and I am deeply saddened (and angry) to see the Oakland A’s leave.
Lawrence Sasaki, Oakland
I have been going to Oakland A's games since I was a kid.
I still remember the old wooden bleachers way before Mount Davis was built.
My mom, Florence, was a big A's fan, and we went to many A's games together and with family and friends.
Even in later years when my mom had to use a cane, she couldn't wait to get to the ballpark and get up those concrete stairs to our seats in the second deck.
Once there, she wouldn't leave her seat until the game was over.
I had fun singing ‘Take me out to the ball game’ with her in the 7th inning stretch, and she'd laugh when I did the Bernie Lean when Coco Crisp was still with the team.
Even on Mother's Day, she wanted to be at the ballpark rooting on her beloved Oakland Athletics. We went to games until the year she passed away in 2017 at age 92.
Maureen O'Neil, Oakland
Maureen O'Neil throws out the first pitch.
In 1992, I won a contest to throw out the first pitch at an A’s game.
I assumed it was one of those dainty little pitches - from a front-row seat to the catcher a few feet away.
Boy, was I surprised when I was told I would be on the pitcher’s mound! I practiced for two weeks.
My confidence was boosted when my uncle, Mario Lavagnino, loaned me his Oakland Oaks jersey. He had played with the Oaks decades ago, and was excited to share the magic.
It was the first game after Canseco was traded, and Mark McGwire was looking a little lonely as he walked by.
I was announced as an Oaks pitcher with my jersey number.
Tony La Russa tipped his hat to me as I walked past.
I was throwing to Terry Steinbach and didn’t want to hit the dirt, so I gave him a rainbow throw. It was such a perfect day – and the A’s won!
I’m happy to take credit for the win, which broke their losing streak.
Leslie Wilson, Oakland
My then husband brought our son who was 1 year old to Opening Day back in 1987.
Steve Physioc was doing the report on KTVU Sports, it was before the game, and when the camera panned to my husband and son.
My husband pulled my son’s pacifier out of his son’s mouth, and Steve Physioc, said, "A’s Fans are popping out all over the place." It was a memorable report that was shown on the news and received a lot of laughs from our family.
I wish I could see that clip again because that was a memorable moment for us and our love for the Oakland A’s.
My son continued the tradition by bringing my grandson and his Dad to the ballpark to watch our favorite baseball team.
Belinda Gutierrez, Vallejo/Colorado
Belinda Gutierrez and family.
My grandparents have been going to games since the beginning in 1968.
They took me and my sister every summer to games. And we continued that till this day.
I personally have moved to Colorado, but made sure to bring my son to experience the magic of the Coliseum.
The Oakland A‘s are huge part of our family and we will all be there on Thursday to say goodbye.
Jessica Lavatai, Oakley
Jessica Lavatai and family.
My dad, Ray, passed away August 9, 2022.
The same night, the Oakland A’s were honoring A's catcher Ray Fosse.
We bulk-ordered shirts from Last Dive Bar for his funeral.
They told the Oakland A’s about us.
Last Dive Bar and the Oakland A’s gifted us 40 tickets and parking passes for our whole family to go so we could honor ‘Papa Ray.'
They put us on the Jumbotron, TV and the A’s Cast the next day. It was a very special night we will never forget.
Tiffany Greenland, Oakland
Five years ago, I met my husband here at the Oakland A's.
We work together and we have been together ever since.
It's been a fairy tale ever since. We met on Mother's Day back in 2019, and three months later we got married. One of my favorite memories!
Kathy Neisse, San Leandro
I'm a lifelong East Bay kid, raised on the Oakland Raiders and Oakland A's.
The Coliseum has been a part of my life for years. I was a "Day on the Green" kid back in the late '70's. My brothers worked in the old out of town scoreboard in the late 80's until Mt. Davis arrived. My husband and I attended games all the time. Both of our boys were raised coming to A's games. Dollar dogs, 99 cent tickets with my Safeway Club Card. We were on the 3rd deck as a family for game 20 of the streak.
I loved watching the ushers do their job. After almost 35 years in banking, I began focusing on my next career. I wanted to grow up and retire so I could get paid to watch baseball! I retired in 2016 and in 2017 I joined the A's as an usher. I've loved most every minute. Why? Because I love A's baseball! I love the Coliseum. It's a baseball ballpark, not an amusement park that offers baseball as a sideline! And I love talking to people about A's baseball.
Am I gonna miss this? Hell to the yes.
Laurie VaVaque Daw, Napa
This is me, in 1970 on Charlie O the Mule, the Oakland A’s mascot.
He was owned by Charles Finley, but he resided on my uncle’s ranch - Skyline Ranch.
My uncle, Stanley Cosca, loved taking a very groomed and handsome Charlie O to the game. He would let kids sit on him on the field prior to the game starting. Such great memories.
Karen Haynes, Stockton
Nathan Haynes was drafted to the A's.
As lifelong A’s fans, it was a dream to learn that our son, Nathan Haynes, had been selected, right before graduation from Pinole Valley High School, by the Oakland A’s in the 1st Round of the 1997 draft. (He was traded to the Anaheim Angels in 1999.)
When he was invited to warm-up with the team at the Coliseum on his birthday, we asked to have it announced on the Jumbo-tron, (shown on the picture). Art Howe, the team manager at the time, allowed us to sit in a skybox and I will never forget the feeling of being there at the Coliseum as both a fan of our favorite team and a proud fan of my favorite – and only – son. I saved the 2007 ticket from a game at the Coliseum when Nathan was with the Anaheim Angels.
Talk about coincidence and synchronicity, Nathan’s great-uncle, Alan Dones, is part of the African American Sports & Entertainment Group that recently purchased the Coliseum from the city, so watching over the Coliseum again seems oddly familiar.
The Oakland Coliseum will remain a treasured part of the history and legend of the entire Oakland Bay Area. Gone, but never to be forgotten.