Fun facts you may have not known about the A's, Coliseum
OAKLAND, Calif. - A few years after embracing the "Rooted in Oakland" slogan, the Oakland A's are playing their last baseball game at the Coliseum on Thursday, headed to Sacramento, and then their ultimate destination – a future, yet-to-be-built stadium in Las Vegas.
The team has played 57 seasons in Oakland, and is the third professional sports team to leave The Town, following the Raiders football team (also to Vegas, and the Warriors basketball team (to San Francisco.)
Here are some fun facts you might not have known about the team and the stadium:
Nine World Series
The A's won nine World Series titles and had 19 seasons of futility with 100 or more losses.
American baseball player Jerry Grote behind American baseball player Ray Fosse (1947-2021) during an 1973 World Series match between the Oakland Athletics and the New York Mets, at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California, October 1
Four moves
The A’s departure from Oakland makes them the first Major League Baseball franchise to move – or have plans to move – to four different occasions.
After starting in Philadelphia in 1901, the A’s moved to Kansas City in 1955, then to Oakland in 1968.
The team plans to play the next three years in Sacramento, as they wait for their new ballpark to be built in Vegas.
Baseball: Overall aerial view of RingCentral Coliseum during Oakland Athletics vs Los Angeles Angels game.
Coliseum lore
While the Coliseum often gets mocked for being old and rundown, the stadium has been the site for three of the 24 perfect games thrown in baseball history.
It's also where Rickey Henderson set the record for career stolen bases.
Ricky Henderson becomes the MLB stolen base king, with 939 stolen bases. 5/1/1991
Moneyball
The movie, Moneyball, was based on a 2003 book Berkeley-author Michael Lewis wrote about how Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane tried to put together a competitive team. Brad Pitt played Beane.
(L-R) Actor Chris Pratt, actor Brad Pitt and director Bennett Miller arrive at the premiere of Columbia Pictures' "Moneyball" at the Paramount Theatre of the Arts on September 19, 2011 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images)
The Mustache Gang
The Mustache Gang is a term coined for the 1972 Oakland A's team that broke the traditionally conservative baseball views by sporting mustaches. More specifically, outfielder Reggie Jackson showed up to spring training with a mustache, which the front desk didn't like. As the story goes, then owner Charlie Finley told the manager to have Jackson shave it off, and Jackson told the manger where he could shove it.
Finley tried a reverse-psychology approach, asking some players to grow mustaches, hoping they wouldn't do it.
Finley's plan backfired, leading to the birth of The Mustache Gang.
Finley ended up coming around, and he ended up growing a mustache himself. In fact, he sponsored a contest for every fan who showed up to the Coliseum that day wearing a mustache got in for free.
CIRCA 1974: Reggie Jackson #9 of the Oakland Athletics poses for a portrait before an MLB game. Jackson played for 21 seasons with 4 different teams, was a 14-time All-Star, 1973 American League MVP and was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 19
Team mascot
Before the current mascot of Stomper the elephant, the A's mascot was a mule named Charlie O, named after the team's previous owner, the late Charles O. "Charlie" Finley. Finley sold the team in 1980.
Laurie VaVaVaque Daw of Napa told KTVU that her uncle kept the mule on his ranch and let her ride it before games.
Sell the team
Oakland A's fans are mad at team owner John Fisher for not keeping the team in Oakland.
Fans have either been boycotting games, or attending the games with chants of "Sell the team."
Others have plastered the word "Sell" on highway fences throughout the East Bay.
'Sell the Team' signs seen in Oakland. June 3, 2024
Done deal
This summer, the city of Oakland sold its half of the Coliseum to the African American Sports Entertainment Group.
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said the sale represented a huge investment in East Oakland and represented needed action after a lot of discussion about economic development in the area.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.