Goodbye, A's: Looking back at the Oakland Coliseum's top moments

OAKLAND, Calif. - John Madden and Kenny Stabler. Dennis Eckersley and Mark McGwire. 

The Oakland Coliseum spent decades as a place that sports' biggest stars called home. 

Unless something falls through in Las Vegas, Thursday marks the last scheduled Major League Baseball or NFL game to ever be played at the iconic venue.

The Oakland Raiders left years ago, but on this day, the Oakland A’s play their final home game on the Coliseum field. 

Next year, the team will call Sacramento home, before finally moving to Las Vegas.

The team played home games at the Oakland Coliseum for 57 years. 

For most of that time, they shared the Coliseum grass with another team, the Raiders, who also relocated to Las Vegas 5 years ago.

With A’s and Raiders fans officially saying goodbye to the Coliseum, we wanted to highlight some memorable moments those two teams had during the years here in Oakland.

The Sea of Hands

The Miami Dolphins came to Oakland to play the Raiders in the 1974 AFC Divisional round of the playoffs.

The Dolphins had played in the three previous Super Bowls, having won two consecutive championships and were attempting to win an historic third in a row.

The game came down to the final minute when Raiders quarterback Kenny Stabler threw a now iconic 8 yard pass to Clarence Davis, sending the Raiders to the AFC Championship game.

Following the game, legendary Raiders coach John Madden was carried on his player's shoulders off the field.

The team went on to lose the AFC Championship game against the Pittsburgh Steelers the following week.

2003 AFC Champions

The Raiders moved back to Oakland for a second stint at the Coliseum in 1995. 

It took the team a few years to get back to their winning ways, but by 2000, the team was back in the AFC Championship game and then during the 2002 season, the team broke through and won the AFC, bringing the team back to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1983 season.

First year head coach Bill Callahan and MVP quarterback Rich Gannon led the way against the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship.

The team would end up losing Super Bowl XXXVII against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were coached by the Raiders' former head coach, John Gruden.
 

1974 World Series three-peat

A three-peat of World Series championships for the Oakland A's.

The A's moved to Oakland in 1968 and won their first championship in 1972.

They weren't done there.

The team won titles in 1973 and again in 1974, becoming the only team other than the New York Yankees in baseball history to win three consecutive World Series titles.

1989 World Series champions

Fifteen years after their last World Series championship, the A's were on top of the baseball world once again.

Making it extra sweet for A's fans, they swept their Bay Area rival, the San Francisco Giants. 

The Bay Bridge World Series is also remembered for the Loma Prieta earthquake that struck before the start of game three.

Because of damage caused by the earthquake, game three was postponed for 10 days.

1991 Ricky Henderson becomes the stolen base king

An iconic image of an iconic player. 

On May 1, 1991, Ricky Henderson became the all-time leader in stolen bases.

He raised third base above his head after stealing his record-breaking 939th base in his career.

Henderson still is the career leader, sitting nearly 500 stolen bases ahead of second place.

Dallas Braden Perfect Game

History was made at the Coliseum.

Dallas Braden pitched the nineteenth perfect game in MLB history against the Tampa Bay Rays.

He pitched the perfect game on Mother's Day in 2010.

After retiring from baseball, Braden joined the TV broadcast team for the Oakland A's.