This afternoon, the Oakland A’s play the Texas Rangers in the A’s final home game after 56 years at the Coliseum. Forty-six thousand fans will pack the overpriced seats, sold out for the A’s adios, as the players step onto the home field wearing “Oakland” lettered on their jerseys for the last time.
Too many words have been written, with multiple theories sliced, diced and grilled over the media’s flames on who, what, when, where, how and — above all — why the A’s are leaving Oakland. But for me, it’s not about the years spent on negotiations and the billions of dollars tossed around. It’s about the emotions that beloved teams such as the A’s inspire in their communities, and the fans who make sports a vital part of our culture.
After all, sports venues are one of our last town squares. Sure, fans will boo or curse or do embarrassing things. But most of the time, they all get along. They smile, high-five, fist bump, dance, hug and eat — boy do they eat! Where else in this divided world do you see so many thousands from every background come together so well?
I’ve been involved in many highs and lows in my 50-year career in the sports world, and friends will ask, “What is your all-time most memorable Oakland A’s moment?”
The answer is easy: Every moment walking around the Oakland Coliseum during the 14 years of the Haas family ownership and seeing the A’s fans’ absolute joy. Today’s game offers one last chance to dance and sing in the stands to Kool & the Gang’s A’s anthem “Celebration.”
Afterward, Oakland Coliseum’s 46,000 seats will be empty. Gone will be the hearts, minds and souls filled with the green and gold loyalty that drove 80 million visits through the turnstiles since 1968.
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Oakland’s community groups will no longer use A’s ticket sales to raise money and awareness with leaders throwing the first pitch. Kids who joyously ran around the bases will have to check videos and photos to make sure it wasn’t a dream. Many fans will remember catching a foul ball at the Coliseum — a great moment captured on TV.
But instead of Krazy George starting “The Wave,” the fans will sadly wave goodbye.
It’s a bittersweet goodbye. Maybe it’s just me, but how tone deaf can the team be to promote giving away only 25,000 replica Coliseums along with a Final Game Commemorative Ticket? What about the remainder of the sellout crowd who won’t be able to acquire this token of their last visit? And why the awkward “exit voucher” system to distribute the replicas?
The first A’s home game of the 2025 baseball season will be played at Sutter Health Field in Sacramento. It will be a sellout, with 14,000 fans jammed into their seats. But the players on the field won’t be wearing “Oakland” on their jerseys.
They’ll be just the A’s.
Andy Dolich is a sports business consultant and a former top executive with the Oakland A’s, San Francisco 49ers and Golden State Warriors.
