OAKLAND, Calif. — The White Sox played their last game at Oakland Coliseum, which is being vacated by the Athletics after the season.
It was an appropriate good-bye and "good riddance" for the Sox, for whom the Coliseum has been something of a house of horrors. The A's 3-2 come-from-behind victory left the Sox with a 144-174 in Oakland since 1968 including 29-57 since 2001, with losing streaks of 10, eight and seven and 18 one-run losses. In the last five years, a Wild Card was lost (2020) and an American League record 21-game losing streak was reached (Monday).
The Sox have won one series at the Coliseum since 2007, in 2022.
Sox special advisor Tony La Russa has better memories. He broke in as a player with the A’s in the 1960s and returned as a manager in 1986 after he was fired by the Sox and he guided the A’s to World Series appearances in consecutive years from 1988-90, winning in 1989 with teams led by Mark McGwire, Rickey Henderson and Dennis Ecklersley, to name just a few superstars.
“I walked into great talent and memories of October baseball,” La Russa told the Sun-Times Wednesday. “The fans here responded. I’m still haunted by the losses in ’88 and ’90.”
La Russa said the ballpark, with its huge space in foul territory and heavy night air benefiting pitchers, was an asset.
“It made for solid fundamental baseball,” he said, and the necessity to manufacture runs when needed.
La Russa’s first memory was of Opening Day, on April 18, 1968, the A’s first game in Oakland. An infielder, he was on the bench for a 3-1 loss to the Orioles.
LaRussa was with the Sox during the series, watching the A's (48-68) take two of three from the Sox, who fell to 28-89. He soaked in the ballpark while chatting with Eckersley for more than an hour in the dugout Monday.
“It’s difficult to watch it deteriorate, to the point of sadness,” La Russa said of the A's leaving town.
They will temporarily relocate to West Sacramento, starting in 2025, until their ballpark is built in their new home of Las Vegas.
La Russa will be back Aug. 17 when Jose Canseco, Eddie Joost, Bill King, Steinbach, Miguel Tejada and Dick Williams are inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame. La Russa will introduce Canseco.
In his second start since recovering from Tommy John surgery, right-hander Davis Martin took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and finished with six scoreless innings of two-hit ball. He struck out four and walked one.
"Having some success in the big leagues post TJ brings a lot of confidence the next week and the week after that," Martin said. "It’s a really good starting point for me to build off of and go from there."
Martin's cutter was particularly effective.
"He can really spin it and his fastball is sneaky," manager Pedro Grifol said. "He keeps people honest, he pitches inside, he’s really good, man. He’s a piece in this organization moving forward."
