Elephant Rumblings: A’s final homestand in Oakland begins tonight

MLB news roundup

Happy Friday, Athletics Nation!

The end of Oakland Athletics baseball at the Coliseum—and in Oakland, for that matter—is sadly nigh upon us.

Tonight, the final series between the Oakland A’s and New York Yankees begins. Nearly half of the top ten hitters in MLB will be on hand for this historic series between two storied franchises.

Seeing Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler take on Aaron Judge and Juan Soto figures to be a special treat, indeed.

The A’s and Yankees will battle through the weekend; then they will take on Marcus Semien and the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers in a three games series to close out 57 seasons of Athletics baseball in Oakland.

The coming week promises to be filled with fond remembrances and goodbyes along with an underpinning of bitterness, regret, and despair felt by so many players, fans, and others within the baseball world. Virtually nobody is celebrating the A’s departure besides A’s owner John Fisher, president Dave Kaval, and the handful of others who stand to benefit from the A’s half-baked plan to relocate to Las Vegas.

The A’s claim their new ballpark in Vegas should be ready for the 2028 season, and in the intervening three years they have an agreement in place to play at Sutter Health Field in Sacramento, home of the Rivercats, the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate. The A’s will not be officially branded as any city’s team during this transition.

So here we are, Athletics Nation. We have six more games at the Coli, followed by three against the Mariners in Seattle before the Oakland era of A’s baseball ends. It’s tough to accept, and for my own part I have anticipated that my A’s fandom will end come October.

But despite my utter disgust with ownership’s direction, I still have a deep affinity for this group of players—who are just beginning to really gel—that won’t be so easy to turn away from. So I’ll be day to day on the Oakland A’s.

Have a wonderful weekend, AN.

A’s Coverage:

• Ranking the most memorable jersey numbers in Oakland A’s history ($)
• The Last Week of the Oakland A’s
• History doesn’t lie: Oakland Athletics fans were always way more fun ($)
• Oakland A’s Pending Free Agents

MLB News & Interest:

• Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani reaches 50-50 in spectacular style ($)
• Ranking each MLB contender’s postseason pitching core — from shutdown to suspect ($)
• Cleveland Guardians clinch playoff spot with win vs. Minnesota Twins ($)
• Previewing The 2024-25 Free Agent Class: First Base
• Previewing The 2024-25 Free Agent Class: Catchers
• Bo Bichette Placed On Injured List Due To Fractured Finger
• An owner who ‘thinks he knows everything’ led the White Sox to historic disaster ($)
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Less than one week away.

BARTing to the Coli has been a beautiful thing.

Lugnuts All-Stars.

Ohtani goes berserk, becomes the game’s first 50/50 hitter.

I know who I’m backing in the AL this October.