The A’s are still the A’s. They’re not in Philly any longer, they left Kansas as being the Yankees major league farm and now have left Oakland and the true latrine of the major leagues. Now on to a losing city in Sacramento where plenty of taxpayer money will buy tickets for a couple of years and then on to Sin City where whatever goes on there, stays there. The Angels will still get to play the A’s and some day we will have a 10-year run of where we can win against them more than we lose. I do hope they hold on to the Kelly Green and Gold trim though.
Besides the A’s already moving, the last thing I would want is a jersey and logo change
My dad retired to Arizona. The last game we went to was about 10 years ago, spring training at Tempe Diablo. He was doing pretty well for 90. He was really happy, soaking up the sun with us. My wife and my dad are both gone now. Starting a new tradition. Took my new lady friend to Anaheim at the end of the season to see Halos beat the White Sox. She loved it. I am a very lucky man.
Spring training with Dad at 90 is lucky, indeed. Sorry for your losses and glad you’ve found somebody you enjoy.
My dad made it 3 days short of 99. I guess I have a shot at extreme old age.
as I’ve said more than a few times, my last trip to the ballpark with my Dad was in late the 80s at the Oakland Coliseum. Unfortunately Mitchell Page his a walk-off HR to spoil the afternoon. Still, it’s a beloved memory.
Good for you guys. I have been to the Coliseum both before and after the football conversion. You can still be an A’s fan no matter what…just close your eyes a while.
Baseball is the ultimate father and son game. From playing catch in the back yard to sitting at the ballpark spending time together, baseball gives us a chance to spend time together doing something we love.
Glad you got to spend your childhood going to games with your Dad. You two will always cherish those memories.
The good news is that father/son time is also great at spring training, college, and minor league games. The tradition might change but the important part, time with Dad, will still be there.
Father/daughter too!
Yes, indeed. Though for me, it’s only at the Big A. Spring Training for me is buddy time.
Cherished Memories and Bittersweet Goodbyes: Our A’s Game tradition
Now that I have had the time to ruminate on the A’s leaving Oakland, I think the bittersweet is gone and now it is just bitter. In the moment experiencing the last Friday game at the Coliseum with my dad was amazing and it was a great time. Now almost 2 months later it’s hard for me to imagine not being able to go to at least 10 games a year. My whole family would go, my friends would go, I’d go with just my dad, and I’d go with just my friends. I have countless memories at the Coliseum, my first ever A’s game was at just 8 months old. My last ever A’s game was at 17. I had witnessed some great baseball in those 17 years and some pretty bad baseball. Going all the back to Coco Crisp, Grant Balfour, Jed Lowrie, Yoenis Cespedes, Josh Donaldson, Sean Doolittle.
Those were just a few of my favorites players when I was younger. The last game that my Dad and I went to was on a Friday, the last Friday game ever at the Coliseum. I know most of, if not all of you reading this are Angel fans but just a few years ago when John Fisher somewhat cared about putting a good team on the field, the Coliseum would be packed on a Friday night. All of that is beside the point of the A’s playing the Yankees on September 20th. The A’s lost 4-2 in extra innings and it was a fun game. In the end, of course I wanted to the A’s to win but it really didn’t matter as I watched that game with my Dad.
Now just to touch a little bit on the emotional part of they A’s leaving. I absolutely loved going to A’s games, as a little kid I would look forward to it so much. My dad I and had a little tradition where if my attendance had been good all year and I had good grades, I could skip school and go to opening day; which is a day game and I would look forward to it all year. It pretty much bribed me to do good in school just so I could skip one day to watch my favorite team and players. The A’s used to be so exciting in the early 2010s. As I said before Donaldson and Cespedes were my favorite players at the time, and watching them in person when I was just a little kid was amazing. Cespedes was the first really flashy player of the Era on the A’s. He would barely button up his jersey, have his 4 chains popping out and bouncing around while he ran and I’ll never forget his neon arm sleeves, and not even to mention how electric he was mashing home runs and having an absolute cannon for an arm.
Now with the A’s leaving not only will I not be able to experience in person the young and uprising stars the A’s have like Lawrence Butler and Jacob Wilson. But, now if I were to have kids and I know that’s a stretch and looking into the future 10+ years, however I wanted to build a tradition with my son/kids as my dad did with me and now I wont be able to. That’s the biggest thing for me, not being able to make more memories with the Coliseum and the A’s being in Oakland. It was a big part of my life. I eat, sleep, and breathe baseball and to have the A’s stripped away from a lot of fans is sad.