Former Players, Celebrities Speak Out About Athletics’ Exit From Oakland

The Oakland A’s played their final home game at the Coliseum on Thursday, ending their storied history in Oakland after 57 seasons. From 1968-2024, the A’s made the postseason 21 times, winning six pennants and four World Series. Many among the announced crowd of 46,889 had been there for the pivotal moments in franchise history.

The occasion of the A’s 3-2 win over the Texas Rangers offered fans one last chance to see their team in person. The A’s will call Sacramento home next year, a planned stop on the way to the franchise’s planned relocation to Las Vegas.

After the final out Thursday, franchise legend Rickey Henderson — for whom the Coliseum field is named — was among those greeting the A’s players as they walked off the field one last time.

Players then stood in a line and tipped their hats to face the crowd, before manager Mark Kotsay grabbed a microphone to thank fans and players past and present.

Chicago Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner told Yahoo! Sports that he grew up attending games at the Coliseum and began playing baseball at a nearby field at age 6.

“I think with the (NBA‘s Golden State) Warriors and (NFL‘s Las Vegas) Raiders leaving already, it does feel a little more real,” Hoerner told Yahoo’s Russell Dorsey. “Just because I think East Bay has kind of experienced that already.

“Even though they were never the fanciest stadiums, to have all three of those franchises in the same parking lot was a really cool thing to grow up with. Just great fan bases for all those teams, and [I’ve] got a lot of fond memories.”

Henderson, who attended high school at Oakland Tech before calling the A’s franchise his own for 14 of his 25 seasons, reminisced on his time in Oakland in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday.

“The sad part about it is all these people that work here that I saw for decades,” Henderson told the Chronicle’s Susan Slusser. “Some of them, working here is what enables them to get out of bed to go do something. I’m sad for them.”

Henderson said Commissioner Rob Manfred told him that Oakland will not get an expansion team after the A’s leave; however, Slusser cited an MLB source who denied that Manfred spoke to Henderson.

While some reacted with sadness, the occasion of the move also elicited anger.

When A’s owner John Fisher penned an open letter to fans Monday sharing his thoughts on the move, former A’s pitcher Trevor May was among those who took a parting shot at Fisher on social media.

“Dear John,” May wrote, “With all due respect, which is more than you likely deserve, save it. Be an adult. Get in front of a camera and say it with your chest. Releasing a letter, clearly written by someone else, and including a bunch of names you DEFINITELY do not know, is just disrespectful to those that love the team.”

“Either stand up with pride or keep hiding,” May’s post concluded. “Pick one, we’re tired.”

In an email to The Athletic, Oakland native Tom Hanks said he was still in disbelief that MLB allowed the move to take place.

“The Oakland A’s — not the East Bay Athletics or the California Golden A’s — the Oakland A’s could have/should have been the Northern California version of the the Cubs in Wrigley, the BoSox in Fenway, Pittsburgh‘s Buccos on the Allegheny, Cleveland‘s Guardians on the shores of Erie — beloved ball-teams with eternal hope every Opening Day until the millennium comes,” Hanks wrote. “I don’t blame that loss on the city managers of Oakland, nor the taxpayers of Alameda County. The owners and baseball blew the lead.”

As for the current A’s players, they understood full well the gravity of the moment.

“This is probably the coolest moment of my life,” A’s closer Mason Miller, who was on the mound when the final out at the Coliseum was recorded, told NBC Sports Bay Area in an interview on the field after the game.. “It’s impossible to put into words.”

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