Inside The As

A's catcher Shea Langeliers on what he'd like to keep as a memento

Jason Burke

Sep 24, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Oakland Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers (23) celebrates after hitting a RBI double against the Texas Rangers during the first inning at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images
Sep 24, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Oakland Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers (23) celebrates after hitting a RBI double against the Texas Rangers during the first inning at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images / Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images
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On Tuesday night, Oakland A's pitcher Joey Estes went viral when a picture taken by Jessica Kleinschmidt was posted to social media with the right-hander holding his souvenir from the Oakland Coliseum.

Other players have taken similar mementos, with Lawrence Butler grabbing a similarly sized print out of the team's schedule that has been signed. Max Schuemann is getting baseballs signed by his teammates and some of the clubhouse staff.

We asked Shea Langeliers if he had considered what he'd like to bring along with him, and he said home plate.

"I don't know if they'll let me take it, but I would love to be able to take home plate, if that's possible. I don't know, I haven't talked to anybody about it yet, but I feel like that'd be pretty cool."

We then pondered how often home plate is replaced, and wondered if it has been the same base for the entire time the A's have been in Oakland, which would add just another level of coolness.

So Oakland A's on SI tracked down head groundskeeper Clay Wood and asked him how often they replace home plate, and he said they do it every year. Despite the current home plate not having all 57 years of A's baseball attached to it, it's still a pretty significant memento for Shea, since that is the base that was with him throughout the entire season, a season in which he could end up with 30 home runs for the first time in his career.

This year's team is starting to find a rhythm, and when the A's reach the postseason again, they'll undoubtedly look at the 2024 campaign as when they started to show signs for the future. For those reasons, if Shea is able to get his hands on home plate as his own personal memento, it would be a pretty cool piece of not only A's history, but his own history at the Coliseum.

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Jason Burke
JASON BURKE

Jason is the host of the Locked on A's podcast, and the managing editor of Inside the A's. He's a new father and can't wait to take his son to his first baseball game at the Coliseum. 

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