Blue Jays Chris Bassitt Grabs Coliseum Dirt, Says Goodbye

Jason Burke | Jun 8, 2024

Jun 7, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Chris Bassitt (40) delivers a pitch against the Oakland Athletics during the first inning at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports / D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports

OAKLAND -- Toronto Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt pitched his last game at the Oakland Coliseum on Friday night, spinning eight innings of one-run ball, and ultimately leaving with a no-decision. Over the course of the game, Bassitt lowered his career ERA at the Coliseum to 2.36, good for second-best in Coliseum history behind Paul Lindblad's 2.29.

Before he left the mound in Oakland for the final time, Bassitt grabbed some dirt and put it in his pocket. He said after the game, "I don't know if I'll ever see this place again."

Bassitt also found himself in the middle of a reverse boycott game, where the A's drew 16,046 fans, their high for the season. This boycott wasn't as publicized as last year's event, and that's because the message was different. This year the hope was to enjoy one last game for many fans and to have it feel like going to a game before the relocation announcement.

There were "Sell the team" chants, but the vibe in the ballpark was more celebratory and invested in the baseball game. For many fans, it was nice to see Bassitt on the mound pitching like he did in his time with the A's.

When asked if he heard the chants, Bassitt said, "I've been hearing those for a long time. Good or bad, I just block out the fans. I gotta focus. If I'm thinking about the fans and what they're saying, I'm not really doing my job. I understand the passion."

The fans brought their chants, too. In the top of the fifth, after Bo Bichette singled, the crowd erupted in their loudest "SELL THE TEAM!" chants of the evening. From the sound of it, this was not planned beforehand and was more of an impromptu chant than last year's carefully orchestrated one--also with Hogan Harris on the mound. The A's left-hander has now started two reverse boycott games, and had gone a total of 13 innings, allowed seven hits, one run, walked two, and struck out five.

"Sell the team" chants coming through on the A's TV broadcast pic.twitter.com/rezIb3Unnm

— Ben Ross (@BenRossTweets) June 8, 2024

We asked Bassitt what memories he will take with him from playing so many games at the Coliseum, now that he has made his final start here.

"I would say a lot of people would come here and probably see how bad Oakland's Coliseum is kind of thing and I just see people. I see like, Bo Mel, I see Olson. Chappy doing stupid stuff. Semien, I see Pinder, Canha, I see all those guys. This place obviously is very, very special to me.

"Played here for like seven years. There's a million different places in [the Coliseum] that I just see funny, weird things that have happened. And it just brings me back to kind of like my best friends in the game."

Now that his start is out of the way, Bassitt plans to go visit with some of the people that are still around from his time with the team. "A building is a building. I care about the people more so than anything."

With the score tied 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth, the first pitch that Bassitt didn't throw for the Jays on Friday night was belted by JJ Bleday over the right field fence, giving the A's their fourth walk-off win of the season.