Chris Bassitt Takes Blue Jays up to Mount Davis

Jason Burke | Jun 8, 2024

Jul 2, 2023; Oakland, California, USA; Seagulls sit atop of the Oakland Coliseum during the seventh inning between the Oakland Athletics and the Chicago White Sox. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports / Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

After tossing eight superb innings against the Oakland A's on Friday night and etching his name in the Coliseum record books, Chris Bassitt took some of teammates on a hike up a mountain on Saturday morning. That entailed walking all the way up Mt. Davis.

A special day in The Bay 💙

Chris Bassitt spent six seasons with the @Athletics.

Today, he took our pitchers and staff up to the top of the Coliseum to visit the legendary Mount Davis! pic.twitter.com/m3T4J4hboT

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) June 8, 2024

Bassitt spent six seasons with the A's after being traded to the team as part of the Jeff Samardzija deal with the Chicago White Sox, and in his time with Oakland he turned himself into one of the most reliable starters in baseball. Coming into this season he has finished in the top-10 in Cy Young voting in three of the last four seasons, with the lone exception being his 15-9 campaign in 2022 with the New York Mets when he held a 3.42 ERA.

The trip up to Mount Davis has been one that many visitors have taken this season, from St. Louis Cardinals beat writers to Houston Astros media, and now Blue Jays players. With this being the final season for the A's at the Coliseum, everyone is trying to make their last visit to the historic park a memorable one, and taking in all of the sights it has to offer.

In a weird twist of fate, Mount Davis, which was installed in 1996 for the returning of the NFL's Raiders, actually took away much of the beauty that the Coliseum once offered. It now blocks out the Oakland Hills and feels more like an industrial park, which has led to the negative perception of the Coliseum today.

Oakland-Alameda Coliseum 1993 - Home of @Athletics, formerly @Raiders. View was amazing b4 Mt Davis built to lure Raiders back to Oak. More in my blog about the Raiders move to Vegas - https://t.co/r3LFthVrKz

#oaklandathletics #athletics #selltheteam #raiders #oaklandballers pic.twitter.com/xUtLrplsb4

— Stadium Vagabond (@StadiumVagabond) June 7, 2024

Bassitt said after Friday's start that what he'll remember most about the Coliseum is the people and the connections that he's built in that ballpark. On Saturday he built more memories with his current teammates at the park he used to call home.