Rangers star Marcus Semien believes baseball will return to Oakland

Jason Burke | Sep 25, 2024

Sep 10, 2023; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien (2) is interviewed after the Rangers victory over the Oakland Athletics at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Marcus Semien cemented himself as a big leaguer while playing for the Oakland Athletics from 2015-2020. Now with the Texas Rangers, the Bay Area native gets to be a part of the final A's games at the Oakland Coliseum.

Ahead of Tuesday's game, the second baseman described being in Oakland given the circumstances as surreal. "It's a pretty surreal thing for someone to tell you it's the last baseball games here. I still don't believe it. I think there will be baseball here at some point again."

When asked to expound upon why he thinks there will be Oakland A's baseball again, Semien said, "You look at the Bay Area in general, it's always going to be here, there's always going to be baseball fans here. This particular lot of land is still gonna be here for somebody, if they ever wanted to build a stadium. I know Jack London (Howard Terminal) never worked out, but this place is still gonna be here. If anybody ends up taking over and having the idea to bring them back, I think that a stadium here should have been the plan the whole time, but it didn't work out this time around."

As a member of the A's, he was the under-the-radar glue guy on the roster. While Matt Chapman and Matt Olson took the headlines as the corner infielders, it was Semien that became a huge part of the lineup, especially in 2019 when he hit 33 home runs and batted .285 on top of his sterling defense that provided a spark to the offense that made the team go. When the A's failed to extend him a qualifying offer or an offer of any kind following the 2020 season, the A's failed to make the postseason at all in 2021.

When he was a member of the A's, he never thought about the quality of the ballpark itself, instead focusing on the opportunity that he was given by Billy Beane and Bob Melvin to play everyday. "Once I got here, it was an opportunity to play everyday. I never thought anything about the facilities, I just thought 'wow, I get to play every day. I didn't have that opportunity in Chicago, and now I have it here.' I just tried to take that and run with it."

Despite the feelings about what is going on surrounding this series, the Rangers second baseman said that he is still focused on his team, and winning games. "I want a sweep."