Vince Cotroneo Announces Plans to Leave A's

Jason Burke | Jul 11, 2024

Sep 24, 2023; Oakland, California, USA; A general view of third base at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum before the game between the Detroit Tigers and the Oakland Athletics. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports

Oakland A's fans have been having a tough go of things lately. There is obviously the whole relocation saga that is set to rip the A's out of Oakland at the end of the 2024 season, but also mixed in has been the departure of a number of voices of A's baseball over the years.

Back in 2021, former player and beloved color commentator Ray Fosse died after a 16-year bout with cancer. Fosse had been one of the voices the team since 1986 and his fascination with Dippin' Dots is something fans can recall and delight in.

Last season play-by-play announcer Glen Kuiper was fired after saying a racial slur on air. He had been calling games in 2006.

Then yesterday, another beloved voice, this time on the radio, said they would be stepping away at the end of the year.

pic.twitter.com/krEF5m68ZA

— Vince Cotroneo (@CotroneoVince) July 10, 2024

The headline of his post was that this will be Vince Cotroneo's final season calling games for the A's, but that he is still capable and ready to continue his broadcasting career if an opportunity arises.

Controneo was originally brought into the A's booth in 2006 to fill the sudden void left by the passing of Bill King.

The A's haven't made any announcement about what will happen to Cotroneo's seat in the booth, but it would make sense if the booth became a combination of Ken Korach and Johnny Doskow, potentially with a new alternate to fill in when Korach is off.

On a personal note, when I began covering games regularly, I was always starstruck by the likes of Korach and Cotroneo because I had listened to them for so many years, spending countless hours hearing them describe baseball games. I would hang on their every word. Would a well-struck ball leave the yard? Did the 3-2 pitch land in the zone?

Because of this, it was always difficult to come up with a way to break the ice and introduce myself to either of them. Hello seemed too boring and didn't prove that I belonged (a separate struggle). Launching into a discussion about the history of A's baseball seemed like a bit much for an intro.

Then one day Vince just came up and said, "Hello" and that was all that was needed. All of the worries just faded away. We have conversations now, and it's still wild to think about.

The one thing that makes this departure a little easier for A's fans is that the team is also leaving at the end of the season, and the ones that have stuck around for this final season in Oakland may not stick around past this season either.

No matter what comes next for Cotroneo, he's going to excel at whatever the task is, like he has for the past 41 years in Major League Baseball.

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