Tigers Manager A.J. Hinch on Final Game at the Oakland Coliseum

Jason Burke | Sep 8, 2024

Sep 21, 2023; Oakland, California, USA; Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch (14) talks to the media in the dugout before the game against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images / Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

With the Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics set to play their final game of the series, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch was asked about his last visit to the Oakland Coliseum. He walked around the ballpark ahead of Sunday's finale, visiting Mount Davis and pointing out Stanford to as many people as he could.

"I remember coming here as a super young, pretty naive guy with what the big leagues was all about. And this was the first introduction. So it is bittersweet to come here for the last time."

Hinch made his big-league debut on April 1 in 1998, in what he still holds as the hardest MLB debut of all time. It came with catching A's knuckleballer Tom Candiotti while also batting against Red Sox ace Pedro Martínez at the height of his powers.

Following Friday's game against the Tigers, A's manager Mark Kotsay said of the atmosphere at the Coliseum, "Great atmosphere tonight. I don't want to say that it's not going to be that same atmosphere next year [in Sacramento] cause we just don't know. There's something about this place that's special when [the fans] come out and when they get behind us."

Hinch echoed that sentiment on Sunday. "This was an unbelievably fun place to come. It's not just the kind of worn down, run down, you know, different atmosphere that people sometimes wrongfully characterize it as.

"And then also, the fans have been incredibly consistent. You know, Chris Fetter said to me yesterday, when we were standing there, how much energy there was in the park, how loud it is. It's the noise makers in right field. It's the signs. It's the people behind our dugout that remind us they're not rooting for us. I mean, there's a lot of things that come with coming to Oakland that creates an atmosphere that is really unique and fun."

Hinch also has experience in Sacramento, playing for the River Cats when he was with the A's and the 'Cats were an affiliate of the team. He said that he wasn't terribly excited to be there at the time since he had been sent down from Oakland in 2000, and was part of the club that opened up Raley Field, now known as Sutter Health Park.

"I wasn't necessarily happy to be there (in the minors), so maybe that feeling will rear itself again, because it will remind me that Oakland is no longer here, but Sacramento is a great city and a great place to play I played there for one summer, and I'll be interested to see the changes in the ballpark, in the venue to make it Major League quality."

It was obvious that Hinch had a lot of feelings heading into the final game of this series, his final game at the Coliseum. When the A's leave the Coliseum, and Oakland, Hinch, like many A's fans, will be left without a place to celebrate his core memories.

"There's a lot of pride in this ballpark. There's a lot of history with or without me, but it's a special place, because it was the first time I ever called myself a big leaguer."