The last game at the Oakland Coliseum showcased what made it great

Jason Burke | Sep 27, 2024

Sep 26, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Oakland Athletics players tip their caps to the crowd after the game against the Texas Rangers at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images / Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

OAKLAND -- For the final time, "let's go Oak-land" chants rang around the Oakland Coliseum on Thursday. As fans lingered around the ballpark for the final time, soaking in 57 years of memories, the grounds crew ripped out home plate, which will serve as a souvenir for someone. Oakland is no longer home.

This past week has been on the calendar all year long, and with each passing day, the A's leaving town has gotten closer. On Thursday, with each pitch that was thrown, the inevitable loomed. Starter J.T. Ginn was almost pitching too well on the way to his first career win.

After the final out was recorded, Mark Kotsay and the team took to the field, with the A's manager taking to the microphone. After a tearful goodbye, he started what he called "the greatest cheer in baseball," which was immediately followed by 46,889 fans chanting "let's go Oakland!"

pic.twitter.com/Bhsb8AV8Rq

— Jason Burke (@ByJasonB) September 27, 2024

These are the final moments of Major League Baseball in Oakland. A's fans packed the Coliseum one final time, and they did so peacefully. There have been plenty of stories written that have tried to paint the fanbase as an unruly mob (that also doesn't come to games), but as they have done with every big event the past two years, the fans have policed themselves. Nobody wanted the final image of the Coliseum to be anything less than peaceful.

This is what MLB is leaving, and with as many times as the fans have shown what they're about, and what they're capable of, they have helped change the narrative surrounding the A's the past two seasons. Before the "reverse boycott" the fans were to blame for the A's relocation. In every event since, from the Battle of the Bay, to Fan's Fest, and now the finale in Oakland, the fans have hammered home the point that they are not why baseball is leaving The Town.

The fans have even made people wonder why anyone would ever choose to leave such a passionate fan base behind, let alone continuously kick them on the way out. Building this kind of passion in a group of sports fans isn't easy, and it's going to take some time. It has always existed in Oakland, despite the way the fans have been treated but numerous ownership groups.

The Oakland Coliseum has always been about the people that fill the seats, that walk the halls, that do all of the behind-the-scenes work that makes this place run.

Brent Rooker summed it up best after the final game at the Coliseum, when speaking about why the ballpark in Oakland is unique. "It's unique in that there's no frills, right? I think a lot of stadiums, good or bad I'm not commenting on that, but have kind of become less about the actual baseball game and more just about an entertainment product.

"I think what the Coliseum offers is like, here's just a bunch of seats, and here's a field, and there's gonna be a baseball game happening, and that's why everyone is here. That's really cool. The people that come to these games were there to watch a baseball game and to show their passion for their team and their city, and that's their sole goal."