Bay Area Native, Former A's Shortstop Marcus Semien, Sad To See MLB Leaving Oakland

Texas Rangers All-Star Marcus Semien grew up attending games at Oakland Coliseum and spent six season playing for his hometown Athletics. He's as sad as anyone the A's are leaving the Ba y Area.

Sep 24, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Oakland Athletics fans in the right field bleachers during the game against the Texas Rangers during the fifth inning at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images / Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images

OAKLAND — Marcus Semien figures he was probably around five years old the first time he attended a baseball game at Oakland Coliseum.

The Bay Area native, who played college baseball at Cal and spent six career-transforming seasons with the Oakland Athletics, is as sad as any devoted A's fan that the club is leaving the Bay Area.

Semien's Texas Rangers, who play the Athletics in the final baseball game at the 58-year-old Coliseum (baseball started in April 1968) at 2:37 p.m. (CT) Thursday.

"When the game's over, and we take the bus out of here, it'll really hit me," said Semien, MLB's active leader with 409 games played at the Oakland Coliseum. "I played a lot of baseball here. I've spent a lot of offseasons here, worked out, worked out in this weight room, and developed myself into a Major League player here. So that's the part that really stings."

Athletics owner Josh Fisher is moving the team to Las Vegas, where a new ballpark is being built. The Oakland Raiders moved to Vegas in 2020, and the NBA's Golden State Warriors, who used to play next door to the Coliseum in Oracle Arena, moved to Chase Center in San Francisco in 2019.

As a Bay Area native with many family members still living in the area, Semien appreciated getting the chance to come back home and play games in front of friends and family. He loves the Coliseum and raves about the well-groomed playing surface, but for Semien, the stadium is secondary to MLB leaving Oakland.

Former #Athletics player and Oakland native Marcus Semien on saying goodbye to the Oakland Coliseum this week ... pic.twitter.com/mxkQCWx7yk

— Stefan Stevenson (@StefanVersusTex) September 24, 2024

"It's all about the people. It's not about what this stadium is; it's about the people who play on the field," he said. "It's something special for this community. We, as Bay Area people, like new and nice things but haven't always been able to get it. So it seems like everything's kind of shifted to the city or Las Vegas, but this area is still here. People are still here, so it's disappointing they can't experience it anymore."

Semien, who turned 34 last week, is one of six players with at least 400 hits, 235 runs, 75 doubles, and 35 stolen bases at Oakland Coliseum. The others are Hall of Famers Ricky Henderson and Reggie Jackson, and Carney Lansford, Jose Canseco, and Bert Campaneris.

Semien collected career hit 1,500 in his first at-bat Wednesday night. It's likely to be his last of many accomplishments on a baseball diamond in Oakland.

You can follow Stefan Stevenson on X @StefanVersusTex.

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