Reflections on the end of baseball in the Oakland Coliseum

Last night, the New York Yankees began a three-game set in Oakland to take on the Athletics. Based on the calendar and the standings, this series should not be all that eventful: the Yankees have clinched the postseason and are trying to secure a division title and the top seed in the American League, while the A's have already been eliminated from postseason contention and have begun to look towards 2025. Six years after the two teams faced off in the 2018 AL Wild Card Game, the two franchises are in two very different places.

And yet, this series represents the end of an era, for barring something unexpected, this weekend marks the final time the Yankees will visit the Oakland Coliseum.

By now, most people who follow baseball even semi-regularly know the story. In a move straight of out of the movie Major League, the Athletics' ownership team, led by John Fisher, put together a subpar product on the field in order to keep fans away and facilitate a move to Las Vegas. Despite the best efforts of everybody else involved, the Athletics will be officially leaving the Bay Area at the end of this season, intending to spend three to four seasons at the minor league ballpark in Sacramento before ultimately moving in to the not-yet-existing stadium on the Vegas strip.

To say that the Oakland Coliseum is an iconic ballpark would be an understatement. You can critique its current state of course, but it's at least memorable. Having opened back in 1968, it is the fifth-oldest major league stadium still in use, and the third oldest in the American League (only Fenway Park, opened in 1912, and Angel Stadium, opened in 1966, come close). By my count, the Yankees have played almost 300 games at the Coliseum during the regular season, plus another five during the four playoff matchups between them. While I don't have easy access to the numbers to calculate exactly where that ranks among ballparks the Yankees have visited, I doubt that too many stadiums hosting teams outside the AL East come close.

For many Yankees fans, the Oakland Coliseum has been the site of many great baseball memories. The 1981 Bombers punched their ticket to a World Series matchup with the Los Angeles Dodgers after completing a three-game sweep of former skipper Billy Martin's "Billy Ball" A's. AL Rookie of the Year Dave Righetti fired six shutout innings and Willie Randolph hit a solo shot to break the scoreless tie before catching the final out in the ninth on a pop by Wayne Gross.

Incidentally, Game 3 of the 1981 ALCS is also famous for the first on-screen depiction of "The Wave" at a sporting event (while some claim it was created there, written records reference it at a hockey game in 1979).

In the late '80s and '90s, the Coliseum did become a House of Horrors for the Yankees. The Bash Brothers and excellent pitching propelled the A's to become a dynasty that captured the pennant three years in a row. Those coincided with some awful years in the Bronx, and the A's went 12-0 against the Yanks in 1990 alone. From 1985-93, New York went a miserable 17-37 at the Coliseum, which looked far more picturesque back then without "Mount Davis."

In the new millennium, the two teams then met up again for a pair of ALDS matchups, both of which would go a full five games. The 2000 team once again punched their ticket to the next round, this time the ALCS, with a victory in the Oakland Coliseum sparked by an explosive six-run first . The 2001 team, meanwhile, had their backs against the wall down 2-0 only to go on a 3-0 run to take the series against these Moneyball Era A's — a comeback sparked by The Flip in Game 3 at the Coliseum.

While the Coliseum has recaptured some of the old House of Horrors atmosphere for the Yankees in recent years — they have been swept at the ballpark three times in the last ten seasons, and have left the city with a series win only twice in that span — they've still managed to put together some historic moments, such as Domingo Germán's perfect game there last season.

At the end of the day, it's probably the right call for the Athletics to move out of the Oakland Coliseum: it's an old stadium, prone to sewage floods and a frequent home to wild and feral animals , and by all accounts, not exactly conducive to a fun fan experience. Even so, it's going to be weird not seeing this ballpark on a regular basis anymore — for all its flaws, it is iconic.

In an ideal world, I would end this nostalgic reflection with a hope that the new stadium across the street or down by the waterfront or anywhere else in the Bay Area would be able to maintain the charm of the Coliseum in its heyday while providing upgraded facilities for players and fans alike. Unfortunately, this is not an ideal world, and their fans are getting screwed. As such, there is only one proper way for any baseball fan to conclude an about the Oakland Coliseum.

Sell the team, John Fisher.