Oakland A's fans savor last home game of the season
OAKLAND -- The A's lost to the Detroit Tigers 2-0 during the last home game this season. Still, Alameda resident Rachel Delgado savored her time at the Coliseum with fellow A's fans after Sunday's game.
"It was kind of heartbreaking, I came with my very longtime friend of 25 years and to see the low crowds was really, really kind of hard to come into that and not see that anybody really wanted to share this beautiful spirit of A's baseball with everybody," Delgado said.
The A's lost for the 9th time in 11 games. The game only drew a crowd of about 13,000 fans.
"I would love to come to this stadium. I've been coming since I was about 8 years old so I would like to continue to come as long as they'll have us," Delgado added.
Some wore "SELL" shirts and chanted "Sell The Team" although owner John Fisher has said he intends to move the team to Las Vegas.
"I would prefer to sell just because Fisher's history. He doesn't spend at all on his team," said Randy Moog of Sacramento County. "Until they break ground in Vegas, I'll be going to games. Soon as they break ground in Vegas, I'm looking for another team."
The Nevada teacher's union launched a campaign this summer to stop public funding for the construction of the proposed A's baseball stadium in Las Vegas.
"Nevada's priorities are misguided. They've been misguided for years. We've said jokingly that the efforts of Nevada politicians to get the A's is basically why we get all the F's," said Alexander Marks, director of strategy with the Nevada State Education Association. "So we're 48th in education, we have the highest vacancy rate among teachers and we have the largest class sizes in the country."
The Nevada State Education Association is pushing a "Schools Over Stadiums" referendum that it hopes will make the November 2024 ballot.
In the meantime, the A's have said the team will still play at the Coliseum for the 2024 season.
What happens after that is up in the air.
"We wanted to kind of soak it up and kind of just enjoy one last game in Oakland Coliseum, historic, one last hurrah," said Ryan Caley of Solano County.
Delgado and Caley said the A's are accessible for Northern California fans.
"I came here as a kid because I could afford a BART ticket and I could afford an A's ticket," Delgado said. "We can't all afford to be Giants and Warriors fans but it's a beautiful atmosphere out here and it's something that I absolutely enjoyed since my childhood and I don't want it to go anywhere else."
