The A’s season doesn’t officially end until the final out on Sunday in Seattle. But the final game at the Coliseum, for many, marks the end of the Oakland era.
In case you missed it, the franchise is temporarily headed to Sacramento. They’ll settle in Las Vegas in four years if things go according to plan.
Thursday is the A’s 4,493rd regular season game at the Coliseum. They played another 61 playoff games in Oakland and hosted the 1987 All-Star Game.
Here are a few of the A’s most memorable moments at the Coliseum since the A’s made their Bay Area debut on April 17, 1968:
Sept. 4, 2002 – The streak lives on
The A’s have more walk-off victories (485) than any other team during the Oakland era, but only Scott Hatteberg’s ninth-inning pinch-hit homer launched a book, a movie and sealed a then-AL-record 20-game win streak.
Coming on the heels of consecutive walk-off hits by Miguel Tejada, the A’s – urged on by 55,000 screaming fans at the Coliseum – seemed to have the record-setter well in hand when Tim Hudson was gifted an 11-0 lead against the Kansas City Royals.
“I turned to (A’s pitching coach Rick Peterson) and said we’re finally going to have a ‘laugher,’” then-manager Art Howe recalled during the team’s 20th reunion of The Streak. “Around the fifth inning, all hell broke loose.
“Then Scottie came through and took the heat off.”
Hatteberg had retreated to the clubhouse to drink coffee and watch the game on TV after the A’s took a huge early lead but was ready after the Royals tied the score with two out in the top of the ninth. He was called on to pinch hit for Eric Byrnes with one out in the bottom of the inning and blasted a curveball from Royals reliever Jason Grimsley into the right-field seats for one the most iconic moments in Oakland franchise history.
Oct. 14, 1989 – Battle of the Bay begins
After 22 years sharing the region, the A’s and Giants finally gave Bay Area fans what they long dreamed of – a Bay Bridge World Series.
Game 1 was at the Coliseum before a crowd of 49,385 and, much like the series, was all A’s.
The A’s scored three runs in the second inning, which was more than enough for Oakland native Dave Stewart, who held the Giants to five hits and struck out six in a 5-0 win. The A’s hit two homers, but it was Dave Parker and Walt Weiss who cleared the wall, not the Bash Brothers.
Stewart was named the Series MVP after beating the Giants again in Game 3 of the four-game sweep, but not until after a 10-day delay because of the devastating Loma Prieta earthquake that hit just before the start of the original Game 3 at Candlestick Park.
Oct. 3, 2012 – Best week ever?
Oakland won the 17 AL West titles, but none was more surprising than the 2012 crown. Picked by most before the season to finish last, the A’s ended a six-year playoff drought in dramatic fashion, taking sole possession of first place for the only time in the season’s final game.
The eventual 12-5 victory was a microcosm of the A’s “never say die” season. The Rangers took some of the steam out of the A’s and 36,967 fans by taking a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the fourth. The A’s scored six times in their half of the inning, capped by Rangers centerfielder Josh Hamilton dropping Yoenis Cespedes’ two-out fly ball to allow two runs to score, and never looked back.
Seven days later, facing elimination from the American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, the A’s produced one of the most dramatic comebacks in home playoff history. Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth, Josh Reddick singled, Josh Donaldson and Seth Smith doubled, and, with two outs, Coco Crisp singled to send the crowd into a frenzy and the series to a Game 5.
Oakland Athletics’ Rickey Henderson celebrates stolen base number 939 as he breaks Lou Brock’s career record for stolen bases on May 1, 1991, in Oakland, Calif. (Michael Macor / Staff Archives)
May 1, 1991 – Greatest of all time
Rickey Henderson stole a base in his major league debut for the A’s in 1979 and, after swiping more than 100 bases in three of his first five seasons – including a record 130 in 1982 – it figured to be just a matter of time before he broke Lou Brock’s all-time record.
That time arrived in the 1991 season, but not as quickly as many expected.
Henderson entered the season with 936 steals, two behind Brock. He stole on base on opening night, then was thrown out on attempts in the next two games before missing nearly two weeks with a minor injury.
He tied Brock in his first game back, and then, two games later – a Wednesday afternoon with Brock among the 36,139 in the stands, Henderson came out running against the Yankees. He walked in the first but was thrown out at second base. After striking out in his second at-bat, Henderson reached first on a throwing error and went to second when Dave Henderson singled in the fourth pitch of the at-bat. Following a first-pitch flyout by Jose Canseco, Henderson broke for third and made a head-first slide ahead of Randy Velarde’s tag.
Henderson lifted the base above his head to share the moment with the Coliseum crowd, then told them, “Lou Brock was a great base stealer, but today I am the greatest of all time.”
Oct. 17, 1974 – Three-peat!
The early 1970s belonged to the Swingin’ A’s, punctuated by beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games in the 1974 World Series for their third straight title. Only the Yankees (five in a row from 1949-53 and four in a row from 1936-39) have won more consecutive World Series titles.
After beating the Reds and Mets in seven games the previous two Series, the A’s wrapped up the ‘74 Series with three straight home wins over the Dodgers.
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Sal Bando’s sacrifice fly in the first inning and a homer by Ray Fosse to lead off the second gave starter Vida Blue an early cushion in Game 5. The lefty held the Dodgers to just two hits before LA tied the score with two runs in the sixth.
The bottom of the seventh was delayed briefly because fans threw debris toward Dodgers left fielder Bill Buckner. Dodgers relief ace Mike Marshall, who entered the game an inning earlier, declined to throw additional warmup pitches before play resumed and Joe Rudi lined a first-pitch fastball over Buckner and the left field wall to give the A’s a 3-2 lead.
Rollie Fingers pitched the final two innings to preserve the one-run lead, but avoided potential disaster in the eighth. Buckner led off with a single to center, but kept running when the ball hit off Billy North’s arm. Reggie Jackson picked up the ball and relayed to second baseman Dick Green, who fired to Sal Bando at third to tag out Buckner.
Fingers walked Jim Wynn, but then retired the final five batters he faced, ending the Series and capping the A’s three-peat by fielding a comebacker off the bat of Oakland native Von Joshua and tossing to Gene Tenace, sparking a dogpile on the Coliseum infield and fireworks in the night sky.
Oakland A’s celebrate in the locker room after cinching the 1974 American League championship.A’s outfielder Billy North is hoisted up by slugger Reggie Jackson. (photo 1975/Ron Riesterer)
