It’s a thought that seemed inconceivable just a year ago: As the 2024 baseball season fades into history, Sacramento is preparing for a major league team to play a full season at Sutter Health Park.
The final game at the Oakland Coliseum on Sept. 26 drew a sellout
crowd of almost 47,000, the best attendance of the season.
The Athletics’ final game at the Oakland Coliseum after a championship run of 57 years would be a significant event under any circumstance. But the bittersweet day on Sept. 26 took on an extra dimension for the Capital Region with the A’s scheduled move to West Sacramento.
The A’s, who will be playing the 2025 season at Sutter Health Park while waiting on a Las Vegas ballpark that still isn’t a done deal, marked the poignant end of the Oakland era with a day awash in emotion and 72-degree sunshine. The sellout crowd of almost 47,000 gave the day a World Series game feel, with fans periodically breaking out with chants of “Let’s go Oakland,” “Sell the team,” and other more profane messages directed towards A’s owner John Fisher.
Bryce Eldridge, the Giants’ top rookie prospect who was promoted
to the Triple-A team for the last week of the season, warms up
before the Sept. 18 game at Sutter Health Park.
There were tears and hugs from former players, team executives, employees and fans, and ultimately, a final 3-2 victory against the Texas Rangers at a ballpark that once also housed the Oakland Raiders. But with the lease at the Coliseum expiring at the end of the year and the team and ownership unable to make a deal to stay, Fisher looked elsewhere and decided on Sacramento as a short-term landing spot before leaving for Las Vegas.
During the River Cats’ final homestand Sept. 16-22, workers could
be seen beyond the park’s left field fence where the Home Run
Terrace once stood constructing upgrades to the clubhouse and
locker rooms.
As media, players and employees lingered on the field while Oakland’s own Tower of Power’s “So Very Hard to Go” played on the stadium loudspeaker, manager Mark Kotsay grabbed the microphone and addressed a crowd that wouldn’t leave.
While Oakland’s own Tower of Power’s “So Very Hard to Go” played
on the stadium loudspeaker, manager Mark Kotsay grabbed the
microphone and addressed a crowd that wouldn’t leave. “To the
staff who dedicated their lives to the Oakland A’s, especially
those who aren’t coming with us, I am forever grateful,” Kotsay
said.
“To the staff who dedicated their lives to the Oakland A’s, especially those who aren’t coming with us, I am forever grateful,” Kotsay said, who led the A’s to a 69-93, fourth-place finish in the American League West, an improvement of 19 wins from 2023. “I will never forget you, and to all of you on behalf of my staff, myself, this team, all the past players and coaches, everyone who’s worn the green and gold. There are no better fans than you guys.”
River Cats leadoff hitter Wade Meckler is congratulated after his
two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning on Sept. 18
pulled the River Cats to within a run of the Sugarland Space
Cowboys. River Cats would lose 5-4.
As the A’s were wrapping up their time in Oakland, the Sacramento River Cats were finishing their last season in the foreseeable future as the lone baseball tenant at the park they’ve called home since 2000 as the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland A’s (2000-2015) and San Francisco Giants (2016-present).
The A’s’ “Banjo Man,” Stacy Samuels, has been playing at A’s
games for around 30 years, wandering the stands in a green and
gold cape and a propeller beanie hat playing his banjo.
When fans and players return to Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park next March, they will not only be stepping into MLB’s newest venue, but a ballpark that will have undergone dramatic changes.
Fans in section 149 of the right-field bleachers at the Oakland
Coliseum, are known for their array of signs and fervent support
of the team, which was in full affect for the A’s final game on
Sept. 26.
The baseball world is still processing the controversial announcement from last April that the A’s will play their full schedule from 2025 to 2027 (with an option for 2028) at Sacramento’s 14,000-capacity minor league park. With Sutter Health set to host both River Cats and A’s games virtually non-stop beginning with the River Cats’ March 23 exhibition against the San Francisco Giants — a total of 158 games — changes to bring the ballpark up to MLB standards have begun, with a flurry of activity planned over the winter.
As premium season ticket options were being made available for
the A’s arrival in 2025, this sign was in the parking lot of
Sutter Health Park on Sept. 18.
During the River Cats’ final homestand Sept. 16-22, workers could be seen beyond the park’s left field fence where the Home Run Terrace once stood constructing upgrades to the clubhouse and locker rooms, part of the off-season activity that will include the hiring of hundreds of employees, the renovation of premium lounge areas, improving lighting, installing artificial turf and other upgrades to accommodate the influx of media representatives that will cover the team.
A’s shortstop Max Schuemann attempts a bunt in the bottom of the
eighth inning on Sept. 26 during the team’s final inning at the
plate in Oakland.
Additional seating might also occur (the park currently has 10,624 permanent seats and lawn areas bring the total capacity to around 14,000), though nothing has been announced. The Oakland A’s drew a MLB-worst average of 11,528 fans in 2024, a number that was boosted with the large crowds that came out for the team’s final six-game homestand.
A’s fans lament the team’s departure at the team’s last game at
the Oakland Coliseum on Sept. 26.
The River Cats open their Triple-A schedule against Albuquerque on March 28, while the A’s first MLB game in Sacramento is set for March 31 against the Chicago Cubs. Current season ticket holders of the River Cats and A’s have been offered premium season tickets, parking and food options pertaining to the first four rows at Sutter Health Park, which reportedly will require purchasing the full 81-game package for each of the 2025 to 2027 seasons. Other A’s season ticket options for the 2025 season will reportedly be released throughout the off season.
Two of the A’s favorite players over the years, Dave Stewart and
Rickey Henderson, inside the A’s dugout before the final game at
the Coliseum on Sept. 26. The pair threw out the first pitch
together.
If the A’s make the playoffs, however, there is no guarantee the games will take place in Sacramento, the team announced. Meanwhile, ticket brokers such as StubHub are already offering individual tickets for sale to A’s games in Sacramento in 2025.
Young fans getting their last chance for an Oakland A’s autograph
before the Sept. 26 finale at the Coliseum.
Longtime A’s fan Robert King of Sacramento is excited the A’s will be playing in his home town and was in his aisle seats in the fourth row behind home plate at Sutter Health Park during the final homestand on Sept. 18, a seat he purchased prior to the season to ensure he’d be in line for A’s tickets.
Fans take in a day game at Sutter Health Park during the River
Cats’ final home series of the 2024 season on Sept. 18.
“It’s always been a little far driving to Oakland, so this is great,” King says. “I know a lot of fans that are probably upset. A lot of them have been season ticket holders, or dedicated fans for years. It’s sad for them, but it’s good for us, I guess.”
A’s fan Andrew Rodriguez with signage outside the Oakland
Coliseum before the last game there on Sept. 26.
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