In less than five weeks, the Oakland Athletics (54-72) will say goodbye to the place they called home for 54 years. While many mourn this impending departure, the players are making the most of their remaining time at the Oakland Coliseum.
They decided to use the stadium to set the order for their upcoming fantasy football draft. Several members of the team climbed Mount Davis, a 20,000-capacity seating area that hasn’t been open to the public since 2019, and threw balls onto the field. The idea was to get closest to the target, which appeared to be a theraband.
Veteran relief pitcher Scott Alexander celebrated wildly after the tape measure declared him the winner of this modified version of bocce. Considering the Athletics are in danger of finishing last in the American League West for the third year in a row and the franchise is likely to move permanently from Oakland, it’s impressive to see the players having so much fun.
Athletics hopes for a positive conclusion to their run in Oakland
Today, the Coliseum is a haven of despair. Even the Athletics’ most loyal supporters are at breaking point. John Fisher’s mission to bring the A’s to Las Vegas has left fans angry and exhausted, and made him one of the most unpopular owners in sports today. Despite the storm of misery and ineptitude that surrounds the ballclub, Oakland is actually making progress on the field.
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The Athletics are 16-11 since the MLB All-Star break, and have lost two games in a row just once during that time (against the Dodgers on August 3 and 4). A 90-loss season is still possible, of course, but this group refuses to be a whipping boy.
There’s nothing that can be done to give this fan base a truly satisfying ending before the A’s move to Sutter Health Park in Sacramento next year. However, there should be at least some temporary joy in watching the players goof around at Mount Davis with childlike enthusiasm, and that may be the best the community could ask for right now.
Alex House is a sportswriter who covers the NFL, NBA and MLB for ClutchPoints and has a unique writing style thanks to his extensive knowledge of New York sports. Alex lives in Connecticut after graduating from the University of Rhode Island with a degree in journalism.
