My favorite Oakland A's Coliseum memories
I'm in Oakland for the A's final games at the Oakland Coliseum and here's my list of favorite memories before I sob for three days straight
I can’t believe that I’m about to type these words: the Oakland A’s will play their final three games at the Oakland Coliseum starting tonight.
I’ll be at all three games and still can’t fathom this is really happening.
In recent days, and especially yesterday as I drove to the Bay Area from Reno, I was even more nostalgic than usual thinking about all the different trips I took to the Oakland Coliseum in all the different stages of my life.
So I made a list of my strongest memories.
Let me start with a disclaimer. This is not a list of the best Oakland Coliseum games or moments. It’s just my personal list of favorite A’s in-person memories at the Coliseum.
For new subscribers: Hi, I’m Josh, a former newspaper reporter who is now the play-by-play announcer for the Albuquerque Isotopes (the Rockies Triple-A affiliate). I write essays on baseball, life, and promote my other side projects on this Substack Newsletter. Subscriptions are free and tips are appreciated.
My first memory is faint. I’m pretty sure it was late summer 1981, probably August, before school started. The MLB strike was over. My family had just moved from Colorado back to California. It was a weekend day game. My dad drove. I was in the back of the truck’s camper shell with my uncle Michael John (RIP). He hadn’t finished all the beers he brought and we were almost there, so he said, “here, drink this.”
That was my first beer. I was 8 years old. I thought it was disgusting. I drank maybe half of it.
We usually went to a few games in the early 1980s. We usually sat in the bleachers or down the left-field line near Rickey Henderson. I was too young to have specific memories, other than trying to get Rickey Henderson to wave at us. That wasn’t hard. Rickey was always looking in the stands between pitches and would wave at everyone.
Sunday, Oct. 5, 1986
Final game of the season: Curt Young flirted with a no-hitter. Dwayne Murphy and Mike Davis, the two guys who gave MC Hammer money to record his first album, both homered. I went to the game with my friend Todd, my sister’s then-boyfriend Lonnie, and a bunch of his friends. We stopped at someone’s house in Oakland. I know there was an RV. We tailgated before the game. We even tailgated after the game. We were one of the last people to leave the parking lot. I was wondering if we’d ever leave. We played catch endlessly in the Coliseum parking lot. It felt like our home. It was our home.
Monday, June 22, 1987
Steve Ontiveros rules: The year 1987 is the first year my Dad bought 20 games from his friends who had season tickets. The seats were incredible: Section 123, Row 2, Seats 12-13 (on the aisle), just to the left of the A’s dugout. It’s also the year I started going to games super early to get autographs with my friends. My main crew, alphabetically, were Chris, Cory, Jim, Joe and Todd.
This game was memorable. I was always a big Steve Ontiveros guy. It was probably because of this game. Ontiveros out-dueled Bret Saberhagen on Monday Night Baseball. Saberhagen was the best pitcher in baseball at the time. Reggie Jackson homered. I was convinced Ontiveros was gonna win a Cy Young award one day.
Sunday-Tuesday, July 12-14, 1987
All eyes on Oakland: A trio of events in a row. The Old Timer’s Game preceded the A’s game on Sunday. Then came the All-Star Game Workout on Monday. Then the All Star Game on Tuesday. I went to all three. The Coliseum was packed all three days. It was the place to be. The sun was out each day, but it was never too hot. Oakland was the center of the baseball universe. It was glorious.
Wednesday, Sept. 30, 1987
Stew wins his 20th game: I remember getting Dave Stewart’s autograph before this game in the player parking lot. One of the autograph seekers whispered as Stew was walking toward us, “nobody mentioned the 20th win, just wish the man good luck.” Stew already had his Death Stare game face. He was all business, but stopped to sign for us. Nobody mentioned the 20th win. Stew wasn’t at his best that night (only six innings), but he got his 20th win. After the game, we were chanting his name in the stands. Stew was back inside the clubhouse. Somebody must have told him a bunch of fans were still cheering for him. He came back out, waved at us, and thanked us. I always thought that was the coolest and classiest move. Stew didn’t have to do that. But he did. That’s what made Stew so special.
Thursday, Oct. 1, 1987
Final home game: Yes, the next day. I ditched school with a bunch of my friends. We got more autographs before the game. I got a ball in batting practice. We went to the Cleveland Indians dugout after the game. Somebody handed me a broken bat. It wasn’t Brett Butler, but it was Butler’s bat. Then one of the coaches gave me the lineup card. One of my friends pointed at Butler for me and told me to get the bat signed. Butler seemed confused how I got his broken bat. He signed it anyway. Canseco homered. The A's won. What a day. The next season couldn’t arrive fast enough.
Monday, April 4, 1988
Opening Night: I don’t remember exactly where we sat, but I know we were there. The A’s won the game because they always won on Opening Night because Dave Stewart always started on Opening Night.
Tuesday, August 30, 1988
Stew beats Clemens, as usual: The only run scored on a suicide squeeze by Glenn Hubbard. Stew went the distance, out-dueling Roger Clemens. I remember we stayed late after the game to get autographs. The Red Sox team bus left and I thought we’d go home. My friends insisted that Clemens didn’t get on the bus and we should wait him out. We waited and waited. I’ll admit, I thought it was dumb. Finally, Clemens and Rich Gedman came out of the clubhouse. We all got Clemens’ autograph. He reeked of beer.
Monday, Sept. 19, 1988
A’s clinch AL West: The 1988 season was incredible. The A’s won 14 in a row in April and were never challenged, winning 104 games. I went to 53 games that year. Yes, fifth three games. I only missed two games once school was out. I went to this game with my dad. We were on our feet for the entire ninth inning. Luis Polonia caught the final out in left field, not too far from us. I’ve watched the replay of the final out, over and over, and will always hear Monte Moore’s voice, “Start the celebration!” A few days later, we got “Best in the West” t-shirts. This me, in some awkward teenage years, in awful fashion.
Sunday, Oct. 9, 1988
Game Four, ALCS: What I remember most is it felt like we chanted “sweeeeeep” the entire day. Jose homered. Stew got the win. Eck got the save. Sweep. Whenever you see a photo of a sold out Coliseum in the afternoon, before Mt. Davis, it’s probably from this game.
Monday, April 3, 1989
Opening Night: I sat in the center field bleachers with friends. This was Ken Griffey, Jr.’s debut. In his first at-bat, he hit a rocket our direction. I thought for sure it was a homer and went sprinting down the steps to get that ball. Alas, it was a double. Say it again: the A’s won the game because they always won on Opening Night because Dave Stewart always started on Opening Night.
Thursday, June 22, 1989
Rickey’s Return to Oakland. The A’s actually lost this game. But it didn’t matter. The Coliseum was electric. The best team in baseball got the most exciting player in baseball. Rickey was back home in Oakland, where he belonged, and there was a feeling in the air that the A’s were simply unstoppable.
Sunday, Oct. 15, 1989
Game 2 of the Bay Bridge World Series. We watched Game One on TV. We had the “dugout seats” for Game Two. Mike Moore dominated the Giants lineup. I remember predicting an A’s sweep over the Giants before the series began. They were on their way. The only thing that could stop the A’s was a natural disaster. (Sigh.)
Monday, April 9, 1990
Opening Night 1990: The season started a little late due to a lockout. I don’t remember exactly where we sat, but I know we were there. Say it a third time. The A’s won the game because they always won on Opening Night because Dave Stewart always started on Opening Night.
Monday, June 11, 1990
Nolan Ryan’s sixth no-hitter: When I saw the A’s lineup, I knew we were in trouble. No Canseco, no McGwire, no Steinbach, no Lansford, no Weiss. How in the world would the A’s beat Nolan Ryan? They didn’t. Ryan threw a no-hitter. Once he got to the 9th inning, we cheered for him. I don’t regret it. It’s the only MLB no-hitter I’ve ever seen in my life. I still have the ticket stub somewhere.
Wednesday, July 25, 1990
Jose (and Ozzie!) shine: So many of my favorite Coliseum games were day games, including this one. Jose Canseco bashed two homers. Even his twin Ozzie came off the bench and got a hit. We all kept thinking that Jose was just showing off for his twin. I picked up The National the next day and still have it.
Wednesday, August 1, 1990
Stew’s 11-inning shutout: Dave Stewart and Erik Hanson both had a shutout through nine innings. Even back then, it was remarkable both pitched the 10th. Still no runs. Stew pitched the top of the 11th inning too. Still no runs. Hanson tapped out and Mike Schooler replaced him. Pinch hitter Doug Jennings knocked in pinch runner Lance Blankenship with the game’s only run. Stew threw an 11-inning, 129-pitch shutout. Back then, I was hoarding Erik Hanson baseball cards, convinced he was going to would win a Cy Young one day. The next day, I got a copy of The National and still have it.
The game I can’t find, somewhere in 1989-91
I have a very vivid memory of a game that apparently didn’t end the way I thought. In my memory, I’m sitting in the center field bleachers with friends. It’s a midweek day game. The game is tied. Rickey Henderson is on second base. There is a groundball to the shortstop. Rickey takes off for third. The shortstop throws to first base for an out. Rickey never stops at third. Rickey races home to score the game winner before the first baseman can throw him out at home.
I’ve searched and searched on Retrosheet, every year from Rickey’s return in 1989 until I left for college in 1991, but can’t find any game that resembles my memory. I see plenty of games where Rickey scores the winning run on a single, or drives in the winning run for a walk-off victory. But I can’t find a game where he scores from second base on a groundout.
I guess my memory isn’t as good as I thought. But dangit, I coulda swore that happened. I’m gonna torture myself with another hour of searching on Retrosheet to find this damn game.
UPDATE: M’man Aaron Cameron found the game! It was mostly as a I remembered it. Rickey scored the game-TYING run on a groundout in the 8th inning. Then his bases-loaded walk in the 11th inning won the game. It *was* a midweek day game, and since it was May 9th, it looks like I skipped school again.
Back home 1997-99
Catching the end: In these years, I was out of college, back in the Bay, covering high school sports for The Oakland Tribune. After my shift, on the drive home, I’d put the A’s game on the radio to see what inning the game was. After six innings, you could park for free and enter the Coliseum for free. So if it was after six innings, I’d get off at 66th Avenue and watch the end of the game. I did this dozens of times each year.
Tuesday, July 28, 1998
My first game covering the A’s. A little more than a year after I started, then-sports editor Don Coulter threw me a bone, allowing me to cover my first A’s game, giving John Hickey a day off. Here’s a screenshot of my first game story. What I remember the most was the next day. I’m back to cover another game. The late Pedro Gomez is reading the printed clips. He looks at me and says, “you must be Josh.” I awkwardly nod yes. “I liked your lede. Good story.” I was on Cloud Nine.
I was pretty harsh on my favorite childhood team, huh? Guess we didn’t have to worry about my objectivity.
Monday, April 5, 2004
My first game as A’s beat writer: After three years covering preps, I spent four years covering the Giants, then was moved over to the A’s beat for the 2004 season. I remember the Christmas before this season. My uncle Michael John (the one who gave me my first beer) tells me, “none of this objective stuff, Josh. You will be a shill for the A’s.” I just laughed and tried to explain to my uncle that my job was to be a professional now. My uncle read my stories all the time. He always joked that I was too objective and needed to be more of a homer. Here’s the screenshot of my game story on Opening Night. Fittingly, an A’s owner was complaining about the Coliseum.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
The mock broadcast: [UPDATE Forgot to include this game when I first posted this essay.] Former PR Director Jim Young reminded of the time he unlocked a suite down the third-base line for me to do a “mock broadcast.” I was itching to leave Journalism and try Broadcasting. I knew I needed to update my demo reel. I took the day off from writing, went into an empty booth, and practiced my play-by-play. The only thing I remember about the game was the Shane “The Hawaiian Punchout” Komine was the starter. I used this mock broadcast to apply for play-by-play jobs and got hired to broadcast the Modesto Nuts the following season.
Friday, Oct. 6, 2006
Game 3, ALDS: This was my final year covering the A’s, before I switched to broadcasting. It was another classic Oakland day game. The storyline going into this game was that the A’s had lost nine consecutive games when they had a chance to clinch a playoff series, which the players, coaches and executives absolutely hated when I kept bringing it up. [Sorry not sorry. It was THE story.] In this game, Eric Chavez homered early, Marco Scutaro’s three-run double put the game on ice, and Huston Street closed it out. I managed to avoid getting drenched in the champagne-soaked clubhouse, which was huge, because I went straight to my friend’s book signing after filing my stories. Here is the front page of The Trib’s sports section and my favorite quote from my game story.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
My last game at the Coliseum with my Dad: I was between jobs in 2012, still living in Los Angeles, and back in the Bay Area working on a True Crime book that became Murder In Pleasanton. Shameless plug: here’s a link.
I went to an A’s game with my Dad. Of course, it was a day game. I honestly don’t remember any details from the day. But we took this photo. It’s one of my favorites. Retrosheet tells me the A’s won on a Derek Norris three-run, walkoff homer off Santiago Casilla. Heck yes.
Outside of my actual homes, I’ve truly spent more of my life at the Oakland Coliseum and Coliseum Arena than any other place … and I haven’t even lived in the Bay since 2007.
If I had to add up all the A’s games I’ve attended at the Oakland Coliseum, it’s somewhere between 300-400 games (over 200 of those are when I was the A’s beat writer).
It’s easily over 500 lifetime events at Coliseum and Coliseum Arena if we include the Raiders, the Invaders, the Warriors, pro wrestling shows, concerts, baseball card shows, and high school sporting events.
I know the Coliseum is not going away immediately. It will host soccer matches and other events, while its long-term future is determined.
But this feels like a funeral.
I still can’t believe the A’s are leaving.
It’s just incomprehensible.
God I love Eric Byrnes.
I hope it's ok to share a link about my Coliseum memories: https://cococrispafro.wordpress.com/2022/05/16/an-ode-to-the-coliseum/
Great piece, Sue.