Some diehard baseball fans in sports-crazed Sacramento welcome Athletics and hope they stay awhile
Despite some kinks still to be worked out, the Athletics' relocation is providing fans who might not go to games often a big new opportunity to see the big leagues live
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Van Thompson walked through the busy concourse shortly before first pitch and sang along to the national anthem, a white Athletics ball cap in hand covering his heart.
Earlier Wednesday morning, Susan Falcon took her dog out on the other side of town near a bustling coffee shop and raved about the positive vibe the A's have brought to California's sports-crazed capital city in such a short time.
On the fly, former minor league pitcher Jarod Pavese packed up two of his three daughters and the boyfriend of one and headed north from Southern California's Riverside County for a last-minute spring break trip to cheer their Chicago Cubs in the series finale.
“It was very spontaneous. We try to be as spontaneous as we can but not really,” 17-year-old high school senior Gianna Pavese said, sitting with her boyfriend Gavinn Schulze, dad and 12-year-old sister Kat in row 10 of section 104 on a sunny spring day. “It's really exciting. It was just spur of the moment.”
Despite some kinks still to be worked out, the A’s relocation is providing fans who might not regularly go to games a big new opportunity to see the big leagues live.
After its 57-year Oakland run ended last September in a painful split for fans — many of them lifelong A's supporters — the club has insisted this stay in West Sacramento will be temporary until a new stadium in Las Vegas is supposed to be ready in 2028. The A's even declined to adopt the Sacramento in its official name while here for the next three years — they are simply the Athletics, with no city attached.
That hasn't squashed curiosity or enthusiasm so far.
Bryan Haywood of Bozeman, Montana, attended his first-ever major league game Tuesday at age 46 and was back Wednesday. He and friend and fellow Montanan Chris Anderson of Livingston made the trip to Sacramento.
“It was amazing,” Haywood said.
Thompson lives in Sacramento and is a big fan of the NBA's Kings. He wanted to show his support Wednesday for the new team in town.
“I came with an A’s fan," he said. "I’m a Kings fan, I just came to support the cause.”
Falcon has spoken to plenty of people who plan to cheer the A's, or already have for years and finally get to do so from right nearby.
“Sacramento loves the A's, they're elated, they're so excited, they're going to wear the colors, they're going to show up, they're going to do everything,” she said. “They will be there.”
Business partners Dan Niccum and Ken McGuire are crossing their fingers the A's never leave their new Northern California home. They plan to hold onto their four second-row seats however long the club stays. Niccum doesn't expect the A's to relocate to Las Vegas anytime soon — because “it's a pipe dream what they're doing in Vegas right now” — even though the A's say that will be for the 2028 season.
“They're here for at least four or five years, and so we're here for the duration,” Niccum said. “We are excited to be here.”
How visiting teams feel about playing in a minor league park and how it tests the patience of A's players over time remains to be seen. There were 12 home runs hit, eight by Chicago.
Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson, for one, hardly wants to be one to speak out negatively about the A's new Northern California home. Swanson prefers to be supportive of the situation, to see the glass half-full and just be grateful to play at this level. Even if there are many kinks to be worked out after the initial homestand at Sutter Health Park, where the visiting team's clubhouse is through an opening in the center-field wall.
Swanson's dear friend since their college days at Vanderbilt is A's pitcher Tyler Ferguson, so the Cubs infielder has heard plenty about the progress at Sutter Health Park.
Attendance for the initial three-game set at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento was 31,556 after the opener Monday had a sellout of 12,119.
“Obviously they've done as much as they can in order to make it as best as it can be. Obviously give everyone props for being able to make it happen,” Swanson said. “We all think it might be easier than it is but it's not and everyone's doing the best they can.”
He took time out of his pregame routine Tuesday to sign some autographs. And Swanson figures opposing players might as well stay positive and supportive because there's nothing that can be changed at this stage regarding the A’s playing in a minor league ballpark. The club will share the venue with the San Francisco Giants’ Triple-A affiliate, the Sacramento River Cats.
Yet many A's fans are far from ready to let go of nearly six decades of memories in the East Bay. And for the home opener, some sported T-shirts reading “I’d Rather Be At the Oakland Coliseum.”
Manager Mark Kotsay hopes some of them eventually will eventually make the 85-mile trek north. Even after a forgettable first series in which the A's were outscored 35-9.
“I definitely feel the energy. It's tough for them to love us after we performed the way we did," Kotsay said. “But I do think that this city is excited. There's a lot of excitement to bring baseball to this part of California that Major League Baseball hasn't been. ... We also want those that are still in Oakland to make that drive two hours north and come watch us as well.”
A's outfielder Lawrence Butler sat on the podium in a makeshift press conference room with the A's logo behind him on a banner that also said Las Vegas. Butler is in it for the long haul and looks to be a face of the franchise for at least the immediate future, having signed a $65.5 million, seven-year contract last month.
So far, he appreciates how the city has embraced the A's. From popular restaurants, welcoming hotel staff, to supporters on the Sacramento State college campus and folks on the street, there's plenty of chatter about the team.
The iconic yellow Tower Bridge visible beyond right field lit up in green for the first night game in spirit of the new team in town and to give a festive green-and-gold A's vibe.
“Pretty quiet, low-key city, but I've figured out that there's a lot of stuff to do, a lot of good places to eat at. I haven't fully explored all of those places yet," Butler said before Monday's game. "I'm hoping to, but it feels like it's a nice, cool, low-key city. What I've gotten from it is that they really love their sports teams. We're another sports team coming here so I'm pretty sure they'll show out tonight and show us a lot of love.”
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