Last night, the New York Yankees began a three-game series in Oakland to take on the Athletics. Based on the calendar and standings, this series shouldn’t be all that eventful: The Yankees have clinched a postseason title and are trying to secure a division title and the top seed in the American League, while the A’s have already been eliminated from the postseason and are looking toward 2025. Six years after the two teams faced off in the 2018 AL Wild Card Game, the two franchises find themselves in very different places.

And yet, this series marks the end of an era, because unless something unexpected happens, this weekend will be the last time the Yankees visit the Oakland Coliseum.

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By now, most people who follow baseball, even semi-regularly, know the story. In a move straight out of the movie Big competitionThe Athletics’ ownership team, led by John Fisher, put out a subpar product on the field to keep fans away and facilitate a move to Las Vegas. Despite the best efforts of everyone else involved, the Athletics will officially leave the Bay Area at the end of this season, planning to spend three to four seasons in the minor league stadium in Sacramento before eventually moving to the yet-to-be-existing stadium on the Vegas Strip.

To say that the Oakland Coliseum is an iconic stadium would be an understatement. Sure, you can criticize its current state, but it’s certainly memorable. Opened in 1968, it’s the fifth-oldest Major League stadium still in use, and the third-oldest in the American League (only Fenway Park, which opened in 1912, and Angel Stadium, which opened in 1966, come close). By my count, the Yankees have played nearly 300 games at the Coliseum during the regular season, plus another five during the four playoff games between them. While I don’t have easy access to the numbers to calculate exactly where that ranks among the stadiums the Yankees have visited, I doubt there are many stadiums that are home to teams outside the AL East that come close.

For many Yankees fans, the Oakland Coliseum is the site of many great baseball memories. The 1981 Bombers punched their ticket to a World Series game against the Los Angeles Dodgers after completing a three-game sweep of former captain Billy Martin’s “Billy Ball” A’s. AL Rookie of the Year Dave Righetti threw six shutout innings and Willie Randolph hit a solo shot to break the scoreless tie before catching the final out of the ninth inning on a pop by Wayne Gross.

Incidentally, Game 3 of the 1981 ALCS is also famous for the first screen depiction of “The Wave” at a sporting event (although some claim it was taken there, written accounts refer to it being during a hockey game in 1979).

In the late ’80s and ’90s, the Coliseum became a House of Horrors for the Yankees. The Bash Brothers and stellar pitching propelled the A’s to a dynasty that captured the pennant three years in a row. Those coincided with some terrible years in the Bronx, with the A’s going 12-0 against the Yanks in 1990 alone. From 1985-93, New York went a miserable 17-37 at the Coliseum, which looked a lot more picturesque then without “Mount Davis.”

In the new millennium, the two teams met again for a pair of ALDS contests, both of which would go five games. The 2000 team once again advanced to the next round, this time the ALCS, with a win at the Oakland Coliseum, fueled by an explosive six-run first-round series. The 2001 team, meanwhile, had their backs against the wall, trailing 2-0, but went on a 3-0 run to win the series against these Moneyball Era A’s — a comeback sparked by The Flip in Game 3 at the Coliseum.

While the Coliseum has given the Yankees something of the old House of Horrors vibe in recent years (they’ve been defeated at the stadium three times in the last ten seasons, leaving the city with a series win only twice in that span), they’ve still managed to create some historic moments, such as Domingo Germán’s perfect game last season.

Ultimately, it’s probably the right decision for the Athletics to move out of the Oakland Coliseum: it’s an old stadium, prone to sewage flooding and a frequent home to wild and feral animals, and by all accounts not exactly conducive to a fun fan experience. Still, it’ll be weird not to see it on a regular basis — despite all its flaws, it’s iconic.

In an ideal world, I would end this nostalgic musing with the hope that the new stadium across the street or on the waterfront or somewhere else in the Bay Area would be able to retain the charm of the Coliseum in its glory days while providing improved amenities for both players and fans. Unfortunately, this is not an ideal world and their fans are getting screwed. Therefore, there is only one good way for any baseball fan to end an article about the Oakland Coliseum.

Sell ​​the team, John Fisher.

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