35. Oakland Coliseum
I have been an Oakland Athletics fan longer than I have done almost anything else, but I didn't originally plan to save the home of my favorite team for last. However, when it became clear several years ago that California was the end of the tour for me, I made a conscious decision to drive from south to north and end at the Oakland Coliseum, or if you'd like to be more formal, the The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
By reputation, this park is supposed to be terrible. For starters, it is the last park in Major League Baseball that is shared with another tenant, in this case the Oakland Raiders. On top of that, it is the fifth oldest park in baseball in baseball, and unlike the others it hasn't had major revamps unless you count Mount Davis, which was built to bring the Raiders back to Oakland in the mid-1990s and in return blocked a gorgeous view of the Oakland Hills, caused Oakland such financial distress that they had to lay off police officers, and meant that residents of Oakland have gotten to watch some 20 years of mostly terrible football, as well as the pain of the Raiders planning to move again in the near future. The new seats were also so steep and high that the A's long ago decided to tarp off most of the seats because they weren't selling anyway. It doesn't help that the Coliseum has by far the largest foul territory in baseball, which helps make Oakland a pitcher's park while simultaneously putting the fans farther from the action.
On top of this, the Coliseum is in the middle of a bunch of huge parking lots surrounded by what is reputedly a bad neighborhood. If you take the BART to the game, you get off at a heavily patrolled train station and then cross a concrete bridge over a rail yards. Like Dodger Stadium, the field is dug into the ground, so it looks short from the outside. For extra fun, the Coliseum is mostly famous to casual fans because in 2013 there was a major sewer backup during the baseball season, which evicted both the A's and the visitors from their locker rooms. In short, this is not a fancy pants modern suburban stadium. It's a blue collar place completely in keeping with the A's traditional fan base of blue collars from the eastern edges of the bay area, completely at odds with the rich bandwagon fans over the Bay (to paraphrase the general tone of Athletics Nation.
For extra fun, the A's were not good in 2017. They were ensconced in last place for what would be the third consecutive season when I made my two visits in late July. On my first night, Friday, July 28, I took the BART, snagged a ticket from a scalper who was camped out in the station and sat a few rows behind the first base dugout. The place was pretty empty. I sat next to a man who said he was a late shift BART supervisor and had to leave early to get to his 11pm shift. He was very clearly an A's lifer, and mixed baseball stories with his personal history (he started at BART as a janitor and worked his way up to driving a train and from there to a supervisory role). These stories were much appreciated, because the A's not only lost to the Twins that night, but they looked terrible doing so. Multiple defensive errors happened, there was a lot of bad pitching, and basically no hitting. Ouch. I did get a bobblehead, but regrettably it was for G-Eazy, who is apparently an Oakland based rapper.
I did get to the game early enough to walk around and look at everything. The A's had a bunch of food trucks in a little plaza between the Coliseum and the neighboring Oracle Arena. Although you couldn't really see the field from the concourses, there was plenty of variety in food and merchandise available in all directions. The illustrious retired numbers of Oakland A's past are displayed on a field named after the greatest A's of them all, Rickey Henderson. For extra fun, the "mid-innings race event" at the Coliseum is a Hall of Famer race featuring giant mascots of Rickey, Eck and Rollie. They also do have shout outs to the team's history in Philadelphia, but the four titles in Oakland are far more emphasized than the five in Philly. In short, it's an old park with a lot of limitations, but they have done their best to make it as hospitable as possible.
One thing that was really cool was being a fan of the home team. While I certainly cheer for the Indians when they aren't playing the A's, at the end of the day they aren't my team. I'd only seen the A's in Cleveland and in Tampa, and A's fans on the road are rare so we're always vastly outnumbered. Here, even with the tiny crowd I fit right in with my A's warmup. It felt unexpectedly pleasant to be part of the home crowd. Maybe I should move to Oakland...
Another thing that was cool was the weather. In late July the Bay gets pretty chilly at night. I was wearing jeans and long sleeves and felt completely comfortable. The A's team shop had a lot of cold weather gear (stadium blankets, sweat shirt and the like) on sale, and based on the other fans, it was going to good use.
I came back the next night with my hosts Jon and Annie and we sat in the upper deck behind home plate. After a comparatively boring game, the night ended a lot better, because Rajai Davis hit a walk off home run to lead the A's to victory, which wasn't quite as exciting as his Game 7 heroics the year before, but it was pretty sweet.
We had already known that they were having "Wizard & Witch Fireworks" which were tied to Harry Potter Night, complete with many people in costume and the addition of a Golden Snitch contestant in the Hall of Famer Race.. What we didn't know was that they were going to let us watch the fireworks from the outfield grass! When they made that announcement the three of us booked it down and walked out on the left field grass. And that's how I unexpectedly got to step foot on the field of my favorite team, which was the first time I was on field level at any MLB park and happened in the last park I visited on the tour.
In any event, I am putting the Coliseum 11th on the list. That's my balance between "squee my home team!" and "man, this place is really dated feeling." At least the park feels unique and isn't merely a copy of the other modern mallparks.
Park Rankings
RankParkTeamFirst Visit# Visits (at time of article)
1 AT&T ParkSan Francisco GiantsJuly 26, 20171
2 Marlins ParkMiami MarlinsMay 23, 20141
3 Wrigley FieldChicago CubsApril 23, 20042
4 PNC ParkPittsburgh PiratesSeptember 25, 20042
5 Jacobs FieldCleveland IndiansApril 17, 199963
6 Miller ParkMilwaukee BrewersApril 24, 20041
7 Camden YardsBaltimore OriolesJune 22, 20121
8 Kauffman StadiumKansas City RoyalsJune 9, 20131
9 Petco ParkSan Diego PadresApril 27, 20151
10 Fenway ParkBoston Red SoxJuly 1, 20161
11Oakland ColiseumOakland AthleticsJuly 28, 20172
12 Dodger StadiumLos Angeles DodgersJuly 20, 20171
13 Yankee Stadium (original)New York YankeesJuly 28, 20061
14 Minute Maid ParkHouston AstrosMay 21, 20161
15 Chase FieldArizona DiamondbacksApril 25, 20151
16 Safeco FieldSeattle MarinersAugust 25, 20141
17 Coors FieldColorado RockiesApril 20, 20151
18 Comerica ParkDetroit TigersJuly 31, 20041
19 Target FieldMinnesota TwinsJuly 25, 20141
20 Turner FieldAtlanta BravesMay 5, 20071
21 Angel Stadium of AnaheimLos Angeles AngelsJuly 18, 20171
22 SunTrust ParkAtlanta BravesMay 6, 20171
23 Busch Stadium IIISt. Louis CardinalsAugust 8, 20131
24 Nationals ParkWashington NationalsJune 21, 20121
25 Citizens Bank ParkPhiladelphia PhilliesJune 23, 20121
26 Citi FieldNew York MetsJune 24, 20121
27 Globe Life ParkTexas RangersMay 27, 20161
28 Rogers CentreToronto Blue JaysMay 21, 20051
29 Cinergy FieldCincinnati RedsAugust 8, 19984
30 Yankee Stadium (sequel)New York YankeesJune 25, 20121
31 The MetrodomeMinnesota TwinsJune 22, 19923
32 Shea StadiumNew York MetsJuly 24, 20061
33 Great American Ball ParkCincinnati RedsMay 9, 20041
34 U.S. Cellular FieldChicago White SoxApril 25, 20041
35 Tropicana FieldTampa Bay RaysMay 21, 20141
Background: Prologue Memory Interlude
Original Series End
By reputation, this park is supposed to be terrible. For starters, it is the last park in Major League Baseball that is shared with another tenant, in this case the Oakland Raiders. On top of that, it is the fifth oldest park in baseball in baseball, and unlike the others it hasn't had major revamps unless you count Mount Davis, which was built to bring the Raiders back to Oakland in the mid-1990s and in return blocked a gorgeous view of the Oakland Hills, caused Oakland such financial distress that they had to lay off police officers, and meant that residents of Oakland have gotten to watch some 20 years of mostly terrible football, as well as the pain of the Raiders planning to move again in the near future. The new seats were also so steep and high that the A's long ago decided to tarp off most of the seats because they weren't selling anyway. It doesn't help that the Coliseum has by far the largest foul territory in baseball, which helps make Oakland a pitcher's park while simultaneously putting the fans farther from the action.
On top of this, the Coliseum is in the middle of a bunch of huge parking lots surrounded by what is reputedly a bad neighborhood. If you take the BART to the game, you get off at a heavily patrolled train station and then cross a concrete bridge over a rail yards. Like Dodger Stadium, the field is dug into the ground, so it looks short from the outside. For extra fun, the Coliseum is mostly famous to casual fans because in 2013 there was a major sewer backup during the baseball season, which evicted both the A's and the visitors from their locker rooms. In short, this is not a fancy pants modern suburban stadium. It's a blue collar place completely in keeping with the A's traditional fan base of blue collars from the eastern edges of the bay area, completely at odds with the rich bandwagon fans over the Bay (to paraphrase the general tone of Athletics Nation.
For extra fun, the A's were not good in 2017. They were ensconced in last place for what would be the third consecutive season when I made my two visits in late July. On my first night, Friday, July 28, I took the BART, snagged a ticket from a scalper who was camped out in the station and sat a few rows behind the first base dugout. The place was pretty empty. I sat next to a man who said he was a late shift BART supervisor and had to leave early to get to his 11pm shift. He was very clearly an A's lifer, and mixed baseball stories with his personal history (he started at BART as a janitor and worked his way up to driving a train and from there to a supervisory role). These stories were much appreciated, because the A's not only lost to the Twins that night, but they looked terrible doing so. Multiple defensive errors happened, there was a lot of bad pitching, and basically no hitting. Ouch. I did get a bobblehead, but regrettably it was for G-Eazy, who is apparently an Oakland based rapper.
I did get to the game early enough to walk around and look at everything. The A's had a bunch of food trucks in a little plaza between the Coliseum and the neighboring Oracle Arena. Although you couldn't really see the field from the concourses, there was plenty of variety in food and merchandise available in all directions. The illustrious retired numbers of Oakland A's past are displayed on a field named after the greatest A's of them all, Rickey Henderson. For extra fun, the "mid-innings race event" at the Coliseum is a Hall of Famer race featuring giant mascots of Rickey, Eck and Rollie. They also do have shout outs to the team's history in Philadelphia, but the four titles in Oakland are far more emphasized than the five in Philly. In short, it's an old park with a lot of limitations, but they have done their best to make it as hospitable as possible.
One thing that was really cool was being a fan of the home team. While I certainly cheer for the Indians when they aren't playing the A's, at the end of the day they aren't my team. I'd only seen the A's in Cleveland and in Tampa, and A's fans on the road are rare so we're always vastly outnumbered. Here, even with the tiny crowd I fit right in with my A's warmup. It felt unexpectedly pleasant to be part of the home crowd. Maybe I should move to Oakland...
Another thing that was cool was the weather. In late July the Bay gets pretty chilly at night. I was wearing jeans and long sleeves and felt completely comfortable. The A's team shop had a lot of cold weather gear (stadium blankets, sweat shirt and the like) on sale, and based on the other fans, it was going to good use.
I came back the next night with my hosts Jon and Annie and we sat in the upper deck behind home plate. After a comparatively boring game, the night ended a lot better, because Rajai Davis hit a walk off home run to lead the A's to victory, which wasn't quite as exciting as his Game 7 heroics the year before, but it was pretty sweet.
We had already known that they were having "Wizard & Witch Fireworks" which were tied to Harry Potter Night, complete with many people in costume and the addition of a Golden Snitch contestant in the Hall of Famer Race.. What we didn't know was that they were going to let us watch the fireworks from the outfield grass! When they made that announcement the three of us booked it down and walked out on the left field grass. And that's how I unexpectedly got to step foot on the field of my favorite team, which was the first time I was on field level at any MLB park and happened in the last park I visited on the tour.
In any event, I am putting the Coliseum 11th on the list. That's my balance between "squee my home team!" and "man, this place is really dated feeling." At least the park feels unique and isn't merely a copy of the other modern mallparks.
Park Rankings
RankParkTeamFirst Visit# Visits (at time of article)
1 AT&T ParkSan Francisco GiantsJuly 26, 20171
2 Marlins ParkMiami MarlinsMay 23, 20141
3 Wrigley FieldChicago CubsApril 23, 20042
4 PNC ParkPittsburgh PiratesSeptember 25, 20042
5 Jacobs FieldCleveland IndiansApril 17, 199963
6 Miller ParkMilwaukee BrewersApril 24, 20041
7 Camden YardsBaltimore OriolesJune 22, 20121
8 Kauffman StadiumKansas City RoyalsJune 9, 20131
9 Petco ParkSan Diego PadresApril 27, 20151
10 Fenway ParkBoston Red SoxJuly 1, 20161
11Oakland ColiseumOakland AthleticsJuly 28, 20172
12 Dodger StadiumLos Angeles DodgersJuly 20, 20171
13 Yankee Stadium (original)New York YankeesJuly 28, 20061
14 Minute Maid ParkHouston AstrosMay 21, 20161
15 Chase FieldArizona DiamondbacksApril 25, 20151
16 Safeco FieldSeattle MarinersAugust 25, 20141
17 Coors FieldColorado RockiesApril 20, 20151
18 Comerica ParkDetroit TigersJuly 31, 20041
19 Target FieldMinnesota TwinsJuly 25, 20141
20 Turner FieldAtlanta BravesMay 5, 20071
21 Angel Stadium of AnaheimLos Angeles AngelsJuly 18, 20171
22 SunTrust ParkAtlanta BravesMay 6, 20171
23 Busch Stadium IIISt. Louis CardinalsAugust 8, 20131
24 Nationals ParkWashington NationalsJune 21, 20121
25 Citizens Bank ParkPhiladelphia PhilliesJune 23, 20121
26 Citi FieldNew York MetsJune 24, 20121
27 Globe Life ParkTexas RangersMay 27, 20161
28 Rogers CentreToronto Blue JaysMay 21, 20051
29 Cinergy FieldCincinnati RedsAugust 8, 19984
30 Yankee Stadium (sequel)New York YankeesJune 25, 20121
31 The MetrodomeMinnesota TwinsJune 22, 19923
32 Shea StadiumNew York MetsJuly 24, 20061
33 Great American Ball ParkCincinnati RedsMay 9, 20041
34 U.S. Cellular FieldChicago White SoxApril 25, 20041
35 Tropicana FieldTampa Bay RaysMay 21, 20141
Background: Prologue Memory Interlude
Original Series End