46 Comments
User's avatar
Sherman Alexie's avatar

You have my empathy. We lost the Seattle Sonics 15 years ago and I've never stopped grieving. We're the favorites to get a franchise with the next expansion but I won't believe it until the team hits the court.

Expand full comment
Gary Trujillo's avatar

I was really upset about the Sonics leaving...and they were essentially stolen just like the A's. Kind of ridiculous to leave a market like Seattle for OKC which makes Sacramento look like a metropolis.

Expand full comment
Sherman Alexie's avatar

Yes, it was madness.

Expand full comment
Shaggy Snodgrass's avatar

Yeah, this stuff is why I've become distant from all the pro "ball sports" now. Losing the Browns in 1995 left indelible scars on me, even though we got them back (sorta) in '99; the recent absconding of the Chargers from San Diego brought the hurt of those years back. I gave up on the NFL almost completely then. Drifting away from MLB has been a slower process, but steadily fueled by the extortionate antics of the Dolans in grabbing at public subsidies for their downtown ballpark, which is a rich man's playground that poor people pay for.

The stadium I loved as a kid is long gone; + the games are not far behind, buried behind pay-networks and ticketing apps I will never bother to use. C'est la vie.

Expand full comment
Gary Trujillo's avatar

I feel all of this. The Los Angeles Chargers sounds dumb as fuck and frankly L.A. barely cares about the Chargers. I’m done with buying the gear and knick knacks, and although I still watch games (pirated, of course) I feel like them not getting any of my money makes it somewhat “even.” I don’t watch with the same eyes and passion as I did when I was a child… baseball, if anything, is just nostalgic background noise.

Expand full comment
Steve Goldberg's avatar

I attended five Oakland Ballers games this summer and it made the pain of the A's leaving go away rather quickly. The entire experience was so much more fun, communal, and exciting. I got to know many of the folks seated around me, it's way more kid-friendly and the quality of the game was way higher than I expected for what is I suppose the equivalent of low-A ball.

I personally am happy never to piss in a giant trough ever again.

Expand full comment
Gary Trujillo's avatar

that's cool...I really need to get some Ballers gear! I never really minded pissing in a trough. It's much more welcoming than pissing on someone's turd in a port-a-potty. (I think my IQ just dropped 50 points)

Thanks a bunch for commenting, Steve. Please stop by again sometime.

Expand full comment
James Finn Garner's avatar

A touching tribute to pre-corporate baseball. I'm sorry I never got to see a ballgame at the Coliseum. "Why go? It's a dump!"

"I don't care!"

You answered why.

Expand full comment
David Perlmutter's avatar

Sacramento's never had a pro sports team as far as I know, so that will be a change for them. But then they can reunite with the Raiders in Vegas.

Expand full comment
Gary Trujillo's avatar

The Kings....NBA.

Expand full comment
David Perlmutter's avatar

I meant besides them....

Expand full comment
susan conner's avatar

Sacramento Kings

Expand full comment
David Perlmutter's avatar

My God- Oakland is losing all its sports teams all at once. And the people there obviously can't cheer for the San Francisco ones...

(This happened to me with the original Winnipeg Jets of the NHL, but they're back now.)

Where is the team headed? Over the franchise's history it's been in Philadelphia, Kansas City and Oakland, with lengthy stays in each. Hopefully that stays the same.

Expand full comment
Gary Trujillo's avatar

They will just be called "The A's" when they play in Sacramento for 3 years while their inept owner tries to fleece taxpayers and other rubes into building his stadium in Las Vegas.

Expand full comment
Carolyn Jones's avatar

This is a wonderful example of how to open a story - wonderfully gripping!!!!

Expand full comment
Gary Trujillo's avatar

Thanks for reading....please stop by again sometime.

Expand full comment
Jeremy Braddock's avatar

I loved going there in the 90s, before the monstrous addition, and when you could look out at the Berkeley/Oakland hills. My heart goes out to you!

Expand full comment
Gary Trujillo's avatar

I appreciate you stopping by, Jeremy. Thank you and please come again. :)

Expand full comment
Ryan Hunter's avatar

What a great read. That bathroom scene brought me back to some early memories of my pops taking me to Jets games at The Meadowlands. So sorry about the team leaving, man.

Expand full comment
Gary Trujillo's avatar

Thanks for reading, Ryan. I appreciate it very much.

Expand full comment
Tim's avatar

A's coliseum, where the hot dog costs more than the tickets.

Didn't grow up in the bay, but I was here for them to be lovable losers where true fans would proudly wear their colors. Great piece for capturing the gritty underdog attitude that runs through to a lot of Oaklanders.

And Greg Papa's emotional breakdown on KNBR had me sniffling.

Expand full comment
Gary Trujillo's avatar

Thanks, Tim. I heard Papa as well and it made me kind of angry as well as sad.

Please stop by again sometime. I appreciate your kind words.

Expand full comment
Steve Myers's avatar

I'm keeping this as Anthem to times A's in Oakland.

Expand full comment
Sam Robinson's avatar

I loved this, Gary. Thanks so much for writing it.

Expand full comment
Jim Ruland's avatar

Reading this in LA a few hours before going to Dodger Stadium.

Expand full comment
Gary Trujillo's avatar

that's so rad, Jim. I'm a big fan of yours so that means a lot to me.

Go Doyers!

Expand full comment
Jim Ruland's avatar

Thanks, Gary. Last night was a bummer but that's baseball!

Expand full comment
Nate Pilon's avatar

This A’s fan went to his first A’s game as a 6 year-old in 1981. I would attend dozens of A’s games every summer until 1989 when my dad moved back to Michigan. You just described beautifully my experiences at the Coliseum in the 80s. Thank you. P.S. that marijuana smell was probably coming from my dad haha

Expand full comment
Gary Trujillo's avatar

that's awesome, Nate. Thanks for reading and for leaving such a rad comment. It means a lot.

Expand full comment
Mark Tomasik's avatar

This piece soars from beginning to end, Gary. You nailed it with your description of a ballpark experience that valued the working class customer.

Expand full comment
Gary Trujillo's avatar

Thanks, Mark. I think the corporate disrespect was probably your main gripe about why baseball sucks so much these days. (that and the gambling b.s.) I'm a crack head so I still watch, but they don't get any of my money so i'm sort of cool with that.

Funny aside: I contacted the Sac RiverCats for free tickets the other day and received no response. Mind you, they and other minor league teams have ALWAYS hooked me up. Was it the anti-Fisher sentiment on the blog? Who knows!

Expand full comment
Bob Martinez's avatar

Pure poetry My Man! By Darwinian Law, I know you are referencing Danny Darwin of the 21-year career, who coincidentally never pitched for Oakland but seemed to have pitched everywhere else. Funny that you should paint such a perfect picture of the bathroom experience while mentioning the commercialization of the game. Until the Cubs moved from Hohokam in Mesa to Sloan Park in Mesa there were no ads on the radio broadcasts for Sloan despite "being the troughs for over 100 years". And for decades, they were merely troughs and not water-efficient commercial bathroom products. Anything for a buck!

It's great that you have those memories and thanks as always for sharing them.

Expand full comment
Gary Trujillo's avatar

Thanks, Bob. One question....does Wrigley still have the piss troughs? I was told they have them in Chicago and Cleveland.

Expand full comment
James Finn Garner's avatar

A few of the bathrooms at Wrigley have troughs, but not all.

At Michigan Stadium in the '80s, they merely offered a tile wall to piss on, with a gutter at your feet. Did anyplace else have this?

Expand full comment
Gary Trujillo's avatar

that's news to me, my man. how very strange!

thanks for the comment, James....please stop by again sometime.

Expand full comment
James Finn Garner's avatar

Will do. I just put a very shabby piece of doggerel up about the players through the years at Bardball.com. I have a soft spot in my heart for Oakland. One of my oldest friends lives there. When I was a young Tiger fan, the A's (and the O's) were the team to beat. And from my perspective, it looked like they had fun doing it. Of course, I didn't read about all the fistfights, etc......

Expand full comment
Gary Trujillo's avatar

Nice! I follow Bardball so I will definitely be checking that out.

Your Tigers did the unthinkable and made the playoffs this year. Good stuff.

Expand full comment
Bob Martinez's avatar

To the best of my knowledge, they've gone stainless steel. There might be one porcelain basin somewhere in the building though.

Expand full comment
Gary Trujillo's avatar

the steel ones are even more old school and gnarly. (I can't believe I've had multiple conversations about piss troughs today) hahahahahaha

Expand full comment
Bob Martinez's avatar

Baseball brings out the best in us. Think of all that scratching and spitting.

Expand full comment