Sonny Gray got his first win with the Athletics in Oakland on August 15, 2013, against the Astros. Nearly 11 years later, he earned his 100th win at the Coliseum, but this time he was wearing a Cardinals jersey and facing his former team.
For Gray, winning what could be his final start on this field was incredibly meaningful, especially with the A’s planning to play their next three seasons in Sacramento.
It brought back memories, like when his son Gunnar was born in the Bay Area and spent his first five years here. Then there were the playoff seasons of 2013 and 2014 during his time with the A’s. They were the team that drafted him in the first round, 18th, out of Vanderbilt in 2011.
“It’s a special place for me,” said the 34-year-old Gray. “Gunnar was raised here for the first five years of his life. We lived here from, what, 2013 to ’17. We came to the ballpark here every day and I got to see the best sides of it, I guess.
I got to see the sellouts and the winning the divisions and the going to the playoffs and playing in the playoffs here.”
So when Gray pitched six scoreless innings, striking out six without walking a batter in the Cardinals’ 3-1 victory Monday night, it made him reflect on all those memories once again.
When his teammates wonder what it will be like to play in Oakland, Gray tells them, “You don’t understand it like I do.”
“It means a lot to me. This is the team that picked me in the draft. This is the team that gave me a chance,” he said. “This is the team that believed in me. These are the fans who helped shape my career. I always like coming back here.”
Hearing those “Sell the team!” chants was tough for him. He hopes that over time, A’s fans might be able to find some joy in this final year before the team spends the next three seasons in Sacramento before moving to Las Vegas for the start of the 2028 season.
Gray gets why fans are frustrated, especially considering the difference between his time in Oakland and the current situation. “I could hear ‘Sell! Sell!’ even when I was on the mound. It just made me feel uneasy,” he said.
“I’m like, ‘Man, I don’t like that.’ I think the fans probably feel some kind of way, but I would also say, as bad as the situation is for the fans, maybe just try to enjoy it.
This is it, maybe just try to take it in and enjoy it, just enjoy all the last moments and the last games and everything that you get to see.”
It’s only April, and Gray still has restrictions on how many pitches he can throw since he hurt his right hamstring in spring training. But the importance of this moment felt bigger because of his past in this place.
“I kind of had a feeling going into this week, like, ‘OK, I’m pitching the first game in Oakland,’ and you’re thinking, ‘this is probably my last start here,'” he said.
“I’ve had so many starts here, and just knowing all week that this is likely the last one, probably the last time we’ll ever play here, it was really special. … For me, it was more meaningful than just a regular game in the middle of whatever month it is.”
