When manager Mark Kotsay took off his Oakland jersey for the last time on Sunday, it was headed for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Brent Rooker plans to keep his final jersey, which has “Oakland” on the front, framed on his wall at home.
“That’ll kind of be my thing. The last jersey that says Oakland and the last time you’re representing that city specifically,” Rooker said.
The connection between the name Oakland and the Athletics ended on Sunday after their last game of the season against the Seattle Mariners, which the A’s lost 6-4. When the 2025 season starts, the A’s will still be around and will oddly begin the year in Seattle, but the name Oakland will no longer be associated with them.
Kotsay, who played for the A’s for four seasons and has been the manager for three years, said it was an honor to give his final jersey to the Hall of Fame.
“We talked about it on Thursday, the pride that I have of managing this club, of representing the city and the jersey and the front of it being Oakland one last time,” Kotsay said.
The past few weeks have been filled with strong emotions for those connected to the A’s, especially in the last few days. They had their final home series and game at the Coliseum in Oakland on Thursday, followed by the last games in Seattle.
Many fans in green and gold were at T-Mobile Park for the finale, wearing shirts or holding signs urging A’s ownership to sell the team. Regardless of which team they supported, fans were surprised when Rickey Henderson threw out the first pitch in a custom half-A’s, half-Mariners jersey.
Before JJ Bleday’s first at-bat to start the game, a loud chant of “Let’s go Oakland” echoed through the stadium. This chant grew louder, especially in the ninth inning when it seemed even Seattle fans joined in.
“I think we’ve done a pretty good job of keeping things in perspective and by that I mean making sure that we understand the weight, the gravity of the moment, the situation, and how much it means to a lot of people,” Rooker said.
“And doing our best to honor that and to pay homage and respect to everything else to the city of Oakland and the organization, the franchise, the people, the fans, the workers, all the people deserve.”
Like Rooker, Seth Brown plans to keep his jersey from the final game. He mentioned that knowing the A’s will move to Sacramento for at least three years before eventually heading to Las Vegas has been a relief for the players.
However, this doesn’t lessen the emotional impact of the last day as Oakland.
“Every day that you get to put on that uniform is something special and for everybody who puts it on today, it’s kind of one of those things where you got to feel lucky to do what you do and lucky that you get to wear a jersey that says Oakland across the front of it,” Brown said.
Even in the other team’s dugout, the idea of the A’s no longer being linked to Oakland was hard to accept. Seattle manager Dan Wilson, who played 109 games against the A’s, felt a sense of nostalgia when the Mariners visited Oakland earlier this month, but the finality of the situation hit on Sunday.
“To have an opportunity to play them for the last time as the Oakland A’s does feel different. It’s a little bit of history passing in a way,” said Wilson, who caught the first pitch from Henderson.
“I think anybody that’s around the game can appreciate the history of the game and so when that begins to change, that changes something inside of you, too.”
