For Tanya Vargas, going to A’s games encompassed so much more than baseball. Many of her first dates with her husband were at A’s games. He proposed to her on the jumbotron. Their two sons, ages 6 and 8, attended every opening day of the season other than one during the pandemic.
“Bittersweet,” she said when asked how she felt on Saturday during one of the final A’s home games against the New York Yankees. “We’re making the best memories for the last few games that we can be here and just enjoying it with the family.”
Vargas’s family were among the thousands of fans who packed the Coliseum for the baseball club’s last home games before they depart for Sacramento next year after 57 seasons in Oakland.
KQED spoke with fans at the game on Saturday and on Tuesday’s 9 a.m. Forum show. Many said they were feeling a mix of sadness and anger but also joy associated with decades of memories. Check KQED’s guide to processing the loss of the team.
Team owners have talked about relocating for nearly two decades, but to see them go has been “devastating,” said Carol Giesler of Castro Valley.
“Anyone that you talk to who is a true Oakland fan, we’re all devastated,” she said. “Baseball, of all sports, is the heart and soul of America. And, to have the heart and soul of America ripped out of Oakland is wrong.”
