A's to Celebrate the Coliseum for the Remainder of 2024
When Dave Kaval spoke with reporters yesterday after the team's press conference in Sacramento, he said that the A's would be celebrating the Oakland Coliseum for the remainder of the 2024 campaign. The last A's game at the Coliseum will be Thursday, September 26.
Today the A's sent out a press release detailing what those plans are.
It begins with the return of Double Play Wednesdays, "the most popular promotion in A's history." On June 5, July 24, and August 21, the A's will be selling $2 Plaza Level Outfield tickets and $1 hot dogs.
This promotion brings me back to when I was in college we'd see how many hot dogs we could eat while taking in a game. While it's cool that they're bringing it back, the fact that it's on a limited basis doesn't really feel like a celebration of the history of the club, but more of a cheap way to try and make people happy. There are eight Wednesday home games starting from June 5, and three of them will have the promotion. If the promotion is a money loser, then oh well. Are we celebrating the history if this franchise or not?
One pretty cool plan that the team has is to introduce Alumni Sundays. Beginning on June 9 and continuing through every home Sunday for the rest of the season, fans will have the opportunity to meet many of their favorite former A’s during pregame photo and autograph sessions. Hopefully they announce how that process will work (does this cost extra?) and who will be in attendance for each game ahead of time.
Fans that arrive early (so not enough for the entire crowd it would seem), for the final home game at the Coliseum will receive a replica Coliseum stadium.
On Saturday, Aug. 17, during the annual Bay Bridge Series versus the San Francisco Giants, the A’s will induct the Class of 2024 into the Athletics Hall of Fame. The newest class to be enshrined in franchise history features Jose Canseco, Terry Steinbach, Miguel Tejada, Dick Williams, Bill King, and Eddie Joost.
Obviously it's cool to celebrate one final group of inductees into the A's Hall of Fame, but they were already going to do this. There was voting at the end of last season and everything.
Finally, there is the return of Kids Cheer Free Sundays, beginning this summer. Starting on May 26, adults can add up to two free tickets for children ages 14 and younger for each regularly priced ticket purchased. Following each Kids Cheer Free game, fans are invited onto the field for Race Around the Bases.
For a lot of people, this will be a nice way to make some final memories at the Coliseum, and with some of the pricing, not give owner John Fisher much money in the process.
At the same time, if Fisher had been running these promotions the whole time, attendance would have never been so low in the first place, which really underscores his true motivations. He's looking for good PR with this move, which is smart. It's just obvious, which makes it feel slimy. It also doesn't help that any money he makes at the Coliseum will just be funneled into Las Vegas or Sacramento.
This will offer fans a chance at some nostalgia, and that's great. It just feels tainted this time around.