Washington Nationals Outfielder Jesse Winker Loves Playing in Oakland
Washington Nationals outfielder Jesse Winker didn't grow up in Oakland. Heck he wasn't even born on the west coast. He was born in Buffalo, New York, and attended high school in Orlando, Florida. That has never stopped him from sharing his love for playing at the Oakland Coliseum.
The latest example of this came ahead of Saturday's game in what is likely to be his last visit to Oakland, barring a trade or a miracle that keeps the A's in town. He spoke to the incomparable Jessica Kleinschmidt on A's Unfiltered from the Nationals clubhouse and said that he loves the history of the ballpark.
"I love playing here. I think the first time I came here was in 2019. I was with the Reds and we got no-hit by Mike Fiers. I remember thinking when I left, like, 'man, I hate Oakland.' And then when I came back with Seattle, I had a whole different perspective on it. I started really looking at this place and imagining it at full capacity in the playoffs. Then I look up, and you have Rickey Henderson's jersey up there, you have all-time favorite lefty swing of mine, Reggie Jackson. I could only imagine him hitting a home run to the third deck...and it kind of gives you goosebumps. It's inspiring."
In the first game of the series, Winker went 4-for-4 with a game-tying home run in the top of the ninth on Friday night. It didn't quite reach the third deck, but it extended the game for another inning. The 30-year-old followed that up with a 1-for-4 day at the plate on Saturday, and his sixth inning double set the table for the Nats' 3-1 win.
After doubling, reliever Kyle Muller guessed right on Winker's intentions to attempt a steal of third base and had the runner hung out to dry, but instead of diving back to the bag, Winker just took off for third. Muller's throw went to second, which allowed the runner to secure the stolen base. While it may not have been executed with the grace or the speed of Rickey, the base running result was Henderson-esque.
"You look up and you see history here. You blend that with the passionate fan base that's here, there's people that bleed green and [gold]. Everyone that I've spoken to that played for the A's, says nothing but amazing things. When I came here in '22, I started looking at it completely different. I'm like 'holy cow, I love this place.' I feel like as a hitter, you see the ball well, I feel like defensively you see the ball well. The weather is refreshing. It's not 1,000 degrees here with humidity. You start adding all these things, and I'm like well I don't have anything bad to say about it."
Winker also mentioned that he's thought about some of the football history that has happened at the Coliseum and some of the players that have come through their clubhouse. "You start thinking about that and it's like 'oh my god. This place is unreal. What a blessing it is that I get to play a Major League Baseball game here."
As if he needed to say anything else to get fans in Oakland to love him, Winker also dropped that one of his all-time favorite baseball videos is seeing Grant Balfour coming into the game in the playoffs with the crowd going absolutely bonkers.
If this is the video that Winker was talking about, it was actually Game 162 of the 2012 season, the day that the A's overtook the Texas Rangers for first place in the AL West for the first time all season. You have to wonder if Winker also knows about how the fans, roughly a week later after their team had been eliminated by Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers, stuck around and chanted "Let's go Oakland" after the final out.
Sean Doolittle, who was on that 2012 Oakland A's team is Pitching Strategist for the Washington Nationals this season and likely has some tales to tell that would be of interest.