During the summer before Andrew Moffitt’s 8th Grade year, he and his dad got a chance to see a lot of the United States and to catch some baseball games. This is their report after visiting the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum AKA The Ring Central Coliseum for one of the very last home games played by the Oakland Athletics.

What did the stadium look like walking up? “Prison.” Taking Bay Area Rapid Transit was a super smart idea. We arrived early enough to catch batting practice and had to deal with none of the traffic issues.

Just like at the World Series in 2020, Andrew got a ball. River Ryan tried three times to get it up to us. I will try the same number of times to get an autographed piece of paper to go with the ball.

Teoscar Hernandez homered to start and things were looking up for the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers. Gavin Stone started for the Dodgers. It was not an amazing start. Outfielder Seth Brown homered (402 feet) for the Athletics. Shea Langeliers hit one (436 feet) to San Jose. Brent Rooker hit one to Richmond (419 feet).

In the 5th inning, the A’s got three men on base and everyone scored. The Dodgers couldn’t buy a hit or a walk, much less an RBI. Joey Estes went six innings and allowed just three base runners. The Dodgers put four on in the following two innings, but couldn’t score. Catcher Will Smith did what he normally does not, and argued a called third-strike.

A Public Service Announcement about knowing your surroundings: This was obviously a child I was with. The very nice people behind us did not seem to know that their language and subject matter should be altered when within earshot of a boy. There was some pretty x-rated language and conversation going on in those seats. Try to remember that you are not the only at the ballpark.

Somewhere during the Dodger malaise, Andrew and I decided to wander around. We found ping pong tables, a virtual reality race against Rickey Henderson, cornhole, and a pitching simulator. He thought it was great. I wished these were activities we could be doing before or after the game…not during it.

Then the 9th happened. Kike Hernandez got on. Then James Outman did as well. Shohei Ohtani had looked off balance all game. He found his balance when he needed it and smoked one to center; 405 feet later, it landed in the centerfield stands.

The sunset was glorious.

Smith grounded out and it was all over. We made our way to mass transit and then to our car and then to the highway for the three hour drive home.

PSA #2: Pull over for ambulances.

Final thoughts: That sunset was amazing. Oakland could have been amazing for kids and for baseball. MLB put the team there even though San Francisco had just arrived a few years earlier. It never seemed like there were enough fans to go around. A’s fans never turned out even when they were winning. The City of Oakland didn’t help. So, off to Sacramento .

Final, final thought: the hot dog. Big. Beef? Rubbery. Weird. Next-to-last in the race for best dog. Thanks for the game, Oakland. Can’t imagine why we’d be back.