Elephant Rumblings: Oakland era of A’s baseball enters final week

MLB news roundup

Happy Monday, Athletics Nation!

There were a lot of good reasons to attend the games played between the A’s and Yankees over the weekend as Oakland played their penultimate series at the Coliseum, but the thrill of an A’s victory turned out not to be one of them. The Bronx Bombers outgunned the A’s all weekend, but it could happen anywhere; the Yankees seem to be clicking on all cylinders right now, readying themselves for a big push into the postseason.

Today is the A’s last off day of the 2024 season, and the final Athletics series in Oakland begins tomorrow. Former Athletics star and Bay Area native Marcus Semien will be in town with the Texas Rangers to mark the end of 57 years of Oakland A’s baseball. To say it will be a bittersweet occasion should prove quite an understatement.

Sweeps happen, but it would certainly pile insult upon injury if the A’s got swept through their very last home stand in Oakland. So let’s hope the boys in green and gold bring their best this week as they finish business at the Coliseum and close out the season in Seattle. The A’s have the same 4-6 record against both the Rangers and Mariners this season.

Endings like this are fitting times to remember, and to that end the San Francisco Chronicle is publishing a five-part oral history of the most successful eras of Oakland Athletics baseball. Yesterday’s installment is a collection of thoughts from some of the greats of the Swingin’ A’s of the early seventies, including memories of playing with the legendary three-time World Series winners, and sentiments regarding the A’s exodus we are about to witness (spoiler: nobody is thrilled about it).

The Chronicle is dropping a lot of features on the A’s this week, so if you don’t have access it might be a good time to grab a cheap trial subscription.

Enjoy your last week of Oakland A’s baseball, AN.

A’s Coverage:

• Yankees sweep A’s in final Oakland faceoff
• A Blogfather’s Plea To His Fellow Fans To stAy The Course
• Injuries & Moves: Noda optioned to Double-A
• Fractious Swingin’ A’s won three World Series, clashed with owner, lament exit from Oakland ($)
• A’s brought us ‘Moneyball,’ but team’s analytics took hit under John Fisher ($)
• ‘I hate Las Vegas’: Green Day disses future home of the Oakland A’s during sold-out concert ($)
• A’s Mark Kotsay on team’s 2025 move to Sacramento: ‘It’s a new home’ ($)
• A’s Joey Estes Reflects on His Time in Oakland

MLB News & Interest:

• Reds Fire David Bell
• AL West Notes: Alvarez, Santos, Scherzer, Gamel
• Kodai Senga Shut Down For Remainder Of Regular Season
• Yankees Notes: Cousins, Trivino, LeMahieu
• Latest On Diamondbacks’ Stadium Renovation Negotiations
• With 120 losses, White Sox join ’62 Mets for most defeats in modern MLB history ($)
• Red Sox manager Alex Cora needed to be restrained during ejection vs. Twins ($)
• Red Sox Place Rafael Devers On 10-Day Injured List
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Roster moves.

Just a couple Hall of Famers hanging out at the Coli..

Another list headed by Hunter and Blue.

Midland wins big in the first game.

Noda sent down as a reinforcement.

Naylor leading the way in Stockton.