Spring Game Thread #30: A’s vs Royals

On the same day that the Raiders have been officially approved to leave Oakland, yet again, in order to try their luck in Las Vegas, the A’s begin their final week in Arizona before returning home to the city that has supported them for half a century. The A’s have had a long-standing tradition of winning in Oakland, and has had its identity shaped again and again by the fans of the east bay, no matter who was wearing the uniform. With the Raiders now committing to Las Vegas and the Warriors planning on jumping across the bay, the A’s soon stand to be the lone professional sports team in Oakland proper, and all signs are pointing towards the A’s and Oakland staying together for quite a bit longer.

It wasn’t all too long ago that the A’s were perpetually rumored to be on the move somewhere, be it Fremont or San Jose, or even Las Vegas, while under the ownership of Lew Wolff, and others. With Wolff’s obsession with getting the A’s a new stadium done his way, and perpetually disparaging the city of Oakland in the process, for a while there was a divide between the city, fans, and the team. Attendance completely bottomed out as the A’s played mediocre ball in an old, decrepit coliseum, with no real direction or positive future outlook. A miracle season that saw the emergence of hometown stars like Jonny Gomes in 2012 helped a bit, but the biggest boon for the A’s was Wolff, and his stadium vision, stepping down and David Kaval, and his stadium vision, stepping in. Since Kaval’s takeover the A’s have made it clear that Oakland is their home. The threat of the team leaving one day is gone, and instead of treading water the team is looking poised to build a youthful, sustainable roster that will soon be playing under the lights of a new ballpark in Oakland.

The Raiders moving means the A’s have no more obstacles to building a new stadium in Oakland, and can immediately start working with the city to finalize new ballpark plans.

But for today, the A’s will simply being playing one of their final spring training game, against the Royals.

For the A’s: 1- R Davis, CF 2- J Lowrie, 2B 3- M Joyce, RF 4- M Semien, SS 5- S Vogt, C 6- J Phegley, DH 7- Y Alonso, 1B 8- M Chapman, 3B 9- J Decker, LF SP- A Triggs

For the Royals: 1- A Gordon, DH 2- M Mousataks, 3B 3- L Cain, CF 4- B Moss, 1B 5- P Orlando, RF 6- W Merrifield, LF 7- A Escobar, SS 8- D Butera, C 9- R Mondesi, 2B SP- J Vargas