Highlights of Oakland A’s 2024 schedule: potential final season in the East Bay will be emotional, but will the fans come to say goodbye?
The 56th season of A’s baseball in Oakland gets underway at the Coliseum on Thursday night. It’s still unclear whether this season marks an East Bay swan song or the start of a longer goodbye before the franchise’s targeted debut in Las Vegas in 2028. Either way, will it have any impact on attendance, which has been the lowest in the majors the past two seasons?
It won’t be an easy choice for even the most passionate A’s supporters, who must reconcile their fury about ownership’s relocation effort – and stewardship of the once-proud franchise – with the emotions of saying goodbye to the Green and Gold as they know them.
Here’s a look at some key series to watch this season:
March 28-31 vs. Cleveland Guardians
The A’s open the season on a Thursday night against Cleveland in what might be the beginning of the end in Oakland. Will history and nostalgia put A’s fans in the seats? Last season’s opener against the Angels drew 26,805 fans, the A’s fourth largest crowd of the season and one of just five dates that drew more than 20K. Or will a planned boycott leave the Coliseum even emptier than usual? An early April visit by the Red Sox to conclude the homestand could be a better gauge of fan apathy.
April 26-28 at Baltimore Orioles
The A’s head back to the town where its Oakland era began. The Oakland A’s played their first game on April 10, 1968, at old Memorial Stadium. They lost 3-1, but a young outfielder named Reggie Jackson hit the second home run of his career – he’d go on to hit 561 more. The A’s debut had been scheduled a day earlier, but was postponed because of the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr. The A’s home debut came a week later, also against the O’s.
May 6-8 vs. Texas Rangers
The reigning World Series champions and Bay Area native (and former A’s shortstop) Marcus Semien arrive to wrap up the A’s longest homestand of the season, a 10-gamer that starts with the Pirates and Marlins. The series finale not only coincides with the 56th anniversary of Catfish Hunter’s perfect game, but it includes one of two traditional doubleheaders scheduled this season by MLB.
June 18-20 vs. Kansas City Royals
The A’s won’t visit their one-time hometown this season, but the cities’ MLB fortunes have been intertwined since Charlie O. Finley moved the franchise to Oakland following the 1967 season. The teams are at similar stages in their respective rebuilding plans: For much of 2023, it was a race between the A’s and Royals to see who might challenge the 1961 Mets for the losingest season in the modern era.
June 21-23 vs. Minnesota Twins
The last of the A’s three-peat World Series champion teams from the 1970s will get its day. The 1974 team, which beat the Dodgers in five games 50 years ago, will be honored on Sunday, the final day of the series, and replica jerseys from that season will be given away to fans. The series opens with one of the more promising promotions of the season – a Satchel Paige Rocking Chair bobblehead giveaway – as part of African American Heritage Night. The A’s connection to Paige came in 1965, when the longtime Negro Leagues star pitched in one game for the Kansas City A’s … at the age of 58.
July 12-14 at Philadelphia Phillies
This weekend series in Philadelphia may serve as a reminder of what some call the carpetbagger history of at least some of the franchise’s owners. The A’s called Philadelphia home from 1901 until 1954 – two years less than their run in Oakland – before moving to Kansas City amid outcry opposing relocation of the team. Financial troubles, waning fan interest and losing teams were cited for requiring the franchise to leave town.
July 19-27 vs. Los Angeles Angels
Since arriving in Oakland, the A’s have played more games against the Angels than any other team – it’ll be 906 times after this season. Beloved former A’s coach Ron Washington is managing the Angels this season, and fans will get a lot of Wash, Mike Trout and Co. in a hurry: All 13 of the A’s games against the Angels will be played in a 28-game span from late June to late July.
Aug. 2-4 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
The A’s will be coming out of the trade deadline when they finally get their first look at Shohei Ohtani in a Dodgers uniform. Interestingly, the A’s have had significant success against the Dodgers in the Coliseum. They closed out the 1974 World Series against the Dodgers with three straight wins in Oakland and got their only win in the 1988 World Series against L.A. at home. The A’s are 23-19 against the Dodgers since the start of interleague play in 1997, including a 16-5 record at home.
Aug. 17-18 vs. Giants
Two weeks after the A’s visit San Francisco for possibly the final time as a Bay Area-based rival, the teams will meet for a weekend series at the Coliseum. Bay Bridge Series games have been among the most well-attended games ever played in the Coliseum – four of the top nine all-time (including playoffs) and the top two overall. Will this edition bring out fans of Bay Area baseball in droves two more times?
Sept 24-26 vs. Texas Rangers
The Yankees’ only visit of the season to Oakland to open this homestand is just the start to what could be an emotional week for A’s fans. Even the most staunch anti-John Fisher contingent will have to make a no-win decision: Make a final statement by staying away from the ballpark for what might be the final games of the franchise’s Bay Area existence or be there, if this is the end of the Green and Gold in the 510?
Sept. 27-29 at Seattle Mariners
After 56 seasons, these could be the final days that “Oakland” is seen on jerseys in the major leagues. This will be the 15th time in the past 31 years the A’s play the Mariners in their final game of the regular season, a stretch that began when the strike-shortened 1994 season ended against the M’s. This will be the 12th time overall an Oakland A’s regular season concludes in Seattle, including the A’s second season – in 1969 – against the Pilots in what was their final game before that franchise moved to Milwaukee to become the Brewers.