A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Las Vegas is a town known for winners and losers, but a town that until recently did not have major pro sports teams. Now it has several, including the NFL's Raiders, who left Oakland four years ago, just as the NBA's Golden State Warriors had moved to San Francisco. Now, Major League Baseball's Oakland A's are also preparing to move here to Vegas. Today is their final game in the city they've called home since 1968, which means Oakland will be that big city without a major league team. Here's Brian Watt from member station KQED.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Chanting) Let's go Oakland.
BRIAN WATT, BYLINE: More than 33,000 fans came to the Coliseum a few nights ago to watch the A's get beat bad by the New York Yankees. Many locals knew they were near the end of something big.
TANYA VARGA: It's bittersweet (laughter). Like, you know, making the best memories for the last few games that we can be here.
BRIAN HERNANDEZ: I'm feeling sad. I'm happy to be here, but more than anything, I'm sad. I'm over being mad about the situation.
CAROL GIESLER: And anyone that you talk to who is a true Oakland fan, we're all devastated that they're leaving.
WATT: That's Tanya Vargas, Brian Hernandez, and Carol Giesler, all longtime A's fans from different parts of the Bay Area.
ANDY DOLICH: Over 80 million people have come through the Coliseum turnstiles since the A's first game 56 years ago.
WATT: Andy Dolich was executive vice president of the A's under the previous owners. He's now a sports business consultant.
DOLICH: That's a lot of hot dogs, beer, merchandise, enthusiasm, families. And I look at the emotional attachment that a team has with the community.
WATT: He says it's very emotional between the A's and Oakland, and the departure rips the heart, mind and soul out of a devoted fan base. A's fans have watched, for decades, really, as different owners have looked at different places in the Bay Area to build a shiny new baseball stadium. A few years ago, the A's current owner got permission from Major League Baseball to begin talking to Las Vegas. And last season, they announced they'd struck a deal to move there.
JEAN QUAN: People will learn from cities like Oakland.
WATT: Jean Quan is a former mayor of Oakland from 2010 to 2014, and she put in a lot of work and charm offensives to try to keep the A's and the Raiders and the Warriors. But she says each team's owners wanted something different or more than Oakland could reasonably offer.
QUAN: Teams belong to more than just their momentary owners because local fans and cities invest a lot in them, and they deserve more respect than they get.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Chanting) Let's go, Oakland.
WATT: Sixty-four-year-old Andy Ngim has been going to A's games since their first season in Oakland in 1968, which means he's seen some of the game's greatest players - Reggie Jackson, Rickey Henderson, Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue. But after this season...
ANDY NGIM: Being a lifelong Oakland A's fan, I don't plan on going to Vegas. Same with the Raiders when the Raiders left Oakland. I can't become a Las Vegas Raider fan. Just doesn't have the same ring. Growing up as an Oakland native, it just doesn't feel right.
WATT: The A's will play the next few seasons up the road from Oakland in Sacramento in hopes that their new stadium in Las Vegas is built in time for 2028. For NPR News, I'm Brian Watt in Oakland.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "III. TELEGRAPH AVE. ('OAKLAND' BY LLOYD)")
CHILDISH GAMBINO: (Singing) But everything you do is so Oakland - so Oakland. Foot on the gas, I'm just trying to pass all the red lights and the stop signs. I'm ready to go. Before I get to the Bay, babe - that's a problem because I'm way too scared to call, and you might get me to stay. And, oh, I don't really mind the drive, but I think I'd rather die in Oakland - in Oakland - with my hands on two and 10, so I guess it all depends on Oakland - on Oakland. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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