The Oakland Coliseum comes alive as fans show up in droves for Opening Night

With stadium negotiation news being relatively in limbo (save for the big legal win in terms of the Environmental Impact Report prior to first pitch), fans stand at a crossroads between coming out to support the players and outright boycotting coming out to the Oakland Coliseum altogether.

But Thursday night, as the Oakland A’s prepared to take the field for their 55th Opening Night in Oakland, none of that seemed to matter.

Fans packed the lower bowl of the Coliseum as hundreds more filed in from the parking lot after traditional tailgating affairs. Chants of “Let’s Go Oakland” echoed down the old concrete corridor. Media buzz was in full effect as dozens of credentialed reporters came out to cover Kyle Muller (or that Shohei Ohtani guy).

Whether it was excitement to have the first real Opening Night in Oakland in the past three seasons, the pomp and circumstance that always comes with Shohei Ohtani, or the fact that John Fisher is trying to win the fans over with Coke products replacing the usual RC Cola lineup at concession stands, the fact is this: the fans showed up.

A total of 26,805 fans came out on a chilly Thursday night, decked out in green and gold, to support an Opening Day lineup vastly different from last seasons. Every single one of them were loud.

“We feed off that energy, and to see the stadium packed how it was definitely means a lot. All those fans coming out and supporting us, we definitely feel that energy,” second baseman Tony Kemp said, thanking the fans in a postgame interview last night.

Tony Kemp was in the middle of an exciting comeback in the eighth inning, where he hit a game-tying double that brought a speedy Esteury Ruiz in from first. Kemp would eventually come in as the winning run on a single by Aledmys Diaz that was flipped into left.

After six shutout innings by Shohei Ohtani where he notched double digits in strikeouts and quieted the A’s bats, the Coliseum came alive.

And just as quickly, the tangible excitement could be felt once again for a team with no real expectations leaving it all on the field for Oakland.

No, the Oakland Athletics are not suddenly World Series favorites, even if it feels like it after a thriller of a game to open up the 2023 season. But they are a team that will surprise many with how exciting they are this year.

“It was the best day I’ve ever had on a baseball field. It was awesome. That’s what you dream about,” Kyle Muller said after an outstanding Opening Night start. He spun five innings of one-run ball against a very formidable lineup including two of the best players in the world.

The energy from the team is already noticeably different–youthful, excitable, energetic, and with more swagger than last year. Sorry, Jed Lowrie.

Rapidly, the “New Oakland” is planting its roots in a city that is eager to embrace them once again after years and years of turmoil induced by apathetic ownership. No matter what those owners feel or have felt, the players continue to recognize the tradition that prompted last night’s mass of fans to show up.

“I take a lot of pride in wearing the green and gold,” outfielder Seth Brown told reporters after the game. “I take it very seriously. I really enjoy the tradition of the Oakland A’s.”

It can be immensely frustrating to continue to hear and read the rhetoric on the faltering Coliseum crowd numbers, largely by pundits reporting from as close as across the Bay and as far as the opposite coast. But crowds like last night’s are what make Oakland special. They are what make Oakland a baseball town. They are why players who play here rave about their time suiting up for the historic franchise.

They are the reason why the Athletics must stay in Oakland.

As John Fisher’s top spokesman, Dave Kaval, continues not to speak in order to “honor ongoing negotiations,” we must not forget that the fan base is here. It’s a sleeping giant that comes from all corners of the state of California, and even beyond, that is begging for something to be built so that they can congregate together.

And even if it does not, even if that often-dreamt-of stadium continues to see its first Opening Night in Oakland pushed back, the fans will continue to support those that support and honor the legacy of the Oakland A’s.