Oakland A's

SOURCE SPORTS EXCLUSIVE: Former A’s Catcher Says Owners Allowed Closing Of Oakland Coliseum

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Screenshot 2024 09 29 at 11.21.31 PM

Screenshot 2024 09 29 at 11.21.31 PM

As it has been sadly reported, the Oakland Coliseum, the place that the AL West Oakland A’s baseball team have called home since 1968, has closed its doors for good and many fans and baseball critics have made it known that no one is happy about it. Some of the most interesting perspectives have come from Oakland A’s players themselves, both past and present, who feel like the move to Las Vegas was more about money than the game.

The A’s, who they will now be called when they move the show to Sacramento, played their last game in the Oakland Coliseum this past Thursday in a win against the Texas Rangers, but the bittersweet win was overshadowed by the loss of the stadium, with fans taking bases and bottles of dirt from the field as tearful pieces of memorabilia. Oakland, where legendary players such as Reggie Jackson and Rickey Henderson once called home, closed the doors to the Coliseum where the Athletics have played since 1968. The A’s followed the lead of the Raiders, who left Oakland for Las Vegas just three years ago.

Fans turned up at the Coliseum early in the day in full green and gold regalia. Chants of “Let’s go, Oakland” soon roared throughout the stadium, as did some chants of “Sell the team” in a reference to Oakland A’s owner John Fisher. Despite reportedly being instructed to leave the field immediately following the game, players stayed to honor and pay homage their fans.

Some of the players, current and former, were not at all thrilled or surprised by the move from Oakland and former A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell believes that the move to Vegas will literally hurt the morale of a city that is still reeling from sports team losses.

“Removing the A’s from Oakland is ripping the heart out of Oakland!” exclaims the German-born 33-year-old who made his MLB debut in Oakland in 2016. “So much history that belongs to Oakland. Your goal is to win in sports and if that is not your goal, you shouldn’t be allowed to own a team,” Maxwell says referencing Fisher. “Ownership has shown that they are more focused on saving money than winning. It’s sad for the people of Oakland that it’s happening like this.”

The A’s will be moving to Sacramento for three seasons to Sutter Health Park, home of the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, starting in 2025, with an option for a fourth season, the team announced in April. In the spirit of the Raiders, the plan is to move the A’s organization to Las Vegas by 2028. As for closing the doors to the Coliseum, Maxwell echoed the sentiments of the A’s fans. “It’s bad for Oakland and it’s bad for baseball.”

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SOURCE SPORTS: [WATCH] Athletics’ OF Lawrence Butler Records Freestyle At NYC’s Quad Studios

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Screenshot 2024 05 05 at 5.08.25 PM

Most Hip Hop aficionados have heard the infamous stories about the legendary Quad Studiosin New York City’s Times Square, however, Oakland A’s outfielder Lawrence Butler may just be the very first professional baseball player to grace the booth in the studios on 7th Avenue.

Following a game against the Yanks in New York, Butler heard about the location of Quad from his agent Amber Sabathia and took advantage of the opportunity to tour the swank studio known to have been the home of recording to superstars such as Michael Jackson and Beyoncé. It’s also a well known hub for Hip Hoppers, boasting recording sessions with the likes of Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole. Quad is also well known as the location where late rap icon Tupac Shakur was shot and robbed in 1994 while the late Notorious B.I.G. and his manager Diddy were in the studio, igniting the East Coast/West Coast beef in the late 90s.

“I didn’t really know much of Quad until they told me,” Butler said. “I was with Amber Sabathia and she was telling me a little bit more of the history and stuff of it. It’s a pretty cool studio with all those legends that have gone through there.”

Check out Butler’s tour and recording session at Quad Studios in New York HERE

The history in itself was more than enough to motive the 23-year-old right hander to jump in the booth and record his own piece of Quad history.

“I was freestyling,” Butler said. “Did the whole thing in 20 minutes. They sent me the song. I had a producer in there mixing it. It was a pretty cool experience.”

Being from Atlanta, Hip Hop is a huge part of the culture, especially in Buitler’s SWATs(Southwest Atlanta) neighborhood, where rappers such as Young Thug, Lil Baby and even Outkast grew up and launched their careers.“Music is a huge thing in Atlanta,” Butler said. “It’s the number one rap scene right now. All we listen to down there is rap music. Everywhere you go is rap music.”

Butler made other stops during his visit to the Apple, including a trip to Fat Joe’s clothing store UP NYC and even sat courtside at Madison Square Garden for Game 2 of the NBA Playoffs series between the Knicks and the 76ers.

When asked if he was going to possibly puruse a rap career after his days on the diamond, to which Butler responded, “I usually just do [music] for fun. I’m not going full rap mode or anything. … If that stuff comes, it comes in the future. Right now, I’m just trying to focus on baseball.”

***This aerticle was excerpted from Martín Gallegos’ A’s Beat newsletter***

The post SOURCE SPORTS: [WATCH] Athletics’ OF Lawrence Butler Records Freestyle At NYC’s Quad Studios first appeared on The Source.

The post SOURCE SPORTS: [WATCH] Athletics’ OF Lawrence Butler Records Freestyle At NYC’s Quad Studios appeared first on The Source.

SOURCE SPORTS: [WATCH] Oakland A’s Rookie Brett Harris Makes History With 2 HRs In The Same Game Against Miami Marlins

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Screenshot 2024 05 05 at 4.05.52 PM

In the midst of the Oakland A’s slaughter of the Miami Marlins on yesterday(May 4) with a score of 20-4, rookie Brett Harris made Athletics history when he belted two homers in two back-to-back at bats against the Marlins, becoming the 11th player in A’s history to accomplish that feat.

The 20-year-old third baseman started off his major league debut on Friday kind of slow, going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, Harris redeemed himself on Saturday, going 2-for-5 with three RBIs and his two home runs, the first homers of his career as a major leaguer.

The Arlington Heights, Ill. native was making his second appearance in MLB, getting on base with an error by the Marlins in his first at bat and drawing a walk in his second time at the plate. The A’s were up 12-0 by the time Harris got to the plate for his third at bat, hitting a powerful solo shot to left field in the fourth inning.

He didn’t stop there, belting another two run homer in the bottom of the sixth. No one had done that in A’s franchise history since Ramon Laureano in 2018.

Oakland will try to sweep Miami with another win on Sunday. The first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.

The post SOURCE SPORTS: [WATCH] Oakland A’s Rookie Brett Harris Makes History With 2 HRs In The Same Game Against Miami Marlins first appeared on The Source.

The post SOURCE SPORTS: [WATCH] Oakland A’s Rookie Brett Harris Makes History With 2 HRs In The Same Game Against Miami Marlins appeared first on The Source.