Oakland — Giants manager Bob Melvin has a wealth of memories tied to the Oakland Coliseum, the same venue he grew up with. However, one memory stands out prominently.
“It was ‘The Who and the Dead,’” Melvin recalled before Sunday’s game. “Both legendary rock bands, The Who and The Grateful Dead performed at the Coliseum on October 9-10, 1976. “This has been a special property,” Melvin added. “Not necessarily just this field, but this property in general.”
The Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants faced off in the second and final game of their two-game weekend Bay Bridge Series finale on Sunday. The Giants emerged victorious with a 4-2 win in 10 innings, making it fitting that the game went into extras—a sort of encore for the over 32,000 fans in attendance.
Reflecting on his time managing the A’s, Melvin reminisced about the many walk-offs, extra-inning wins, and close games that characterized his tenure. “Fans were going crazy, both sides going crazy. I don’t know how it could have been more perfect to end it like this.”
Despite the current boycott of Oakland games by some fans, nearly 70,000 people attended the two-day series at “baseball’s last dive bar.”
The Bay Bridge Series has witnessed a range of historic moments, including a cross-town World Series marked by an earthquake and an A’s sweep. Introduced in 1997, interleague play heightened the rivalry, and in 2018, a trophy made from metal from the original Bay Bridge was introduced.
With the Athletics expected to move to Sacramento next year in preparation for their anticipated move to Las Vegas in 2028, Melvin expressed his sadness before Sunday’s game. “It’s going to be the last game that I’ll be here, and there’s just a lot of emotions to it today.”
Melvin managed the Athletics from 2011-21, compiling a record of 853-764 over 11 seasons and leading the team to two AL West division titles and six postseason appearances.
Before the game, both Melvin and A’s manager Mark Kotsay tried to focus on the present while processing the emotional weight of the day.
“It’s pretty cool that I get the opportunity to go through this experience with him,” said Kotsay. “Melvin is someone I see as a mentor, someone who has managed both clubs. When you think about it being over, that’s really when the full emotion hits you.”
The day was equally personal for Kotsay, who played in this series during his time with the A’s from 2004-07. “This is the place where my family started, two daughters were born here, and started winning baseball in my career here.”
Alongside Melvin and Kotsay, current Giants players Matt Chapman and Mark Canha, who began their careers with the A’s, also experienced their final Bay Bridge Series game at the Coliseum. Canha, who recently joined the Giants, leaves the Coliseum as the all-time leader in hit-by-pitches with 46.
Although the Giants and A’s will continue their rivalry, with the A’s traveling to San Francisco in May and the series shifting to Sacramento in July, this game marked a poignant chapter in their storied history.
Photo by SFGiants/Twitter
