Opening Night at Baseball's Last Dive Stadium

 

Last Thursday night, I was able to head out to the yard and head to my favorite Dive Stadium-The Oakland Coliseum for the 2023 Oakland A's Opening Night. If you have read this blog, the Oakland Coliseum is place that is special in my heart. I spent a lot of time there as a kid, met my kids mother there and raised my own kids there. I have many friends there.  We love the A's. I love the place.

Unfortunately, the Oakland Coliseum is well past its prime. It is like an aging beauty queen that hasn't kept with the times. The Coliseum opened in 1966 and the only change they have really made is the building of Mt. Davis below for the NFL Raiders (enclosing the Coliseum and getting rid of open-air views of the East Bay Hills). 

It is on the seedy side of town and there is no stores, no restaurants and really nothing near the place (There is a seedy rental car place that rents cars and you don't need a credit card nearby) for fans to hang out. The walk from BART (our subway) to the Coliseum on the BART Bridge can be interesting as people with coolers are selling beer, jello shots,  people with their hot dog carts, people selling unlicensed A's, Warriors and Raiders gear and this year people selling CBD edibles-with all looking out for the Oakland PD so they won't get busted.

But once you get inside the gates-magic happens. The place and its beauty shines (at least for me because I love the place) even if the plumbing backs-up (sometimes), the lights go out during a game(I have been there for that) and the Wi-Fi is horrible:

Championship Plaza (The area between the Coliseum and the Arena-the former home of the NBA Golden St. Warriors)

Went to a food truck in Championship Plaza and got some ribs and potatoes

One of the cool things they did was a tribute to Captain Sal- Sal Bando who was the A's Captain during their run of three straight World Series Championships in the 70's. He passed away in January:

And a little game action:

And what was cool was being able to see one of the biggest names in baseball pitch and hit- Shohei Ohtani

The Oakland Coliseum for all of its faults is my happy place and yes I love a great dive bar: