Paul Sakuma / AP File (1996)
An Elvis Presley impersonator who identified himself only as “Reno” demonstrates a few of his moves for Oakland A’s, from left, coach Bob Alejo, and infielders Mike Bordick and Brent Gates, before the start of their Opening Day game April 1, 1996, against the Toronto Blue Jays at Cashman Field in Las Vegas. The A’s played their first six “home” games at Cashman Field while the Oakland Coliseum was undergoing renovations.
Thursday, May 20, 2021 | 2 a.m.
The Oakland Athletics dugout, including coach Ron Washington (38) empties to greet Geronimo Berroa, second right, after his game-winning home run April 7, 1996, at Cashman Field.
We sat in the bleachers on the third base side of Cashman Field, hoping to see a few home run balls launched that sunny Sunday afternoon in April when the Oakland A’s were hosting the Detroit Tigers.
Detroit had Cecil Fielder, who was a few years removed from belting 51 home runs. Each time he stepped to the plate, many of the nearly 10,000 people in attendance stopped to watch with hopes that he would connect on a long ball. Simply seeing Fielder in person was a thrill, let alone watching his high leg kick and powerful swing.
We got to see two home runs on this day during Major League Baseball’s brief, six-game cameo in Las Vegas to open the 1996 season, including a game-ending blast from Oakland’s Geronimo Berroa over the left field fence.
We made sure to watch ESPN later that night for highlights of the game, hoping the camera got a glimpse of us in the stands as Berroa joyfully raced around the bases.
A delay in the overhaul of the Oakland Coliseum brought the A’s to Las Vegas for their initial six home games, marking the first time in nearly 40 years a big league team played a regular-season game in a minor league park.
Games at Cashman were typically high-scoring — even the best minor league pitchers were hit hard as the ball easily travels in the thin Southern Nevada air. Oakland pitchers gave up 13 home runs and 43 total runs, prompting team officials to return to the still-being-completed Coliseum, where construction equipment was visible from the outfield fence.
Now, more than 25 years later, the stadium is considered the worst in baseball and there’s little appetite for public support in Oakland for a new build.
The A’s have been given permission from Major League Baseball to search for a new city, and Las Vegas appears to be a perfect match.
The Golden Knights have one of the best fan bases in the NHL, the value of the Raiders increased 117% to $3.1 billion in the five years since it announced relocation from Oakland, and elected officials and business leaders here are eager to continue adding to the valley’s major professional sports lineup. They found $750 million in public money to help build Allegiant Stadium for the Raiders and will surely get creative if there is a match with the A’s.
After seeing what the Golden Knights and Raiders have done to bring our community together — financial and supply donations to many groups, pandemic support, giving us something to root for and endless jobs, especially on game day — those local movers and shakers helping entice the A’s need to have our support in making it happen. Get it done, at any cost.
When word came down May 11 that MLB had given A’s leadership its blessing to explore relocation, I couldn’t help thinking about those six games here in the mid-1990s. The A’s posted a 2-4 record and the players said it felt like an extension of spring training, which was played at makeshift complexes that lacked big-league stadium amenities.
But for locals, it showed the value of sport in bringing memorable moments to a community. It showed us how the city could come together, regardless of background or viewpoints, with a common goal of enjoying athletic competition.
Many have a story of attending one of those games, just like we have a tale from when the NBA’s Jazz played at the newly built Thomas & Mack Center in the early 1980s. The Lakers’ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, with a sky-hook in an April 5, 1984, game, became the NBA’s all-time scorer during a game here. I wasn’t there that night, but those who were recall the energy in the building.
With the arrival of the Golden Knights four years ago, we proudly rehash stories about our first game at T-Mobile Arena and how we fell in love with a sport we weren’t familiar with because this team was ours and those players were fighting for us. We’ve got pictures of bringing our sons and daughters to a game, or meeting a player, or jumping up and down on Christmas Day when receiving a Marc-Andre Fleury jersey and tickets to a game.
It will be the same way with the Raiders, who we will get to see in person this August after the maiden season was played at an empty Allegiant Stadium because of the pandemic. Every time Derek Carr throws the ball long to Henry Ruggs III, we’ll be on the edge of our seats, or sofas at home, hoping for a completion and another victory over the Chiefs.
When you finally get to Allegiant, you’ll realize that the stadium doesn’t just belong to the Raiders and UNLV football — it belongs to us. It will be the venue for many memorable nights in the years and decades to come, including last month when a handful of high school teams got to practice there.
The inability to get a stadium built in Oakland for the Raiders, and now the A’s, is to the benefit of Las Vegas. You feel bad for the residents of that community for losing out on what we gained and may be gaining, and that’s especially true for sports helping bring the community together.
The A’s could be coming, and I can’t wait.
You can’t put a price tag on creating a memory with your family. And you definitely can’t go wrong with another charitable partner to enhance our community. If only Geronimo Berroa were available for some more late-inning magic.
