Elephant Rumblings: A’s sell out for Opening Day
MLB news roundup
Rise and shine, A’s fans! It’s Friday Junior, aka Thursday.
The Athletics’ move to Sacramento was met with heartbreak, fury, and grief from East Bay natives, and rightfully so. The place where the team has called home is no longer the current home of the A’s as they embark on a new journey that will first take them to Sacramento before likely ending up in Las Vegas. Not the outcome any of us wanted but here we are.
The city of Sacramento has been pushing for a team of their own for a while now, and while it isn’t an organic situation they finally have one, albeit on rental. Sacramento is also home to the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, a former A’s minor league squad before they jumped ship to the Giants a few years back. There are evidently still A’s fans in the area though based off the early ticket sales happening so far. The club announced yesterday that the 2025 home opener has sold out, the first year of Major League Baseball in Sacramento:
A’s announce tickets for 2025 Opening Day at Sutter Health Park are sold out. pic.twitter.com/R1YcKHgwH5
— Martín Gallegos (@MartinJGallegos) January 29, 2025
The inaugural season of Sacramento baseball will kick off in front of a packed house, which is a mere 10,624 “fixed” seats. For comparisons sake, the Oakland Coliseum has the largest capacity of any baseball stadium in the entire country at 56,000. And the Cleveland Guardians, who have the least capacity among MLB teams, can seat almost 35,000 per game. The bar to sell out Sutter Health Park is much lower than other teams.
Conicidentally the Athletics won’t be the only major league team playing in a minor league ballpark this coming season. The Tampa Bay Rays will also be playing at a new field this year, calling the New York Yankees’ spring training complex home for the majority of the coming season. That is due to the massive hurricane that destroyed their current home at The Trop, which was a temporary home for them anyway as they seek a new stadium of their own. The field they’ll be playing at this year, named after former Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, is also the home of the Yanks’ Single-A team. Could you imagine if the A’s and Rays faced off in the playoffs? Would baseball allow a series to be played entirely in minor league ballparks?
If you still want tickets then all hope is not lost. The club is keeping a select number of outfield grass “seats” open for the public to claim, though on a first-come, first-served basis:
A’s announce that Opening Day against the Cubs is sold out, though 250 lawn seats will be made available for $25 each for every game. pic.twitter.com/lweJNdqDKL
— Jason Burke (@ByJasonB) January 29, 2025
While it’s not seats, it’ll definitely be giving spring training vibes for whoever dares to brave the California Summer sun in the outfield grass portion. There’s sure to be plenty of home runs hit that way if you’ve never caught one and want to cross that off your bucket list.
The 2025 season promises to be interesting if nothing else. A major league team playing in a minor league ballpark, combined with the fact that that team is finally on the rise, figures to draw plenty of attention from national figures across the sports world. Still, it’s a minuscule park compared to other major league teams. It is not everyday you see a situation like the one the A’s find themselves in right now, and hopefully it’s a situation that is short-lived and temporary.
Have a great day everyone!
A’s Coverage:
- The Dog Days of Winter: A Twisted Tail (Tale)…
- Will A’s new ballpark be a hitters’ haven? Not as much as you think
- Boston Red Sox sign former Athletics third baseman to minors deal
- Wilson named best hitter among MLB prospects
- MLB quietly relocates six River Cats home games to accommodate A’s
- Athletics sell out home opener. How you can still go
MLB News & Interest:
- Rays sign infielder Ha Seong-Kim to 2-year deal
- Pirates reunite with Adam Frazier on 1-year deal
- Royals sign reliever Carlos Estévez to 2-year deal
- Reds acquire lefty reliever Taylor Rogers from Giants
- Tigers sign reliever Tommy Kahnle to 1-year deal
- Mets sign righty reliever Ryne Stanek to 1-year pact
- Max Scherzer hosts workout for multiple teams
- MLB The Show 25 cover athletes revealed
- Reds sign lefty starter Wade Miley to minors deal
- Why Pete Alonso Should Prioritize Mets over Money
- Yankees’ Steinbrenner: ‘Difficult’ to spend like Dodgers
- MLB average salary rose 2.9% to record 4.66M last season
- Today in Baseball History
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BREAKING: MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and Athletics owner John Fisher are touring Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento. The new home of the A’s. We saw them enter the club house under construction and walk the field. The A’s announced a sellout for the home opener on March 31st pic.twitter.com/QLUBovpqZX
— Devin Trubey (@DevinTrubeyTV) January 29, 2025