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PHOENIX – In a series that should have been played in Oakland, the Giants and A’s will meet the next three nights in a minor-league facility in West Sacramento that isn’t exactly working out as the A’s had pledged.
They’re not winning much there. They’re not drawing much there. And they’re not fully embracing the state capital there.
The capital’s not fully embracing them, either. In 42 home dates at Sutter Health Park, the A’s have sold out just four games despite a miniscule capacity of 14,014. The opener was a sellout, and so was the entire Yankee series.
All three Giants-A’s games will be played at night, starting Friday (Justin Verlander vs. JP Sears), and are expected to sell out because of the large number of Giants fans in the region and the short drive from the Bay Area.
“I think based on the fact that we’re there, it’s going to be pretty raucous,” said Giants manager Bob Melvin, who managed the A’s in Oakland for 11 seasons. “The Fourth of July weekend, it’s probably going to be a little unique to what maybe they’ve even seen there to this point there. You know it’s going to be all Bay Area sports fans. How much Giants, how much A’s, it’s still to be determined.”
The Giants flew into Sacramento late Thursday night after beating the Diamondbacks 7-2 behind Robbie Ray’s masterful complete game, and they next face their former Bay Area rivals who are in a three- or four-year holding pattern while owner John Fisher fantasizes about Las Vegas.
The A’s, a league-worst 15-27 in home games, average just 9,722 in attendance, the lowest mark in franchise history in a non-pandemic season since 1979, back when fans were frustrated that owner Charlie Finley gave up on the team and tried to sell to outside interests. There’s a much greater level of frustration with Fisher – the difference is, while Finley thankfully sold the team to the Haas family, Fisher sadly kept it and pulled it out of Oakland.
That Sacramentans aren’t filling the tiny facility should not be viewed as an indication they can’t support a Major League Baseball franchise including a future expansion team. From the start, they knew Fisher was interested in Sacramento only for the short term and only to secure hefty regional sports network checks as he primarily focused on the Nevada desert.
The A’s have refused to acknowledge Sacramento in their branding. They don’t put their city across the front of their uniforms for road games like other teams, and they ask not to be called the Sacramento A’s. Local folks fully embrace the NBA’s Kings, but that can’t be said of the transient A’s.
“Sacramento fans know this is a temporary thing,” said Steve Harmon, who has lived in Sacramento the past two decades and is a former state senate communications director and journalist. “And I don’t see them feeling the need to invest their heart and devotion to a team when they know it’ll be gone in a few years. There’s generally a malaise around the team, and it’s kind of sad because there’s a lot of great young talent to watch. If fans knew they’d be there to see the players as they grew into their veteran form, you’d see a lot of more enthusiasm, but there’s a lot of detachment.”
So far, the field has held up despite the constant usage between the A’s and Sacramento River Cats, the Giants’ top farm team. In fact, the River Cats were forced onto a three-week trip from June 3-22 so that new sod could be rolled out, but it turned out not to be necessary. Then again, the extreme heat hasn’t hit yet; the highest game-time temperature was 95 degrees.
The weekend forecast calls for high 80s to low 90s, though it should be cooler at game time. The biggest test will come in the coming weeks when temperatures soar well into triple digits and possibly take its toll on the field and players.
The challenges in Sacramento are plenty for big-leaguers who are accustomed to big-league accommodations including the fact there’s no tunnel from the dugouts to the clubhouses, which are located beyond the outfield wall. A’s ace Luis Severino, who pitches Saturday, has been vocal about how the inconvenience has altered his routine and negatively affected his performance.
“It makes it tougher for guys on the bench to be ready,” Melvin said. “In our cage at home, they’re in there all game.”
The Giants have some experience at the park; they played an exhibition against the River Cats on March 23, on the eve of the season, but Melvin said, “There are still some unknowns. When we were there, the ball wasn’t traveling very well, but now it’s going to be 90 degrees and will probably travel a little bit more.”
Vivek Ranadivé is owner of the Kings and River Cats and is doing Fisher and MLB a favor by hosting the A’s in the interim years. Ranadivé made it clear that his intention is for a permanent MLB team in Sacramento. Manfred, a proponent of expanding from 30 to 32 teams, has made no guarantees.
“The stadium is a Triple-A stadium, but they’re selling seats and parking at major-league prices,” said Harmon, who hosts a baseball podcast called Curveballs and Changeups. “If fans knew they had a major-league stadium to go to with a team as their own, Sacramento would be a tremendous fan base.”
Last time the teams played, the Giants swept the A’s in mid-May at Oracle Park. It was the early stages of a stretch by the A’s in which they lost 20 of 21 games and went from 22-20 to 23-40, essentially wiping out any hopes to contend. They’re now 36-53, and only the White Sox and Rockies are worse.
The Giants hope to add third baseman Matt Chapman (right hand inflammation) to the lineup over the weekend. He took extensive on-field batting practice Thursday and said he felt no pain but anticipated some soreness. The plan is to play a rehab game with the River Cats in Reno on Friday and, if he comes out OK, take the short hike to Sacramento and play for the Giants Saturday or Sunday.
It would be a chance for Chapman to play against his old team, which drafted him, developed him, and (naturally) traded him, which was the circle of life in Fisher’s frugal world. Unfortunately for A’s fans who courageously protested against the relocation, the series is in West Sacramento, not Oakland.