A's brace for emotions of final homestand, last Coliseum 'hurrah' - ESPN

OAKLAND, Calif. — The A's began their final homestand of their final season in Oakland on Friday night, and nobody can predict what might take place over the next six games and seven days.

After 57 seasons in the Coliseum, there will be emotion, but how that emotion will manifest itself is the main question on everyone's mind.

«We've heard some rumblings, and we're going to have some more meetings about it,» said left fielder Seth Brown, who, in his sixth season, is the longest-tenured Athletic. «The fans have always supported us, and we just hope they support us in a positive manner. We want everyone to come out and enjoy the time and give it its last hurrah, and at the same time we're hoping it's done the right way.»

The A's will play three games against the New York Yankees before finishing the home portion of their schedule with three games against the Texas Rangers. The final game, on Thursday afternoon, will be the final major professional game in Oakland, which has lost three major franchises — the Warriors, the Raiders and now the A's — in five years.

Beginning next spring, the A's will play a minimum of three seasons in a minor league ballpark in Sacramento before making a permanent move to Las Vegas.

The A's have been forced to deal with one off-the-field distraction after another over the past two seasons, from the Las Vegas announcement last April to the Sacramento announcement this April.

«This isn't really new for us,» A's manager Mark Kotsay said. «But the emotion last year was a lot greater in terms of the anger. This year has been really, really calm, and I don't know if that's because they've gotten the anger out. There's still going to be that emotion as we near Thursday, but that's part of whenever