OAKLAND, Calif. — The White Sox played their last game at Oakland Coliseum, which is being vacated by the Athletics after the season.
It was an appropriate goodbye and good riddance for the Sox, for whom the Coliseum has been something of a house of horrors. The A’s 3-2 come-from-behind victory left the Sox with a 144-174 record in Oakland since 1968, including 29-57 since 2001, with losing streaks of 10, eight and seven and 18 one-run losses. In the last five years, a wild card was lost (2020) and an American League-record 21-game losing streak was reached (Monday).
The Sox have won one series at the Coliseum since 2007, in 2022.
Sox special adviser Tony La Russa has better memories. He broke in as a player with the A’s in the 1960s and returned as a manager in 1986 after he was fired by the Sox. La Russa guided the A’s to World Series appearances in consecutive years from 1988 to 1990, winning in 1989, with teams led by Mark McGwire, Rickey Henderson and Dennis Eckersley, to name only a few superstars.
“I walked into great talent and memories of October baseball,” La Russa told the Sun-Times. “The fans here responded. I’m still haunted by the losses in ’88 and ’90.”
La Russa said the ballpark, with its huge space in foul territory and heavy night air benefitting pitchers, was an asset.
“It made for solid fundamental baseball,” he said, and the necessity to manufacture runs when needed.
La Russa’s first memory was of Opening Day on April 18, 1968, the A’s first game in Oakland. An infielder, he was on the bench for a 3-1 loss to the Orioles.
He was with the Sox during the series, watching the A’s (48-68) take two of three from the Sox, who fell to 28-89. He soaked in the ballpark while chatting with Eckersley for more than an hour in the dugout Monday.
“It’s difficult to watch it deteriorate, to the point of sadness,” La Russa said of the A’s leaving town.
They will temporarily relocate to West Sacramento, starting in 2025, until their ballpark is built in their new home of Las Vegas.
La Russa will be back Aug. 17, when Jose Canseco, Eddie Joost, Bill King, Terry Steinbach, Miguel Tejada and Dick Williams are inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame. La Russa will introduce Canseco.
Martin was excellent
In his second start since recovering from Tommy John surgery, right-hander Davis Martin took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and finished with six scoreless innings of two-hit ball. He struck out four and walked one.
“Having some success in the big leagues post-TJ brings a lot of confidence the next week and the week after that,” Martin said. “It’s a really good starting point for me to build off of and go from there.”
Martin’s cutter was particularly effective.
“He can really spin it, and his fastball is sneaky,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “He keeps people honest; he pitches inside; he’s really good, man. He’s a piece in this organization moving forward.”
This and that
- Andrew Benintendi has 11 home runs, including three in the last four games.
- The two-game series against the Cubs on Friday and Saturday is expected to be sold out. The pitching matchups are Jameson Taillon vs. Garrett Crochet on Friday and Justin Steele vs. Chris Flexen on Saturday.
- The Sox’ farm system was eighth in Baseball America’s updated rankings.
Robert went 0-for-4 in the Athletics’ come-from-behind 3-2 victory Wednesday.
From the historically bad baseball to the cringe-worthy TV broadcaster, it’s a lot for Sox fans.
The White Sox halted their losing streak at 21.
Andrew Benintendi homered, and Jonathan Cannon pitched six innings of one-run ball.