On April 17, 1968, Robert Chan was among a sold-out crowd of over 50,000 fans in attendance to watch the Oakland Athletics play their very first home game at the Oakland Coliseum.
Alongside his father, the then-14-year-old watched the newly-relocated franchise from Kansas City play the Baltimore Orioles. The A’s lost 4-1, but won two new fans.
“My dad and I would go to games out at Candlestick. After the A’s arrived, we started following them and had no better team to follow than the one in our hometown.”
Chan and his father were already huge baseball fans and originally followed the San Francisco Giants, as they were the closest team to Oakland but everything changed when the new major league franchise came to their hometown and they developed an immediate love for the franchise.
“My dad and I would go to games out at Candlestick,” Chan said of the former Giants stadium, Candlestick Park. “After the A’s arrived, we started following them and had no better team to follow than the one in our hometown.”
Robert Chan attended monumental baseball games
Their love for the franchise led Chan’s father to purchase season tickets. They attended countless ball games over the years, with some of them being monumental to Oakland and Major League Baseball history.
“My dad and I were there when the A’s clinched two of their World Series championships in Oakland,” Chan said. “That’s a big deal because the other two titles weren’t won at home.”
In addition to being at the very first game in Oakland and two World Series clinchers, Chan attended Jim “Catfish” Hunter’s Perfect Game on May 8th, 1968, saw MLB Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr.’s first major league hit in 1989, witnessed a near perfect game by Seattle Mariners pitcher Brian Holman in 1990, spent a game in a luxury suite with his family in 2011, and watched the A’s clinch the American League Western Division title on the final game of the regular season in 2012 alongside his nephew.
Earlier this season, Chan met Dick Green and Herb Washington, former players from the 74’ championship team at an autograph signing. “Those are amongst my favorite memories here,” Chan said.
Frustration with A’s ownership led lifelong fan to distance himself
For 51 years, Chan attended at least one game a season from 1968 to 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic halted fans from attending live games in 2020.
Chan remained a dedicated A’s fan until recently. The family decided to stop attending games in 2021 due to ongoing frustrations with the team’s owner, John Fisher. Even though A’s ownership made a commitment to keeping the team in Oakland, Chan and his family believed it was all a lie the moment the team let shortstop Marcus Semien leave in free agency.
“Offering a hometown player who would have taken a hometown discount to stay a lowball contract said everything,” Chan stated. “It was a slap in the face to Semien and to the fans, it was disgusting.”
Chan said that anyone in support of Fisher’s ownership and the move out of Oakland needs to take a look at Fisher’s history as the A’s owner. “Look at all of the players we’ve traded or let go of since he took over,” Chan said. “He’s taking that [nonsense] with him to Sacramento and to Vegas.”
‘I attended the very first game in Oakland and will be in attendance for the very last.’
Regardless of their anger towards the team’s ownership, Chan and his family continued to follow the A’s – from a distance–over the past three seasons. They also made the decision to attend games at the Coliseum this year since this will be the A’s final season in Oakland.
“It’s hard to say goodbye to something you’ve loved, something that’s been a part of you for most of your life.”
“It felt good to be back,” Chan said. “It’s hard to say goodbye to something you’ve loved, something that’s been a part of you for most of your life.”
The A’s final game in Oakland will be at the Coliseum on Thursday, September 26 against the Texas Rangers. Chan, now 71, plans to be in attendance with his family to bid farewell. He said he couldn’t be at peace not being there and encouraged fans to attend any remaining home games if they’re able to.
The A’s play their final 10 games in Oakland this month: Sept. 5 vs. Seattle Mariners, Sept. 6-8 vs. Detroit Tigers, Sept. 20-22 vs. the New York Yankees, and Sept. 24-26 vs. the Rangers.
“The lights go out in September, fans need to come down here while we still can,” Chan said. “This team has been a part of me for the majority of my life, I am very proud to say I attended the very first game in Oakland and will be in attendance for the very last.”
A very sad but also very honest article that shows how much loyalty a fan could have for a single sport franchise. More sad the Oakland A’s also seem to never learn from their past mistakes and continue to worsen under the ownership of John Fisher. Hopefully they will eventually get new ownership!
I don’t think I will ever have a more cherished and favorite A’s memory than being with my Uncle to watch them win the AL West title on that final game in 2012. Thank you for spotlighting him and having him as a voice that can’t be expressed enough about how much we’re losing as a fanbase and community.