Chapman and Canha take emotional memories after the last game at the Coliseum Originally appeared in NBC Bay Area Sports
Former Oakland Athletics players Matt Chapman and Mark Canha took home some valuable mementos from their final game at the Coliseum.
After the epic of the Giants 10-inning victory On Sunday afternoon, when the A’s beat the Yankees, Chapman asked to take home the bag from third base, while Canha picked up some dirt from the home plate area.
Bob Melvin didn’t take anything with him to remember the Coliseum by, just “one last look.”
Matt Chapman will take third base in today’s game.
— Shayna Rubin (@ShaynaRubin) August 18, 2024
San Francisco Giants’ Mark Canha picks up dirt from home plate after their MLB game at the Coliseum in Oakland, California on August 18, 2024. The San Francisco Giants defeated the Oakland Athletics 4-2 in 10 innings. This is the Giants’ final game at the Coliseum after this season. image.twitter.com/F6NPx6OkFV
— José Carlos Fajardo (@FuzyJoe) August 18, 2024
The emotional end of the year Bay Bridge Series It featured many connections between San Francisco and Oakland, and the Coliseum was filled to near capacity with fans from all over the Bay Area.
Chapman, who played for Oakland from 2017 to 2021, couldn’t hide his feelings when speaking to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Carlos Ramirez before the game.
“It’s emotional, for sure,” Chapman said. “But it’s definitely going to be emotional for me, as this is the last time I’ll be playing here.”
Canha, a Bay Area native who was with the organization from 2015 to 2021, echoed similar sentiments.
“Yeah, it’s crazy,” Canha told Ramirez. “I can’t believe this day has come, it’s going to be a day of mixed emotions and something I’ll probably remember for a while.”
Giants manager Bob Melvin, who grew up in Palo Alto and played at Cal, managed the A’s from 2011-2021 and also commentated on heightened emotions from his last appearance at the Colosseum.
“It’s sad, first of all, because it’s going to be the last game I’ll be here, but there’s a lot of things to do today,” Melvin said. “There are a lot of emotions today.”
The A’s lease at the Coliseum expires at the end of 2024 and the franchise will play at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento for at least three seasons before hoping to move to Las Vegas.
The move brings to an end 56 seasons of baseball in Oakland after years of fruitless negotiations with the city of Oakland over a new stadium.
For Canha and Chapman, they will always have a piece of the old stadium along with all those precious memories they collected along the way.