The Oakland Athletics officially wrapped up their final game at the Coliseum, the stadium they called home since 1968. Over the last few seasons, fans led a hard-fought push to keep the team in the Bay Area.
Despite their efforts, A’s owner John Fisher plans to eventually move the team to Las Vegas. First, the A’s are going to play in Sacramento until funding efforts for a stadium in Nevada are finalized.
Several players around the league, including Los Angeles Dodgers teammates Max Muncy and Blake Treinen, etched their own name in A’s history over the last 10 years.
The veteran right-hander had some of his best years in Oakland, and reflected on how much the culture meant to the young players when asked for a favorite memory, per SportsNet LA:
“Honestly, it’s not like one in particular. I think in general, it’s seeing the young guys that came up. Most scouts and baseball minds have certain players projected and when a team has a window of success. When I came over here in ‘17 at the All-Star break, some of the guys had barely gotten into the league, and they started calling everybody up that was winning together in the Minors.”
Treinen was a piece to what the A’s were doing, having a career year in 2018. Playing in one postseason for the club, he detailed that his days in Oakland produced some of his fondest memories:
“We played really well in September, and the following year we all had goals and aspirations to put our stamp on the league. The young guys, you can think back, there was a couple guys breaking into a veteran presence like (Marcus) Semien and (Mark) Canha, and you sprinkle in Jedd Lowrie had been here for a long time. Both Matts – Chapman and Olson – Ramón Laureano, Stephen Piscotty. There was even some young guys that came later, Sean Murphy and Jonah Heim was in the Minors. The bullpen was a really fun time.”
Treinen joined the A’s when they were developing a terrific core of young talent, just as they were pushing toward making some noise in the postseason.
Treinen logged a 2.44 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 3.19 FIP, with 201 strikeouts over 177 innings during his career in Oakland. In 2018, he finished sixth in voting for the American League Cy Young Award.
He additionally acknowledged the feel of the stadium and the playing surface, calling it one of his favorite places to play. One of the largest travesties in Major League Baseball has been the handling of the Oakland A’s, to which many players, fans, and observers lament is a stain on a historic franchise.
Blake Treinen’s career year with Oakland A’s
Treinen’s 2018 season put himself with some of the best relievers in baseball since. Alongside Zach Britton’s 2016 in which he posted a 0.54 ERA, Treinen’s 0.78 ERA is just a shade behind him, Joey Devine (0.59 ERA in 2008), Fernando Rodney (0.60 ERA, 2012) and Dennis Eckersley (0.61 ERA, 1990).
The A’s were fortunate to have Treinen for three seasons, including the 1.82 FIP and 38 saves he amassed in 2018.
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