The Los Angeles Dodgers played regular season games in a Minor League stadium for the second consecutive year as they faced the Athletics at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento.
Last season, the Dodgers’ schedule included a series at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the New York Yankees’ Spring Training facility. It served as the temporary home for the Tampa Bay Rays during the 2025 season due to Tropicana Field repairs needed after damage caused by Hurricane Milton.
The A’s are playing home games at Sutter Health Park at least through the 2027 season. The expectation, or goal, remains for their Las Vegas stadium to open in time for Opening Day in 2028.
The ballpark otherwise is the home of the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats (San Francisco Giants affiliate).
Dodgers’ reaction to Sutter Health Park
The Dodgers enjoyed a friendly crowd throughout the three games against the A’s, which hardly resembled a road environment.
Dave Roberts
Despite the extremely hitter-friendly environment, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts didn’t have any qualms with the temporary A’s home.
“I loved it. I think the Athletics, Major League Baseball, did a fantastic job as far as our accommodations,” Roberts said on SportsNet LA. “Playing surface is great, the A’s fanbase is always great, good energy, it plays great. My first time, really impressed. Sacramento is a great city.”
Among the aspects Roberts specifically noticed was the strong show of support for the Dodgers.
“San Diego is certainly more partial to the Padres obviously, but here, I think we had market share,” he said. “It was fun. A lot of people don’t get a chance to see us play. People up here in this area, Northern California, get to see Shohei put on a show.”
The series was also notable for Roberts in that he reached 1,000 wins faster than any manager in MLB history.
Mookie Betts
Mookie Betts was of course with the Dodgers for their series last season at George M. Steinbrenner Field, but he didn’t put much thought into experiencing a similar environment against the A’s.
“I didn’t really have any expectations, to be honest,” he said. “There were a lot of Dodger fans at the game, so that made it very enjoyable. For what it is, Dodger fans showed up.”
Miguel Rojas
Miguel Rojas previously played at Health Sutter Park but was relieved to have experienced more favorable conditions this time around.
“The last time that I played here was in 2015. A hot day in the middle of the summer. [Monday], I think we got lucky with the weather,” Rojas said. “Fans were amazing. Even in the streets, I’ve been recognized even more than places I’ve been a thousand times before.
“It’s pretty cool to see how this part of California is living baseball. They’re happy to have a professional team here in the big leagues. It’s pretty cool. It’s pretty cool to see a smaller ballpark with a lot of fans leaving right on top of you.”
Sutter Health Park facts
Sutter Health Park has 10,624 fixed seats but total capacity for A’s games can surpass 14,000 due to lawn seating and standing room areas.
All three games the Dodgers played at the Minor League stadium drew crowds of more than 12,000.
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