A’s Sacramento Debut Beset by Logistical Problems

It was a messy Sacramento debut for the Athletics on Monday night. 

The team gave up 18 runs in a blowout loss to the Cubs, and that may have been the least of their problems. The game was delayed by a drone, had chronic broadcast issues, and wrapped up with a postgame media availability in what appeared to be a glorified toolshed.

The game was the team’s first regular-season matchup at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, which the team is calling its temporary home after 57 years in Oakland. The stadium’s main tenant is the Sacramento River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the Giants. Construction is supposed to begin on a new ballpark in Las Vegas this summer, with a target opening of 2028.

The A’s radio broadcast had issues throughout the game. In the fourth inning, the feed went silent during a discussion between team commentators Ken Korach and Johnny Doskow. The feed went out again in the top of the fifth. 

“All right, we come back to the ballpark. We apologize for the technical issues,” Korach said before the feed went out for a third time. 

The feed continued to cut in and out for the next few frames. Eventually, the television broadcast was played over the radio airwaves as a substitute. The team’s Spanish broadcast also had issues. 

In the bottom of the seventh, the game experienced a different kind of interruption. While Seth Brown was batting for the A’s, a drone appeared near the left field wall, delaying the game for several minutes. 

That delay came to an end when Athletics bat boy Stewart Thalblum brought the drone down with a baseball bat. The team could have used him in the lineup. 

Players asked to speak postgame had quite the setup. Media and players met in a metal toolshed to conduct interviews.

A logo of the Las Vegas tourism board was prominently displayed behind the players, who will play in Sacramento for at least the next three seasons.