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A’s players give Oakland subtle nod to start final home game
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A’s players give Oakland subtle nod to start final home game

The Oakland A’s lost 4-2 to the New York Yankees in the opening game of their last home game at the Coliseum, but the players are doing their best to show the fans they appreciate The Town.

The team took the field Friday night in their kelly green jerseys, something A’s center fielder JJ Bleday hopes the team will do for the rest of its home games. The kelly greens are the only jerseys the team is allowed to wear at home that have “Oakland” across the chest.

In the first inning, Lawrence Butler made the trip to the plate with a new song, “Oakland,” blaring through the speakers. “The last couple games in Oakland, so I wanted to let the fans know I appreciate them. I’m going to do it the rest of the way.”

The song Butler played was a song he had just heard in the weight room. It was sung by Josh Cuffe, the team’s head athletic performance coach. He decided to use it Friday night.

When second baseman Zack Gelof stepped to the plate in the second inning, he also had a new walk-up song. After playing Drake’s “Toosie Slide” for most of the season, he changed it to Souls of Mischief’s “93 ‘Til Infinity.” Souls of Mischief is a rap group from East Oakland and their debut album, 93 ’til Infinity, was released on September 28, 1993. The A’s played their final home game in Oakland just shy of the 31st anniversary of that release.

“We really wanted everyone to have at least one Bay Area (song),” Butler said, “just to let the fans know we appreciate them. So maybe you’ll see more of that in the coming days.”

While these are subtle gestures, the fans in Oakland certainly appreciate them, and Butler appreciated the fans in turn.

“They showed up. It’s a shame we came out with the ‘L’, but I mean the fans were behind us. It was loud. We could feel the electricity in the stadium.”