OAKLAND – Whenever the New York Yankees are in town, game days become an event in whichever city the Bronx Bombers visit.
Oakland is no exception.
New York’s 4-2, 10-inning victory over the A’s on Friday to start the team’s last ever series in the East Bay was exciting, no doubt. But it pales in comparison to some of the other games that have graced fans in Oakland.
The Coliseum has been the site of many memorable moments between the A’s and Yankees. From Reggie Jackson to Mark McGwire, Miguel Tejada and Derek Jeter, many of the sports luminaries have starred for one – or sometimes both – teams.
Listing every one is impossible, but here’s a few of the best moments fans will always remember.
1968: FIRST GAME, BIG NAMES
After playing a two-game series in the Bronx during the first week of the season, the Yankees traveled to the the cutting-edge Oakland Coliseum for the teams’ first matchup in Alameda County.
With Bert Campaneris, Jackson and Sal Bando batting at the top of the order, the A’s featured a decent chunk of the core that would later lead the team to three consecutive World Series titles.
But the Yankees, who had a on-his-last-legs Mickey Mantle batting third (and going 1 for 4 with two strikeouts), won 2-1.
Future A’s manager Tony La Russa pinch-hit for Jackson in the eighth inning.
1976: VIDA ALMOST A YANKEE
Charlie Finley made plenty of notorious and noteworthy decisions during his time as the A’s owner, but few were as infamous as when he temporarily traded Cy Young winner Vida Blue to the Yankees at the 1976 trade deadline.
But the move, alongside Finley’s decision to trade Joe Rudi and Rollie Fingers to the Red Sox in an attempt to shed payroll, was blocked by commissioner Bowie Kuhn.
Blue had to wait until 1978 to leave Oakland. Finley dealt him across the Bay to the San Francisco Giants.
1977: ROOKIE SPOILS JACKSON’S RETURN
Mr. October’s return to the place that saw him become a World Series champion was nothing special. Jackson went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts during an 8-4 loss to the A’s on May 16, 1977.
Rookie pitcher Bob Lacey was the one who made headlines in the next day’s edition of the Oakland Tribune. The talkative 23-year-old left-hander struck out Jackson twice.
“All I said was, ‘Awwwwright,’” Lacey told the newspaper. “I was emotionally up. I might have said something derogatory. I don’t remember.”
“I don’t know much about him,” Jackson said. “But since he made fun of me and then struck me out, I really don’t have much to say.”
1987: MCGWIRE’S HOME RUN STREAK
McGwire instantly established himself as a superstar at 23 in 1987, shattering the old American League record for home runs by a rookie with 49.
That banner season included a torrid three-game series against former A’s icon Rickey Henderson (more on him later) and the visiting Yankees from May 18-20. when McGwire homered in all three games,
Those three home runs gave him 14 long balls in his first 33 games.
The middle matchup, a 4-2 victory, saw McGwire and Bash Brother Jose Canseco both hit balls over the Coliseum wall. And a day after turning 41, Reggie Jackson hit a double in what would be the last season of his Hall of Fame career.
2001: GIAMBI’S MILESTONE WALK-OFF
If the Coliseum had a roof, Jason Giambi’s walk-off home run against Mike Stanton on Aug. 13, 2001 against the defending World Series champions would have blown it off.
“I wish we would have won earlier — that would have been nice,” Giambi told reporter Darren Sabedra after the 4-2 victory. “But I’ll definitely take it.”
Giambi’s 29th home run of the season was the 1,000th hit of his career and marked the third consecutive game in which he had homered.
2001: JETER’S FLIP
The Yankees got their revenge a few months later in the ALDS, when they rallied from down two games to zero to win the best-of-five series.
The turning point came in the seventh inning of Game 3, with the Yankees leading 1-0 and the slow-footed Jeremy Giambi on first. Terrence Long smacked a ball into the right-field corner, and outfielder Shane Spencer hurled the ball toward the infield, missing the cut-off men.
Jeter, hustling from his shortstop spot, grabbed the ball in foul territory along the first-base line and pulled off a now-legendary backhand flip to Jorge Posada to get Giambi out at home.
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Instead of a tie game, the Yankees held on to win, and then came back to clinch the series en route to a World Series berth against the Diamondbacks.
2007: RARE WALKOFF VS. MARIANO RIVERA
Mariano Rivera is the greatest closer in the history of the game, but he wasn’t perfect. The A’s proved that several times.
On Aug. 3, 2003, reigning AL MVP Miguel Tejada hit a winning two-run double in the bottom of the ninth to give the A’s a 2-1 victory. It was one of 24 walk-off hits Rivera allowed.
A few years later, Marco Scutaro joined an even more exclusive club. On April 15, 2007, Scutaro belted a three-run home run to give the A’s a 5-4 victory.
Scutaro’s bomb that glanced off the left-field pole came on an 0-2 count. The result surprised even Scutaro himself.
“Especially against Mariano, the way I’m feeling at the plate right now, the last thing I was expecting to do was hit a homer,” Scutaro told this news organization that day.