An emotional day awaits Oakland sports fans on Thursday as the last game ever at the Oakland Coliseum will be played.
After 57 seasons of Oakland Athletics baseball, Thursday marks the end of an era.
The Athletics will eventually move to Las Vegas after playing a few years in a minor-league ballpark.
Fans of the Athletics saw a familiar face singing the National Anthem for the final game in their ballpark.
According to B/R Walk-Off on ‘X,’ Athletics legend Barry Zito performed the final National Anthem ever at the Coliseum.
Barry Zito sang the final national anthem at the Oakland Coliseum 💚
(via @NBCSAthletics)pic.twitter.com/fwPVs3ZZrb
— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) September 26, 2024
Zito is not only a talented baseball player, but he is also a talented musician as he proved on Thursday.
He came into the league with the Athletics in 2000 where he played 7 seasons before eventually playing for the San Francisco Giants.
The 7 seasons he played in Oakland included 5 playoff appearances, 3 all-star appearances, and a 2002 Cy Young Award.
In his Cy Young Award season, Zito had a record of 23 wins and 5 losses with a 2.75 earned run average and 182 strikeouts in 229.1 innings pitched.
After leaving the Athletics, Zito never made another all-star appearance and his lowest earned run average in any season with the Giants was 4.03
The 2024 season will not include a playoff berth for the Athletics, but they will look to end with a win over the Texas Rangers in the final game at the Coliseum.
Maybe a new scenery will do the Athletics good in 2025 as they have not made the postseason since 2020.
Their final series of the season will begin Friday in Seattle against the Mariners.
NEXT: Dennis Eckersley, Rickey Henderson Say Goodbye To Oakland Coliseum