Evan Drellich

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Evan Drellich

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. - On Opening Day in West Sacramento, the Athletics asked a sold-out crowd to honor the late Rickey Henderson with 24 seconds of silence, a nod to his uniform number. The voice making the request belonged to Amelia Schimmel, a 38-year-old Oakland native now in her sixth year as the team's public address announcer. Nearby in a suite at Sutter Health Park sat Joanna Schimmel, the assistant director of media relations for the Chicago Cubs.

3 weeks ago | dailyherald.com | Sahadev Sharma |Evan Drellich

The Cubs' Carson Kelly reacts after hitting a double against the Athletics during Monday’s game in West Sacramento, Calif. AP WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Carson Kelly thought he might have a chance at a cycle once he touched first base. But the catcher didn’t think it was a good chance, and he certainly didn’t realize he would become the first Cubs player to achieve the feat in 32 years.

3 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Evan Drellich

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. - If you cruised through the Sutter Health Park concourse in the early innings Monday night, if you moved past all the A's jerseys on the just-a-bit-too small walkways and then sat with the picnickers on the lawn in right field, you could start to see it: The vision the A's are selling in Sacramento. A's fans were everywhere in a stadium never meant for Major League Baseball. And at the start of the game, few people seemed ready to riot over the team's exit from Oakland.

3 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Evan Drellich

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. - On Day One in Sacramento, John Fisher said he isn't nervous. Sitting in a picnic area in the left-field stands during batting practice on Monday at Sutter Health Park, the owner of the Athletics paused when asked what emotions he had before his team's first game in a new city, whether any nerves were afoot. He started to talk about Opening Day generally and how hopeful a time spring is, "when everything is kind of reborn," before circling back.

3 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Evan Drellich

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The most glaring difference between a major- and minor-league stadium is in height. The newly renovated home of the Athletics, Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, Calif., carries just one main level topped by a second concourse of mostly suites, and in that way, it is still unmistakably the minor-league park it was built to be. But in a city that's never regularly hosted Major League Baseball, the A's hope intimacy creates an unusual draw.