OAKLAND -- Northern California native and New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge has mixed feelings about the Athletics’ looming relocation from Oakland to West Sacramento, and ultimately Las Vegas.
Judge, who grew up in Linden, Calif., roughly 84 miles from the Coliseum, will miss baseball in the East Bay but is trying to be optimistic about what’s to come.
“It’s exciting, sad, all mixed together, man,” Judge told NBC Sports California after the Yankees' 4-2 win over the A's on Friday. “There are a lot of great memories here, I know for the Oakland A's organization. A lot of legends played here. So, it’s pretty cool, you know, getting a chance to come here as a kid to some of these games; It's always fun.
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“So, [it’s] kind of bittersweet, but they got something exciting, I think, coming up in the future for them.”
The 2022 American League MVP is one of those legends to grace the Coliseum.
Judge, the professional, understands baseball is a business. But Judge, forever a NorCal kid, genuinely will miss his matchups with the A’s in Oakland, as the trips posed a distant homecoming, to an extent.
“It stinks, you know, definitely,” Judge added. “I always love coming out here on the West Coast and playing out here. So to see [the A’s] leave Oakland -- I know we'll be in Sacramento next year until they get that new [Las Vegas] stadium built -- but it's tough, man. It's tough, but it's part of the game.”
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For years, the A’s have danced around a potential move. Judge represents many players’ feelings toward the now-real plan.
Oakland’s chapter of hosting Major League Baseball ends Thursday with the A's home finale against the Texas Rangers. But that doesn’t mean memories must expire.
Judge mentioned attending one or two games in Oakland during his younger days with, ironically, one of them being an A’s-Yankees matchup. The old showdown between coastal clubs ended up being a significant moment -- and memory, now -- for the six-time MLB All-Star, as he was at the Coliseum with quite the special guest.
“I brought my girlfriend at the time, who's now my wife, to a Yankees-A’s game,” Judge recalled. “Back in the day, we had some family friends; I had some tickets right on the third baseline. So I was able to ask for those, do a couple of favors and take her on a little date here back in my day.
“It's pretty cool to kind of come full circle.”
Judge and his wife Samantha, who attended Linden High School with the Yankee, have been married since 2021. One could argue the Coliseum played even just a minor role in their lifetime partnership.
The full circles don’t end there for the three-time Silver Slugger Award winner.
Some might forget, but Oakland selected Judge No. 935 overall in the 2010 MLB Draft. He was 18 then and turned down the A’s to attend Fresno State, where he was a proud Bulldog for three seasons.
Afterward, New York took Judge at No. 32 in the 2013 draft. Who knows if his presence in Oakland would have changed anything about owner John Fisher’s decision to relocate the A’s.
The A’s move to Sacramento, where they’ll play at Sutter Health Park during the 2025-27 seasons, and then eventually to Las Vegas, is a hard pill to swallow for anyone invested.
Judge, of course, never has called the Coliseum home -- even though he probably can after posting a .288 average with 17 hits, 16 RBI, seven runs scored and five home runs in 16 career games at Oakland.
But Judge, like many, will miss the Oakland A’s as we all once knew them.
