When Athletics rookie Zack Gelof made his MLB debut at Oakland Coliseum in July, it was meaningful to his parents Kelly and Adam in more ways than one.
The Coliseum has held a special place in the Gelof family's heart for nearly three decades, the couple recently explained to NBC Sports California's Kylen Mills, as it was a stop on their honeymoon 27 years ago.
"There definitely are times through the journey where you feel like there's sort of a magical power," Adam told Mills.
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"To actually experience it -- his debut, to be there, to be together and see his success in the Coliseum, there's just no way to express how huge our hearts felt and just how happy we were," Kelly said.
Unable to afford a honeymoon after their wedding in 1996, the newly married Gelofs didn't plan on taking one -- until their bridal party surprised them with a trip to the Bay Area. The husband and wife are baseball fans, of course, and decided to take in a game at the Coliseum during their vacation, where Adam was able to proudly display a message on the scoreboard: "Kelly, thanks for marrying me. Love, Adam."
When Zack still was in Single-A with the Stockton Ports, the family returned to watch an A's game at the Coliseum on Adam and Kelly's 25th wedding anniversary and recreated the photo.
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It's safe to say Zack's recent success in the stadium is serendipitous, as the 23-year-old already has made plenty of A's history since his debut. He was selected as the AL Rookie of the Month in August after slashing .286/.350/.562 with eight doubles, seven home runs and 15 RBI in 27 games.
Zack became the fastest A's player to reach double-digit home runs in franchise history last month, too, and also became the first player in A's history to have 20 extra-base hits and 20 runs scored through his first 28 career games played. On Saturday, Adam and Kelly got to see Zack hit an RBI single in the A's 4-1 win over the Detroit Tigers at the Coliseum during their anniversary weekend.
But long before Zack made his mark in Oakland, his father knew big things were coming when they visited the Coliseum two years ago.
"I remember Matt Chapman was there at the time, and I remember Zack had a look, like, 'This is what I want. I can do this,' " Adam recalled to Mills. "You could see him soaking it in, more goal setting, like, 'I want to be here, I want to play here in this stadium.'
"When they get something in their mind, they really put it to it, and that was really cool to see."
Zack already has accomplished plenty with the A's, but his dad knows winning is the most important thing on his mind. Adam believes the A's young core, who call themselves "New Oakland," has what it takes to compete, and he hopes Zack's winning ways in high school and college have followed him to the Coliseum.
"Serendipitous would be to hang another banner," Adam said.