When the Athletics bailed on Oakland, they left a massive, emotional chunk of their fan base behind. They also left their franchise legends unmoored, suddenly associated with one of America's great, pulsating baseball towns that had been put out to pasture. It begs the question: Is Dennis Eckersley a Sacramento A? A Vegas A, three years in advance? What exactly does he call himself, and what happens to that fractured relationship when the dust settles and the goodbyes are silenced?
FanSided caught up with Eckersley at The National Sports Collectors Convention over the weekend, and after he was done signing for his adoring fans, he seemingly went through the stages of grief one at a time in front of our camera.
By the end of his answer, he'd distilled exactly what the Athletics mean to him right now in their temporary home, spinning in purgatory before shuffling off to a yet-to-be-constructed megalith stadium in a maybe-dying town.
"Originally, I sort of said, 'Well, that's life,' but the more time's gone on, it's like a grieving thing," Eckersley told FanSided. "It's just not right, you know what I mean?"
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Athletics' Dennis Eckersley hasn't visited the Sacramento A's yet
So, when can we expect Eck to take the mound at Sutter Health Park and kick it a few times to see if he falls down, Luis Severino-style? Don't bank on it.
"I'm in California right now and they're in Sacramento. I haven't been there yet, so that tells you something," Eckersley concluded with a flourish.
The current iteration of the Athletics is flush with more talent than anticipated; prior to Jacob Wilson's fracture, it seemed quite plausible that two A's teammates would finish one-two in the Rookie of the Year race after Nick Kurtz's explosion. It's an easy-to-love team, but an impossible-to-love franchise, and Eckersley's scorned ambivalence reflects that.
Hopefully, the Hall of Famer finds a way to feel more at home with the A's in the years to come. For now, he seems content to relax in California and call Cooperstown his Home Field rather than messing with any pesky relocation.