Blue Jays’ Bassitt takes Coliseum memorabilia into final game against A’s originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Chris Bassitt threw a gem at the Coliseum on Friday night, and he couldn’t leave the mound without some memorabilia.
The former Athletics-turned-Toronto Blue Jays pitcher was back in Oakland for the first game of the three-game set. And after eight innings of one-run ball, Bassitt picked up some dirt from the Coliseum mound and put it in his pocket before walking back to the visitors’ dugout.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever see this place again,” Bassitt said after the A’s 2-1 walk-off win against the Blue Jays.
Late in the eighth inning, Chris Bassitt struck out Miguel Andujar, picked up some dirt from the Coliseum mound and put it in his pocket:
“I don’t know if I’ll ever see this place again,” Bassitt said.
— Martín Gallegos (@MartinJGallegos) June 8, 2024
Chris Bassitt reaches down to scoop up some Oakland Coliseum dirt after his latest strikeout tonight. His ERA of 2.36 in the Coliseum is the second lowest of all time, min. 250IP. It ranks above Catfish, Vida Blue, Rollie Fingers, Eck, Stew, etc. Trailing only Paul Lindblad’s 2.29. pic.twitter.com/82oW78J44Q
— Adrian Garro (@adriangarro) June 8, 2024
There are two games left in the series, but Bassitt likely played his last game at the Coliseum.
The A’s lease on the ballpark expires after this season and the team announced it will play baseball at the San Francisco Giants Triple-A affiliated stadium in West Sacramento for three years until their proposed ballpark opens in Las Vegas.
The Oakland Coliseum has been a place the A’s call home for more than 50 years.
Bassitt was a fan favorite in Oakland during his six seasons with the club from 2015 to 2021. He was named an All-Star during his final season with the A’s after compiling a 12-4 record with a 3.15 ERA in 157 innings in 27 innings. games.
And on Friday, a special night for the former A-starter against his old team, Bassitt struck out seven batters against two walks and allowed one run on four hits on a mound he knows all too well. He reached eight innings on 102 pitches.
“His tricks came out,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said after the game (h/t MLB.com). “This kid can pitch. That’s what we had him for [six] years. Bas was a permanent fixture. If you are talking about the [Bob Melvin] era, Bass was the stable force behind the pitching staff that was so successful. He grew up in this organization. Tonight you saw the competitor that he is.”
Although there weren’t many familiar faces in the A’s dugout due to the organization’s many years of rebuilding, the Coliseum still holds a special place in Bassitt’s heart – and the memories will last forever.
“A lot of people would come here and see how bad Oakland’s Coliseum is … and all I see is people,” he said. ‘I see BoMel. I understand [Matt] Olson, [Matt Chapman] do stupid things. I see [Marcus] Semien, I see [Chad] pinder, [Mark] Canha — I see all those guys. This place is obviously very special to me.
“There are a million different places in this place where I see funny, weird things happening, and it just brings me back to my best friends in the game.”
