Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
This season, the Athletics have set up shop at a minor league stadium in Sacramento after departing Oakland ahead of a permanent move to Las Vegas. That transition has spawned more than a few logistical issues, including the “walk of shame” players will be subjected to thanks to the ballpark’s underwhelming bathroom situation.
The Athletics spent close to 60 years playing their home games at Oakland Coliseum, a venue that had certainly seen better days by the time the franchise announced it would be leaving the city behind following the conclusion of the 2024 campaign.
That decision stems from the plan to relocate the A’s to Las Vegas after the completion of a new stadium on The Strip that will tentatively open for business in 2028. Of course, that meant the franchise would need to find a new home in the interim, and it eventually settled on Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, the venue it shares with the Triple-A River Cats that boasts a capacity of 14,014 people.
The Coliseum may not have been the most glamorous ballpark the MLB has to offer, but it was also designed to accommodate the needs of the best baseball players on the planet—and based on what we’ve seen so far, the same can’t be said about the stadium that’s replaced it.
On Monday, the A’s played their first game at their new home while facing off against a Cubs team that dampened the occasion by rolling to an 18-3 win.
We also got our first look at one of the stranger quirks at Sutter Health Park when Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki was forced to run across the outfield in between innings to make a trip to the bathroom after nature called, as the visting team’s dugout somehow isn’t connected to a clubhouse with the requisite facilities (it’s unclear if the same can be said for the home team).
It’s got a name… “the walk of shame.”
Now imagine Judge doing this, 🤦🏽♂️. pic.twitter.com/QLifcGCsGW
— Last Dive Bar 🏟 (@LastDiveBar) April 1, 2025
That’s not the only feature (or lack thereof) that’s managed to garner some attention, as the A’s will also be using a metal shed to host press conferences for the foreseeable future.
Things are going great in Sacramento so far!