PROGRAMMING NOTE: NBC Sports California is looking back at the 50 most memorable A's plays since the franchise relocated to Oakland in 1968. Below are the first two plays you can vote on. Tune into A's Pregame Live tonight at 6:30pm to watch highlights of the two plays. After the Rangers and A's conclude, tune into A's Postgame Live to see which play will move on to the next round!
A's first game in Oakland at the Coliseum (4/17/68)
After spending their first 54 seasons in Philadelphia, and the next 13 in Kansas City, the Athletics made their Oakland debut on April 17, 1968 in front of more than 50,000 fans at the Coliseum. Even though the A's lost 4-1 to the Orioles that night, it marked the beginning of a long and prosperous relationship with the East Bay.
Rick Monday homered in the sixth inning to account for the A's run. Reggie Jackson and Bert Campaneris also started for Oakland, while Tony La Russa recorded a pinch-hit single.
Baltimore got home runs from Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson, Mark Belanger, and Boog Powell (no, not the A's current center fielder). Dave McNally pitched a complete game to earn the victory for the Orioles, while Oakland's Lew Krausse took the loss.
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Brandon Moss 2-run walk-off HR in 19th inning vs. LAA (4/29/13)
It started out like any other game on a Monday night. Dan Straily threw the first pitch to Peter Bourjos at 7:09 p.m. The game's final pitch would not be hurled for another six hours and 32 minutes.
At 1:41 a.m. Tuesday, Brandon Moss blasted a two-run home run off Barry Enright in the bottom of the 19th inning, ending the longest game in A's history, a 10-8 victory over the Angels. The game featured 16 different pitchers and 597 pitches.
The Angels took a 7-2 lead into the eighth inning, but the A's rallied for four runs in the eighth and one in the ninth to force extra innings. The teams exchanged runs in the 15th inning to make it 8-8. It would stay that way until the bottom of the 19th, when Moss belted his second home run of the game to finally send everyone home.
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