As an era ends, Oakland comes to grips with Athletics departure

The Oakland A’s have won nine World Series titles and 19 seasons of futility punctuated by 100 or more losses.

The A's are the last professional sports team in a two -county region known as the East Bay .

After starting in Philadelphia in 1901 , the A 's moved to Kansas City in 1955 , then to Oakland in 1968 , with Sacramento and Las Vegas next in the pipeline.

Three of the A’s World Series titles were won in consecutive years under the ownership of Charles O. “Charlie” Finley , who brought the team to Oakland from Missouri .

Finley died in 1996 , long before the 50-year reunion of the 1974 World Series champions held in June .

“I can’t stop having flashbacks whenever I go back there. I have every section, row and seat memorized”.

Jim Zelinski died June 7 after a long battle with bladder cancer.

A’s outfielder JJ Bleday slugged a homer in the bottom of the ninth to catapult the team to a 2 -1 victory.

The A's are such an irreplaceable part of the East Bay culture that I don’t think people can quite grasp what incredible sadness there is going to be like at that final game in September .