‘They gave in:’ Oakland A’s backtrack, let fans in early ahead of final Opening Day at the Coliseum
OAKLAND — What had the makings of a traffic nightmare and public safety issue ended an hour early on Thursday afternoon, when the Oakland A’s finally relented and opened the gates to their parking lots much earlier than expected. “They gave in,” said Anson Casanares, vice president of the Oakland 68s fan group. Seemingly ignoring that the thousands of fans were planning to flood the parking lots to boycott the game and the team’s pending move to Las Vegas, the A’s originally decided to block entry to their parking lot until two hours before their 7:07 p.m. Opening Day game against the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday, a stark difference from last year, when they opened four hours early. Thursday, cars lined up in front of the B Lot entrance as early as noon. By 3 p.m., there was a line at least a half-mile long. Instead of waiting until 5:07 p.m. to open the parking lot gates, the A’s folded their cards and opened the gates soon after 4 p.m. Cars began flooding into the parking lot. Within 15 minutes, Last Dive Bar founder Bryan