The first pitch A’s catcher Shea Langeliers saw at the Las Vegas Ballpark on June 8 went 483 feet—instantly becoming the longest home run in Major League Baseball this season. Standing in the crowd, overlooking left field as it happened, I knew fans were in for something special.
The Athletics had played regular season games in Las Vegas before, back in 1996, but this week carried the weight of something more permanent. The 125-year-old franchise is on the verge of actually calling this place home, with a $2 billion climate-controlled Strip stadium expected to rise from the ashes of the Tropicana in time for the 2028 season.
In a six-game run against the first-place Milwaukee Brewers (June 8-10) and the last-place Colorado Rockies (June 12-14), these A’s more than delivered in a 4-2 “homestand” that saw records fall, new fans solidified, plenty of intrigue and promise for the future.
I purchased standing room only tickets for the June 8 opener against the Brewers to see what this new fandom looked like from the trenches. It went well enough that I decided to return for the Rockies opener on June 12. The decision saved me some money. It also meant watching both games from a range of viewpoints rather than stuck behind obstructive netting that stretches far beyond what you'll find at most MLB parks.
1. Records fall
I’ve been to more MLB games in my day than most, but that contest against the Brewers was one of the best I’ve ever seen. Langeliers had opened the floodgates, and the two teams combined for 29 runs and a whopping 11 home runs off 34 hits in a 12-inning marathon that ultimately saw the visitors pull ahead 15-14. It was the longest game of the season at four hours and 14 minutes.
The previous single-game record of 12 replay challenges also fell, with umpire Clint Vandrak seeing 11 of his calls overturned on 16 challenges. Fans of both squads booed him like veterans, and it was hard to feel bad about it.
The back-and-forth affair was punctuated by two bombs apiece for A’s lefty sluggers Nick Kurtz and Tyler Soderstrom. But the Brew Crew stayed resilient and brought it to extras at 10-10. Milwaukee then appeared to close the door on them when catcher William Contreras smacked a pitch so hard he fell over, watching the ball soar out of the park to bring them up 14-10 in the top of the 10th. At that point, I was sure I’d see more fans leaving, but was pleasantly surprised to see most of the seats still occupied.
They were soon rewarded with an improbable homer from A’s catcher Jonah Heim that tied it up before the Brewers nabbed them in the 12th. As we finally filed out, everyone was saying the same thing: “WHAT. A. GAME.”
2. These kids are different
The Athletics have the fourth youngest roster in baseball at 27.3 years old. This young core has had no true home since the team abandoned bargaining efforts for a new park in Oakland in 2023, and for them, the week in Vegas was a chance to show that they’re eager to grow with their new fanbase.
Kurtz, a 23-year-old first-baseman and reigning AL Rookie of the Year, led the way over the six-game stretch, going 9-for-24 with four home runs, seven RBI and a .375 average. Outfielder Soderstrom, 24, extended his on-base streak to 23 games, going 8-for-22, three home runs and nine RBIs. And 26-year-old second-baseman Zack Gelof went 8-for-25 with two home runs and four RBI to bring his hit streak to 18 games. Langeliers—hardly the elder statesman at 28—added two more homers on the week.
These hitters alone accounted for nine of the franchise-record 15 home runs the team smacked in the Milwaukee series. And throughout the week, they seemed to discover a swagger that could carry over into the rest of the season and beyond.
3. A fledgling fandom
Every contest was functionally a sellout, with close to 8,500 attending per game. For a team that locked down the worst attendance numbers in baseball last year from the minor-league level Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, drawing more than 50,000 fans across all six games felt like a statement in its own right—especially as the Golden Knights were still in the thick of a Stanley Cup Final.
Free jerseys reading “Las Vegas/28” dotted the crowd on June 8, while children sat with free hats signed by players on June 12. Plenty of fans brought their own gear, including sizable contingents of Brewers and Rockies fans. But A’s outfielder Lawrence Butler summed up the scene perfectly when he told reporters after the June 8 game that he wasn’t entirely expecting A’s fans to respond to “Let’s Go Brewers” chants with adamant boos.
I caught a young teen talking over the extra-inning roster shifts with his grandfather with the authority of a lifelong fan. The section shared high fives when the A’s tied it up after giving up four runs in the 10th inning. Elsewhere, seat attendants discussed bullpen management as opposing fans admitted to one another that this was far from neutral ground.
This fanbase was assuredly not made in Las Vegas. These are people from all walks of life—of which many were likely still harboring loyalties to their hometown teams. But between them and the children who have, to this point, grown up with the Aviators at this very park, this melting pot of adoptees and day ones—the old guard and the new—has the DNA of a true culture in the making.
4. Heat hangover
The June 14 series finale against Colorado was a reminder that this is still the desert, with game temperatures at points exceeding 100 degrees. Under that backdrop, the A’s bullpen—already taxed from the 12-inning marathon six days earlier—surrendered 23 runs for the first time since 1955.
The weirdness from that June 8 opener bled right into the finale in the worst way, leading A’s skipper Mark Kotsay to call right fielder Carlos Cortes to the mound in the eighth inning. Improbably, he allowed just one run and three hits in the final 1 and 2/3 innings, marking the best outing of any A’s hurler on the day.
It was absurd, but Vegas is accustomed to it. The new Strip stadium isn't being built as a dome with world-bending AC as a luxury. It's a survival mechanism.
5. All eyes on 2028
Despite losing in such devastating fashion on Sunday, the young A’s have plenty to be proud of from their 4-2 Las Vegas preview week. The lads came in with a 31-34 season record and emerged 35-36—still under .500, sure, but also just one game behind the AL West leading Seattle Mariners in the division standings.
That’s a far better pace than last year, when the A’s finished 14 games behind in their division at 76-86—assisted by the fourth worst home record in the league at 36-45. And while much of the original Oakland A’s fanbase is justifiably bitter at losing the franchise many of them grew up with, this mood of legitimate big league excitement is something entirely new for Las Vegas.
At the end of one of the games I attended, near the bullpen beyond right field, I watched a kid sprint through the grass, showering his elation at his parents after a player tossed him a ball. A few feet away, a dad sat on a blanket with two gloves, waiting for his son to come back and sit beside him.
Come 2028, they won't have far to go.
