The Athletics are honoring franchise legend Rickey Henderson with a special No. 24 patch on their uniforms this season, two months before they start playing in their temporary Sacramento home.
Henderson, baseball’s all-time stolen base king who passed away in December at 65, left an unforgettable mark on the A’s franchise during his 25-year career.
The team’s also adding some local flavor to their uniforms. They’ve put Sacramento’s iconic Tower Bridge on their left sleeve, with the city’s name written below it in flowing script.
But here’s the thing – they’re still just the “Athletics.” No “Sacramento” in the official team name, even though they’ll be calling the city home for a while.
It’s a big change from what A’s fans are used to seeing. For decades, the team’s uniforms featured their famous elephant logo – a proud mascot standing on a baseball, holding a bat with its trunk. That elephant wasn’t just any random choice. It actually came from a joke by John McGraw way back in the early 1900s, and became a beloved symbol in Oakland after the Haas Family brought it back in 1980.
Nobody’s sure if the elephant will make a comeback when the team eventually moves to Las Vegas. For now, it looks like that piece of A’s history might stay behind in Oakland.
The A’s temporary move to Sacramento is just one step in their complicated relocation plan. They’ll spend at least three years playing at Sutter Health Park, a Triple-A ballpark, while their fancy new stadium gets built near the Las Vegas Strip.
After that? It’s off to Vegas for good, ending a journey that’s taking the team through three different California cities before landing in Nevada.
