A's fans enjoy the team's final game at the Oakland Coliseum

OAKLAND – After 57 seasons at the Oakland Coliseum, the A's' final hours at their East Bay home stadium began in a depressing atmosphere as baseball fans streamed through the gates Thursday morning.

But by the first pitch, the marine layer had burned off and the afternoon sun was shining, setting the stage for a celebratory atmosphere in which Oakland fans and their team could salute each other one last time.

Fans watched as franchise legends Rickey Henderson and Dave Stewart threw out the ceremonial first pitch. They heard former Cy Young Award winner Barry Zito sing the national anthem.

Amid a mix of “Sell the Team” chants, claps, whistles and screams, the last out in A's history at the Coliseum came at 3:06 p.m. when Texas punter Travis Jankowski hit a ground ball to third baseman Max Schuemann, who shot at first baseman Tyler Soderstrom.

There were high-fives and hugs behind the mound as Stomper waved a green and gold Athletics flag to celebrate Oakland's 3-2 victory over the Rangers. Now all that's left of the A's era in Oakland is a three-game series this weekend in Seattle.

The A's players and coaches remained on the field and tipped off their caps in front of a sellout crowd of 46,889. Manager Mark Kotsay then briefly addressed the fans.

“There are no better fans than YOU! Thank you for your lifelong support of the Oakland A's,” said Kotsay, himself a former A's player.

The manager then ended his speech with one final chant of “Let’s Go Oakland!”

A's fan Adam Zimmerman sat in the upper deck and waited 20 minutes after the final out before making his way to the exit.

“Kotsay’s speech was really heartfelt,” he said. “After that, I needed time to sit down and take a minute.”

As the game entered the seventh inning, some fans were already streaming out of the ballpark to avoid the postgame traffic. Many of them held miniature replicas of the stadium, which were made available free to the first 25,000 fans via a pre-game voucher.

Sneak-peek images of the one-of-a-kind souvenirs were quickly met with ridicule online due to their ultra-minimalist design.

“I won’t unpack it until I get home,” laughed Oakland native Kimberly Burns, “so I can save myself the disappointment.”

Jacob Neel, 27, also laughed at what he called the replicas' shoddy paint job, but still planned to keep his trinket on the bookshelf at home along with other A's memorabilia.

“I just think it’s a good nod to my 20-plus-year journey to the Oakland Coliseum,” Neel said. “But it’s also part of John Fisher and his team’s brand to do something so cheap — because (he) is the cheapest owner in MLB history.”

Fisher plans to have his team play in Sacramento for at least the next three seasons before opening a yet-to-be-built ballpark in Las Vegas so the franchise can continue to exist.

But it won't be the Oakland A's.

“It’s been super emotional since I came in,” A’s fan Jesus Ventura said. “As the game progressed there were moments, moments when we realized it was really our last game. This is it, our last home game.

“I started crying after the last moment. I felt a deep, deep sadness.”

“It's heartbreaking knowing it's the last game,” said Katherine Harkniss, a 21-year-old lifelong A's fan from Clayton. “But there is also joy in knowing that no matter where we go, the spirit will never disappear.”

Many fans won't follow the team if it leaves the Bay Area, and some aren't looking for a new club.

“I’m dropping them until Fisher sells the team,” Dominic Vallejo said. “It will always be (expletive) the Giants.”

Aaron Clark echoed Vallejo's comments.

“I’m tired of watching Major League Baseball,” Clark said. “I followed the A’s and now we don’t have them anymore.”

The fans arrived at 8 a.m. for the historic finale.

On a crowded BART train, Stuart Cray reflected on how the recent 14-hour pilgrimage from his native Australia to Oakland gave him insight into a peculiarity of American sports – that a team can leave its city.

“This has only happened once in Australia's history,” said Cray, 48, who first fell in love when he was introduced to the A's green and gold – his country's colors – at the 1989 World Series. Oakland swept the Cross Bay Giants in four games to clinch a World Series best remembered for the Loma Prieta earthquake that struck the region minutes before Game 3 was scheduled to begin.

Taking a sombre stroll across the BART Bridge, fans marveled at the ballpark's main entrance, once decorated with the franchise's history but now sitting empty.

“You couldn't wait to take down the banners?” grumbled a woman.

“Forty dollars! “Four-zero,” Rev. Charles Grays shouted to passersby from his T-shirt stand, which he has sold on game days on the BART Bridge since 1981.

The price of his Last Game souvenirs was high enough to turn off some fans, but others were interested. This was, after all, a historic day – even for Grays, although it was not overly sentimental.

“I'll go home and cry,” he laughed, “and I'll get up tomorrow and go to the Giants game!” But I wouldn't go to Sacramento or Vegas. Too hot.”

Just before the first pitch at 12:37 p.m., a “Let's Go Oakland” chant rang out in the main concourse behind home plate. Jay Sathe, an Oakland resident, led the chants and said he plans to attend Roots football games at the Coliseum in the future.

He correctly predicted that there would be no violence in the A's Coliseum finale.

“That’s not what we’re here for,” Sathe said. “We’re all here for one reason, and that’s to celebrate Oakland.”