It was just a blip on the Athletics’ 162-game schedule during their second season playing in West Sacramento. But ultimately, the three-game, sold-out series against the Los Angeles Dodgers and global hitting and pitching superstar Shohei Ohtani June 29-July 1 will be long remembered as a major touchstone in the A’s’ temporary stay at Sutter Health Park.

Looking back on the Dodgers and their only planned visit to the Capital Region, it would be hard to find an example of a more dynasty-like major sports team and superstar appearing in Sacramento — save for perhaps some of the NBA dynasties who would face the Sacramento Kings, such as Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors or the teams sparked by LeBron James or Shaquille O’Neal. 

“We heard the Dodgers were in town, so we said, ‘OK, let’s go,’ says Nicholas Ciani, 15, who drove up from the Los Angeles area with his family that included his brother, mother and father, to attend all three games.

Coming in, the Dodgers were still dominant, with baseball’s best record and a double-digit game lead in the National League West Division. With all this star power being squeezed into a ballpark with a capacity of 14,000 fans, while the average Major League Baseball stadium seats around 43,000, there were all the ingredients for a classic Sacramento moment.

Dodger fans who travel well anyway took over the ballpark as expected, with the advantage over A’s fans unscientifically estimated in the 90 percent range, or as Molly Knight, author of 2015’s book about the Dodgers, “The Best Team Money Can Buy,” said in a July 8 Substack piece after going to the June 30 game: “Never in my life have I been to a Dodger away game with a greater percentage of Dodger fans than last week in West Sacramento.” 

The A’s, after leading the AL West Division through most of May, fell out of first place while struggling through June, under the .500 mark and saddled with injuries to key players like Jacob Wilson, Denzel Clarke, Brent Rooker, Tyler Soderstrom and pitcher Luis Severino. Ultimately, fans saw a barrage of home runs from the Dodgers during their 9-4 and 9-3 wins, including a sixth-inning, 3-run, 432-foot blast from Ohtani in the first game – his only homer of the series – that electrified the crowd. 

While the probable starting pitchers before the series began listed Ohtani on the mound for the July 1 game, his start was moved to later in the week, disappointing many, and the Dodgers went with an array of bullpen pitchers instead, as the A’s prevailed behind pitcher J.T. Ginn 7-1 to avoid the sweep.

Because of the popularity of former Japanese league players Ohtani, and pitchers Roki Sasaki and Yamamoto, a contingent of about a dozen photographers and writers follow the Dodgers to every stop and were present at Sutter Health Park during the series.

There were a couple of other notable moments during the series as well. Dave Roberts, who has managed the Dodgers since 2016, became the earliest manager in MLB history to reach 1,000 wins after the June 30 victory. And A’s rookie Joshua Kuroda-Grauer played his first game on June 29, getting three hits to become the first player with a three-hit MLB debut since 2015. 

 “I think the Athletics and Major League Baseball did a fantastic job as far as our accommodations,” Roberts told reporters after the June 29 game. “It was my first time (here), and I was really impressed. It’s a great city.”

One other strange coincidence occurred in the June 29 game when for the first time in MLB history, two players with the same name — Max Muncy, 36, of the Dodgers and Max Muncy, 24, of the A’s — played the same third base position, and batted in the same lineup position, seventh, in the same game against each other. 

 And, oh yeah, they also share the same birthday — Aug. 25.

Local A’s fans Castin Allen-Wetch and Kolton Jeremiah, both freshman athletes at Jesuit High School, felt at home being amongst all the Dodgers fans.

“It’s cool to see how much they come out and how far they fly out and drive,” says Allen-Wetch, from his seat near the A’s dugout.

Jeremiah agreed. “I like seeing all the Dodgers fans here,” he says. “It brings the community together. It just shows how Sacramento is a baseball city, and we just need to have the right team in town.”

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