OAKLAND – Rollie Fingers strode to the Coliseum’s pitching mound Sunday and relived throwing the final pitch that touched off the A’s third straight World Series celebration 50 years ago. “Next thing I know, I’ve got 24 guys jumping all over my ass,” Fingers recalled to the A’s biggest home crowd yet (18,491) for this final season in Oakland. “It’s good when you’ve got guys jumping on you, because it means you did something right.
” The A’s certainly did baseball right a half-century ago, and they pulled off an impressive reunion Sunday that drew 11 former players and multiple generations of their families for a nostalgic pregame ceremony. Yet it was a bittersweet moment, beyond the A’s ensuing 3-0 defeat to the Minnesota Twins. Their 1974, three-peat champions came not only to say hello again to their teammates and loyal fans, but also to say goodbye to the stadium and city the A’s have called home since 1968.
“It’s going to be sad to see it go. I’m sure a lot of Oakland fans don’t want to see it go,” Fingers said in an exclusive interview with this news organization before the game. “They should have built a ballpark right next door here in the parking lot four or five years ago and they wouldn’t have this problem.
” Owner John Fisher plans to uproot the franchise and relocate it the next three seasons in Sacramento before moving into a planned, $1.5 billion stadium on the Las Vegas Strip. “Here’s the irony, look what the city o.
