Sports
Like it or not, the A’s have a new home, and it's a win for this scrappy city
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The arrival of a major league team to this decidedly minor league city last week was not, as they say in baseball, error free.
Players for the A’s, formerly of Oakland and eventually to be of Las Vegas, were unfamiliar with the layout of their temporary home, Sutter Health Park. There was “a lot of chaos,” manager Mark Kotsay told the Sacramento Bee, as the team tried to figure out how to navigate the much smaller footprint of a triple-A ballpark.
The Wi-Fi went down. The radio broadcast cut out numerous times. The beer line was epic. The game was paused after someone snuck a drone over the field in the seventh inning. Many die-hard Oakland fans in attendance were still roiled by a sense of betrayal at the manner in which the team departed Oakland. And then there was the score: The A’s lost to the Cubs, 18-3.
Summing it all up, the website SFist pulled no punches with its headline: “A’s first game in Sacramento was a complete debacle, and losing 18-3 was probably the least embarrassing part.”
But for boosters of the unsung city of West Sacramento — a scrappy town of 54,000 that many people, even in the wider region, don’t realize is a city — none of that mattered.
Excitement has been running high ever since team officials announced that the A’s would alight at the 14,000-seat stadium of the minor league River Cats — the triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants — for three years while the A’s future home on the Las Vegas Strip is constructed.
This has been widely described in the national press as a move to the city of Sacramento, California’s capital, which is across the river from West Sacramento and in a different county. Most of the news organizations that crowded in to cover the season opener, and the players they quoted, didn’t seem to register the existence of West Sacramento.
A’s relief pitcher T.J. McFarland’s comments were typical. “It’s a nice city, the state capital,” he told the Sacramento Bee, standing in the heart of West Sacramento’s most treasured civic landmark.
West Sacramento took it all in stride. City officials are used to living in Sacramento’s shadow, and they are confident that bringing the A’s here — even if no one seems to know the team is here — will be a boon.
After all, it’s not the first time that the magic of baseball has lifted this town’s fortunes.
“I couldn’t be happier to share the limelight with our neighbors across the river,” said state Sen. Christopher Cabaldon (D-Yolo), who served two decades as West Sacramento’s mayor before being elected to the Senate last year.
Still, Martha Guerrero, the city’s mayor, made one thing clear: “We prefer West Sacramento. That is the official location.”
West Sacramento has long been the region’s scrawny stepchild of a municipality. The city of Sacramento, population 526,000, with its luminous Capitol dome, graceful tree canopy and Gold Rush-era prominence, was incorporated in 1850. Across the Sacramento River and the county line, the other major towns in Yolo County followed not too long after. Woodland dates to 1871. Winters was incorporated in 1898. And even relative newcomer Davis became an official city in 1917. Woodland was known for its stately Victorian homes; Winters for its picturesque downtown and miles of walnut orchards, velvet green against the purple Vaca Mountains; and Davis for its bustling University of California campus.
But for most of the 20th century, what is now called West Sacramento was a collection of small communities known, in many ways, as a dumping ground for people and pets the city of Sacramento didn’t want.
Back in the day, Sacramento authorities “escorted their criminals, morphine addicts and alcoholics” to the area, according to a historian quoted in the Sacramento Bee in 1984. During Prohibition, the area was known as “Sin City” because it did not embrace the era’s no-alcohol edict. During the Depression, one longtime resident told a local newspaper, it was common practice for Sacramentans to dump dogs and cats they could no longer afford to feed on the West Sacramento side of the river.
By the early 1980s, the area was known as a hub for drugs and prostitution, particularly along a strip of rundown motels that lined West Capital Avenue.
Still, local leaders always had big dreams. In the 1940s, Congress authorized construction of a deep water channel that connected the community with Suisun Bay. In the 1960s, the Port of West Sacramento (originally the Port of Sacramento) became operational, hosting big cargo ships and giving rise to a thriving industrial base.
In the 1980s, developers saw the area’s potential as an affordable bedroom community for legislative aides and other state employees working just a short drive or bike ride away in Sacramento’s downtown, on the other side of the landmark Tower Bridge. Single-family homes started going up on what had been vast acres of cropland sprouting corn, tomatoes, melons and rice.
And in 1987, voters in the area finally voted to incorporate.
The Tower Bridge spans the Sacramento River, connecting West Sacramento with the glittering downtown of its higher-profile neighbor, the city of Sacramento.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
It was shortly after this that Cabaldon moved to town.
“I accidentally ended up in West Sacramento,” he said. The year was 1993, and he was starting work as a legislative staffer. A real estate agent took him to a “great neighborhood” that was “unusually affordable” and promised that exciting shops, restaurants, parks and other amenities were coming soon. Cabaldon was sold. “I didn’t realize it was the other side of the tracks, and no one wanted to go there at night,” he said.
Cabaldon grew to love his little city. He admired its gorgeous riverfront — mostly underused land, but so much potential. Still, he noticed that many of the amenities the real estate agent had promised were nowhere on the horizon. And he gathered, too, that the city had long felt like an underdog.
Instead of moving, he ran for City Council. He lost, but ran again and won in 1996. By 1998, he was mayor. Shortly thereafter, he recalled, he was approached by developers who wanted to build a minor league ballpark in the city.
“We kind of ran with it,” he said. “It really changed the notion that we were the armpit of the region.”
The park was built, and by 2001, the River Cats had moved in (originally as a farm team for the Oakland A’s before becoming the Giants’ triple-A affiliate in 2015). The ballpark, which is a stone’s throw from the Sacramento River and about a mile from the Capitol, quickly became a draw for people across the region.
Sure, the team took the name the Sacramento River Cats, but their presence in West Sacramento helped spur a whole new wave of development: affordable condos, apartments and townhomes geared toward young workers and, finally, the long-promised restaurants and big-box stores so that all these new residents had places to eat and shop without crossing the river. Parcel by parcel, the land along the city’s waterfront was transformed into entertainment venues, parks and trails.
“We’ve done so many ribbon cuttings,” said Guerrero, the mayor.
West Sacramento was on its way, even before the A’s very bad breakup with Oakland.
The Oakland Coliseum, the A’s longtime home, was widely considered one of the most run-down stadiums in the major leagues — baseball’s last dive bar, as the Guardian newspaper put it. There were, famously, feral cats roaming the complex. Dead mice where they didn’t belong. Sewage issues. Barbed wire. And so much concrete.
“It’s a giant concrete toilet bowl,” said baseball analyst Eric Byrnes, who played six seasons for the A’s. “But it’s their toilet bowl, and it’s a special toilet bowl.”
The A’s owner, John Fisher, made no secret of his desire to get out, and when he finally did, hatching a plan to move to a $1.5-billion stadium on the Las Vegas Strip, residents of Oakland — and a host of nostalgic sportswriters — erupted with fury and heartbreak.
In a 2023 photo, fans at Oakland Coliseum protest the A’s plans to relocate.
(Jed Jacobsohn / Associated Press)
“The argument could be made that the A’s departure from their run-down home for the riches of Las Vegas is a large part of what’s wrong with American professional sports today,” the New York Times said.
“The Oakland A’s were so much to so many of us, for so long, and now they are nothing at all,” wrote Ellen Cushing in the Atlantic.
At the last game in the Coliseum, desperate fans assailed the owner with loud chants of “Sell the Team.” Then they waited in line to collect dirt from the old diamond.
It is said there are two sides to every breakup. But in this divorce, it seemed almost everyone took the side of Oakland and its fans.
The A’s season opener in West Sacramento was marked by operational glitches as the team figured out how to navigate the much smaller footprint of a triple-A ballpark.
(Scott Marshall / Associated Press)
All these months later, West Sacramento officials emphasize they played no part in stealing the team from Oakland. But they also don’t hide their pride in being the A’s rebound city — even if it’s just for three years.
They spent the off-season making upgrades to the stadium, including a new clubhouse and expanded locker room facilities. They came up with a parking plan to accommodate what are expected to be bigger crowds. They added premium seating.
The dream, Guerrero said, is that the A’s short-term relationship with West Sacramento is such a success that Major League Baseball considers the region for an expansion team. And all the dreamier if they put that team in her town — and not that stepsister city across the river.
“West Sacramento has a strong fan base,” Guerrero said. “We’re a baseball city.”
A legendary NFL coach found linebacker Rod Martin not by scouting him at USC, but almost by accident.
The Oakland Raiders had a throwaway 12th-round pick in the 1977 draft, and then-coach John Madden grew frustrated hearing his personnel executives contemplate using it on a basketball player or track guy. Finally, Madden blurted out that he could find a random kid walking around the USC campus in sandals who could make more of an impact than that.
“Ron Wolf says, ‘All right, smart guy,’” recalled Madden’s son, Mike. “So they were a couple picks away and dad goes, ‘Let me call [USC coach] John Robinson.’”
Robinson had one question: Has Rod Martin been drafted?
Raiders linebacker Rod Martin stands on the field during a game against the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 6, 1987, at the Coliseum.
(Mike Powell / Getty Images)
“Dad goes, ‘What position does he play?’” the younger Madden said. “Robinson tells him Martin is a linebacker, and dad goes, ‘Good. Tough guy we can knock around in training camp. Have him run down on kicks.’ And Robinson says, ‘No, John. Rod Martin will make your team.’”
Martin did a lot more than make the team. He would go on to set a Super Bowl record with three interceptions in one of the most dominant defensive performances in championship history.
Martin, who would play his entire 12-year career with the Oakland then Los Angeles Raiders, is dead at age 72. The Raiders announced his death Monday but did not specify a cause of death.
“The Raiders family is deeply saddened by the passing of Rod Martin, a standout linebacker and key player on two Super Bowl championship teams,” read a team statement.
The franchise called Martin, “a beloved member of the Raiders Family and a favorite of Raiders fans everywhere.”
A two-time Super Bowl winner and a two-time Pro Bowl selection, Martin saved his best game for the biggest stage. In Super Bowl XV at the Louisiana Superdome, he intercepted Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski three times in a 27-10 Raiders victory.
“What I remember about Rod was his ability to diagnose and react,” Jaworski said by phone Monday. “In the Super Bowl, he makes two phenomenal plays. He has three interceptions, but interceptions one and two — I’d like to say they were bad decisions on my part. They weren’t. I tried to squeeze throws in. He just made a great play. He was a great athlete.”
Three years later, Martin was still a key component to the Raiders’ defense in a Super Bowl victory over Washington. He had a sack of quarterback Joe Theismann, a fumble recovery, and a fourth-and-one stop of John Riggins late in the third quarter of a 38-9 blowout.
Born in Welch, W. Va., the son of a coal miner grew up in Los Angeles and attended Hamilton High before going on to play at Los Angeles City College and USC. The NFL saw him as a tweener, too small for linebacker at 210 pounds and too slow to play safety. Clearly, that was a faulty assessment.
Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon was two years behind Martin at Hamilton, and the two remained friends throughout the decades that followed.
“We met when I was a sophomore,” Moon said. “He was a senior — middle linebacker, fullback and center on the basketball team. He was the ultimate athlete. At the time I was there, I looked up to him quite a lot.
“He wasn’t the biggest guy in the world, but he was big enough. He had the strongest hands and the strongest forearms. He could just take a tight end or whoever came to block him, grab his pads, shove him off and go make the play. He was just a real solid player.”
It was those hands that grabbed an opportunity with the Raiders and didn’t let go.
“So dad goes marching into the draft room,” Madden said, “looks at Ron and everybody else and says, ‘We’re going to take Rod Martin, linebacker, USC.’ And they did.”
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New details have emerged surrounding the arrest of former Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch, who is facing two misdemeanor charges following a run-in with law enforcement just days ahead of the NFL Draft.
Branch, who is a projected second-round pick, was arrested early Sunday morning in Athens, Georgia, and charged with two counts of obstructing public sidewalks/streets – prowling and obstruction of a law enforcement officer.
Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver Zachariah Branch celebrates after a touchdown catch against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Nov. 28, 2025. (Brett Davis/Imagn Images)
He was released after more than two hours in jail after posting $39 in bonds.
The NFL Network obtained the police report from Branch’s arrest, which described an encounter over an alleged sidewalk incident with law enforcement, in which police alleged that the former Bulldogs star failed “to comply with multiple verbal lawful commands.”
“A male, later identified as Zacharia Branch, continued to stand on the sidewalk without making an attempt to move. I continued to give Zacharia Branch verbal commands to move from blocking the sidewalk and advised that if he did not, he would receive a citation for blocking the sidewalk,” the excerpt from the report read.
Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch runs during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind., on Feb. 28, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
TOP NFL DRAFT PICK ZACHARIAH BRANCH ARRESTED IN GEORGIA ON TWO MISDEMEANOR CHARGES
“Zacharia Branch smirked, then stepped backwards and to the right, then remained standing upon the public sidewalk, so as to obstruct, hinder, and impede free passage upon the sidewalk as well as impede free ingress/egress to or from the adjacent places of business,” the report continued.
“Due to those actions and Zacharia Branch’s failure to comply with multiple verbal lawful commands, he was placed under arrest for misdemeanor Obstruction of LEO and received a citation for Obstructing Public Sidewalks.”
Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch celebrates with wide receiver Colbie Young after scoring a touchdown against Ole Miss during the Sugar Bowl at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La., on Jan. 1, 2026. (IMAGN)
Branch transferred after two seasons at Southern California and immediately became quarterback Gunner Stockton’s favorite target. He finished the season with a team-high 811 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns.
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His status as a projected second-round pick was bolstered after an impressive showing at the combine, where he clocked a 4.35-second 40-yard dash.
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For two-thirds of Sunday’s Long Beach Grand Prix, Alex Palou bided his time … waiting for the one break he needed.
It came in the form of a caution on the 58th lap, allowing him to overtake front-runner Felix Rosenqvist exiting pit lane and hold the lead the rest of the way, taking the checkered flag by 3.96 seconds for his third triumph in five IndyCar Series races this season and his first at Long Beach.
Right after being showered with applause and confetti at victory lane, the 29-year-old Spaniard thanked his crew, whose quick work on the last pit stop proved to be the difference.
“Everyone was coming in on that yellow and they did an incredible job,” he said. “We were either going to win it or not win right there.”
Rosenqvist settled for second and Scott Dixon, Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, was third.
It was the 11th win over the last 22 races dating to 2024 for the Barcelona native and the 22nd win of his career, tying Tony Bettenhausen and Emerson Fittipaldi. It also vaulted Palou to the top of the series standings as he chases his fourth series championship in a row and fifth overall. Palou won the opener March 1 in St. Petersburg (also a street course) and the fourth race March 29 in Alabama.
Palou led for only 32 of the 90 laps Sunday and acknowledged it would have been difficult to catch Rosenqvist if not for the stoppage.
“I wasn’t giving up but it would’ve been tough to get him today,” Palou acknowledged. “He was already three seconds ahead. I was happy with my car but I was struggling more on the soft tires than the hards so I’d say my chances were low. The feeling was great seeing all the open space coming out of pit lane because when you spend 60 laps behind a car it disturbs you. I tried to match him on soft tires but it wasn’t working.”
Alex Palou speeds through a curve of the track.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
In six starts at Long Beach, Palou never has finished lower than fifth.
There is little room to maneuver on the 1.968-mile course with 11 tight turns, but after starting in the third position next to defending champion Kyle Kirkwood, Palou managed to sneak past Pato O’Ward into second place heading into the first turn on Lap 2.
“Making that move on the straightaway was big because I knew it was one of our only chances to get a pass on Pato,” Palou said. “I got that good run on that last corner and he didn’t expect it.”
This year marked the 51st edition of the longest-running major street race in North America, which started in 1975 as part of the Formula 5000 Series, switched to the CART/Champ Car World Series in 1984 and joined the IndyCar Series in 2009.
The top four qualifiers started on softer, high-grip “alternate” tires to establish position while the rest of the grid started on harder, more durable “primaries” to manage degradation on the 110-degree track surface. Of the 25 starters, 24 completed the 177.12 miles.
“We were going to make the two-stop strategy work but didn’t know if it would be doable or not,” Palou added. “As soon as I saw I couldn’t get Felix it was all about patience, fuel and waiting for the right time. I owe this win to my team. Without that pit stop I probably wouldn’t be sitting here now. It only takes one mistake to go from second to seventh, but they’re great under pressure.”
Cars make their way down a straightaway during Long Beach Grand Prix.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
Past winners Will Power and Josef Newgarden moved into the top two positions after Rosenqvist pitted, but the Swede regained the lead when Newgarden pitted for the first time on Lap 37 and dropped back to 14th.
The first 45 laps were caution-free as Rosenqvist, Palou, Kirkwood, David Malukas and O’Ward held the top five spots. Newgarden’s chances declined upon discovering a flat spot on his left front tire, and he dropped back to 14th.
Rosenqvist’s three-second lead was erased when debris on the track exiting the Aquarium Fountain drew the only yellow flag all afternoon and narrowed the gap. Capitalizing on favorable pit position, Palou emerged from the lane just ahead of Rosenqvist.
Rosenqvist. who won the pole position with a lap time of 1 minute 7.4625 seconds in qualifying, had mixed emotions as the runner-up after leading for 51 laps with no win to show for it.
“You want to win when you have an opportunity, but I’m proud of today,” Rosenqvist said.
“We weren’t as good as Alex on the blacks … the last pit cycle was the defining moment. We had to come around 14, he had more of an opening, and his crew nailed it. That happens.”
Kirkwood, who was vying for his third win in four years, finished right where he started in fourth.
“I had a good cushion and figured even with a bad stop I’d probably stay ahead but I knew there’d probably be a yellow at some point and there it came,” Rosenqvist lamented. “Considering Alex had primary [tires], also I think we would’ve been able to hold him off. It’s definitely disappointing when you can’t wrap it up.”
Dixon, who started in the sixth position, was third and earned his first podium this season and the 136th of his career.
Fans watch with two laps left in the race.
(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
“The race itself was a bit blah — I sat in the same position for most of it,” Dixon said. “Luckily for us we had it easy out of that last stop.”
Al Unser Jr. holds the record for most wins at Long Beach, chalking up six in eight years, including an unmatched four in a row from 1988 to 1991.
Tom Sargent is becoming a fan of street circuits after two wins this weekend. Driving the Porsche 911 Cup for GMG Racing in the Mobil Pro Class, the 22-year-old Australian led from start to finish in Race 1 of the Carrera Cup North America on Saturday. In Race 2 on Sunday morning, he again started from the pole and claimed a 0.965-second victory over Aaron Jeansonne to complete the double.
In his last bid at Long Beach three years ago, he hit the wall on Lap 2 but still finished second.
“Momentum in sports is critical and the past few weeks have been really cool for me,” Sargent said. “I didn’t do any street circuit racing before I came to the States. Maybe it fits my driving style.”
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