Barring a miracle — Fisher repenting and selling the A’s in the next few months — Thursday will be the final major-league professional sports game played in Oakland. It’s a fate unbefitting the one-time “City of Champions,” whose only failure was attracting owners somehow more incompetent than local government.

A's fans packed the house for the team's last hurrah and celebrated with the team afterwards in what was an emotional farewell. Manager Mark Kotsay delivered a moving speech to the faithful supporters of the team, making clear that he felt this whole situation was unjust.

Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher posted an contrite open letter to fans of the team online Monday, saying that management tried to keep the A's in Oakland and failed.