The Oakland A’s currently have one of the worst home venues in professional sports, and pitcher Mason Miller certainly is not hiding from that.
During a recent appearance on “Foul Territory,” Miller was asked if he has any plans to get in on the trend of closers having elaborate bullpen entrances with light shows and other effects. Miller said the A’s have been “experimenting” with a few things, but he doesn’t think having the stadium go dark as he heads out to the mound is an option. Why? Because the lights might not come back on.
“We’re trying a couple things out,” Miller said. “We talked about the lights. I don’t think that’s gonna happen. They said the lights might not come back on. … They seemed like they were kind of experimenting with something. They shut all the scoreboard lights off until I picked the ball up on the mound, but that was a little more of like an awkward silence until I got to the mound. I think they’re working on it.”
"We talked about the lights – I don't think that's gonna happen … they said the lights might not come back on." 🤣😂
Mason Miller talks about crafting his custom closer entrance in Oakland
▶️ https://t.co/WHnqz2gNpF pic.twitter.com/69wrKJUP2Q
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) May 3, 2024
Miller also said he’s not sure if or when they even turn the lights off at Oakland Coliseum. He said there have been times where he leaves the ballpark late or drives by and the lights are still on.
Oakland Coliseum opened in 1966, and the A’s have played there since 1968. This is the final season they will have to deal with the outdated stadium, as they are moving to a minor league ballpark next year and a state-of-the-art new facility in Las Vegas at some point after that. Miller and his teammates probably can’t wait.
We have seen some awesome entrances from closers over the past few years, but don’t expect Miller to compete.
