Should there be a green beam for the A’s in Sacramento? What some fans say
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Oakland Athletics head for West Sacramento
The Oakland A’s will make a three-season stop in West Sacramento before moving to Las Vegas.
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At Franquette, a bustling Paris-style cafe and wine bar in the shadow of Sutter Health Park, the stunning announcement Thursday that the Oakland A’s will relocate down the street for at least three years was all the chatter.
Soon, the banter turned to a particular burning issue: Should the A‘s have their own beam? A green beam? A gold beam? A beam with both colors?
Or ... should the beam remain the sole domain of the Sacramento Kings?
The Kings, of course, have made the River City “beam town” thanks to its now-famous celebratory purple laser light that shoots from the Golden 1 Center up into the sky following a Kings victory.
Amanda Fry, who was ringing up cappuccinos and croissants at the counter, didn’t hesitate.
“Absolutely,” she said. “Sacramento is the beam city. Of course, the A’s should have a green and gold beam shooting out over the Tower Bridge.”
But that opinion, both about the color and whether there should be an A’s beam, was not unanimous.
“If there were to be a beam, it should be green, the green beam. That has a nice ring to it,” said Bucky Bray, a sous chef at Canon restaurant, as he drank his morning coffee.
“But,” Bray opined, “they definitely should not not get a beam, yet.”
Why?
“Because they are calling themselves the Athletics, not the Sacramento Athletics. If they decide to stay, then they get their own beam.
“But,” Bray quickly added, “I’m thrilled to have them here.”
Another customer chimed in, “Ultimately it’s up to Vivek,” referring to Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé, the man who came up with the international phenomenon. He and the Kings, after all, own Sutter Health Park.
Other questions abounded. The baseball season and basketball season overlap, what happens when both teams win? Could there be two beams on the same night?
The Kings, in the heat of a playoff run, did not respond to questions about whether they would embrace sharing the, well, beam light.
Tim Anderson, who runs Nu-Salt Laser, the company that manufactured the original Kings beam and improved it this season to make it brighter, told The Bee that no one has asked him about creating a gold or green beam for the A’s.
At least not yet.
Anderson, who creates laser displays all over the world, said he stands ready to help.
As for the color debate, he said green and gold work well separately or together.
“Both colors,” he said, “are nice.”
Then, again, so is purple.
This story was originally published April 5, 2024 at 1:53 PM.
