Oakland A’s fans have been dreading this moment for years. 

On Thursday, the team played their final game at the Oakland Coliseum, their home since 1968, in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 46,000. 

GettyOakland will be playing in Sacramento for two seasons before moving to Las Vegas[/caption]

GettyThe players said their farewells[/caption]

Fans let their frustrations be known following the team’s last game in not just at the storied venue, but in Oakland.

They continue to inch closer to becoming the latest sports team to pitch up in Las Vegas – but first will play two season in West Sacramento.

The A’s beat the Texas Rangers 3-2 , a small satisfaction for the generations of diehard fans who supported the team through thick and thin, and warred openly with owner John Fisher — publicly urging him to sell the team and organizing elaborate boycotts of games.

That acrimony was well-founded – even the announcers across the league have been furious.

Fisher slashed the team’s payroll, raised ticket prices, and spent nearly two decades threatening to relocate the team if he didn’t get a new stadium. 

When no deal could be reached with the city of Oakland, Fisher announced he was moving the A’s to Las Vegas – despite Nevada residents not really wanting to foot the bill for a new ballpark.

But not before playing at least the next two seasons in a minor league stadium — an experience one currently major leaguer surmised thusly: “It’s going to suck.”

In the lead up to Thursday’s final home game, Fisher attempted a modicum of damage control, posting an open apology to A’s fans that went over about as well as you’d expect. 

But, for the most part, those fans put any lingering anger on the backburner for the game itself.

Supporters hours sharing memories with fellow fans outside the Coliseum, taking photos in the stands, and filling commemorative cups with scoops of dirt from the field.

There were, of course, no shortage of anti-Fisher sentiments, from signs and chants to the occasional smoke bomb lobbed onto the field. 

But when the game ended, some fans let their frustrations boil over.

They stole stadium seats and snuck them by security guards, snapped cupholders off of arm rests, and held a wake for the team at a local bar.

GettyEven the players were collecting mementos from the historic field of play[/caption]

The A’s are one of the American League’s eight charter franchises, beginning life as the Philadelphia Athletics in 1901.

The team moved to Kansas City in 1955 before settling in Oakland in 1968.

It was there that the team, nicknamed “The Swingin’ A’s” rolled to three straight World Series titles, powered by legends like Rollie Fingers, Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue, and Reggie Jackson.

The A’s would win another World Series championship in 1989, thanks to young stars Mark McGuire and Jose Canseco.