As early as the 19th century gold rush, Sacramento's reputation was more station than destinations when miners arrived on the riverbanks to stock up on supplies before heading to the mountains.
This is the bathroom break on the way to Lake Tahoe. For an ambitious politician on his way to Washington, it's a career stop. And for millions of Californians, it's a pit stop for citizens on their way to the rest of their lives. The last time they came to Sacramento was their fourth-grade field trip to the State Capitol.
So, as the Sacramento area finally acquires a major league baseball team, it's only as a temporary home for clubs on their way out somewhere. When athletics said awkward farewell to Auckland 57 years later and set aims for Las Vegas, the team needed a landing spot until a permanent stadium was built on the strip.
We have stepped through the Sacramento area. The Sacramento region has enthusiastically agreed to host Major League Baseball for three years at Minor League Stadium. Catch: A refused to adopt the city's name.
They're not Sacramento's athletics as the team plays home openers here on Monday. They're just track and field. And many Sacramento, that's fine.
“Always a loser,” 35-year-old Rachel Billunshane spoke about her hometown when she ate with friends at a lively downtown plaza before a recent National Basketball Association game. “That's Sacramento's mentality.”
Located in a vast valley running through California, Sacramento is used to being cast in shadow by Los Angeles and San Francisco. If it was in the Midwest, the Sacramento area, which has around 2.5 million residents, is considered a major hub. In fact, there are more residents than in the metropolitan areas of Kansas City, Cincinnati or Milwaukee.
Sacramento was established in 1850 at the intersection of two rivers and now supplies most of the state's water. It has long been called the “City of Trees.” This is an ode to a lush canopy that does not spare residents from the summer heat until a few years ago when it was declared “the capital of farms to forks.”
One of the best qualities in the city might be considered a backhand tribute. As they say, it is a great place to raise a family. A soccer game with suburban and bike rides along the American River Parkway defines a good life on weekends. Napa Valley's Winery and Sierra Ski Resort are day trips. Sacramento lacks the oppressive traffic that has come to define Southern California, but long-standing highway projects have become regular stimulants.
In recent years, the city has been energizing downtown. The modern basketball arena opened nearly a decade ago, bringing in gorgeous condominium towers, new bars and high-end hotels. Previously, Sacramento was built on the locally grown mantra “from farm to fork” and developed a serious cooking scene driven by rich produce providers at farmers markets.
The Sacramento Kings, a basketball team that has long been the only big league franchise in town, had upswings of their own until recently. His return to the NBA playoffs two years ago was accompanied by a purple laser beam shot from the arena roof whenever a team won. (Popular T-shirts around town during that season: “Sacramento vs. Everyone”)
The image of Sacramento is partially shaped by the famous storytellers who left it behind in the outside world. Joan Didion wrote in 1967, at age 20, he arrived in New York in a new dress that he “seemed very smart in Sacramento, but already seemed unwise.” Greta Gerwig, a filmmaker who grew up in Sacramento, portrayed her hometown in 2017's “Ladybird” as sweet but unbearably suffocating.
“It's a soul murder,” the character with the same name states in the film. “It's in the Midwest of California.”
Hollywood will be heavier again next month when a feature film called “Sacramento” opens. The trailer depicts two Los Angeles men who take a road trip to a “city that I don't want to be” as one of the characters said.
Still, those who live here are grateful for the charm of Sacramento. Autumn leaves painted in crimson and gold striped bungalows parallel streets. The cool delta breeze on a hot summer night carries waves of jasmine.
Sacramento has long admired major league franchises. The concrete foundation of the baseball stadium has been standing for decades near where the old basketball arena sat. MLB Stadium never happened, but in 2000 a minor league park in West Sacramento, California sprouted across the river in Sacramento.
The stadium, now known as Sutter Health Park, hosts A's capacity. Local fans generally seem excited by the idea of ​​putting their teams in the backyard, riding a bike or moving away a little. Once they don't need to shrepe for 2 hours to the MLB game.
“Everyone is bustling about it,” said 46-year-old Erin Nickerman, sitting with her son for a scoop of binge cherry in the ice cream of his beloved local parlor, Gunther.
According to the official franchise guidelines, teams should simply be referred to as “athletics” or “A” during their stay in Sacramento. That also applies to ranking and public relations references, with the city's name not in front of the team jersey.
“When we knew this was a temporary situation, we thought that the most respectful thing to do was call ourselves athletics,” explained Sandy Dean, vice president of A.
A's farewell with Auckland was painful for many fans in the area, falling into team owner John Fisher. Fans of A's accused Fisher of the heir to the Gap Clothing Property of treating the city with malicious intentions over the construction of a new stadium, and deliberately ousted attendees to make his claim to move the team while flirting with Las Vegas.
Not everyone in Sacramento is happy. Local radio host Dave Wygrain said the decision not to use “Sacramento” in the team name would result in a slap in the face. Weiglein takes his hometown pride seriously. On airing, he is “Carmichael Dave” alone, a reference to the Sacramento suburbs where he grew up.
“Instead of welcoming Sacramento A to your right foot later this month, he's basically telling the area, 'You're Airbnb for us until you can move to Las Vegas,” he said of Fisher.
A does not expect to adopt the city name until “Las Vegas” is incorporated after they begin playing there, Dean said in 2028.
In the meantime, the team's green and gold logos have already appeared in the temporary home. On the Little League field this recent afternoon, 47-year-old Thomas Hines wore a green A cap while keeping his son TJ and his team's 5- and 6-year-olds warm. The birds singed from the trees near the bleaching seats as the heartbeats of the highway emerged from the fields. He said Sacramento was misunderstood.
“Everyone in the big city still thinks it's a small farm town,” Hines said. “But it's growing.”
Athletics has made one concession to better embrace Sacramento's identity, agreeing to a sleeve patch with local icon Tower Bridge, and underneath it is the word “Sacramento.” However, the team later announced that players would also wear “Las Vegas” patches. This gives a clearer name to the city.
“Little Brother Energy” observed Robert Soltero, 35, a state worker celebrating a friend's birthday in a beer garden by the river near the stadium. “But I think we're all happy with that.”
Alain Delacheriere Contributed research.
