The Big Lead

Tom Hanks writes 'perfect' letter of A's memories for upcoming book

By Joe Lago

Tom Hanks greets the press during a red carpet event before the screening for the new biopic movie 'Elvis' at Graceland in Memphis, Tenn. on Saturday, June 11, 2022. Elvis Carpet 2
Tom Hanks greets the press during a red carpet event before the screening for the new biopic movie 'Elvis' at Graceland in Memphis, Tenn. on Saturday, June 11, 2022. Elvis Carpet 2 / Joe Rondone/The Commercial Appeal / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Memories are all that Bay Area A's fans have left with owner John Fisher relocating the team to Sacramento before moving it to a permanent home in Las Vegas.

Included among the heartbroken East Bay natives is actor Tom Hanks, who, before he became a two-time Academy Award winner, grew up in Oakland rooting for the A's and even worked as a teenage concessions vendor during the team's games at the Coliseum.

RELATED: Dave Kaval, the public face of A's exit from Oakland, to resign as team president

Scott Strazzante, a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer for the San Francisco Chronicle, reached out to Hanks about writing a foreword for his upcoming photo book about the A's and the Coliseum called "Baseball's Last Dive Bar." The 68-year-old Hanks responded by mailing Strazzante a personally typed letter of his memories about the "Oakland Mausoleum."

Strazzante shared Hanks' letter on X. "It is perfect," he tweeted.

Hanks called his recollections "melancholy memories" in light of the team's East Bay exit.

"The A's meant everything to Oakland for many years," Hanks wrote. "Joe Rudi, Reggie (Jackson), Catfish (Hunter), Campy (Campaneris), Sal Bando, Mudcat (Grant). That bastard Charlie Finley. Bash Brothers.

"Loving the Kelly Green, and the poor design and engineering of that ballpark, the 1960s version of what other cities have as landmarks. Not Wrigley or Fenway. But nor Three Rivers or the Cleveland Municipal Lakefront Stadium. And, f--- Candlestick."

Hanks also recalled the "personal disaster" of being a 14-year-old vendor who made "maybe all of 12 bucks" during "Vida Blue Opening Day" on April 5, 1971.

"Don't ever sell soda," Hanks advised. "Go for a dry good — peanuts. Popcorn. And quit after the 7th inning stretch."

Hanks also included a heartfelt sentiment that all A's fans will echo when MLB Opening Day arrives next spring: "But, have I forgotten a moment of those days?"

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