WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — You won’t hear a complaint out of Dallas Braden when it comes to his treasured sport.

The perpetually upbeat and proudly bearded former Major League Baseball pitcher said he understands the publicized and behind-the-scenes gripes and concerns from opposing players about the cramped conditions of a Triple-A ballpark trying to squeeze a big league product into Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento.

As the A’s prepared to close out their opening series against the Chicago Cubs on a sun-splashed Wednesday afternoon in their temporary home, with Las Vegas the destination in three or four seasons, Braden countered any issues with the venue with his bit of a truth bomb.

“My mantra has always been, ‘To hell with where you’re playing, if there’s a pitching mound out there, I’m at home as a player,’ ” said Braden as he headed toward the broadcast booth, where he works as a color commentator for the A’s. “You deal with the challenges as they come and adapt, because that’s a life lesson.”

Braden said he expects the A’s to “iron out any kinks” that hovered like the storm clouds during the first two games, both at night. He said that he has been overwhelmed by well-wishers who marvel at his long trademark beard and his ability to break down the game for the most casual of fans, and they applaud him for helping usher in a new era of big league sports in California’s capital region.

“For fans to have an MLB team dropped at the doorstep here, you can feel the excitement, and I think it’s great,” Braden said.

Braden said fans tell him that it is “a dream come true” to have the A’s here, some recalling Sacramento’s efforts to land an expansion team in the late 1980s.

Braden is still living the dream, broadcasting his former team that he still calls his own.

A Stockton native who pitched at American River College in Sacramento, Braden’s crowning athletic moment was May 9, 2010, when he tossed MLB’s 19th-ever perfect game, pitching for the then-Oakland A’s in a 4-0 win over the Tampa Rays. It was on Mother’s Day, though his mother, Jodie Atwood, was there only in spirit, having succumbed to melanoma. But his grandmother, Peggy Lindsey, was there.

“I’ll never forget it,” Braden said. He also said he won’t forget the opening series of the A’s in West Sacramento.

Opening series had highs, lows, glitches

The A’s experienced all manner of feel-good joy with the big leagues setting up shop in the home of the Sacramento River Cats, the Triple-A feeder for the San Francisco Giants, and that included glitches and hiccups.

More than 150 credentials were issued to media from across the country for Monday’s home opener because of the unique nature of the temporary stopover. And because there were not enough seats available, some reporters had to cover the contest while standing in the venue’s concourse.

If the A’s do make the playoffs, this venue likely won’t meet MLB approval for an expected crunch of media, meaning those games would be held elsewhere.

Wednesday’s game drew about 40 media credentials, according to Mark Ling, the A’s senior director of communications. Ling and an army of staffers arrived at the park on Monday morning at dawn to get things set up. The former River Cats public relations guru at least knows this park, and he’s delighted to add that his commute from his Davis home in Yolo County is much easier now to West Sacramento.

And sleep? Ling and company are working on it as they work out kinks to make this a bit more of a smooth sail.

“It’ll get a lot easier,” Ling said with an assuring smile.

For A’s fans, the on-field product was a tough watch. The Cubs swept the three-game series, and the A’s never took a lead. The A’s are now 2-5 on the year after splitting their first four games in Seattle.

The Cubs clubbed the A’s 18-3 on Monday in cool weather under cloudy skies, allowing 21 hits. That dulled the outcome for A’s fans but not all of the energy for fans soaking in the historic moment. The A’s reported a paid attendance of 12,119.

The A’s allowed the most runs in a home opener in more than 100 years, since the St. Louis Browns in 1921, according to the Associated Press.

The Cubs followed Monday’s thumping by defeating the A’s 7-4 Tuesday and 10-2 Wednesday.

Bright spots for the A’s in the series included two home runs by star outfielder/designated hitter Brent Rooker, one apiece on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the first career MLB homer for 23-year-old shortstop Jacob Wilson in Monday’s opener.

Fans of the visiting Cubs got to see catcher Carson Kelly hit for the cycle Monday night; outfielder Seiya Suzuki blast two homers Wednesday following one on Tuesday; and outfielder Kyle Tucker go deep Monday and Tuesday to extend his home run streak to four straight games.

Work in progress

A’s players and coaches had to get used to Sutter Health Park on the fly, having not played any exhibition games there, leading A’s manager Mark Kotsay on Tuesday to say, “There was a lot of chaos (Monday). A lot of newness. A lot of figuring out boundaries, and I’m not talking about the playing boundaries. I’m talking how we function as a group.”

He added: “These 26 guys are getting their feet on the ground in a new place, a new building, with a lot of other people that are trying to figure out where they belong in that building.”

Kotsay on Monday afternoon had an afternoon media session in a temporary structure down the left field line, which left some wondering if this was more of a shed-like structure than a suitable, MLB-caliber venue for press conferences.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Kotsay spoke to reporters in the home dugout, which will be the case for the rest of the season.

Monday included technical issues, be it on radio broadcasts or a power outage, but there were no so disruptions Tuesday or Wednesday.

Kotsay also said this week, “We’ve been embraced here, in every which way.’’

A’s players said they embrace the challenges and do not take for granted the opportunity to play big league ball.

“This is a big league city,’’ said A’s relief pitcher T.J. McFarland. “There’s a lot going on here. It’s a nice city, the state capital, but it’s going to be a really nice fit.’’

Fans remain civil and loyal

Fan behavior for Monday and Tuesday night was not an issue, said Terry Lockett, a lead security official for Sutter Health Park games, including the River Cats.

Lockett said he knew of just one fan who was removed from the venue on Monday — a Cubs fan, no less.

“People are just so excited to have Major League baseball here, and people mostly are on their best behavior.”

Wednesday was a near-sellout with more than 9,000 in paid attendance for the first major league day game in area history (everything is a first this season here).

A’s and Cubs fans alike on Wednesday said that they enjoyed the sunshine and appreciate what they have. There were few complaints outside the long lines to grab a hot dog and beer.

David Barrera of Sacramento said he was “thrilled” to come to an A’s home game. His girlfriend, Helen Hayes, is a Giants fan who loves baseball enough to tag along.

Berrera grew up attending A’s games in Oakland, the nephew of a fan who had been a season ticket holder since the club relocated to the Bay Area in 1968.

“I’ve been an A’s fan my whole life, and I’m 56 now,” Berrera said, wearing a Rickey Henderson jersey to honor the greatest player in franchise history who died in December at age 65. Berrera held a Henderson T-shirt as the club emptied out boxes of such freebies for fans.

“I’m going to enjoy these games for as long as the A’s play here, three or so years,” Berrera added. “It’ll be sad to see them go to Las Vegas, just like my Raiders, but we have them here now, so no complaints.”

©2025 The Sacramento Bee. Visit sacbee.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.