September 3, 1995: The Oakland Raiders, playing their 1st game back in their former city after 13 seasons in Los Angeles, beat the San Diego Chargers, 17-7 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
At first, it looks like the righting of a great wrong. But it turns out to be a temporary return, and those who drank a toast to it would discover that, metaphorically, they were drinking from a poisoned chalice. Sports fans in the East Bay region of Northern California would have been better off if the Raiders hadn't gone back.
Team owner Al Davis originally left after the 1981 season because he wanted improvements to the Coliseum, including luxury boxes. When he was told he wouldn't get them, he decided to move to Los Angeles, as the Rams had left the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to play in Anaheim.
But he wasn't happy in L.A., either. He wanted improvements to the L.A. Coliseum. He didn't get them. He threatened to move the team to Irwindale, 20 miles east of downtown L.A., where the City Council was ready to build a stadium for him.
But Oakland decided to renovate their Coliseum, including building the bleacher section that would be nicknamed "Mount Davis," ruining the nice view of the foothills as seen from the infield seats. So, for the 1995 season, the Raiders moved back.
The construction carried over into the start of the 1996 Major League Baseball regular season, forcing the Oakland Athletics to move their 1st 6 home games. As it turned out, they moved to Cashman Field, the 9,300-seat home of the Class AAA team in Las Vegas, Nevada. It turned out to be foreshadowing.
The Oakland Coliseum, once considered a good home for baseball in spite of his vast infield foul territory, and with the East Bay hills giving it one of the nicest views of any MLB stadium, now felt like just another multipurpose sports stadium. The County of Alameda couldn't keep up the maintenance, and by the 2010s, it was in bad shape. Both the A's and the Raiders wanted out, and looked at various options.
And neither team saw much success. The A's won 3 straight Pennants, including the 1989 World Series, but never won a Pennant after 1990. That same year, in Los Angeles, the Raiders reached the AFC Championship Game. But after returning to Oakland, in 25 seasons, they made the Playoffs only 4 times, reaching Super Bowl XXXVII in the 2002 season, and making 1 other AFC Championship Game, for 2000. Davis' slogan of "Just win, baby" became hopeless; while his other slogan, "Commitment to Excellence," became a joke.
With the Rams also vacating the L.A. area for 1995, and other big cities without NFL teams jockeying for position, there was always the threat that Davis would move the Raiders out of Oakland again, possibly back to Los Angeles. He never did, dying in 2011. But his son Mark Davis moved the team to Las Vegas in 2020. With the Warriors having moved back to San Francisco in 2019, and the A's threatening to leave for Las Vegas themselves, Oakland's day in the Sun was coming to a close.
UPDATE: The A's, too, decided to move to a new stadium in Las Vegas, which wouldn't be ready until the 2028 season at the earliest. In the interim, they will be playing at the Class AAA ballpark for the team representing the California State capital of Sacramento.
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September 3, 1995 was a Sunday. This day also marked the regular-season debut of 2 new expansion teams. The Jacksonville Jaguars lost to the Houston Oilers, 10-3 at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium (now EverBank Field). And the Carolina Panthers lost to the Atlanta Falcons, 23-20 in overtime at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. I have a separate entry for those events.
It was also the St. Louis Rams' 1st game representing St. Louis, after 48 seasons representing Los Angeles. They beat the Green Bay Packers, 17-14 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
These other NFL games were played:
* The New York Jets lost to the Miami Dolphins, 52-14 at Joe Robbie Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.
* The New England Patriots beat the Cleveland Browns, 17-14 at Foxboro Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.
* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 21-6 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
* The Washington Redskins beat the Arizona Cardinals, 27-7 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.
* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Detroit Lions, 23-20 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.
* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Indianapolis Colts, 24-21 at the RCA Dome (formerly the Hoosier Dome) in Indianapolis.
* The Chicago Bears beat the Minnesota Vikings, 31-14 at Soldier Field in Chicago.
* The San Francisco 49ers beat the New Orleans Saints, 24-22 at the Superdome in New Orleans.
* The Denver Broncos beat the Buffalo Bills, 22-7 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.
* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Seattle Seahawks, 34-10 at the Kingdome in Seattle.
* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Dallas Cowboys beat the New York Giants, 35-0 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.
These games were played in Major League Baseball:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Oakland Athletics, 10-9 at Yankee Stadium. So both outdoor Oakland teams won on this day. Rickey Henderson went 2-for-6 with the game-winning home run in the top of the 10th inning, a stolen base, and 2 RBIs. David Cone started for the Yankees, but John Wetteland gave up the homer. Tony Fernández went 4-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs for the Yankees. Don Mattingly went 3-for-6.
* The New York Mets beat the San Francisco Giants, 11-6 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Carl Everett went 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs for the Mets. Barry Bonds and Deion Sanders each hit home runs for the Giants.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the California Angels, 8-1 at Fenway Park in Boston.
* The Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-6 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Ken Griffey Jr. only appeared as a late defensive replacement, and did not come to bat. Alex Rodriguez, then a rookie, did not appear at all. Cal Ripken Jr. went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-0 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Jason Schmidt pitched 8 innings of 6-hit shutout ball, and Mark Wohlers completed the 6-hit shutout.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-8 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Omar Vizquel singled Wayne Kirby home with the winning run in the top of the 10th inning.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-5 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-6 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
* The Colorado Rockies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Joe Girardi singled Andrés Galarraga home with the winning run in the top of the 11th inning.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Texas Rangers, 8-5 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.
* The Florida Marlins beat the Houston Astros, 8-7 at the Astrodome in Houston. The Marlins scored 2 runs in the top of the 11th, and the Astros only 1 in the bottom of the 11th.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Diego Padres, 3-2 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Tony Gwynn went 3-for-4 with an RBI.
* And the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Montreal Expos, 6-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
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