Mesa renames a street for the Oakland Athletics
Feb 17, 2016, 5:00 AM
The unveiling of the new Athletics Way street sign in Mesa. (City of Mesa Photo)
(City of Mesa Photo)
The city of Mesa honored the Oakland Athletics as the Valley gets ready for spring training.
“You know 6th Place wasn’t an option for us in a division of five teams, but we certainly like the name Athletics Way a whole lot better,” said Michael Crowley, president of the Oakland A’s.
The street used to run along the practice fields for the Athletics’ newly renovated Hohokam Stadium in Mesa.
“From the day we first sat down with the folks in the city of Mesa and talked about coming back to this city, it’s kind of felt like home,” Crowley said.
Mesa Mayor John Giles said it all started when someone pointed out how inappropriate it was for the Oakland A’s address in Mesa to be 6th Place.
“If you’re a baseball team, you don’t want to have anything to do with 6th Place,” he said. “We righted that horrible wrong by renaming 6th Place for this little stretch next to Fitch Park, Athletics Way.”
The A’s will kick off this year’s spring training season on March 3 against the Anaheim Angels. The team began spring training in Mesa in 1977 and just returned back last year.
