Van Thompson walked through the busy concourse shortly before first pitch and sang along to the national anthem, a white Athletics ball cap in hand covering his heart. Earlier Wednesday morning, Susan Falcon took her dog out on the other side of town near a bustling coffee shop and raved about the positive vibe the A's have brought to California's sports-crazed capital city in such a short time. On the fly, former minor league pitcher Jarod Pavese packed up two of his three daughters and the boyfriend of one and headed north from Southern California's Riverside County for a last-minute spring break trip to cheer their Chicago Cubs in the series finale. Despite some kinks still to be worked out, the A's relocation is providing fans who might not regularly go to games a big new opportunity to see the big leagues live.

This season will be my very first as an A's fan where they'll call another city their home. Today I'll be highlighting Oakland's all-time leaders in Opening Day starts... which is something permanently set in stone unless the A's return to the East Bay sometime in the future.

Right-handed pitcher Carlos Duran moved to the Oakland Athletics when the team acquired outfielder Esteury Ruiz from the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Oakland Athletics designated 26-year-old Ruiz for assignment before completing his transfer to Triple-A Oklahoma City. The Dodgers added Esteury Ruiz from the Athletics after moving Kyle Hurt to the 60-day injured list to recover from his Tommy John procedure.

Chicago Cubs at Athletics Game Preview

The Dodgers picked up a late-inning stolen-base threat in a deal with the A's.

Another tough night for the club

It's called the “Battle of the Bay 2.0." The Oakland Ballers and the San Jose Giants are set to face off on Wednesday as they reimagine a beloved Bay Area baseball tradition.

For better or worse, the first major-league Opening Day in this onetime minor-league town was one to remember. “This,” Joe Hatfield, 42, said from the grass berm in right field of Sutter Health Park, gesturing toward the playing surface, “is baseball paradise.” RELATED: Kurtenbach: Is it Sacramento? What is this new A's home?

DraftKings Sportsbook is now listing players using torpedo bats in a separate category.

Chicago Cubs catcher Carson Kelly hit for the cycle during the team's 18-3 rout over the Athletics Monday night at Sutter Health Park. Kelly, 30, hit a home run in the fourth inning and a two-run single in the fifth inning and doubled and walked in the sixth inning.

Fantasy baseball analyst Scott Pianowski examines one of the hallmarks of Monday's action: how Sutter Health Park may have boosted offense.

Chicago Cubs at Athletics Game Preview

The team that brought us Moneyball is in the middle of a move from Oakland to Las Vegas. Fans turned up to their home opener but this is still a club in flux

When a drone suddenly appeared near the left-field wall at Sutter Health Park on Monday night, veteran Athletics bat boy Stewart Thalblum decided to help thwart it. The drone tried to lift him off the grass but Thalblum used a bat and brought it down, careful not to cut himself with the spinning blades. Once the device had been corralled, Thalblum handed it off to a security guard. The drone appeared with Seth Brown batting for the Athletics in the seventh inning of the Chicago Cubs' 18-3 rout and it delayed the game for a few minutes.

For the first time in nearly 60 years, the Athletics on Monday played their home opener outside of Oakland, when faced the Chicago Cubs at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento. Long-time fans of the Oakland Athletics will have to drive an hour-plus up Interstate 80 or I-5 if they want to see their team play in person. Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento is the A's new temporary home while the club waits for its new stadium to be built in Las Vegas.

The Athletics' 18-3 home-opener loss to the Chicago Cubs was a historic MLB event -- in more ways than one. Playing at Sutter Health Park for the first time, the Athletics suffered a blowout loss the likes of which MLB hasn't seen in nearly a century. The Athletics allowed 18 runs to the visiting Chicago Cubs, the most surrendered in a home opener since the St. Louis Browns surrendered 21 to the then-Cleveland Indians on April 14, 1925, per the Associated Press' Josh Dubow via Sportradar.

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- "I'd rather be playing in Oakland." Chicago Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner, an Oakland native, shared that pregame sentiment with thousands in attendance at Sutter Health Park and many more watching from home as the Athletics officially began a new era at their temporary home on Monday night. There was a buzz in the air early on at the minor-turned-major league ballpark, which quickly filled with loyal Bay Area and Northern California fans after gates opened at 5 p.m, but it was hard to ignore the elephant in the room.

It is raining, the wind is gusting at 40 mph, and the wind chill is 49 degrees. Oh, baby, the Athletics are not in Oakland anymore. There will be days that the A's and the visiting teams will pray for Sunday mornings like this during the blistering hot summer, but for their historic opening night game Monday against the Chicago Cubs, well, it will be a cold reminder that life for the A's is about to become awfully different.

The A's had all of the pomp and circumstance like every other home opener in their history, but nothing was quite like this in Sacramento, California.

Chicago Cubs catcher Carson Kelly accomplished an impressive feat.