Some new faces join the A’s for their first season in Sacramento.

The A’s and Rays will each spend the 2025 season shacking up in minor-league facilities, as they await resolutions to a pair of real estate sagas.

Babe Ruth waved wildly at the first two pitches and took a third strike. Lou Gehrig timed his swing to miss three straight pitches. Tony Lazzeri, after trying to bunt, walked and Mitchell left the game.

1973 — The “Alert Orange Baseball” is used for the first time in major league history. The unique baseball, an invention of Oakland Athletics owner Charlie Finley, is used in an exhibition game between Oakland and the Cleveland Indians. Finley contends the ball, painted the color of a construction worker’s hat, will be easier for both players and fans to see.

Replacement grass will be nearby and at the ready when the Sutter Health Park sod begins to deteriorate this spring with regular play from both the San Francisco Giants' Triple-A team and the newcomer Athletics. Given the unique circumstances of a major league club sharing its ballpark with a minor league affiliate from another franchise — the Sacramento River Cats — contingency plans are in place to maintain the grass quality. Murray Cook, Major League Baseball's field consultant and President of BrightView Sports Turf, said both longtime head groundskeepers from the Giants and A's have been part of efforts to keep the playing surface in top form.