If one were to come up with a Mt. Rushmore for the Oakland Athletics, Dave Stewart would be at least a strong contender for it. Stewart pitched for the A’s from 1986-1992 and again in 1995. He was the ace of the teams that went to three straight World Series from 1988-1990, winning in 1989.
He was also born in Oakland and went to high school at the since-closed St. Elizabeth High School.
Given Stewart’s roots with both the A’s and Oakland, it’s natural that he’d have some thoughts about the team’s likely move to Las Vegas.
And a day after that it was reported that the A’s had agreed to build a stadium in Las Vegas, Stewart shared his feelings on the matter.
“Oakland Athletics represents home & family,” Stewart tweeted. “It’s part of who I am. We understandably knew it would happen & I did everything I could the best way I knew how to change it, but this reality genuinely hurts & will take time to process.”
Oakland Athletics represents home & family. It’s part of who I am. We understandably knew it would happen & I did everything I could the best way I knew how to change it, but this reality genuinely hurts & will take time to process.
— Dave “Smoke” Stewart (@Dsmoke34) April 21, 2023
Stewart has had something of a troubled relationship with the team’s current ownership. Early in the 2022 season, there was a flap over Stewart’s jersey retirement ceremony, which was scheduled for 2020 but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eventually, that was sorted out.
Stewart led Oakland’s starting rotation in the late-1980s and early 1990s, winning 20 or more games every season from 1987-1990.
He started two games for the A’s during the 1989 World Series, winning both and leading the A’s to a sweep over the San Francisco Giants. Stewart led the A’s to another sweep in the following year’s American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox, going 2-0. He was the MVP of both the 1989 World Series and 1990 ALCS, to date Oakland’s most recent victories in those series.
