{"id":379636,"date":"2026-06-29T19:33:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T19:33:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/379636\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T19:33:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T19:33:24","slug":"dodgers-fan-guide-to-sutter-health-park-home-of-the-sacramento-as","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/379636\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers fan guide to Sutter Health Park, home of the Sacramento A\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"

So you have decided to heed the call to adventure<\/a>. Good for you.<\/p>\n

If you need to recall what the Guide is or who I am, please refer to the included links.<\/p>\n

The Guide has the following to say about going to a game at Sutter Health Park:<\/p>\n

This Guide was created to analyze major league ballparks and the logistics involved in getting there and back. It is this author\u2019s opinion that the Athletics already have a valid Guide Entry: \u201cFarewell to Baseball\u2019s Last Dive Bar<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

I have been critical of venues such as Guaranteed Rate Field\/Rate Field<\/a>, loanDepot Park<\/a>, Tropicana Field<\/a>, Truist Park<\/a>, and Angel Stadium<\/a> for various justifiable reasons, mostly because millions of dollars have been poorly spent on venues seemingly only designed to line ownership\u2019s pockets, wholly at the expense of the unfortunate fans who visit.<\/p>\n

One might expect this Guide entry to put the torch to Sutter Health Park with similar gusto.<\/p>\n

However, we have a conundrum best explored through metaphor. To drive this point home, I am using myself as a guinea pig. Imagine that the Dodgers sent Billy Gasparino and David Finley to evaluate my worthiness as a relief pitcher at their own initiative. Rather than offer me a job in the front office or as an attorney, I get cold-called to suit up on the mound upon meeting me.<\/p>\n

Alarm bells should be going off for everyone involved.<\/p>\n

I am in my forties. I am not an athlete by any measure. I am not in any sort of positive physical shape. I nearly got knocked out by a slide in Milwaukee around Memorial Day<\/a>. I have been throwing a knuckleball for almost forty years, but it should be instantly obvious to everyone involved that something has gone terribly awry and that everybody\u2019s time, including my own, is being wasted.<\/p>\n

Someone should be getting yelled at.<\/p>\n

Do you yell at the hypothetical people who started this process? Absolutely; they could and should be doing just about anything else, including goofing off on the job, which would be an infinitely more productive use of their time. Do you yell at me, the potential reliever who has been asked to do his best with the option to live a dream, a dream that we all share? Honestly, maybe a little.<\/p>\n

Remember, in this scenario, I did not offer my services. I was approached. Who wouldn\u2019t try if given the opportunity? Join the 2026 Dodgers; that\u2019s like being asked to become the thirteenth disciple and the sixth Beatle at the same time.<\/p>\n

That said, one should expect to have enough self-awareness to at least ask why, lest it be some elaborate, mean-spirited prank. In this scenario, it\u2019s not as if I played or managed college ball and then suddenly jumped to the majors with nothing in between. What kind of egotistical moron would do that?!?<\/p>\n

With the above as prelude, Sutter Health Park is a fine home for the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats. Yes, you can walk from one end of the ballpark to the other in a single concourse with little effort; it\u2019s a minor league park.<\/p>\n

This Guide would take a much more relaxed view of going to minor league facilities for their intended purpose (if I were to go to Ontario, Tulsa, or Oklahoma City someday), asking the important questions, such as:<\/p>\n

\u201cIs there baseball here?\u201d\u201cCould one watch baseball here?\u201d\u201c\u2026did the stadium catch on fire while watching baseball here?\u201d<\/p>\n

Admittedly, that last question is a reference to Brockmire<\/a>, a vulgar, hilarious love-letter to baseball in the guise of a four-season comedy. Oddly enough, I reevaluated my opinion of Joe Buck as a direct result of this series. And yes, the minor league park did catch fire near the end of the first season. (I won\u2019t spoil how or why.)<\/p>\n

But if you insist that I evaluate an out-of-place venue, pressed into service not because of a natural disaster but greed, we will roughly follow the Guide\u2019s format. Here is all you need to know about going to a Dodgers\/Athletics game in West Sacramento.<\/p>\n

Baseball\u2019s Moped (1. Is it worth going?)<\/p>\n

If the Dodgers weren\u2019t there, it\u2019s relatively cheap, have at it. If the Dodgers are there, no, unless you have personal reasons compelling you to go.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

The view upon entering the stadium at Sutter Health Park. June 22, 2025 Michael Elizondo \/ True Blue LA<\/p>\n

As the joke goes, mopeds are fun to ride, but you don\u2019t want your buddies to watch you do it. Normally, I review a ballpark over an entire series. Much like the hypothetical scouts evaluating my fitness as a potential reliever, this exam need not be belabored. We\u2019re not here to embarrass the undeserving.<\/p>\n

If you want to experience Sutter Health Park (\u201cSHP\u201d), play the intro clip above. Congratulations, you have experienced 80% of what it\u2019s like to see a game at SHP.<\/p>\n

For the remaining 20%, for this upcoming Dodgers series, you will need to pay at least $150, stand in the hot sun (think 90\u00b0F\/32\u00b0C) or a heat lamp, get a literal Ball Park hotdog, and have your car parked in a dirt lot after paying an additional $30-40. Oh, we\u2019ve got trouble \u2014 about going to a game in River City!<\/p>\n

It would be comforting to think that a sly trickster like Professor Harold Hill came to Sacramento, technically West Sacramento, to hoodwink the locals into letting the now-vagabond Oakland Athletics use the town\u2019s minor league ballpark for a few years as an open tryout to demonstrate the town\u2019s viability as a major league venue, while the team\u2019s \u201cpermanent\u201d home in Las Vegas is built.<\/p>\n

John Fisher, heir to the Gap, Inc. fortune, is not Harold Hill.<\/p>\n

Throughout most of this process, he has been unintentionally funnier than Benny Hill: a blight upon both Oakland and Las Vegas and someone who likely could not find his own hindquarters with the aid of a map, GPS, and both hands.<\/p>\n

If you think I am being too hard on him, and you have not read the volumes of text I have written about the man, perhaps his recent interview with Evan Drellich<\/a> of The Athletic will persuade you<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people needed to hear from me,\u201d said Fisher, whose A\u2019s played in Oakland for 56 years, through the 2024 season. \u201cNot hearing from me, I think, led to frustration from, frankly, the media. Like, who is this guy? Is he hiding? Who\u2019s the real John Fisher?\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cThe news today is not contained within a certain zip code,\u201d Fisher said. \u201cIn the sense that people in this community were seeing information coming out of the press in the Bay Area, I felt for sure it was important that they could hear from me \u2026 (so they) could understand, why did we make the decision to leave Oakland? But even more importantly, why were we coming to Vegas?\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually, Fisher is also going to need a really strong collection of baseball players. Tourists arriving on the Strip for a handful of nights will have to decide whether to watch acrobats at a Cirque du Soleil show or catch a ballgame.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinning is important in every market. It is especially important in this market, in that there\u2019s so many other things for people to do,\u201d Fisher acknowledged. \u201cIt\u2019s not enough to just say, \u2018Look at our great stadium in this great location, beautiful view, and the food\u2019s great.\u2019 You have to have a product that\u2019s on the field that is compelling, and compelling means winning.\u201d<\/p>\n

[Emphasis added.]<\/p>\n

If Mr. Fisher is going to make the jokes this easy, I refuse to play. I will give Mr. Fisher credit in one regard: he did open his wallet once the Athletics came to Sacramento and bolstered the roster a bit\u2026 before trading Mason Miller. Granted, he did not have to pay rent, got the local team to upgrade their facilities, and faced the possibility of the MLB Players\u2019 Association filing a union grievance if he did not spend on his roster.<\/p>\n

Locals were excited upon hearing that the Athletics were coming to town, but after the initial fanfare died down, it became clear the team was going to pretend it had as little to do with the region as possible. Sacramentans got the hint and started staying away. While the percentage of the filled ballpark capacity is higher now, it\u2019s a misleading statistic when one compares the vast differences in capacity between SHP and the now-abandoned Oakland Coliseum. A finger of a shot glass is less impressive than a splash of liquid in a 16 oz. glass.<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, no tours are offered at SHP, but weirdly enough, one can get a First Game Certificate, which one can sign up for at Guest Services. Mine took four weeks to arrive digitally, which raises even further questions in a \u201cis graphic design their passion?\u201d manner.<\/p>\n

\"First<\/a><\/p>\n

First Game Certificate – Sutter Health Park Michael Elizondo \/ True Blue LA<\/p>\n

In 2025, the Athletics did just about everything possible to keep Sacramento at arm\u2019s length, only having Sacramento on a single patch one could buy at the impossibly cramped gift store. Now, at least the team has uniforms with Sacramento on them. The team refuses to be called anything but \u201cThe Athletics,\u201d which is a dumb slap in the face to the citizens of Sacramento. If one is expecting a different posture than in Oakland, one might be best served to wait until the A\u2019s arrive in Sin City.<\/p>\n

Once again, Mr. Drellich of The Athletic:<\/p>\n

To Fisher, the local fan is \u201cdefinitely a different customer\u201d than the one who drops into the city for two nights.<\/p>\n

To gain the trust of the former, the A\u2019s are trying a grassroots approach: community outreach, donations to youth baseball leagues, and so forth. If a Dodgers fan living in Vegas has a 10-year-old who becomes an A\u2019s fan, eventually, Fisher believes, the parents will jump on the same bandwagon.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver time we\u2019re going to convert the people here who support the Brewers, who support the Dodgers, who support whatever the team,\u201d Fisher said.<\/p>\n

The A\u2019s want to show they\u2019re not \u201cjust another team from California that moved to Vegas,\u201d Fisher said, making a reference to the Raiders\u2019 relocation, but that they\u2019re going to be \u201cVegas\u2019 team.\u201d He acknowledged that process would take time, however.<\/p>\n

[Emphasis added.]<\/p>\n

The Brewers fan in Vegas is the hypothetical person I\u2019d like to meet. As for Dodgers fans in Vegas, all I can say is good luck with the conversion. Considering the efforts demonstrated so far in Sacramento, I would not hold my breath as to any competent outreach in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

Friends don\u2019t let friends go to SHP (2. How should I get there?)<\/p>\n

\"SHP\u2019s<\/a><\/p>\n

The front door as it were of Sutter Health Park. Michael Elizondo \/ True Blue LA<\/p>\n

Los Angeles-based travelers could drive for eight to ten hours or fly into nearby Sacramento International Airport in what will feel like eight to ten hours, especially if one is flying from Los Angeles International. As with most regional stops (think Fresno, Milwaukee, St. Louis, or Cincinnati), it\u2019s more expensive to fly to regional airports than to fly directly to major hubs. Regardless, the airport is on the outskirts of town, and one would be best served by getting a rental car for one\u2019s visit to Sacramento.<\/p>\n

As a minor league park, Sutter Health Park is fine. As a major league venue, it\u2019s anything but.<\/p>\n

SHP is about an hour to 90 minutes from San Francisco, so one could conceivably drive to Sacramento or take the Capitol Corridor rail service, which connects buses from San Francisco to nearby Emeryville (home of Pixar!) and is connected to Oakland, and get to downtown Sacramento by rail. The problem is that you will end up on the wrong side of the river from the ballpark.<\/p>\n

Another thing to keep in mind for the first-time traveler is that there are some major freeway interchanges very close to the ballpark, as the freeways generally either empty into or exit downtown, or start heading into the mountains via U.S. 50. There are 5,000 parking spots near the ballpark, and the rideshare pickup is down the street.<\/a> Combine these facts, and you have standstill traffic immediately after games. I sat with my windows down and read until the madness passed.<\/p>\n

While Sacramento has modest public transportation for a city its size, it is worth repeating that SHP is just across the river in West Sacramento. Unless one is staying nearby, which is difficult for this venue, one is typically driving or enduring traffic in a rideshare to get to the ballpark.<\/p>\n

No, you cannot stay with me. (3. Where should I stay?)<\/p>\n

The Sacramento River divides West Sacramento and Sacramento. As you can see, there are a plethora of hotel options in Sacramento, and traffic is funneled towards the iconic Tower Bridge, which would make getting to Sutter Health Park rather easy.<\/p>\n

One could stay in Old Town Sacramento (think by the Delta King Hotel on the map below), which has the venerable California State Railroad Museum<\/a>, if you like trains. One could walk to Sutter Health Park from Old Town Sacramento, but again, the infrastructure is centered around the car, so be mindful and be careful.<\/p>\n

\"Hotels<\/a><\/p>\n

Hotels in Sacramento Courtesy of Google Maps<\/p>\n

The West Sacramento side has fewer options, but they are cheaper. However, the same problem arises: pedestrian access is more hypothetical than practical for this ballpark; the car rules West Sacramento. The area near Sutter Health Park on the West Sacramento side is more industrial, giving way to suburbs. There\u2019s more to do in Sacramento than on the West Sacramento side, but the prices are more forgiving on the stadium side of the river.<\/p>\n

\"Hotels<\/a><\/p>\n

Hotels in West Sacramento Courtesy of Google Maps<\/p>\n

Typically, the team\u2019s accommodations are governed by the Collective Bargaining Agreement and are usually at a luxury hotel like the Ritz-Carlton or Hotel Pfister in Milwaukee. Sacramento does not have a Ritz-Carlton, and I sincerely doubt the team is driving the 60 to 90 minutes one-way from San Francisco. My best guess is that visiting MLB teams have been using the hotel across the street from Golden1 Arena, where the Sacramento Kings play downtown, but I will be curious how the Dodgers navigate this hurdle.<\/p>\n

Tickets are how much?!? (4. Where should I sit?)<\/p>\n

\"SHP<\/a><\/p>\n

The other end of the Sutter Health Park concourse. June 22, 2025 Michael Elizondo \/ True Blue LA<\/p>\n

Ah, the center of the shrubbery maze. You should watch these games from home. Otherwise, do you want to pay playoff ticket prices for a regular-season game in July? If yes, proceed. If not, you can skip to the end. There is absolutely no sugarcoating this one, so let us rip the bandage off in one motion.<\/p>\n

\"Ticket<\/a><\/p>\n

Who doesn\u2019t want to pay playoff prices for a July regular season game? Courtesy of the Sacramento Athletics<\/p>\n

$200 to $500 is an acceptable range of ticket prices for the NLCS or later, or a really good seat behind home plate anywhere in the league, but for a game in a minor league stadium? Utterly ridiculous and insulting.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t blame the stadium or the regulars who call SHP their home away from home; I blame the avaricious ghouls perpetuating this fraud upon this region and the other cowards who own teams that enable this farce to continue.<\/p>\n

Tickets for the Sacramento River Cats, the usual tenant of the ballpark, range from $11 to $44 the night before the Dodgers come to town. Those $11 tickets are for a seat on the lawn on the hill in right field.<\/p>\n

But one might say that comparing the Triple-A River Cats to the Sacramento Athletics is unfair. Fair enough. The Miami Marlins start a series on July 3, immediately after the Dodgers\u2019 series ends. Those tickets range from $28 to $250, with lawn seats on the hill being the cheapest option.<\/p>\n

In our series, the $193 ticket is for a single seat on the first base side. Seats on the lawn were selling for around $150 from the team before the seating in this area of the event sold out.<\/p>\n

For night games, if you have already committed to going, sit wherever you like. A recommendation from me cannot sink or salvage a doomed endeavor. But if you are going during the day, I do have one critical piece of advice.<\/p>\n

\"Seating<\/a><\/p>\n

Seating Chart Recommendations for Sutter Health Park Courtesy of the Sacramento Athletics \/ Illustration by Michael Elizondo \/ True Blue LA<\/p>\n

I sat in section 108, Row 26, Seat 18 with a buddy from law school in seats that cost $40\/ticket for my visit in 2025. It was Mason Miller bobblehead day. I needed pictures for this feature. The game started at 1 pm. Every row in front of me was in direct sunlight for virtually the entire game. The two rows behind me were also in the shade for the entire game. Unless you are sitting in the back, sunscreen and a hat are the orders of the day.<\/p>\n

\"Lack<\/a><\/p>\n

Lack of shade at Sutter Health Park for day games. June 22, 2025. Michael Elizondo \/ True Blue LA<\/p>\n

Now what? (Conclusion, as the question of a return trip in 2029 is likely moot.)<\/p>\n

\"SHP<\/a><\/p>\n

Final look at Sutter Health Park. June 22, 2025 Michael Elizondo \/ True Blue LA<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the kicker: I am quite fond of Sacramento. I spent three years going to law school at the now-University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. I graduated eighth in my class, which, honestly, I am a little sore at because one modestly shaky first semester kept me from cracking the top five.<\/p>\n

I have friends who still live in Sacramento and who still regularly attend River Cats games. Is Sacramento a major league city? No, and that\u2019s okay. It\u2019s too small, too hot, and has inadequate facilities to host a major league team. The Athletics being in West Sacramento is a vanity project for a basketball owner who seemingly got bored with driving his NBA franchise into the ground.<\/p>\n

As a minor league park, Sutter Health Park is fine. As a major league venue, it\u2019s anything but.<\/p>\n

I live about an hour from Sutter Health Park, and it would cost me $600 to $ 1,000 to attend these three games as a fan, unless I was willing to sit on the cramped hill overlooking right field. For that amount of money, I was able to go to the following venues, including airfare and hotel, during my travels so far:<\/p>\n

PNC Park, 2021American Family Field, 2021American Family Field, 2022Kaufmann Stadium, 2022Busch Stadium 3.0, 2021Guaranteed Rate Field, 2024Oakland Coliseum, 2017 to 2023Oracle Park, 2018 to 2024<\/p>\n

Have I made my point yet? I don\u2019t want to enable John Fisher\u2019s folly. I would hope that this anti-Guide entry is the sole time I actively try to discourage you from enjoying Dodgers baseball in person. I could find nice things to say about the lesser major league venues on this list. If you need a final reminder of whose pockets you\u2019ll line if you go to Sutter Health Park when the Dodgers visit, for a final time, Mr. Drellich:<\/p>\n

Fisher maintains that the premise [that he could have stayed in Oakland and preserved his reputation], however, is off. He took the A\u2019s out of Oakland and to Las Vegas, he said, for reasons that were not financial.<\/p>\n

\u201cNumber one, I didn\u2019t believe that money was going to solve the problem,\u201d Fisher said. \u201cAmong other things, there was a high likelihood that we would have gone to a referendum, and referendums for sports teams don\u2019t generally work out so well in California. And losing that referendum would have meant we were done. Like, not, \u2018Oh, you can just start from this position, move forward\u2019 \u2014 done completely.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had just run out of time, and we worked with Oakland for years and spent an enormous amount of money,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the other thing was, honestly, that what we were doing, it was really important to me that this be a partnership. And that the partnership needed to be with the community and ourselves, and money can\u2019t pay for a successful partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n

[Emphasis added.]<\/p>\n

What does John Fisher know about spending his own money? He\u2019s built a career spending other people\u2019s money.<\/p>\n

\"Adric<\/a><\/p>\n

Adric: See you next time! Michael Elizondo \/ True Blue LA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So you have decided to heed the call to adventure. Good for you. If you need to recall…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379637,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[153530,121,123,122],"class_list":["post-379636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-mlb-stadium-guides","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}