An unused “legacy” BART train car that was once supposed to go to the former Oakland Athletics baseball team is now in the hands of the city’s newest baseball squad — the Oakland Ballers.
The Ballers, an independent league team that plays home games at Raimondi Park in West Oakland, was well-received by the city’s residents during their inaugural season last year.
That season was also the A’s last year in town, having pulled up stakes and moved to West Sacramento for the 2025 season.
One of the things the A’s left behind, in addition to broken hearts and hard feelings, was an old decommissioned BART car that the team was originally going to put into a new stadium in order “to commemorate their long history in the Bay Area,” according to BART officials.
In 2023, the A’s told disappointed BART officials that plan was off the table.
Instead, the Ballers picked up the car and will transform it into a concession stand, hopefully in time for the 2026 season.
“It was disappointing when the Athletics notified us by email that they no longer wanted this car,” said BART spokesperson Alicia Trost. “So, we asked Oakland’s newest professional sports team if they’d like to have it, and they responded with an immediate, ‘Yes!’ We are grateful to the team for saving this piece of Bay Area history so that Oakland baseball fans will be able to enjoy it.”
“We are grateful to the team for saving this piece of Bay Area history so that Oakland baseball fans will be able to enjoy it.”
Alicia Trost, BART spokesperson
The old cars were replaced with a new fleet in 2024 and several of them have been snatched up by people wanting to repurpose them for various things.
For example, one is being used as a short-term rental in the Sierra Nevada, one is being used as a training module for firefighters in Hayward and one is now a bike shop and clubhouse for kids in Oakland, according to BART officials.
“Adding this BART legacy car is one of many examples of how our ballpark is going to continue to grow with us,” said Ballers co-founder Paul Freedman. “We want Raimondi Park to be a living museum full of tributes to Bay Area culture. We can’t wait to repurpose and creatively feature our BART legacy car in the near future.”
A spokesperson for the A’s didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about why the team abandoned plans to take the BART car when it left Oakland.
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