Thalblum was just a baseball-loving boy then, having begun with the Oakland Athletics at spring training in 1980 as a sixth-grader at Pueblo Elementary, just a few miles from Scottsdale Stadium. He earned $5 a day. “I showed up after school to help fold the laundry, vacuum and clean the place,” the 57-year-old Thalblum said.

As the Oakland Athletics play their final home games at the Coliseum, employees still working the stands in their 70s, 80s and even 90s are bracing for what's next.

Like the Andersons, so many longtime Coliseum employees have built lasting memories at the ballpark, which is set to host a sellout crowd for the final scheduled A's game here on