This morning I woke up before dawn to the cacophony of rumbling diesel engines and banging. When I looked outside a wave of relief – no, catharsis – washed over me because I saw this:

Greetings from the Oyo Hotel and Casino, just east of the A’s ballpark site on the Strip (formerly the Tropicana). I’m in Vegas for a family trip. Some flexibility allowed me to spend Monday night and Tuesday morning at Oyo, previously the Howard Johnson/San Remo/Hooters. If you’re not aware, Oyo is a multi-national hotel brand based in India. When I checked one of the signage displays behind the front desk briefly showed a promo for ballpark construction workers.

Anyway, my plans were to head out to the Athletics Ballpark Experience Center at uncommons in the southwest part of Las Vegas Valley. Unfortunately those plans were foiled by more important matters.

Sodey secured 🔒

We have agreed to terms with left fielder Tyler Soderstrom on a seven-year contract through the 2032 season with a club option for 2033. pic.twitter.com/Ykw9DQz8yJ

— Athletics (@Athletics) December 29, 2025

According to MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos, the press conference for the Soderstrom signing will be held at the Ballpark Experience Center, so they literally have bigger fish to fry. At least we’ll get to see video of Sodey in the virtual ballpark. I’ll be back later, when it’s fully open to the public. For now, I’ll settle for progress in the form of working construction crews on December 30, 2025. I spent twenty years on this website waiting seemingly in vain, plus ten more since the Raiders moved back to Oakland and destroyed the Coliseum. I can say with great certainty that I’ve been waiting my entire adult life for this moment as the A’s haven’t had a proper home since they left Shibe Park. I only wish the moment was in Oakland, San Jose, or Fremont instead. Alas.

I’ll spend the rest of the morning here before I meet with the fam at Treasure Island. I observed how fleeting this moment is.

As I write it occurred to me that 1) this view will be mostly obscured in a year by the enormity of the ballpark, and 2) Oyo itself probably won’t be standing in 20 years. #todaysperch #Athletics pic.twitter.com/EXT4jT1qrJ

— newballpark (@newballpark) December 30, 2025

My intent was for this post to be a year-in-review as you typically see after Christmas. Instead I’m going to have breakfast and coffee, enjoy this view and the noise for a few hours, then take the monorail to see my niece and nephew. I’ll do the wrap-up post later. I’ll have plenty of comments about the state of pro sports venue financing, the NBA in Vegas, and the future of pro sports in NorCal. It’ll be a doozy.