“Today is an incredibly difficult day for Oakland A’s fans. It’s a great day for Las Vegas.” ~ John Fisher, Principal owner of the Oakland Athletics, speaking to the media on November 16, 2023.
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MLB Owners unanimously voted to approve the relocation of the Oakland Athletics on Thursday, November 16, 2023, from the Bay Area to Las Vegas, Nevada. There are some issues of course.
Currently, their purposed stadium in Las Vegas would not be ready for play until the 2028 season if all the funding agreements go through smoothly. Their lease on the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum will end after the 2024 season, which will leave them without a permanent home for a few seasons. There will be some lawsuits no doubt as their fanbase, and the city officials are not pleased. Ultimately, the move will happen, and Oakland will lose the team which has called the city its home since 1968. The team was an original American League team playing in Philadelphia from 1901-1954. From 1955-1967, the Athletics played in Kansas City, Missouri.
In my opinion this is a terrible situation, made worse by MLB wanting a franchise in Las Vegas. The NHL expanded and put a team in (Golden Nights since 2017), and the NFL relocated also from Oakland (Raiders in 2020) have already established themselves in the city. The commissioner, MLB, and the A’s ownership got what they wanted, a presence in “Sin City”. Good for them, but as always, screw the fans.
Did the team purposely “tank” to let attendance drop? Did the fans stop going to games because the owners didn’t spend money? Did city officials drop the ball on a new ballpark or come up with a creative work-around? Did MLB / the Commissioner’s Office not lend enough weight to the matter to keep the A’s in Oakland? We will probably never get the full story.
Good news is on the horizon though. Oakland will have a new baseball team which is expected to begin playing in the 2024 season. It will be an independent team named the Oakland Ballers, and as a nod or a dig, also known as the Oakland B’s.
(Photo of Oakland Ballers Logo. Found on the internet. Assuming Public Domain.)
The B’s will be added to the Pioneer League and will play their home games at Laney College. The team colours will be green, gold, and gray. It is owned by “Oakland 68’s”, founded by Bryan Carmel and Paul Freedman, which raised $2 million to establish the team.
The team’s General Manager is Don Wakamatsu, a 60-year-old former MLB catcher who has scouted, coached, and managed previously. The Field Manager will be Micah Franklin. Franklin played one MLB season (1997) with the St. Louis Cardinal as an outfielder. He also played two season (1999-2000) in Japan and two seasons in Korea (2002-03). He has coached and scouted as well as managed in the minors. Their Pitching Coach is Ray (Everyday Ray) King, a 49-year-old former MLB left-handed “journeyman” relief pitcher who played for the Chicago Cubs (1999), the Milwaukee Brewers (2002-02), the Atlanta Braves (2003), the St. Louis Cardinals (2004-2005), the Colorado Rockies (2006), the Washington Nationals (2007), again with the Brewers (2007) and finished his career back with the Nationals (2008).
Currently, the B’s don’t have a roster of players, but I’m sure they will be making news shortly. If you’d like to check them out, CLICK HERE. You can also subscribe to their updates (I did) on the main page.
I wish the Ballers all the best. I hope the Oakland baseball fans wholehearted embrace them. As I mentioned earlier, I’m sure the A’s will eventually play in Vegas. For better or worse we have another relocation. Oakland fans will join the Kansas City and the Philadelphia faithfully in missing this team. My dad was a huge Philadelphia Athletics fan, he rooted for them at every stop, and if he was still alive, he’d be upset again, but would support them in Vegas too. Dad loved his Athletics, even living in Chicago. There have been other relocations, the teams thrive, the fans root from afar or the switch allegiance, but a piece of their hearts are always missing, always broken. It’s a shame that fans lose out, I always thought the team played for us, the ones buying the tickets. Loyalty should be a two-way street.
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~ Coach Mike
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I had no idea about the Oakland B’s and I live here😵💫 Crazy and you are so right about how fans are treated I do know the Oakland Coliseum is a total mess and needs so much work 🥺 I think the city could have worked with the A’s and kept them here😖 The owners are heartless and think only about what works for them and could care less about the allegiance of loyal fans who have supported them for all these years😡
What a terrible shame that this move is definitely taking place! I know our family living in Southern California will certainly miss t he team! They were in attendance regularly! Yes, Dad would also be disappointed!
This makes me so angry!
I hope the new team the B's do well and are welcomed by the A's fans!
The bad feature is team owners have no loyalty to their fans. They only think of the money and how much more they can accumulate in Sin City!
Yes, I am angry, as no team is safe from being moved at this time in our lives. Baseball has changed and not all for the best!
Thank you for your post and for always thinking of baseball the way it was before owners got greedy!