What Happens in Vegas: A’s in Vegas

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

The A's do not intend to change their name to reflect their Sacramento residency. Instead, they'll be known simply by their nickname, according to The Athletic's Evan Drellich.

Like Madonna, Prince, and Ichiro.

[G-Fafif]

Letter from John Fisher to the fans he's abandoning.

To our Oakland Athletics Fans: This upcoming series with the Texas Rangers will be the final games of the A's storied 57 years in Oakland. And while the A's previously played in Philadelphia and Kansas City, Oakland has been home for the greatest era in the franchise's more than 123-year history. Four World Series Championships. Six pennants and 17 division titles. Seven Baseball Hall of Famers. Charlie Finley and his mule. Billy Ball. Reggie and his incomparable swagger. Rollie and his handlebar mustache. Dave Stewart and the stare. Bill King's "Holy Toledo." Rickey, the greatest leadoff hitter in baseball history. The list goes on and on. Triumphs, near misses, the 1989 Loma Preita earthquake in Game 3 of the Bay Bridge Series, the 20-game win streak, a Hollywood movie, and an unmatched cast of players, coaches, and fans. We've had it all. And that, I know, is what makes our departure so very hard. The A's are part of the fabric of Oakland, the East Bay, and the entire Bay Area. When Lew Wolff and I bought the team in 2005. our dream was to win world championships and build a new ballpark in Oakland. Over the next 18 years, we did our very best to make that happen. We proposed and pursued five different locations in the Bay Area. And despite mutual and ongoing efforts to get a deal done for the Howard Terminal project. we came up short. Only in 2021, after 16 years of working exclusively on developing a home in the Bay Area and faced with a binding MLB agreement to find a new home by 2024. did we begin to explore taking the team to Las Vegas. There are millions of dedicated and passionate A's fans, in Oakland and around the world. Countless dedicated staff members and Oakland Coliseum employees have poured their hearts into this team. and their efforts have meant so much to our community. I know there is great disappointment, even bitterness. Though I wish I could speak to each one of you individually, I can tell you this from the heart: we tried. Staying in Oakland was our goal, it was our mission, and we failed to achieve it. And for that I am genuinely sorry. Looking ahead, I hope you will join our beloved A's as we move forward on this amazing journey. I hope I will see you again sporting the Green and Gold. And I hope we will make you proud. John Fisher

[MFS62]

The sad part is, he could have gone through the stands and spoken to them individually - there weren't too many of them.

When I think about Charlie Finely, I think of the orange baseball.



Was this in the papers or mailed to season ticket holders?

But that was pretty nice.

Later

[G-Fafif]

Released online through whatever channels the A's use.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I think it was nice too. I hope it was sincere. I just didn't like the part where he said that he hopes the Oakland fans continue to root for the Las Vegas version of the team. I'm sure some will, but many won't. And the statement may come across as insensitive.

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I think it was nice too. I hope it was sincere. I just didn't like the part where he said that he hopes the Oakland fans continue to root for the Las Vegas version of the team. I'm sure some will, but many won't. And the statement may come across as insensitive.

The part recapping the failed deals to get the stadium is unnecessary, too. "Hey, we tried! It's not our fault" is how that comes off.

[metirish]

[Edgy MD]

Ouch. I haven't seen that sort of heat from Trevor May since 2019.

[G-Fafif]

[metirish]

Wow

[MFS62]

So, Larry, tell us how you really feel.

An honest, fact filled sports report.

That guy would never make it on ESPN.

Later

[Fman99]

Clearly it sucks to be an A's fan but that guy also sucks. I couldn't even stomach four minutes of that.

[Edgy MD]

I have to say that I was surprised and impressed with the number green-and-gold-clad fans with SELL signs when the Athletics came to New York.



I don't know if that reporter is bluffing about having a line to a handful of billionaires who he could call who'd be happy to take over the team, but if I was in charge of that news broadcast, interviewing some of those alleged would-be buyers would be his next assignment.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

His best point was calling out Fisher for refusing interviews for years then issuing a statement regretting an inability to communicate with fans on his way out the door

[Frayed Knot]

Yeah, that doesn't help the credibility of the letter writers.



As far as the piece itself, I'm not up enough of Oakland politics and all to take a side as to how much this is the owners' fault and how much the city's.

I do know there was a ton of NIMBY-ism at each and every location that was suggested for a potential stadium. The ranter/reporter there puts all of

it on ownership, even while (briefly) allowing that local conditions contained lots of roadblocks, but doesn't back up how. Maybe he can and didn't do

so here out of time constraints, but I'm not willing to merely take his word for it.

[Edgy MD]

I tend to wonder if — with the shakedown racket of publicly financed sports stadiums exposed for what it is — we'll get more large, established cities calling owners bluffs, rejecting deals that growing, ambitious, moneyed, smaller cities will jump at. And fewer championship matchups will be New York-vs.-LA and instead be Raleigh-Durham-vs.-Austin, or Norfolk-vs.-Talahassee.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I suppose a test of that will be if the next expansion team goes to Nashville or to one of its suburbs.

[metirish]

[metirish]

[G-Fafif]

Mariners make a classy move for the last game the Oakland A's are slated to play.

[metirish]

[Edgy MD]

I'm having a lot of trouble mentally granting to them an exception to the rule that three-letter scoreboard abbreviations reference a team's official geographical home base.

[Frayed Knot]

My abbreviation is going to be SAC for Sacramento Athletic Club (see, it works twice) until such time as they alight in Sin City at which point I switch to LVA

[Fman99]

Frayed Knot wrote: My abbreviation is going to be SAC for Sacramento Athletic Club (see, it works twice) until such time as they alight in Sin City at which point I switch to LVA

Big Sackthletics fan here

[bmfc1]

The abbreviation should be “POS” for their owner, the way they treated the fans in OAK, and the fact they MLB has allowed them to play in a minor league ballpark for 3 years.

[Edgy MD]

It's going to be weird for players called "up" from Las Vegas to Sacramento, getting promoted to a smaller, far quieter city.

[MFS62]

And I'll guess the Baseball Annies aren't as hot, either.

Later

[Benjamin Grimm]

Maybe I missed it, but did they consider having the A's play in the minor league stadium in Vegas and let the AAA team play in Sacramento?

[Frayed Knot]

I suspect major league players have a better shot at pulling rank and saying 'I ain't playin' in an outdoor stadium in that fuckin' heat!' than do minor league players.

Not that Sacramento isn't capable of running off impressive stretches of triple digits summer days (and nights) themselves.

[Edgy MD]

Greatest Philadelphia Athletic: Eddie Plank



Greatest Kansas City Athletic: Ed Charles



Greatest Oakland Athletic: Rickey



Greatest Sacramento Athletic: Luis Severino or Lawrence Butler or JJ Bleday or maybe Shea Langoliers



Greatest Las Vegas Athletic: Alonso Espinet, currently a frosh at Manhattanville.