Green, Gold and Sold

The inside story of the A’s heartbreaking exit from the East Bay

Image courtesy of YouTube

If you ever watch the Athletics play in the MLB, this once historical and important team is now simply called the Athletics. They are currently the only team in baseball to not have a city name. With no real home, they have played in a neutral stadium in California.

The departure of the Athletics from Oakland and from California was the result of many things. The team made headlines by moving to Las Vegas by the 2028 MLB season.

But how and why? What ultimately led them from leaving the state?

The Collapse of the Oakland Coliseum

The obvious reason was the stadium that they were sharing with the ex-Oakland Raiders. The Oakland Coliseum was home to the club since relocating from Kansas City in 1968. But by the 2010s and 2020s, the stadium started to fall apart.

The ballpark was regarded as the most outdated and filthiest stadium in Major League Baseball. Plagued by chronic plumbing issues, lack of commercial amenities and poor concessions, it could no longer compete with the revenue-generating modern ballparks across the nation.

Image courtesy of Sportico.com

Inconsistent Stadium Plans

The Athletics spent the better part of two decades trying to ask for a new ballpark in the Bay Area, but every single result ended up dissolving in thin air. They tried in multiple locations, but they could not reach a conclusion.

Early plans to build a new ballpark in Fremont fell through due to opposition from the community. An aggressive effort was also made to move down to San Jose. But this was blocked by the San Francisco Giants because they hold the territory rights to Santa Clara County.

The biggest push the Athletics tried to get their new stadium in was at Howard Terminal near Jack London Square in Oakland. According to ABC10, the multi-billion project was stalled because of the Covid-19 pandemic, disagreements between the city and team, and inconsistent funding.

Selfish ‘Moneyball’ Management

Billionaire John Fisher was also a huge reason for why the Athletics ended up leaving the state. Under his leadership, the club maintained one of the lowest player payrolls in all of baseball.

The front office consistently traded away homegrown star players just as they became expensive free agents, which killed the on-field product according to Reddit.

It can be easy to forget that the Athletics were a competitive team. Under manager Bob Melvin, the organization made the playoffs in 2018, 2019 and 2020. But after the 2021 MLB season, ownership decided to tear their roster apart.

Image courtesy of YouTube

Bad Performances on Field

Players like Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Sean Manaea, Chris Bassit and Sean Murphy were all shipped away. Instead of signing these fans’ favorites to long term deals, they were traded for prospects. The Athletics opened the season with a payroll that sunk to $30 million, which was the lowest in all of baseball.

Because the roster changed, the product on the field was awful. The Athletics went from a postseason contender to one of the worst teams in modern baseball history. The sustained ‘tanking’ strategy alienated the fans, which led to plummeting attendance at the Coliseum.

Ownership blamed the low attendance on the stadium and city support while fans and critics argued that the owner had intentionally killed the franchise to justify rebuilding.

Image courtesy of Sports Illustrated

Fans vs. Management

There was legitimate beef between the fanbase and management. According to Front Office Sports, there was an interview given during the height of the move controversy, Fisher denied rumors of intentional tanking.

He claimed that the low payroll was strictly a function of low club revenue and that the team was losing $40 million in one year. But the fans did not see it that way.

The performance on the field was seen as the smoking gun to them. This ultimately led to the famous Reverse Boycotts in both 2023 and 2024, where millions of fans packed the stadium wearing emerald green “SELL” shirts.

You see, the fans’ message was crystal clear. The drop in attendance was not because Oakland lacked a baseball fanbase. It was a strike against management who had intentionally broken the team on the field to clear a path out of California.

Image courtesy of ESPN

Reflection

This was something that was beyond just a typical sports story. This was something that was deeply emotional. Within a five-year span, Oakland had lost all of its signature sports teams. Along with the Raiders, the Athletics will be heading to Las Vegas.

But also, the city lost one of the greatest NBA franchises in recent history in the Golden State Warriors, who moved to San Francisco. The reasoning was the city refused to pay these teams that were trying to get new stadiums built.

But hopefully, this now scorned baseball team is looking to make a name in the famed lights of Las Vegas.

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