Oakland – The Oakland A’s fans are finally fed up! Tonight was the “reverse boycott’ where die-hard fans are protesting against the team’s ownership and have grown tired of professional teams leaving Oakland. The Warriors relocated to San Francisco, the Raiders moved to Las Vegas and now the A’s are also planning to relocate the franchise to Vegas as well.
The teams owners and management have traded their best players while paying less for talent over the last ten years. Draft prospects and cash is what the A’s are getting for quality players, this has been a growing concern for loyal fans. The A’s have the worst record in Major League Baseball standing at 19-50.
But tonight 27,759 fans packed the stadium, which is the largest crowd of the season. Despite the A’s seven-game winning streak the fans are tired of the ongoing process of moving the team to Vegas as opposed to ownership selling the team to the highest bidder. Fans are chanted “Sell the team!” at the top of each inning and “Stay in Oakland!” at the bottom of the inning.
Russell Blanchard from New Orleans, LA is a native of Oakland and grew up going to A’s games in the early 80s. His grandfather took him to games where he fell in love with baseball. He expressed his disappoint about the team leaving.
“It’s sad and frustrating that it has gotten to the point where it is right now,” said Blanchard. “So many people have failed in getting a new stadium built and now we’re going to lose the team due to the ineptitude from ownership in the inability to get a deal done over the last 15 years.”
The A’s will donate all ticket revenue from tonight’s game (811,107) vs the Tampa Bay Rays to the Alameda County Community Food Bank and the Oakland Public Education Fund. For more than 35 years, the Alameda County Food Bank has stood by their unwavering belief that food is a basic human right. ACCFB distributes millions of healthy meals every year and is on the forefront of new approaches to ending hunger and poverty.
The Oakland Public Education Fund leads the development and investment of community resources in Oakland public schools so that all students can learn, grow and thrive. The Ed fund is the only organization raising money for all Oakland public schools. Since 2003, the Ed Fund has helped raise more than $200 million for schools and programs.
“The loyalty and the fanbase are going to be here and have been here for 50 plus years,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said regarding the reverse boycott tonight. “It’s been here a long time, the fans are going to come out and show their support. It’s going to be an exciting night for the players just feeling that energy and support.”
