Five years ago, the city of Oakland was the home for three major professional sports teams. And it’s becoming increasingly certain that the number will drop to zero in the near future.
After word that the Oakland Athletics and chairman John Fisher reached a binding agreement with Las Vegas to build a new MLB stadium, the long-suffering A’s fans had largely seen enough. While there have been calls to show up and protest in the stadium, most of the fanbase has seemingly opted to boycott games at the awful Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum instead.
That’s what brought us the scene for Tuesday night’s game between the A’s and Mariners. While A’s pitcher Mason Miller threw seven hitless innings, he did so in front of a listed attendance of 2,583.
This is what John Fisher has done to baseball in Oakland pic.twitter.com/YhSNyDPZUm
— Ben Ross (@BenRossTweets) May 3, 2023
Again, it’s important to note that these sad scenes aren’t the fault of the A’s fanbase. They’ve had to deal with the stingiest ownership, a torn-down roster and by far the worst stadium in baseball. Fisher has done nothing to deserve decent attendance, and his move to abandon Oakland was a breaking point for many.
A’s fans deserve better, and MLB Twitter certainly agreed.
This was how Twitter reacted
This isn’t a problem with the City or the stadium… this is an ownership issue. Sad baseball let them do this. https://t.co/ZmkTTIcPtQ
— Cameron Cox (@CamCox12) May 3, 2023
I don’t want Gap to go bankrupt because that would hurt their employees. But I do really, really want John Fisher to lose all his money. https://t.co/BNd5315A6J
— Rajan Narang (@rdnarang) May 3, 2023
I’ve pointed this out before, but it bears repeating: Decimating your own franchise in the midst of the 2 most important negotiations in team history is a hell of a negotiating tactic. Total misstep. At least the team still holds value in a sale because there’s only 30 of them. https://t.co/uX0lwV3m7H
— Casey Pratt (@CaseyPrattABC7) May 3, 2023
A crime that can’t be forgiven https://t.co/xcuSoerHVl
— ✨ (@specialandrare) May 3, 2023
Sad. This place was packed when I first started watching baseball as a kid. https://t.co/zqBcelVDZj
— Evan Thompson (@evan_m_thompson) May 3, 2023
This is so sad! 😩 @Athletics fans deserve better @MLB … Oakland deserves better! 🤬👊🏼 https://t.co/2gBKhQ0pyJ
— Kelli Johnson (@kellijohnson_) May 3, 2023
Someone make this man sell the @Athletics. It’s not the fans. It’s not the employees. It’s not the coaches. It’s not the players. It’s the owner. He must go. The A’s are Oakland. https://t.co/fiGouevY1R
— Trevor Horn (@trevhorn) May 3, 2023
Oakland deserves so much better than this. https://t.co/MnLGVYuOR5
— Jordan Ziegler (@Ziggyjw4) May 3, 2023
Less than 4 years ago https://t.co/4bTIu4ig4R pic.twitter.com/ntRQpW3nrT
— Dave C. (@theitaliandave) May 3, 2023
Oakland won four World Series and three in a row at one point. Made the playoffs 11 times since 2000. How do you kill a franchise like this? https://t.co/Ss125zXzOm
— Nick (@Nick_BPSS) May 3, 2023
Fans are playing money ball! https://t.co/HRWenvjcnf
— Arran Andersen (@arranandersen) May 3, 2023
Yup. First Al Davis ruined a beautiful stadium, and then John Fisher ruined a great franchise. https://t.co/V1hgdgnwm8
— Travis (@LetsGoSac) May 3, 2023
MLB never should have let it reach this point.
