Moneyball no more
Moneyball no more
Two weeks after the Oakland Athletics played their last game ever in Oakland, baseball fans continue to mourn and hold out hope for a return
I didn’t think I would be emotional, but seeing the A’s play their final game two weeks ago at the Oakland Coliseum was pretty damn sad. Most among the crowd of 46,000 (including me) uncontrollably shed many many tears.
As if adding insult to injury the team ownership created a Hunger Games scenario of sorts forcing fans into a livestock funnel for the opportunity to grab a poorly constructed souvenir replica of the Coliseum that looks more like an ashtray than anything else.
If there was an upside, it was this: The A’s went out winners and gave their very loyal fans something to remember forever. Now MLB moves on the the playoffs, and Oakland is left to wonder, what next?
Bad ownership and greedy leadership at the top of MLB have blocked a happy ending for fans. The A’s will play in a 15,000-seat Sacramento minor league stadium in 2025, probably charge outrageous ticket prices and subject their crowd to 115-degree temps, and long lines at minor league concession stands.
Oakland fans are rightfully demanding justice. None is better at reporting on what’s happening with the A’s than Steven Leighton, @jvb43, aka “Justice for Oakland Fans.”
I met Steven by accident outside a concession stand during the A’s last game, he was interviewing fans, taking photos and overcome with sadness. He promised to continue his reporting on how fans were duped by A’s ownership and has done just that.
One very cool thing Steven has done, is create a Google Map “featuring locations that have at one point or another featured Sell flags, shirts, stickers, signs, or pins.”
As you can see, Las Vegas and Sacramento are definitely on the map.
It might be too late.
Early this morning, the Tropicana on the Strip in Vegas was imploded to make room for the A’s. The display was replete with a drone show that paid homage to the casino, old Las Vegas and the team that may or may not end up in Vegas.
The Tropicana’s history is linked to that same period of time that Godfather Part II takes place, the mid-1950s. Back then, the Vegas strip was only just beginning to take form. The El Rancho, the Frontier, the Hacienda, the Dunes, the Flamingo beckoned to America with gambling, shows and cheap drinks. But, they were all losing money. The Tropicana came late to the game, but it was so innovative that it instantly became the place to be in Sin City and its design, with 300 rooms and a giant lobby was described as elegant.
According to the Mob Museum blog, It wasn’t long after opening before the casino became national news.
On May 2, 1957, while entering a New York apartment building, Costello was shot and wounded by Vincent “the Chin” Gigante on orders from rival Mafia boss Vito Genovese. Written on a piece of paper found by police inside Costello’s coat pocket was the exact gross win from the Tropicana as of April 27, 1957 — $651,284, less $153,745 in markers (loans to players), with the proceeds from slot machines at $62,844. The note mentioned $30,000 for “L” and $9,000 for “H,” likely money to be skimmed on behalf of Costello’s underworld partner Meyer Lansky and perhaps for Mob-connected Teamsters union boss James Hoffa. It was a big national news story.
Those days are long gone. And in many ways Las Vegas is more like Los Angeles lite than anything else. Homelessness, drug addiction are poverty are part of the city’s DNA now. Many of the more famous hotels are gone and any cheap drinks or cheap food are in neighborhoods most tourists will never see.
Even so, owner John Fisher believes his team’s big payoff lies in Vegas.
Given Vegas’ current makeup. It’s a crapshoot at best.
Poverty, drug addiction and homelessness aside, one reason Sin City is a gamble, is the lack of a natural baseball fan base. Las Vegas is a tourist town. Conventions come and conventions go. The Raiders have been mildly successful because they play eight home games during the season. It’s no problem for a Broncos’ fan to fly out on Saturday and fly home on Sunday.
The Golden Knights are pulling fans too. But they brought a championship to town in their first year. That doesn’t seem a likely outcome for the Athletics any time soon.
Note everyone sees doom and gloom. I did have a friend (with no skin in the game) tell me today that the success of the Golden Knights bodes well for the A’s.
“You’re in town for three nights, Night one you hit the casino; night two a show; and on night three you head out to the ballpark,” he noted.
But, are baseball fans going to exhibit that behavior? I doubt it. Mainly because there is too much competition for their dollar on the strip over a three- or four-day stand. If I had to guess, the A’s are going the way of horse racing, another charming 19th Century pastime. You’ll be able to go to the game, bet on it, and get a simulcast of games around the country to spread the wealth. Really, that’s the only way it might work — as a really fancy sports book with a built-in arena.
Maybe I’m a pessimist. Others, like former A’s great Rollie Fingers, believe the move will prove out.
"I think it's going to work," Fingers said. "There's a lot of cities out there that would love to have a major league team. I think there's enough baseball fans here in Las Vegas to get it going."
So too does the most hated man in Oakland, John Fisher.
"We're working with our partners to get to a place where we can start construction in 2025," Fisher said. "Seeing how the other sports franchises in Las Vegas — the Aces, the Golden Knights, the Raiders — have engaged with the community, that's really inspiring. Seeing what the Golden Knights did last year, winning the Stanley Cup, that sets a very high bar for us for when we move to Las Vegas.”
But can Fisher be trusted?
Back in 1999, when I covered pro baseball for a chain of newspapers in Southern California, I was sent to interview Jason and Jeremy Giambi at their parents’ home. At the time, Jason was playing for the A’s and Jeremy was playing for the Royals. Two things stand out about that meeting.
First on that day, Jeremy had been traded to the A’s. I didn’t know it until I left their house. I guess I wasn’t plugged in enough to see what was going on, and they were good enough poker players to keep that information close to the vest.
The second thing that stood out was Jason telling me how much he loved Las Vegas. At that time Jason was living there and raved about it being a great baseball town. Don’t doubt for a second that Jason influenced the move.
Nonetheless there’s a hole in many hearts where a home team once played.
Columnist David Allen, with the Southern California Newsgroup, said as a baseball fan he completely understands and questions whether or not the team will actually move to Vegas.
“Most of us feel for A’s fans and are amazed at their passion and their guerrilla tactics in protesting via banners and one-day walkouts. John Fisher doesn’t care. I don’t even think the team will build in Las Vegas.”
Bryan Johansen, who operates “Last Dive Bar” on Twitter, shed a ton of tears as he watched the tragedy unfold and has recounted them on Twitter.
“The intro to the final game at the Coliseum absolutely broke me.”
No matter what happens, the long goodbye will sting for years. And, when it comes to baseball, a fan’s opinion should count as much as the sportswriters, the tv pontificators, MLB owners, and the players.
Tina Ling, a Walnut Creek resident who says she bleeds green and gold, gave me a great and poignant list of what the team meant to her, and why the move was so short-sighted.
The Oakland A's have always been "MY #1". I am a fan of sports in general but anyone that knows me knows that I bleed green and gold.
I don't recall a year in which I didn't go see the A's play in Oakland!
In the late '70's, I got to meet Carl Yastrzemski walking out of the game after we played the Red Sox.
I remember seeing Dave Kingman's first hit in Oakland, a home run, followed by two more in 1984.
There is a baseball card / memorabilia store in Danville. I used to go there for A's signings all the time. My favorite time was meeting the late, great Ray Fosse and my favorite A's player of all time, Lance Blankenship. I know, that's not a name you hear too often.
Once I made it to high school, we could BART into the Coliseum from Walnut Creek to watch games. Almost every weekend, we would bring our Safeway sandwiches and sit in the bleachers (pre Mt Davis where there really were bleachers) and chat with Rickey Henderson in Left Field. He signed my hat for me without hesitation.
I remember the privilege that I felt when my Dad took me to my first A's playoff game against the Toronto Blue Jays in 1989. I also remember very well what happened on October 17, 1989. Not only was it my 16th birthday but I had come home after just failing my driver's license test. I was embarrassed and devastated but then as I watched the TV cameras shake before the first pitch for World Series Game with the A's vs. the Giants, the Bay Bridge World Series, I knew that no one cared about my drivers test, nor did I.
Then came college and my post college career, I could finally afford to travel to watch the A's. We would go on annual trips to Spring Training and those were some good times with great friends that also shared my passion for baseball.
Fan Fest was something I never missed. I have photos alongside Mark Mulder & Scott Hatteberg to name a few of the players that I got to meet along the way.
When "the streak" was happening, I flew up from LA to attend games and always came up for any play off games that I could make.
Tony LaRussa and Dave Stewart were never too busy to stop and say hello and give you an autograph if you asked.
The A's Community Fund allowed A's themed uniforms to be donated to our local Little League for both the girls and boys to wear. Great exposure for the A's! And all for nothing!
We thought, wow, this A's Access deal is really cool. As a season ticket holder we could get a discount on Merchandise, Food AND Beer, no way! We had a little credit on each of our Club seats that could be used for food during the game. Brilliant! Was it too good to be true? YES! It was just one of Fisher's many tricks up his sleeve.
When they were hand-crafting the pizzas in the wood burning oven in Shibe Tavern, I would argue that this was some of the best pizza that I had ever had IN THE WORLD. Well, the good pizza was quickly replaced with old cardboard tasting frozen pizzas not long thereafter.
Corrine at the Beer Counter in Shibe became like a member of the family and like so many other employees, continued to smile and hold their heads high, not knowing when the rug was going to get pulled our from under them.
I was there for the FAMOUS REVERSE BOYCOTT Game on June 14, 2023. Do not ever dare the A's fans to SHOW UP because WE ALWAYS DO.
One of the most bittersweet recent memories was when we attended (my) last A's game together vs. the Tigers. I spoke to a woman that is a security person and information assistant that sits outside the former Ticket offices. She had worked for the team since the late 70's and said that she remembers when Charlie Finley (a class act and former A's owner) used to go out in the ballpark and play catch with the kids. I could feel her pain.
If you are a baseball fan of any team, you get it.
Great stuff, Frank....err, very well written stuff about an infuriating subject matter!