An Emotional ‘Last Hurrah’ For the Oakland Faithful
A’s fans hold signs and cheer in protest of the team’s impending move to Las Vegas.
Credit: Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE (Getty Images)
Just one day after only 4,848 fans were in attendance to see the MLB-worst Oakland Athletics win their sixth straight game, nearly 28 thousand of Oakland’s most loyal fans filed into the Coliseum. The parking lots were full, and the bridge connecting to the Coliseum BART station was lively with fans and vendors. As the A’s come closer to finalizing a move to Vegas, owner John Fisher has attempted to spin the narrative that the team must move because the fans simply won’t show up. This game, however, proved that the fans were not the issue.
The Oakland fans have become accustomed to an ownership that refuses to spend money to retain players. Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Sean Murphy, Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, Starling Marte, Chris Bassitt and nearly every other star that the A’s had just a few years ago have either been traded or left in free agency. Since the 2019 season, when the A’s won 97 games and hosted a playoff game, attendance at RingCentral Coliseum has dropped by more than 50 percent. At the 2019 wild card game the attendance was 54 thousand, which ended up being the highest ever recorded attendance at a wild card game. However, without a consistent and exciting team, the A’s fans haven’t shown up, and the once lively Coliseum has become quiet. Even the drums which have filled the atmosphere at every game for years have gone silent.
The drummers in right field have been a coliseum staple for decades.
Credit: Serginho Roosblad/KQED (Getty Images)
But for one last time, the drumming resumed and the coliseum was packed with the Oakland faithful, only this time chants such as “Let’s Go Oakland” were replaced by “Stay in Oakland”. At the top of the fifth inning, the coliseum was on their feet and silent for the entire at-bat. As soon as Jose Siri reached second base with a lead off double, the crowd erupted into chants of “sell the team”. The crowd was so loud, in fact, that A’s pitcher Hogan Harris thought his PitchCom device was broken as he went to pitch to the next batter.
Just hours before first pitch, another domino fell in the A’s proposed move to Vegas as the Nevada legislature has approved the plan to provide 380 million dollars of public funding to the new ballpark. This didn’t dampen the spirits of the Oakland fans, and the reverse boycott did its job of gathering national attention. But with the odds stacked against the loyal fans of Oakland, it seems that the reverse boycott will be an emotional last stand for these fans; a final opportunity to experience the magic of a packed and rowdy Coliseum.