An Elephant Never Forgets

As hard as I may try, I will never forget this week when all 30 Major League Baseball team owners voted in favor of the Oakland A’s and owner John Fisher’s bid to relocate the franchise from Oakland, CA to Las Vegas, NV. Relocation approval needs 75%, or 23 votes to pass.

In June, politicians in Las Vegas approved to commit $380 million in public funds to help finance a $1.5 billion stadium for the A’s. Earlier in the week, the Athletic’s Evan Drellich reported that not only was a vote among MLB’s owners scheduled in Arlington, Texas but early indication was that the issue would pass. Even before Drellich’s report, I expected many owners to approve this vote, but I thought there might be some symbolic ‘nay’ votes.

I am a lifelong Oakland A’s fan. I was raised in San Jose and spent my formative adult years in San Francisco. Even though I have never actually resided in Oakland at any point in my life, I’m still connected to the city of Oakland largely because it is essentially my family’s ancestral home. At least, in America, that is. My family immigrated from the Philippines to Oakland way back when.

I am 39 years old, and the matriarchs and patriarchs of my family and extended family are either gone from this world, or in the twilights of their lives. So, as I have gotten older, the figurative and tangible things that connect me with my loved ones have grown with more importance. My A’s fandom is one such connection.

It’s never been easy being an A’s fan—between the ownership’s inability or unwillingness to sign players, managers and coaches long-term, playoff heartbreaks, an outdated home stadium, and of course—the ever-present fear franchise relocation.

In April of this year, the organization announced its intention to go forward with plans to relocate the franchise to Las Vegas, Nevada. Excitement for the season was already kind of lukewarm at best, considering the team was on another competitive downturn. But with this development regarding Las Vegas was like a black cloud looming above all A’s fans—me included. So, interest waned even more, and attendance just withered. Undeterred, A’s fans organized a “reverse protest” to take place on June 13 of this year, with the plan to pack the Oakland Coliseum to combat ownership’s obtuse management of the team.

Over the years, the narrative that A’s fans don’t show up to games and support its team has been lazily generalized. But a collection of fans such as the Oakland 68s and Last Dive Bar, along with local Oakland businesses like Oaklandish, and others within the community stepped up to help lead in the efforts against relocation. June 13 was chosen because it was a random Tuesday evening—because well, it’s a regular season game on a weeknight. Most casual fans are not the usual types to go out of their way to attend such a game.

I was not in attendance at the Coliseum that night, but I was watching the game at home, and paying attention to reactions online in real time. It was noticeable that the A’s broadcast did not directly address why there were so many fans in attendance that night or clarify what exactly it was that the crowd was incessantly chanting throughout the game.

“Sell The Team!”

I didn’t expect team employees or affiliates and partners to publicly address the situation, but what did throw me off for a quick minute was this tweet from the A’s Twitter/X account:          

According to the San Jose Mercury News, the attendance for the game that night was around 27,759 people, and the average attendance through the season hovered around 10,240.

Unquestionably, A’s fans are hurt by the organization’s actions, and despite this seemingly good deed to donate the entirety of the June 13 game’s ticket revenue to two local charities, it’s a slap in the face. What’s more is that it’s a tactical bit of deflection and gaslighting. Yet, it sums up the relationship between the A’s organizational management and its fanbase.

That’s why advocacy is so important in calling attention to meaningful issues. Just look to the journalists trying to cover the bombings on the Gaza strip and regular people fighting for a free Palestine via social media posts. Then look to the members of the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA who spent 148 and 118 days on strike respectively this year. Instead of promoting their latest creative projects, these individuals spoke out about their plights to fight for better protections regarding their livelihoods. These issues in relative comparison to the plight of Oakland A’s fans are obviously of a different tier, but still important enough to many people. To which, collectives such as the Oakland68s and the Last Dive Bar are important advocates for Oakland A’s fans.

Last week, the Last Dive Bar, Oakland68s, Oaklandish and others worked with Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao to send a care package to MLB’s owners to consider voting ‘no’ on relocation.

Some of those same A’s fan advocates like Gabriel Hernandez, Jared Isham, and Dylan Sesco didn’t stop there:

The Oakland 68s managed to deliver another message to MLB owners in Arlington on Monday:

Even after MLB’s owners approved relocation this week, that doesn’t mean the A’s proposed move to Las Vegas is sealed—not yet anyway. Schools Over Stadiums, a political action group comprising of Nevada educators and advocates are arguing against the state’s use of public funds towards a baseball stadium instead of towards its educational system. The group is fighting for a referendum vote on the 2024 ballot and give Nevada residents a voice in whether to subsidize Fisher’s stadium.

Much like Fisher’s tenure as A’s owner, much about the organization’s push toward Las Vegas is half-baked, with no conceivable answers to questions about whether nine acres for a retractable roof in a desert climate is realistic. In Drellich’s same report, a source labeled the A’s prospects in Las Vegas as “iffy.”

Personally, my confidence in John Fisher’s ability to close this deal with Las Vegas is a as strong as his ability to close a front door. That is to say—I don’t believe he can—not in good faith, anyway. Again, there’s still a lot of twists and turns before this whole A’s/Oakland/Las Vegas situation is finally settled. This is probably more like the seventh inning stretch, rather than the bottom of the ninth.

Being a die-hard A’s fan is akin to living an existential existence, because quite frankly, it’s hard to think rationally or objectively about this. This is has been a terribly painful experience to go through because this team has meant so much to me for so long. It’s exacerbated because there are so many others who also share in this pain—family, friends, strangers all-alike. But analyzing this saga in terms of communication, strategy, and advocacy has helped me process the situation.

Even though, this might ultimately end with the A’s relocating to Las Vegas, it is comforting to know that communities are always willing to fight and advocate for one another, and that billionaires and those in power should always be called out for their transgressions.