{"id":99636,"date":"2025-07-28T15:01:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T15:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/99636\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T15:01:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T15:01:09","slug":"as-3-cities-oakland-left-behind-sacramento-a-temporary-stop-las-vegas-prepares-its-welcome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/99636\/","title":{"rendered":"A’s 3 cities: Oakland left behind, Sacramento a temporary stop, Las Vegas prepares its welcome"},"content":{"rendered":"

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) \u2014 Those chants of \u201csell the team\u201d that rang from every corner of the Coliseum during the Athletics\u2019 final seasons in Oakland are noticeably less obvious these days as the club plays the first of three scheduled years<\/a> at a Triple-A ballpark in California\u2019s capital region.<\/p>\n

Not that all the negative feelings have been cast aside. There is still plenty of ill will toward the team that moved some 90 miles north.<\/p>\n

During a recent Braves-A\u2019s series, two supporters showed up in \u201cForever Oakland\u201d T-shirts, while another fan from Fresno arrived at Sutter Health Park wearing a \u201cRooted in Oakland\u201d shirt.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a drastically different scene from the A\u2019s old Oakland home. <\/p>\n

Fans staged \u201creverse boycott\u201d protests<\/a> where they packed the Coliseum, brought homemade signs begging the team to stay and loudly called for owner John Fisher to \u201cSELL!\u201d In Sacramento, there\u2019s a pervading sense the A\u2019s are a rental, not a long-term investment. As soon as 2028, they plan to move into a what has been valued as a $1.75 billion ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip. Construction began last month.<\/p>\n

While many A\u2019s fans moved on and want nothing to do with the team, some still drive long distances<\/a> to games in Sacramento and try to make the best of the situation \u2014 a big league team in a small-time stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a big difference walking (through the ballpark) in about five minutes instead of walking the Coliseum in like 20, 30 minutes,\u201d said Francisco Almazan from Modesto. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a wholly comfortable setup for players and coaches. The A\u2019s built a two-story clubhouse beyond left field that on the top floor includes a lounge, kitchen and offices for manager Mark Kotsay and his coaches. The players\u2019 lockers are on the first level. <\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody is trying to make the best of it,\u201d outfielder Lawrence Butler said. \u201cI\u2019m just thankful for them trying to make it up to big-league standard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred acknowledged while speaking at the All-Star Game that playing in a 10,000-seat ballpark isn\u2019t perfect. He said the circumstances would be different if the A\u2019s moved directly into a 33,000-capacity facility like the one underway in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

Union chief Tony Clark was less diplomatic, insisting players prefer to work in an actual big league ballpark.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s still a little bit of hope that something may come to fruition before 2028 and what\u2019s being described as the time where the new ballpark will be in place,\u201d Clark said. \u201cBut we\u2019ll have to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

A\u2019s players know the situation: The plan is to play in America\u2019s party capital less than three years from now, but that seemingly far-off timeline doesn\u2019t consume their day-to-day baseball lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this group is focused on what they need to be focused on,\u201d Kotsay said. \u201cThey come to prepare every day. You walk through our locker room, there\u2019s a consistent routine and consistent work ethic that goes on prior to them playing the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, as much as they try to stay in the moment, the A\u2019s are very much tied to their past, present and future with three far different cities.<\/p>\n

Oakland is embracing the B\u2019s, and the Coliseum has a new tenant<\/p>\n

Some baseball fans in the A\u2019s old market have shifted their interest to the Oakland Ballers. The \u201cB\u2019s\u201d have been a huge hit at intimate Raimondi Park \u2014 capacity around 4,000 \u2014 complete with mascot Scrappy the Rally Possum and nostalgic nods to Oakland at every turn.<\/p>\n

The B\u2019s have provided a big lift for a city that watched the NBA\u2019s Golden State Warriors move to San Francisco in 2019 and the NFL\u2019s Raiders leave for Las Vegas the next year.<\/p>\n

Last month, the Ballers unveiled a mural honoring late Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson<\/a>, who died in December<\/a> at age 65.<\/p>\n

The Oakland Roots soccer team now plays its home games at the Coliseum, where cricket has also become a popular choice<\/a> given the dual-sport facility\u2019s size.<\/p>\n

Some longtime employees<\/a> now work Roots games but many moved on or retired, unwilling to make the trek to Sacramento \u2014 though most weren\u2019t invited.<\/p>\n

Las Vegas prepares to welcome an MLB franchise<\/p>\n

A formal groundbreaking<\/a> on the new ballpark occurred June 23, with Fisher, Manfred and Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo among those speaking at the festivities. There is a tight window for the venue to be ready by opening day in 2028.<\/p>\n

The A\u2019s hope to complete the project in 2027. They launched a construction cam<\/a> so fans can track the progress, and without a doubt, the team will be under a microscope trying to meet its ambitious deadline.<\/p>\n

Then the question becomes: Will Las Vegas embrace the A\u2019s?<\/p>\n

Las Vegas\u2019 strong support for its first major professional team, the NHL\u2019s Golden Knights, helped pave the way for what has become an explosion of sports in a city once shunned because of legalized sports betting. The Raiders draw large crowds, but many game days feel like neutral sites with opposing fans showing up by the thousands. The Aces became the first WNBA team to sell out an entire season \u2014 and did so twice.<\/p>\n

Longtime A\u2019s radio play-by-play man Ken Korach has a unique perspective on it. In his 30th season calling A\u2019s games, Korach moved to the Henderson, Nevada, suburb in 1992 and has stayed put. He figured MLB might explore the market, either through relocation or expansion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of conflicting emotions there,\u201d Korach said. \u201cI\u2019ve always felt the Bay Area is a two-team market, and I\u2019ve always felt that Vegas could support a major-league team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rookie infielder Max Muncy, too, can already weigh in on the A\u2019s current home and their future one. He has played 81 games in Las Vegas over the past two seasons, but began this season in Sacramento and returned to the big club before going on the 10-day injured list Tuesday after taking a pitch to his right hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a great time in Las Vegas,\u201d Muncy said. \u201cThose fans are great. The atmosphere is great. It\u2019s a great city. I enjoyed living there. I think it\u2019s going to be a special place to play, as it is here. I really enjoyed my time there, and I think a lot of guys that played there will say the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being on the Strip would allow the A\u2019s to attract tourists given the ballpark is walking distance for many visitors. That could be especially important for non-marquee, weeknight matchups in contrast to in-demand weekend series against big-market teams like the Yankees or Dodgers.<\/p>\n

The club has begun trying to establish a foothold in the community. The A\u2019s said they have contributed $1.5 million since 2023, including more than $400,000 this year, to nonprofits and other similar organizations that include every youth baseball and softball team. They have been involved in more than 30 events this year from youth sports to festivals to public watch parties with more planned through the end of 2025.<\/p>\n

Sacramento is trying to enjoy the A\u2019s while they\u2019re still around<\/p>\n

Robert Greenberg, an A\u2019s fan who lives in Fresno, isn\u2019t sure he will keep rooting for the green and gold if and when they move for good even if it\u2019s an easier drive to Sacramento than to Oakland. He believes Fisher cut payroll and undermined the team to suppress attendance and facilitate its move.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess he got what he wanted,\u201d Greenberg said.<\/p>\n

Ayad Bunni of San Mateo said he was a fan before hosting the \u201cLocked on A\u2019s\u201d podcast. He considered not following the A\u2019s and understands why many others no longer cheer them on, but said he didn\u2019t fault the club for taking these steps.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an A\u2019s fan and being from here, would I love for them to be in Oakland?\u201d he said. \u201cAbsolutely, 100%.\u201d<\/p>\n

The A\u2019s average 9,782 fans, and they and Tampa Bay \u2014 also playing in a Triple-A ballpark this season after Tropicana Field was damaged by a hurricane \u2014 are the only teams were fewer than 10,000 per game. The Athletics averaged 11,386 fans last season in the Coliseum, lowest in MLB.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the players play on, and whether the process turns out to be one big sinking ship remains to be seen. It also could become a move that puts the organization on the trajectory to future success in the box office and on the field.<\/p>\n

But the here and now gives the A\u2019s plenty to think about, and All-Star designated hitter Brent Rooker acknowledged he and his teammates have faced adversity most other clubs haven\u2019t encountered.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery challenge you face in this game or outside this game is going to mold you and build you into the person you\u2019re going to ultimately become,\u201d Rooker said. \u201cSo anything you can use to your advantage, whether it\u2019s adversity, a challenge, a success, a failure, all those things can be made into positives.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP Baseball Writer Janie McCauley in Oakland contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP MLB: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/MLB<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) \u2014 Those chants of \u201csell the team\u201d that rang from every corner of the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":99637,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[3955,591,34538,2059,276,65149,10104,57,4353,65150,2184,65147,61682,8327,1266,1822,617,11290,24197,21368,65151,22875,62,44821,61,67,132,68,65148],"class_list":{"0":"post-99636","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-athletics","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-brent-rooker","11":"tag-ca-state-wire","12":"tag-california","13":"tag-francisco-almazan","14":"tag-ga-state-wire","15":"tag-general-news","16":"tag-georgia","17":"tag-ken-korach","18":"tag-las-vegas","19":"tag-lawrence-butler","20":"tag-mark-kotsay","21":"tag-max-muncy","22":"tag-mlb","23":"tag-mlb-baseball","24":"tag-nevada","25":"tag-nv-state-wire","26":"tag-oakland","27":"tag-rob-manfred","28":"tag-robert-greenberg","29":"tag-sacramento","30":"tag-sports","31":"tag-tony-clark","32":"tag-u-s-news","33":"tag-united-states","34":"tag-unitedstates","35":"tag-us","36":"tag-youth-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114931465617560733","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}