Nomads

To love and to lose...it's impossible to go through life without experiencing the loss of something beloved. Pets, family members, friends, opportunities: Virtually everything and everyone we experience in our existences are fleeting; regardless of preservation efforts, denial or other alternate dissociations. 

This includes our sports teams, a reality many in Oakland are currently coming face to face with as of Wednesday, April 19th-- a day that will live in infamy for the A's faithful. At a press conference that evening, team president Dave Kaval announced that the organization had agreed to terms on a 49-acre plot of land near the Las Vegas strip that would be accommodating the team as soon as possible. Left in the wake is a loyal fanbase, once inspired by Billy Beane's Moneyball tactics, now floundering without an identity.

Construction for the new stadium will begin next year, with the project to be wrapped up in time for the 2027 season opener. A complex estimated to cost between $1-1.5 billion dollars, seating 35,000 with a retractable roof, not far from the Las Vegas strip (DKNation). First the Raiders, now the Athletics. A slap in the face to a sports town that's been more than willing to embrace teams, at least when the product's been worth getting behind. A robbery in search of greater profits, in spite of passionate commitment. 

But this wasn't a snatch and grab by A's management, but rather a slow pull away within a once trusting relationship. A deteriorating stadium, featuring broken seats, animal feces and rising prices for parking and concessions (BallparkDigest). Commissioner Rob Manfred's described it as unfit for a major league baseball team. A possum infestation has recently chased visiting broadcasters from their booths. Yet the fans were supposed to just turn a blind eye and pony up the bill while the experience progressively got more abysmal. 

Oakland was regularly competitive, making the playoffs in five of the last ten seasons since Houston came to the AL West. But attendance at The Coliseum was inconsistent, the front office never helped load up contending teams at trade deadlines, and then failed to retain their homegrown stars during the offseason. Frustrations mounted as the team was seemingly content achieving "just good enough" before reverting back into rebuild mode. Rinse, repeat.

Who can blame the common man for not wanting to deal with the product? For wanting to avoid the cycle of mediocre achievements, or at least not shell out top dollar for a miserable viewing experience of it. Optimism had left the once-storied franchise-- and all ownership did to try and restore things was engage in rigid, uncompromising negotiations with the city on a new stadium while holding a rotting carrot up in front of the crowd, completely turning a blind ear and eye to all expressed concerns while plainly shopping the franchise to new locations. Yet the common Oaklander is supposed to drop $100+ of their hard earned money to support them?

Sabotage. What the Oakland Athletics management have committed, in my opinion, is unequivocally, self-fulfilling sabotage. Ruin the facilities, lower expectations, tarnish the product, alienate the fans, play the victim and blame the city as you look for the nearest exit. 

Problem is, outside of the shiny new stadium, the post-move outlook hasn't looked bright for recent teams that have made the jump. The Rams have a mild base growing in LA, but are now sharing it with the Chargers. Who have literally nobody in their corner...thanks Dean Spanos. Raiders home games, direct correlations to what the the A's are about to experience, essentially are getaway trips for opposing fans to a fun city to watch their preferred squad play at Allegiant Stadium. 

I have no doubt that it'll be much of the same for the green and gold, maybe even uglier. Doing outdoor activities in the 110+ degree Las Vegas summers isn't atop many travelers lists, even to watch their team beat up on the hosts. And how many residents are going to be willing to be regulars at these home games given the horrendous product currently on the field? And for the price it'll surely cost... But hey, where could this go wrong?

Stuck in the rubble of the exodus will be the people of Oakland, many of whom having recently retired their spiked shoulder pads and silver face paint. Next will be the Ricky Henderson and Mark McGwire jerseys, the 1989 World Series shirts, stained with tears of anger and regret. A whole region of baseball fanatics left without a team, wandering around aimlessly through a sports world that's leaving them behind. For one of the flakiest markets in all of the country at that. All in the name of the almighty dollar; a story all too familiar.

Shades of Our Baltimore

As Baltimorons, this is a feeling we've known too well. After the 1983 NFL season, a dickhead by the name of Robert Irsay stole the Baltimore Colts from our beloved city in the middle of the night, in search of the greener pastures of scenic Indianapolis...a tale not too dissimilar to the Athletics'. A generally competitive team with a passionate fan base, iffy ownership, a shitty stadium and some financial push back from the city regarding the construction of a new one. 

And rather than compromise, these owners simply choose to bail at the first convenient escape. Flip the bird to the people that formerly cherished them and onto the next big thing. Capitalism at it's finest. 

Some people stuck with the Colts as their team, while many flocked to other localities like the Steelers and former Redskins to cope with the loss. Others just stopped watching the NFL entirely, too hung up on the heartbreak to seek their next dance partner. A new decision now, yet again, at the forefront of the Oakland faithful: where, if anywhere, to put their baseball allegiance.

There's no one-size-fits-all response to something like this, though the decision would be definitively clear to me: the league can take my team but will no longer take a penny from me.

This fear may seem irrational in some sports towns like New York and Boston, but it's a constant reality for many small-to-middle market teams. A horror that crept back into our minds with the Angelos' family's control over the Orioles. The inability to secure a new lease at Camden Yards coupled with their blatant infatuation with Nashville have rekindled many of the trepidations into the hearts of Birdland. Will Oakland's move be a push for the ownership to try and secure an unlikely brighter future elsewhere, or will public disdain from abandoned A's fans inspire them to iron things out in Baltimore? Time will tell in that regard. 

Concluding Thoughts

In the end, relocations like this are nothing new for any league, but they're certainly less common than they used to be. On one hand, some would call the plight of Oakland's fan base ironic, being that they were originally from Kansas City in their own right. But few would say they felt the Fisher's did everything they could to keep the team in the city, which is where the betrayal cuts deepest. 

Organizations like the Rays and Marlins, with shorter histories, and virtually no following, seemed like much more fitting options for a move than the A's, but that was not the reality that came to fruition. Will those clubs be packing up U-Haul trucks of their own soon?

In the meantime, Oakland's lease at The Coliseum is up in 2024, meaning a two year purgatory for a homeless, fanless ball club at an undisclosed location. If their players weren't used to playing in front of empty bleachers already...they're about to get a real taste of it in the coming seasons. 

The remaining few months of 2023 should be good practice for this, as it's highly unlikely many will be coming out to support the squad after the breaking of this news. Who could blame them either; would you pay money to hang out for a few hours with your ex? Sad state of affairs, as we're witnessing another historic franchise uprooting their history in hopes of higher corporate gains. 

Lost in the sauce, as always, will be your average Joe's, just trying to attach themselves to a hometown club. Shout out to those in Oakland affected by this malpractice, you all deserved better than this. A loyal group of small market seam heads now wandering around the Pacific Midwest, longing for a team to call their own. Nomads, within the baseball landscape they helped create. 

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@Choppinglines

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