The Oakland Athletics will soon drop ‘Oakland’ from their name and move to Sacramento on a “temporary” basis before eventually relocating to Las Vegas. Its fanbase has the opportunity to do something hilarious during their team’s final game at their beloved home stadium.
They could stick ownership with a bunch of replicas it doesn’t want.
An extremely tone deaf email went out to fans on Friday and encouraged them to “commemorate the Coliseum all season long.” That was sent one day after widely disliked owner John Fisher revealed that the team will play the next few years in a 14,000-capacity stadium in Sacramento during a cringe-inducing press conference. Timing could not have been much worse.
The email also included an giveaway announcement for the final home game at the Oakland Coliseum on Sept. 25. The first 25,000 fans in attendance will receive a replica of the historic venue.
First and foremost, expecting 25,000 fans to show up is bold. Oakland loves its city and will always support its own, but that is quite a big assumption given the current situation.
Secondly, the giveaway itself is a slap in the face. Ownership is ripping the team from its roots. Fans are furious. Ownership is giving them a reminder of what they had taken away from them as a gift.
This is where the fans could step up for one final (figurative) middle finger to Fisher and his cronies.
Wouldn’t it be funny if they sold out the second-to-last game at the Coliseum? Oakland Athletics fans could show their support one final time for a team that they love so dearly while sticking ownership with 25,000 replicas of a stadium in which their team no longer plays.
I think that would be hysterical. It would be the perfect way to go out!