OAKLAND — The Athletics are just days into their “long goodbye” with their stated intention to play the 2024 season at the Coliseum in their final year of their lease.
“The schedule is set,” an A’s spokesman said Saturday. “We are playing in Oakland.”
The Athletics have lost four straight since their “Reverse Boycott” garnered national attention, with the latest a 3-2, 12-inning defeat against the Philadelphia Phillies Sunday before 12,105 at the Coliseum.
The Athletics are 19-54. As a matter of comparison, the 1979 A’s, which were 54-108, were 22-51 after 73 games although the current A’s have been more competitive of late.
Unlike some of the miniscule crowds earlier this season that seemed smaller than the announced attendance, this one seemed bigger than the official crowd count and included the familiar drumbeat in right field which had vanished in recent weeks.
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A’s manager Mark Kotsay believes there’s been an uptick in fan intensity since 27,259 showed up to protest ownership’s plans to move to Las Vegas.
“An interesting thing from my end is it feels like there are more people in the stands,” Kotsay said. “There’s an energy and excitement level. To hear the drums back in the stands is kind of refreshing.”
Oakland has experienced a “long goodbye” once before, with the Raiders playing the 2017 through 2019 seasons at the Coliseum while Allegiant Stadium was under construction in Las Vegas.
With players and coaches essentially wrapped in a cocoon and concerning themselves with the day-to-day grind associated with being a major league team, it’s not as if the Athletics agreement to leave their home since 1968 is met with shock, dismay or even concern among those in uniform.
Kotsay said he wasn’t aware of his club’s intentions in terms of where it would play in 2024. With upper management unavailable for comment, it’s left to Kotsay to do all the talking — and he’s not personally involved with moving the franchise.
“It’s definitely my responsibility to be out front and represent the club, but you don’t really speak about the things you don’t have control over — where we’re going to play, where we’re going to be,” Kotsay said. “I control the day-to-day picture really and the responsibility of wins and losses. The way I represent this club is going to be judged every day.”
When the Raiders reached agreement to play in Las Vegas, then-coach Jack Del Rio acknowledged he was in unfamiliar territory and stressed the team would be very different by the time the stadium was actually built.
True enough, only a few players such as quarterback Derek Carr, center Rodney Hudson and guard Gabe Jackson were on the roster when the Raiders played their first game as the Las Vegas Raiders. The club played three seasons as a lame duck, going 17-31 under one year with Del Rio and two under Jon Gruden.
With owner Mark Davis asking fans to “blame me, not the team,” the Raiders averaged 56,081 in 22 regular season home dates despite despite their won-loss record.
A’s owner John Fisher and president Dave Kaval have avoided even the mention of the market they are departing just six years after establishing a “Rooted in Oakland” marketing campaign in part designed to point out the Raiders were leaving town.
With a similar commitment in terms of payroll and 81 regular-season dates as opposed to seven or eight, it’s hard to imagine the A’s playing before decent-sized crowds in a lame duck season.
Whether the “Rooted in Oakland” slogan remains painted on the 66th Avenue side of the stadium is unclear, but the franchise has intends on 2024 as a farewell year.
Like Raiders players who focused on their next practice and next game, A’s players are more concerned with sticking around in the big leagues on a team which has undergone significant roster change over the last several years and especially the last two since the roster teardown.
“We have literally no say in where we’re at,” infielder Jace Peterson said. “We’re MLB players and we’re here to work and try and win wherever we’re at. We’re in Oakland and we love Oakland and we know they have a great history here, but we can’t do anything about whether we stay or whether we move.”
Ballplayers are like the military, only they receive better pay. Many players establish residences away from their city and then live temporarily where they play.
“Last year I was traded twice and optioned (to the minors) four times, so moving cities and moving locations is second nature,” outfielder/DH Brent Rooker said. “Everyone who plays this game for a living is used to all that stuff. We know how the fans feel, the way they came out here the other night. It’s a very passionate fan base and we just want to play hard for them.”
Owners are expected to rubber stamp the wishes of the A’s to move, having reached a deal with Las Vegas and Nevada that was signed by Governor Joe Lombardo With a $1.5 billion stadium not expected to be completed until 2028 at the earliest.
Options after 2024 include minor league ballparks in Summerlin, Nevada, where the A’s Triple-A affiliate Las Vegas Aviators play, as well as Reno. Both minor league sites, however, would need approval of the MLB Players Association.
The A’s could in theory negotiate another lease extension if the city and county were amenable, similar to how the Raiders needed a third and final year before pulling up stakes.
A’s infielder Jonah Bride, who has played the Aviators, has pushed speculation aside.
“That’s outside my pay grade,” Bride said. “I know it’s a lot, and locating to a different city would be a change for everybody. But how it would work is something I don’t understand. I think we’ll just continue to do what we’re doing right now and try to stay hungry.”
