It’s a warm July evening in West Oakland and the city’s new, independent minor-league baseball team, the Oakland Ballers, are playing a home game against Montana’s Great Falls Voyagers.
Outside Raimondi Park is Joey Hernandez, from Oakland, who got here early to catch fly balls that soar over the stadium’s net. He used to do this at Oakland A’s games, catching up to 400 a season and giving them to kids in the stands. But ever since owner John Fisher decided to move the team, he’s become a stalwart Oakland B’s fan.
“They seem to be interested in doing something for the community, so I’ll support them as much as I can,” Hernandez says. “They’ve already done more to embrace West Oakland than the A’s have in the 19 years Fisher’s been the owner.”
For dinner, Hernandez skipped the hot dogs and nachos at Raimondi Park and instead snagged a wood-fired Neapolitan pizza from the Prescott Night Market down the street. The market is new this year, popping up once a month through Oct. 3 on 18th Street between Peralta and Campbell. It features nearly 30 food and drink vendors offering just about anything a stomach would crave – whole-pig barbecue, Argentinian empanadas, decadent cookies and ice cream, vegan treats and Almanac beer.
“It’s a thousand times better than anything they’ve ever offered at the Coliseum. And it’s reasonably priced — the Coliseum food was low quality for a pretty penny,” says Hernandez. “I don’t like chicken tenders that are five days old and have been frozen for two years and are inconsistently cooked. You might get one that’s beef-jerky quality, and then one that’s halfway decent and not dry.”
Despite it being early, the market is shoulder-to-shoulder with revelers from all over the Bay. Muralists spray-paint a building, a bicycle valet checks in cruisers and the wall-hanging, aerial dance group Bandaloop offers free vertical-flight lessons. Part of the sidewalk is blocked off into a picnic section, where people chow on Berlin-style doner kebabs, Cambodian noodles and frozen pineapple whips.
“The Instagram algorithm and the tags brought us here,” says Matt Balderama, who with his Berkeley friends has purchased smoked brisket, Hawaiian kalua pork, Cuban braised beef and various juices. “All the vendors we follow (online) are kind of concentrated right now – Tacos El Ultimo Baile, All Pau (Berkeley), De La Creamery, Proyecto Diaz.”
Balderama drove here all the way from Fremont. “Worth it,” he says.
“Clandestina Cocina has one of the best Cubanos in the Bay,” says Aila Smith, who lives in Oakland. “(Fast Times Burgers) has one of the best smashburgers ever. Proyecto Diaz has some of the best coffee, and the cookie lady over there in the pink tent (at Juicy Cookie Company) has some of the best cookies ever. I love how all the people I just mentioned have vegan options, too.”
Wandering through the crowd is Harv Singh, who along with co-owner Justin Johal runs Foragers Market, a West Oakland company that operates the Prescott night market as well as farmers markets in Fremont, Livermore and San Ramon. Singh says the event, partly funded by the Activate Oakland Event Sponsorship Program, has proven successful enough, it’ll be coming back in 2025.
“The goal was to activate this neighborhood with activities,” says Singh. “The neighborhood needs it, especially in the night time, because nothing is really happening then.”
Greg Janza came out from San Francisco to see the Ballers game. He used to be a hardcore Oakland A’s fan, but, well … “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but we have a scumbag owner.”
“There’s a lot more variety, plus there’s a lot more interesting people here” than at the Coliseum, says Janza. “I don’t want to berate you with my anger toward John Fisher, so I’ll just say the beautiful story here is that the Ballers are with this market that’s a regular part of this neighborhood, and are really doing what a sports organization in conjunction with the community should be doing – bringing the people together in a fantastic way.”
Janza is relatively new to West Oakland, but thinks he’ll be back. “This seems to be perhaps a catalyst for major change in this neighborhood,” he says. “There’s new housing, there’s the baseball park now, and there’s this. Hopefully, it’ll transition into a hot place to hang out.”
Details: Prescott Night Market will be open from 4 to 8 p.m. Aug. 15, Sept. 5 and Oct. 3. Find details on the vendors and food trucks at www.westoaklandfarmersmarket.org. Find the Oakland Ballers’ game schedule — which includes a home game at Raimondi Park on Aug. 15 — at www.oaklandballers.com.
