'Devastated' Oakland A's Fans React to Team's Vegas Move

A sports team is nothing without a community that supports it. Many Oakland A’s fans are still processing the news that their beloved team signed a deal to build a new stadium near the Las Vegas Strip. If all these plans go through, it seems like the A’s could leave their hometown altogether.

Die-hard fans told KQED that they believed A’s leadership when it boasted its #RootedInOakland campaign. Now, many say they feel betrayed. There are fans who grew up going to the ballpark and who introduced their children to the excitement of baseball. Some have even proposed to their partners at the Coliseum. As Oakland stands to lose yet another sports team to Las Vegas, A’s fans share their heartfelt reactions and genuine memories of what the team has meant to The Town for more than five decades.

In 2006 during Game 3 of the opening round of the American League playoffs, Sean McKissick remembers, the A’s absolutely dismantled the Minnesota Twins and advanced to the next round of the playoffs. He said it’s one of his top memories next to the birth of his children. But it was one of those electrifying games that was made better by being part of a roaring crowd alongside his wife, his brothers and his parents.

“I remember being in that crowd … we’ve already got the lead, but the bases are loaded for Marco Scutaro. He clears the bases with a double. The entire crowd, 50,000 strong, is chanting Scu-ta-ro, Scu-ta-ro,” McKissick said. “It was a high. I won’t say it’s better than the birth of my kids, but if you put that aside, it’s pretty high up on my most treasured memories.”

McKissick grew up in the East Bay and said he spent his infancy in the Coliseum cheering on the A’s. He now lives in Fair Oaks, a suburb of Sacramento. But despite the distance, he was still making the drive to Oakland to attend A’s games with his family. He said being at the ballpark over the last 40 years truly shaped a significant part of his life. Now that the team is leaving, he’s unsure how to feel.

“It just didn’t make sense to me. You’ve got such a fan base here. You’ve got such a history here. It’s the home of Rickey Henderson. How do the A’s leave the town where Rickey Henderson grew up?” he said.

Michael Garcia, an application developer, said he has been going to the Coliseum for 20 years with his dad and still can’t believe the news.

“We have experienced countless heartbreaks. Whether it was our favorite players getting traded or tolerating where all we could hope for was having at least a .500 season, we’ve been through it all.

“The recent news regarding the A’s moving to Las Vegas was the biggest heartbreak by far. Despite the sadness and frustration that I feel, I am still thankful for all the wonderful memories that the A’s have given us over the years. Those are the memories that I will continue to cherish, even when we are no longer the Oakland Athletics.”

John Medina, a former military member, said there were times during his service when he followed A’s games even when he had little to no reception. He kept up with the team because he cared about the sport and loved the A’s that much.

“I’ve been an A’s fan my entire life, but after this decision, I simply can’t watch or support them anymore,” he said. “It’s as if we’ve been backstabbed by a team that pushed the ‘Rooted in Oakland’ narrative. My family and friends were in utter shock by this decision because they were more than a team to us. They were a part of Oakland and our lives, and like the roots they claimed were there, they simply dug them out and chose to put them somewhere else and didn’t even bother to cover up the hole.”

Longtime fan Brice Robinson-Wasley told KQED he cheered on the A’s from his small town in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

“When I was a boy in the ’90s, the Giants were looking to relocate to Tampa. I was in Little League and the Giants were doing zero outreach to the community. The A’s, however, had every intention of staying. They had a Little League day where we got to watch a game, walk on the field, have the experience of a lifetime. I certainly have remembered it all my life.

“I have been an A’s fan ever since. It occurs to me that the roles have been reversed: The Giants are now [the] ones with no intention to move and the A’s are the team looking for a way out (and they’ve gotten it). Even if by some miracle they do stay, who are the A’s building as lifelong fans like they did 25–30 years ago?”

Jacob Vides said the Oakland Coliseum is a place where fellow A’s fans bond over their team pride and become lifelong friends.

“[Michael and I] became best friends after we met at an A’s game in 2016. And have attended many more games together since. We have Oakland to thank for many great and fun memories,” Vides said. “We are devastated to learn about the potential move and feel let down by the A’s and to a lesser degree the city of Oakland. Our message is owners should veto this move, and MLB Commissioner Manfred should not waive the $2 billion relocation fee.”

While Vides weighed Oakland’s loss, other fans such as Michael Melland, an Oakland resident since 1988, say good riddance.

“See ya. Wouldn’t want to be ya. They’ve destroyed this baseball team. They’ve insulted all of the fans. The owner is a billionaire … it’s like, OK, go ahead. We don’t want you here. … He ruined a whole brand here. I mean, look at these guys. What have they won? Three games and it’s already the last half of April. It’s terrible.

“Why should the poor taxpayers of Oakland who can’t even keep the schools, or the police, or health care going, why should they have to pony up just so he can make even more money? It’s insane.”

As a dedicated A’s fan for more than 30 years, Connie Voss said she’s hurt just like everyone else, but looks forward to the upcoming soccer season and women’s sports.

“I’m hurt that they’re leaving us. The way they’re leaving us. I was devastated … It really, really, really hurt. We kind of thought they were going to leave us, but hoping they weren’t,” she said. “But I’m trying to think positive and deal with the new kinds of sports that are coming: the soccer games and the women’s teams. I’m looking forward to all of that. I don’t want to live in the past. I want to move to the future.”

Mumin Abuzaid, 23, was born in San Francisco, but lives in Alameda and grew up attending A’s games. He said he’s sad that the team’s president, Dave Kaval, would be willing to take money from a city that has a long list of immediate needs.

“It’s a bit weird for a billion-dollar franchise to be asking that of a city when they already support you more than they really should, as you haven’t been winning as much as other teams. It’s a bit entitled, if you ask me.

“That whole ‘Rooted in Oakland’ thing is kind of like a slap in the face when you use that as a marketing strategy to promote your brand and, of course, that got you money, but now where’s that whole philosophy? Hearing [that] the Warriors, the Raiders and now the A’s are going to be leaving Oakland, it’s a bit of a slap in the face to a community who always stood behind their teams through rough, rough times. Now they’re gone.”

Chris Parker’s grandparents moved to the Bay four years before the A’s started as an Oakland team back in 1968. His family have been die-hard fans ever since.

“It’s been something each generation’s been proud of and had in common. We’ve gone to games for years — some of my earliest memories are at the Coliseum hearing Dick Callahan’s voice. My grandpa especially watched nearly every game he could on TV until he passed this December. If he was still around, I know he’d be madder than he usually got watching what he would say [A’s owner John] Fisher thinks passes for a franchise these days and what Manfred enables in the league.

“When I helped Dave Kaval and others with their live Q&A sessions they held on our subreddit, and whenever he’d speak to the media for the past few years, the A’s leadership would always stress how they were ‘#RootedInOakland’ and committed to the community, fans, and working to get a deal. After today, it seems the only commitment the organization has is to driving the franchise into the ground …

“A’s fans are generally a hardy lot, and range from overly forgiving to very fickle, but I think it’s safe to say that almost everyone is going to be unified on feeling betrayed and hurt on this one. Personally, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to watch the game after this … and it won’t necessarily be as simple as ‘pick another team.’”

This story includes reporting from KQED’s Phoebe Quinton, Farida Jhabvala Romero, Brian Watt and Alexander Gonzalez.