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Oceanside, NY (MPN) – On September 26, 2024, the Oakland A’s took the field for one last time against the Texas Rangers, in front of a sellout crowd. The A’s won the game of course, but it didn’t take away the sad, somber feeling that has irradiated since this saga began.
Last Year, the MLB Owners unanimously approved the relocation of the Oakland A’s to Las Vegas. With the team expecting to build a stadium to be ready for the 2027 or 2028 season.
The A’s have been trying to get a stadium done in Oakland for the last 16 years, but greed and other factors caused these efforts to fail. Now, the Ownership has decided to pack it up and leave town
“We Have All Been Here Before”
Much like the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, the A’s have a history of moving from town to town. They began in Philadelphia. Having Played 52 Seasons in Philly, the Athletics won 5 World Series titles and 9 Pennants
The A’s had enjoyed popularity in Philly, but the team’ success began to fade, as the Phillies began spending on young talent. By 1954, the A’s were on the verge of bankruptcy. Owner Roy Mack began negotiating to sell the team with two prospective businessmen lining up, Arnold Johnson, who owned Yankee Stadium, and John Crisconi, a Philadelphia Auto Dealer. The Yankees had used their leverage to persuade the AL to prefer Johnson, even going as far as to plant rumors of Crisconi being under funded after Roy Mack initially chose to sell the team to him, but, the team was sold to Johnson instead, and were moved to Kansas City one month later.
The A’s would remain in Kansas City until 1968, when Charlie Finey, an Insurance salesman who bought the team 8 years earlier, moved the team to Oakland (Incidentally, the Kings, who had been in Cincinnati since 1957, would move to Kansas City four years later, where they would remain until 1985)
Legacy in Oakland
Since then, the A’s have won 4 World Series titles, 6 Pennants, and 17 Division Titles with several well known hall famers making their way through the Coliseum from Catfish Hunter to Ricky Henderson, and a passionate, and loyal fanbase that remains, even in the face of this crisis, one of the most rabid in baseball. But in spite of all that, in spite of everything the people of Oakland have done for their baseball team, the Oakland A’s are packing their bags for another city.
The A’s Name and Identity Belongs in Oakland
The Question of which of the four cities the Athletics have or will have played in deserves the claim over the A’s identity and legacy is certainly an argument. Kansas City has the Royals, which have played in the city three times longer than the A’s tenure in that city.
Philadelphia of course, has a legitimate claim, though the color scheme used in Philly was Red, White and Blue, as opposed to the Green and Yellow Color Scheme used in Kansas City and Oakland. 54 Seasons and to this day, a fan base whose descendants have dedicated a historical society too, still the name and legacy (since 1968) of this team belongs in Oakland.
Still Time to Make this Right
The A’s will begin play in Sacramento next year, but the move to Vegas won’t be finalized until 2028. The Team is still designing its stadium and the city still has hurdles to clear, meaning, there’s still a way to help rectify this situation.
In this scenario, the Owners of the Athletics would take the players and personnel to Las Vegas, where they would be regarded as an expansion team, while the MLB would revive the A’s along with a new team in the National League in 2027
In 2018, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred expressed interest in seeing the MLB expand to 32 teams, and since then the MLB has seen a number of cities express interest in teams. There are several candidates for expansion, all meeting the criteria of being valuable or pointless depending on your own personal criteria for expansion, but the idea of a new team in Vegas, would be more beneficial to the league’s expansion, even if it comes in a rather unorthodox form
This isn’t a new concept, this happened in football with the Browns in 1996, and in real football in 2005 with the San Jose Earthquakes.
The League benefits from this as well. Saving the Oakland A’s would keep a dedicated and loyal fanbase in the league’s fold, while allowing a new fanbase to grow in Las Vegas that’s independent of anything that existed before.
Of course, whether the MLB won’t take this initiative on its own or if a lawsuit or public pressure could force them to yield remains to be seen. Either way, there’s still a chance, even if it’s slim, for the league to do the right thing.