“I am committed to Oakland as a major league site. If we were to leave Oakland, I think 10 years from now, we would be more likely than not looking backward, saying we made a mistake.”[1]
Rob Manfred, July 12, 2016
“We hate to move. We did everything we could possibly do to keep the club in Oakland. Unfortunately, one night doesn’t change a decade worth of inaction.”[2]
Rob Manfred, June 23, 2023
“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”[3]
Jackie Robinson
hings aren’t adding up in Oakland.
Major League Baseball is leaving town for drier pastures. In deserting the lucrative East Bay market and 57-year home of the A’s, MLB is destroying one of its most storied franchises and one of its best brands. Forget about the damage the move will cause to the Oakland community—that is academic. What is stunning is the fact that MLB is leaving cold hard cash on the table by approving the move. Why is MLB sanctioning John Fisher’s abandonment of long-term viability on the Oakland waterfront for a desert pittance? Why is MLB sanctioning a relocation that will make the A’s a permanent drain on MLB revenues? Why is MLB killing one of its most compelling franchises for the sake of the man who didn’t invest a dime in it? In short, why is MLB fleeing Oakland?
The powers that be haven’t given a logical explanation yet, so we’re left looking for answers. Does MLB have an ulterior motive for supporting the relocation? Or is there some innocent explanation? Perhaps MLB simply isn’t good at math and therefore doesn’t realize that relocating the A’s to Las Vegas will hurt its bottom line. To be fair, who doesn’t struggle with math from time to time? But it is remedial arithmetic that MLB is failing. And the stakes couldn’t be higher. The Oakland A’s have an appointment with death in 2025—assuming the players union rubber stamps the stopgap Sacramento relocation. This is no time to have to remind MLB of its mission statement—more money. The relocation of the A’s from Oakland to Las Vegas will mean less money for MLB, so why is Commissioner Rob Manfred championing the move? What is it about Oakland that doesn’t fit MLB’s paradigm?
Manfred has valiantly tried to distract the little people from raising this awkward question, offering the false narrative that the Oakland fans and the City of Oakland are to blame for the relocation of the A’s. This is simply not the case.
By the time the June 13, 2023 Reverse Boycott was in the books, the contention that the Oakland fan base was subpar was in tatters, and Manfred was left with only his snark to prop himself up: “It’s great to see what is this year almost an average Major League Baseball crowd in the facility for one night.”[4] Say, Mr. Commissioner, has there ever been a louder crowd in history to watch a team 32 games under .500 in mid-June? And what are we to make of the record-breaking crowd of 54,000 who showed up at the Coliseum to watch the 2019 wildcard playoff game between the A’s and the Rays?[5] The peasants really crawled out of the woodwork that night.
The myth that the City of Oakland is to blame is in the capable hands of Manfred, so allow us to introduce some facts to the discussion. We put the blame where it belongs most—on A’s ownership. And we have the historical record to back us up. We’ve even footnoted some of our assertions lest we be dismissed as undisciplined brutes. We’re from Oakland, after all. Guilty until proven innocent. But make no mistake about it, neither sleet nor snow nor Manfred’s torrential BS is going to stop us.
It is clear why Manfred is so vehement in blaming the ballpark failures on Oakland. He wants to head off the truth at the pass. Closer inspection of the A’s ballpark saga shines an embarrassing light on MLB’s old boys club—a group that has shamefully bought into Bud Selig’s decades-old vision of eliminating baseball in Oakland. One can’t be certain why Selig carried a torch for the demise of the Oakland A’s, but there is no denying that he did. In his words, the existence of the Oakland A’s was a “horrible mistake.”[6]
Selig hasn’t been commissioner since 2015, but the old boys club is still doing old things. That includes taking aim at the Oakland A’s, one of baseball’s most historically and culturally significant franchises over the last 57 years. Why is Oakland in the crosshairs? We hope we’re on the wrong path here, but it may be that Oakland is just too Black for MLB’s taste. Then again, it’s the third decade of the 21st century. Is MLB fine with its brand being identified with flight from the inner city to whiter pastures? Is this a mischaracterization of MLB’s position? Let’s see what math and history have to say.
[1] Rob Manfred, as quoted in Bill Shaikin, “Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says MLB would regret it if Athletics left Oakland,” latimes.com, 12 July 2016, Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says MLB would regret it if Athletics left Oakland – Los Angeles Times (latimes.com).
[2] Rob Manfred, as quoted in Associated Press, “Rob Manfred: A’s protest lags behind ‘decade worth of inaction,’” espn.com, 23 June 2023, Rob Manfred – A’s protest lags behind ‘decade worth of inaction’ – ESPN.
[3] Jackie Robinson, as quoted at https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/robinson-jackie.
[4] Rob Manfred, as quoted in Miles Schachner, “Rob Manfred trades barbs with Oakland mayor over A’s stadium,” nypost.com, 15 June 2023, Rob Manfred spars with Oakland mayor over stadium deal (nypost.com).
[5] Scott Strazzante, “A’s set record for biggest crowd at a wild-card game,” sfchronicle.com, 2 October 2019, A’s set record for biggest crowd at a wild-card game (sfchronicle.com).
[6] Bud Selig, as quoted in CatfishVidaReggie, “Selig Disses Oakland,” July 24, 2009, YouTube video, 2:14, Selig Disses Oakland (youtube.com).