The Tragedy of the Oakland A's, Through the Lens of A Cubs Fan

Let’s get one thing straight: what is happening to the Athletics and their fanbase is a tragedy. It’s an abject failure on the part of Major League Baseball, and a disgusting display of greed from a billionaire who long ago forgot what it means to own a sports team that is beloved by millions. There’s no use in pretending we, as Cubs fans, can relate to our favorite franchise getting abruptly displaced because of the actions of an avaricious, self-serving owner (the Cubs are never leaving Chicago, no matter what stunt the Ricketts family tries to pull). All we can do is sympathize with another passionate fanbase, who must now accept that their team is relocating after putting them through one of the most blatant, disrespectful tank jobs in history.

NORTH SIDE BASEBALL Key Stat: The Oakland Athletics lead all of Major League Baseball with 221 losses (and counting) since the start of the 2022 season.

The city of Oakland has had a rough go of it in recent years. The Raiders departed back in 2020, also for Las Vegas, citing the conditions of the Oakland Coliseum. One summer before that, the Golden State Warriors moved across the Bay and returned to their roots in San Francisco, officially leaving Oakland with just one major sports team. Now, with the Athletics set to depart for Sacramento while their new home in Las Vegas is built, a proud city with a rich sporting history is without a team for which to root. 

The villain in all of this is, of course, John Fisher. Despite accumulating a net worth of roughly $3.1 billion, per Forbes, the A’s owner has supported a payroll that ranks dead last over the last three seasons. This year has been especially egregious, as the team’s Opening Day payroll of $47.9 million is almost $25 million shy of the 29th-place Pittsburgh Pirates ($72 million). For all the griping we do when the Cubs won’t exceed the luxury tax threshold (which is fair, given the size of the Chicago market and the Ricketts family’s $4.5 billion net worth), their payroll currently stands at 451% of the Athletics’. 

By moving the team to Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, California, the Athletics will go from playing in a run-down major-league stadium to a literal minor-league ballpark. There’s almost never a good solution when a team is between homes, but playing in a stadium that cost less than half the price of their Triple-A affiliate’s home is a joke. 

When making the announcement, Fisher called Sutter Health Park the “most intimate park in Major League Baseball”. Ignoring the fact that Wrigley Field seats more people per square inch for a second, that quote is a not-so-subtle code for “the most pathetic park in the league”. Fisher knows his interim home doesn’t hold a candle to even the worst stadiums across the league, which is perhaps fitting for an owner who has pushed away a fiercely loyal fanbase. In one particularly appalling moment during his press conference, Fisher couldn’t come up with a single Athletics player, instead citing his excitement to watch MLB’s top stars, like Aaron Judge, hit home runs (off his own pitchers) at SHP.

Fisher is an embarrassment unto himself, and for all owners in Major League baseball. That any of the other 29 owners would even want to be associated with a man as pernicious and self-absorbed as Fisher is a disgrace. There’s a conversation to be had about the complete removal from normal, everyday society that billionaires experience, but this is a discussion about baseball. The Athletics gained 44,450 fans in 2023, relative to 2022’s attendance, and they still finished dead last in baseball with a pathetic total of 832,352. In a time in which baseball is desperately pushing to attract the attention of fans, the A’s have served as the league’s black sheep for the better part of Fisher’s tenure.

There’s no real way to wrap this up with a bow. Major League Baseball also deserves plenty of blame for what’s happening to Oakland, though Rob Manfred hasn’t exactly earned a sterling reputation as commissioner up to this point, anyway. The MLBPA has made formal complaints about the A's and other low-spending teams, but only in the context of that lack of payroll expenditure. 

Moments like this offer perspective as a fan--not that Cubs fans need much of it. As bad as things can get, whether it be an injury to an ace or a 108-year-long World Series drought, the Cubs will always be in our lives. The Ricketts may not be the epitome of great ownership, but they aren’t John Fisher.

Our hearts go out to you, A’s fans. You deserve so much better than this.