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The Reverse Boycott

 Earlier this year the Oakland Athletics seemingly signed the deal to move to Las Vegas officially ending the teams history in the city of Oakland. However, the move will not happen right away as the new stadium will have to get built first. According to an article in USA Today the stadium took a positive forward take a look at the quote below 

"Nevada's state assembly passed a bill Wednesday to provide $380 million in public funding for a $1.5 billion stadium on the Strip, paving the way for the A's to relocate from Oakland ― their home since 1968 ― to Las Vegas." The full article can be found here 

The Oakland A's have been the league's most puzzling team for years at this point as it seems like the team doesn't even want to try anymore. The current payroll for the A's is last in all of baseball at $60 million seven million behind the next closest team who is the Orioles who have an excuse. The excuse for the Orioles is that they have the second best farm system in all of baseball behind the Dodgers and are seeing a number of prospects finally reaching the big leagues with Adley and Gunner leading the charge. On the other hand the Athletics are in the middle of the pack and though they have some names with good potential the only way they will improve is seeing those teams above them move down.





Point is though I could spend days breaking down every aspect of the Oakland Athletics from the lack of investment in the Major League club to a lack of depth in the farm. The focus isn't on the team though, last year I wrote an article about the ongoing struggle for the team to find a new stadium (a link to that will be down below). The conversation should be instead focused on June 13, which was this past Tuesday and the first "Reverse Boycott" where the fans wanted to prove a point.

Though I was only a fly on the wall when the New York Islanders moved from the Coliseum to Brooklyn there was still a ton of emotion present every game and pure hatred festering between the fans and decision makers. Fact is though this is different John Fisher is one of the wealthiest owners in the MLB but refuses to invest in his team. That in itself is a bad owner!! To clarify the reason this is different is because the A's will be moving to another state not just a different area in the same state.

Seeing the view from Adam aka "The Daily Woo" on YouTube it was the first time I was actually jealous of the fans in the Oakland Coliseum. The atmosphere within the Coliseum was something that hasn't been seen in Oakland for years and not because of the fans. The reason that atmosphere left is because ownership stopped caring. I know the Coliseum isn't perfect and needs to be updated desperately, but giving up isn't the way to show that especially if it means turning your back on 66 years of history.


I have been to the Coliseum and I would agree that the Stadium is a relic of the past, but that doesn't mean you turn your back on 66 years of history or a fan base that remained loyal. After the Warriors and Raiders left, the City of Oakland deserved better than Fisher choosing the bottom line over investing in his team and the City of Oakland. I wanted to spotlight the footage so I will be writing another article allowing the videos to speak for themselves. I stand with the A's fans and wish I could've been at the Coliseum on June 13, because it was an atmosphere unlike any other. Proving Oakland A's fans can still rock "The Last Dive."

Sources:

Farm System Rankings

Team Payroll 

USA Today Article 

Oakland Athletics Last Stich Effort 

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