The Oakland Athletics relocation saga does not seem to have an ending in sight.
As their move to Las Vegas is still being negotiated, the baseball community in Oakland started a movement.
Their “reverse boycott” on Tuesday was a smashing success, as they had 27,000 people at the Oakland Coliseum as a way to show the world fan attendance wouldn’t be a problem if there was a competitive team to see.
Commissioner Rob Manfred spoke with the media today, and mentioned that the people in Oakland didn’t really do anything to keep the team in the city and that Oakland did not have an offer in place to build a new stadium.
People, of course, went to Twitter to vent their frustration.
Dear Rob Manfred,
Pick up the phone. Call the Mayor of Oakland. Stop listening to only John Fisher’s side of the story.
Fans are in literal heartbreak as a BILLIONAIRE tries to rip our team away. Do something. Your empty words mean nothing. https://t.co/qA3C6LRjZY
— (Un)Rooted In Oakland – Sell The A’s ☔️ (@OaklandRooted) June 15, 2023
Some people say Manfred did facilitate the relocation of the A’s:
“I do not like this outcome,” Rob Manfred said, months after helping to facilitate John Fisher’s proposed move of the A’s to Las Vegas by waiving any relocation fee. https://t.co/LfSGP0jLuo pic.twitter.com/hFBvPrHgf8
—Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) June 15, 2023
Manfred also discussed the fans’ reverse boycott, and his comments were snarky and unnecessary.
People, of course, showed their anger.
Words can’t describe how awful of a commissioner and person Rob Manfred is https://t.co/7G2w3kCgGQ
— Sell The Team (@jvb43) June 15, 2023
Gaslighting is insane.
— Sofie 🏳️🌈 (@sofieballgame) June 15, 2023
It’s not that he doesn’t read the room. He read the room and decided to be this way anyway in spite of the room because he likes the way it feels and cannot help himself. It’s unfortunate that even at the very top of the sport, he has chosen to be graceless.
– M Savino (@Savino36) June 15, 2023
It really seems like Manfred and Athletics owner John Fisher don’t really have any respect for the people in Oakland, people that made the franchise a powerhouse in the seventies and eighties.
The move to Las Vegas could be made official at any minute, and fans will be left with nothing but memories of better times.
Unless there is a drastic change of direction in how things are currently going, the A’s will be playing in Las Vegas sometime in the next five years.
Manfred might get his wish of getting the A’s to Vegas, but his popularity has taken a huge hit with the move.
Not that it was high to begin with.
NEXT:
Rob Manfred Comments On Oakland A’s Relocation Saga
