Protesting Oakland Athletics fans meet with owner John Fisher ahead of Las Vegas vote
ARLINGTON, Texas — They arrived at the hotel lobby 7 a.m. Tuesday, plopped in front of the doors by the check-in desk, ready to spread their message to every Major League Baseball owner.
There they were: Jared Isham, 41, Gabriel Cullen, 42, Jorge Leon, 38, all sitting in the lobby, wearing their green T-shirts with STAY written across the front and Oakland Athletics caps.
They couldn’t always differentiate the MLB owners from insurance salesmen, but they wanted to let everyone know they believe the A’s should stay put in Oakland.
They were passing out a few personalized boxes to owners with a DVD, USB drive, T-shirts, Oakland caps, and bumper stickers identifying the reasons the A’s needed to stay in Oakland instead of moving to Las Vegas, only for hotel security to inform them that soliciting is prohibited at the hotel.
Still, before they were shut down, Leon was able to slip a T-shirt to San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer, who sheepishly stuffed it into his brief case, and told him, “I’m just glad you’re baseball fans."
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St. Louis Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt looked surprised when he walked towards the elevator and was given a T-shirt by Leon, saying, “Oh, thank you!," and took it to his room.
While owners came and went checking into their suites all morning and afternoon, the trio eagerly awaited their great white whale: A’s owner John Fisher, their Public Enemy No. 1.
And there he was, entering the lobby at 7 p.m. local time, and after speaking to San Francisco Giants chairman Greg Johnson, walked to the bar, greeted the trio, and shook their hands.
It was as if he came over to apologize.
They asked, in a round-about way, whether anything be done to save the team, with Leon saying, “Do the right thing.’’
Fisher shook his head, told the group that he has been trying to find a solution to stay in the Bay Area for 18 years, but his patience as run out. Come on, even if everything suddenly went smooth with government officials and the city council and financing, the A’s wouldn’t have a ballpark until 2031.
“It’s been a lot worse for me than you,’’ Fisher told them. “Anyway, I just want to let you know I appreciate you guys being here, I appreciate the passion you have shown.’’
They thanked Fisher for coming over, and Isham said, “Can I ask you one question?’’
Fisher: “There’s never one question. I’ve got to go."
As he walked away, they then told him, almost in unison: “Do what’s right! Do what’s right!"
Cullen said afterwards: “I wanted to ask what it would take to get Oakland back to the table."
Fisher walked away from the group towards dinner, and told USA TODAY Sports and the San Francisco Chronicle, “I think it’s easy to make these things personal. But you know they are passionate for the team. And I’ve been in baseball for a long time, and I’ve seen a lot of the ups and downs. For the most part, people have been focusing their desires to succeed.’’
When Fisher departed, the trio said they definitely appreciated that Fisher would take the time to speak with them for five minutes, but reiterated they still have issues with the man.
“When everyone says he’s very genuine, which is true," Isham said, “but I don’t believe anything he said. I commend him for actually facing people that are protesting. But there’s only three of us. He had his security. At the same time, he could have just ignored us. So I will give him slight credit for that.
“But at the same time, there is an element of knowing it's genuine, but when the words sound genuine, but don’t match up with the facts that everyone has presented, something feels off."
Said Cullen: “I’m happy he came and talked to us. At the same time, it's sad it took 18 years for him to talk to A’s fans. That’s one of our biggest problems is we don’t have any connection with him."
The trio, part of the Oakland 68’s fan group, spent the entire day, and cleaned out their wallets, getting their message out. If the owners peered out of their private planes heading into Dallas, they would have caught a plane hovering above the owners’ hotel and Globe Life Field, reading:
A’S BELONG IN OAKLAND – #VOTENO.
Hey, for a cool $3,500, why not?
Realistically, the group realizes there’s a better shot of the A’s winning the World Series in 2024 than the A’s staying put in Oakland and not relocating to Las Vegas.
The 30 owners will vote Thursday on whether the A’s will relocate to Las Vegas, and the only surprise would be if the vote isn’t unanimous in favor of the move.
The executive council, led by Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, whose franchise was approved Tuesday to receive about $365 million from Wisconsin legislature, have already informed commissioner Rob Manfred they are in favor of the move. Manfred will make his recommendation to owners Thursday morning.
Still, this group, led by Leon, president and founder of the Oakland 68s, refuse to go away. They sent curated videos with A’s caps and a letter from the Oakland mayor to half of the owners. They have spoken to other fans groups. They have plenty of plans up their sleeve for the future.
“The fight is not over," Leon said. "We are not going to go away quietly."
Even if everyone gets completely approved, and the shovels are in the the ground in Las Vegas constructing a new ballpark, the A’s still have to find a place to play until 2028. The A’s could potentially play 30 to 40 games at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, but even with the A’s sharing the Giants’ beautiful ballpark, guess who will still be protesting.
“We are not going away," said Cullen, who is shooting a documentary about the relocation fight. “Hopefully, they’ll come to their senses."
They want to tell the world this is on Fisher – stripping the franchise with a MLB-low $57 million payroll – and not the fans. They want to remind everyone that the Bay Area is the sixth-largest market in the country, while Las Vegas is 44th. They want to tell everyone that Las Vegas is perfect for an expansion franchise, and the A’s need to be left alone.
There are potential owners who have expressed interest. Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob said he has had a standing offer to buy the A’s for the past decade. Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson has been involved in investment groups trying to buy the A’s. Athletics pitching legend Dave Stewart, an Oakland native, is trying to purchase a team, and is now focusing his attention for an expansion team in Nashville.
Please, they say, just listen.
“Do we think that all is this going to make them change their mind?" Leon said. “Do I think what we’re doing is going to make them vote? No. Realistically, I don’t think that’s going to help at all.
“I think we’re just disrupting it and making it challenging."
But if the vote goes through, and the A’s are gone, no matter if they get an expansion team one day or not, they vow that baseball fans in the East Bay will be through with the game.
“I’ve talked to a lot of fans over the past three, four months," said Isham, a Sacramento-based filmmaker, “and I asked them, 'How likely are you to follow Major League Baseball if the A’s moved to Vegas?' And everyone single said 'Done. I’m going to find a different sport. I’m not following the A’s. I’m not going to follow Major League Baseball.' It would destroy the fandom of at least two or three generations.’’
And, no, they insist, an expansion team in Oakland one day wouldn’t soothe any wounds.
“I think that an expansion team would take a lot of mending of broken spirits and community," Isham said. “But if you keep the A’s there, they already have their loyalty. They know the fandom that has been there for 55 years doesn’t have to change."
The trio plans to return home to California before the vote is taken Thursday, but no matter, they’ll be around, and they’ll be heard.
“There is probably an impression from the owners that if they vote yes on relocation it will get us out of their hair,’’ Cullen said. “A’s fans will disappear and we’ll feel like we lost the battle.
“That couldn’t be further from the truth. These guys are already planning for next season with all of the high jinx. Everything they saw last year, it's going to be doubled."
