While many Athletics fans are heartbroken by the idea of their team leaving Oakland, some are excited about the A’s potential move to Las Vegas.
In an article by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser released Saturday, A’s fans, specifically those who have moved from the Bay to Sin City -- or nearby -- expressed gratitude toward MLB’s biggest ongoing storyline.
“My dad took me to Opening Day at the [Oakland] Coliseum in 1968,” San Mateo native Dane Brooks told Slusser. “I’ve been a fan since I was 7 years old, and I had season tickets for the dynasty in the late ’80s. But you know how expensive it is in the Bay Area — I moved [to Las Vegas] 20 years ago and I fell on my knees when the [Las Vegas Aviators] moved here. Now the big-league team? It’s just amazing.
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“I know A’s fans feel very betrayed. My brother still lives there [Oakland]. I know it’s very hard for them.”
Brooks is just one of numerous A’s fans who have moved southeast from Northern California and are looking forward to potentially watching Oakland’s team play on The Strip.
Tristan Swogger, Oakland native and Las Vegas local, and Preston Beeman-Ramirez from Sacramento, now in Utah, shared Brooks’ sentiment about the A’s future in Las Vegas.
“I was born and raised in Oakland,” Swogger explained to Slusser, “and both my teams [A’s and Las Vegas Raiders] will be here, which is great. It will save me a trip.”
Oakland Athletics
“[The A’s] stadium is not the best, so it will be cool to see them going to someplace better where they can get better players,” Beeman-Ramirez told Slusser. “That new stadium looks so nice.”
The biggest winner of the A’s pending relocation likely is former Oakland slugger Jason Giambi. The A’s’ 2000 AL MVP has lived in Las Vegas for decades, per Slusser, and believes his city is suited for an MLB team.
“People are ecstatic about it,” Giambi told Slusser. “There isn’t a summer sport here. We’ve got football and hockey, and they’re unbelievable, off the charts. In the summer, everyone is bored, you can’t go outside, my kids can’t even ride their bikes because it’s 1,000 degrees, so people who live here will go to the games, and the other teams’ fans will travel here, because who’s not going to come to Vegas?”
Giambi mentioned his sadness for A’s fans in Oakland, emphasizing their devotion and knowledge.
But the retired 20-year MLB veteran is confident the A’s will have more success in Las Vegas, ideally with the ability to acquire and keep top-tier talents while growing their fanbase.
“They’ll have a bigger payroll, they’ll be able to compete," Giambi told Slusser. “They’ll just be better here, and I hope that true A’s fans will keep following them.
“A new park in Oakland would be beautiful, but where would you put it? There are so many factors and it just hasn’t worked out there, and things just get done here. Vegas makes things happen.”
The A’s still are exploring their avenues of relocation, but it’s clear the team has some fans in its corner during this process.
However, Oakland’s local fans aren’t as excited.