Former Athletics owner Walter J. "Wally" Haas passionately called out current owner John Fisher and his decision to relocate the team out of Oakland.
Haas discussed Fisher’s “unforgivable” choice to leave the Bay rather than sell the A's in an exclusive interview with the San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea published Wednesday.
“It’s been very difficult for me to watch this unfold,” Haas told Shea. “Our family had a much different philosophy in owning and operating the team than what is happening with the current ownership.”
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Shea added that Haas, on behalf of himself, his family and A’s fans, told him that Fisher’s move is “frankly unforgivable,” “hard to watch” and “indefensible.”
Oakland is losing its team at the end of the 2024 MLB season. It is a done deal.
Fisher has a league-approved plan to move the A’s to Las Vegas, and he agreed to have his club play at Sutter Health Park -- the home of the Giants’ Triple-A Sacramento River Cats -- in West Sacramento for the 2025, 2026 and 2027 seasons.
Haas simply doesn’t approve of how Fisher has run the franchise since he incepted it in 2005. Most frustrating for the team’s former president, though, is how Fisher turned down opportunities to keep the A’s in the Bay Area by selling to a reputable group or by investing more into the roster and fans.
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“I think what makes it so difficult for me and obviously a lot of others to watch is the fact that, unlike my father being the last hope at the time in Oakland, it sure sounds like John has had a number of groups -- I know that he has -- approach him to buy the team and keep it here, one in particular, which was pretty public and certainly viable, is, of course, Joe Lacob and his group,” Haas told Shea about Fisher's ignorance of the Warriors’ successful, interested owner.
“Here's a group that checked all the boxes already. He's proven he can build a privately funded facility in modern times here in Northern California. He had championship aspirations and results and, as importantly, would have made John a much more substantial profit on his investment than he or his father [Don] had contemplated when they decided to buy the team. And for those reasons, I think John's decision to move the team is frankly unforgivable.”’
The A’s have reached the MLB playoffs just seven times under Fisher, and they consistently rank at the bottom of the league’s attendance totals.
Haas is severely disappointed in Fisher’s cumulative on-the-field product and lack of community engagement.
“We felt that the best way we could make it as strong a community asset as possible would be to do whatever we could to bring a world championship to Oakland, which eventually we were fortunate enough to be able to do,” Haas told Shea about himself and his father; former A’s owner, Walter A. Haas.
The rising ticket prices at the Coliseum and consistent trades of star players irritates the former owner, too, Shea shared.
“I appreciate that John went out and made a huge investment in trying to find the real estate to build the stadium,” Haas told Shea, “but here’s where John made a mistake: He made it very clear he wasn't going to invest in the team until he had a stadium, and I think that he got that backwards.
“I believe he needed to build community support … Investing in the team … but he let the team go and raised ticket prices. I mean, that's not a great combination when you're trying to get support to build a stadium locally. I think it was a huge missed opportunity and big mistake.”
Haas wishes the A’s would stay in Oakland. He also told Shea how he is mad at the league for unanimously approving Fisher’s move, especially after MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said staying in Oakland was the best option back in 2018.
“You're giving up on a community where fans, for valid reasons, have stayed away,” Haas explained to Shea. “I wish baseball could have done more. I know with the right ownership, the A’s could thrive in this region.”
Fans are losing their team. Kids are losing role models. Employees are losing their jobs. Haas despises that aspect of the process.
There isn’t any way around it: baseball is a tough business.
Haas unhappily is watching things -- or the Oakland A’s, for that matter -- unfold before his eyes. He and his family never could have imagined the day when in control of the franchise.
But change is here. And Fisher has had change on his mind for a long, long while.