Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher issues letter to the fans ahead of final game series in Oakland
Photo credit: Sportsnet
The Oakland Athletics are hosting the Texas Rangers which will be their final series in Oakland as the team is headed to Sacramento before moving to Las Vegas.
Athletics owner issues a long letter directed to the Athletics fans over the move and the time the Athletics have spent in Oakland.
Fischer thanked the fans for supporting the historic organization over it's 57 years in Oakland and is cannot be more grateful for the four World Series Championships, six pennants and 17 division titles over the years. He also went into detail on the reasoning behind the move to Las Vegas which has been taking shape since 2024.
To our Oakland Athletics Fans:
This upcoming series with the Texas Rangers will be the final games of the A's storied 57 years in Oakland. And while the A's previously played in Philadelphia and Kansas City, Oakland has been home for the greatest era in the franchise's more than 123-year history.
Four World Series Championships. Six pennants and 17 division titles. Seven Baseball Hall of Famers. Charlie Finley and his mule. Billy Ball. Reggie and his incomparable swagger. Rollie and his handlebar mustache. Dave Stewart and the stare. Bill King's "Holy Toledo." Rickey, the greatest leadoff hitter in baseball history. The list goes on and on.
Triumphs, near misses, the 1989 Loma Preita earthquake in Game 3 of the Bay Bridge Series, the 20-game win streak, a Hollywood movie, and an unmatched cast of players, coaches, and fans. We've had it all.
And that, I know, is what makes our departure so very hard.
The A's are part of the fabric of Oakland, the East Bay, and the entire Bay Area. When Lew Wolff and I bought the team in 2005, our dream was to win world championships and build a new ballpark in Oakland. Over the next 18 years, we did our very best to make that happen. We proposed and pursued five different locations in the Bay Area. And despite mutual and ongoing efforts to get a deal done for the Howard Terminal project, we came up short.
Only in 2021, after 16 years of working exclusively on developing a home in the Bay Area and faced with a binding MLB agreement to find a new home by 2024, did we begin to explore taking the team to Las Vegas.
There are millions of dedicated and passionate A's fans, in Oakland and around the world. Countless dedicated staff members and Oakland Coliseum employees have poured their hearts into this team, and their efforts have meant so much to our community. I know there is great disappointment, even bitterness. Though I wish I could speak to each one of you individually, I can tell you this from the heart: we tried. Staying in Oakland was our goal, it was our mission, and we failed to achieve it. And for that I am genuinely sorry.
Looking ahead, I hope you will join our beloved A's as we move forward on this amazing journey. I hope I will see you again sporting the Green and Gold. And I hope we will make you proud.
John Fisher
This upcoming series with the Texas Rangers will be the final games of the A's storied 57 years in Oakland. And while the A's previously played in Philadelphia and Kansas City, Oakland has been home for the greatest era in the franchise's more than 123-year history.
Four World Series Championships. Six pennants and 17 division titles. Seven Baseball Hall of Famers. Charlie Finley and his mule. Billy Ball. Reggie and his incomparable swagger. Rollie and his handlebar mustache. Dave Stewart and the stare. Bill King's "Holy Toledo." Rickey, the greatest leadoff hitter in baseball history. The list goes on and on.
Triumphs, near misses, the 1989 Loma Preita earthquake in Game 3 of the Bay Bridge Series, the 20-game win streak, a Hollywood movie, and an unmatched cast of players, coaches, and fans. We've had it all.
And that, I know, is what makes our departure so very hard.
The A's are part of the fabric of Oakland, the East Bay, and the entire Bay Area. When Lew Wolff and I bought the team in 2005, our dream was to win world championships and build a new ballpark in Oakland. Over the next 18 years, we did our very best to make that happen. We proposed and pursued five different locations in the Bay Area. And despite mutual and ongoing efforts to get a deal done for the Howard Terminal project, we came up short.
Only in 2021, after 16 years of working exclusively on developing a home in the Bay Area and faced with a binding MLB agreement to find a new home by 2024, did we begin to explore taking the team to Las Vegas.
There are millions of dedicated and passionate A's fans, in Oakland and around the world. Countless dedicated staff members and Oakland Coliseum employees have poured their hearts into this team, and their efforts have meant so much to our community. I know there is great disappointment, even bitterness. Though I wish I could speak to each one of you individually, I can tell you this from the heart: we tried. Staying in Oakland was our goal, it was our mission, and we failed to achieve it. And for that I am genuinely sorry.
Looking ahead, I hope you will join our beloved A's as we move forward on this amazing journey. I hope I will see you again sporting the Green and Gold. And I hope we will make you proud.
John Fisher
As the A's wrap up their historic time in Oakland fans will look back at all the great time the Athletics brought to Oakland.
Moving to Vegas will surely be great for the game of baseball as it has done wonders for the NFL with the Raiders moving there and the NHL having an expansion team based out of Vegas.
Hopefully the A's move to Vegas will have the same result.
| POLL | ||
23 SEPTEMBRE | 94 ANSWERS Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher issues letter to the fans ahead of final game series in Oakland Will the A's move to Vegas be a success? | ||
| Yes | 60 | 63.8 % |
| No | 34 | 36.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
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