Category: Oakland Athletics

Oakland A’s game wrap: A’s Allen goes deep twice on Giants for 8-6 win at Coliseum

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Oakland Athletics’ Nick Allen, right, celebrates next to San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey after hitting a solo home run during the fifth at the Oakland Coliseum on Sun Aug 6, 2023 (AP News photo)

San Francisco (61-51). 112 020 000 – 6 9 2

Oakland (32-80). 120 013 10x. – 8 11 1

Time: 3:04

Attendance: 27,381

Sunday, August 6

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND –It was a bittersweet day for the Oakland Athletics. Before the game started, the five members of the 2023 cohort of the team’s hall of fame were inducted. The late Bob Johnson, who played for the Philadelphia Athletics, was the first, followed by the late Voice of God, Roy Steele.

Next came the MVP of the 1972 World Series, Gene Tenace, who paid tribute to those teammates of his who had died recently. Dave Stewart introduced Carney Lansford. Tony LaRusa did the same for Jason Giambi. We shall not see their like again, at least not in the uniform of the Oakland A’s. The A’s Nick Allen provided the punch with two home runs which made the difference in the A’s 8-6 two game sweep over the Giants at the Oakland Coliseum.

When the game began, Luis Medina was one the mound, making his 12th start for the A’s, carrying the burden of a 3-8, 5.35 record. The good news is that it was 1-1, 2.86 in July. It was his first appearance against the visiting San Francisco Giants.

This afternoon, Medina got knocked about in 3-1/3 innings of hard labor under a broiling sun, allowing four runs, three of them earned, on five hits and an equal number of walks while striking out three. 53 of his 88 pitches qualified as strikes. He escaped with a no decision and went home with a record of 3-8. , ERA 5.47.

His opposite number for the visitors was Alex Cobb, whose off speed and breaking ball offerings gained him a 6-3, 3.05 record at game time. He throws sinkers 41.3% of the time; splitters 35.8%; curves, 16.5%; sliders, 86.3%; and the traditional four seam fastball, a mere 0.4%. Cobb wasn’t particularly impressive today.

Cobb lasted 5-1/3 innings, in which he threw 77 pitches, 51 for strikes. He allowed five runs, all earned, although one was posthumous.. The A’s touched him for seven hits, two of them for the distance. He wasn’t involved in the decision and ended the day at 6-3, 3.30.

The Giants lost no time in taking an early lead. LaMonte Wade, Jr., led off with a single to left center. Two outs later, a walk to Joc Pederson and a single by JD Davis brought in the game’s first tally.

Oakland answered back with a run in the bottom of the frame. A two out double by Zack Gelof that bounced off the center field fence to the right of the NBC Sports California sign, followed on the next pitch by Seth Brown’s triple to center, and the game was tied at 1-1.

That didn’t last long. Wade hit another single in the top of the second, this one with runners on the corners and one away, made it 2-1, Giants. That changed with Tyler Soderstrom, who had walked, on first and two men out, when the good field, no hit shortstop Nick Allen parked a fly on the steps separating the left field grandstand from the bleachers. It was Allen’s second homer of the year and raised his batting average from .181 to .186. He ended the day at .195.

San Francisco responded by sending two men across the plate in their next at bat. A leadoff walk to Pederson led to Davis’s grounder to the left side. Jordan Díaz cut in front of Allen and bobbled the ball. The error put runners on first and second, and a walk to Michael Conforto clogged the base paths with no one out.

Patrick Bailey singled to left to bring in Pederson with the tying tally, and Brandon Crawford’s grounder to short forced him out at second and allowed Davis to score the tie-breaking run that put San Francisco up, 4-3.

Medina’s afternoon’s work was over when he walked Flores with one out in the visitors’ fourth, Sam Long relieved him, retired the next two batters and stayed in the game. long enough to give up singles. to Conforto and Bailey and then strike out Crawford looking in the top of the fifth before passing the ball to Austin Pruitt.

Pruitt got Matos to pop out to short, but Wade slammed a single to right, scoring Conforto. Estrada then laid down a beautiful bunt towards third, which he beat out for a single that advanced Wade to second and brought Bailey home with the Giants’ sixth run of the game. Both runs were charged to Long.

In the home fifth, Allen closed the gap to 6-4, with his second round tripper of the game and third of the. year, a line drive into the Oakland Lading seats, a little to the left of where his earlier blast had landed. His BA moved up again, this time to .191 It didn’t help that, after Esteury Ruíz followed Allen’s homer with a single, got picked off first.

Pruitt didn’t come out to pitch after his unfortunate showing in the fifth. Kirby Snead struck out the side in his stead. Three up, three down.

After Seth Brown’s one out double to left in the sixth, Luke Jackson relieved Cobb. He got Brent Rooker to hit a grounder to Crawford, whose errant throw to first put runners on at first and third. Díaz walked, loading the bases. Soderstom also strolled to first, bringing Brown home.

Shea Langeliers lined a single to left, driving in Rooker and Díaz, and Alllen’s force out of Langeliers at second plated Soderstrom, and Oakland was leading, 7-6, when Lucas Erceg took over mound duties for the A’s in the top of the seventh. In spite of a pair of walks, he got through that half inning with Oakland still on top.

Scott Alexander faced the A’s after the seventh inning stretch. Gelof got a one out single to left off him, and Conforto dropped Brown’s fly to right after having lost it in the sun. Gelof went to third and Brown to second on what was ruled, properly, a double.

That brought Ryan Walker to the mound. Tony Kemp pinch hit for Rooker and drove in Gelof with a sacrifice fly to right as Brown moved on to third. Once more, an Oakland base runner was picked off first. This time it was Díaz. The A’s challenged the call, but it stood.

Angel Felipe had an 8-6 lead to protect when he entered the game when the Giants came to bat in the eighth. He was angelic, striking out all of the three batters he faced.

Jakob Junis kept the game in reach in the home eighth, allowing only an infield single to Allen, his third hit of the day. On that play, Crawford committed his second error; his wild throw allowed Allent to take second.

Trevor May set the visitors down in order to earn his 11th save. Jackson took the loss and now is 1-1, 1.98.

With today’s Kansas City 8-4 defeat by the Phillies, the Royals are 36-77 .319 and seem to be falling out of the race to the bottom. The A’s remain contenders with their 32-80, 2.86.

On this day in baseball infamy, the 1899 Cleveland Spiders split a double header with the Chicago Orphans, which improved the Forest City club’s record to 17-80, .175. They finished the season at 20-134, ,130.

On August 6, 1962, the New York Mets, on their way to a 20-140, .250, monument to futility, dropped a 2-1 squeaker at Chavez Ravine in Johnny Podres and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Bruce Bochy’s Texas Rangers ride into town tomorrow, the seventh. They’ll face the A’s at 6:45 in the evening. Ken Waldichuk (2-7, 6.52) is expected to start for the Athletics, facing the Rangers’ Dane Dunning (9-4, 3.14).

Giants Lose to A’s 2-1 in Game One of Battle of the Bay II, in front of Large Protesting Crowd

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Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants shared one thing in common on Sat Aug 5, 2023 there distaste for the A’s moving to Las Vegas which brought them together for another Reverse Boycott game at the Oakland Coliseum on Sat Aug 5, 2023 (photo from San Francisco Chronicle)

By Michael Roberson

OAKLAND, Calif. — The San Francisco Giants (61-50) did not win their third straight game of the Bay Bridge Series versus the Oakland Athletics (31-80), as the Green & Gold somewhat pleased the raucous 37k+ fed up East Bay fans.

After 4 1/2 scoreless innings, the Athletics finally gave the jeering fans something to cheer for in their half of the fifth stanza.

The mostly Alameda County faithful repeatedly chanted, “Sell the Team!” A gesture-also T-Shirts-aimed at Oakland’s ownership, and apparent move to Las Vegas, which would reunite them with their former stadium mate Raiders.

This was Oakland’s largest crowd of the season ironically surpassing their last reverse boycott game that had a season high of 27,000 plus on June 13th. Sat Aug 5th’s crowd was 37,553 for the A’s fans second reverse boycott.

Third baseman Jordan Diaz knocked a solo blast over the left field wall, giving the home team the first tally of the contest.

The Giants responded in the top of the seventh when left fielder Joc Peterson hit a deep center sacrifice fly, scoring second baseman Thairo Estrada and tying the game 1-1.

Oakland had something to say about the outcome in the bottom of the eighth inning, when Seth Brown singled to right field, scoring the eventual run on the feet of Aledmys Diaz.

However, there was controversy on that same play as Tony Kemp also tried to score on the hit, but was tagged out at home. The issue became a question of did the catcher block the plate illegally?

Kemp was called out on the play, which became irrelevant because the previous run was enough to win the ballgame and give the disgruntled masses something to be happy about on a beautiful day in the Town. 2-1 A’s!

The same two Bay Area sluggers face each other Sunday Afternoon (1:07 PDT) August 6, at the Coliseum. Expected starting pitchers: Oakland’s RHP Luis Medina (3-8, 5.35) and Giants’ RHP Alex Cobb (6-3, 3.05)

Oakland A’s game wrap: Brown’s 8th inning single paces A’s past Giants 2-1 to open Bay Bridge Series at Coliseum

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Oakland A’s Jordan Diaz (13) gives thanks to the good Lord after clouting his eighth home run of the year at the Oakland Coliseum against the San Francisco Giants on Sat Aug 5, 2023 (AP News photo)

San Francisco (61-50) 000 000 010. – 1. 3. 0

Oakland (31-80). 000 010 01x. – 2. 6. 1

Time: 2:34.

Attendance: 37,553

Saturday, August 5, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–Saturday was a reverse boycott day, and the action was almost as much in parking lot B and the right field bleachers as it was on the field. There were Sell THE TEAM rally towels in the former, and chants, cheers, and shouts in the latter.

In other off field action, the A’s announced that they had designated Ramón Laureano for assignment and optioned Tayler Scott to the Las Vegas Aviators. The Athletics also reinstated Dany Jiménez and Esteury Ruíz from the injured list.

They also reinstated the injured Kevin Smith, only to option him to Vegas. They outrighted Tyler Wade there and released Manny Piña. Sic transit gloria mundi. On the field of play, the A’s defeated the visiting Giants, 2-1, in a stunning and thrilling nail biter.

Oakland sent what passes for its ace to the mound. Perhaps it’s unfair of me to qualifyPaul Blackburn that way. He came off the injured list on May 29, so you can say that he’s about two months behind where he’d be if he’d been healthy all season. Throw the Athletics’s weak hitting and poor fielding into the mix, and his numbers look somewhat better, but his 2-2, 4.83 game time record was not one to inspire confidence.

At the Coliseum, “confidence” is an adjective that modifies “game” when describing what the ownership has been doing in cahoots with the cardsharps of southern Nevada to the city of Oakland and the county of Alameda.

Blackburn, who went 7-6,4.28 last season, performed well, if not economically today. It took him 78 pitches to get through his first four innings, 26 in the fourth alone. but he shut the Giants out on two hits over that span. At the end of his tenure, he had thrown six scoreless innings and allowed but two hits and three walks while striking out seven.

He had to settle for a no decision. making his record 2-2 ,4.35. His pitch count was 105, 63 of them strikes. Austin Pruitt took over for. him to pitch a scoreless seventh before giving away to Angel Felipe, who pitched to three men in eighth, leaving with runners on the corners and one out. Trevor May was his replacement and retired the two men he faced but not before the Giants had tied the score.

The Giants’ starter, Ross Stripling, also has had problems with injuries this year. San Francisco’s been allowing him to build up his arm strength since his return from the IL June 25 and has enough confidence to entrust a traditional start to the ex-Dodger hurler, who entered the day with a balance sheet of 0-4, 5.52.

He definitely is not the ace of the Giants’ staff; that honor goes to one of the Cobb-Webb combo. The afternoon, Stripling also started out strong, keeping Oakland off the board during four frames, helped out by a spiffy backhanded stab and throw by Brandon Crawford in the third and a spectacular leaping catch at the NBC Sports advertisement jut to the right of the 388 foot sign in center in the fourth.

Stripling ended his day’s work after pitching another inning and a third and allowing a total of one run on three hits (a home run) and no walks. He struck out seven, Of his 74 pitches, 52 were strikes. He escaped with a no decision, and his record now stands at 0-4, 5.21. Sean Manaea relieved him, facing his old teammates and shutting them down on one hit in 1-2/3 innings.

The A’s finally broke the scoreless tie in their half of the fifth with a leadoff home run to left center by Jordan Díaz, his eighth round tripper of the year. It came off an 83.6 mph change up and travelled 402 feet, with an exit velocity of 106.8 mph. The Giants tied things up in the eighth with a walk to Thairo Estrada and a single by Flores, followed, after May relieved Felipe by Joc Pederson’s sac fly to left.

Ryan Walker replaced Manaea for the home eighth. He faced two pinch hitters, Aledmys Díaz, who singled to center, and Tony Kemp, who drew a base on balls, before Esteury Ruíz attempted a sacrifice bunt. Home plate umpire Dan Menzel called it a foul.

The A’s protested that he was hit by the pitch. A replay review ruled that it was, indeed, a foul. (That’s how it looked to me, too). Ruíz attempted another bunt. JD Davis came charging in from third, nabbed the bunt in the air and threw to first to retire Ruíz.

Kemp moved on to second. That’s when Scott Alexander replaced Walker. And that’s when Jonah Bride pinch hit for Bleday and lined out to second. Alexander conceded a walk to Gelof, loading the bases. Seth Brown singled to right, bringing Díaz home with the go-ahead run, but Michael Conforto’s throw home beat Kemp by a mile. The A’s claimed that Bailey had block the plate, but a video review disproved that.

Now May had to get three outs to preserve the Athletics’ precarious lead. He retired Conforto, Bailey, and Crawford, thereby earning the win. He’s now 3-4, 4.30.

Walker, now 4-1, 2.,56 took the loss.

With today’s win , the A’s improved their record to 31-80, .279. Kansas City lost to the Phillies, 9-6, I Philadelphia, falling to 36-76, .321. W 37-75, .330

The 1899 Cleveland Spiders, all time leaders in futility with their record of 20-134, .130, were shut out by the Chicago Orphans, 4-0, at West Side Park in the Windy City. That dropped the Spiders to 16-79, .168.

The 1962 New York Mets, whose mark of 40-120, .250 is the worst seen in the majors since 1901, split a double header against the Reds in Crosley Field on August 5, leaving the Amazin’s at 29-80, .266.

The 2023 Battle of the Bay concludes Sunday with San Francisco’s Alex Cobb (6-3, 3.05) dueling Oakland’s Luis Medina (3-8, 5.35) first pitch 1:07pm PT. Before the game, the Athletics will induct the 2023 cohort into their Hall of Fame. The honorees are Jason Giambi, Carney Lansford, Gene Tenace, Bob Johnson (from the A’s Philadelphia days), and former A’s PA announcer Roy Steele.

Oakland A’s podcast with Daniel Dullum: Dodgers offense too much for A’s; Oakland returns home to host San Francisco Saturday

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The Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Amed Rosario (31) completes the double play on this throw as the Oakland A’s Ramon Laureano slides in too late in the top of the first inning at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Thu Aug 3, 2023 (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Daniel:

#1 The Los Angeles Dodgers Freddie Freeman was seeing the ball well against the Oakland A’s on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium getting three hits, Freeman is second in the big leagues with a .341 batting average.

#2 Freeman who hit two doubles now leads the majors with 40 doubles. Freeman in his last at bat in the bottom of the eighth slugged a solo homer his 22nd of the year. A’s pitching just couldn’t shut him down.

#3 Freeman provided much of the offense in the Dodgers win against the A’s 8-3 Thursday night and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Freeman has a calmness about him and he’s playing MVP caliber baseball whether he’s hitting it the opposite way or against a left handed pitcher.

#4 The A’s became the first club since 1960 to drop it’s first 80 games in 110 games since the 2003 Detroit Tigers and 1962 New York Mets had 29-81 records. The A’s came away with a 30-80 record after losing to the Dodgers on Thursday night.

#5 Daniel the A’s return back to Oakland Saturday night for a 4pm PT first pitch against the San Francisco Giants neither team has announced a starter. It will be another reverse boycott game and the fans are expected to be as boisterous as ever with both Giants and A’s fans are expected to find common ground in chanting “Sell the team” a drive to save the A’s from moving from Oakland to Las Vegas.

Daniel Dullum was filling in for Jeremiah Salmonson who does the A’s podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Daniel Dullum: A’s relocation almost as controversial as Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants was

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Oakland A’s fans voiced their opinion back on Jun 13, 2023 photo regarding a reverse boycott at the Oakland Coliseum. Fans in Colorado and Los Angeles have joined in the sell the team chant when the A’s have been on the road. A’s fans plan to have a joint reverse boycott at the Coliseum this Sat Aug 5, 2023 with San Francisco Giants fans (AP file photo)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Daniel:

#1 Daniel, talk about the MLB fans now getting behind the movement to try and get John Fisher to sell the Oakland A’s by the “Sell the team” chants. It happened on this last road trip for the A’s in Colorado and in Los Angeles.

#2 Daniel, talk about some of the owners who are not to favorable to relocation and in the A’s case this has to be the biggest protest against a team relocating since the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants coming out west.

#3 Some owners and sources mentioned New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner is not too excited about moving a storied team like the A’s to Vegas and playing in a much smaller park in the smallest TV market.

#4 Daniel, a Bally’s executive said there is not a lot of room for error in the design and roofing of the Tropicana ballpark. The A’s have consulted with competing architects who are vying to design a final rendering for the new Vegas ballpark.

#5 Bally’s and the Tropicana said Thursday that everything is on hold until the MLB owners take the relocation vote in November. Although the feeling from Bally’s seems 85% certain that the owners will vote in favor of the new park but their not taking any chances just yet.

Join Daniel for the Oakland A’s podcast heard Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s preview: Oakland Heads Into Two-Game Series With San Francisco at Coliseum

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Paul Blackburn will get the call for the Oakland A’s against the San Francisco Giants at the Oakland Coliseum on Sat Aug 5, 2023. (San Jose Mercury News file photo)

Oakland Heads Into Two-Game Series With San Francisco

By Barbara Mason

Friday the Oakland A’s had an off day, taking a little time to reflect on their last series as well as looking forward to their upcoming series.

Oakland just got swept by the first place Los Angeles Doders in their last series. The A’s did make a bit of a run in game one of the series with the Dodgers but fell short getting clobbered in games two and three. Their offense just wasn’t enough. It was a very disappointing series for the team and it does not get any easier for Oakland this weekend.

Saturday and Sunday the A’s take on the rival San Francisco Giants in a two- game series over the weekend. The Texas Rangers will come into town for a three game series on Monday so some challenging times ahead for Oakland. The good news for the A’s is that they will be at home for these two series and once again their fans will continue to protest with no plans to stop. Their message will keep on resonating across the nation.

Saturday Paul Blackburn will take the mound for Oakland. Blackburn has a 2-2 W/L record and an 4.83 ERA. The Giants will send Ross Stripling to start. Stripling is struggling with a 0-4 Win/Loss record and a 5.52 ERA. We have seen this team rise to the occasion against some of the best teams in the league. They will need some of that magic if they hope to succeed in any of these upcoming games. The home crowd will no doubt lift them up and provide some real encouragement as they take on these power house teams.

First pitch in Oakland on Saturday is scheduled for 4:07 PM. So come on out and proudly wear your “SELL” tee’s. Tickets are going fast. Less than 4% of total tickets in the venue are available. It is for sure going to be a great time out for both A’s and Giants fans.

Dodgers rout A’s again 8-2 sweep three game series at Chavez Ravine

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The Oakland A’s Tyler Soderstrom (37) goes yard on Los Angeles Dodgers pitching in the top of the eighth inning at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Soderstrom’s home run was one of two A’s runs for Thu Aug 4, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers for the third time in three nights. The A’s had won two out of three from the Colorado Rockies last weekend and hoped to show the Dodgers that they could compete with the big guys.

The Dodgers, the best team in the NL West, are gunning for their tenth NL West crown in the last eleven seasons. The Dodgers have talent up and down the lineup. Their two big bats, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman, performed well against the A’s.

Freeman was unstoppable. Freeman, who hails from Southern California, had two doubles and a home run against the woeful A’s Thursday night. In the series, Freeman had ten hits in fourteen tries. Somehow, the A’s pitching did retire him twice in Thursday’s game. Freeman led the Dodgers to an easy 8-2 win to give the Dodgers a three-game sweep.

The A’s starter J.P.Sears pitched well for his five innings of work. Sears allowed six hits and two runs. He threw 95 pitches in his five innings pitched. The Dodgers starter Julio Urias was better. The Dodger lefty also pitched five innings Thursday night. His line was five innings, three hits, and no runs allowed. Urias won his eighth game this season. 

The Dodgers plated this first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning. Back-to-back doubles by Kike Hernandez and Miguel Rojas gave the Angelinos an early 1-0 lead. The Dodgers made it 2-0 when they put another run on the board in the third.

With one out, Sears walked Max Muncy. Sears struck out Chris Taylor for the second out. The versatile Kike Hernandez, playing center field Thursday night, worked Sears for a walk. Miguel Rojas then doubled to drive in Muncy. It was Rojas’ second double of the night and second RBI.

The A’s scored a run in the top of the sixth. Rookie second baseman Zack Gelof hit a solo homer just inside the foul pole in left field. For Gelof, it was his fifth dinger of the season. The A’s trailed 2-1 midway through the sixth.

A’s manager Mark Kotsay brought in righty Lucas Erceg to pitch the sixth inning. To say Erceg had a rough outing would be an understatement. The first two hitters he faced, Austin Barnes, and Mookie Betts, singled.

The next hitter was the toughest out in the Dodger lineup, Freeman. To everyone’s surprise in the ballpark, Erceg struck out Freeman for the first out. The next hitter, DH Will Smith, singled to shallow centerfield to drive in Barnes, Betts went to third, and Smith went to second on the throw home.

Second baseman Amed Rosario doubled to right field to drive in Betts and Smith. Ramon Laureano’s throw to third base got by A’s third baseman Jordan Diaz. Rosario advanced to third on the error. David Peralta, pinch-hitting for Muncy, singled to drive in Rosario with the fourth run of the inning to give the Dodgers a 6-1 advantage. 

The A’s rookie Tyler Soderstom, playing first base, blasted his first Major League home run in the eighth to make it a 6-2 game. However, the Dodgers scored twice in their half of the eighth. Freeman led off the eighth with his 22nd homer of the year. Freeman had two doubles earlier in the game, leading all of baseball with 40 doubles. The A’s pitcher, Zach Neal, recalled earlier in the day from Triple-A Las Vegas, walked Jason Heyward. Taylor doubled to drive in Heyward with the Dodgers’ eighth run. LA wins 8-2.

Game Notes: With the loss, the A’s are now 30-80. The Dodgers improved to 62-45. The Dodgers lead the Giants by 2 and 1/2 games in the race for the NL West crown.

The hitting star of the game was Freeman. Freeman had three hits Thursday night and ten hits in the series. He raised his batting average to about .339 for the year. He has 22 homers and 40 doubles. He has to be considered a leading candidate for the National League’s Most Valuable Player.

The only bright spots were Gelof and Tyler Soderstom. Each rookie hit a solo home run.

The line score for Oakland was two runs, five hits, and two errors. LA’s line was eight runs, 14 hits, and no errors.

The Dodgers outscored the A’s 25-6 in the series.

The A’s sent pitcher Hogan Harris down to the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators. The A’s designated Tyler Wade for assignment.

The A’s are off on Friday. Oakland will host the San Francisco Giants for two games this weekend. A’s fans are planning a reverse boycott for Saturday’s game. The A’s have not announced their pitchers for the weekend series.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: To Call the A’s a “small market team” is a travesty

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From left, lobbyists Alfredo Alonso and John Griffin, Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher, President Dave Kaval and lobbyist Jessica Ferrato inside the Legislature in Carson City on May 31, 2023. (Nevada Independent file photo)

By Amaury Pi-González

OAKLAND–For years now I have heard executives and even baseball so called “experts” call the Oakland Athletics a “small market team”. According to the Official US Census in 2020, the Bay Area has a population of over 7 million people in nine counties and 101 cities.

If that is a small market, then I must have been born yesterday on planet Mongo. Major League Baseball generate great part of their overall revenues via Television, that’s where the money is, forget radio. For the past several years, Nielsen has ranked the Bay Area market, the sixth largest TV market in the country. Actually throughout the 1980s and 1990s it had been the fifth largest.

Not everybody that attends A’s games live in Oakland, just like Giants fans are not only those that live in San Francisco. There is a reason we are the “Bay Area”. Leaving Oakland for Las Vegas is indeed leaving a 7 million people market to a market with a population of 640,000.

The Las Vegas media market is #40 in the US; the Oakland-Bay Area is #6. These are the facts. Yes, Las Vegas (according to the Las Vegas Statistics Bureau) is one of the most popular places to travel not only in the US, but in the world. And according to their statistics, the city has approximately 32 million visitors every year.

The Oakland Raiders have been successful as well as the last and current Stanley Cup Champions Las Vegas Golden Knights. In the NFL you play a 17 game season with about half played at home, in the NHL is an 82 game season with 41 games at home.

In MLB is a 162 game season with 81 home games. To sell most games during an 81 game season at home inside a 30,000 seat stadium, you have to sell out most of the time, to make it around 2 million in attendance.

The ‘powers to be’ in Las Vegas are counting with tourism to buy tickets for baseball, but that is a stretch. Good luck with that. However, I can see Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and other fans of big teams that travel well to see their teams for a three day weekend in Las Vegas, where most people go to watch shows and participate in gambling.

It is also a favorite spot for honeymooners. You can still get married at the Elvis Chapel and if it doesn’t that work, drive north to Reno and get a divorce. Finally, and of course, I wanted the Oakland A’s to stay in Oakland where they had won four World Series and were their roots really are.

But if they leave, as it looks today, even with all the thousands of people and reverse boycotts at different parks, including the two games coming this weekend at Oakland against the Giants, that is all nice and entertaining, but in the end I do not think Mr. Fisher is shaking and sweating when and if he seen those demonstrations, because he still owns the team and at the end, with all respect to the people demonstrating, in this country, under our free enterprise system, you cannot force a private citizen to sell if he/she doesn’t want to sell. It is as simple as that.

I have heard all scenarios by now on this debacle, and all I can go by is what is happening, we all live day to day. Some people are speaking like 2028 is just “around the corner”. 2028 is the projected year for when the Oakland A’s become the Las Vegas A’s.

Construction companies, baseball owners, lawmakers in City Halls in different cities and others maybe in the Stock Market as investors usually can plan for five years ahead, but most people I know they cannot tell you where they are going to be five years from today. Can you?

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the lead play by play announcer on the Oakland A’s Spanish radio network on 1010 KIQI San Francisco and 990 KATD Pittsburg and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Bally’s waiting for green light before doing Vegas stadium construction

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Entrance to the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas where old tower of the hotel will be torn down to make room for the A’s new ballpark on nine acres of the property (Nevada Independent photo)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 Jerry, talk about the MLB fans now getting behind the movement to try and get John Fisher to sell the Oakland A’s by the “Sell the team” chants. It happened on this last road trip for the A’s in Colorado and in Los Angeles.

#2 Jerry, talk about some of the owners who are not to favorable to relocation and in the A’s case this has to be the biggest protest against a team relocating since the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants coming out west.

#3 Some owners and sources mentioned New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner is not too excited about moving a storied team like the A’s to Vegas and playing in a much smaller park in the smallest TV market.

#4 Jerry, a Bally’s executive said there is not a lot of room for error in the design and roofing of the Tropicana ballpark. The A’s have consulted with competing architects who are vying to design a final rendering for the new Vegas ballpark.

#5 Bally’s and the Tropicana said Thursday that everything is on hold until the MLB owners take the relocation vote in November. Although the feeling from Bally’s seems 85% certain that the owners will vote in favor of the new park but their not taking any chances just yet.

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Dodgers cruise to easy 10-1 rout of A’s; Oakland needs win Thursday to prevent sweep

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Los Angeles Dodgers Freddie Freeman (5) congratulates Mookie Betts (51) after Betts hits his 29th home run in the bottom of the second inning against the Oakland A’s at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Wed Aug 2, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Los Angeles Dodgers mauled the Oakland A’s Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium in the Southland. The Dodgers scored early and often in the first two innings to cruise to an easy win over the hapless A’s.

The A’s sent lefty Hogan Harris to the hill to face the potent Dodger offense. The A’s hoped Harris could find a way to dazzle the Dodger hitters. Guess what, fans? Harris ended up throwing batting practice. The Dodgers scored three in the first and four in the second to virtually end the contest.

The Dodger pitchers were confident they could stop the pathetic A’s offense, and the Dodger pitchers did that. They held the A’s to one run and six hits as they blasted Oakland 10-1.

The Dodgers put three runs on the board in the bottom of the first. Leadoff hitter Mookie Betts, a former AL MVP with Boston, doubled to get things going for LA. Freddie Freeman, a former NL MVP with the Atlanta Braves, singled to give LA an early 1-0 lead.

The Dodgers’ All-Star catcher Will Smith walked to put men on at first and second with no out. Harris retired Amed Rosario for the first out. Harris walked Max Muncy to load the bases. Chris Taylor reached on an infield single, and Freeman scored the second run. Redwood City’s gift to the Dodgers, James Outman, hit into a fielder’s choice. Will Smith crossed the plate with the game’s third run for LA.

The Dodgers hitters continued to punish Harris. Betts led off the second inning with his 29th home run of the year. Back-to-back-doubles by Freeman and Smith gave the Dodgers a 5-0 lead. The Dodgers’ Rosario hit his first home run as a team member to give Los Angeles a comfortable lead 7-0 after two innings.

The A’s scored their only run of the game in the top of the third. Catcher Shea Langeliers blasted his 11th round-tripper of the season to make it 7-1. The Dodgers’ pitchers held the A’s scoreless the rest of the way.

LA scored one in the third when Miguel Rojas homered. It was Rojas’ first home run this year. LA added one more in the sixth when Jason Heyward homered. Heyward replaced Betts in the fourth inning. Dodger manager Dave Roberts saw Betts double and homer in three trips to the plate in the game’s first three innings. Roberts would replace Freeman shortly after that.

The Dodgers finished the scoring in the seventh. With one out, Outman doubled. Kike Hernandez singled to drive in Outman with LA’s 10th run of the game.

Game Notes: Will the loss, the A’s are now 30-79. The Dodgers improved to 61-45

The line score for Oakland was one run, six hits, and no errors. LA’s line was ten runs, 13 hits, and no errors. Tony Gonsolin was the winning pitcher. Harris took the loss. 

Freeman had three hits in the game. He hit his 37th and 38th double of the year. He leads all of baseball in that department. Freeman has hit safely in his last seven at-bats against the A’s. 

A’s pitcher James Kaprileian underwent arthroscopic surgery Wednesday in Los Angeles. Kaprielian will be out for the rest of the season.

The A’s will conclude the series with the Dodgers Thursday night in LA at 7:10pm PT. It will be a battle of lefties. For Oakland Sears is 2-7 and has a 4.09 ERA. Julio Urias (7-6, 4.98) goes for the Dodgers.