OAKLAND — The Athletics’ official address is in West Sacramento, but if a celebration of Oakland sports Saturday is any indication, the community that supported them for the last 57 years is thriving without them.
Fans Fest 2025 had a different vibe than the inaugural event a year ago, before news had broken of the A’s plans for a temporary stopover in the state capital while awaiting new digs in Las Vegas.
Skepticism about the A’s actually winding up in a minor league park in 2025 and beyond has given way to resignation.
“It’s kind of like an ex-girlfriend,” said Jorge Leon of the non-profit Oakland 68s. “You don’t want me? I’ll move on.”
The 68s and Last Dive Bar put on the event, staged in the area of Raimondi Park (home of the Pioneer League Oakland Ballers) and the Prescott Market. There was no admission and no official attendance, but a blustery day did nothing to dampen the size and enthusiasm of a crowd that fans believe was similar in size to last year’s Fans Fest.
There were the onsite eateries at Prescott Market, as well as food trucks and vendors from Oakland. The Oakland Roots and the Oakland Soul, the city’s men’s and women’s soccer teams, were represented. A handful of local breweries provided beer for sale. There was a brass band, a DJ and some dancing. Lots of families including babies in strollers. An autograph line for some former A’s players stretched from centerfield at the ballpark and wrapped all the way to the near the third base line.
Former A’s star Jose Canseco showed up and, when given a photo in a frame by a fan while on stage, drew a big laugh when the frame began to come apart in his hand.
“What’s going on here?” the 1988 American League MVP said. “I think I’m still too strong from the left-over steroids or something.”
Canseco took the stage with Ruben Sierra, the man he was traded for in 1992, and Lance Blankenship, an A’s teammate and Ygnacio Valley High product who played at Cal. Fellow former A’s Stephen Piscotty (Pleasanton, Stanford) and Daulton Jefferies (Cal) were also on hand, mixing and mingling with the crowd.
The mood was more positive than funereal. People were simply happy to see each other again, having gone through the final season boycott and reverse boycott together and unified in their disdain for A’s owner John Fisher but with no contempt for the players and coaches who had no choice but to follow their job out of town.
Familiar faces included Casey Pratt and Brodie Brazil, longtime friends who were at the forefront in telling the story of the A’s move. They’ve even been mistaken for each other. Both have undergone job changes. Pratt, formerly of ABC7 (KGO), is now the vice president of communications and fan entertainment for the Ballers, who open their second season in May. Brazil, formerly of NBC Sports Bay Area, has joined the San Jose Sharks as an analyst.
“I think the vibe feels the same,” Pratt said. “It’s the same love, the same camaraderie. I think the urgency’s gone. People asked, ‘What are we protesting today?’ We’re not protesting anything. It was giving love to the past, present and future of Oakland sports and that’s what’s on display here.”
Brazil assumed people were at different levels of acceptance.
“There’s an evolution of feelings here, and it’s hard to process,” Brazil said. “There was a totally different vibe (when the Raiders left). There was never any promise they were going to stay. But I love the fact that it would be so easy for these people to pack up their bags and never see each other again, and that’s the end of the story. Yet they’re here. It’s hard that the A’s are gone, but the special part is that people are still together.”
Bonnie Hitch of Oakland, sitting at a picnic table with friends, remembered going to her first game when the A’s arrived in 1968 and having a television set wheeled into her Alameda school room in grammar school so they could watch the World Series in 1972.
“There’s not a lot of hope left, but there’s still a connection with these people,” Hitch said. “That connection is what I’m going to miss most about the Coliseum. I sat in the same section for 10 years. Knew my usher. Knew the vendors. It’s like they’re a part of my family.”
Hitch and others have found some sanctuary with the Ballers, even if they’re not a big league team.
“It’s a pretty good substitute for me. The big question was how am I going to fill my summer,” Hitch said. “I went to a Cal baseball game last Friday. I need my baseball fix, but I also feel a connection to my city, which I feel very strongly about and can get emotional about how people perceive Oakland if they don’t truly know it.”
Collin Welbon lives in San Francisco and is a Bay Area transplant from South Dakota but has no interest in the Giants and enjoys the relationships he’s formed in Oakland.
“You don’t feel this in San Francisco,” Welbon said. “Whenever I come to Oakland to these events, the way people bond and interact with each other is just special. There’s so much soul.”
Hitch and Welbon, as well as others, may not see the team in Sacramento but are planning on seeing the A’s opening game on the road against the Colorado Rockies. Will MacNeill, who has gained a measure of local fame as “Right Field Will,” will take a trip to Arizona for spring training (wearing a shirt that says ‘Oakland’) as well as assorted road trips without turning his money over to Fisher.
MacNeill is one of the few remaining true believers, hypothesizing that things could still blow up in Las Vegas and that the A’s will end up in either in Nashville or back in Oakland.
“Oakland A’s baseball has been such a big part of my life and it’s going to be strange when there’s a first pitch and we’re not at the Coliseum,” MacNeill said. “But I’m excited to see what happens with the Ballers now. I think the Roots are going to do well playing at the Coliseum. Oakland sports are not dead.”
