OAKLAND — A dreary week during which the Athletics made a deal to leave town at the end of the season gave way Saturday to spectacular sunshine and a new beginning.
The Oakland Ballers, a Pioneer League expansion team that promises to truly be rooted in Oakland, held an open tryout at Laney College for what will amount to a few invitations to its abbreviated spring training in May.
“If you don’t believe in baseball gods, a day like this will change your mind,” said Oakland Ballers co-founder Paul Freedman. “We started this team as fans, so the impact of the A’s is pretty heartbreaking. We think there needs to be baseball in Oakland and Oakland will continue. We want to give the community something to really around, so we’re here to stay.”
Oakland Ballers manager Micah Franklin greets baseball players at the team’s open tryout, Saturday, April 6, 2024, at Laney College in Oakland, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Two days after the A’s announced they will relocate to Sacramento for at least the next three seasons as they await financing and construction of a new stadium in Las Vegas, nearly 100 players showed up, paying $150 each, to try and catch on with Oakland’s newest franchise. There were friends and family in the stands, enjoying the day and the site of loved ones attempting to scale an almost impossible mountain to the major leagues but pursuing the dream anyway.
Kyle Guerra, 25, is a center fielder from San Leandro High and Cal State Monterey Bay, thought for a moment when asked if his baseball career was nearing the end of the line.
“Shoot, my plan is to play until I can’t walk, but God’s plan is probably different so well see what he’s got for me,” Guerra said.
Under the direction of manager Micah Franklin and a staff that includes former Giant first baseman J.T. Snow as a bench coach, players were put through the paces starting at 10 a.m. Position players warmed up, ran the 60-yard dash for time, went through infield and outfield workouts to measure their range and arm strength.
Players hit in groups against a pitching machine set close enough to home plate to simulate 90-plus miles per hour fastballs. Pitchers worked in the bullpen, awaiting the live action to follow.
About half of the participants were excused before the pitching went live for some real baseball. Pitchers were limited to five hitters each.
That included Kelsie Whitmore of San Diego, who last year was the first woman to appear in a game in the independent Atlantic League. She retired three of four hitters, throwing 15 pitches with nine strikes with a fastball that may have been in the low 80s and an above average change-up.
Kelsie Whitmore, the first woman to appear in a game in the independent Atlantic League last year, faces batters during the Oakland Ballers open tryout, Saturday, April 6, 2024, at Laney College in Oakland, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
According to assistant general manager Tyler Peterson, three players were extended offers to join spring training but the transactions have not been finalized.
There are independent baseball leagues all over the country that vary in terms of skill and talent level. Players are paid little or nothing at all and expected to get themselves to a game that could be five hours away by car. There is a mix of players with the dream of being affiliated with a big league team and moving up the ladder and those who simply love to play.
David Kyriacou, a former Bishop O’Dowd High star who played in college at Kansas and Jessup University in Rocklin, played in the Oregon-based Mavericks League two summers ago, a league that included a 32-year-old Salem patrol officer who worked the graveyard shift and pitched in the afternoons, as well as a 46-year-old submarine right-hander.
A lefty-swinging infielder, Kyriacou, 26, has played in the Pioneer League, the Frontier League and the Pecos League. The venerable Pecos League includes Bay Area teams in Vallejo, Martinez, San Rafael, Marysville and Dublin.
Kyriacou knows the clock is ticking.
“I’m still a young man but I’ve got a girlfriend and it’s a big year for me,” Kyriacou said. “I want to really land with a team as a starter, get at-bats and drum up a really good year to give me a chance to move on and get affiliated. That’s been my goal since I was a kid.”
David Kyriacou, a former Bishop O’Dowd High baseball star, participates in the Oakland Ballers open tryout, Saturday, April 6, 2024, at Laney College in Oakland, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Franklin and his staff have a roster of 29 players. They’ll probably take a few more of that when they hold their week-long spring training in Davis, followed possible exhibition games against the Pioneer’s other expansion team, the Yolo County High Wheelers.
The season begins May 21 against the Glacier Range Riders in Kalispell, Montana.
“We’re always looking for an upgrade,” Franklin said. “We feel very good about the team we’re putting together. I think people are going to be surprised at the quality of play.”
As indy ball league goes, the Pioneer League has its perks. With teams in Montana, Idaho, Colorado, California and Utah, the “B’s” will fly on road trips if a bus ride would be more than several hours. They are paid their state’s minimum wage. Housing is available. Freedman said “two dormitory-type setups” are being readied in West Oakland.
The home field is Raimondi Park at 18th and Wood streets. With support from the city of Oakland and elected officials, Freedman and co-founder Bryan Carmel believe it should be ready for the home opener on June 4. The Ballers have already begun working with youth baseball programs in the Oakland area.
“We’re doing something a lot of people doubt can be done,” Freedman said.
Baseball players loosen up at the Oakland Ballers open tryout, Saturday, April 6, 2024, at Laney College in Oakland, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
The Pioneer League is not affiliated with a team but is a “partner” of major league baseball. Teams who have players signed off their roster and assigned to an affiliated team receive $7,500. It’s also a place for experimentation.
For example, ties after nine innings in the Pioneer League are settled with a home run derby rather than extra innings.
Players who have spent three seasons of Indy ball or pitched in 18 games are not eligible. The theory is for the Pioneer League to replace short-season, first-stop minor league affiliates that were contracted after the pandemic. The MLB Draft was dropped from 51 rounds to 20 in 2019, and ideally Pioneer League players would be be those who would have been drafted in those 31 rounds that no longer exist.
Don Wakamatsu, a former big league player and manager (Seattle in 2009-10) who was a bench coach with the Athletics under Bob Geren in 2008, is the executive vice president. Wakamatsu, who went to Hayward High and Arizona State, was planning on retirement at age 63 until the B’s came along.
“I saw my first professional game at the Coliseum,” Wakamatsu said. “Spent a lot of time there. Bryan and Paul were huge A’s fans and them seeing an opportunity to come in and make something positive out of this is what excited me.”
Carlos Drain, 25, went to high school in Stockton and played at Hartnell Community College and was a Monterey Bay teammate of Guerra. He launched one of the best drives of the tryout session, a fly to the fence in center.
J.T. Snow and Aaron Miles time athletes participating in sprints at the Oakland Ballers open tryout, Saturday, April 6, 2024, at Laney College in Oakland, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
“Like everybody else here, baseball has been a dream of mine since I was a kid,” Drain said. “And playing in Oakland has been dream of mine — my family is from Oakland. Seeing the coaching staff and everybody that’s a part of this effort and what they want to put back into the community is eye-opening.”
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Alex Aguilar, an infielder from Simi Valley who played at NAIA Wisconsin-Superior, drove six hours to participate in the tryout, which he said is no big deal because he’s driven from California to Florida and back for opportunities in the past.
Next up is a possible drive to Oregon for a Mavericks League tryout. Aguilar is 27 years old and plans on coaching when he’s done playing.
“I’ve got three, four years still in the tank,” Aguilar said. “It’s great to come to these and socialize, meet some new faces and see some familiar ones. I love baseball just like everybody else out here.”
Baseball players participate in the Oakland Ballers open tryout, Saturday, April 6, 2024, at Laney College in Oakland, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Spectators watch the Oakland Ballers open tryout, Saturday, April 6, 2024, at Laney College in Oakland, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
Baseball players participate in the Oakland Ballers open tryout, Saturday, April 6, 2024, at Laney College in Oakland, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)