The Oakland Athletics have less than two months left in Oakland and are shaping up to be one of the least graceful exits of a city in sports history.
Athletics owner John Fisher and the rest of the parties interested in the move have been subjected to endless criticism over their plans to move the team to Sacramento and then hopefully land in Las Vegas by 2028. The team is still awaiting the demolition of the Tropicana Casino where they plan to build an opulent stadiumand still negotiating with local leaders about public money.
Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster Stephen Nelson, who also works as a “SportsCenter” anchor, joined the chorus of critics during the Dodgers’ game against the A’s on Sunday. He didn’t hold back while questioned the execution and morality of the movement:
“It’s hard to believe this is happening, but you understand it happens, right? Relocations are part of the business of sports. It’s the third move when they go to Sacramento, a fourth will be to Vegas, if that happens. It really happens. The Dodgers franchise knows that relocations happen, but the way it happened is shameful anyway because the people who run it are apparently shameless. cut payroll by 50%, increase season ticket prices by 30% and you wonder why people aren’t showing up? No, they don’t wonder. It was apparently intentional, in fact insidious.
“You tell the fans, ‘If you think the situation was bad, the situation was worse for me.’ Serious? What about the hundreds of families, the thousands of people who will be impacted by the work that will be lost with this change? Using the wrong logo for the promotional video, every step of the way, this thing was messed up.
Nelson noted to commentator Jessica Mendoza that one of his colleagues, former All-Star Dontrelle Willis, grew up in the area and considers the A’s pivotal to his MLB career.
It’s not often you see a team announcer try so hard against another team’s leadership, but the A’s caused a lot of unusual situations by doing so. The criticism appears to be getting louder as the A’s near the end in Oakland, with plenty of ways this could all go even further south.
The Dodgers beat the A’s 3-2 in Sunday’s game.
