The Oakland Athletics will soon be on the move, but the Bay Area isn’t going to let them leave without a fight.
In the leadup to the Athletics’ eventual exit, a number of Oakland-area fans came together to start the Oakland Ballers, who plan to play in the independent Pioneer League starting this summer, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.
The Ballers, also known as the B’s, will wear the same green and gold as the A’s.
That is some delightfully petty trolling.
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It didn’t take long for all of this to come together, as the announcement came just a couple of weeks following Major League Baseball owners unanimously approved the Athletics’ move to Las Vegas. The Las Vegas stadium isn’t expected to be ready until 2028, however, leaving the big league club without a home beyond 2024.
Oakland has stated it has options to play in the Giants’ ballpark in San Francisco and the franchise’s Triple-A site in Summerlin, Nevada.
Paul Freedman and Bryan Carmel are the co-founders of the Ballers, and told ESPN they hired former Seattle Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu as executive vice president of baseball operations. Micah Franklin, who had a stint with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1997, will manage the team.
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The B’s will play games at Laney College, an Oakland-based junior college that will receive stadium improvements for giving Freedman and Carmel a place to set their operation up. That’s more than can be said for the actual MLB team.
Featured image via Robert Edwards/USA TODAY Sports Images
