Inside The As

A's Fans Throw a Party with Fans Fest

Oakland A's fans put on an event to celebrate The Town on Saturday

Jason Burke

A's Fans Throw a Party with Fans Fest
A's Fans Throw a Party with Fans Fest /

Oakland knows how to throw a party. On Saturday, A's fans threw Fans Fest, which was organized by the fans, with no help from the team, in Jack London Square. If you wanted to ballpark how many people showed up, it was probably around five or six thousand. 

The goal of the event was to celebrate everything that Oakland has to offer. Obviously a number of the people in attendance have considered themselves A's fans over the years, but the vibe in walking around Saturday's event was a lot more celebratory than one may expect, considering the team's ongoing relocation efforts. 

There was excitement surrounding the new baseball team in Oakland, the Ballers, of the Pioneer League. They have yet to play a game, but they have made a number of headlines in recent months, including that they will be renovating Ramondi Park, which will also be the team's home for the 2024 season.

The Oakland Roots unveiled their latest kit on Friday and had it available for sale for the first time at Fans Fest. Just a few feet removed from their tent was a child-sized soccer goal for kids to practice their shooting.

This was a family-friendly event, and there were numerous small children in attendance that were having a great time. Fans Fest was intended to be all about the community, and they delivered on that promise. 

The Oakland 68's and Last Dive Bar put together one heck of an event. 

Every now and then, off in the distance, you could hear the familiar sound of a cow bell being struck, which brought about feelings of nostalgia. Anyone that has attended a game at the Oakland Coliseum has heard a cow bell being struck. 

The atmosphere overall was just happy. Not because the team is potentially leaving town, but because the people in attendance love baseball, and they love Oakland. As expected, a number of "Sell the Team!" chants broke out during the course of the afternoon, as well as "Let's Go Oakland!" rallying cries.

The former players in attendance seemed to love the reception they were given, and each of them thanked the fans for their time in Oakland. Former A's closer Grant Balfour seemed to be enjoying himself the most, spending the majority of Fans Fest in the middle of crowds signing anything that was hoisted in front of him. Numerous attendees said that he looked like he could still be playing, to which Balfour replied, "looks are deceiving." 

When he would come out to close games during his playing days, the fans in the bleachers would "rage" to his Metallica entrance music, which included a little bit of head-banging and whirling your arms in circles. When he took the stage, Balfour raged a little himself. 

When addressing the crowd, Balfour talked about the A's potential relocation to Las Vegas. "There's not one person here that deserves this team to leave, that's 100%. There's a lot of history here, and it breaks my heart to think that you guys aren't going to get to go out to the Coliseum and rage or whatever the hell you guys are going to do. You are the most creative fans in MLB." 

Coco Crisp came out and worked the crowd to perfection, even giving the fans a little bernie lean from the stage. He also proclaimed again that he, not Jerry Blevins introduced the bernie to the clubhouse. 

Trevor May, a cult hero among A's fans after he called out John Fisher in his retirement announcement, talked about him wanting to sign with the A's initially because of his experiences as a visiting player. 

Scott Braun of Foul Territory did a three hour live show from Bloc 15, interviewing Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and a number of people involved with the event. When he addressed the crowd outside, he said that Fans Fest surpassed his expectations. 

Being a fan of the Oakland A's has never been easy, but events like Fans Fest and the reverse boycott prove that the fans in the East Bay are the best in baseball. Other teams have had owners that have at least tried to bring fans in to the ballpark. Meanwhile, Fisher actively repels the fans from attending his product by design. 

Even with everything the fans in Oakland have been through over the past 20 years, they still showed up en masse to a fan-led Fans Fest to show everyone that Oakland is a viable market for baseball. 

If this is what the fans had planned before the season even started, you have to wonder what's on deck for the rest of the baseball calendar. 

Published
Jason Burke
JASON BURKE

Jason is the host of the Locked on A's podcast, and the managing editor of Inside the A's. He's a new father and can't wait to take his son to his first baseball game at the Coliseum. 

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