A's, Giants Fans Unite the Bay, Chant "Sell the Team"
If Rob Manfred thought that the 28,000 fans that showed up for the "reverse boycott" back in June was something he could brush away, then maybe the 40,014 fans at Oracle Park in San Francisco six weeks later that were all chanting "sell the team" grabbed his attention.
On Tuesday night, A's fans called upon their Bay Area baseball buddies from across the bridge to help them spread their message. By the sound of things, San Francisco Giants fans were happy to lend their voices to what A's radio broadcaster Ken Korach called "familiar 'sell the team chants.'"
The A's broadcast team of Dallas Braden and Johnny Doskow let the moment be the star, staying quiet while allowing the chants to come through loud and clear--a statement without words.
A's and Giants fans don't always get along. The Giants ownership has made it more difficult for the A's to stay in the Bay Area, clutching the territorial rights in San Jose that were gifted to them by previous A's ownership when it was the Giants threatening to move. That hasn't sat well with A's fans for years. In response, many Oakland supporters called Buster Posey by his given first name "Gerald" for the entirety of his career.
Over the last decade or so, Giants fans have been flaunting their three World Series championships in five years. For the most part, the back-and-forth is good natured, though not many A's fans would find themselves in black and orange if the John Fisher's plans to relocate to Las Vegas came to fruition.
So instead of losing a diehard fanbase in the East Bay, fans of both teams came together on Tuesday night to once again cause a scene that those at MLB headquarters can't be enjoying.
Rob Manfred openly mocked the "reverse boycott" on June 13, so A's fans organized again and got fans in Seattle to chant "sell the team" during the All-Star game. Tonight it happened again in San Francisco.
Word on social media is that there will be another event in Oakland when the A's return home. There won't be "sell" t-shirts handed out (but really who doesn't have one already?), but instead rally towels.
A's fans are going to keep coming. They'll keep making noise. If anything, this event in August could be the biggest one yet. The "reverse boycott" will be tough to beat, but the crowd for a 4 p.m. game on a Saturday against the Giants should be pretty close to a sellout, and add at least an extra 10-15,000 fans to a rowdy Coliseum atmosphere, with A's fans emboldened by the showings of both fans in Seattle and San Francisco taking on their cause, and August 5th could be another one of those "have to be there" moments for A's fans.
I was in attendance for the June 13 game against Tampa Bay and for the All Star game, and I have to say that hearing it on the broadcast just isn't the same. At the ballpark you really feel those chants, and the meaning behind the words being shouted. You feel the collective breaking hearts of a fan base that is pushing through and trying anything to pull off a miracle. If you haven't been to one of these three events yet, August 5 may be time to change that.
For now, the ownership of John Fisher and how he has mistreated the A's fan base for two decades is once again at the forefront of national discussion in the baseball world.