Oakland Ballers Give Sell Out Crowd Plenty to Cheer in Loss
On Tuesday night, about 15 minutes north of the Oakland Coliseum, there was a new baseball team in town. The Oakland Ballers, who announced their existence last November, played their long-awaited first home game at a freshly renovated Raimondi Park in front of a capacity crowd of 4,100 fans.
The drummers were drumming. Chants of "Let's go Oakland!" filled the stands routinely. It felt like a baseball game in Oakland. Sure, the Ballers lost 9-3 as the Yolo High Wheelers played spoiler, but last night was a celebration of the return of something that had been lost: Oakland baseball.
Yes, the A's still play at the Coliseum for the next few months, but they have touted their plans to play in Sacramento as "The A's" before their planned move to Las Vegas in 2028, so the fans and the team have been officially disconnected for over a year now. If you take into account how A's owner John Fisher has run the team, that disconnect started well before last year's relocation announcement.
The goal of the Ballers is to provide baseball for the community, and from a player standpoint, to offer a chance to continue their dreams of making it to the big time. Before the game, J.T. Snow told reporters that the B's had a second player picked up by a big-league club with two-way player Tyler Davis being scooped up by the Chicago White Sox.
Those are the kinds of stories that this team is about.
In talking with fans before the game, not many could name a player on the roster, but they were all excited to go to a baseball game in Oakland. When given the choice between the two teams, these ones chose the Ballers.
Name recognition will come as the team plays more games at Raimondi. The first player that the club signed, Dondrei Hubbard, who also happens to be the team's "franchise player," slugged a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning and rounded the bases with a huge grin on his face. You could tell that homer meant something to him.
Catcher Coleton Horner is one of a number of players on the roster that grew up in the area. The Turlock native also grew up an A's fan, and his favorite player growing up was Rich Harden.
He spent the 2022 season in Rookie Ball with the Diamondbacks, then last season with the Ogden Raptors, who ended up winning the Pioneer League. Around that time he started hearing whispers of something brewing in Oakland. He asked around and got connected with the team.
"I grew up an A's fan, so just to get the chance to play in Oakland, that's pretty special. I'm honored to be a part of this first team. If this goes well, this could be a big, big deal over here, and I'm excited to be a part of the inaugural season."
The Ballers are a team built with the community in mind, and it shows in a number of little touches they had for the opener. As fans entered the gates, there were Ballers players handing out Ballers rally towels. Instead of a ceremonial first pitch, they had Mistah FAB take the ceremonial first swing with the first woman in Pioneer League history, Kelsie Whitmore, throwing to him. FAB whiffed on the first two tosses, then popped out to second with his third hack.
The atmosphere was kid friendly, and had a minor-league game feel, which is to be expected. But it was also distinctively an Oakland baseball game.
Jason has been covering the A’s at various sites for over a decade, and was the original host of the Locked on A’s podcast. He also covers the Stanford Cardinal as they attempt to rebuild numerous programs to prominence.