Trevor May Has Kind Words for Oakland A's Fan Base Amidst Las Vegas Relocation

Newly retired A's reliever Trevor May says the fans are among the best in baseball, even with the Las Vegas relocation news swirling around

You may have heard that former A's reliever Trevor May announced his retirement on Monday. In the same Twitch stream as the announcement, he had some things to say about owner John Fisher, which included "Sell the team" and "Take Mommy and Daddy's money somewhere else." Those are two of the quotes being circulated by the local media. 

About a minute later, May also had some extremely kind words for the A's fan base, which has been through a lot this year. Most notably Fisher's attempts to relocate the franchise to Las Vegas. 

On the fans: "Say what you want about them, say whatever. But they are frickin there, and they are awesome. They give a s--- about the game of baseball, and the players on the field that make the money, whether you (Fisher) think that or not, doesn't matter, 'cause you don't know a lot about anything, very clearly.

"So. Players make you the money, and that fan base (in Oakland) is up there with the best fan bases for loving their players. Despite all this s---, everything that you're putting them through, they still supported us. They still were like 'we know it's not your fault. We love you.' And I need everyone there to know how much that means to us. Seriously. Thank you. Alls I wanted to do was do my best, and do it for you, and give you something to enjoy." 

In watching May speak, you can tell that he's not just saying these things to get more subscribers or saying this just to say it. He genuinely felt the love that A's fans brought to the ballpark in 2023. The Coliseum is also where May made his MLB debut back in 2014, so the ballpark itself is special to him, despite its flaws. He mentioned the bullpens being on the field as one of his main gripes last season for fear that he'd launch a ball down the left field line, causing the game to be stopped.

It's the same with being a fan of the A's. Sure the Coliseum isn't the best venue in the league. In fact it's usually ranked at or near the bottom of those lists. Yet, it's the same place that was home to the dynasty in the 70's, Rickey Henderson, Jason Giambi, the walk-off bunt, the magical 2012 season, and the list goes on and on. This is the place where memories have been made, and for the team to move venues within the city is one thing, but to lose out on making new baseball memories with the franchise is the real gut punch. 

Many of the fans that have experienced some of the events above now have children of their own, and want to share new memories with them, but they may not be able to because one person thinks it's better for himself to move to Las Vegas, all while calling himself a caretaker for the franchise. 

May's comments about the fans shouldn't be surprising. He mentioned that there is nothing softer than being afraid of cameras in reference to the media "appearances" Fisher has actually done. Instead, the players and coaches have had to field questions about the A's potential move repeatedly throughout the season because nobody else was making themselves available. 

Dave Kaval came out of hiding when there was a fire at Schnitzer Steel, only to dunk on them, then retreated back into his hole. John Fisher did three interviews, two for print, and the third for local TV in the Bay Area, but he insisted that it "be done the old fashioned way" which meant no recording of any kind. 

So you can see why May and perhaps some of the other players would be on the side of the fans in this instance. Baseball players work and work and work to make it to the big leagues, and a number of guys on the A's made it there for the first time this season--only to have the relocation news dumped on them and ownership to completely disappear. All of the questions they're asked revolve around the potential relocation instead of their on-field performance, because in the midst of a 112-loss season, that's what people cared more about reading. 

As for the relocation itself, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said he hopes to get an owner's vote in about a month. 

Brodie Brazil cut this part of the Twitch stream out for all to enjoy. The video is below.