A's owner John Fisher looking forward to Aaron Judge hitting dingers at "intimate" ballpark

Jason Burke | Apr 4, 2024

New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge (99) prepares to bat against the Arizona Diamondbacks / Michael Chow/The Republic / USA TODAY

The Oakland A's, or as they will soon be called, "The A's" announced their plan to move to Sacramento for the interim period between 2025-27 while they wait for their proposed ballpark in Las Vegas to be built. Not long after the announcement, A's owner John Fisher had a microphone in hand at the ballpark that will host his franchise, Sutter Health Field, where the San Francisco Giants Triple-A affiliate currently plays.

"We're excited to be here for the next three years, playing in this beautiful ballpark. But also to be able to be able to watch some of the greatest players in baseball, whether they be Athletics players, or Aaron Judge and others, launch home runs out of this very intimate--the most intimate ballpark in all of Major League Baseball---for the next three years."

The A's owner received some chuckles when he called Sutter Health Park the "most intimate ballpark in MLB" which is odd. He meant it as a joke, because he was smiling as he said it, but the joke is that this is not a Major League ballpark, and yet, he will be forcing Aaron Judge "and others" to play there in the Sacramento heat during the summer.

It's a pretty wild admission to make.

"We're excited to be here for the next three years, playing in this beautiful ballpark."

A's owner John Fisher talks about the team playing in West Sac's Sutter Health Park pic.twitter.com/vAa5rp5AZO

— A's on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) April 4, 2024

Here is the thing that many A's fans (or former fans) in Oakland are having a hard time with: John Fisher has owned the team for nearly 20 years now. His history of tearing down rosters and trading away fan favorites is well documented. But those of us here in Oakland didn't know what he sounded like until just a few months ago when he spoke in Las Vegas. He has granted the media more access everywhere but Oakland.

Heck, he'd been involved with Sacramento for under three hours and was already addressing crowds. He never tried that in Oakland to get a deal done. So when A's fans tell you that his efforts in The Town were never genuine, this is one of the points that really stands out.

Now the people of Sacramento get to see Judge and (let's give Fisher some help naming a second MLB player) Pete Alonso launch baseballs out of Sutter Health Park while the visiting team continues to run laps around whatever roster Fisher is willing to pay.